Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
Eternal Guardians Lexicon
Books by Elisabeth Naughton
Unchained Info
About the Author
“Be still my heart; thou hast known worse than this.”
– Homer
CHAPTER ONE
“Twenty-five years is nothing but a blink of an eye to the gods. And peace is as fleeting as the wind. It will end. It will end soon.”
How many times had Elysia’s mother said those words to her? How many times had Elysia ignored the threat because she thought those who wanted to hurt her would come from Olympus and not from within her own realm?
She rushed out of the Argolean castle through the tunnel she often used to slip away unnoticed, and ran into the forest unable to breathe, unable to think, unable to focus on anything but reaching her favorite spot. The one that overlooked the bay and always calmed her.
Binding… Nereus…
She stopped on the bluff far above the ocean, leaned forward, and rested her hands on her knees as she sucked back air. Tears burned her eyes. Tears she wouldn’t let fall. Her parents were arranging a binding between her and the Council leader’s son, Nereus. She didn’t want to be bound to anyone. Especially not to anyone associated with the Council, the governing body that advised her mother the queen, though more often than not they worked to undermine her mother at every turn. Elysia’s parents were convinced the binding would ease tensions between the two political factions in their country, but Elysia didn’t care about politics. She didn’t care about Nereus. Yes, they’d gone to school together, but they’d never run in the same circles. She barely knew him.
She pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes. She didn’t want a binding of any kind. And my mother knows that. She didn’t need a male to complete her. She had no desire to provide heirs for the throne. In fact, she couldn’t wait until her parents produced a male heir so she could forget about all this ruling crap they were preparing her for.
But what really hurt…what burned deep in the center of her soul was the fact that her mother was going back on her word. All her life, the queen had told Elysia that if she chose to be bound someday, the choice of whom she spent her life with was up to her. Elysia’s grandfather, King Leonidas, had forced Elysia’s mother into not one, but two political marriages for his benefit. Thankfully, circumstances had kept Elysia’s mother from completing those bindings, and eventually she’d been bound to Elysia’s father. Argolea was supposed to be a different—better—place than it had been for her mother. History was not supposed to repeat itself. Not now. Not over twenty-five years later.
“Lys? Are you okay?”
Talisa’s voice echoed somewhere close, but Elysia couldn’t make herself turn to see where her cousin stood. The bitter bite of betrayal was all she knew. That and a searing urge to run.
“Elysia?”
Maximus. That was her other cousin, Max. The three of them were supposed to go hiking together this afternoon on Max’s one day off from training with the Argonauts. Dammit, she should have known they’d find her here, in her favorite spot.
“What’s wrong?” Max asked.
Everything. Everything was wrong. And she couldn’t stay even a second longer to tell them.
“I…I have to get away.” Away from this castle, away from her parents, away from everyone trying to control her. Dropping her hands, she turned slowly and stepped back toward the bluff.
Confusion darkened Talisa’s violet eyes. Wisps of black hair that had slipped free of her ponytail flitted around her worried features. At her side, Max—as blond and buff and big as his father, the Argonaut Zander—reached out for her. “Lys, wait.”
Elysia closed her eyes before either of them could touch her and pictured the field outside the witches’ tent city at the base of the Aegis Mountains. The witches manned the moving portals that were banned by the Council. Banned per Nereus’s father’s orders. The Council was always trying to control the Argolean people. Putting restrictions on them without the monarchy’s approval and banning the portals so its citizens couldn’t cross into the human realm without permission. Nereus and his father would try to control Elysia like that if she agreed to this binding. They’d take away her freedom. They’d turn her into someone she didn’t want to be. But she wouldn’t let them. Because she belonged to no male.
“Elysia,” Max said. “Dammit, just wait.”
His words disappeared in the wind as she flashed across the distance with the telekinetic power all Argoleans possessed in this realm. Air whipped over her cheeks, brushing her hair back from her face. She breathed it in, letting go of her anxiety and stress.
Her feet connected with solid ground. She opened her eyes and looked across the meadow toward the tall oak trees on the far side. In the distance, the colorful flags of the witches’ tents waved in the breeze. Her heart leapt with excitement. Freedom was within her grasp.
Eight females emerged from the trees before she could take two steps toward that freedom. Eight females who clearly weren’t witches.
They were each dressed in tight black pants, sleeveless leather tops, and kickass stiletto boots. Each one sporting long, flowing hair in a variety of colors, their Barbie doll faces and curvaceous bodies clearly designed to seduce. And each held a bow and arrow aimed directly at Elysia’s heart.
Sirens. Zeus’s band of deadly female warriors. Elysia drew to an abrupt stop. Occasionally, Sirens passed through their realm when they needed to speak to the queen about matters relating to the gods, but they always came through the guarded portal in the capital city of Tiyrns. And Elysia had heard nothing in the castle the last few days that gave her any indication Sirens were expected today.
