Esher (Guardians of Hades Romance Series Book 3)

by Felicity Heaton

  When the sun had broken the horizon and he had realised Aiko had fallen asleep resting against him, he had scooped her up and carried her into his room, set her down on his bedding and covered her.

  Had even tucked her in.

  Part of him had been tempted to stay with her, watching over her, breathing her in as he stole every second with her. In the end, he had convinced himself to go and let her rest, not wanting to disturb her.

  Now the sun was close to setting again, she was bound to wake soon, and he wanted to surprise her with breakfast.

  He lifted the tray and carried it through the main room, towards the walkway to his left that would bring him to his room, and Aiko.

  The thought of seeing her smile at him when she woke to find him waiting with breakfast made the corners of his lips curve into a semblance of a smile.

  It dropped off his face at the same time as the tray dropped from his hands when he spotted someone standing on the walkway outside his room, reaching for the panel to slide it open.

  As the plate and glass smashed on impact, he launched himself at the male, closing his hand around his throat as a black need to protect Aiko blasted through him.

  He hauled Daimon off his feet, twisted and came damned close to throwing him across the garden and starting a fight.

  But his fucking hand froze up, ice covering it, sticking it to his brother’s inky roll-neck sweater.

  “I told you about doing that,” Daimon growled, his eyes glowing almost white in the fading light, and Esher noticed the hand his brother had locked around his wrist.

  He marched Daimon towards the main room of the house, because if he couldn’t throw the bastard for coming close to intruding on Aiko, he could at least make sure his brother kept his distance from her. “And I told you all about wearing shoes in the house.”

  His hand burned, the cold searing him as viciously as any fire could have, but he didn’t release his brother until he was as far from Aiko as possible. He set Daimon down on the mat near the front door and grimaced as he moved his fingers, cracking the ice covering them.

  Daimon let him go, making the whole process easier, but no less painful. “You alright?”

  “You startled me. You did get the text I sent?” He checked his hand over as warmth returned to it, relieved to find no permanent damage.

  His element allowed him to withstand Daimon’s ice a little, enough that he didn’t get frostbite as easily as most of his brothers if Daimon touched him, but handling Daimon for an extended period of time was dangerous and liable to end with him losing his hand. He didn’t want to have to grow a new one.

  Everyone left that sort of shit to Valen, who had tested the extent of their regenerative abilities once. It had been disgusting watching his hand grow back.

  He glanced towards the corridor that led to his room, at the broken glass and china scattered across the wooden walkway, and the ruined breakfast, and wanted to beat his brother to a bloody pulp for it.

  “I did.” Daimon rubbed at his throat, bent and tugged off his boots, setting them down at the door on a black mat Esher had been forced to add when his brothers had all started forgetting they were meant to take their damned boots off. “But something is moving. It hit New York and swept through Seville. We think it’s coming this way.”

  “Fuck.” He scrubbed a hand over his mouth, feeling sick to his stomach as his mind leaped forwards and filled in the blanks. “You think it might be…”

  Esher really didn’t want to think about the fact a strong daemon was due to attack him. He had forgotten all about it, had lost himself in Aiko, and it had been bliss, but letting himself get caught up in her and forgetting his duties, forgetting the enemy that was heading his way, was something he couldn’t let happen again. He had a duty, and he was damned well going to fulfil it.

  He crossed the room to the kitchen, grabbed a glass, filled it with water and practically inhaled it, needing it to calm his nerves as thoughts of the daemon coming his way brought memories of the wraith on their heels, shaking him. He was stronger now and he wouldn’t let the bastard get the jump on him again, or the bitch who was targeting him.

  He wouldn’t.

  He lowered the glass and stared at it. “You ever wish we could drink something stronger?”

  Daimon’s silver-white eyebrows knitted hard above now ice-blue eyes. “It’s best we don’t. The whole thing with Valen made it clear that it’s too dangerous.”

