Ravaged: An Eternal Guardians Novella (1001 Dark Nights) (17 page)

Through tears, Ari stared down at Cerek’s lifeless body, unable to believe what he was seeing. There had to be a way to fix this. There had to be someone—

His frantic mind caught on Nick. Nick was a god now. Kronos’s son. Ari had seen Nick’s face only moments before. He turned quickly, scanned the crowd through blurry vision, screamed, “Nikomedes! Do something! Do something now!”

“Ari, man.” Nick stepped close, his face drawn and somber, his dark gaze skipping over Cerek’s stone body. “I’m so sorry. I can’t—”

“He can’t bring anyone back from the dead,” a cold voice said from the top of the ravine. Ari’s head jerked around, and he looked up to where Zeus stood staring down at their group with contempt and victory in his black as sin eyes. “No god can. Thank your fucking Fates for that, Argonaut.”

“You.” Ari’s vision turned red. “You did this. You killed my son.”

“Technically,” Zeus answered, “my very special Sirens killed him. Their arrows were dipped in Medusa’s venom. I’d much rather one struck you, but since your friends consistently choose war over peace, I guess I’ll take any dead Argonaut I can get.”

“You bastard.” Ari lurched to his feet.

Zeus’s eyes flashed. “Careful, Argonaut. The laws of the Fates don’t allow me to kill you with my powers, but if you come at me, I’m more than happy to rip your head from your pathetic body.”

Ari jerked forward, but Nick captured him by the shoulders and stepped in his way. “He’s right. Dammit, Ari.” Ari struggled against his hold. “You can’t win against the king of the gods.”

The other Argonauts moved between Zeus and Ari. Disgust filled Zeus’s features. “Circling the wagons. Such a mortal thing to do. You needn’t bother. I’m done here.” He turned his soulless gaze on Daphne. “You’d all be wise to remember who caused this tragedy, though. Had the nymph finished the job I sent her to do, I’d have what I want and your son, Argonaut”—he looked toward Ari—“would still be alive.”

Zeus disappeared in a poof of white smoke. Smoke billowed around the ground near Ari’s feet as well. Startled, he looked around, wondering where it was coming from. Then Daphne screamed his name.

He swiveled and looked down, and as the smoke cleared, he realized the ground where Cerek had just laid was empty..

“He’s gone.” Daphne’s wide-eyed gaze lifted to his. “He’s just...gone.”

“Fucking bastard,” someone said. “He took him. He took all of them.”

Ari glanced over the battlefield. The dead Sirens were all gone too, only blood-stained snow left in their wake.

Ari turned back to Daphne, his mind a mess of what, where, how... But the tears spilling over Daphne’s lashes brought reality to a hard, gasping breath.

His son was dead. Cerek was dead. And there was nothing he could do, no way he could bring him back. He’d healed so many across the years, but he couldn’t save the one person who mattered most.

The finality of the moment hit Ari so hard, the pain dropped him to his knees in the snow as if someone had stabbed him straight through the heart.

“I’m sorry.” Somehow, in the sea of misery, Daphne was there, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding him close. “I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have gone to him. I shouldn’t have gone to Argolea. I—”

“No,” he choked out even though just drawing breath hurt like the pain of a thousand daggers. “No, it’s not. This wasn’t you. This was...me. This was...oh gods...” That pain turned to a burn that consumed his entire chest. “If I hadn’t taunted Zeus all those years, if I hadn’t killed his Sirens—”

“No.” Daphne grasped his face so he could look into her eyes. “That was Hera. Don’t you dare blame yourself for this.”

Her voice penetrated the pain. She was his strength, his rock, his last lifeline. And he wanted to reach for her, to hold on and never let go, but the guilt wouldn’t let him.

“She’s right, Argonaut.”

Daphne turned toward the female voice and gasped. And when Ari found the strength to look, he glanced past Daphne and spotted the same thing she had—the elderly woman dressed in a diaphanous white gown who’d poofed out of nowhere and now sat perched on a snowy boulder.

The woman brushed her silver hair over one shoulder with wrinkled hands. “Hera cursed you to destroy her husband’s secret sect and the power he wields through them and with them. It had nothing to do with you, Guardian. You were but a vessel for Hera’s revenge.”

