TWISTED (Eternal Guardians Book 7) (38 page)

Helene laughed down at the small child. “You did, Marissa. I promise never to doubt you and your doll again.”

Marissa eased back and looked into Nick’s eyes, but she didn’t let go of his neck. And as she did, Cynna noticed that one whole side of her face was puckered and scarred as if from some kind of fire, making the hair on the right side of her head sparse, making her eye on that side droop just a touch. “I saw you. I told them all you were okay, but no one would listen.” Her gaze darted past Nick and settled on Cynna, and she grinned. “I saw you too. Hi, pretty lady.”

Whoever this girl was, she’d already been through hell and back, but she didn’t seem at all fazed by her scars, and since Nick wasn’t looking at them as if they were new, Cynna breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Hi, yourself.”

Marissa refocused on Nick. “I saw them. Minnie showed them to me. They’re going to come for you.” She leaned close to Nick’s ear as if whispering a secret. “Don’t let them.”

Nick stiffened and pushed Marissa back, focusing on her little face. “What else did Minnie see, Marissa?”

Cynna had no idea what was going on, and she glanced toward Helene for help.

 
“Marissa is a soothsayer,” Helene whispered. “A seer. The doll is her medium.” A frown pulled at her lips. “She shouldn’t be talking about this stuff right now, though.”

A chill spread down Cynna’s spine.

“Marissa,” Helene said louder. “Nick just got here. Why don’t you give him a chance to get acclimated before you start telling him what he’s going to have for dinner.”

Marissa grinned and let go of him. “Okay. But I want to show him my new room.” Excitement filled her dark eyes again as she looked at Nick. “Do you want to see it?”

“Yeah. Sure.” He laid his hand on her little shoulder and pushed to his feet, and as he did, Cynna caught the subtle movement. The way his finger hooked in the collar of the girl’s coat and pulled the fabric back just an inch, revealing long, red, clawlike scars that ran down her neck and disappeared under her clothes.

His shoulders tensed. He let go of the girl and forced a smile for her before he dropped his arm to his side and said, “I’ll find you in a bit.”

The child ran off to rejoin a group of children kicking a ball down the street. But Nick turned his fiery gaze on Helene. “What happened to her?”

“She’s fine.”

“That’s not what I asked. I want to know what happened.”

Helene sighed. “She was inside when the attack happened. She had a vision of daemons and satyrs at the school. She came to tell me. I went running out there. I…I didn’t think she’d follow.”

Nick’s eyes grew shadowed. And the way his muscles bunched, the way his hands clenched into fists at his sides… It shot worry straight down Cynna’s spine.

She reached for his hand, hoping to soothe him, to keep him centered, but he pulled away from her touch.

“Where’s her mother?” He glanced around the courtyard. People were still mingling, waiting to talk to him. “I don’t see her. She never lets Marissa out of her sight. Not since the fire.”

“Nick,” Helene said softly.

“Where is she?”
 

Helene’s face dropped, just as it had earlier when she’d told him about his men. “She was one of the fifty-eight.”

Nick took a step back. His chest rose and fell with his rapid breaths. Every muscle in his body grew taut. His jawbone turned to a slice of steel beneath his skin. And his eyes… They were now cold, unfriendly, dead. A look Cynna instantly recognized. Because it was the same look she’d seen on her own face in the mirror when she’d finally decided to turn to Zagreus for revenge.

“Nick.” Cynna reached for him.

He turned before she could touch him, stalked away, and disappeared between two buildings.
 

Fear and worry melded inside Cynna. She took a step to follow, but Helene’s hand over her arm stopped her cold. “Wait. What’s wrong with him?”

Cynna turned toward the blonde. “Who was the female?”

“A friend. One of the colonists.”

“Nothing more?”
 

Helene let go of her arm. “Nick rescued them—the mother and Marissa—from a daemon attack years ago. They were living in the wild with her human husband. He didn’t make it. Nick brought them in to the colony and promised to protect them.”

And he hadn’t. Cynna’s heart sank. “I have to find him.”

“But—“
 

“If he comes back by here before I get to him, don’t let him leave.”

A perplexed expression crossed Helene’s face as Cynna stepped away. “I’ll do what I can. But—”

“No buts, Helene.” Panic spread through every inch of Cynna’s body. “If I don’t find him before it’s too late, all hell could break loose. And I don’t mean that figuratively.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

A
gust of wind lifted Cynna’s ponytail, and a chill rushed down her spine. Crossing her arms over her chest, she hurried down the street, looking in every shop window she passed, searching for Nick.

He didn’t know the layout of Kyrenia. Wouldn’t know where to go to get away from the crowds. At this time of day—midafternoon—there was still a fair amount of people on the street doing business, but the weather was growing colder, the skies darker, and something in her gut said a storm was moving in. One that likely couldn’t compare to the storm surging inside Nick right now.

She made a right and stepped over a pile of snow pushed up against a newly renovated building. Where would he go? If she could track him the way he tracked her, this would be a hell of a lot easier. Biting her lip, she glanced around, then remembered Delia’s house.
 

It was a long shot, but it was the only place he knew. She made a left and hurried down the sidewalk, not wanting to flash in the hopes she might run into him along the way, all the while hoping—no, praying—she’d find him there.

Three blocks from Delia’s house, movement between two large, empty buildings with broken windows caught her eye. She hesitated, turned back. A shadowy figure stood halfway down the darkened alley, hands pressed against the brick wall, shoulders hunched, head hanging low.

