Guardian

by Unknown

  “Bring him back alive. I need him.”

  She heard Jaden push himself up. “Then why did you send him out there alone?”

  She heard the sound of another vicious slap.

  “You better remember who you are now, worm. You’re not my equal.”

  Jaden’s voice was scarce more than a feral growl. “You’re right, Noir. Free or enslaved, I’ll always be superior to you.”

  “You better be glad I need you to fetch my dog. Otherwise you would pay for that.”

  “Yeah, fuck you very much, too.”

  Something hard struck the door, making her jump. But whether it was Jaden or Noir’s fist, she wasn’t sure.

  “Don’t let him get to you, babe.” It was Azura’s voice she heard this time. “We will have the key soon and then no one will stop us.”

  “I know I shouldn’t let that smug little prick get to me, but I can’t help it. He was always so arrogant.”

  “I know, brother. But let it go. We defeated, defanged, and emasculated Jaden a long time ago. All he can do now is raise your blood pressure … Your pet will be returned to you shortly, and it’ll heal as it always does.”

  Lydia grimaced at the way the bitch spoke about Seth like he wasn’t human. Well, okay he wasn’t fully, but he wasn’t an animal or an object, either.

  Damn them.

  You better be glad I don’t have my powers, puta. If she did, they’d be having a round right about now.

  Azura laughed. “Then we can share another bite of it and we’ll go after Zeus and his crew. Step by step, we will make it to the Malachai and then we’ll be where we should be. Rulers of the world.”

  They walked away.

  Flicking her nails at that door, Lydia was grateful they were gone before they sensed or discovered her. Or worse, she ripped the door open and did something stupid.

  Ugh! One day those two would get their comeuppance. She only hoped she was there to see it happen.

  But her relief at their departure didn’t last.

  After a few minutes, Jaden returned to his room without Seth. Something that made her panic all over again, especially since he was absolutely coated in blood that didn’t appear to be his. Literally, from his forehead to his shoes. He looked like Carrie minus the painted-on prom dress.

  Why wasn’t Seth with him?

  “Where is he?” she asked, terrified of the answer.

  His face pale, Jaden was actually shaking as he made his way to his table and reached for an opaque, green decanter without answering her or even looking in her direction.

  This had to be bad.

  And as he poured his drink into a jewel-encrusted gold cup, Lydia frowned at the thickness of the liquid and the color. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear it was blood.

  After he knocked back all the contents of his cup, he finally looked at her. “You don’t want to see him right now. Trust me.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I have to go to him.” He would be alone with no one to tend his wounds, and that was the last thing he needed.

  Jaden crossed the room and placed his hands on her shoulders. His eerie eyes burned her with their intensity, anger, and disgust. “Lydia, listen to me,” he growled between clenched teeth. “They almost cut him in half. Do you understand? I…” he winced as if he couldn’t bear whatever flashed through his mind. When he met her gaze again, she swore she saw tears in his eyes. “Long ago I was one of the most revered warlords ever born, with a lot of field experience of god-war and massacre proportions. I fought and survived battles that would make Quentin Tarantino’s movies look like a 1950s Disney musical, and I’ve never, ever seen anything so gruesome. Do you hear me?”

  Those words hit her like blows.

  He couldn’t be serious. Surely not …

  Her own tears cut warm trails down her cheeks as she imagined what he’d found. What was left of Seth …

  Releasing her, Jaden raked a trembling hand through his hair and winced. “It’s … it’s sick what they did to him. I didn’t think anyone could be crueler than Noir. I stand corrected.”

  He snarled something in a language she’d never heard before. “I should never have let him go alone. I knew better. It’s my fucking fault. All of this.” He lowered his head and fisted his hands in his hair. “How could I have been so stupid? So selfish? Gah, I’m such a fucking idiot.”

  She wasn’t sure if he was talking about his guilt over Seth or something else. But it was obvious, his past was every bit as brutal and traumatizing as Seth’s.

  Reaching out, she placed a comforting hand on Jaden’s shoulder. “You did what Seth asked.”

  Jaden shook his head and this time there definitely were tears in his eyes, and her own flowed in response to seeing a man this strong hurt so much. “I just wanted five minutes of not having Azura and Noir breathing down my neck. Five minutes.” His gaze tore into hers with the hatred that he bore for himself. “I condemned an innocent child into an eternity of hell for that five minutes. I’m worse than they are.”

  “No, Jaden. You’re not. You think they have given his pain any consideration at all?”

  He curled his lip as he shrugged her touch away. “Don’t patronize me and tell what I am and what I’m not. I see myself for what I’ve become and I’ve never deluded myself or tried to spin my actions into something they’re not. I know the beast in me and live with it every day.”

  And he hated it. He didn’t say it because he didn’t have to.

  She knew there was no way to comfort him and even if there was, he wouldn’t let her. He was too bent on flogging himself for his past mistakes.

  Meanwhile, there was another man here who needed help. One who had somehow become important to her. If she couldn’t help Jaden, the least she could do was go to him.

  “Where is Seth?”

  Jaden hesitated before he answered. “His room.”

  “Take me to him.”

