Like Greece.
She kept humming the tune as she headed back towards the kitchen, her thoughts returning to making dinner. She couldn’t wait to sit down at the heavy wooden table in the dining side of the kitchen with Valen. Although she wasn’t sure whether it was because she wanted to eat dinner with him, amaze him with her cooking, or just wanted to eat.
Her stomach growled again.
Maybe it was the latter.
His company was just a bonus.
She smiled at that, and how he would scowl at her if she said such a thing to him.
Eva gasped as she walked into something.
Something not furniture.
Not Valen.
She stumbled back a few steps, pulling herself together, sure that it was just one of his brothers and there was no reason to panic.
She would tell them he was out, and they would leave and she could keep cooking dinner.
Her words died on her lips as she looked at the man.
And didn’t recognise him.
He ventured a step towards her, his short white robe shifting against his bare thighs beneath his golden armour, armour that made her think of one of those tacky gladiators outside the Colosseum.
Only this man wasn’t looking to make a quick euro off an unsuspecting tourist.
She was fairly certain he wasn’t human, not a man in the conventional sense of the word.
He was a god.
She backed off, keeping the distance between them steady. “Valen is out.”
He smiled, causing wrinkles beside his golden eyes, but there was no feeling in it. “I know.”
He moved faster than she could track, suddenly before her with his right palm pressed between her breasts. Her heart thundered and she tried to escape, but her back hit the wall and she froze there, trapped between it and the god looming before her.
Waves of dark brown hair threaded with gold fell to caress his sun-kissed forehead as he leaned towards her.
Her stomach twisted, heart labouring as she struggled for air, her entire body quaking but not from fear. Something pressed down on her, some pressure in the air that made it impossible for her to move and sapped her strength, stealing it from her even as she fought to keep hold of it.
“Why?” she whispered.
Bright golden light flashed between them and she screamed as fire blazed through her, devouring the last of her strength.
She slumped into his waiting arms, and as she was fading into the darkness, she caught his answer to her question.
“I need to keep my promise.”
CHAPTER 24
Valen blocked the fist that flew at his face, catching it in his right hand, and grinned as he sent his lightning into it. The daemon shrieked and struggled, writhing as he desperately tried to pull his hand free of Valen’s unrelenting grip.
It only made him pump more of his power into the wretch, driving him to his knees.
He released the male when he slumped, going limp and hitting the dirt.
Dead.
One down, five to go.
It seemed someone had arranged a party at the gate.
He scanned the gathered males. A couple of shifters, one of a more demonic persuasion, and the other two he couldn’t place from their scent. Might be bloodsuckers of some sort. They always had a muddled scent due to their disgusting feeding habits.
A challenge, but one he would relish.
The gate shimmered between them, the flat disc hovering a couple of foot above the dusty floor of the Stadio Palatino, the circles and glyphs slowly turning in opposite directions. The air hummed with its power, distracting him, but as much as he wanted to close it, it wouldn’t happen while he was near it.
He could close it if he focused, but he didn’t think the daemons would happily consent to giving him a couple of minutes to do so if he asked.
The gate was the reason they were here after all.
They had been waiting for him and the moment the gate had appeared, reacting to his presence, they had jumped him. He was pretty sure he had broken the arm of the fair-haired shifter. His friend hadn’t fared so well.
He looked down at the smouldering corpse and nudged it with his booted foot.
The tension in the air grew thicker, warning him that the daemons were gearing up for another go.
He held his ground, showing no fear, no trace of doubt, even when he felt a trickle of both of those things. He had come to the gate unarmed, and unprepared. Not his wisest move.
But he had wanted to deal with it quickly and get back to Eva.
He should have grabbed his knives as well as his amulet from the room he used as his armoury.
Damn it.
Sense told him to back off and leave. Without him here, the gate was safe.
He couldn’t do that though.
It was his mission to protect it, and these daemons had clearly been tampering with it, because there sure as hell wasn’t a fucking Hellspawn waiting for passage, not on this side or the other.
How the fuck had the daemons made the gate call him?
There wasn’t a Hellspawn among them. Was it possible there had been one, but the arrival of the daemons had scared them off?
It made a damn lot more sense than the alternative—that these daemons had made the gate reach out to him.
“We should make this quick,” he said, his voice breaking the tense silence, and looked around the ancient site again. “The human security guards tend to get a little tetchy about me being here.”
He couldn’t count the number of times one of them had tried to interfere, chasing him from the Palatine Hill as if he was a mere intruder or someone looking to steal from the ruins. Really pissed him off too.
Sometimes he wished they could see the gate.
At least then they would know why he was there.
“We’ll make it quick. Hand it over and you can go.” The dark-haired one in the middle, Demon-boy, pointed to his chest.
Valen frowned down at the amulet sitting against his black t-shirt, the silver portion of the black disc reflecting the colours of the gate as they shifted.
They wanted his amulet.
He laughed at that.