  “What thing?” Valen appeared, thankfully not in his usual flash of lightning, because the house was made of wood and Aiko was sleeping, and if either of those two things came to harm or were upset in any way, he might just douse his brother.

  “Your booze habit,” Esher bit out with a cold smile and Valen toed off his boots before he could say anything.

  His brother’s face darkened, the scar tissue down the left side of his jaw and neck pulling tight as he flashed teeth at Esher. “Piss off. One drink.”

  Valen flipped him off, as if to emphasise the single drink with a single digit.

  “And you destroyed a nightclub.” Daimon eased past him, careful not to touch him. While Esher and Ares could withstand a little of Daimon’s ice because of their element, Valen would be in danger of hypothermia or worse.

  Valen turned to track Daimon as he grinned and pushed his blond hair from his eyes. “You didn’t see what happened before that.”

  Esher couldn’t hide his interest as he followed his two brothers towards the couches. “What happened before?”

  Valen sidled closer, his voice a low purr as he wriggled his fair eyebrows. “Black box dirty dancing, nasty and rated triple-x adult for my pleasure.”

  Daimon caught the intrigue that must have been written across Esher’s face, because he scowled at Valen, and then at him.

  It didn’t stop Esher from saying, “So it was good for a while?”

  Ares’s hand slapped down on his shoulder as he appeared behind him, nearly crushing him with a combination of strength and searing heat that licked along his bones. “Little brother, I’ll hand you your arse if you so much as sniff alcohol.”

  He frowned at the smouldering patch on his grey t-shirt when Ares released him and moved away. “It was just a question.”

  At least Ares had had the decency to take his footwear off before entering the house.

  Keras and Cal appeared next, his oldest brother looking as if he had gone ten rounds with a gorgon. Waiting for their enemy to reappear was taking its toll on him too, but it wasn’t like Keras to show it. Normally, his brother appeared immaculate no matter what, but his black shirt had creases and he looked as if he needed another twenty hours sleep before the dark circles beneath his eyes went away and the dullness left his green irises.

  Marek shot Keras a concerned glance as he appeared. “Thanks for the help.”

  Keras shrugged it off, yawned and drew his hand down his face. “They were stronger than anticipated.”

  “What happened?” Esher hated being out of the loop. His brothers had been in danger, and he should have been helping them, not sitting idle in Tokyo.

  Because he had sent a message warning his brothers away.

  He had lied to them to keep them away so he could be alone with Aiko, and they had needed him but hadn’t called on him, had all been involved in a fight against strong foes and had left him on the bench because he had asked them to give him some space.

  The gods only knew how he would have been able to live with himself if they had been hurt.

  “Is it the moon playing on you?” Keras said, a wealth of concern in his tired green eyes as he looked across the group to Esher.

  Esher’s heart felt as if someone had poured lead into it as he thought about that. “It’s two days until a full moon, and it’s closer than normal. Not a perigee, but close.”

  Everyone exchanged glances, ones that had the guilt churning in the pit of his stomach growing more turbulent as he considered what that meant.

  He wouldn�
��t be able to leave the mansion.

  He would have to remain within the barrier set out around the grounds, and someone would have to protect Tokyo in his place. He had risked venturing out during a previous full moon and had ended up attacked by the wraith because he had been distracted, so drawn to the moon that he had let his guard slip.

  When the moon was full and closer to the Earth, it became harder to control his darker urges, and for the sake of the humans, he had to remain inside the mansion grounds, shielded by the wards.

  When the moon hit a perigee, well, he hated those days.

  They required more than just a few wards to keep him contained.

  “We can deal with the gate,” Daimon offered, and Esher nodded, thankful for their help. “Even if something is coming this way, we’ll find a way to keep the city safe.”

  Because they couldn’t risk letting him out.

  The female daemon coming after him wanted him alive for some reason, he knew that much, had heard Daimon and the others talking about it one night when he had surprised them by attending a meeting while he had still been recovering from the wraith attack.

