by JoAnna Grace
That hit the nerve Ryse was looking for. Brenden’s knives came at him and sliced his chest. Ryse smirked at him.
“You can do better. Did you puss around like this with Meg’s killer?”
“Do not go there, Ryse!”
Brenden’s eyes began to change and Ryse pressed forward. Their blades engaged in a series of whips and lashes. Brenden tackled Ryse and they rolled on the ground for a moment before Ryse used his powers to push Brenden across the arena.
“More,” he commanded. Bren was not giving his all yet.
“No.”
“Would you not give more for Avery? Does she not deserve more than what you gave Meg?”
Bren went predator still. “You son of a bitch.” The yellow demon eyes of his beast grew narrow.
“You were afraid then, and you are afraid now. Meg deserved better and so does Avery. You aren’t even good enough to protect Nikki.” Bringing up Nikki was unnecessary, Ryse only wished to let him know he knew his secret. It was just another button.
And it worked. Screaming a line of profanities that would make a sailor cringe, the animals inside of Brenden took over. Ryse braced for battle. Now he would really have to defend himself.
“What is he saying to him?” Avery was unable to keep the fear from her voice. Ryse was glowing with a white light. Brenden was convulsing, his body contorting into something unknown.
“Whatever it was, it’s making him change forms.” Hayden pulled Avery into his shoulder protectively.
“No,” Nikki whispered helplessly. “No, he can’t.” The panic and trepidation in Nikki’s eyes was familiar. It conveyed the same fear Avery had for Ryse. Nikki cared for Brenden.
Avery took the other woman’s hand. “It’s okay. They won’t really hurt each other. I hope.”
The crowd hushed as Brenden’s other form appeared. He was a beast as Avery had never seen. Brenden had not only changed into one animal; he had morphed into a combination. His body resembled a grizzly, broad and massive. Growls that came from his throat were from the muzzle of a wolf. Talons clawed at the earth beneath him. Brenden reared back on his hind legs and wailed out to the sky. The sound pierced Avery to her core and pain and anger in that animal’s cry was heartbreaking.
HOW COULD RYSE push him to do this? How could he be so cruel and heartless? I can’t be with a man that would torture another living creature.
The gargantuan creature charged at Ryse and went straight for his jugular. She cringed as Ryse threw down his sword and crouched to receive the frontal attack.
Monsters, all of them. Monsters. I have to get out of here. I have to get away from these barbarians. I’m not like them; they’ll kill me. I have to get out of here.
Avery tried to leave but a firm hand caught her. Hayden pulled her closer to his side. “Calm down, sister.”
“Something is wrong, Hayden.” She tried to shake the terror in her mind. But it was spouting up from a place she didn’t recognize.
“It’s alright. Ryse is in control.”
“It’s not Ryse that I’m worried about.” Head in her hands, she watched the men battle. Brenden was raw power and brute strength. But Ryse was grace and agility with a lethal edge. The fight below was bloody.
This is too gruesome. I can’t watch. How could they want me to witness this? I have to get away from these people. Even Hayden. He’s forcing me to endure this. I have to go. I have to go.
“I have to go. I can’t watch this.” Her body shook.
Hayden bent his head to her ear. “Brenden is winding down, Avery. It’s a show, probably so Salina can see Bren’s strength. Trust me, okay?”
She took a deep breath and nodded. She had to get a handle on herself. Ryse was only testing Brenden, not hurting him. It was a show. Hayden moved his arms and cheered on his brother.
For Salina! It was all for Salina. Ryse had wanted her to see his strength. He still wants her and nothing I do can change that.
Avery shook her head. This was not right. These thoughts were not her own.
I’m going crazy. It’s too much.
Avery looked over at Salina watching Ryse as a cat watches fish in a bowl.
