Piercing Ecstasy

by Setta Jay

  “Rain said that Alex has been training some of the other females.” Everyone should have fighting skills, and she was happy to hear the females had taken steps to learn instead of counting on their males to protect them.

  “Yeah. Alex was a warrior like you. Even Alyssa, Gregoire’s mate, was trained well in her youth. The wolves had some skill from their parents but need a lot more, but Rain and Sam were mortals with no fighting ability at all.”

  “Who’s Sam?”

  “Sam is Erik’s mate. Vane and Erik are Alex’s twin brothers.” She’d met Vane with Brianne, and she’d seen a dark-haired Immortal with the Guardians when they’d been searching the abandoned cave system. She nodded, glad to know who that had been, surprised it hadn’t come up.

  “Still no lead from Sacha and Bastian on who was teleported to the area?”

  She inhaled deeply while snatching a small snake by the angular head a split second before it struck. She tossed it carelessly to the ground and paid no attention as it slithered away. She scanned the area, detecting nothing out of the ordinary.

  “No. The only two people who’d been ported onto the continent have been interrogated by Uri. Nothing.”

  “We’re running out of time.” She stated the obvious, she knew, but it was her nerves getting to her.

  “After this amount of time, either the Lykos wasn’t able to break the spell or Elizabeth hasn’t been able to torture it out of him. I’m hoping he just wasn’t able to break it, but that leaves the male in a fucked-up position. He may be dead already or she may wait to take blood memories to be sure she knows everything he did.”

  All bad for the wolf.

  She ported again. They were moving in perfect synchronicity now, and she felt marginally better that she’d already honed the skill. She was also stronger and faster than she’d been days ago. All good.

  She asked the next question just to have something to talk about. “Who do you think is next? If all the Guardians are finding mates for something big we still don’t know about, who’s next?” They’d discussed it. He said the Creators told them that the Gods would be needed some day, so it couldn’t be something to do with Apollo. Or could it? It was a mystery that made her skin tighten in frustration. Not in a way that felt like something deadly was coming, thank the Creators for that.

  The idea of her mate being in danger made her stomach churn and her cat hiss. He was never leaving her sight. He would have to get used to having her attached to his ass. She was glad he seemed amused and indulgent regarding her crazed protectiveness at the moment, but she didn’t care if it changed in the years to come. He wanted a mate, he got one that was turning into a nutcase.

  “And I’m not kidding, if you get me with child, I will kill you.” She got shivers just thinking about it. She hadn’t thought about it before because Immortals were slow to procreate, and she figured there was plenty of time, at least a decade, to figure it out. When he’d told her yesterday that Gregoire’s mate was pregnant, she’d actually had to sit down from the dizziness.

  She ported again and was caught up in his arms. She relaxed instinctually as he lifted her up to look in his eyes; her legs wrapped around his hips without conscious thought. “You wouldn’t want my baby, Ileana?” he asked, and a part of her melted at the thought of having his child, the other made her want to vomit all over the ground.

  She felt the blood drain from her face as she said softly, “It’s not a matter of want. You know that. It scares me.”

  He smiled. “None of the other mates are pregnant. If it happens, I will protect our child.”

  “My parents died protecting me, Jax. I won’t lose you or a child, but how do I protect you both at the same time?”

  He smiled in sympathy. “You don’t protect me. I’m capable of doing that on my own. We will protect the child together, and we have an advantage your parents didn’t.” She sucked in air. Yes, they had the rest of the Guardians if she had a baby. She closed her eyes and forced her hands to stop shaking. This had been happening on and off since the day before. No matter what he said, she still panicked. She took a couple of deep breaths and settled down.

  “I’m good,” she finally said.

  “I’m not gonna lie, kitten, the thought of you carrying my baby gets me fucking hot,” he growled in her ear before nipping at the lobe. Gooseflesh rose all over her skin at the contact and maybe the heat in his words.

  “Keep it in your pants, big guy. We have work to do,” she growled back, but damn, she just couldn’t think about the dueling emotions running through her. The want and the fear.

