Ravaged: An Eternal Guardians Novella (1001 Dark Nights) (18 page)

Fates
—Three goddesses who control the thread of life for all mortals from birth until death

Fields of Asphodel
—Purgatory

Isles of the Blessed
—Heaven

matéras
—Mother

Misos
—Half-human/half-Argolean race that lives hidden among humans

Olympians
—Current ruling gods of the Greek pantheon, led by Zeus; meddle in human life

patéras
—Father

Siren Order
—Zeus’s elite band of personal warriors. Commanded by Athena

skata
—Swearword

Tartarus
—Realm of the Underworld similar to hell

Titans
—The ruling gods before the Olympians

Underworld
—Hell. Ruled by Hades

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1001 Dark Nights story

The First Night

by Lexi Blake & M.J. Rose

Turn the page for a full list of the

1001 Dark Nights fabulous novellas...

1001 DARK NIGHTS

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WICKED WOLF
by Carrie Ann Ryan

A Redwood Pack Novella

WHEN IRISH EYES ARE HAUNTING
by Heather Graham

A Krewe of Hunters Novella

EASY WITH YOU
by Kristen Proby

A With Me In Seattle Novella

MASTER OF FREEDOM
by Cherise Sinclair

A Mountain Masters Novella

CARESS OF PLEASURE
by Julie Kenner

A Dark Pleasures Novella

ADORED
by Lexi Blake

A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

HADES
by Larissa Ione

A Demonica Novella

RAVAGED
by Elisabeth Naughton

An Eternal Guardians Novella

DREAM OF YOU
by Jennifer L. Armentrout

A Wait For You Novella

STRIPPED DOWN
by Lorelei James

A Blacktop Cowboys ® Novella

RAGE/KILLIAN
by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright

Bayou Heat Novellas

DRAGON KING
by Donna Grant

A Dark Kings Novella

PURE WICKED
by Shayla Black

A Wicked Lovers Novella

HARD AS STEEL
by Laura Kaye

A Hard Ink/Raven Riders Crossover

STROKE OF MIDNIGHT
by Lara Adrian

A Midnight Breed Novella

ALL HALLOWS EVE
by Heather Graham

A Krewe of Hunters Novella

KISS THE FLAME
by Christopher Rice

A Desire Exchange Novella

DARING HER LOVE
by Melissa Foster

A Bradens Novella

TEASED
by Rebecca Zanetti

A Dark Protectors Novella

THE PROMISE OF SURRENDER
by Liliana Hart

A MacKenzie Family Novella

FOREVER WICKED
by Shayla Black

A Wicked Lovers Novella

CRIMSON TWILIGHT
by Heather Graham

A Krewe of Hunters Novella

CAPTURED IN SURRENDER
by Liliana Hart

A MacKenzie Family Novella

SILENT BITE: A SCANGUARDS WEDDING
by Tina Folsom

A Scanguards Vampire Novella

DUNGEON GAMES
by Lexi Blake

A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

AZAGOTH
by Larissa Ione

A Demonica Novella

NEED YOU NOW
by Lisa Renee Jones

A Shattered Promises Series Prelude

SHOW ME, BABY
by Cherise Sinclair

A Masters of the Shadowlands Novella

ROPED IN
by Lorelei James

A Blacktop Cowboys ® Novella

TEMPTED BY MIDNIGHT
by Lara Adrian

A Midnight Breed Novella

THE FLAME
by Christopher Rice

A Desire Exchange Novella

CARESS OF DARKNESS
by Julie Kenner

A Dark Pleasures Novella

Also from Evil Eye Concepts:

TAME ME
by J. Kenner

A Stark International Novella

THE SURRENDER GATE
By Christopher Rice

A Desire Exchange Novel

SERVICING THE TARGET
By Cherise Sinclair

A Masters of the Shadowlands Novel

Bundles:

BUNDLE ONE

Includes Forever Wicked by Shayla Black

Crimson Twilight by Heather Graham

Captured in Surrender by Liliana Hart

Silent Bite by Tina Folsom

BUNDLE TWO

Includes Dungeon Games by Lexi Blake

Azagoth by Larissa Ione

Need You Now by Lisa Renee Jones

Show My, Baby by Cherise Sinclair

TWISTED

Eternal Guardians, Book 7

By Elisabeth Naughton

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NICK
– Leader of the half-breeds and the last true hero. He’s spent his life fighting a dark pull toward the gods. A pull he now knows is linked to his father Krónos and the Titan’s plan to escape from the Underworld.

