Marek: Guardians of Hades Series Book 4

by Heaton, Felicity

  He turned his back to her and busied himself with filling the basin with the hot water and mixing in some cold. The sound of material rustling behind him had him aching to peek, but he somehow found the will to resist.

  Caterina didn’t make it easy.

  The cream camisole hit the stone floor just beyond the tray and her jeans followed it, quickly enough that it was obvious she was now only in her underwear.

  Marek swallowed hard.

  He topped up her soup, hoping to warm it with the remains in the thermos.

  “Done.” Caterina sounded even brighter and an arrow of pride shot through him, an unfamiliar satisfaction that he found addictive. He had done something for her, something that had made her feel better.

  He turned towards her.

  And she was wearing his T-shirt.

  It was too large for her, dwarfing her slender frame, but gods, he liked the sight of her wearing it.

  He offered the soup and she took it this time, chased the noodles around the bowl with the spoon and took little bites.

  “What powers does a wraith have?” She paused and looked at him over the bowl. “He had fangs.”

  “He’s like a vampire, but he needs souls for nourishment, not blood.”

  She shuddered and pulled a face. “I hope I don’t develop any of his abilities then.”

  He offered her the water and she handed him the bowl. He set it down on the tray and thought about the wraith, about the abilities they knew he possessed.

  “He can make portals too, and can steal memories from fragments of a person’s soul.”

  Her fair eyebrows drew down. “When he… do you think he…”

  He shrugged. “Most likely.”

  She didn’t want to mention that the wraith had stabbed him in the back and most likely had his memories now, and he didn’t really want to talk about it either. He had been enjoying just being with her, without thinking about what had happened.

  He idly rubbed his left shoulder, feeling the grooves of the ward through his T-shirt. He needed Keras to look at it as soon as his brother arrived, because it was almost healed. He doubted he could step now if he needed to do it, and he could feel his connection to the rock and earth around him had waned, was weak now. It wouldn’t be long before it disappeared, locked down by the ward.

  His strength would probably follow it.

  He tensed as his senses spiked and looked at the ceiling. One of his brothers had just returned. Another followed, and then another.

  “What is it?” Caterina lowered her water to her lap.

  “I have to go for a while. My brothers are here.” He stood and brushed his damp backside down, went to turn and hesitated. He looked down at Caterina, not liking the way she curled into herself again, drawing the blanket up to her chest as her eyes lifted to the ceiling, a flicker of fear emerging in them. “Try to eat some more.”

  She lowered her gaze to the thermos and the bowl she had taken barely two mouthfuls from. “Why? What do you really care?”

  That resignation was back in her voice, and he hated it. He cursed his brothers. She had been doing fine before they had returned, had been growing more comfortable around him. Now, she was drifting away again, closing herself off to him.

  Because she feared his brothers would hurt her.

  And that he would side with them.

  If it came down to it, what would he do?

  He pondered that as he walked to the door of the cell, as he opened it and focused on Caterina and his brothers, torn between them.

  He closed the door, because any delay would see Keras coming down to confront her now, and he wanted her stronger before that happened.

  Marek lingered, his hand on the bolt as he finished sliding it into place, and looked in at Caterina, meeting her gaze, wanting her back with him and needing her to know that she wasn’t alone. Whatever went down, he would be on her side.

  So he put it all out there and refused to regret it, no matter what happened.

  “I care. Seeing you like this is killing me.”

  Chapter 23

  The moment Megan’s black sneakers hit the wooden floor, she swallowed hard and breathed slowly, struggling to keep down the bile that shot into her throat. The wood-panelled kitchen whirled around her, cabinets blurring together as she struggled to focus.

  “Sweetheart?” Ares rubbed her lower back as she leaned forwards and braced her hands against her knees.

  “I’m fine.” She shook her head and managed a smile for him, but it didn’t lift the concern from his dark eyes as he frowned down at her. She gave him a thumbs-up. “Just peachy.”

  He didn’t look as if he believed that, and she couldn’t blame him. She had been doing her best over the last month, trying to keep up with everything that had happened and keep everything between them as it had been, but it was hard.

  Impossible.

  There was too much swirling around her mind, a thousand thoughts and fears that kept her awake while Ares slept beside her, had her tossing and turning, and distant from him. She wasn’t sure how she had thought she could keep her worries from him until she had figured everything out. He had been able to see right through her to her heart from the moment they had met, had the ability to strip away her layers to reveal the things she wanted to hide from him.

  He stroked her back and leaned forwards as she straightened, his focus wholly on her, as if his brothers didn’t exist as Marek appeared in the kitchen doorway and everyone began talking.

  She squirmed under Ares’s scrutiny, guilt churning her stomach worse than the teleport had as she wrestled with herself, hating keeping things from him. He was her partner. Her husband.

  Her everything.

  She shouldn’t have any secrets from him.

  She didn’t want to pretend everything was peachy when it wasn’t.

  It felt as if her whole world was falling apart around her and she hated herself for trying to cope with it alone, when she knew Ares would be there for her, would be the strength she needed right now and would see her through it all.

