Awakened (Eternal Guardians Book 8)

by Elisabeth Naughton

  “Wouldn’t it be wild if you ran into your Argonaut relative in the human realm when you were on a mission for the Sirens? Maybe your relative could read all their fortunes.”

  Sera’s babbling drifted to the back of Elysia’s mind as a memory hit. One of her father tucking her into bed at night when she’d been young. Singing her a lullaby, then leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Sweet dreams, agkelos. Because of you, I am blessed.”

  Agkelos. Angel. He’d always called her that. A sharp pain lanced her heart. One that stole her breath and made her miss that sparkling city more than a snowflake misses cold air.

  Would she ever see him again? Would she see anyone she loved again?

  “I’m starving.” Sera stepped past Elysia and headed for the Siren compound. “Let’s go get some food.”

  Elysia drew in a deep breath and let it out. Slowly, the ache in her chest dimmed, but as she began to walk, it was still there. And something inside her said it would be there until she finally found her way home.

  “Since I lost on the field—again,” she said to Sera, hoping to take her thoughts off a father she wished she could forget, “there won’t be much left by the time I get to eat.”

  “Don’t worry.” Sera winked back at her. “I’ll load up my plate and save you some of the good stuff.”

  Elysia narrowed her eyes on the blonde’s ponytail, covered in mud and swinging as she moved. What did Sera want from her? She’d already beaten Elysia. It was clear Elysia was the worst of the recruits at this point. What could the nymph possibly get from hanging out with her besides ridicule?

  Sera glanced over her dirty shoulder and smiled. “I can’t stand most of the food anyway. I think in my previous life, I must have been a chef or something. Ooh, wouldn’t that be cool? If cooking was part of the training? I’d love to get my hands on a mixer and whip up some cakes and pastries.” She giggled and looked ahead. “Correction. Maybe I was a sugar addict in my earlier life.”

  Elysia’s suspicion slowly faded, and in a whir of understanding she realized exactly what Sera would get from hanging out with her. Friendship. The girl was as much an outcast as Elysia.

  Damn that Damon. Because of him, she was suspicious of everyone around her. It was time she forgot about the male for good and got on with what she needed to do next.

  Which was training to become the best Siren she could be. Because the hard truth was that it didn’t matter if anyone was looking for her. They weren’t going to find her. She wasn’t going to let herself be cast out, which meant she didn’t have a choice. She had to make this work.

  They rounded the corner of the mess hall, and in the setting sunlight, a male stepped out of the headquarter building across the courtyard and moved onto the wide porch. Elysia immediately tensed, then relaxed when she realized it wasn’t Damon.

  Don’t think about Damon! “Who is that?”

  Sera turned to look. “One of the trainers.”

  A tingle rushed down Elysia’s back. The male was tall—close to seven feet—broad shouldered, with legs the size of tree trunks. She’d sort of hoped Damon had been lying about male trainers in the compound. Until today, she’d yet to see one. “Have you worked with him? I’ve only worked with the Sirens so far.”

  “Me too. I don’t think the male trainers come on until later.”

  Great. Elysia said a silent prayer Damon was comfortably back with his slutty goddess by then. “How do you know he’s a trainer?”

  “Because I heard some of the other girls talking about him. I think his name is Erebus.”

  They watched as Erebus crossed the training field, his massive legs eating up the space as if it were nothing. He was the personification of darkness—jet-black hair, dark eyes, mocha skin—and being as big as he was, he commanded attention.

  Sera stepped close and lowered her voice. “Word is he’s a minor god from the Underworld who Hades lost to Zeus in a bet. Zeus supposedly loans him to the Sirens now and then to help with training. Can you imagine having him assigned to you for seduction training? Gods only know what kind of kink he’s into.” Sera fanned her face. “I’m getting hot just thinking about it.”

  Elysia dragged her gaze from the stunning male and looked at her new friend’s dirt-streaked face. “Seduction training? What’s that?”

  Sera’s pretty blue eyes widened. “Don’t tell me no one’s told you about seduction training.”

  A whisper of apprehension rushed down Elysia’s spine. “No, they haven’t. What is it?”