I can’t compete with her. She’s beautiful, powerful and she’s already been with Ryse once. How do I know that he wouldn’t go back to her? And what am I compared to her? I’m nothing. I’m not Deity material. I’m just a farm girl. I’m unclean and he will never be physically satisfied with me like he was with her. I’m not good enough to be his mate. He will never love me and I’ll never be safe away from here. I’d be better off dead—
The thoughts stopped as soon as a heavy hand rested on her shoulder. Avery turned to see Dante crouched behind her, his face contorted into an expression of confusion. His sand colored eyes had no pupils.
“What are you doing?” Avery asked.
“Prince Hayden.” He ignored Avery’s question. Hayden turned to look at the Thracian soldier who had his hand on the Princess. His eyes zeroed in on the touch and a familiar possessiveness glinted in them. “May I have your permission to move next to the Princess? She is in need of my assistance.”
Hayden narrowed his eyes at Dante for only a second. “You have amazing intuition, sister. Nikki, let Dante take your seat. Come sit by me.”
Avery watched, clueless, as the move happened. Nikki didn’t question her orders. They were both lost when Dante took his seat and put his hand on Avery’s forearm. He looked at her with those incredible eyes. “If you have any more thoughts that are not your own, let me know. But you should not.”
“I’m sorry?”
Hayden put his arm back around Avery’s shoulder. “It seems that of all the Thracians in the center, you picked the one you would need today. Dante has a defensive power.”
Thoughts that were not her own, defensive powers, all those things flowing through her mind that she would never usually feel.
“Salina,” Avery growled. Salina was a telepath, able to infect people with her thoughts.
“Smart girl,” Hayden smiled. “You keep Dante nearby and she can’t reach you.”
She whipped her head around to look at Dante. His lips barely showed a smile before he returned his attention to the pit.
Ryse was fighting off the beast without breaking a sweat. Brenden had gotten in some good blows. The blood on his arm and chest were seeping proof. But Brenden was worse off. Even with his beastly fur, Avery could see him bleeding heavily and panting with exhaustion. It didn’t slow him down. Bren was gnashing his teeth, sinking them into Ryse’s body. Quick movements from Ryse had the teeth out of his flesh and Bren’s head flying backwards. It was a close fight.
Her heart nearly burst from her chest when she saw Ryse levitate in the arena to dodge an attack. He stretched out his arms to the sky and his body lifted from the ground. A white light glowed in his eyes and it scared the hell out of her. With a loud clap, a wave of sound spread from his hands. It hit Brenden and he went down. The shock wave burst out and hit everyone in the arena. It knocked the crowd back to their chairs. Avery was glad she had been sitting. If she had been on her feet, like the rest of the spectators, she, too, would have been pushed over.
When the crowd gained their bearings, Ryse was the only one left standing, Brenden’s unmoving body at his feet.
“BREN!” Nikki screamed and covered her mouth.
“I THOUGHT YOU’D killed him!” Avery exclaimed as they sat in the medical center patching up the guys.
Ryse smiled and pulled Avery to his chest, “I’m sorry, my love. Now that the beast is out of the bag, people should begin to hear about the monster that is guarding my woman.” He hadn’t wanted to use Ares’ gifts to end the match. But he could sense Nikki’s worry and Hayden’s frustration about something. It had been time to prove his point and Brenden had done well.
“Speaking of, brother,” Hayden interjected. “It seems that the Princess has already begun choosing guardians. The warrior-in-training, Dante, waits in the hall.”
> Ryse nodded. “Come, Avery. Let’s give Brenden a minute to rest. Nikki, keep cleaning his wounds.” He ushered Avery out the door, but not before she turned and ran to hug Brenden. The boy chuckled and returned the hug, assuring her he was fine.
Out in the hall, Dante was standing at attention his eyes straight ahead. When Ryse and Hayden came out of the room with Avery in tow, he went to one knee.
“Rise,” Ryse commanded. “I want all of us to convene in the secure conference room at the Palace in one hour.” He looked at Hammon. “Do we know where Yankee and Philippe went?”
“No, Master.”
Ryse nodded and clenched his jaw. “Find out.” Once more he turned to Dante. “You are about to complete your final stage of training, are you not?”