  “It’ll be daylight in New York when it’s dark here. I can handle it.” Ares shot him a reassuring smile.

  “We missed Cal’s birthday.” Valen this time, and Esher knew what was coming next. “We should go out, tonight… come on. It’ll be fun and we need to blow off some steam.”

  “Didn’t we just blow off steam?” Ares put in, his face set in his standard scowl.

  Cal grinned, his blue eyes bright with it. “I’m game.”

  Keras sighed. “Must I remind everyone two gates were recently attacked by a powerful group of daemons? It’s not the time for fooling around.”

  Marek hiked his wide shoulders. “There’s no evidence to suggest the attacks are related to our true enemy. I’ve been monitoring gate and daemon activity, and a few of the larger, older factions of daemon are making plans, mobilising forces, because they know we’re being targeted. They want in on the action.”

  “Or in through the gates,” Ares grumbled, his expression blacker than Esher had seen it in a long time. He folded his arms across his chest, pulling his black t-shirt tight across his shoulders, and rubbed his thumb across his lower lip as his dark eyebrows dipped. “Daemons would view this as a great chance to break through the gates and enter the Underworld. We have our hands full waiting for whoever is behind the calamity and dealing with them whenever they appear.”

  That made a sickening sort of sense to Esher, and judging by the looks his other brothers exchanged, they felt the same way, and none of them were happy about it.

  This wasn’t something they had anticipated. It was hard enough being on guard all the time, waiting for their enemy to attack them, without adding in other daemon factions wanting to try their luck.

  Fuck, he could just imagine how his father would react if a group of daemons were able to slip past them. He had banished them from the Underworld for a reason, a damned good one. The wretches didn’t deserve to live in a place ruled by a king they had revolted against and attempted to overthrow.

  “So we’re not going out?” Cal looked disappointed, his eyes growing greyer as he frowned at them all and the tips of his blond ponytail beginning to lift and flutter as if stirred by a breeze.

  Esher caught the look Keras gave him, one that silently screamed of how they couldn’t risk letting him outside of the wards just in case the attacks had been arranged by the wraith and his cohorts.

  “Go. I’ll stay here. It’s fine.” He didn’t want to go out anyway. His brothers had disturbed his plans, and any moment now, Aiko was going to wake up.

  He wanted his brothers gone before that happened.

  Gods, he could just imagine the questions that would happen after he handed every single one of them their arses for just being in her presence.

  “I suppose I could take a break from research.” Marek looked himself over, taking in his dirty dark linen trousers and torn shirt. “Although, I might have to change. I can take a shower and grab some clothes from my room here.”

  The thought of Marek showering when Aiko was in the house had Esher close to growling.

  Ares pulled a face. “I take it we can’t bring the ladies?”

  “Boys night out.” The dark edge to Cal’s stormy blue eyes warned he was serious about that. “I want it to be like old times. Just us guys. Esher included. I’m not accepting a no from you.”

  Esher tensed when the thunder of tiny feet came from the corridor behind him and all of his brothers looked there, several of them shifting into a fighting stance as the air thickened, anticipation rolling through it.

  Aiko squeaked as she skidded to a halt on the threshold of the room.

  He was quick to back towards her, and even quicker to growl when she pressed against his back, hiding there, and he reached around behind him to touch her.

  She was only wearing her underwear.

  “I heard noises and when I saw the broken plate…” She burrowed deeper into his back as she spoke in rapid Japanese, and he glared at each of his brothers in turn, even as the words she didn’t say melted his heart.

  She had been worried and had wanted to protect him, had come running to his rescue.

  “Are you alright?” he whispered in Japanese, weathering the curious looks and moving to shield her whenever one of his brothers dared to try to peek around him.

  “I’m dying of embarrassment.” She pressed her palms to his back. “Your brothers?”

  “The very ones.” As much as he loved them, he was considering killing all of them.

  Valen and Calistos moved a step closer to him, and Daimon side-stepped, trying to get a better view.

