Thanatos: Guardians of Hades Series Book 8

by Felicity Heaton

  He would help her with her power when all this was done. If she wanted it. He wasn’t really sure what she wanted. She had talked of visiting him at his castle, had spoken just now in a way that made him feel she intended to continue their relationship, but he was no fool. He knew that she might change her mind about that once she was back with her family. She might forget about him.

  Gods, he hoped she didn’t, but he didn’t dare to believe this thing between them would continue now her family were back in the picture.

  “The demigoddess ran. She has probably teleported beyond our reach now.” He wanted to curse again, was aware that part of the reason for his anger was because he had wanted to convince Hades that he was a suitable male for his only daughter by showing him how competent he was, delivering the demigoddess to him and the information he had gathered too.

  “That isn’t possible.” Calindria frowned as she inspected the wound on his arm, her touch light and wreaking havoc on him with the drug still addling his mind, loosening his inhibitions. She glanced up into his eyes and gods, his heart felt as if it was trying to break out of his chest it was beating so hard. Beating for her. A nervous little smile curled her lips and a hint of colour touched her cheeks as her gaze slid towards her brother. “There was a witch with Daimon. She cast a barrier over this place. No one can teleport out of it.”

  That gave him hope.

  Together with how her eyes burned crimson when he said, “Cassandra is here? That is good.”

  He had only meant it as he was pleased she was within their forces since it would help them capture the demigoddess and possibly even some of the higher-ranked warriors under her command, but the fire that blazed in Calindria’s eyes and the way her fingers dug possessively into his arm told him she had taken it in another way.

  She thought he admired—wanted—the Russian witch.

  “We didn’t see any female on the way here. She must have gone the other way.” Calistos didn’t seem to notice the death grip his sister had on Thanatos’s arm, and Thanatos was thankful.

  Although, if he had wanted to avoid her brother discovering that his relationship with Calindria had been more than merely platonic, he probably should have stopped staring at her. He couldn’t though. His eyes wouldn’t obey him as she fussed over the wounds and helped him with the shackles, summoning vines that snaked inside the locks and undid them.

  He rubbed his wrists when they were free and his fingers accidentally brushed hers. Her eyes darted up to meet his and he stared into them, losing himself a little as heat rolled through him. Heat she cranked up to an unbearable degree as she ran her hands over his chest, lowering her eyes there, checking over his wounds. Gods, he swallowed hard, the leather of her gloves was so incredibly soft, teased him in a wicked way that had his blood burning like an inferno in his veins.

  He stared at her mouth, aching to kiss her again, aware there wasn’t time and that Calistos was watching him now.

  Only he couldn’t bring himself to care about either of those things.

  The need to kiss Calindria overruled reason, made him a slave to it and had him bending his head and capturing her lips when she looked desperate for him to kiss her. He needed to reassure her that he was fine, needed to make sure she knew how badly he wanted her, how fiercely he needed her in his life, and how deep his feelings for her ran.

  Consequences be damned.

  Her kiss was sweet but laced with desperation and a possessiveness that made him want to growl, made him want to rejoice, because it made him feel his little warrioress wasn’t going to let him go without a fight.

  That her feelings for him weren’t going to change once she was back with her family.

  When he drew back and glanced at Calistos, the blond male looked far from impressed, but he also didn’t look as if he was going to try to stop this thing that was happening between Thanatos and his sister either.

  “If the lovebirds are done cooing over each other, maybe we can get on with this battle?” Calistos arched an eyebrow at him.

  Heat burned Thanatos’s cheeks.

  Calindria’s face turned scarlet too and she stared at her boots.

  Thanatos took hold of her hand and the feel of it in his hit him hard. He looked down at it. It was so small compared to his, but her grip was strong, fierce, and he could feel the resolve that flowed through her. He lifted his gaze to meet hers, wanted to tell her how much he loved the way she held his hand so possessively.

  How much he loved her.

  But now wasn’t the time.

