“Your father’s an Argonaut and a witch,” he muttered. “I knew there was something different about him. Man, I am totally dead when he finds out about this.”
She laughed as they reached a door on the far end of the corridor. “No, you’re not. Once we’re bound, he can’t change it. He’ll have to accept you.”
Relief pulsed through her as she pushed the heavy door open and stepped out into the moonlit forest beyond the castle walls. She drew in a deep breath of freedom and smiled. But Cerek’s hand tugged her back before she could take another step.
“Emmoní,” he said, looking down at her, his brows drawn together. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
The full moon cast enough light that they no longer needed the torch. Taking it from his hand, she dropped it on the ground and stomped the flame out with her boot. “Want what?”
He grasped both of her hands, drawing her attention back to him. “Me. Once your father finds out what I did for the gods on Olympus, bound or not, he’s going to try to take you away from me.”
“That won’t happen.”
“Yes, it wi—”
She laced her fingers with his. “Listen to me. That won’t happen, because I choose you, Cerek, Damon…whatever you want me to call you. Your name doesn’t matter to me. Your past doesn’t matter to me. The only thing that matters is that I love you. And I will always choose you.”
“Emmoní.” His eyes filled with emotion. And when his mouth met hers and his tongue slipped between her lips, the wicked taste didn’t just set off a burst of desire in her body. It ignited a craving deep in her soul only he could fill.
She closed her eyes as she kissed him back, imagining the small clearing beneath the stars where she’d watched Delia, the high priestess of the coven, perform more than one binding ceremony over the years.
The ground disappeared beneath their feet, and she felt the world tip and sway, but she didn’t stop kissing Cerek.
“Whoa.” He pulled back when stones formed beneath their shoes. Wide-eyed, he looked at the trees and mountains rising around the small circle, illuminated and shining like silver in the moonlight. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Only here. Argolean trick. Just don’t try to do it through walls.”
He cast a sexy, half grin down at her, for the first time since they’d arrived in her realm, seeming to relax. The lines were gone from his forehead, his eyes sparkled in the moonlight, and his smile was one of pure delight that absolutely made her heart melt.
“Paidí,” Delia, the leader of the coven, said to Elysia’s left. “We were beginning to think you’d changed your mind.”
Elysia let go of Cerek and turned toward the high priestess, dressed in a flowing red robe, her snow-white hair hanging to the middle of her back. “Hiereia.” Elysia closed both of her hands around the one Delia offered. “I’m sorry we kept you waiting. Thank you for arranging this.”
Delia nodded. “I’ve heard rumblings of the queen’s plans. As saddened as I was to hear of your father’s agreement in those plans, I understand his rationale. I’m just happy you’ve made your own choice. You must be bound, or Zeus will return. The coven will do anything we can to keep the Sirens at bay.” Delia turned her brilliant blue eyes Cerek’s direction. “Welcome home, Guardian. You don’t remember me, do you?”
“No, I’m sorry.”
Delia’s gaze hovered on Cerek, and as Elysia watched, she had the strange sense the witch knew something about Cerek she wasn’t saying.
“’Tis of little importance.” Delia smiled and looked back at Elysia. “All is prepared here for the Hieros Gamos. Juniper will take you to be cleansed so we may begin. Guardian.” She looked back at Cerek. “Follow me.”
Juniper stepped forward from the shadows, a willowy witch with dark hair, dressed in a purple robe similar to Delia’s, and began walking away from the circle. Elysia turned to follow, but Cerek captured her by the wrist.
“Hold on,” he whispered. “Where is the priestess taking me?”
Elysia squeezed his hand for reassurance. “Just to the pools. For a ceremonial bath called a loutra. It’s part of the ritual. Trust me. You’re not going to get turned into something unnatural.”
“I’d better not be,” he muttered as he let go of her. “Or you’re gonna be in big trouble.”
“Like the trouble I was in on that Pandoran beach?”