“This is a surprise,” Elysia said, trying like hell to keep her voice steady. “Are you lost?”
The brunette in the center stepped forward, her arrow never once wavering from its target. “No, but you are, Princess.”
The way the Siren sneered the word “princess” put Elysia on instant alert. They clearly knew who she was. “I… Whatever you’re here for, I’m sure I can help you.”
A slow smile spread across the brunette’s perfect face. “I’m sure you can. Seeing as how you are why we are here.”
Oh shit… “I don’t—”
“Understand?” The brunette lifted her brow. Several Sirens rushed up to Elysia’s side and grasped her arms. “You will soon. Thank you for saving us a trip into the capital. Much less messy this way.”
“Wait.” Panic rose in Elysia’s chest, and she pulled back on the Sirens’ hold. “Let go of me. You can’t just—”
“Oh, but we can.” The leader lowered her weapon as the others pulled Elysia to a stop in front of her. “By immortal decree, Zeus has the power to choose any female from any realm to serve with his Sirens. And you, Princess, have just been chosen. Say good-bye to everything you know and love.”
; That panic went stratospheric. Elysia had wanted to escape Argolea and everyone trying to control her in this realm, but not like this. Service with the Sirens could last millennia. And with them, she’d be more of a prisoner than she was here. “No. I can’t—”
“Bring her.” The brunette turned, and to the other Sirens, she said, “There is much to do, and Athena is anxious to see if this one can make the cut.”
“Mm…” Aphrodite swung her long legs over the side of the enormous bed and stretched her arms above her head. “That was wonderful.” Curly auburn hair the color of autumn leaves spilled down the pale skin of her naked spine as she turned and cast a coy look over her shoulder. “You get better and better, Damianos.”
The two naked nymphs who’d joined them scurried off the bed and rushed out of the room. Aphrodite pushed to her feet, all long lines and perfect curves, and crossed to the chaise.
The nymphs could disappear after the fact, the lucky females, but Damon could not. Rolling to his side, he propped his elbow on the mattress and rested his head on his hand as he watched Aphrodite slide a white silk robe onto her pale arms and tried not to be resentful of that fact. “Good thing, since my purpose is only to serve.”
Aphrodite smirked. “And you do it so well, erastis.”
Lover. He hated the way that word sounded.
The goddess moved back to the edge of the mattress and sat, then reached out and twirled a lock of Damon’s hair around her finger. “Speaking of serving, a new class of Sirens is set to arrive.” She pushed out her full, plump lips in a sexy little pout. “Athena is going to try to steal you from me again.”
Damon looked up at the goddess of love and desire and tried to feign disappointment, though inside, excitement leapt at the possibility of a break. Aphrodite’s temple wasn’t a bad place to spend your days—wide soaring rooms, tall stately pillars, marble everything, fountains and baths that promised both pleasure and relaxation, and the sweet scent of heliotrope wafting on the air, awakening the senses. But lately he couldn’t help thinking there had to be more to life than this. More than meaningless pleasure. More than casual sex. More than catering to Aphrodite, a goddess who cared only about herself.
“A new class, huh?” He rolled back into the mountain of pillows and laced his fingers behind his head, remembering that Athena and Aphrodite didn’t always get along. Jealousy was forever an issue between them—between any of the ruling Olympians—and he’d learned long ago not to show interest in any immortal other than the one currently in his line of sight.
“You don’t want to go, do you?” Aphrodite slid her finger down his throat and across the dusting of hair on his bare chest. “I could tell Athena you’re too valuable, which you are.”
This was where he needed to be careful. He couldn’t show too much enthusiasm, or Aphrodite would never let him leave. “Of course not. Training new Sirens is as enjoyable for me as spending time with your husband is for you.”
Aphrodite’s lips curled. Everyone knew she couldn’t stand her husband, Hephaestus. Her gaze hovered on Damon’s face. “That boring?”
She was beautiful, even Damon couldn’t deny that. Meadow-green eyes, flawless skin, high cheekbones, and lips made only for seduction. But though physically he was still attracted to her, more and more lately, he was finding it difficult to be aroused in her company. Sex with Aphrodite was as empty as his life these days. There had to be more. A reason he was here. A future that held some kind of purpose. Something other than…immortal perfection.
He drew his hand from behind his head and brushed the back of his fingers against the smooth curve of her jawline. “Infinitely boring. When I’m with the Sirens, I count the days until I return to your temple.”
Which was a flat-out lie. Working with Athena’s Sirens, training them in combat, strategy, warfare—even seduction—was a thousand times more fun than being stuck in Aphrodite’s claustrophobic pleasure palace.
Aphrodite sighed and smoothed her hand over his chest again, dropping her gaze to where she touched him. “I suppose I could consider letting you go. So long as I know you’re pining away for me. Absence, they say, does make the heart grow fonder.”