Voices whispered behind Ari. Someone muttered, “That’s her. It’s Lachesis.” But he didn’t turn to look. Couldn’t because the Fate who spun the thread of life was focused solely on him.

“I know you hurt for what you have lost.” Lachesis’s gaze skipped to the group behind Ari. “I know you all do. And I know you cannot see the purpose. But in time you will understand. All things happen for a reason. Cerek’s sacrifice will have rippling effects. Ones you will realize before the end.”

She looked back down at Ari. “I also know your heart, Guardian. I know you want revenge. But now is not the time. Now is for healing. And healing is power. Use that power and you will not fail.”

She pushed to standing, but her feet didn’t hit the snow. They hovered over the ground as if she walked on air. “I cannot remove Hera’s curse, but know this. Every curse can be a blessing if viewed in the right light. I have faith you can put this curse to use for the greater good. If, that is, you follow through with the promise you made to your son.” Her gaze drifted to Daphne, and a slow smile spread across her wrinkled lips. “This one, I have no doubt, will help you. Hold on to her, hero.”

The Fate disappeared as if she’d never been there. And though her words drifted in the cool air, easing a little of the pain, the only comfort Ari wanted—the only person he needed—was already hugging him again, pulling him in and never letting go.

“I’m here,” Daphne whispered. “I won’t let you fall. I’m not letting you disappear from the world again. Cerek wouldn’t want that.”

“No.” Ari sniffled. “He wouldn’t.”

“You can do this.”

He wasn’t sure. But for Cerek and for her—for the two people he loved and who believed in him enough to love him back—he was willing to try.

“Only with you.” He rested his forehead against hers and gripped her arms at the elbows as he drew in a steadying breath. “I’m nothing but a savage without you. You brought me back to life. Stay with me, Daphne. Stay with me and be my strength. Help me honor Cerek and my promise.”

She brushed the hair away from his temple and drew back just enough so she could meet his eyes. Love and duty twisted together in her shimmering gaze, giving him strength, telling him that even in death, there was life.

“Always,” she whispered. “I will always be right where you need me.”

EPILOGUE

The wind whipped Zeus’s hair back from his face as he walked along the windy path up the slope of Mt. Olympus. “So he’s rejoined the Argonauts.”

“Yes, my king.” The Argolean who fed him information on the Argonauts’ movements stumbled over a rock then regained his footing as he hurried to catch up with Zeus’s long strides. “He’s taken the Argonaut Cerek’s spot in the Order and vowed to finish his son’s work. They’ve welcomed him back with open arms.”

“Of course they have,” Zeus muttered. “The prodigal son has returned and they all act as if he never betrayed them. What of the nymph?”

“She remains in Argolea. The two were recently bound.”

Zeus’s jaw clenched down hard as he walked. Had Daphne completed her mission, he’d planned to bring her into the Sirenum Scorpoli. He wanted her. Still wanted her. Her beauty and sexuality were unmatched, and since her mother had refused his advances, he
deserved
her. But she’d fallen for that asshat Aristokles, and now all his plans to have her writhing and moaning beneath him were ruined.

The Argolean stumbled again. Rocks spit over the side of the cliff that dropped straight down into the clouds. The pathetic male glanced downward with absolute fear. For a moment, Zeus considered pushing him over just to watch him scream, but restrained himself. He needed his spies.

“They—she—” The Argolean regained his balance and looked up at Zeus. “Everyone in the realm is enraged that you took the Argonaut’s body. The funeral pyre releases the soul to the afterlife. He cannot join his ancestors.”

“No, he can’t.” Smug victory rippled through Zeus as they rounded a bend in the path. A cave opened three hundred feet ahead, a slow, red light spilling from the opening. “And what of the Siren? Sappheire?”

“She remains in Argolea as well, my king.”

His vision darkened with the familiar rage of betrayal, but it cleared as he eyed the cave. Soon he would have his just revenge. Soon the walls of Argolea would crumble and he would control not only the human realm, but the world of the heroes as well. And all who dwelt there.

“That is all.” He held out his hand. “Bring me more information when you have it.”