  He dragged his eyes away from hers, scanning the room, and cursed. “My sword.”

  Calindria eased down into a crouch without relinquishing his hand, pressed her free one to the ruptured stone floor and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply, sweat dotting her brow, her delicate features pinching hard. Her hand trembled in his and he wanted to tell her to stop, that he didn’t need his sword. He could fight without it. It wasn’t worth her hurting herself by trying to locate it.

  Her eyes flicked open. “It’s close to here.”

  She rose to her feet and tugged on his hand, pulling him towards the door. She gave her brother and Marinda a wide berth, placing him between her and them, and his need to help her master her power grew stronger still. He hated that she feared being near her twin, knew how much it must be hurting her to have to keep her distance.

  Thanatos followed her along the corridor, seized hold of her and pulled her against his chest and covered her with his wings as a blast rocked the building and dust rained down on her.

  “Cass is going over the top as usual,” Calistos muttered. “We should join them.”

  “Wait.” Calindria pushed free of Thanatos’s arms, her blue eyes wide as she peered past his wing to her brother. “The sword is just in here. Wait for us.”

  Her fear trickled into him, and her brother seemed to sense it too, because he nodded and smiled tightly.

  “Not going anywhere, sis.” Calistos looked as if he wanted to touch her when she swallowed and nodded, the worry not leaving her eyes. “Come on. Let’s get Mr Muscle here his sword and get back to the fight.”

  Thanatos scowled at the little god of wind, sure that had been an insult. “Listen to me, Hades’s kid, and listen well—”

  “Here we go with the kid shit again.” Calistos squared up to him. “I thought you’d loosen up a little now you have a girlfriend.”

  Thanatos stiffened. He knew that term. He wasn’t sure it applied to him and Calindria, but he found he wanted it to.

  “Girlfriend?” Calindria sounded so innocent and confused that Thanatos’s urge to put her brother in his place became an urge to divert the course of the conversation before her brother could explain it to her.

  “Ah, it is a word for a woman in a steady relationship with a man.” Marinda jumped right on it, her French accent making the words sound light when they fell like lead in the thick air.

  Thanatos did not put her in her place. The furie was powerful, dangerous, and he had decided he didn’t want to die.

  “Steady relationship,” Calindria murmured, and when she glanced at him, the look in her eyes hit him hard.

  She wanted that.

  She wanted to be his girlfriend.

  He had never had a girlfriend before, only knew of the term by overhearing her brothers talking, using that word for some of their females. He wasn’t really sure of the protocols. Was he meant to ask her to be his girlfriend? Or was the title automatically applied once a relationship reached a certain point?

  Was he boyfriend material?

  He had heard that term too.

  He felt disturbingly nervous as he looked at Calindria, unsure how to proceed.

  “A male girlfriend is a what?” Calindria looked at her brother.

  “Not Thanatos, that’s for sure.” Calistos gave him a hard look, one that told Thanatos he wasn’t boyfriend material in his opinion.

  “Why not?” he growled and then cursed. “We are gettin

g side-tracked.”

  He tried to tug Calindria forwards, rage simmering in his veins now, his mind churning as he tried to figure out why Calistos didn’t think he was suitable for his sister.

  She stood her ground, an immovable object as she glared at her brother. “I want to know.”

  “Boyfriend,” Marinda supplied, her accent making it sound like something exotic.

  “Boyfriend,” Calindria repeated, as if trying that word on for size. He stiffened when she looked at him, looped her arm around his and canted her head, her eyes locking with his. “Boyfriend.”

  She almost growled that word, the possessive edge to it setting his blood aflame as she sidled closer to him.

  “Come, boyfriend.” She pulled him forwards, into a room where his sword was waiting.

  “Yeah, I can’t wait for Dad to hear about this,” Calistos muttered.

  All the warmth Thanatos had felt on hearing Calindria claim him as her boyfriend drained from him, his blood turning to icy sludge in his veins as a chill tumbled down his spine.

