TWISTED (Eternal Guardians Book 7) (27 page)

His words were filled with a note of anxiety that drew her focus from her roiling anger. She chanced a look his way. His jaw was tight, the muscles flexing beneath his scruffy skin, and his eyes were hard and guarded as he stared straight ahead.

He’d told her his soul mate was bonded to his brother. She’d witnessed the tension between the two males back at the colony even if she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it. Her mind drifted over their conversation in the jungle, when he’d been telling her about the soul mate curse, and she remembered vividly the animosity in his words when he’d mentioned the female at the center of their messy little love triangle. Using her gift, Cynna searched for any sense that he was lying, only she found nothing. He was telling the truth. Being near his soul mate gave him no kind of happiness.
 

“Only those of us with the markings feel the draw.”
He’d told her that as well, that the female in the soul mate equation wasn’t affected by the curse. Which meant, being here, being close to her, had to be like a new form of torture for him. And Cynna was making it worse by freaking out.

Her jaw unclenched. The muscles in her arms relaxed. As they moved up the stairs, she sighed and figured she could either continue being a bitch…or she could get through this and then get the hell away from him for good.

“You don’t have to hold me so tightly,” she muttered. “I clearly can’t go anywhere. And I won’t. For at least fifteen minutes.”

Nick’s grip released her elbow, and blood rushed to the spot. She reached over and rubbed her sore elbow but was distracted when his hand closed over hers hanging at her side, his fingers intertwining with hers to keep them close. She glanced up, caught the gratitude in his amber gaze, and suddenly couldn’t breathe again.
 

“Thank you.”

Thank you…

He needed to stop saying that to her. All it did was make her feel worse. Because he had absolutely no reason to thank her, dammit. Not after the things she’d done.

She focused on slow breaths, in and out, as she walked up the stairs beside him, knowing she needed to pull away from his hand. But a dangerous place inside didn’t want to let go. And just recognizing that fact sent her adrenaline spiking all over again.

“Yo, Nick.” The Argonaut with the long wavy hair tied at his nape with a leather strap caught up with them just as they reached the landing on the next level and pushed a shirt into Nick’s hands. “Might want to put this on before you go in there.”
 

“Thanks, Titus.” Nick took the shirt, let go of Cynna’s hand, and tugged it on, the light blue button-down covering his bare chest. And though she was still irritated she remained half-naked and that no one had brought her more to wear, a tiny place inside Cynna was glad this soul mate of his who seemed to enjoy tormenting his existence wasn’t going to get to see all the sculpted goodness and strong muscles Cynna had sampled only an hour or so ago.

Her body warmed at the memory of his hands running over her naked flesh, his mouth nipping at her sensitive skin, the wicked things he could do with his tongue, and instantly she wondered if this female had ever experienced any of that. As quickly as the thought hit though, she dismissed it. There was no room for jealousy in her heart. After everything she’d done, it was pretty clear she no longer had a heart, anyway.

 
He grabbed her hand again as they headed down a long, wide corridor with an intricately carved dome ceiling and ornate pillars lining the hall, and she let him hold her, not because she wanted to touch him, she told herself. But because she was doing exactly what he’d asked—not making a scene.

Archways opened to a library, a sitting area, what looked like offices. With every step, her anxiety shot up, and she searched each room for any sign of the queen, hoping and praying she wouldn’t run into the female before she could escape. Fifteen minutes. She could give Nick fifteen minutes after everything she’d put him through.
 

They drew to a stop outside another open doorway, but this time Cynna couldn’t see past the Argonauts to get a look in the room. Voices resonated from the open doorway, though. A female’s and a male’s, both clearly in deep conversation.

“No,” the female said, “Lord Tiberius definitely sent spies. We’ve intercepted two couriers taking back detailed reports to the Council, outlining the layout of the settlement, the entrances and exits, even the Argonauts’ arrival and departure times. They’re looking for patterns. Waiting for the perfect time to hit.”