  “I really don’t think you need or want to see this.”

  She glared up at his peculiar eyes. “If you don’t take me to him, right now, this second, I’ll walk out that door and find him myself.”

  He growled low in his throat as he glared his anger at her. “And you would, too. You stubborn fool. Just remember, it was that kind of blatant stupidity that trapped me here. You should listen once in a while when someone warns you.”

  Lydia thought about that. He was right. She’d always been prone to leap and then think about the consequences on her way down the cliff, into the swirling ocean. Solin had dogged her hard over that her entire life. But she wasn’t going to change today.

  “He needs us.”

  Jaden shook his head. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Before she could blink, they were in Seth’s room, which was still bathed with that eerie blue glow. She took a second to get her bearings in the dark silence that heightened the sound of her own heart beating. The jackal in her smelled his blood, not that she couldn’t see it plainly enough.

  How did he have any left inside his body?

  Completely naked, Seth lay on the bed so still, he didn’t seem real or alive. With his head turned away from her, his straightened auburn hair spilled over the black pillow.

  Bracing herself for the worst, she walked across the room slowly.

  His breathing was so shallow, she could barely see his chest moving. His skin had a deathly ashen pallor to it and was covered with a fine sheen of sweat. Sweat that made the swallow on his neck glisten, reminding her of how he’d gotten that tattoo.

  She choked back a sob over the pain of his life, wishing she could make him forget it.

  He lay with his long legs stretched out and one arm draped over his chest, just above …

  She froze in horror. “Oh my God,” she breathed as she finally saw what Jaden had warned her about.

  Never in her entire life had she seen a wound so foul. It looked as if a sword had gone through his stomach, just above his hip and below his bottom
rib, stopping only when it hit his spine.

  How could he still be alive? How? It defied any kind of logical explanation and she couldn’t imagine how excruciating it had to be.

  Worse, he was still conscious. Against all odds and all reason. His eyes were mere slits, but they glowed with his agony as he turned his head to look at her.

  His breathing became ragged as he gave her that familiar scowl that was redundant with his face paint.

  How could he stand it and not scream? How? But then she knew.

  He was used to pain.

  It was all he knew.

  She wanted to scream for him over what they’d done. There was no sense in this. Damn them all for it. Why wasn’t someone tending him? Doing something to alleviate his pain?

  But then she knew the answer to that, too.

  No one cared. No one except her.

  Taking his bleeding hand into hers, she knelt on the floor beside him. The last thing she wanted was to jar the bed in any way and cause him more pain. “What happened?”

  His grip was weak as he swallowed. He didn’t answer her question. With his gaze locked on hers, he spoke to Jaden, who stood just to her left. “I’m returning her powers to her. I need you to send her out of here, back to her own world.”

  Lydia shook her head in denial. “I won’t leave with you like this.”

  His glared intensified. “You have to, and you need to go now.”

  “No. I—”

  “Listen to me, Lydia.” He tensed and grimaced as if pain tore through him. For several seconds he panted from the weight of it. Then his tight grip relaxed and he opened his eyes again. “I wasn’t attacked. I—I was tortured.”

  It took several heartbeats before she understood what he was saying. But it made no sense. “Why?”

  He broke out into another round of sweat as if talking was straining him too much. “The Greek gods are looking for you. Not to take you home. They’ve been sent here to kill you.”

  Her jaw fell under the assault of disbelief that hit her hard. “What?”

  “He’s telling the truth,” Jaden said from behind her. “I found him bolted to the Wall. It looked like they’d spent all night, trying to force him to take them to you.”

  Seth coughed up blood, something that made the rest of his body bleed even more. Tears of pain gathered in his blue eyes. “I told them nothing. But they know that you’re in this realm. It’s why they breached my room. Somehow they could tell you were in here.” He had to pause to catch his breath. “Jaden had you shielded last night in his room so they couldn’t locate you.”

  His words stunned her. None of it made any sense. “Why would they want to kill me?” What had she ever done to them? She’d purposefully stayed away from the Greek gods.

  “They wouldn’t say. But you have to go and hide from them. They won’t stop until you’re dead.” He lifted her hand to his bloody lips and kissed her knuckles. The moment his lips touched her skin, she felt a rush go through her as he restored all of her powers.

  When he released her hand, the blood was gone from her skin. “Go.”

  When she didn’t leave, he glanced past her to Jaden. “Get her out of here.”

  Jaden nodded, then pulled her toward a corner, out of Seth’s line of vision. Before they left, he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “You should know something.”

  “What?”

  “He could have stopped his torture at any time by telling them where to find you. The only reason it stopped was that his morning relief saw that it was Greek gods and not Thorn’s people attacking him and called for reinforcements. Otherwise, he’d still be bolted to that Wall … protecting you.”

  With his blood and flesh.

  Her heart shattered as she heard those words. Seth didn’t believe in protecting anyone except himself. How many times had he said that? Yet there he lay, torn apart because of her.

  How could she leave him to this?

  “Can you do something to heal him?”

  Jaden shook his head. “I don’t have those powers.”

  And neither did she. Nor did she know anyone with them.

  “What’s going to happen to him after I leave?”

