Thanatos: Guardians of Hades Series Book 8
Page 23
“I can make it.” He steeled himself against the fiery burn that swept through his bones with each beat of his wing, focused on the mountains and reaching the peak. If he could just reach it, he could glide down the other side.
His vision tunnelled and he growled, clenched his jaw and wanted to roar out his rage and his fear as he realised that he wouldn’t make it. At this rate, he would blackout and crash into the side of the mountain. He swooped lower in a circle, desperately trying to control his descent as his right wing gave up.
“Brace yourself against me.” He tucked Calindria to his chest, holding her head to his shoulder as the ground came at them fast.
Too fast.
She curled into him just as they hit it, desperately clutched at his shoulders as he clung to her, trying to keep hold of her. He rolled with her, tumbling across the hard ground, and grunted as he struck a boulder and lost his grip on her. She shrieked as she was launched from his arms and he lost sight of her as he continued to roll, kicking up black dust into a cloud that blinded him.
The moment he stopped rolling, he tried to push himself up, bellowed as his right wing blazed with an inferno that stole his breath and had him dangerously close to blacking out. It wasn’t his only injury. His right tibia ached too, was probably fractured.
And he had lost his sword somewhere.
He fumbled and drew his remaining dagger, shook his head and blinked hard, trying to clear his hazy vision. He had to find Calindria.
He needed to know she was unharmed.
Safe.
When his vision cleared, coming into focus, at least twenty pairs of booted feet filled it. He growled and launched at the warriors, barrelling into one to take him down and slashing his blade across the throat of another. His head turned again and he fought the warmth rolling through him, heat that was sickeningly familiar.
Drugged again.
He gritted his teeth and fought the toxin, lashed out at another warrior and caught him across his bare chest, leaving a deep groove in his muscles that spilled crimson. The warrior staggered backwards into another, taking him down too. Thanatos whirled as he sensed someone behind him, threw a hard right hook and slammed it into the male’s face, shattering his nose. He followed it with a swift strike of his dagger to the male’s throat, plunging the blade deep before tugging it out again. Blood burst like a geyser from the wound and the warrior fumbled with his throat, panic lighting his rugged features as he tried to stem the bleeding.
Thanatos kept on fighting, battering any warrior who dared to come up behind him with his one good wing, and cutting and punching his way through those foolish enough to stand in his way.
Where was Calindria?
He tried to locate her, but the damned realm muddied his senses. All he could feel were the warriors crowding around him. Maybe if he killed them all, he would be able to feel her. He grinned at the pleasing thought of butchering them all.
Two more warriors met death by his blade, one going down screaming while the other gagged on his own blood.
By his count, he was down to only ten warriors.
He rolled his shoulders and readied his blade, flashed his teeth at one of the larger warriors, picking him as his next victim.
“Stop.” That familiar female voice had him turning on a vicious roar to face the owner of it.
The silver-haired female stood a short distance away, her violet eyes showing no trace of fear.
He went to launch at her.
Froze as she lifted her right hand higher.
Calindria winced as the tip of one of his own daggers pressed into the underside of her chin, angled her head back and stared at him through eyes flooded with fear and regret, with anger too. He instantly backed off, held his hands up in a faux act of surrender, buying himself time to assess the situation.
A situation that didn’t look good when he noticed Calindria’s hand covering the one the demigoddess had twisted tightly in her hair.
Just as his little goddess had feared, the drug had suppressed her powers.
Around him, the warriors closed in. Thanatos kept tabs on all of them. If any of them strayed too close, he would kill them. His gaze lowered to meet Calindria’s. Or maybe he wouldn’t. He couldn’t risk the demigoddess hurting her.
“It was not time to set you free yet, my little bird,” the demigoddess hissed in her ear. “Perhaps we should put you back in your cage.”
Calindria kicked at her for that, the fear in her eyes increasing, hitting Thanatos hard as she tried to fight her way free. She stilled again as the demigoddess pressed the dagger close enough that it nicked her skin.
“No.” Thanatos lifted his hand, holding it out facing the bitch. “Do not hurt her.”
The female’s violet eyes slowly narrowed in a look that chilled him to the bone. She knew. She knew he had feelings for Calindria, would do anything to save her, to keep her safe. She knew he couldn’t bear the thought of her going back into a cage.
He looked at Calindria, seeing how terrified she was of that happening.
“Let her go.” Thanatos kept his eyes on Calindria’s blue ones, needing her to see that he wouldn’t let them put her in a cage. He wouldn’t let anyone take her freedom from her again or stop her from reaching her family. “Hades knows she lives. He sent me here to retrieve her. Whatever plans you had for her, they are done. Over.”
“I will have to find another use for her then.” The demigoddess stroked the flat of the blade down Calindria’s neck and his heart wrenched into his throat as his little goddess closed her eyes and her brow furrowed.
“You hurt her—” He growled and flexed his fingers around his dagger, looked for his sword and found it only thirty feet away. Thirty feet that looked like a mile to him. He would never be able to reach it and then the demigoddess before she could sink the dagger into Calindria’s throat. His shoulders sagged a little. “Just… do not hurt her.”
