by Tamara Gill
Guardian
Daughters of the Gods
Book II
BY
Tamara Gill
Guardian
Daughters of the Gods
Book II
~ Amazon Edition ~
Copyright 2013 by Tamara Gill
First Published 2013
Editing by Serena Tatti
Cover Art by For The Muse Designs
Published by Tamara Gill
www.tamaragillromanceauthor.com
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a database and retrieval system or transmitted in any form or any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the owner of copyright and the above publishers.
DEDICATION
To my editor Serena Tatti who gave me the idea of making my paranormal novella into a series. To my ever faithful critique partners, Joanna Lloyd, Eden Summers, Bianca Sarble, Hazel Gower, Natasha Devereux, Jacqui Carling Rodgers and Julie Anne Carter. Without you ladies, I would achieve nothing. And to my beautiful family and friends for putting up with me always.
Thank you.
Prologue
Battle of the Gods – Thessaly
Pain sliced through his side. Lelantos ignored the stinging burn from the razor sharp blade and blocked another forceful blow from his assailant. For ten long years, the war between the Olympian gods and the Titans, Lelantos’ people, had waged. Many of his kind had been slain only to revitalize quickly and be slaughtered all over again. Or worse still, imprisoned in Tartarus, an evil prison which made Hades look like the Elysian Fields. Chills ran down his spine at the thought of being thrown into that endless chasm, filled with his own kind, not to mention other fearful entities, such as cyclops and giants. Fear wasn’t a feeling that sat comfortably with his being a Titan. He was an entity born to kill without remorse and live without regret. He did it every day.
The powerful goddess, with whom he fought, laughed and blocked his counter strike with ease. Lelantos ground his teeth, annoyed that he’d not killed the bitch yet. For a female, his foe was fast, willful and too accomplished in the arts of warfare for her own good. Her arrogance would kill her one day – preferably today and at the end of his sword.
“Come Titan, you’re making your death far too easy.”
Lelantos hated that her words pricked his pride. For him, as a Titan, to die at the hands of a daughter of the Olympian gods would be the worst possible disgrace. No matter that this goddess – from what he could see of her – looked like a nymph from a Grecian pastoral meadow, Her extraordinary skill in combat and her ability to predict his next move was deadly.
They circled each other, each waiting for the other to show their hand. Lelantos blocked a strike aimed to take off his head. She laughed and he used her lack of concentration to mar her arm with his sword. Her eyes widened and he hated the fact that he felt displeasure rumbling in his mind over causing her harm.
“What is an immortal female as beautiful as you doing fighting the Titans? Do you not have better things to do in that dump you call Mount Olympus?”
“Do not underestimate my ability, Titan. It’ll be the last mistake you ever make if you do.”
Lelantos was inwardly taking note of the battle which continued to rage around them. His own kind lay sprawled, dead or dying. Others were being readied for their imprisonment in Tartarus. From the first moment, he’d known this was a war that the Titans couldn’t win. The Olympian forces had outnumbered them ten to one and it was only a matter of time now before he would have to use his unique ability to go unseen and disappear. For survival he would have to live among the humans and start a completely new way of life. Some place Zeus would never find him. Not that that would stop the unforgiving deity forever hunting him down to seek revenge.
“I will ask you again, Titan. Surrender to me and your life shall be spared. Continue to fight and you will die. I promise.”
Anger thrummed through his blood at the fact the gods of Olympus had his life in their fickle hands. That he, Lelantos, an immortal older than Zeus, had been given an ultimatum. She was too beautiful, her dark emerald eyes shone with an unworldly light and her blonde hair cascaded about her shoulders. Dressed in golden armor, most of her features were hidden, and yet Lelantos knew should she remove her face shield, her beauty alone would almost bring him to his knees. All the daughters of the gods of Olympus were beautiful, exquisite beings. It was too bad that he had to hate them.
“I afraid, goddess, that I’m going to have to decline your offer.”
She shrugged and then rolled her shoulders, spreading her stance to prepare for further battle. “So be it.”
Lelantos blocked a blow aimed at his torso and using her follow-through strike, flicked her sword out of her grasp. He pulled her hard against him and held his sword against her neck. This close he could smell her, sweet fruity, intoxicating scent, could feel her heightened breath whisper over his lips, her beating heart in her chest.
His body hardened. It was an age since he’d had a female. The endless war and the fact he could only mate safely with females of divine birth made coupling difficult. That he now had this goddess close to his body, made him yearn to sample the pleasures such beautiful flesh could give him.
“This close, you’re even more beautiful than I’d first thought.”
“Be gone to Tartarus,” she said, the hatred in her voice almost palpable.
He laughed. “One day I shall, but not this day.”
Lelantos took the opportunity her anger afforded him and kissed her lips, the only part of her face uncovered from her armor. He took her lips, holding his sword against her throat as a safety measure should she decide she disliked his touch. She gasped, but didn’t deny him and he moaned when her tongue swooped into his mouth.