Heat filled his sexy eyes. A heat that ignited a fire deep in Elysia’s core. “Exactly like that.” He kissed her quickly, then moved away with a wicked smile. “On second thought, maybe you’ll be in that kind of trouble again either way.”
She laughed as he disappeared into the darkness. At her back, Juniper said, “This way, Princess.”
She followed Juniper into the trees. Moonlight lit their way. In a matter of minutes, they came to a small pool flanked by rocks and filled with steaming water.
“Everything off. This is for your hair.” The witch handed her a ribbon. “Climb in.”
Elysia wrapped her hair in a knot, then tugged her shirt up and off and let it drop to the ground. As she reached for the snap of her pants, a memory flashed—of her and Cerek in the hot springs on Olympus, of the way he’d kissed her, how hard he’d been beneath the water, and just what she’d wanted him to do to her right there under the stars.
She smiled as she climbed into the pool. Heat surrounded her. Sinking back into the water, she sighed as the scent of heliotrope filled her senses.
Juniper sat on a rock near Elysia’s back, poured some kind of oil into her hands, and began to knead the muscles in Elysia’s shoulders. “I was shocked when Delia told me of your impending binding.”
Yeah, Elysia knew several people were going to be shocked when they heard the news. “Why? Because we haven’t known each other long? When you know who you’re meant to be with, there’s no sense in waiting.”
“Not because of that. Because you’re binding yourself to the Argonaut Cerek. I never expected him to be bound.”
Elysia’s conversation with Titus rolled through her mind. “And why is that?”
“Because of his celibacy. He was the talk of the coven for many years before his disappearance. More than one witch tried to tempt him.”
Elysia’s back tingled. “He’s not gay.”
Juniper chuckled. “I never implied he was. I take it he didn’t tell you about his prophecy?”
Elysia sat up straighter and glanced over her shoulder toward the witch. “What prophecy?”
Juniper lifted Elysia’s left arm out of the water and massaged the heliotrope-scented oil into her skin. “Many moons ago, before Cerek was inducted into the Argonauts, he began seeing one from our coven. Astrid advised the young witch to stay away from him. Astrid, you see, was an oracle. She had the gift of sight, and she prophesied that the sins of Cerek’s forefather would follow him. Do you know the story of Theseus, Cerek’s forefather?”
“No.”
Juniper lowered Elysia’s arm into the water and reached for the other. “Theseus was a great hero, as great, some say, as Heracles himself. Born from the union between Aethra, a human mother, and the sea god, Poseidon, he was strong and accomplished many great feats. He even killed the mighty minotaur.”
Elysia knew her history. As future heir to the throne, she’d been raised on it. “Go on.”
“Theseus’s greatest weakness, however, was lust, and some called him the ‘great abductor of women,’ as he saw females not as gifts to be revered but as objects to be conquered. It was because of this lust that he agreed to join his cousin, Pirithous, on a quest to abduct and bind themselves to two daughters of Zeus. Theseus chose Helen. Pirithous set his eyes on Persephone. After they abducted Helen, they left her with Theseus’s mother and descended into the Underworld to steal Persephone from Hades. But all did not go as planned, for the Underworld is a cruel and demoralizing place. Rise, Princess.”
Elysia pushed to her feet, letting the water hit at her waist. “Wh
at does this all have to do with Cerek?”
Juniper rubbed the scented oil down her spine. “Theseus abandoned honor for lust and lost his courage in the Underworld. When, in despair, he sat down on a rock, he was immovably fixed in stone and surrounded by furies. He was trapped in the Underworld for many years, until Heracles eventually rescued him. Astrid, the oracle, foresaw that Cerek would follow in his forefather’s footsteps. She foresaw that lust would cause him to lose his courage. She told Cerek and the young witch what she’d seen. Cerek, as you can imagine, was skeptical. But shortly thereafter, his father, Aristokles, lost his courage when his soul mate was killed. Aristokles left the Argonauts. He disappeared for nearly fifty years. Cerek realized that the cycle was destined to repeat and stepped back from all females. For a warrior, for an Argonaut, courage is the most sacred of virtues.”
