Divine Ecstasy (The Guardians of the Realms Book 8) (12 page)

When she finally leaned back against him, letting him comfort her, she started to ease. When his arms circled her waist, she relaxed completely. He’d been just as affected, and her big God hadn’t even been sure if touching her was what she’d needed, but he hadn’t been able to leave her to battle it alone. She hated feeling broken, but there was no hiding that the beginning of her life had the ability to torment her thousands of years later.

“I’ve got you,” he said, and all she could do was nod. She’d shut down and talking wasn’t possible. She needed another moment to get it all back together

Neither moved.

She felt his breath against her wet head and then pressure. His lips or chin touching her as he held her.

She breathed in the steam and felt her heart start to match pace with his. She closed her eyes and wondered how often her past would come back to haunt her. Them.

She wasn’t sure how long they stood in there, but at some point the water had cooled and she felt completely drained. Her legs ached, too tired to hold her up, not that they needed to, Hades hadn’t let her go the entire time. They both washed quickly before landing in bed, making sure to use air currents so they were dry the second their bodies touched the soft material.

She wasn’t sure where to go from there, but for now the anxiety was gone and she felt relaxed and exhausted. She only needed to rest a moment. And she knew he needed this calm almost more than she did.

*****

Hades lay staring up through the glass ceiling as Sacha’s breathing evened out. She’d fallen asleep in his arms, but he couldn’t clean away the remnants of that numbness and what it meant. He’d never get it out of his head. She’d been physically ill and he couldn’t get beyond that.

He had an iron grip on his fury, but it was a battle not to let it free. If it wouldn’t wake his female, he’d let it rage. He was caught between the need to kill and the compulsion to hold her, to protect her from the nightmares he worried were going to come next. His muscles hurt like hell from wrestling back his desire for blood while he’d held her in the shower. He wasn’t sure he’d ever done anything more difficult, and he had a bad fucking feeling it would get worse before it got better.

Now he let the rage simmer, not enough to wake her, but enough to vow that Apollo would suffer. If he could get Drake to wake Hermes, he would make that brother suffer unspeakable horrors as well

Sacha shifted and curled tighter against his side, and he blew out a breath as her hand snaked up his side, pulling him tighter to her. He didn’t want her out of his sight, he wanted her like this every fucking night of his life, and that was a new feeling. He’d never slept with a female. Ever. He’d fucked them, but sharing a bed to sleep was an entirely different experience.

Their connection was so strong that he felt like she was a part of him. His sister hadn’t been lying about the incredible pleasure, but she hadn’t said shit about the protective instincts that were turning him into a beast.

He felt for the link to Apollo, and it was still silent and leading nowhere. His teeth clamped down tight. Soon. The second Kara woke, he would get answers from her about where Apollo was. He wanted the bastard back and he wanted him in chains.

Chapter 12

Mountain Lake, Earth Realm

Snow flurries floated around P as he stared at the small mountain lake. The air was crisp and cool… silent. He looked out at the glassy water; it was still, like a painting. Why had his father needed to call to Thule from here? Why use a special stone to drop spelled liquid into this lake as a way to call to a God of Thule?

Drake hadn’t even been able to figure out what the stone was and why it had gone liquid. Uri’s mate, Alex, daughter of Athena, had a small ability to touch an object and feel the history, and she hadn’t gotten anything from it. They had more questions than answers where Thule was concerned.

After the battle with the Goddess of Thule, his father had spent days recovering, growling every time P had questioned him about this place, saying he didn’t know why he needed to use this particular lake. All the while demanding P stay out of it.

How the hell was he supposed to stay out of it? P had always kept himself apart from most of the other Guardians, and now he wondered if his special thrall came from having a priestess from another world as his mother. The power had always been difficult to leash. Sander had never been fazed by the effects, and that made partnering with the Phoenix easy. But other Guardians had always felt a hint of it pulling at them no matter how locked down he kept it.

He needed answers and he was getting a little more anxious with every day that passed. An emotion he’d never truly felt or appreciated until his father had been awakened.

