“No.” A smile started, bringing out his single dimple. He flipped the dagger and caught it again in a movement so intrinsic to him.
Shadow eyed him suspiciously. From a maddening inquisitor, he now appeared…happy? “What’s going on, Nik?”
Nik shook his head, his heart pitching around his chest like a ping-pong ball. Feeling as if he’d run a marathon, he shut his eyes, tracing her warmth inside him, one he’d felt since this morning. And there in the deepest part of him, like sunlight, it glowed, a warm radiance that was all her. The white flash of light in him when he’d made love to her, that was the defining moment of their souls merging. Not relief over finally having her, as he’d initially thought.
Stars! Emotions crowded him.
It had been her all along. And why he couldn’t stay away from her from the moment he’d first sensed her at the castle. Whatever no-mate spell his mother had cast had broken.
He’d finally found her.
His miracle. His destiny.
“Nik?” she eyed him worriedly.
He probably looked like an idiot, standing there, just smiling.
Happiness consuming him, he tossed the dagger on the counter and hauled her to him, kissing her brow, her eyes, her nose, and finally, her mouth. You are mine, agápi mou. Mine.
She laughed, her palms stroking his back. “I know, you told me this—”
“No, I mean, this blade is my destined mate’s dagger.” Only she can command it after she first touches it.
“Destined mate?” she repeated, eyes wide. “As in, I’m the only one for you?” Then she reared back as it hit her, eyes popping like saucers. “Are you talking in my mind?”
He nodded. Yes, we both can. With our souls joining, it opened our telepathic pathways. It means we can communicate this way no matter where I am in this world. Try.
Those starburst irises brightened. I feel you... Her faint voice in his mind grew stronger. Your warmth, deep inside me.
Good. He pressed his mouth to hers. “As immortals, we all hope to find our destined one. No one wants to live alone for all eternity. Some are lucky, others not so much. And I found you. I guess it’s why I reacted the way I did when I first saw you in the castle.”
“Oh, yes. You threatened to tie me to the bed.” She rolled her eyes, but he felt the joy cascading through her. She entered the shower, turned on the faucet, and hastily stepped back from the cold water to face him.
A smile tugged at his mouth. He rested an arm on the shower door and drawled, “If memory serves me right, I did, to a bedpost.”
“What memory?” She snorted. “That was last night with those stupid ice manacles.”
He laughed, watching as she stretched out her arm and tested the water, then grimaced. Probably still cold. “The obsidian dagger is a mystical weapon, Shadow, one given to all us Guardians after we swore our fealty to the ancient goddess, Gaia.”
“Gaia?” Her brow creased. “As in mother nature?”
“Yeah. I guess humans refer to her as such. After we were tossed out of Tartarus, we had nowhere to go…” He explained how he came to be living in this world. Mostly, Nik couldn’t get over that he found her—found his other half after a life filled with darkness. She stood inside the cubicle, drenched in water and the hellhound blood, staring wide-eyed at him as he spoke, and she never looked lovelier.
Inhaling a deep breath, he continued. “Since the pantheons banished us, Gaia offered us a place in this world, and in return, we swore our allegiance to her and became Guardians of the realm. Once we accepted, she restored all our abilities, stronger than before, and gifted us two of her mystical weapons. This sword…” He pointed to the myriad of symbols forming the rapier inked on his biceps amidst all his tatts. “And the dagger. Of course, at the time, we had no idea it was our destined mate’s weapon.”
“You can still use it, right?” She peeled away the gore-wet strands stuck to her neck. “I mean, I don’t want to take away something you need.”
“I’m good.” Nik couldn’t stop his smile. “And you didn’t. But I can’t call it any longer, if that’s what you mean. Only you can now. It will always come to you once summoned, and it’s deadly. It’s why the hellhound bled so much. In you go—” He removed her towel and tossed it aside. Then he adjusted the water temp before nudging her under the steaming spray. From the corner rack, he took his shampoo and started soaping her hair, and the cascading water drenched him, too.
“Nik,” she sputtered. “I can wash myself.”
