The Guardian (21 page)

minutes and reach for your throats again. If you don’t mind, I’d rather stay like I promised. He doesn’t trust

easily and I don’t want him to stop trusting me, you know?”

Margery’s glance went straight to Carson before she caught her slip, then quickly turned it back to Lydia.

“I do know. But if you’re squeamish, you might want to face the wal while we work.”

“That I wil do.”

Carson brought her a chair.

Sitting down, Lydia listened to them as they started patching Seth up. She would have commented on the

germs, but then given Seth’s immortality it probably wasn’t that big a concern.

“So how long have you two been doctors?”

Carson laughed. “About a hundred years for me. Margery, a little less.”

Margery snorted. “A lot less. I’m human and I’ve been working with Carson for over a decade, but haven’t

had my medical license al that long.”

Fascinating.

“So what clan do you belong to?” Carson asked.

Lydia had no idea what he was asking about. “Clan?”

“You’re Tsakali Katagaria … what clan are you?”

Her heart pounded as she swung around to face him. “You can’t say that to anyone. Ever. Okay?”

He arched his brow. “Ah … okay. But that’s going to be a little hard to keep secret here. Any Were-Hunter

who comes into contact with you wil know it instantly.”

Crap! Why would Jaden send her here after tel ing her not to breathe a word of her jackal status to Seth?

Surely someone as powerful as he would have known that other Were-Hunters could sense her and identify

her species. Had he done it intentional y? Was that why Seth was so mistrusting of him?

She suddenly felt like a complete blind fool for ever listening to Jaden.

And I even hugged him.
She could beat both of them. Him for doing it and her for listening.

Her entire body started shaking as she feared Seth’s waking up to hear this. “Then we can’t stay. We

have to go.”

Carson scowled at her. “What are you so afraid of?”

Death. Dismemberment. Noir finding them. Solin getting hurt. Seth dying when he couldn’t.

Greek gods out to kil her.

The list kept growing by the second.

Don’t tell him any of it
. It was none of his business. Especial y since Seth’s paranoia had started to infect

her.

But she had to make sure they kept their mouths shut. For everyone’s wel -being. “You can’t tel anyone

that we’re here or tel them anything about us. Do you understand?”

Carson’s gaze turned dark and dangerous. “Who are you running from?”

She bit her lip as she debated what she should let out and what she should keep between her and Seth.

“Listen,” Carson’s tone matched his dour expression. “The people and animals here are my family. If you

pose a danger to them, I need to know. We’ve already been attacked once and nearly destroyed. If we have

another enemy coming, then we need to know immediately. We have children and infants here to protect.”

Children. Here.

That changed everything. She didn’t want anyone ever having the memories she had. No child should

hear or see their mother die.

Please, don’t kill me.
She wasn’t sure who that was directed at exactly. Seth or Carson.

But she couldn’t put the kids in harm’s way. “He’s a servant to Noir, and I freed him. When Noir finds out

that he’s gone, he wil come after him, no holds barred. It wil get extremely bloody.”

“And you?”

“I was told that some of the Greek gods want me dead. It’s how Seth was injured. They were trying to find

me. I don’t know why, though. I real y don’t.”

Carson cursed, then turned to Margery. “Tel the others.”

Grabbing a towel to wipe the blood from her hands, she quickly left the room.

Lydia rubbed her head, which was starting to ache from al of this. “I didn’t mean to endanger you. Jaden

said we’d be safe here … that you could help Seth.”

“It’s al right. We can cope as long as we’re forewarned. Just don’t let us get blindsided.” He returned to

working on Seth. “Man, whoever did this to him certainly knew what they were doing.”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean he was interrogated by someone who knew exactly how to wring as much pain as possible out of

him and not kil him. Poor bastard.”

“Wil he be al right?”

“He’l heal. I don’t know about the ‘al right’ part. That’s not my department. I can only fix bodies. Hearts

and minds are another matter.”