  Hades would kill him.

  He tried to shut that out of his mind as he broke free of Calindria’s hold and grabbed his sword from the table in the centre of the room. He weighed the weapon, trying to shove his mind back on track, because he had the feeling that capturing the demigoddess was going to be more important than ever now that Calindria had decided they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

  Thanatos could only hope she didn’t use that term for him around her father before he had a chance to speak with Hades about her.

  For added peace of mind, he prayed to the Moirai that if she did use it, Hades wouldn’t know what it meant. The Moirai were Calindria’s protectors, which meant they had to be on her side, and that meant they had to offer him some protection too. Right?

  A male could only hope.

  He seized her hand in a grip as possessive as hers had been and stormed back the way they had come, forcing his mind onto the matter of dealing with the demigoddess. He cleared his head of thoughts of what came after that, because if he didn’t focus on winning this battle, there would be no facing Hades, no life with Calindria. There would be only death, or worse. Captivity.

  Or, gods forbid, even worse than that.

  Calindria might be killed.

  So, he was going to focus on the here and now, on laying his past to rest in the only way he could now. Killing the demigoddess was no longer an option. That dream of vengeance was gone. Now, he would capture her and hold her instead, would make her talk and reveal everything. He would stop this enemy from completing its wretched plans for the Underworld.

  They broke out into the open air and he released Calindria, bellowed as he swung his sword and cut down a male who had his back to him. Calistos and Marinda were quick to launch into action, breaking off to his left to fight the warriors cowering behind the wall there, hiding from the blasts of ice and magic that shot through the air at them.

  Stone exploded outwards above him as one of the orbs of violet light impacted with the ancient wall of the building. Thanatos grabbed Calindria and tucked her to him, leaning over her and raising his wing to shield them both as black rock showered like rain onto them.

  None of it struck him.

  It bounced off the shield of vines that curved over him, protecting him.

  Calindria smiled slightly as he looked at her. “Two can play at that game.”

  Indeed, they could.

  He worked with her, slowly advancing through the throng of warriors, protecting her at times while she protected him at others, and hell, it felt good to fight at her side like this. It felt good to have someone watching his back.

  He twisted and lunged, skewered a male through his gut as he raised a short blade and tried to cut Calindria down. She waved her hand towards him and vines burst from the ground, impaling him and pushing him back from her. Thanatos tugged her forwards, cutting down another of the warriors, and Calindria yanked on his arm, pulling him into a crouch as a spear of ice shot over their heads.

  Above him, a male bellowed in agony and fell from one of the crumbling parapets, landing with a thud close to him, his bow tumbling from his grip.

  He looked across at Daimon as the white-haired male hurried towards them, Cassandra hurling twisting sharp spears of crimson and orange magic at the warriors pursuing them. Several of the warriors stopped and nocked arrows, loosed them and waited. They struck an invisible barrier rather than the witch, and a faint blue wave rippled across the air where they had hit.

  “You all good?” Daimon looked at Calindria and then Calistos, and finally Thanatos. “Got eyes on a female. Only one here. Silver hair. Black leather. Has holed herself up within a ring of warriors and is heading for the edge of the barrier.”

  “The demigoddess,” Thanatos snarled. “We need to capture her. She has vital information about an attack the enemy plans to carry out.”

  Daimon nodded and glanced over his shoulder at Cass. “You good, baby?”

  She grunted and muttered, “I could use some help. The barrier will not hold without me shoring it up. A power boost might be nice.”

  “Kinda tapped out.” Daimon didn’t sound happy about that.

  “Big man.” Cassandra jerked her head at Thanatos. “Take my hand.”

  Calindria stormed towards her. “My boyfriend will not be going anywhere near you.”

  Cassandra took one look at her and shrugged.

  “You’ll do.” The witch slapped a hand down on her shoulder before Calindria could evade her touch. Her pale eyes went as large as full moons and the barrier that had been flickering weakly suddenly shone bright blue. “Dark. Dark. Dark… dark… dark. What are you, little one?”