  Pressure built inside her as she struggled to find the words, had her tensing up in a way that Ares noticed.

  He lifted his hand to her face, his brow furrowing as his eyes leaped between hers.

  Heck, she just needed to say it.

  Why couldn’t she say it?

  She just had to throw it out there and Ares would see to it that all of her fears, all of her hurt and doubts, became something else.

  Something she wanted to feel.

  Happiness.

  Excitement.

  Joy.

  The pressure reached boiling point and she couldn’t hold it back as she looked into his eyes, as she saw the worry in them.

  The unconditional love.

  “I’m late,” she blurted.

  Everyone fell quiet, the air in the room thickening until she wasn’t sure she could breathe as she waited for the bomb to drop.

  “Silly.” Ares grinned, one that melted her heart. “We’re perfectly on time. Valen was last in. You worry about the strangest things, sweetheart.”

  “No. I’m late.”

  His expression gradually changed from innocent confusion to shock, his eyes widening as his eyebrows rose high on his forehead and his lips parted.

  “Late late?” He stared at her, paling by degrees.

  She nodded, hyper-aware of the other six men in the room as they gaped at her.

  “Baby late?”

  She twisted her fingers together in front of her blue jeans and pulled a face. “Yes.”

  She was sure of that at least, had taken what felt like three thousand tests over the last few weeks.

  The verdict had always remained the same.

  Pregnant.

  Her man finally smiled, cracking a grin that was accompanied by a strained laugh, and she melted as tears formed in his eyes.

  Eyes that shone with love so deep she felt as if she might drown in it.

  His
hand shook against her face, and she smiled as tears filled her eyes now, seeing Ares so overwhelmed by her news touching her deeply, chasing away some of the fears that had plagued her.

  “I’m going to have a son.” He looked from her to his brothers, his grin holding, even as he was paling further.

  She laughed too, a short bark that seemed so out of place in the moment, but it seemed her body wasn’t quite sure how to react to the whole situation. “It could be a daughter you know? There are two sexes.”

  Ares just continued to grin at his brothers. “Who’d have thought one of us would be a dad before we were one thousand?”

  Her stomach dropped, the smile falling from her face as one of her deepest fears loomed before her. “I don’t even want to think about the complications involved in this.”

  Ares tossed her a confused look.

  “I’m mortal.” She waved her hand up and down Ares, from his heavy boots, up his black jeans, to the T-shirt that stretched like a second skin over his chest. “You’re a god. You live for thousands of years—”

  “And so can you,” Keras interjected and she looked across the kitchen island at him. “With regular visits to the Underworld, you will gradually become like us. We are a product of our environment as well as our breeding. Time in the Underworld will change you. Your aging will slow. The same will happen to your child. In the mortal world, you will age faster, but not noticeably so.”

  Ares slung his arm around her shoulder and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “It’ll work out, sweetheart. When I told you I wanted forever with you, I meant it.”

  She twisted and looked up at him, blamed her hormones when tears spilled onto her cheeks and warmth filled her. She had never seen him looking so proud.

  So happy.

  She had been afraid he wouldn’t want the child, or that something would prevent her from having it, some sort of incompatibility between them, but the way he was looking at her said all of her fears had been for nothing.

  “I’ll send a message to my parents right away.” He smoothed another kiss across her brow. “They’ll want to know.”

  Another wave of fear swept over her, this one with the force of a tsunami, and she stared blankly at Ares’s chest as she reeled from it.

  “This is all suddenly a little too real.” Her ears rang and she lowered her hand to her stomach, not hearing anything as she thought about everything. Not only was she pregnant, but she was carrying the child of a god, and the grandparents were the god-king of the Underworld and his wife, Persephone, a goddess of nature.

  She wasn’t bringing a baby into the world.

  She was bringing a demigod into it.

  “Breathe.” Ares’s voice broke through the ringing, and she stared at him as he leaned over in front of her, bringing his eyes level with hers. His handsome face softened, love and concern in his eyes that called to her and told her to trust him, to believe in him as she always had. He would take care of her, and the baby. He slowly smiled, threatening to send the tears in his eyes dashing down his cheeks. “It’s going to be great. You’ll see. I’ll be the best damned husband and dad the world has ever seen.”

  She nodded, couldn’t stop herself from throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. He banded his arms around her, clutching her close, and kissed her deeply, pouring love into it that chased the fears away. She leaned into his kiss as he lifted her, as he cradled her gently, tucking one hand beneath her backside to support her.

  When he finally broke away from her lips, he looked down and pressed a hand to her stomach, pride shining in his dark eyes as they glittered with sparks of gold and red.

  The heat of his hand seeped into her T-shirt, a gentle warmth that made her feel loved as he kept control of his fire, holding it under his command so he wouldn’t hurt her.

  “Congratulations,” Keras murmured.

  That heat bloomed on her cheeks as Megan remembered that they weren’t alone. She looked at the men gathered before her, taking in the range of their expressions, everything from happiness to shock.