A sick gleam lit the female’s violet eyes as she raked them over him. “You could convince me to let her go… but it would cost you.”
He bared his teeth at her, refused to do the things he could see she was thinking about even as part of him accepted his fate. The thought of submitting to the demigoddess again sickened him, had him wanting to snarl and lash out, to attack everyone in the vicinity. He wanted to kill her, slowly, savouring it.
He lowered his gaze to Calindria again.
But he couldn’t.
If he attacked anyone, the female would kill her.
And gods, that would kill him.
He had sworn that no female would ever hold sway over him again, would never enslave him and use him against his will, but he would submit himself to that horror for Calindria.
Because he wanted to set her free.
Because he loved her.
He swallowed hard and lowered his dagger, felt hollow inside as he looked at the demigoddess.
Defeated again.
“I offer myself in exchange.” Those words were like acid on his tongue, a thousand tiny blades that cut him to ribbons inside, making him wish he were dead already because what this female had planned for him would be a slow, torturous death of his soul. “Let Calindria go and I will serve you.”
A flicker of interest lit her vile violet eyes, worsening the swirling sickness that wracked him, had it filling his mind with images of what she had planned for him. The urge to clutch his dagger and fight was strong, but the need to save Calindria was stronger, had him standing his ground and facing his fate. For her, he would do anything, even this.
“I accept.” Those two words fell hard from the demigoddess’s lips, shaking him.
“No, Thanatos.” Calindria tried to struggle, but he shook his head, silently telling her not to.
Because she was only making this harder on him.
He stared at the silver-haired female, bone-deep aware that she would play him, that once she had him within her grasp she would recapture Calindria. He was going to have to buy her
The demigoddess drew another dagger from the waist of her black leather trousers, inspected it and tossed it to him. He caught it with his free hand and glared at it, could smell the vile poison that coated the blade—the same drug she had used on him before. She had come here prepared to recapture him too.
He swallowed thickly.
“Cut yourself with it.”
Thanatos drew down a fortifying breath, told himself that his captivity would only be temporary, that this time he would escape her sooner. Getting Calindria free of this realm and back to her family would be worth whatever he had to endure.
He slashed the blade across his right forearm, just above his vambrace.
Felt sick as warmth instantly rolled through him, clouding his mind, making his thoughts blur. He hated that feeling of weakness sweeping through him almost as much as he despised what came next.
“Thanatos,” Calindria breathed, her brow furrowing, blue eyes filled with fear and rage.
He shook his head again and looked into her eyes, focused on her and her alone as hurt welled inside him, as hope gave way to fear of never seeing her again, never escaping his prison and the sickening grasp of the demigoddess.
“Do not fight me on this, little goddess,” he whispered, voice thick with the emotions running rampant inside him, unleashed by the drug as it ravaged his defences, stripping down his walls and his inhibitions. Before long, it would transform him, would attempt to make him a mindless slave to lust, and he didn’t want Calindria around when that happened. He didn’t want her to see him like that. “Go. Run as soon as you have the chance.”
He tried to smile for her as tears filled her eyes, clung to the tattered shreds of his hope as he formed a plan and delivered a message he hoped she would figure out, because this time, he needed her to rescue him.
“I will meet you at the castle.”
Chapter 26
Calindria could only stare at Thanatos as two brutes approached her, seized her arms and pulled her away from the silver-haired female. She kept her gaze locked on Thanatos as they marched her away from the demigoddess, as he approached the female, his eyes fixed on her. She willed him to look at her instead, but his silver gaze refused to leave the demigoddess.
“Thanatos,” she whispered, shaking her head. “Do not do this.”
He had hated it when this female had held him captive, and the thought of him subjecting himself to it again had an ache blooming in her chest and fire blazing through her veins. She would rather the demigoddess placed her back in a cage. She was used to that life, had experienced a taste of freedom, and it would be enough to get her through the coming months or years, however long it took for him to find her again. Thanatos had a life out there, beyond this realm.
But that wasn’t the only reason she didn’t want him to subject himself to this for her sake.
She had seen the fear in his eyes, had sensed the panic in him.
He was afraid of what would happen to him once he was within the grasp of this female.
“Thanatos, look at me.” She tried to break free of the two males holding her in vice-like grips, lunged a few inches towards Thanatos before they pulled her back and shoved her forwards, away from him.
He still refused to look at her.
The second he was within reach of the demigoddess, the silver-haired female was all over him, cuddling up close to him.
Thanatos didn’t push her away.
He stood there, gazing down at the female as she stroked her palms over his chest, as she smiled up at him.
Some of the fire burning in Calindria’s veins turned to ice. He had hated it when the demigoddess had held him, hadn’t he? There was no trace of loathing in his eyes though, no anger as the female caressed his bare skin, as she pressed close to him.
The silver-haired female angled her head towards Calindria and rubbed her cheek against his chest, her violet eyes flashing wickedly as they locked with Calindria’s.