  Jaden fell silent as he considered it. “He’ll eventually heal. The pain will be unbearable until he does, but … he’ll live. However, if Noir finds out he was tortured and not attacked by Thorn’s people, and why he was interrogated by Greeks … his punishment will be a lot worse than this. By keeping you here, he’s brought enemies into Noir’s home. That’s not something the King Asshole and Queen Whore take lightly.”

  She couldn’t imagine anything worse. Her stomach heaved at the thought.

  And in that moment, she knew what she had to do.

  No matter what it cost her.

  “How do I get him out of here?”

  CHAPTER 14

  Jaden hesitated before he answered. “Yes, you can teleport him out of here, but you have to understand something before you do. In the condition he’s in, he won’t be able to help you in any way. None. Noir and Azura have his powers sucked down to virtually nothing, and by returning yours to you, he is literally drained to the level of a human. He’s defenseless right now. He can’t even move.”

  It didn’t matter. She wasn’t about to leave him here. Not like that. Not after he’d sacrificed himself to keep her safe. Only a heartless bitch could do such a thing. And she might be a lot of things in life, but that had never been one of them.

  She blinked away her tears. Later she’d cry. Right now, she had to stay on task. “I don’t care. I won’t leave him.”

  His features softened. “Thank you.”

  She didn’t understand his gratitude. “For what?”

  “For being the woman I thought you were. You’ve no idea how rare a beast that is.”

  Before she could stop herself, she hugged him for his kindness.

  Jaden held her tight, as if he were trying to commit this to memory because he knew he wouldn’t have anyone else hug him for a long time.

  If ever again.

  Lydia stepped back from him. “Are you sure you can’t come with us?”

  “Positive. If I break my word and leave against Azura’s wishes, someone a lot more important to me than I am will be hurt. I can’t do that.”

  She understood and she hated it for him. He didn’t deserve to be here any more than Seth did.

  As she started back to the bed, Jaden stopped her. “Where will you take him?”

  “I don’t know. I doubt it’ll be safe at home. If the ones after me found me here, then they most likely know where I live. Same thing for Solin’s place.”

  “Do you have any friends?”

  “Not really.” In spite of her talks with Seth, she had a hard time trusting people, too. Plus being immortal made it difficult to have humans as friends. They tended to notice when she didn’t age.

  “Then you should go to Sanctuary.”

  She frowned. “Sanctuary?”

  “It’s a bar in New Orleans that’s owned by a group of Ursulans.”

  Her heart clenched in fear. By nature, both the Katagaria and Arcadian branches of Were-Hunters were highly territorial. They couldn’t stand for another species to enter their domain. Many times, such an action would start all-out war. That was the last thing she needed.

  Not to mention, bears and jackals were mortal enemies.

  “I can’t go there. They’ll kill me.”

  “No, they won’t. I swear. The Peltiers are different. It’s run by an Arcadian bear named Aimee and her Katagari mate, a wolf named Fang. They have doctors there who can help you with Seth. It’s your best shot.”

  “An Arcadian mated to a Katagari?” She’d never heard of such a thing, never mind the fact that they were two different species.

  “I told you, they’re different.”

  She wanted to believe him, but … “You’re sure they won’t hurt us?”

  “Positive. They’ll welcome you both, and do you
no harm.”

  Please don’t be lying to me.

  But why would he? He really did seem concerned about Seth. You keep telling Seth to trust other people. It’s your turn to put some faith in them.

  Realizing the truth of that, she nodded, then returned to the bed where Seth lay.

  He opened his eyes and cursed obscenely when he saw her again.

  “Nice to see you, too, beast.” She smiled at him and brushed the hair back from his bruised cheek. “I told you if you returned my powers that I’d get you out of here. Just so you know, I keep my word.”

  Seth didn’t know what stunned him most. The fact that she’d come back for him or the feather-light kiss she brushed against his lips.

  Even through his vicious, biting pain, both of those warmed him completely. And when she pulled back, he suddenly found himself in a strange room with red brick walls and no windows. He lay on a small, thin bed that was surrounded by strange steel and glass cabinets, the likes of which he’d never seen before.

  Where was he?

  Was this another hell realm?

  The door behind Lydia flew open so fast, it rattled on its hinges. Three large men came in, ready for battle.

  Grinding his teeth against the pain he knew would come, he put his arm out to block Lydia from them and sat up.

  Too late, he realized that was a bad mistake as unimaginable agony ripped through him and stole his strength. His head swam and vision dimmed. But he refused to pass out and leave her to them.

  He groaned out loud as the pain increased even more. It was absolutely killing him.

  “Seth!” Lydia wrapped her arms around his shoulders and laid him back against the bed with a care that amazed him. Her lips touched his ear as she held him close and trembled against his body.

  In that moment, he wanted to die with her like that. Wrapped around him, offering him comfort. Especially if it was a lie and she really didn’t care about him. He didn’t want to live and discover the truth.

  The men came forward and surrounded his bed.

  Seth tried to summon his strength to fight. How could he protect her?

  I’m worthless.

  The one with long black hair braided down his back placed a hand on Lydia’s arm. “We’ll take care of him.”