Lydia turned to look at Seth’s bare face, which was stil covered with bruises and cuts that marred his

otherwise flawless handsomeness. She wanted to cry, but Solin had taught her to keep that inside.

When they know what makes you cry, they know what hurts you most. Don’t give your enemies that.

Closing her eyes, she reached out to talk to him and see what was happening.

But Solin didn’t answer. And that scared her even more than her current predicament. Here, in this realm,

with her powers restored, he should be easy to contact. She’d never, ever had trouble finding him before.

He’d only be silent to her if he couldn’t answer because he was fighting.

Or he was dead.

She couldn’t even contemplate the latter. It would destroy her to lose him.

Suddenly, she felt another powerful presence coming into the room. Warm and at the same time freezing,

it thickened the air on the other side of Seth’s bed.

Carson pul ed back and grabbed a scalpel from his tray as if ready to battle who or whatever it was.

Lydia did the same, ’cause whatever it was, it would be fierce if it chose to fight them. And she had a

sickening feeling that it was coming here for her.

But most of al it wanted Seth.

A golden mist shimmered in the air like beams of sunlight first thing in the morning, then slowly turned into a

beautiful, tiny woman. Her café au lait skin glowed and accentuated the greenness of her almond-shaped

eyes. Her dark brown sisterlocks were pul ed back from her face and held with a leopard-print scarf that

matched her long skirt.

Lydia was stunned by the elegance of the woman who was so beautiful, it was hard to look at her.

Making a sound of total disgust, Carson relaxed and dropped the scalpel back onto the tray. “Menyara,

you scared the shit out of us with that over-the-top entrance. What are you doing here?”

At first, she didn’t seem to hear him. She stared at Seth as if she were looking at the ghost of a loved

one.

Taking her cue from Carson, Lydia stood down as wel . Obviously Menyara was a known entity here.

When Menyara final y spoke, her voice was incredibly deep and powerful for her dainty size. “I felt the

blood cal of one I thought was long dead. I couldn’t believe he was here, in this realm, after so long.” She

approached the bed almost reverently so that she could stare down at Seth and study his pale features. “But

he’s
not the one I feel.” She reached out and traced the line of his swal ow tattoo. “Stil … they are very

similar and yet so different. I don’t understand how this is.”

Lydia started to speak, but Carson motioned her to silence. “She is Ma’at,” he whispered. “The Egyptian

goddess of justice.”

Menyara turned Seth’s face toward her, then frowned as she smoothed down his left eyebrow. “Where did

he come from?”

“He serves Noir,” Carson answered.

“Is he a demon, then?”

Lydia cleared her throat, testing to see if Carson would let her answer yet.

He nodded at her to continue.

“He’s not a demon. He’s an Egyptian demigod. Noir bought him when he was a boy, just coming into his

powers, and enslaved him.”

Menyara winced as if the mere thought caused her pain. “His mother was human?”

“Yes.”

“His father?”

By the way she asked the question, Lydia could tel Menyara knew the answer, but wanted it confirmed

before she spoke it out loud. It was almost as if she feared by saying it first, it would somehow make it true

even if it wasn’t.

Lydia licked her lips before she answered. “Set.”

Menyara spoke rapidly under her breath in a language Lydia had never heard before. But it sounded like

she was cursing someone. She hoped it was Set and not Seth.

After a few seconds of her anger, she calmed down, then closed her eyes and hovered her hand over

Seth’s heart.

Seth’s eyes immediately flew open as he sucked his breath in sharply and arched his back. It was as if

someone had a hook in his chest and was trying to lift him from the bed. He panted in pain as every muscle

in his body tensed and bulged.

“Stop it!” Lydia snarled. “You’re hurting him.” She rushed for Menyara, but Carson caught her.

Stil , Menyara chanted in that lyrical language, not caring how much agony she caused Seth.

He groaned and cursed as if he were being tortured al over again.