“Oh, how I have ached for you, my lover.” The demigoddess leaned back slightly and looked up at Thanatos as he lowered his head towards her. She reached up and framed his face with her palms, ran her hands down his strong neck and squeezed his shoulders. “There is no male in this world who fucks like you do. I still tremble when I recall how hard you took me… how you gave me everything you had.”
Calindria frowned at that, aware of what the female meant by it, and that she had said it on purpose, knew that Thanatos had been with her but had held part of himself back from her, denying her his seed. Because of this female?
“Look at me,” she snapped, her eyes locked on Thanatos as she lunged towards him again, wrestling against the firm hold of the two brutes. “Look at me, godsdammit!”
He didn’t take his eyes off the beautiful female as she rubbed herself against him.
“Take her away and do not disturb us. We have a lot of lost time to make up for.” The demigoddess’s hand drifted lower to cup Thanatos’s backside through his leathers. “I bet you will be even rougher with me this time.”
She looked as if she liked the thought of that.
Calindria didn’t. The thought of Thanatos with this female shattered something inside her, snapped the tethers on her rage and had her fighting to reach him. She spat curses at him when he still refused to look at her, when he just stood there with his eyes on the female as the two brutes began dragging her backwards, further from him.
They twisted with her and shoved her forwards, and she knew in her gut they weren’t going to let her go. Thanatos had been right about that. As soon as she was able, she needed to escape their hold, but she couldn’t think clearly. Her head was filled with heart-breaking images of Thanatos with the demigoddess. She tried to shut them out, but she wasn’t strong enough. They came one after the other, a torrent that tormented her, tearing apart her strength piece by piece, until new thoughts emerged, ones about just giving up.
She didn’t want to be without Thanatos.
She looked back at him one last time.
This time, he glanced at her, and his eyes were bright blue fire, caged fury shining in them as the demigoddess kissed a path over his bare chest.
That look was enough to reignite the flames of her own rage, to give her the will to keep on fighting, to shut out the twisted thoughts her mind was throwing at her and focus on doing as he had asked.
Escaping.
She needed to escape and then she needed to get help. Her mind raced over everything she had to do as the two brutes marched her towards the mountains, as she sensed Thanatos disappear from behind her together with the demigoddess and her army. She couldn’t fight the demigoddess alone when she had an army at her disposal. She wasn’t strong enough. She needed backup and she needed to trust what Thanatos had told her, and what she had witnessed in his eyes countless times when they were together, was true.
He loved her.
She loved him too, and she was damned if that demigoddess was going to lay her filthy hands on him.
She was going to get help and then she was coming back here to save him.
Calindria flexed her fingers and focused on them, felt a tingle in their tips. She walked calmly forwards, relaxing in the grip of the two brutes who held her as she formed a plan and tested the limits of her powers.
She glanced at the swords the two males gripped. She was quick, but the drug was still affecting her strength. If she made a play for one of their swords, there was a high chance the other one would kill her before she could get her hands on the weapon.
What if she touched one of them?
Calindria focused harder on her hands, but her thoughts were still a little hazy, her body still a little numbed by the drug. The demigoddess knew of the power of her touch, would probably have tailored the drug to shut down that ability in her to render her safe for her men to touch.
Her eyes widened slightly.
<br /> But there was a chance the female hadn’t known about her power over nature.
Ahead of her, a great crack in the side of the mountain loomed, a tunnel she knew without a doubt would lead to a new cage for her. That was the reason the males hadn’t teleported her anywhere. They already had a cage prepared for her.
She held her nerve, biding her time, hoping her plan worked. She needed to catch them both off guard and in a confined space, and it didn’t hurt to give herself a little more time to purge the drug.
The one to her left pushed her forwards and grunted as they reached the tunnel.
Her breaths quickened, heart accelerating as she stared ahead of her, at the end of the cragged narrow tunnel. It was short, ended barely ten feet in, opening out into a cavern that had a golden metal cage in the middle of it, lit by flaming torches.
Now or never.
Either this worked, or she had just condemned both her and Thanatos.
She summoned her strength, using the thought of Thanatos being tormented by that female as fuel. She couldn’t let it happen. She had to save him.
Her eyes slipped shut as she drew on the earth, as she used every drop of her strength and focused on her feet, on the connection between her and the ground. Nature.
Power surged through her, felt as if it was ripping her apart and consuming her, and she cried out as pain blazed through every inch of her and her head turned.
That cry was joined by two loud bellows that ended abruptly.
She sagged to her knees when the warriors’ grips on her loosened, hit the dirt and collapsed against it, breathing hard and fast as her entire body quaked from the drain of using her power when she was still under the influence of the drug. Her vision tunnelled and she shook her head, shifting her cheek against the dirt, refusing to succumb to the darkness.
Thanatos needed her.
She pressed her palms against the dirt and gritted her teeth as she pushed herself up, cried out again as her bones ached and muscles shook and her arms almost gave out. Every fibre of her being seemed to tremble as she crawled to the rough wall of the tunnel, as she dug her fingers into the bumpy surface and hauled herself up onto her bare feet.
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