“Yes, Master. I have a couple weeks left.”
“Go to your dorm. Get your belongings. I’ll have someone prepare you a suite close to the Princess. Be in the conference room in an hour.”
Dante bowed and left quickly. Ryse looked at Avery, who was still pale. “Come. You and I need to talk.”
Avery slouched. “I hate it when you say that.”
Nikki bandaged the wounds on Brenden’s arm. She remained quiet. Her head was full of thoughts she wished would go away. Ryse had used his powers to stop Brenden; the whole audience felt it. All she could think about was the picture of Ryse kneeling over Brenden’s body, still and broken. The blast of power had knocked him unconscious.
One of the first ones to her feet, Nikki hadn’t been able to breathe. Terror gripped her. Only when she saw Ryse pull Brenden up from the ground did she take in air again.
“Your hands are shaking,” Brenden whispered as she tended to his arm.
“They are not. You be still,” she barked out, trying to cover the way his sweet honeyed voice caressed her ears. The feelings had never been spoken, the thoughts never voiced. What she and Brenden had was nothing more than glances that lasted a little too long or smiles that seemed too intimate in otherwise casual settings. Yesterday at dinner he had touched her elbow to ask for a refill of his glass then she had winked at him after a clever joke he made. Such minute things. Such great things.
Nikki finished up with his arm and moved to the two gashes across his chest and abdomen. “Stand,” she demanded.
“Yes, ma’am.” He stood up and let her clean him. Her shaking hands gripped a wet cloth that she slowly wiped his skin.
“Nikki,” Brenden stopped her hand. “Please.”
She lost it. “What were you thinking? Do you realize what could have—” Her words froze on her tongue when his knuckles caressed her cheek.
He smiled that boyish grin and rubbed her face. “You’re so pretty, Nikki.” Brenden reached up and tugged at her ponytail. “Real pretty.”
“And you’re an idiot, Bren.” Tears fell down her cheeks. She wiped them away. “Curse you, making me cry.”
Brenden couldn’t help but smile as she gained her composure. “You weren’t worried about lil’ ol’ me, were you?”
Nikki put one hand on her hip and jabbed the wet cloth at his torn torso with the other. He yelped with pain. “Yes, you fool. I was worried about you. I can’t for the life of me justify the emotion.”
She wiped him down and covered him in a healing cream. The caress of her hands made him suck in a sharp breath. The fuming façade dropped and she looked at him with worry. “Did I hurt you?” Brenden’s lazy smile spread his lips wide and Nikki realized she had been played. “You’re a scamp.”
“And you’re an angel.”
“Don’t say things like that.” She took a large role of gauze in her hand.
“Why not?”
She looked at him as if he were dense in the head. He shrugged at the implications of her look. “Brenden, you are now the head guardian of Avery. Your sole focus has to be on her. I’m her Shadow Lady. Don’t you think that’s a conflict of interest?”
“Do you think I can’t multitask?”
Wrapping his wounds, she circled him with her arms, taking care to make sure they were not too tight to be uncomfortable. When she passed around to his front again, he bent down and tried to kiss her.
“Stop,” she said, turning her cheek.
“Why not? You know there’s something here, Nikki.”
His back seemed to be a safer place so she brought the gauze around. “You’re a Thracian and I’m a servant. There are lines, barriers. And if we do…then we can’t…and I…well, I don’t want to start what was never meant to be finished. Things will get complicated and we both have duties we must fulfill. If it goes badly and I have to look at you everyday—”
“Ryse knows.”
“What?” Her fingers fumbled in their task of cutting gauze and she nearly dropped the scissors.
“He knows that I have feelings for you. It was what set me off today. Ryse said that you and Avery and…and Meg deserved better.”
Nikki went completely still. It was no secret that Meg was not to be mentioned. Slowly, carefully, Nikki stepped to look him in the eye. “You know he did not mean that. He was only fingering a wound so that you could change forms.”