  Calindria jerked backwards, trying to dislodge the witch.

  Cassandra’s grip only tightened, her painted nails pressing into the soft leather of Calindria’s shirt. “Oh, don’t take your toys home and pout. This is delicious.”

  The witch swept her hand out and a black cloud that sparked with lime green swirls swept outwards from her. The warriors that had been advancing on them took one look at it and tried to run, but they weren’t quick enough to escape it. It rolled over the slowest of them, and their screams filled the air as they contorted, as black patches appeared on their skin and spread to devour them.

  “Stop!” Calindria shrieked.

  Thanatos growled as he felt her fear, her pain, and closed the distance between him and Calindria in a beat of his wings. He shoved Cassandra forwards, earning a snarl from Daimon as the witch lost her balance and fell on her knees, and pulled Calindria back the moment she was free of her grip.

  “It is all right, little goddess.” He pulled Calindria into his arms as she shook, unsure whether it was all right.

  She clawed at his chest, pressing close to him, and he watched the black mist rolling across the land, watched as the warriors fell one by one, some killed by the devastating effect of the mist and others because they came into contact with those warriors. This wasn’t good. Around him, agonised bellows filled the air, the scent of fear thick in it as the warriors desperately tried to escape the plague spreading through their ranks.

  Calindria curled into him and covered her ears, and over the din of the dying warriors, he heard her whisper, “My brothers.”

  He held her closer to him and beat his wings, ignoring the ache in his injured one. The air current he created disturbed the charred remains of the dead warriors closest to them, sending the ashes flying away from her brothers, keeping them safe for her.

  Calistos noticed what he was doing and used his power over the wind to help him, creating a vortex around them that slowly spread outwards, carrying any remaining ashes far from them.

  “This doesn’t look good, Cass.” Daimon helped her onto her feet. “Any way to stop this?”

  Cassandra looked as worried as he did. Her black eyebrows furrowed as she stared at the spreading black mist. It was gaining pace.

  “I think so. Maybe.” She looked back at Thanatos.

  Thanatos shook his head and curled his wings around Calindria, making it clear the witch wouldn’t be having access to her again. Calindria’s hurt tore at him. He couldn’t understand why she felt guilty whenever she killed with this power, but he was damned if he was going to let anyone make her feel worse than she already did by forcing her to see what her power was doing to these people. She was going to stay in his arms until it was over.

  Thanatos’s gaze scanned the falling warriors, seeking the demigoddess. When he spotted her, he jerked his chin in that direction.

  “We need her alive, witch.”

  And the black mist was drawing dangerously close to her now as she desperately tried to break through the barrier.

  Cassandra nodded and closed her eyes, held her right hand out and extended her index finger. Wherever her finger went, golden light appeared in its wake. She was drawing something. It took shape. A plain circle at first, and then another within it, and three circles that intersected the outer ring. Inside those circles, she drew a symbol.

  She was making a glyph.

  “Faster, witch,” Thanatos growled as the black mist reached the warriors nearest Harleena as she battered the barrier with her fists.

  “Going as fast as I can,” Cassandra snapped. “Perfection takes time. You want this to be perfect. One small error and your demigoddess is dead.”

  “And whose fault is that?” he snarled back at her.

  The temptation to fly and grab the demigoddess to pull her out of the reach of the deadly mist sweeping towards her was strong, almost overwhelming, but the way Calindria clung to him and the fear he could feel flowing through her kept him in place. She feared for him, even though she knew this mist couldn’t harm him.

  She needed him here with her.

  Cassandra tapped the centre of the glyph she had drawn in the air and it rolled into a ball that shot towards the demigoddess. The moment it reached her, it expanded, wrapping around the female. Harleena began battering it instead, trying to break free of the sphere as it lifted her into the air and slowly bobbed towards them. She lowered one hand to the curved bottom of the sphere, pressing it close to her black-leather-clad knee.

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