Forgetting where they were, Lelantos dropped his sword and hoisted her harder against him. Her body felt almost made to fit his and his knees threatened to buckle when she undulated over his hardness Oh, yes, she was an enemy, her sexuality far more deadly than her sword aim.
Lelantos pulled back and waited for his goddess to open her eyes. When she did, his body roared to take her. Never had the windows to one’s soul seared him and told him so much. They conveyed that she too longed for release. That she longed to be loved no matter what the circumstances. Was it, perhaps, urgency created by the dangers of warfare that made them reach for each other? From enemies to lovers?
There were worse things, Lelantos mused, as he pushed her away and watched as she stumbled to regain her footing.
“Until we meet again, my beautiful goddess.” Lelantos bowed, cloaked himself in invisibility and turned away, unhindered by her shocked features.
“Stay and fight like your fellows, you coward,” she yelled, holding her sword out to fight off an enemy she could no longer see.
Lelantos ignored her words, ignored the fact he had acted the coward to save his own skin. Yet the war with the Olympian gods had some years yet to run. With the divine, and with Zeus in particular, nothing was ever done in haste or without thought. The war would be no different.
One day they would meet again. He was sure of it.
CHAPTER
One
Cat stood before her fath
er’s regal throne and watched the muscle on his temple tick like the clocks on Earth. She bit back a smile knowing he wouldn’t find her mirth at his inability to win against Chloe, his own daughter, amusing.
For weeks, he’d stormed about the hallowed halls of Mount Olympus, cursing and even striking anyone who dared smile, or approach him while in such a temper. Eons ago, Cat had learned to vanish when her father’s wrath was unleashed. The last thing she wanted was to be banished to earth like Chloe, or be married off to some fellow Olympian God she neither liked nor lusted after.
Of course Mount Olympus had deities that were delicious to ogle and taste, such as the one who stood behind her father’s throne, his gaze raking her form, like a man long denied a female. Cat gave his body a quick look and deemed him good enough to eat. Later.
“Caitlin! You will cease your blatant appraisal of my counsel and pay heed to my words or you will feel my wrath.”
Cat tore her gaze away from the younger deity and back to her father, who preferred to call her by her real name and not the nickname she’d acquired over the years. “Apologies. But you were saying you wished me to track down Lelantos and bring him back to Mount Olympus.” Lelantos had helped her sister Chloe to reunite with the man she loved after Zeus had killed him without remorse. It had infuriated Zeus that his daughter had outsmarted him. Nothing but revenge would pacify her father now.
“Those were not my words. I said I want him dead. No longer will I allow that Titan to walk the earth. How dare he keep my daughter hidden from me while he walks the earth without the use of his invisibility? It will not be tolerated. You will lure him in and kill him.”
Cat frowned and wondered if the Titan had changed since she’d last seen him. The war with the Titans had long been over and with the passing of time, the events of that day had faded in her memory. Lelantos had been relegated to the back of her mind since the day they had sparred on the bloody battlefield. The kiss they shared had shocked her more than she cared to admit, even to herself, so she’d pushed the recollection aside, not willing to wonder what had become of him. Nor willing to question why she hadn’t pulled out the dagger hidden beneath her armor and killed him during their embrace.
She tucked away an unruly curl behind her ear that had escaped from her chignon and nodded. “Of course. I said I would help capture him and I will.” Cat noted for the first time the glow of impending triumph in her father’s eyes. A sign she was back in favor.
“Do not fail me, daughter. As one of my most trusted guardians and hunters, it would sadden me to see your future otherwise than you would wish.” Zeus turned about and strode toward his throne, his long, silk robes splaying out behind him like a river of ice. “You are dismissed,” he said, not bothering to face her with his decree.
Cat glanced about the room and noted all the other gods watching and listening. Hera, her stepmother, Queen of Olympus and wife of Zeus, paying particular attention, with a look of smug triumph that Cat felt the urge to remove. She fisted her hands at her side. “What do you mean when you speak about my future? What is your plan for me?”
Zeus, without a flicker of recognition at her questioning, spoke to her half-brother, Hermes sitting beside him.
“Father?” she prompted.
Slowly he faced her and the look on his face sent a shiver of unease slithering down her spine. “You will be imprisoned in Tartarus for as long as I deem appropriate. Chloe may have slipped through my fingers for the moment, but Lelantos will not. You,” he said, his voice taking on multiple tones that shook the ground on which she stood, “will kill him and I shall have my revenge.”