“Yeah, I know.” But it still hurt him deeply and that emotion was written like a book all over his sweet face.
Nikki took a gamble with her own control and palmed his cheek. “If it were true, he would never allow you to be Avery’s guardian, especially if he knows I might be a distraction. The Master trusts you. I know Avery holds you highly.”
“And you?”
Nikki paused, searching for any sign of hesitation in her heart, but none existed. Instead of doing the proper thing, Nikki was honest. “I can barely remember how to breathe when you are near. And I fear it will only get worse as the days go by.”
Never in a million lifetimes would she have guessed that her first kiss would be in a clinic room surrounded by sterile furniture and bloodied rags. And never in a million lifetimes would she have guessed that it would have been so perfect.
The minute they got into their room and the door was closed, Avery turned to face Ryse, but no words came to her. She sat down in one of the chairs and put her head in her hands.
“Brenden did very well today. He earned the right to be your guardian. Dante also proved to have potential for a position with you as well.”
“Ryse. Shut up.” Avery rubbed her temple. “Please,” she added.
He came to stand in front of her. “You’re upset.”
“Very good observation, Captain Obvious.” She looked up just in time to see his lip twitch as he controlled the urge to smile. “Will I ever get used to this?”
“Yes, my love.” He took her cheek into his palm. “You have been here for only days. Don’t expect to it to be a quick adjustment. You are still young to this life.”
“Ryse, how old are you?” she said, tilting her head to the side. “I’m supposed to be your consort and I don’t even know how old you are. I know not to believe my eyes around here. Especially after today.”
He moved his shoulders in a flippant manner. “I am somewhere around two hundred and seventy-five. I lost count.”
Her jaw dropped to the floor and her eyes popped out of her head. “Jeez, you’re old!”
The rumble of his laughter filled the room. Avery loved that laughter. It was his light, happy laugh. She had the feeling not many people heard it. “And you are but a babe!” He chuckled.
“Here I was, thinking we were gonna have an uneventful day.” She smirked.
The light coming in from the wall of windows was shining on his black silky hair. Ryse had cleaned up after his match and the black shirt he wore did wonderful things to his coloring. His eyes made Avery think of melted chocolate—melted chocolate that she would love to pour all over just to feel his tongue lick—
“Avery!” he exclaimed with a devilish curve to his lips. “What were you thinking just now?”
Dang, how did he know? “Nothing.”
“I’m serious, Avery. I co
uld almost read your thoughts.” His face was puzzled and delighted at once. Avery was embarrassed and tingling inside from the nature of her thoughts. “What were you thinking?”
Avery bent her blushing face down and spoke to her lap. “I was thinking about the color of your eyes.”
Ryse picked her up out of the chair with so little effort and held her. “And?”
“You’re a very good lookin’ man.” She pet his chest. Those eyes held such delight that she smiled. “Can I tell you something?”
“Anything,” he said, running his hand through her hair.
“This morning, when you told me that the gods made us for each other, I didn’t believe that. Mostly ’cause I have no idea what kind of guy I prefer personality-wise. But I will say that if old Zeus and I sat around making men the way I like ’em, you’d be the end result.” She rubbed his chest and his round muscular shoulders. “I could look at you all day long and never quit feeling like the luckiest woman alive.”
Ryse sat there quietly. So quietly that it made her blush. “Say something,” she whispered.
Ryse’s face gave away nothing. It made her wonder if he was feeling anything at all. What she said wasn’t exactly the most poetic of compliments, but she hoped that’s how he would take it. Maybe he was perturbed that she focused on his appearance not his abilities, especially after the morning they’d had.
“Ryse?”
“No one…” He let out a ragged breath, cleared his throat and started again. “No one has ever paid me such a compliment. Not anyone who mattered anyway.”
“I have a real hard time believing that you don’t have women falling at your feet.” She buried her face into the curve of his neck.
“Other women’s words have been nothing but noise in my head. It’s different coming from your lips.” He squeezed her tighter. “Your opinion means the world to me.”