Damon had never found that to be true, but he refrained from saying so. He wasn’t about to do anything to jeopardize this chance to escape, however short his respite might be. “It does. Very much so.”
She leaned down and kissed him, sliding her tongue along his at the first touch and tasting him deeply. He didn’t pull away, didn’t say no, knew it was pointless to do so. Instead, he slid his fingers into the curly mass of auburn hair framing her face and kissed her back. Her mouth turned greedy against his, and she wriggled out of the robe she’d just pulled on, then pushed the sheet from his hips.
Yeah, there has to be more than this, he thought as she climbed over him. More than aphrodisiacs to keep him hard, more than meaningless sex, more than immortals using him for their pleasure. There had to be a hell of a lot more. Somewhere.
He just hoped he found it before he went mad.
CHAPTER TWO
Max flashed to the meadow outside the witches’ tent city. A burst of light behind him illuminated the grass. The light returned to the hazy normal of mid morning as the portal closed and Talisa stepped up at his side.
“How do you know this is where she went?” Talisa asked.
“Because I’ve seen that look in her eyes before. You’ve seen it too.”
“The running look.” Talisa’s jaw clenched. “Skata. If she crossed into the human realm, we’re going to have a hard time finding her.”
Max agreed, and that was his biggest fear. Elysia occasionally crossed into the human realm when she needed to get away from the craziness of royal life, but he couldn’t really blame her for that. Life in the castle was nuts on a good day, which was the major reason Max spent as little time there as possible. People were always hovering, watching what you were doing, waiting on you like an invalid. As heir to the throne, Elysia had to live up to an impossibly high standard, one that would drive him batshit crazy if he had to live it on a daily basis.
No, he couldn’t blame her for running, but she knew not to cross into the human realm alone. Hades’s daemons still patrolled that realm. Argoleans—especially any linked to the monarchy or the Argonauts—were not safe there. The fact she’d flashed so impulsively didn’t just set him on edge, it set off every protective instinct he had as an Argonaut.
Or—since he wasn’t a full-fledged Argonaut yet—as a guardian-in-training.
Resentment bubbled inside him. He was thirty-five fucking years old now; he’d trained long enough, but the Argonauts still treated him like a freakin’ kid. And he didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
Pushing down the bitterness as best he could, he headed toward the tent city. “Come on. Maybe she hasn’t crossed yet and we can catch her before she gets herself into trouble.”
Behind him, Talisa huffed, her black boots crunching over twigs and rocks. “Dream on. I heard my parents talking last night. My father thinks the only way they’re going to head off a coup is through a political binding.”
Max stopped and looked toward his cousin. Talisa’s father was the leader of the Argonauts, and he was bound to the queen’s half sister, just as Max’s father, Zander, was bound to the queen’s other half sister. The three female cousins—Elysia, Talisa, and Max’s younger sister, Zakara—had all been born within a few months of each other, but where Elysia and Zakara were somewhat soft and naïve, Talisa was not. At just under six feet, with jet-black hair pulled back into a messy tail and porcelain skin she wished people didn’t notice, Talisa was as tough as anyone Max had ever met.
“They’re going to marry her off? To whom?”
Talisa’s violet eyes held Max’s. Eyes that were so captivating, people often forgot she was a weapon just waiting to be fine-tuned. Like him. “Nereus.”
“Skata.” Nereus was the absolute worst match for Elysia. The ándras had picked on her back w
hen they were kids, and Max had needed to step in to scare the living crap out of the asshat on more than one occasion. He seriously doubted Nereus had changed his ways in fifteen years.
He headed back up the hill, a new frustration burning through him. “No wonder she fucking ran.”
Talisa’s long legs ate up the space to catch up. “Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe she just had an argument with her parents. It could be nothing.”
“Not if our luck holds,” Max muttered.
They reached the outskirts of the tent city, but the second they stepped onto the dirt road, Max knew something was wrong.
Nothing moved in the village. No witches milled through the streets. The laughing children who normally played around the tents were nowhere to be seen. In fact, no sound echoed from the city save for the colorful flags high above, flapping in the morning breeze.
Max reached back for the parazonium—the ancient Greek sword all Argonauts carried—in the sheath concealed at his back. At his side, Talisa quietly pulled twin daggers from their holders on her lower spine. Slowly, they moved into the village and drew to a stop the moment they rounded the first corner.
A witch wearing a long pink skirt and dark jacket lay sprawled at the entrance to a tent, an arrow sticking out of her chest. Talisa knelt to feel for a pulse. A grim expression crossed her face as she looked up at Max and shook her head.
The hair on Max’s nape stood straight. He stepped past the dead witch and moved to another body, this one in the middle of the road, and felt for a pulse. Nothing. Picking up his pace, he rounded another corner and gasped at the scene laid out before him.