  Ares sobered as he looked at Marek where he stood near the door, his wild dark hair a mess of waves that looked as if he had been running his fingers through it all night.

  Megan sobered too, cursed herself as she looked at him, into his tired brown eyes. His handsome face was sombre even as he smiled, and she could see he was forcing himself to be happy for them.

  This wasn’t the time to be celebrating anything.

  “I’m sorry,” she said and he waved her away, but she refused to hold her tongue and let him have his way. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like this… now. I should have waited a little longer.”

  Because Marek had the weight of the world on his shoulders and he didn’t need her adding more to it.

  Esher suddenly spoke. “A babe?”

  He stared at her stomach, his blue eyes rapidly darkening, turning stormy as they narrowed and his black eyebrows met hard above them. His hands shook as he curled them into fists at his sides, arms trembling beneath the long sleeves of his black shirt he wore over a grey-marl T-shirt.

  The water that had been dripping into the sink behind him suddenly slowed, drawing her focus there as a perfect orb of it hung in the air.

  “Esher.” Daimon went to him and Ares lowered Megan to her feet and moved in front of her.

  Which seemed to be entirely the wrong move to make.

  Esher growled and moved left, trying to see past Ares.

  “We have to keep her out of sight,” Esher snarled and took a hard step towards her before casting a panicked glance around the room at his brothers. “The enemy cannot know she is pregnant. We have to take her from this place… from that vile abomination in the cells.”

  “Watch your tongue, brother.” Marek’s voice was darker than she had ever heard it, the fury that laced each word managing to draw her focus from Esher as Keras went to him and gently clutched his shoulder to keep him in place. “What happened to Caterina wasn’t her fault. It was mine.”

  “But the babe—” Esher started, black ringing his irises as he threw a worried glance at Ares.

  “I will keep Megan safe.” Ares cut him off, his deep voice gentle and low, and she appreciated his attempt to ease Esher’s mood and his mind.

  It had become apparent to her over the last month or two that Esher had come to view her as family, and that meant the protective side of him that needed to know his family were safe now extended to her, and also to Eva and Aiko. Esher’s family was growing, and Ares had warned her that it meant the chances of him losing himself to his other side was growing with it.

  And now she had announced that she was bringing a baby into his family.

  She could see in his eyes that it was too much for him as he looked between Daimon, and Ares, and her. He was thinking bad things, dwelling on the negatives just as she had been.

  Megan stepped out from behind Ares, so Esher could see her and could see that she was fine. She slipped her hand into Ares’s right one and Esher looked there.

  “Nothing will happen to me,” Megan said softly, hoping to calm him. “Ares will take care of me.”

  “We all will.” Ares looked at each of his brothers in turn. “We’ll all keep Megan safe.”

  Everyone nodded.

  Except Daimon.

  He had backed off into the corner of the kitchen, his pale blue eyes cold and distant as he stared at her in a way that chilled her and left her feeling something was wrong with him.

  He looked as if he had seen a ghost.

  She lowered her hand to her stomach and tried to focus on the conversation as it flowed around her, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with Daimon even when he smiled and his eyes brightened, whatever had been bothering him seemingly forgotten as he congratulated her and Ares.

  Was it because he shared Ares’s problem and was unable to touch anyone because his power had manifested when he had come to this world? Now Ares not only h
ad her, someone he could touch without fear of harming them, but they had a child on the way. Was that the reason Daimon had looked so cold and distant?

  Or was there something else that haunted him?

  Chapter 24

  Marek kept a close eye on Esher as the meeting moved from waves of congratulating Megan and Ares, and discussing what would happen for both of them now, to discussing Caterina and their enemy.

  Esher’s eyes had darkened again the moment someone had mentioned her.

  Marek was damned if he would let his brother get near her. He couldn’t teleport right now, but he was still strong enough to take Esher down if he needed to do it.

  Or at least he hoped he was.

  “Keras, can we discuss this while you do something for me?” Marek pulled his T-shirt off, earning a growl from Ares that his big brother apologised for with a sheepish smile when Marek glared at him. He wouldn’t hold it against his brother.

  If Ares whipped his top off in front of Caterina, if any of his brothers revealed their bodies to her, he would react in the same way, the possessive dark side of his blood filling him with a need to drive them away from his female.

  Keras nodded, his green eyes grave as he moved around the kitchen. “This will hurt.”

  Marek pulled one of the stools from beneath the counter on the island and settled himself on it. He rested his elbows on the dark marble top and tried to focus on what he had learned from Caterina as Keras came to stand behind him.

  The second Keras’s palm made contact with his shoulder, fire blazed across his back and burrowed deep into his bones.

  Marek gritted his teeth and grunted as he dug his fingers into the marble, a vain attempt to brace himself against the pain spreading through his body. Megan gave him a concerned look. He scowled at her, gaining a black look from Ares.

  He didn’t need anyone coddling him.

  “Are we dealing with the thing in the basement?” Esher bit out.

  Marek bared teeth at him. “No one touches Caterina. I have her talking.”

  He grunted when another searing wave crashed over him and he felt as if his bones might burn to cinders.