“Why, when I can do it even better?” He was sure she rolled her eyes, but he couldn’t tell with all the soapiness. His mouth curved in amusement when something fundamental struck him. Shit. He had no idea how she’d feel about it.
“There’s one more thing, Shadow,” he said softly. “With us soul-joining, it means you will take on my lifespan.”
She opened one eye and peered at him. Her smile widened. “Really?”
“Yes, really.” This girl, she brought more smiles to him than he ever believed possible. “But if one of us does die, the other will follow.”
She swiped the water from her face. “Why would I want to live without you?”
“Me, too, Starshine. Me, too,” he said quietly.
After the water ran clear, he squeezed more of his shower gel onto a washcloth and scrubbed her free of the hellhound’s blood. Satisfied he got all the gore off her, he tossed the washcloth aside, cupped her face, and kissed her, needing to dispel the lingering fear still entrenched in him at how close he’d come to losing her.
She moaned, slicked her tongue over his. Her hands stroked his back. “Nik,” she said against his mouth, tugging at his t-shirt. “Maybe you should undress first, hmm?”
Nik sighed and glanced down at himself, his cock a throbbing ache, trapped in his wet jeans. Fuck. “Right.”
He stepped out of the stall, water flowing down, and grabbed the back neck of his t-shirt, pulled it off, and his stomach twinged. Then he saw the reason for his pain. Three deep gashes marred his abs. His irritation surged. And that brought his mind back to the situation. Damn fucking scourge.
“You’re bleeding.” Shadow hastily shut off the faucet and hurried out. “Let me see to that.”
“I’ll heal.” He grabbed a clean towel, wrapped it around her, and handed her one for her wet hair, then turned her to the bedroom. “Go and dress. I won’t be long.”
She didn’t move, clutching the towel to her chest, her wet hair dripping water down her face. “We’re leaving here, aren’t we?”
Hell, he hated disappointing her. More, he didn’t want to worry her with what he suspected about the damn hellhound—about it targeting her—probably sensing the energy of the vile souls she fed on. So, he merely said, “While this monastery is warded against supernatural evil, the surrounding area isn’t. I won’t be able to concentrate while I’m out on patrol with the hellhound already marking the area.”
“Lore will be here. And I can fight.”
True, the angel could perhaps keep her safe, and yeah, she was one little badass mortal as she enjoyed reminding him, but Shadow had no idea how deeply entrenched in his soul she already was. He wouldn’t risk even a scratch on her.
However, he knew better than to say this out loud. “I know. But I need to meet with the other warriors. This creature on the loose is bad news. I’ll have to check in with Race first, then we’ll leave.”
“Will we ever come back here?”
“This is my—our home. Once we’ve dealt with the hellhound, then caught the ones behind the trafficking of the women and children in both realms, we will.”
“Which means it won’t be any time soon.”
“We do have our quiet moments,” he teased, pulling off his wet boots, then unzipping and dragging off his clammy jeans. “It’s not all doom and gloom.” Naked, he stalked back into the shower, turned on the faucets. The rush of water stinging his wounds as he shampooed his buzzed hair.
“Nik?”
At Shadow’s hesitant tone, he swiped the suds from his face, grimacing at the burn in his eye. “Yeah?”
She rubbed her arms, then shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just happy I have you.”
“Me, too, agápi.”
She smiled and shut the stall door before trailing out to the bedroom.
Nik swiped the water from his face, staring at the shut door. The ancient goddess’ voice from eons ago drifted to him after he’d sworn his fealty to her and chosen his dagger from the many she’d offered… “Your dagger is an embodiment of your one weakness and your ultimate strength. When it fails to return to you, you have found your salvation.”
He’d had no idea what she’d meant then or cared. Now he finally understood.
Shadow was both his weakness and his strength. His salvation.
And his very heart.
Chapter 20
Dusk had started to descend over the Guardians’ estate as Nik ushered Shadow through the silent rec room. He sensed the warriors gathered in the Arc’s study. Before leaving Romania, he’d group texted them to wait for him. This was too important to put off until morning.