The witch lifted her hands from Elysia’s back. “Turn.”
Elysia’s mind was a whirl of thoughts as she turned in the water and the witch began rubbing the oil across her collarbone. Was she cursing Cerek by going through with this binding? Would he lose his honor? His courage? He’d abandoned the gods for her, gone back on his vow to serve them. But that didn’t make him a coward. No, to her it made him extremely honorable. And whether or not he chose to return to the Argonauts, he was still honorable and courageous and the mightiest warrior she’d ever known. Besides which, this—what was happening between them—wasn’t lust. It was stronger, more real. It was meant to be.
“Climb out of the water, Princess, and I’ll oil your legs.”
Dazed, Elysia looked down only to realize the witch had already oiled her breasts and belly. She’d been so distracted by thoughts of Cerek, she hadn’t even noticed.
Climbing out of the pool, Elysia took the wrap Juniper handed her and closed it around her body. As she sat on the rocks and extended one leg, the witch knelt in front of her and rubbed oil across her thigh and down to her toes.
“He doesn’t know about the prophesy,” Elysia said. “He doesn’t remember it. And I don’t want you to tell him, because it’s irrelevant.”
Juniper glanced up as she moved to Elysia’s other leg. “You don’t think he has the right to know about his destiny?”
“Destiny is a term people use to imply we have no control over our futures. There is no such thing as destiny. All paths can be changed.”
“So you don’t believe in the Fates?” The witch rose, stepped past Elysia, and reached for a purple gown with gold trim.
Elysia stood and looked after her. “I believe the Fates are real, meddling in future events, but even they can’t see all ends. The future changes based on the decisions we make today.”
Juniper lifted the gown over Elysia’s head. “And you believe the oracle was making the prophecy up?”
“Not necessarily.” Elysia tugged the wrap free and let it fall to her feet. Shrugging into the gown, she said, “I just don’t believe all visions are accurate. My mother has the gift of foresight, and her visions are often muddled.”
The witch moved around behind her and worked the buttons along Elysia’s spine. “Your mother’s gift is impeded when it relates to those she loves. Astrid’s gift is not.”
Frustration bubbled through Elysia as the witch began to mess with her hair. “So you’re saying I’m dooming Cerek by going through with this ceremony.”
“No.” Juniper stepped around in front of her. “I’m saying be careful, Princess. There are forces at work here you and Cerek do not understand.”
Elysia’s pulse picked up speed as she stared into the witch’s amber eyes. “I love him and he loves me. That’s all that matters.”
“For both your sakes, I hope that is true. And I hope love is enough to weather the coming storm.”
The witch stepped away only to return with glittering jewels, which she began draping over Elysia. But Elysia barely noticed. Because her heart was suddenly pounding a staccato rhythm against her ribs, and her mind was spinning over everything the witch had just said, trying to fit together pieces that didn’t seem to want to merge.
There was no coming storm. She and Cerek could get through anything so long as they were together. And he wasn’t in danger of losing his honor or his courage because of her either. She wouldn’t let either happen.
But as the witch finished her preparations and motioned Elysia to follow her back to the stone circle, Elysia heard her mother’s voice saying, “Be careful, daughter. Some things are not always as they seem.” And she also heard words from long ago that she didn’t want to remember.
She heard her mother whisper, “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.”
Okay, the whole bath thing was just plain weird.
Cerek had told the white-haired witch who spoke as if she were five hundred but looked only thirty that he was perfectly capable of bathing alone. The witch had chuckled and handed over the soap, but she hadn’t left. Instead she’d moved off to the side and watched him as if he were the main event at a three-ring circus.
He’d had enough years of people watching him in Aphrodite’s pleasure palace not to be self-conscious of his body, but it was just plain creepy to be watched like this when he was about to marry—no, bind with—Elysia.
“This is a good match,” Delia said as he dressed in the loose-fitting tan cotton pants she’d left out for him and the white tunic with its purple sash. “A very good match.”
Cerek thought so too. And he was anxious to get on with the ceremony so he could get back to Elysia and get away from the witch.