  He took her lips in a searing kiss before setting her back on her feet. A quick smack to the ass earned him a glare, but she liked it and he knew it.

  She took a deep breath and scanned the area before moving on. Porting was coming easily now; she hoped all of the other powers from their mating came so smoothly. It usually took a year, but she hoped it came quicker.

  “So Uri was the first,” she mused. It was common knowledge that Uri mated Alex, the Demi-Goddess daughter of Athena. “It’s interesting that both of her brothers found mates so quickly too. So the most powerful are getting their mates?” No, that wasn’t necessarily true; matings in the Realm were happening a lot more in the last few months.

  “Uri was the first Guardian, but he wouldn’t have known Alex was his if her brother hadn’t found his mate first.”

  Her curiosity was piqued. “What happened?”

  “Alex has a rare ability they call head-hopping. She still doesn’t have full control of it, and it’s something we keep secret.”

  She frowned. “What is it?”

  “Her mind gets thrown into other people. She never knows when or why until she finds a way to interact with her host.” He paused. “In the case of her brother’s mate, Alex had been getting thrown into the minds of Cyril’s victims. Females sent to the bastard for his experiments. She was able to communicate somewhat; she’d also seen Cyril through their eyes. Could see some of what he was doing for a time, but the victims never had enough information on where they were. And once she was thrown back into her own body, Alex couldn’t ever get back to them.”

  “That ability would drive me crazy.” To get into a victim’s head and not be able to do anything about it. She didn’t envy the female her gift. It sounded like a frustrating nightmare.

  “I agree. Alex was eventually thrown into Sam’s mind.”

  “Sam was one of Cyril’s victims.”

  “Yes, a Mageia in Earth Realm was transporting him females. Vane fed us information. The three Demi-Gods were living on Earth and avoiding exile, but they’d still investigate what they could.”

  “So they didn’t know Sam?”

  “Not until Alex was in her head. Then they went to Sam’s apartment. Erik scented her and went insane. They didn’t know what was wrong with him, and Alex came to Uri for help. Alex and Uri mated, and Sirena realized what was happening to Erik.”

  “So Erik knew his mate was in the hands of that monster.” She shook her head.

  “Yes. And it was bad, but Erik somehow started forming the mind link to his mate without ever meeting her; it was based on scent alone. He was sucking down mass amounts of energies to form it, but the male had known his female was in trouble, so he did the impossible and managed a link. The minute he was in Tetartos it snapped into place and he tracked her. We lost Cyril that time, but we got Sam out.”

  She shook her head. Cyril deserved a thousand deaths; it was too bad that the death blow had already been delivered.

  She was lost in thought for a second as they ported a few more times. The jungle air was getting more humid.

  Wait a second, Jax said.

  Ileana stopped and looked at him. She scented the air and looked around. When she looked back, it seemed he was thinking.

  Sirena, when Erik started building his link, was it building in a direction?

  It could have been, Sirena responded and paused. I couldn’t see the
link. Uri?

  Our skills weren’t that effective yet, Uri responded. Why?

  I know Sirena said not to even take the chance that Donovan is the mate of one of Dacia’s sisters until the drug’s gone, but what if we could test it sooner and maybe narrow the search to at least a continent? Jax asked, and Ileana heard a female growl. Dacia? It won’t fuck with anything if none of the she-wolves are his mate, but of all the Lykos in the Realm, Donovan’s family are some of the most powerful and the most likely to be compatible to Dacia’s sisters, Jax pointed out.

  If one of them is his mate, they will suffer for days knowing he’s being tortured. If Uri and Alex can help with a link, it would only work when the drug’s gone, Conn snarled. He was protective of the females.

  Uri? Sirena asked.

  There was a long pause before the male answered slowly. Alex and I think it’ll work. Sorry, Conn, but if one of the females is his mate, we’ll be able to narrow the search area by helping her construct a partial connection, like a compass.

  Drake responded, That’s a lot of ifs. Conn, take them to the male’s home.