They stepped out into the silent corridor. “C’mon, I’ll show you to our quarters.”
“It’s okay.” She stopped. “Go to your meeting. I’ll find it.”
He frowned. “Shadow, you’re my mate. I’m not gonna abandon you on our first night here, leave you in the damn corridor.”
A smile curved her tempting mouth. “You aren’t. And I’m okay, really. Besides, I can hear the warriors’ impatient pacing.”
“They’ll wait.”
“Nik, go.” She patted his chest. “Fill them in about the demon dog. It’s more important. I’ll be fine. Just give me directions to your quarters so I can take these up.” She took the shopping bags and her backpack he held, then lifted on her toes, hooked her one around his neck, and still couldn’t reach him. When he stared at her, she arched an eyebrow.
This female. Growling, he met her halfway and their lips collided. She dropped the bags and anchored onto him with her hands around his neck. Her mouth open, their tongues connected. Nik sucked and licked inside her mouth, again and again, unable to get enough of her. She moaned, and unbridled desire shot through his bloodstream, theós! But his mate was addictive. A drug to him. His cock throbbed with vengeance. Distant, feminine laughter broke through the heated haze—
Groaning, Nik stepped back. “Damn, this wasn’t wise…” He pressed a hand to his aching dick. “You’re too distracting, my mate.”
Her chest heaving, eyes dark with passion, she compressed her kiss-swollen lips as if hiding her smile and gathered the fallen packages. “Now I know you’ll come and find me before heading out on patrol.”
A low rumble escaped him. “You’re cold, Starshine.”
“Yup, that’s me.”
Her warm laughter wrapped around him, rooting him to the floor. Nik stood there, staring at her like some awestruck fool. Hell, he wanted to sweep her into his arms and head upstairs, but work called. Reeling in his desire was damn hard, but he did. He gave her direction to their quarters. “I’ll see you shortly.”
“Can’t wait.” She flung him a mischievous grin and headed for the stairwell.
As she disappeared up the stairs, Nik rubbed the compression in his chest and made his way to the Arc’s study. Silence fell as he entered the softly lit room, the open French doors letting in the sounds of chirruping insects. The warriors clad in their patrolling gear watched and waited. Their tension stretched around him like a rubber band. He couldn’t blame them when he usually had nothing to say. But this creature’s vibe, hell, he was dead sure, it was the same one he sensed in the alleys two weeks ago.
Michael rose from his chair behind the L-shaped desk. “What happened?”
“The hellhound made an appearance.”
“What?” Týr straightened from the doorjamb, his bored expression vanishing. “How did the thing find you in that isolated place?
“No clue.” Nik scrubbed his palm over his shorn hair. Terror still knotted his gut, recalling the hellbeast leaping for Shadow. “But it did, right there on the mountains.”
“And here we were all ready and waiting for it or the Narakas to show up, and nothing,” Aethan drawled. “Meanwhile, you’re having all the fun.”
Nik snorted. Any other time he would have gladly taken on the monster with little fear—hell, it was what he lived for—vengeance for his torture in Tartarus. But not if it meant endangering his mate.
He filled in the warriors on what occurred on the mountaintop. “It was fucking brutal and disturbing at how easily it tossed Race and me aside,” he muttered. “It shrugged off our weapons as if they were twigs, our abilities, a sprinkle of rain, then it charged Shadow…” Stars, he inhaled deeply. Even though she’d moved like lightning and attacked it, those images would remain imprinted on his mind.
“Is she okay?” Týr asked.
Nik nodded. “Yeah.”
“It will follow you here,” Dagan murmured. His puzzled stare skimmed over Nik, probably wondering what the hell he was doing here during the blood moon, pain-free and sane.
“Likely. Because of these lacerations—” He yanked his t-shirt, revealing the still healing three claw slashes on his abs. “Those things may be able to mark a target, too.” Nik let his shirt drop and cover his wounds again.
“Anyway, Shadow hurt it. After it tossed Race and me aside, the thing leaped at her—and she charged it, sliding between its forelimbs, and somehow, she managed to injure the creature with my obsidian dagger—sliced it apart given the amount of blood that drenched her. I’m still dumbfounded at how quickly she moved. Thankfully, the beast vanished after being hurt.”