Panic spread beneath her ribs. Panic and fear and hope. Cautiously, she moved into the alley. “Nick?”

No answer. She couldn’t tell if it was him. The person was big enough, but she’d breathe easier if he’d just lift his head so she could be sure. She took another step forward. “Nick, is that you?”

“Leave…Cynna.”

Relief spread through every vein and cell. Her pulse slowed as she moved toward him, so thankful she’d found him in time. “There you are.”

“Go,” he rasped.
 

“No, I—”

Her steps slowed, and the words died on her lips when she got a good look at him. The light jacket he’d thrown on over his gray Henley was ripped at the seams, as if he’d flexed and the garment had shredded like tissue paper. The muscles in his arms were strained. Veins in the backs of his hands bulged. Her gaze slid higher, to his neck, red and covered in a thin layer of sweat, then to his profile, which she could just barely see with his head tipped down—his jaw, hard and rigid, his eyes squeezed shut tight, his temple pulsing with his racing heartbeat.

Another chill spread down her spine, but this one had nothing to do with the temperature. Hand shaking, she reached out to him. “Nick, just let me—”

“No.” He twisted away from her touch. “Just go. I’m not in a good place. And I don’t want to…hurt you…when it happens.”

Her heart pounded hard in her chest. No, she wasn’t giving him up to Zagreus without a fight. And Nick wasn’t getting rid of her that easily. Not after everything they’d been through.

She gripped his arm before he could get two steps away. “I’m not letting you give up like that.”

He whirled on her so fast, she barely saw him. His hands closed around her biceps until pain shot up her arms. But it was quickly overshadowed when he slammed her back against the side of the building, her spine and skull cracking the worn bricks.

“You think this is giving up?” He loomed over her, malice and rage and darkness swirling inside him to twist his features until he didn’t look like her Nick anymore but someone who was…possessed. “I don’t have a fucking choice in this. I never did.” He squeezed her arms so hard, her eyes watered and her mouth fell open in a silent scream. Then he released her and turned away. “Get the hell away from me while you still have a chance.”

Cynna gasped as the pain slowly receded, and rubbed her arms to ease the sting. Looking up, she watched Nick move toward the back of the alley, his shoulders shaking, his body barely holding it together as he put space between them. It was happening. He was about to break. And as soon as that happened, Zagreus would undoubtedly appear to claim his prize. He was right; she needed to run before it was too late.

But she couldn’t. Because whether he knew it or not, he’d brought her back from the brink of self-destruction. And she wasn’t about to let him travel down that same path.

She caught up with him and stepped right in his path. He drew to a stop and glared at her, his once mesmerizing amber eyes now nothing but hard cold pools of black. Just like Zagreus’s. Swallowing back the fear curling into a hot knot in her throat, she lifted her chin. “Focus on me.”

He growled and turned the other direction, but she rushed around him and stepped in his way again.
 

“Look at me. Stay with me.”

His eyes slammed shut. He shook his head as if trying to rattle something loose. Pressed the heels of his hands against his closed eyelids.

“Listen to the sound of my voice, Nick.”

He stumbled back. His body shook. His hands slid over his forehead until his fingers wrapped around the ends of his hair, pulling tight. Sweat slid down his temple. “Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. Here.”

“No,” she said softly, stepping closer, knowing she needed to stay calm if she had any hope of pulling him out of this. “I’m not going anywhere. I said I’d stay with you, and I am. Focus on me. Just me. No one else.”

His back hit the building. His legs sagged. His body shook harder.

She needed to reach him on a physical level. Knew he needed that connection, as he had before.
 

She stepped between his legs and framed his face with her hands. His skin was cold and clammy, but this time, he didn’t push her away. And she focused on that rather than the way he trembled beneath her touch. “I won’t let you fall. I’m right here. They can’t have you. Do you hear me? I’m not letting go.”

His head fell forward until his forehead rested against hers. Against the wall, his shoulders shook, and his chest rose and fell with his shallow breaths as he fought that wicked darkness inside, struggling with every labored breath.

“Leave me,” he rasped.

She tightened her fingers against his jaw. “Not a chance. You’re mine.”

A growl rumbled from his chest, and in a sudden move, he lifted his head and closed his mouth over hers.

She sucked in a surprised breath, then moaned as he pushed away from the wall, yanked her body against his, and devoured her mouth.

Warmth spread through her veins, ignited a burn deep in her core. She slid her hands down his shoulders and around his arms, needing him, wanting every part of him.

His fingers cut into her hipbones, sending a jolt of pain across her sides, but she ignored it. Instead focused on the bruising demand of his mouth, the way his tongue raced along hers, the sinful heat of his body. But before she’d tasted her fill, he pulled away from her mouth, whipped her around, then shoved her up against the wall, face-first.

Her hands slapped the cold bricks. The air rushed out of her lungs. He kicked her legs wide with his feet, pressed his hard body up against her back, and closed his teeth over her earlobe until she flinched. “I gave you the chance to leave. Now you’re going to wish you’d listened.”

Her heart pounded against her ribs. Her body trembled with both anticipation and a hint of apprehension. But she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Not really. And if this was what he needed to stay focused so the darkness didn’t claim him, she’d let him do whatever he wanted to her. Give him anything he asked for.

She spread her fingers against the bricks and pushed back into him. “I won’t. I’m not afraid of you.”