The Argolean’s eyes brightened with an evil glow as he reached for the gemstone in Zeus’s palm that glowed with a shimmering blue light. “Yes.” He bowed, then scurried backward, closing the magical stone in a tight fist. “I will. I absolutely will, my king.”

Zeus snapped his fingers, opening a portal for the spineless maggot. Energy popped and sizzled. The Argolean stepped through, then the portal closed with a crack.

Alone, a smile spread across Zeus’s lips. The idiot thought he had a prize he could use for his own nefarious purposes. What he really had was one more element that would aid Zeus in his quest.

He moved through the cave, heading toward the red hue. The tunnel twisted through the mountain, the rocks absorbing the light and all but humming with energy. Rounding the last bend, he drew to a stop three steps from the stone altar where the female with fire-red hair spilling down her back in endless curls stood staring at flames crackling in a bowl set on a tall golden pedestal.

Zeus cleared his throat.

“I sensed your approach.” Circe, the strongest witch in all the kingdoms, met his gaze with piercing eyes. “Your little friend’s pathetic snuffling could be heard for miles.”

Zeus ignored the comment about his spy and narrowed his eyes on the witch. She was drop-dead gorgeous, always had been. Her body was long and lean, her breasts heaving and perfect in the flowing green dress that matched her eyes. A wide ballet collar showed off her toned shoulders and milk-white skin, the stitching accentuated her slim waist, and the long skirt flowed around her feet on the ground like an offering, making her look even taller than her seven feet. Bell sleeves cradled her slim wrists and fingers. And the choker at her neck with the large oval red stone in the middle, one Zeus swore fueled her power, accentuated the long, feminine line of her throat.

Her beauty was unmatched, her sexuality greater than that of all the nymphs. But both came with a price. The red sorceress was the most venomous black widow he’d ever faced, and Zeus had learned long ago never to mix business with pleasure in his dealings with her.

She flowed down the stairs as graceful as water, the scent of jasmine floating in the air as she stepped past him, warming both his blood and libido. “You’ve come to check on your prize.”

Of course she knew why he was here. The female knew everything. Reminding himself not to be drawn into her web, Zeus followed her through a dark archway and into another tunnel. “What of your progress?”

“Patience, my king.” She stopped at a door, pressed her hand against the steel, and turned to look at him. “Good things are bestowed on those who wait.”

Waiting was a virtue Zeus sorely lacked.

She pushed the door open. White light cast illumination all over the black stone floor and walls and shimmered in waves over the still gray body lying on the table in the center of the room.

Fucking witches...
Zeus’s vision darkened as he crossed to the body and knocked his knuckles against the gray stone. “This isn’t what I’m paying you to do. I thought you’d have this situation remedied by now. I need to know the truth. Can you bring him back?”

Circe moved to the other side of the table and batted insanely long, gorgeous eyelashes. “I can bring anyone back. But as I said, magic takes time. And what you’ve asked for here...” She looked down at the stone face. “This is going to require more than just time. Reprogramming is not a simple process.”

Time was something Zeus had plenty of. But he preferred to have things done on his timetable, not anyone else’s. This, however, would turn the tides in his war against the Argonauts for good. And for that, he was willing to wait as long as it took.

But he didn’t like it. He pinned her with a hard look. “I want this fixed. You know I’m an impatient god, and you know what happens when I don’t get my way.”

Her eyes flared red. “And you know what happens when witches are pushed and magic goes awry. Do not threaten me,
king
, or your magic will turn to ashes in your hands.”

Energy gathered in Zeus’s palms. The desire to unleash it on her overwhelmed him. But then he looked down at the stone body between them. And told himself to save his fury for the Argonauts.

Their time would come. It would come soon.

He turned out of the room. “Just get it done.”

ETERNAL GUARDIANS LEXICON

archdaemon
—Head of the daemon order; has enhanced powers from the Underworld

Argolea
—Realm established by Zeus for the blessed heroes and their descendants

Argonauts
—Eternal guardian warriors who protect Argolea. In every generation, one from the original seven bloodlines (Heracles, Achilles, Jason, Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus, and Bellerophon) is chosen to continue the guardian tradition.

Council of Elders
—Twelve lords of Argolea who advise the king

daemons
—Beasts who were once human, recruited from the Fields of Asphodel (purgatory) by Atalanta to join her army.