He shook his head. He had shit to do, but he’d found himself detouring to this spot over and over again.

Enough.

He ported away and reformed on a balcony of the Guardian manor in Tetartos.

His muscles were tense as he stalked into the media room and down the hall to the war room.

Drake glanced up from staring over Conn’s shoulder at something on the wolf’s open laptop. His cousin assessed him for all of a second before growling, “What’s Hades done now?”

P shook his head. “He’s with Sacha, so we should have a damned reprieve as long as all goes well.”

Drake crossed his arms over his chest and waited as Conn stopped tapping at the laptop. The wolf leaned back in the big desk chair, resting flannel-clad arms on the sides as he asked, “How long has he been over there?” The usually mellow and amused Lykos was serious as he assessed P with amber eyes.

“About an hour.”

Both nodded and Drake said, “Good,” before asking, “You got Hades set up at the island before he went over there?”

“Yes.” P nodded his head.

Conn grinned. “Zandra was disappointed that Hades won’t need her palace anymore. Now she won’t get all her creative demands. I’m surprised she found time to draft so many before you averted that nightmare. It’s all over the Realm that he demanded the use of her palace.”

P growled, “He offered to pay.” Or more accurately he’d said P would give her whatever the hell she wanted, according to Zandra. He was glad he hadn’t had to fight his father to end that ridiculous demand, because there was no way in hell the Guardians had time to deal with that shit.

“Yeah. I got that part.” The wolf’s eyes lit with amusement.

P shook his head before asking, “Are Bastian and Tasha still out in the Realm, unruffling all the feathers because of it?”

Conn laughed. “Hell yeah. I’m sure they’ll be on that for a while.” The wolf added, “Hades was on a damned roll. We still don’t know what to do with Pietr. The little weasel’s locating the last of the small artifacts he swiped from Hades’ palace all those fucking millennia ago.”

P nodded, but Drake grunted in annoyance. He’d been the one to deal with the Pietr situation in Efcharistisi after P was forced to trail after his father.

He took a minute and mentally tracked his father’s link. He was still at Sacha’s.

“Do you have telepathic links to him now?” P asked. He did because Hades was his father, but now that Hades was mated to a Guardian, he should have a shared link through her to all the Guardians.

Drake nodded. “Yes.”

“We couldn’t have asked for a better way to keep Hades in line.” Conn pointed out what P had been thinking. They’d already agreed to allow his father his freedom after Hades helped Drake and Era find a way through their seemingly impossible mating, but they hadn’t been looking forward to keeping track of him. But if his father hadn’t released the beasts Era had been forced to house by their old enemy, she could have either gone insane or died. And the Guardian could’ve lost Drake to the fury of his dragon. The Guardians had owed his father.

“You’re not worried about Sacha?” P asked the two curiously. P wasn’t worried, but he wondered how everyone else was taking the mating.

Drake was thoughtful, but Conn shook his head easily. “I’m not. Sacha’s strong. It might not be easy at first. But don’t forget that I’ve known your father since before you were born,” the ancient wolf pointed out, raising a pierced brow. “He’s a good male, he loves hard, and he’s incredibly powerful. And he always had a weakness for females. Give him a mate and I’d be surprised if he didn’t eventually try to give Sacha the world.”

It was hard to remember that Conn was one of the original Immortals created fully formed to care for the Gods after the Creators had birthed the Deities.

He nodded as the Lykos added, “And it’s a good damned thing he had you send those females home or he wouldn’ve ended up getting his dick ripped off.”

P mentally cringed at that visual. But he smiled.

P ran a hand over his head. “I’m just happy to be done playing the part of his valet and babysitter.”

Drake raised a brow. “We don’t know that yet. He’s only been at Sacha’s for an hour.”

“Don’t kill this for me. I’m glad to have my home back.”

Drake snorted his assent as P nodded in agreement. Though, in reality he’d be happier if he had answers to go with his empty home. The agitation wouldn’t abate.

He turned to his cousin. “Anything new with the prisoners?” Drake would have already told him if the Goddess had awoken, but he was itching for information, and Drake had been working to get something out of the warriors.