Cat swallowed the fear that rose in her throat. “I have never failed you before, and I shall not fail you now.” She turned and left the chamber. Images of the Titans and their massive, disfigured forms bombarded her mind. Of how they killed and maimed the gods of Olympus without remorse, laughed at the downfall of her kind, before moving on to other victims. There were memories of the Battle of the Gods at Thessaly, which had taken place thousands of years before. And among those memories was that of Lelantos, who was the only Titan able to disappear without a trace; who was, in fact, the God of the Unseen. The day that Cat and Lelantos had fought, he’d been using the disguise of the human form. Obviously, this was the appearance he had used to live among the human race for centuries. Chloe had certainly found his abilities useful and who would have thought that her elder sister was smart enough to outwit Zeus? Not only to outwit him, but to win over him as well?
And now she, Cat, was to kill Lelantos by any means possible or she could soon be meeting some of those Titans whom she’d helped to imprison. No longer would they be legends of the past, but very real, present threats. They would take their revenge on her as soon as she was thrown into the pit of Tartarus. Her father would not be seeking her counsel again, after banishing her there. She’d be dead.
Cat walked over to the corner window in her room. She looked over Mount Olympus and the human world beneath the clouds. Where was Lelantos? Closing her eyes, Cat used all her ability as a hunter to feel his location. It was a skill her father prized highly and one which she was called upon to use often on his behalf. A gift bestowed on her from her mother, a woman she knew little about other than the fact that Zeus had bedded her one time behind Hera, his wife’s back. Her mother’s disloyalty to her father’s wife had been rewarded with an early death.
Cat shook away the distracting thought and concentrated on her task of finding Lelantos. An image of an ocean began to form in her mind’s eye, slowly followed by a city with large concrete buildings standing guard against the mighty seas. She delved deeper into her senses to the streets below. Millions of people walked about the winding streets, all crammed into the city with no other views than concrete towers and traffic. Yellow cabs congested the roads and multitudes of people rushing about. A park, an oasis central to the city, came into sight along with its name.
Cat opened her eyes and smiled, in spite of the fact that the effort of locating the Titan had left her almost totally exhausted. No matter. It had been worth it. She’d found him.
“Hello, New York City,” she said.
CHAPTER
Two
Cat walked into the high-end bar on Madison Avenue and found a seat directly across from the man she sought. The gentleman sat, silent and alone, as if an invisible line kept him separate from others.
His tailored suit hugged his form like a second skin, his muscular chest almost visible beneath the crisp salmon colored silk shirt he wore. Cat ordered a glass of wine and turned her attention to the barman, thanking him with a smile and saucy wink. He grinned and went onto other customers but not before looking back at her as he served cocktails and beer. The mahogany bar was so highly polished Cat could see her reflection. She looked down at herself and inwardly smiled at how human she looked. No one would ever guess she was an immortal, a daughter of the gods of Mount Olympus.
Taking a sip of wine – a drink she found favor with no matter what realm she graced – she turned her attention back to the silent and friendless man at the bar. Still he sat, staring at his beer, his visage one of loneliness and perhaps worry if the little frown lines between his eyes were any indication.
Other than his clothing, he hadn’t changed since the last she’d seen him. Annoyingly, the years that had passed hadn’t dimmed the sexual hum she encountered whenever she looked at him. For some reason the bastard Titan turned her on more than any lover she’d ever had. It wouldn’t normally bother her, but she hadn’t even slept with him. Her body had no recollection on which to base its ridiculous cravings.
Cat sighed and pushed away the small flicker of regret which stabbed her mind for what she was to do to him. No doubt, his human form was ruggedly handsome. His strong jaw sported short stubble growth and his dark blue eyes were almost too beautiful to look at. Not to mention the fact that his short, cropped hair was just the right length to hold on to when required... Yet, he was a Titan. A Ti
tan playing around in human form and one who must pay for his sins against her father and her kind.
With his life.
Cat picked up her glass and slipped from her chair. She walked around the bar, smiling at the men who paid her attention as she did so. The human men were really quite lovely with their basic genetic makeup, delicate and easy to hurt if one wasn’t careful with one’s power.
She was taller than most women. Some men had said her legs went on forever, which she’d always liked to hear. Her long, blonde hair and fine features often turned heads, of both deity and human alike. Her feminine looks worked well with the position she held at court. For all her beauty, she was no pushover or weakling and anyone who thought so soon learned otherwise.
She took one of the vacant stools next to him and sat down. The Titan didn’t glance at her, just continued to stare at his beer and Cat wondered what people had to do to get his attention. Her half sister, Chloe, had certainly won his full attention, had in fact made him pander to her every wish. And now she, Cat, would have him do the same for her...for a while at least.
One could not simply kill such a fine specimen of a deity without having a little bit of fun first. She wasn’t nicknamed Cat for nothing.
“Hello,” she said, shuffling on her stool so her breasts were at a better angle for the Titan to ogle. Should the fellow decide to ogle, which he did not.
“Are you talking to me?” he asked, his tone lower than she expected. A tone that spoke of power and ageless wisdom, something the Titans had in common with the Olympian gods.
She smiled. “I am. Can I buy you another beer?”
He looked down at his glass, his expression that of a man who seemed not to have realized he’d bought one. “No.”