Shrieking at them, Lydia wanted to stop her, but Carson wouldn’t let her. “Damn you, let me go!” She tried

using her powers on both of them, but somehow they deflected them, making her feel weaker than she ever

had before.

How could she not be able to stop this? How could they hurt him more? Couldn’t the goddess see he’d

been through enough already?

Suddenly, light streaked out of Seth’s wounds. One by one, they began knitting themselves closed. The

bruises and cuts on his face and hands slowly faded.

Lydia froze as she watched it.

When the last one was healed, he fel back flat on the bed where he lay panting. At first, he stared up at

the ceiling as if waiting to feel pain again. Then he turned his head toward her and she saw the relief that

fil ed his beautiful blue eyes. Eyes that were no longer haunted by his battle with physical pain.

It was the first time she’d seen him without any injuries or marks. Only the tattoo showed on him now.

She smiled in amazement. While she’d known he was unbelievably handsome, she’d never quite

imagined the exact beauty he would hold once he was whole.

Now …

He was stunning. His coloring so unusual and exotic. And those curls … They made him irresistible.

“You need a shave, hon,” she teased, walking over to him so that she could playful y scrape her fingers

against the auburn whiskers that darkened his cheeks. Even they didn’t mar his looks. They only made him

appear more rugged.

More masculine.

And if they were alone right now, she’d be nibbling her way down that angular jawline until she tongue-

bathed him al over.

“What happened?” he asked in a low whisper as he reached up to finger his lips and eye that had been

so damaged by Noir’s cruelty. “Why don’t I hurt anymore? Where did it al go?”

Those words brought home the fact that this was probably the only time since Noir had bought him that he

hadn’t been in excruciating agony.

Lydia indicated Menyara with a tilt of her head. “She healed you.”

Frowning, he turned his head. The moment he focused on Menyara’s features, he curled his lips in

disgust.

Whoa … that was
not
the reaction she’d expected. By the look on Menyara’s face, it was evident she was

expecting something a little kinder too.

“What are
you
doing here?” he growled at her.

Menyara’s gaze turned dark with sadness. “Shh, child,” she said soothingly. “I won’t hurt you.”

His cold expression showed every bit of his denial. “Your presence here offends me.”

Menyara winced. She reached out to touch him, then stopped herself as if she feared how he might react

to it. “What was done to you by your father was so wrong, and for that I apologize even though I know no

amount of apology wil ever take away the pain of what he did. I weep for that, too. But I am
not
my brother

and I would
never
deny my kin.”

The pain and accusation in his eyes was tangible. “You didn’t come when I cal ed for you and I screamed

for al to have mercy on me until my throat bled.”

“I didn’t hear you, or I would have come.”

“I don’t believe you. You are a goddess. One of order and justice. When I cal ed for you, your silence

judged me unworthy, and you left me to suffer unspeakable horrors.”

Lydia wasn’t sure if she believed Ma’at either. But either way, it didn’t matter. No apology or anything else

would ever be able to undo the hel they’d al damned him to.

Menyara swal owed as if she heard Lydia’s thoughts. “You look so much like my brother.” She held her

hand out toward his face as if she imagined she was cupping his cheek. But she didn’t make contact with

him. “It’s been so very long since I last saw his face. In spite of what you think, Set wasn’t always bad or evil

and I did not judge you. While your father was born of darkness, he also fought against it every night by our

father’s side, making sure that Ra would rise and drive the evil back for another day … Like you with Noir …

You have the better part of his nature.”

“Don’t you dare defend him to me. Ever.”

Menyara nodded sadly, then looked at Lydia. “The two of you must go. It’s why I’ve healed him. Your

enemies won’t let you rest. Not until Seth’s powers are ful y regained.”

Lydia frowned. After what Menyara had just done for Seth … “Can’t you give them back?”

“Unfortunately, I’m not the one who has them. They have to leave Noir and return to Seth and there’s

nothing any of us can do to rush that happening.” Taking a step closer to the bed, she reached out, this time