“You really think they’ll do that?” the male asked. “That would be brazen, even for them. Their political campaign hasn’t even kicked into high gear yet. They risk alienating a large section of the population with a preemptive strike against an unarmed group.”

“It’s a calculated risk,” another female said. “Eliminate them before they pose a risk. And don’t forget, the witches are aiding them, which, in the eyes of the Council, gives them justification for any kind of attack.”

“I guess,” the male said. “But I haven’t picked up on any of that yet, and I’ve been spending as much time with the Council as I can.”

“They’re not going to plan when you could overhear,” the first female said. “Why would they? They know where your allegiance lies, even if they did vote you in.”

“We’re going to need to up security around the settlement,” a third female said, this one’s voice softer than the others. “Even if it means pulling the Argonauts from the human realm, I want—”

Theron knocked on the doorjamb, and the voices inside died down. But that fire in Cynna was growing all over again as the first few Argonauts stepped into the room. Just the mention of the witches and the Council made the temperature of her blood feel as if it shot up ten degrees.

“My queen.” Theron bowed slightly as he stepped into the room. “There’s someone I think you’d like to see.”

Queen?
Queen?

Cynna’s eyes flew wide, and her heart lurched into her throat, beating so hard she felt as if she were about to choke. She instinctively pulled back, but Nick gripped her hand tightly in his and tugged her with him into the room.

The floor was made of marble. The ceiling was decked out in dark wood beams, and tall, arching windows looked out at a view of the bay, but that was all Cynna could catch. Because suddenly she couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t stop the panic stabbing into every inch of her skin like hot, sharp knives.
 

“Relax,” he said softly at her side. “Fifteen minutes. That’s it.”

No. She couldn’t stay fifteen minutes. She couldn’t even stay five. And forget about relaxing. She had to get the hell out of here,
right fucking now
.

Hand shaking, Cynna tried to pull away again, only to freeze when she heard the female voice from across the room exclaim, “Nick.”

Her gaze lifted. A slight, petite female with white-blonde hair rose from behind a desk that looked like it could swallow her whole, and stared wide-eyed at Nick. A female Cynna knew on first look.

Cynna’s heart rate shot up. Footsteps died down at her back as more people filed into the room. Standing on the far side of the desk was another male, as big as the Argonauts, and two females, one with long, golden blonde hair, and the other with shoulder-length auburn locks, looking from Nick to her and back again with veiled curiosity.

No one spoke. Silence settled over the tall room as everyone waited for… Hell, Cynna didn’t know what they were waiting for.

Long seconds passed. And then Isadora’s face brightened, and she moved quickly around the desk before coming to a stop directly in front of Nick.

She was smaller than Cynna realized, a full head shorter than her, pale where Cynna was dark and weak where Cynna was strong. But standing so close to the queen, every inferiority Cynna had ever felt came rushing back. And the moment the female threw her arms around Nick and hugged him tight, breaking his hold on Cynna’s hand, Cynna snapped right out of her trance. Her blood didn’t just hover at bubbling, it went into full-on boil.

“Nick,” the queen exclaimed. “Oh my gods. I can’t… I’m so…” She drew back but didn’t let go of him, and a wide smile broke across her face. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

Still no one spoke. The tension remained as high as ever in the room. And though Cynna’s hands were just itching to grab the queen and tear her away from Nick, she held back. Her gaze shifted to Nick. And focused on the totally perplexed expression on his scarred face.

Isadora’s smile wobbled. And her gaze darted past Nick to the tall, dark Argonaut behind him. The one Cynna had quickly realized back at the colony was Nick’s brother.

“Demetrius.” She let go of Nick with one hand, reached around behind him, grabbed the dark-haired Argonaut’s forearm, and dragged him to her side. But, Cynna noticed, she still didn’t let go of Nick with her other hand. “I can’t believe it. How did you…? When—”

The auburn-haired female, the one who was standing near the queen’s desk, moved close and placed two fingers on Isadora’s wrist—the one connected to the hand still resting on Nick’s chest. She turned and looked past Cynna toward the door. “It’s stronger. Her pulse is definitely stronger.”