  Esher twisted and flashed teeth at all of them, the desire to snap and lash out at them growing stronger with each passing second. He could almost feel the trident on his wrist darkening, and his eyes turning stormy with it.

  “Is she Hellspawn?” Daimon leaned to his right, and Esher backed off a step, towards the corridor, his other hand claiming Aiko’s hip to keep her hidden behind him.

  With her pressed this close to him, it would be difficult for his brothers to be able to sense what she was.

  Gods, he hoped her grasp of English wasn’t good enough to understand everything his brothers were saying. He didn’t want them to frighten her with talk of things that were not of her world. Not yet. Not until they had grown closer, and he felt sure she wouldn’t run away from him.

  “A goddess?” Marek frowned, but thankfully didn’t move. At least one of his brothers had the sense not to provoke him. “Is she the reason you were asking all those questions about the wards? She’s definitely not a daemon.”

  Everyone looked at him. Esher cursed him for making the whole situation worse.

  “That was meant to be a secret.” Esher glared at him. “I hope you enjoy the rain you’ll be getting in Seville for the next month.”

  Marek huffed, looked as if he wanted to argue as he crossed his arms across his chest, and then as if he was chewing on a wasp as he remained silent.

  “Is she a Carrier like Megan?” Ares hadn’t moved either, probably because he had been struck dumb. His older brother’s face was a blank mask, and Esher had the feeling that he knew the answer to that question.

  Knew what Aiko was but found it so incredible he couldn’t comprehend it.

  “A vampire?” Valen offered.

  Marek glared at him. “She’d better not be.”

  “Kyūketsuki… chigau yo!” The Japanese words for ‘vampire… you’re wrong’ were muffled against his back, Aiko’s normally gentle voice holding a wealth of denial. She wriggled and poked her head under his left arm, and spoke in English. “I am a woman, not a demon.”

  His brothers instantly sobered, all of the amusement fleeing their faces as they stared at her, and Esher glared at them as the rain started outside, pouring hard on the roof as his temper got the better of him and a need to drive
his brothers away before they started questioning her raged through him.

  Aiko’s softly spoken words froze him in place though.

  “I’m not like Esher. I’m human.”

  His eyes slowly widened in time with his brothers’ ones, and he needed to turn towards her and see her face when he asked her the question blazing in his heart, but he would expose her if he did, and then he would have to kill his brothers.

  Because no one but him got to see her this naked.

  “You know?” Those two words hung in the air for an excruciating moment before her voice broke the silence to answer him.

  “Yes.” She wrapped her arms around him from behind, settling her hands on his stomach, and gods, it was a relief. “You’re a water spirit… or a god… a good one.”

  “How did you know?” Damn, he wanted to see her, needed to look into her eyes and see that she really did know that he was a god, not like her, and she had always known.

  He needed to see that what he was wouldn’t come between them.

  She rested her cheek against his back, and spoke gently in Japanese, each word soothing him like a balm. “I knew the moment I met you, but I think I truly understood what you are when we were in the teahouse… when I saw the ocean in your eyes and felt the power of the sea surging through you.”

  He was glad none of his brothers could understand her language as well as he could.

  Daimon grinned, and said in perfect Japanese, “Really? I bet you felt it surging into you too.”

  Aiko gasped. Esher growled, and the only thing stopping him from grabbing his brother and hurling him across the room was the fact he would expose Aiko by moving.

  “Not a damned word.” He shot his brother a glare, hoping Daimon would see in it all the painful ways he would make him suffer if he dared to tell any of his brothers what she had said.

  “Leave them alone,” Valen bit out, and when everyone turned surprised looks on him, he sighed. “Leave them alone or I’ll rip off your heads and leave you to bleed to death in a gutter?”

  Cal, Marek and Ares grinned at that, and even Esher had to admit he was more comfortable with this side of Valen, the violent and tempestuous one that tried to turn everything into a brawl and preferred to tell the world to go to Hell.