  Fuck! Conn snarled.

  Donovan may not live past the drug leaving his system. You’ve all said that the brother assured you the Lykos is a fighter and would never divulge information to Elizabeth. When she has his memories and gets Apollo free, she’ll kill him. If the Lykos belongs to one of the sisters, this is his best chance at staying alive, Drake pointed out.

  We’ll take them, Dacia growled.

  Ileana turned to look at Jax. His muscles were tense. “I hope I’m fucking wrong. If Donovan’s one of the wolf’s mates, she’ll be in hell until we get to him.”

  “It’s a one-in-a-million chance,” she said.

  “Yes, it’s slim, but it’s there. Females generally mate males more powerful than they are. The she-wolfs have a fraction of Apollo’s blood, which ups their power scale. As the sons of a mated pair, Donovan and his brothers all fit.”

  Chapter 33

  Tetartos Realm

  Drake, Mia’s Donovan’s mate, Drake heard Conn snarl.

  Uri, Alex, we’re taking her to the first subterranean room at the manor, Sirena ordered. Drake knew she’d gone with Conn to Donovan’s cabin.

  On our way, Uri responded.

  Drake ported in and down the stairs and into the room as Hagen, Mia’s eldest brother, was setting her on the bed. She was snarling and growling in a low voice as she glared at the wall ahead.

  “Do something!” Hagen snapped at Sirena.

  “Shut it down, pup,” Drake snarled back.

  The healer ordered the siblings, “Send her personal energies. She’ll need all she can get for this.”

  The chances of this happening had been slim. If Drake believed in fate, he’d say it was fucking with them. The odds hadn’t been this good, yet now they were offered a small chance to get Apollo back along with the male who was Mia’s mate.

  Mia’s eyes were glazed as she looked off, snarling. Was she already trying to build a link to her male? She looked lost in her head, much like Erik had when he’d built his connection to Sam. The female seemed so small on the bed, but she didn’t seem fragile, she seemed intent.

  Alex and Uri rushed in. They crowded in on either side of the bed. The wolves only moved as far as they had to. Some were talking to the female, others set their hands on her arms and legs. The family was close and were offering their sister comfort.

  It was Dacia who spoke as Conn wrapped her in his arms. “We took them into the cabin and Mia jolted right away. She walked straight into the male’s bedroom and lifted his pillow to her nose. That’s when she started snarling and kind of snapped.”

  “Where are the Lykos’ brothers?” Drake demanded.

  “Still hunting. They don’t know,” Conn said. Donovan’s family would have hunted with or without the Guardians’ help, so he’d charged Conn with keeping tabs on the male’s progress.

  “Good.” He didn’t need wolves in the way of this hunt.

  “Help force energies to her. She needs to stay strong,” the healer demanded of the siblings, and they complied. Drake sent some of his own to the small female.

  “Will what Alex and Uri are doing hurt her?” Hagen demanded.

  “Hagen, she needs her mate. Let them work so we can get to him,” Sirena said before Drake could snarl at the male. He was on his last nerve and this better work.

  The clock ticked by as they all waited. Soft growls issued from Mia’s throat.

  Alex looked up at the wolves and gently said, “It’s going to take time for us to help her build it, but the good news is that she’d already started creating it on her own. Her mind is strong and it’s making this easier.” Alex focused back on her task, with Uri doing the same on his side.

  Drake paced as the others stood watching. Uri’s silver eyes swirled as he worked. He and Alex were getting stronger with each passing month and their skills would only improve with time. Drake forced himself to remember that. The desire to snap and snarl for them to work faster was hard to bite back. Interrupting them would not serve his purpose.

  Silence filled the room as they all waited.

  The female had shitty luck. First her animal was fixated on Jax, and now she found her mate and he was drugged, damaged and likely being tortured as they waited.

  Smoke slipped from his lips and filtered up to the exhaust fans as he grew more impatient.

  Uri and Alex finally stepped away and looked at him. “We have it as close as were going to get.”

  Everyone to the manor. Now, Drake demanded.