Nick’s gaze shifted that direction.

“I was afraid of that,” Maelea said. “The darkness in him is much greater than the last time I was at the colony.”

“What the hell is going on?” Nick asked, looking back at the auburn-haired woman, then glancing toward the queen, and finally the tall Argonaut. “You brought me all the way back here. Tell me what this is all about.”

“It’s about the soul mate curse,” the leader of the Argonauts said somewhere behind Cynna. “And how it’s affecting Isadora.”

Cynna nearly choked on her tongue. “Soul mate?” She looked from Nick to the queen and back again, her eyes growing wider. “
She’s
your soul mate?”

Holy hell. The queen of Argolea was his fucking soul mate?

Pressure pushed at every inch of her skin, making her lungs feel like they were about to explode. The Fates could not be that unfair.
Life
could not be that unfair. Of all the people in all the world for her to get involved with, it had to be the soul mate of the one person she hated with every fiber of her being?

She only just held back a pathetic laugh. If the situation weren’t so dire, she’d be rolling on the floor with laughter. But she couldn’t. Because this was her fucking fate.

Somewhere at the back of the room, someone chuckled. Followed by a whispered, “What’s so funny?” and an “I’ll tell you later.”

 
But Cynna couldn’t turn to see who’d spoken, because Nick’s attention finally shifted her way. And in his irritated amber gaze, she saw exactly what she’d expected. He’d forgotten she was even there. “We’ll talk about this later.”
 

Cynna’s heart—or what was left of it—felt like it shattered. Right there on the floor. She moved a step away and muttered, “Like hell we will.”

The queen finally lowered her hand from Nick’s chest and looked at her. “Who is this?”

Nick’s jaw clenched, and, oh yeah, he was pissed. Well, so was Cynna. So much so she wanted to slam her fist through a wall. Or someone’s face. Only she couldn’t seem to stop her damn hand from shaking.
 

“Cynna,” Nick said. “She was with me in Zagreus’s lair.”

“Cynna,” the guy near the desk whispered to the blonde at his side. “Isn’t that…?”

“Shh,” the blonde muttered, cutting him off.

The queen’s assessing gaze slid over Cynna, making the fine hairs along Cynna’s back stand to attention. But not even a flicker of recognition passed through Isadora’s eyes.

Even though she was seething, even though she wanted to do nothing but run, Cynna breathed a little easier. The queen didn’t know who she was. She could get out of this if she kept her cool.
 

“She’s Argolean,” the queen said. “What was an Argolean female doing with Zagreus?”

Unfortunately, Cynna’s cool went right out the window with that question, and her temper raged back to the forefront. Oh no. They were
not
going through this again. She wasn’t about to sit back and let a single person—especially the queen of Argolea—make assumptions about her like she wasn’t even in the room.
 

 
She straightened her spine and opened her mouth to tell the queen just what she could do with her damn questions when the blonde who’d been standing near the desk stepped forward.

“I can see these guys were acting like cavemen again and didn’t even bother to give you time to get dressed before they dragged you here.” Cynna’s gaze snapped toward the blonde, who had a pleasant expression fixed across her pretty face. “How about you and I go find something for you to wear while they all gossip like schoolgirls?”

The fact Cynna was wearing nothing but Nick’s T-shirt hit her again, but she didn’t care. She didn’t need clothes to put these people in their places. She’d lived with Zagreus, for fuck’s sake. She could hold her own with the queen of Argolea and her stupid merry men. But before she could spout off as much, her brain kicked into gear, and she realized…this could be her way out of this nightmare.

She reined in her temper—even though it took every ounce of willpower she had—swallowed hard, and nodded once.