“Yeah, those wounds won’t heal fast, not when injured with our mate’s da—” Blaéz stopped, and a grin started. “Bring out the champagne. The Greek’s taken the leap.”
Chuckles broke out all around, chasing away the somber air for a moment.
“About time someone nailed your surly ass.” Týr smirked, then sobered. “Any idea why this creature came after you?”
Nik hooked his thumbs in his back pockets. Should he tell them about the souls he had housed? What the fuck, might as well. He couldn’t hide what Shadow was. Sooner or later, they would sense it. If anything occurred, and in this twisted life of theirs, anything could, he wanted her protected. “It probably wanted the demon souls I had trapped in me since Tartarus. It’s what those specters in that hellhole used me for—a sponge to absorb the vile entities.”
“Shit,” Aethan muttered. “That must have been hell.”
The Empyrean hadn’t been one of those incarcerated in Tartarus. His banishment happened because of him accidentally killing his little sister. But the others? Yeah, they’d all endured their own agony in that hellish place.
“However, they no longer inhabit me,” Nik said, moving on. “Shadow has the ability to absorb the dark energy of souls. Something to do with the otherworldly blood she’d been given a few years ago after blood demons had attacked her, and she nearly died. The plasma formed symbionts, it seemed. It’s what keeps her alive.”
Silence dropped in an explosive boom, the shock reverberating in the study.
Then fucks rang out.
Ely sat forward in her chair near the Arc’s desk, her dark stare pinned on Nik. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah.”
“So, she sort of neutralizes the dark souls once consumed?” Blaéz asked.
“Yeah, her symbionts do. I think the hellhound sensed this energy in her, and that’s why it went after her.”
“No worries, Greek, we got your back,” Aethan said, moving away from the unlit fireplace. They all nodded.
And they would. After surviving the horrors of Tartarus, they’d stood together through every shitstorm they encountered through the passing millennia.
“Wait,” Michael said, pinning Nik with a questioning look, the silver fissure fra
gmenting those blue irises like a bolt of lightning. “What kind of blood?”
Shit. He shrugged. “She doesn’t know.”
“Feeding off demon souls for energy could only mean—”
“I don’t care what it means or what blood was given,” Nik said, his tone like steel and non-negotiable to whatever the Arc would say. “She is my mate, mine. If this is against your protocol of not having demons here, I will move out and live with her elsewhere.”
Michael lifted his head and glared at the ceiling. As if asking, why me? “She’s your mate, regardless of what keeps her alive. On the other hand, with a soul joining, wouldn’t it neutralize the need for the symbionts to feed?”
“I don’t know. It’s not a chance I’m willing to take, not with her life on the line.” Nik cut the Arc a steady stare. “I sense them now and know when they need nourishing.”
No one asked how she would feed. Thank fuck for some mercy.
“Okay, that’s it for now. But keep an eye out for those Narakas,” Michael said. “They’re usually controlled by higher level demons. It means trouble for us if they’re after mortals. Be aware their saliva will immobilize at skin contact. We have to find the damn demon behind this before pandemonium breaks out.”
As they filed out of the study, Ely murmured, “So we’re fighting wendigo-like demons now, huh?”
“The Narakas aren’t wendigos, just overblown shitheads with dodgy spit. You watch too many horror movies,” Týr drawled, removing his M&M’s from his pants pocket.
“I know.” She slanted him a grin. “Kira introduced me to them, says you don’t like her choice of films.”
He snorted. “Why would I when I live that shit?”
Nik passed them, scanning for Shadow, and found her still in their quarters. Frowning, he flashed up to the second floor.
Shadow paced along the length of the padded bench at the foot of Nik’s bed and dragged her fingers through her unbound hair. Since they’d left Romania, she’d been on tenterhooks, trepidation twisting her tummy. She’d tried to tell Nik about Tolvi back at the monastery but had chickened out at the last minute.
Shattered Dawn (Fallen Guardians Book 5) Page 23