  Chapter 34

  Guardian Manor, Tetartos Realm

  Jax reformed at her side on the balcony he’d given her an image of. He put his hand in hers, and she saw the hard tick at his jaw as he opened the door and led them through.

  Other Guardians and mates reformed and were making their way inside to the room she’d been to the first time she’d been there. It was where she’d been questioned by Drake that first night. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

  They barely had time to fill the room before Drake started talking. “Mia is Donovan’s mate.” Ileana felt Jax’s guilt in the link. She squeezed his hand and leaned into him. No one sat at the table. It looked like they were about to head out.

  “Uri and Alex were able to narrow the area. South America and likely not far from the caves Sam was kept in,” Drake snarled.

  Ileana searched and found Erik, with his icy blue eyes; a thin blonde, who must have been Sam, was tucked into his side. There was a hard look in the female’s eyes as her mate held her. Ileana could almost feel Sam’s desire to be part of the fight.

  “It’s light out now, so we can’t fly over. We will port in several miles from the vicinity they’ve pinpointed. We cannot let them know we’re there. I won’t take the chance that she’ll move Apollo out of there. We go in and see what we can find.”

  Guardians and mates listened silently as Drake told them what to do. This would require finesse or they could lose their chance.

  “Once we’ve narrowed it down, Jax, you and Ileana will move in and find all the traps and entrances. You’re our best bet since you have no scent.”

  Jax’s jaw tightened and she knew he was worried about her. Maybe worried what she’d do when faced with Elizabeth. She squeezed his hand.

  “Okay. Let’s get geared up and move.”

  Guardians moved fast, many leaving the room. Jax led her to a cabinet to the side and started rummaging through it without a word. He pulled out vests and blocks of putty with electronics. He turned her around and she found a vest sliding over her arms.

  “It’s going to be fine,” she said because he seemed incapable of words as he spun her again and zipped the vest over her dark shirt. It was confining over her breasts. “It’s stiff.”

  “I don’t care. It’ll protect you in case the bitch has managed to get guns in the Realm. I’m not taking chances.”

  “Jax, I’m Immortal. I’
m fast and smart,” she said softly, knowing he was worried. “And if I have to wear one of these, so do you,” she pointed out, and he grinned stiffly.

  “I want vengeance, but it won’t come at the cost of either of our lives. I won’t be reckless.” She knew he was worried. She felt it coming through the link.

  He blew out a breath. “Okay.” But he didn’t take off her vest, so she shook her head, grinning, and pushed in next to him to look through the cabinet. He laughed when she pulled one out in his size and cocked a challenging brow.

  “You win, kitten,” he agreed, shrugging into the vest.

  Chapter 35

  Tetartos Realm

  Jax and Ileana moved through the jungle silently, scanning the area. They’d yet to scent anyone, but anticipation was riding her. The air was humid, but she barely noticed when they hit a rise and crouched low to see the valley and river below. Nothing yet, but she stilled.

  Do you smell it? she asked him, narrowing her eyes at the area. There was a rock outcropping just past the river, and there was more thick jungle beyond. So thick she couldn’t see anything from above.

  Port behind the rock, he instructed.

  The stench was getting closer, so much stronger when she reformed behind the rocks, crouched, and moved to the left looking around into the jungle beyond. Nothing was moving, no beasts, no birds. Nothing. Just eerie silence.

  He gave her another image and they ported, moving in small sections, staying hidden in or around trees or rocks. They’d seen and avoided several traps invisible in the underbrush.

  They crept closer until they were on it.

  Death and sulfur clung to the air currents.

  We have more bodies and hell-beast scent. Tsouximo and ofioeidis with hounds. Jax’s eyes were hard on her while he reported their findings. She smiled to reassure him it would be fine. The beasts they’d smelled were the two most dangerous species of hell creatures. One a massive scorpion and the other an even bigger serpent. Both, she knew, were fast and strong with venom that could incapacitate even the strongest warrior. It smelled like they were dead, but there could always be live ones further ahead.