Drake shook his head. “Nothing yet.”

He nodded before gritting his teeth as he eyed the dragon. Wondering if he might hide something from him since he was benched from dealing with anything Thule related.

“I know it’s driving you crazy not to be a part of this, but you have to let me handle it,” Drake growled. When P’s shoulders tensed, his cousin shook his head and added more calmly, “Hades wouldn’t be so damned adamant if he didn’t believe they posed a danger to you. Give me time to get answers.”

P gritted his teeth. He’d never been impulsive, but the whole thing was setting his nerves on edge.

Conn eyed him. Watchful and sympathetic and he wasn’t sure what part of that he liked less.

He changed the subject. “Where do I patrol?” He’d spent months shadowing Drake to make sure the dragon didn’t run wild, and after that he’d been regulated to watching his father’s every move. This was the first time in over a month that he could do a normal patrol. And if he didn’t do something, he’d keep going back to the lake or the place were Apollo had been taken.

Or worse. He could very well find himself finding a way to get answers from the prisoners no matter what anyone said. And that was exactly the reason Conn and Drake were eyeing him.

He gave them both a hard look before asking, “Is Sander out with Nastia?” The Phoenix had been P’s partner for centuries, but now he was mated to a female warrior, so he was probably patrolling with her. That’d been what they’d been doing since even before their mating was completed.

“Yes, he is… I’ll go patrol with you,” Drake growled.

Chapter 13

Hroarr’s Palace, World of Thule

Gefn stood frowning at the deep blue seas beyond her brother’s palace, listening to the waves crashing into the rocks and floating ice several hundred feet below. Clouds rolled in quickly, obscuring the sunlight glittering off the frosted stone. Her irritation and impatience were calling the storms as she stood beside massive rock pillars holding up the high carved ceiling.

Icy winds whipped through her long golden hair, the clasps only containing a portion of the mass flowing down her back. Her boots didn’t make a sound as she started pacing, though there was a chance she’d muttered a few ancient curse words. She didn’t even feel the temperature change through the leather of her leggings or the matching sleeveless vest.

Spa and Velspar, her precious cats, sat regally at her side, watchful as the air cooled with the darkening skies. The animals nearly topped her shoulders when perched on their bobbed tails as they were. She knew their golden eyes scanned the area around them, ensuring she wasn’t disturbed. Their presence normally calmed her. As a Goddess of Thule, she didn’t need the beasts’ protection, she only truly required their companionship. She ran her fingers through the silky black fur of their necks all the way to the pointed golden ears before staring out again.

She hadn’t been able to wait in the great hall. She’d have killed her brother Dagur herself if she’d been forced to spend more time with him.

Instead she was forced to defend the fool from their ruling sibling, Hroarr, who was going to be even more furious with him.

The atmosphere around her changed and she turned.

She faced the shimmering air of the portal her brother had obviously opened for his return from the outer reaches of Thule. It was generally a draining endeavor for all but her warrior brother; he was completely unfazed as he strode through. The waves of his long midnight hair had been tied back in a knot at the back of his head, and he wore dark brown warrior leathers just like the elite guard stepping through the molten air behind him. Her head nearly reached his chest as he came abreast of her. The males behind were only slightly smaller.

Warriors were a large breed, and the seven stalking behind her and her brother were the best.

Hroarr’s boots echoed on the marble ground, anger riding every hard line of his body. A glance up was all it took to see the hard gaze in his brilliant green eyes, and she could almost hear the grinding of his teeth. It took two steps to his one long stride, but she was used to it. Spa and Velspar kept pace at her back. With no more than a thought, the massive double doors slammed open as they approached the entrance to the great hall.

She firmed her lips. He’d obviously heard the news. It was information she’d hoped to share in person, which was why she’d specifically sent Laire to call him home. She sent a look back in her guard’s direction. The large blond male shook his head as he stalked beside the other warriors. Hroarr had likely demanded to be told everything the minute Laire had given her brother the message that he must return.