The witch lifted a crown of ivy and motioned for Cerek to lower his head. “Especially since she is your soul mate. A very good match.”
“Soul mate?” Cerek adjusted the crown and looked down at the witch. “What do you mean?”
“It means exactly as it sounds. Hera cursed all the Argonauts with a soul mate. The other half of their soul. She is yours. That is why you are so drawn to her. You are lucky, Guardian. Many Argonauts spend their lives searching for their soul mate, only to come up empty. You are very lucky indeed.”
A chill spread down Cerek’s spine as the witch turned away and motioned for him to follow. Was that the energy he’d been feeling? A draw toward Elysia? No, he knew whatever that strange feeling had been, it had nothing to do with Elysia. Plus, ever since they’d left the castle and come to this place, he hadn’t felt it.
But he did feel a closeness to Elysia he’d never felt to anyone else. A bond that had formed the moment they’d met, one that had only intensified when they’d made love in Athena’s temple. Was she the other half of his soul? Was that why he’d fallen for her so quickly and completely? Why he’d become obsessed with her and couldn’t imagine life without her?
Hera cursed all the Argonauts… A curse didn’t sound good. A curse meant there were repercussions to the whole deal. For him? Or for the female involved in the equation? Heat burned in his veins and tightened his chest. He couldn’t let anything happen to Elysia. It wasn’t enough that the gods had fucked with his life. Now they were fucking with his future? With Elysia’s?
Moonlight shone down over Elysia on the far side of the circle as Cerek approached. She was dressed in a purple gown that matched his sash. A wide ballet collar showed off her delicate shoulders and dipped low at her cleavage. Long bell sleeves draped past her hands, and a fitted waistline gave way to an A-line skirt. Amethyst jewels dripped from her ears, a large gemstone was clasped at her throat, and a crown of ivy, like his, sat in her updrawn hair sprinkled with even more purple-toned jewels. But all Cerek could focus on was the fact someone had planned this, that the gods were pushing them together, that even though he’d asked her if this was truly her choice, she might not be able to fully comprehend the question.
“Welcome,” Delia said, stepping into the middle of the circle. “Tonight we gather for the Heiros Gamos of Cerek and Elysia.”
Several
witches emerged from the trees, dressed in hooded purple cloaks, each holding a lantern. They lined up on the outside of the circle, closing the space after Elysia joined Cerek in the middle.
Delia turned toward Juniper at her side. “We begin with—”
“Wait.” Cerek reached for Elysia’s hand. “I need to talk to you for a minute.”
Elysia’s smile faltered. “Okay.”
“Not here.” To Delia, he said, “We’ll be right back.”
The witches exchanged perplexed looks, but two moved aside, opening the circle so Cerek could pull Elysia through and into the trees.
“What’s wrong?” Elysia asked when they were out of earshot. “Did you change your mind?”
“No. Gods, no.” He stopped and looked down at her. “I just want to make sure you don’t.”
“I already told you that I want to do this. I—”
“You might not have a choice in this. You’re my soul mate.”
She blinked like he was a total fool. “I know I am.”
“You do?”
“I suspected it when you went all ape-shit alpha on Petros. That was a classic Argonaut response to his soul mate with another male.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I didn’t fully understand until we got to the human realm and I saw your markings. That’s when I knew for sure I was your soul mate.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
She laughed. “Why would that bother me? Aside from the fact you went a little overboard—which we already discussed—it means you’ll always protect me. That’s not exactly a bad thing.”
“But…” His gaze searched her flawless face. “You don’t care that this has all been preordained by Hera? That you don’t have a choice in what you feel for me?”
“Cerek.” She laid her soft palm against his cheek. “Yes, Hera cursed you to feel an attraction toward me, but it’s one-sided. The female in Hera’s soul mate curse doesn’t feel the same pull. I’m here because I want to be here. Because I love you with every fiber of my being. No one is making me bind my soul to yours. I choose to do so freely.”
Awakened (Eternal Guardians Book 8) Page 24