“Fuck, no.” He shoved his right foot into the dead daemon and kicked hard, sending the corpse flying through the disc of the gate and into his friends.
The gate blackened where the daemon had passed through it, sparks of white erupting from it as it repaired itself, and then it was if the interruption had never happened. The colours returned and it continued to await his command.
The five daemons launched at him.
Valen grinned and blocked every attack, moving faster than they could. Two fell with ease, one shifter and one bloodsucker. Demon-boy managed to get close to touching his amulet in the fray and he snarled as he snagged the bastard’s wrist and twisted it hard, sending him slamming into the ground. The male grunted and rolled onto his side, and Valen stuck a boot in his gut, knocking the wind from him.
The second bloodsucker used his distraction against him, slamming a fist into his right kidney and then bringing his arm up to loop it over Valen’s. He pulled it back, hauling Valen away from Demon-boy, and Valen growled at him, flashing his own fangs.
He shoved his left hand against the bloodsucker’s pretty face and let rip.
The male howled as lightning leaped from Valen’s hand and into his head, and jerked backwards, out of Valen’s grip. He huffed and launched towards the wretch, unwilling to let him escape that easily.
Demon-boy grabbed his ankle, sending him tipping forwards into a fall.
Darkness swallowed him and he appeared in the air above them, dropping out of it to land on his feet.
Black ribbons caressed his skin and he casually brushed them away as the three males stared at him.
Valen lifted his right hand, pressed his index finger and thumb together, and clicked.
A thick white-purple bolt of lightning shot from the sky.
B
loodsucker number two barely had time to look up before it hit him, vaporising him in an instant.
Shifter number two ran. Pussy.
Valen huffed as the daemon disappeared into the night.
Slowly turned his focus to his opponent.
And then there was one.
“You want this?” He toyed with the amulet around his neck, lifting it from his chest and letting it sway from the chain. Taunting the daemon with it. “Wanna go through the gate?”
The male’s eyes narrowed on him and blazed red, and horns curled from his forehead, the points sweeping back over his hair and then curving upwards. He growled and slowly lumbered onto his feet, his body growing, stretching his dark clothing tight. It ripped at the seams as he hit seven foot.
Eight foot.
Nine.
Was the bastard going to stop?
His skin darkened to burnished red and he growled through huge canines.
He held his hand out, his black talons glistening in the light of the gate coming from behind him.
“Mine,” he grunted and pointed to the amulet.
A man of few words. At least when he was in his demonic form.
Valen sighed. “I’m afraid not. You see… I don’t like to share. But if you promise to tell me who sent you here, I promise to send you through the gate.”
His rough features pinched, and Valen figured he was thinking. Either that or he was taking a crap.
He swayed the amulet again, capturing Demon-boy’s attention with it. Longing filled his red eyes. He wanted to go through the gate, but did he want it badly enough to give up who had sent him?
He wasn’t sure.
Demon-boy gave him his answer.
He kicked off and thundered towards him, cloven feet ploughing the dirt and shaking the ground.
Very well.
Valen stepped just as the male reached him, reappearing on the other side of him, and turned on his heel to track the wretch. He grinned and threw his left hand forwards, and lightning shot from it, five small bolts that twisted together to form one that struck the daemon hard in his back and sent him flying across the ancient arena.
The big brute landed hard and skidded, leaving a track in the dirt behind him. He was still for a moment, not even a heartbeat of time, and then pushed his hands into the earth and eased up onto his knees.
Fuck.
Valen had figured he would be just as weak as the others had been. It seemed he was stronger when his demonic side was unleashed.
The male growled and launched into another charge.
Valen easily dodged this one too, rolling to his left across the dusty ground and back onto his feet. It appeared the male was stronger, but his intelligence hadn’t grown along with his body and that strength. Brute force wasn’t going to claim him a victory here.
Even if he had grown more intelligent, Valen still wouldn’t have let him win.
He had vowed to protect the gate, and he wouldn’t fail in that mission.
He was damned if he was going to put it at risk as Ares had.
The daemon ran at him again, shaking the ground, and unleashed a roar that echoed across Rome.
Valen readied himself, calling his lightning, letting it flow through him and grow stronger, surrendering to it. His grin widened as it coursed through him, lit him up inside and sent a dark, addictive thrill through him.
Demon-boy wasn’t going to know what had hit him.
A sharp pain shot down Valen’s spine and he stiffened.
His wards.
Demon-boy slammed into him, sending him flying through the air, but he wasn’t aware of it as one thought ricocheted around his head, mocking him.
He was just like Ares after all, letting people break into his apartment while he was occupied.
He grunted as his back slammed into solid stone and the back of his head smacked off it a second later, the force of the blow sending stars spinning across his vision.
“Fuck,” he snarled and lumbered onto his feet, clenched his jaw and growled at Demon-boy.
Bastard would pay for managing to land that blow on him while he had been distracted.
Much as he had been enjoying himself, he didn’t have time to play anymore.