  “Only the most pleasurable, challenging, exciting part of Siren training.” Sera looped her arm through Elysia’s and pulled her toward the mess hall. “It’s when they assign a male to a new recruit, and he teaches her how to seduce and pleasure.”

  Elysia’s stomach pitched. “You don’t mean—”

  “Yep.” Sera grinned. “Sex. In any and every way possible. It’s part of the whole lure-a-male-in training we have to go through. Sirens aren’t just lethal warriors, they’re irresistible male magnets. In order to be inducted into the Order, a Siren has to know how to pleasure and be pleasured so she can carry out her mission at any time. I’ve heard some recruits are so wrecked by their seduction training, they can’t move for days. I also heard some trainers continue their lessons for years. Gods”—she sighed, a wistful look on her face—“can you imagine? Being pleasured by a sex god like Erebus for years?”

  Elysia’s mind snapped right back to Damon even though she didn’t want it to. To the sight of his toned chest and abs. To the feel of his body pressed against hers. To the way he’d tasted when he’d kissed her. Only this time, those memories melded with images of his naked body moving over hers, skin slapping, sweat dripping, and their mingling voices groaning in the dark.

  Her skin grew hot; her heart rate shot up. She swiped at the perspiration suddenly beading her neck and looked down at her wet fingers.

  She wasn’t interested in Damon anymore, dammit. She wasn’t interested in any male. So why was she sweating just thinking about Damon teaching her all those wicked things Sera had mentioned?

  “Hey, you okay?” Sera glanced sideways as they reached the door to the mess hall. “You look a little pale. Don’t worry. Your chances of being assigned to Erebus are slim. I’m sure you’ll get someone else. We don’t get to choose, after all.”

  “We don’t?”

  “Nope. It’s up to the gods.”

  Skata. That was exactly what she was afraid of. Not that she’d be assigned to Damon, but that he’d be assigned to seduce someone else.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “I don’t know.” Seated on the arm of the couch in the living room of the house she shared with Orpheus on the outskirts of Tiyrns, Skyla crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lip. “I can tell you how to get in and out of the Siren Headquarters, but you have to cross into Olympus to do that. And that won’t be easy. Not to mention you’ll be spotted as soon as you reach the gates.”

  Max leaned forward in his chair, desperate for the former Siren’s help. “Orpheus still has his invisibility cloak, doesn’t he?”

  Skyla frowned. “That thing hasn’t been used in over twenty-five years. There’s no guarantee it’ll even work.”

  “But Orpheus is part witch,” Talisa said in the seat beside Max. As soon as Max had told Talisa his plan, the female had jumped to help. If no one else was going after Elysia, they would. “He can charm it. It doesn’t have to work forever. Just long enough to get one of us into Olympus.”

  “I don’t know.” Skyla’s brow wrinkled. “You’d have to get Orpheus to agree to that, and he’s firmly in the queen’s camp on this.”

  Panic rose in Max’s chest. This had to work. A month had already gone by, and they still didn’t have a plan. Wasn’t anyone else worried about Elysia? “Yes, but—”

  “In the queen’s camp about what?” Orpheus asked, striding into the room. He crossed to Skyla, leaned down, and kissed her cheek. “Hey, my beautiful Siren.” Then, nodding tow
ard Max and Talisa, he said, “What are these two yahoos doing here?”

  Skyla sighed. “Trying to convince me to help them break into Olympus and rescue Elysia.”

  Max stiffened as Orpheus turned gray eyes their way. Beside him, Talisa drew in a breath.

  “Don’t tell me we’re back to this,” Orpheus muttered.

  “Pampas.” Four-year-old voices sounded from the other room, and seconds later, Orpheus and Skyla’s twins, Melita and Kyros, rushed into the room and threw themselves at Orpheus’s legs.

  Orpheus chuckled and swooped the girl with the bouncing blonde curls into his arms and kissed her plump cheek. “There’s my daemon girl. Did you drive your mother batshit crazy today?”

  “Orpheus…” Skyla sighed and massaged her forehead.

  Orpheus grinned. At his feet, Kyros lifted his arms in the air and chanted, “Hold you! Hold you!”

  “Hold me,” Orpheus corrected.

  “No, hold you!” Kyros yelled.

  Rolling his eyes, Orpheus looked down at his mate. Skyla only shook her head and crossed her arms. “You wanted them.”

  Orpheus hefted the boy up until he had one child in each arm, and when the two were busy chattering away with each other in some weird twin language Max would never understand, Orpheus pinned Max with a hard look. “No one’s going to Olympus.”

  “Just hear us out.” Max rose. “It’s a simple plan. We use your cloak, sneak into Olympus, find Elysia, wait until the cover of darkness, then sneak her out. My father said you used to use the invisibility cloak all the time to gain access to Olympus unseen and that no one was ever the wiser.”

  “Yeah,” Orpheus answered, “when I was young and stupid. And you’re forgetting a very important fact here. No one was waiting for me those times. Zeus knows we’re desperate to get Elysia back.” He looked at Melita. “Don’t you dare stick that finger you just licked in my ear.” Then to Max, “He’ll be expecting a rescue of some kind. You go, and you’ll be walking into a trap, which is exactly why the queen shot this idea down when you brought it up weeks ago.”

  Max’s jaw clenched. “You don’t under—”

  “There’s also the small issue of protection should you even complete a successful rescue.” Orpheus handed Melita to his mate as she rose and reached for the girl. “We can’t protect her here.”

  “Zeus and Athena can’t cross into Argolea,” Max countered. “They’re Olympians. This realm is off-limits to the Olympian gods.”

  “No, but their Sirens can.” Orpheus moved to the couch, set Kyros on the cushion, pulled a sucker from his jacket pocket and handed it to the boy. Kyros squealed in glee, then his little face scrunched up in all seriousness as he worked to pull the wrapper off.

  “Me too! Me too!” Melita chimed.

  Orpheus moved back toward Skyla and handed the girl perched on her mother’s hip a lollipop.

  “Seriously?” Skyla scowled at her mate. “They won’t eat dinner now.”

  Orpheus grinned. “Dinner’s overrated. Besides, candy makes them like me best.”

  Skyla rolled her eyes and set her daughter on the chair where she’d been sitting.

  Orpheus’s smile faded as he tucked his hands into his pockets and refocused on Max. “Look, I get what you’re trying to do, but it won’t work. Sirens can pass through our borders at will. Even if we man the portal to make sure they don’t enter Tiyrns unnoticed, there’s nothing stopping them from crossing through the moving portals. We can’t police those. We’ve tried. Pulling the princess from the Sirens at this point would be considered an act of war to Zeus, and I won’t be a party to something that will cause a repeat of what the Sirens did to the witches.”

  Orpheus’s mother had been a witch, and he had a strong connection to Delia’s settlement. Luckily, most of the coven had escaped in time, and those who’d been killed hadn’t been civilians but part of their defense team. But that didn’t make it right, and Orpheus had been livid when he’d seen the carnage Athena’s Sirens had caused. The memory of it still made Max see red.

  “He has a point,” Talisa said softly.

  Max understood Orpheus’s point, but he glared his cousin’s way. She was supposed to be on his side with this.

  “I know you kids are worried about Elysia,” Orpheus said, gentling his voice. “I get that. But immortal law states Zeus can choose any female he wants for his Sirens. I hate it as much as you both do, but he chose Elysia, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. The queen and her sisters have pooled their gifts to look into the present, and they’ve seen that Elysia made it through the tests on Pandora and that she’s already started the next phase of training. That’s a good sign.” He glanced at his mate, then back at Max and Talisa while the twins happily sucked on their candy, oblivious to the turmoil in their world. “She’ll be on Olympus for at least the next three years. She’s safe there. The best we can do is continue monitoring her progress and search for a solution that won’t result in all-out war. I know your instinct is to jump, Max, but as a future Argonaut, you have to start thinking about the bigger picture. You can’t just focus on your personal wants.”

  That was rich coming from a guy who’d spent hundreds of years saying fuck you to the world and doing only what he wanted.

  “You’re talking years,” Max said, fighting the rage that wanted to consume him. Didn’t they care? Didn’t they realize what it was like to be plucked from one life and thrown into another? What it was like to be forced to fight and kill for something you didn’t believe in?