He lifted his right hand to the sky. “Laters.”
Demon-boy looked up. Frowned when no bolt of lightning came at him.
Screamed as it shot up from below him, running straight through his cloven feet and lighting him up.
Valen frowned, made a few quick calculations to make sure it was enough juice to get the desired results and stepped.
Just as the daemon exploded from the amount of electricity coursing through him and a blackout rolled across Rome.
Sometimes it was nice to mix things up.
Lightning came from both earth and sky after all, connecting somewhere in the middle.
He landed hard in his apartment, that lightning chasing around his hands and crackling as it snaked up his arms, ready for his command.
“Eva!” He hurried through the apartment, his lightning illuminating his path, and checked the bathroom first and then the bedrooms.
Empty.
He raced across the dark living room and into the kitchen.
A pan of water on the stove boiled over and hissed.
He turned it off and stared at it, and the cutting board beside it.
She had been making dinner.
Had she gone out to get more ingredients?
He hadn’t told her that she couldn’t leave the apartment, that it would cause the wards to trigger.
He let out a long slow breath to steady his pounding heart as his shoulders sagged, the tension draining from them, and flicked his hands, shaking his power from them as it settled.
She must have gone out and triggered the wards.
Gods.
His chest hurt and he rubbed it through his black t-shirt, trying to soothe the ache and the fear behind it. He didn’t know what he would have done if someone had been in here, trying to take her from him, but it would have been bloody.
He couldn’t lose her.
It hit him hard, almost knocking him onto his knees.
He couldn’t.
Gods, it really would kill him.
He walked back into the living room as the lights flickered back on, close to laughing at himself for panicking like that, rushing to her rescue like some white knight.
Idiot.
He stilled as a familiar scent reached him through the sharp tang his power had left in the air.
Lightning.
Not his own.
This was Zeus’s brand.
His heart stopped in his chest.
The bastard had Eva.
CHAPTER 25
Valen didn’t hesitate. Not even when he knew the consequences of breaking the rules and daring to enter Mount Olympus again, a place Zeus had banished him from on penalty of death.
He stepped.
Darkness whirled around him, the sweet comforting embrace of the Underworld, and then it parted to reveal the bright white and gold city of Mount Olympus as it climbed towards the endless blue sky.
He growled and stepped again, focusing on the location at the top of the mountain where he knew Eva would be and ignoring the voice screaming inside him that told him to go back to the mortal realm, that this was all a trick designed to make him break the rules.
Zeus wanted him dead, and had found the perfect way to make it happen.
Because Valen couldn’t leave Eva here, wouldn’t let her remain in Zeus’s hands and suffer whatever plans he had for her.
Eva was his.
He had vowed to protect her and he would.
With his life if it came to it.
He appeared in the middle of the pristine white marble temple high on the mountain and rushed through it, hitting the ground running. Maidens screeched and scattered, dropping their golden bowls of fruit and other offerings. He growled as he passed them, his black leather boots heavy on the
white floor, and ignored their swift glances of fear.
Fear that stemmed from his appearance.
He had no doubt that his eyes were black as night, his canines transformed into short fangs, and his fingernails little more than claws.
One of the maidens near the grand doorway at the back of the temple dropped her wide shallow golden bowl, spilling water across the marble. He hit it at a dead run and skidded through the doorway, fighting for balance, his arms flailing as he struggled to remain upright.
His boots squeaked as he reached the dry marble and he kicked off again, propelling himself forwards.
Driven by the urgent need to find Eva.
His eyes leaped between rooms as he passed doorway after doorway in the corridor, heading deeper into the temple. His heart thundered against his chest, the hard painful rhythm sending blood rushing through his temples, making his head throb. He had to find Eva.
Ahead of him, the corridor opened out into a bright white space.
Valen snarled and ran for it, awareness prickling through him and igniting a fire in his veins that consumed him.
Zeus’s bedchamber.
He pushed harder, forcing himself past the limit, desperate to reach her.
He was damned if she was going to wake to find herself in another strange place, the captive of another man bent on hurting her.
He growled through his short fangs. She had been so afraid when Benares had kissed her and knocked her unconscious, and he couldn’t bear the thought of her going through that again, not when she hadn’t even recovered from that mental blow yet.
His boots squeaked on the marble floor as he ground to a dead stop in the middle of the room, his eyes on the enormous four-poster bed opposite him, draped in sheer layers of white and gold that formed curtains across it, hanging from the solid gold frame.
Eva lay in the middle of it, sprawled across the white sheets, her dark green halter-top and black jeans and trainers a sharp contrast against them.
“Eva,” he whispered and kicked off again, launched forwards with his heart in his throat and fear crawling through him.
Fear that she would be aware of where she was, would be afraid that Zeus had done something to her.
He wouldn’t allow it.
He would take away all those fears for her. Somehow.
Valen (Guardians of Hades Romance Series Book 2) Page 28