  He knew. He knew all too well. He could still feel the cold. Could still hear the screams. Sometimes, late at night, he could even feel his blade sinking deep into flesh as he watched the last bit of life bleed out of his victim.

  Max didn’t want that for Elysia. He’d do anything to save her from the nightmares that still haunted him. It didn’t matter who the Sirens ordered her to kill. Once she let the darkness take her, it would never let go.

  “Yeah, I am talking about years.” Orpheus’s gray eyes narrowed. “Years where Elysia is safe and no one else is killed because we acted rashly.”

  Frustration, anger, disbelief coiled through Max, and he turned away, fighting the urge to shove his fist through the wall. He didn’t need a lecture from someone who’d only developed a conscience because of a female. Orpheus hadn’t bothered to clean up his treacherous ways until he’d fallen in love with Skyla.

  “We’re just worried about Elysia,” Talisa said. “She’s not me or Max. Fighting, combat, and warfare do not come naturally to her. Her survival skills were strong enough to get her through the tests on Pandora, but she’s not a warrior. And when it comes to being a Siren and killing… She won’t be able to do that. Not unless they break her.”

  “She’s Demetrius’s daughter,” Orpheus said. “She might not be a warrior, but she’s strong. She can get through the training.”

  “Maybe.” Talisa’s voice softened. “But even the training will change her.”

  “The girl is right.” Something in Skyla’s tone made Max turn. The former Siren looked toward her mate with haunted eyes.

  “What do you mean?” Orpheus’s expression grew worried as his focus zeroed in on his mate.

  “Elysia won’t be the same.” Something dark passed over Skyla’s eyes. Something that gave Max hope. “The Siren training will change her. Seduction, combat, the war strategy they drill into the recruits’ heads… I know I told the queen she’d be okay, but, Orpheus, Athena and Zeus wipe the recruits’ memories so they won’t question what they’re being taught. It’s reprogramming. By the time Elysia remembers who we all are, it’ll be too late. They’ll already have their killer.”

  “But you made it through okay.”

  Skyla shook her head. “I made it back because of you, and it took hundreds of years. Most Sirens are not that lucky. And even I’m not the same person I used to be before. You know that.”

  Max held his breath as he looked between the two. Orpheus
and Skyla’s love story didn’t span years, it spanned centuries. They’d known each other when Skyla had first joined the order and Orpheus had been a reckless youth with no regard for rules. It had taken death, reincarnation, and more than a little forgiveness to bring them back together. It had also taken a love that knew no bounds.

  Orpheus’s expression grew grim as his gaze held Skyla’s, and in the silence, Max’s heart beat faster.

  Skyla reached for her mate’s hand. “I know it’s wrong, but I wish…I wish someone would have come after me all those years ago. I wish I’d never been a Siren.”

  Pain and regret swamped Orpheus’s features as his fingers closed tightly around his mate’s. “I’m an Argonaut now,” he said softly. “The queen’s already decided. I can’t be involved.”

  “You wouldn’t have to be,” Max said quickly. “If anyone finds out, I’ll say I stole the invisibility cloak.”

  Orpheus scowled Max’s way like that was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard.

  “He stole the Orb of Krónos from the castle once,” Talisa pointed out. “That wouldn’t be a stretch.”

  “I was a kid then.” Max sent his cousin a sideways glance at the mention of the magical disk that had the power to release the Titans from Tartarus. “And thanks so much for reminding everyone about that incident.”

  “I’m just saying.” Talisa rolled her eyes. “Some people wouldn’t be surprised to hear you stole something else.”

  “This is insanity.” Orpheus let go of Skyla’s hand and rubbed his forehead. “Forget about the fact you’d be putting your life on the line and could quite possibly get caught by any number of gods. Assuming you can find Elysia and get her out of Olympus, you can’t even bring her back here.” He dropped his hand. “If the Sirens found out she was in this realm, all hell would break loose. You’d have to go on the run in the human realm, and even then they’d hunt you like dogs. They’d never stop. ”

  “We could take her to the half-breed colony.” Talisa looked up at Max, then at Orpheus. “There’s still therillium in the caverns beneath the colony. Once it’s glowing, the ore has the ability to cloak our location. We could stay hidden indefinitely. The colonists did so for years.”