But Nick’s hidden powers are coveted by more than just his father. Imprisoned by Hades, Nick battles every form of torture imaginable as the sadistic god schemes to break him. Only one thing is keeping him sane. One woman who gives him the strength to fight the relentless darkness. She has a dangerous plan of her own, though, and as Nick’s powers grow stronger, even she might not be enough to alter his destiny.

As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, Nick’s allegiances are tested. And no one knows whether he will choose to fight for good or succumb to the sinister lure of evil. Not even him.

* * *

The guards swung the steel door open and pushed Nick into his cell. No windows, no light. A torch on the wall illuminated the damp space made up of nothing but rock walls and the pile of blankets where he slept in the corner.

They maneuvered him around until he was standing in the center of the room, facing the door. One guard uncuffed his wrists, and for a moment, Nick thought of taking them down. But voices were already resonating through the corridor, growing stronger, coming closer. And one stood out, causing his stomach to tighten and arousal to rush through his body, bringing every other thought to a halt.

The click of heels sounded as the guards hooked chains to D-bolts in the ceiling, then reached for his arms. As they attached the first chain to his left wrist, stretching his limb up and away from his body, he winced, the injury in his shoulder sending a sharp shot of pain across his muscles. They grasped his other arm and locked him to the chain, then closed the metal cuffs around his ankles, kicked his legs shoulder-width apart, and chained those to hooks in the floor as well.

Cynna appeared in the doorway to the room.

The pain dissipated as Nick focused on her. She was wearing the same revealing outfit she’d had on when she’d watched his fight in the training ring, and it distracted him from what was going on around him. Excited him. Sent a wicked thrill through the dark part of what was left of his soul.

“Mistress,” the injured guard said, standing straight. “The prisoner is ready.”

Cynna’s gaze flicked over Nick, over his bare torso and the small white towel covering his awakening erection, then up to his face to hover on the scar on his left cheek. Without sparing a look toward the guards, she said, “Leave us.”

Her voice was like sandpaper and velvet, a voice made for sin, just like her body. In her hands she held a jar.

Two females—no, nymphs—rushed into the room as soon as the guards left. One was blonde, the other with short dark hair. They were both petite, both submissive with their eyes cast downward, and both were wearing flimsy pale pink dresses made from thin fabric that barely hid their bodies from view. They were also wearing metal collars. Collars he’d seen on other submissives in the tunnels. Collars that marked them as sex slaves.

Nick’s stomach tightened. His gaze skipped past the females, toward the steel door, which was now closed, and through the small window to see who was watching.

Darkness reflected in the glass. But that didn’t mean they were alone. Zagreus was always somewhere watching Nick’s torture. Feeding off it. Waiting for him to break.

Turning to the dark-haired nymph on her right, Cynna handed the female the jar and said, “Use this. But do not touch him anywhere save where he bleeds.”

The nymph nodded and approached, her cheeks a deep cherry red, her breaths shallow. She unscrewed the lid and set it on the rocks at her feet, then gathered a scoop of whatever was in the jar and lowered to her knees in front of him.

Nick sucked in a breath. She was inches away, his groin hidden only by the small towel. Her fingers grazed the wound on his thigh, a tickling sensation that made his muscles tense, but the healing balm was cool where it coated the gash. He relaxed as she rubbed the balm into the wound, feeling the jagged skin already knitting back together, feeling his body healing faster than it would on its own, feeling a heat he didn’t expect warming his skin.

“Enough,” Cynna said. “Now the other one.”

The dark-haired nymph pushed to her feet, still didn’t look Nick in the eye, and moved around behind him. Again he felt her fingers gliding over his skin, and he tensed, then the balm slathered the wound in his shoulder, slowly warming his skin, repairing the damage and relaxing him from the outside in.

Cynna’s deep brown eyes remained blank as she watched the nymph work. No emotion crossed her face. No pleasure or excitement over what was to come, as Zagreus always showed. Nothing but emptiness. An emptiness Nick had gotten used to seeing on her flawless face.

Only…that wasn’t true. When he’d been in the ring earlier, when he’d dropped his weapon in defiance of Zagreus’s desire to make him fight, he’d seen something in her eyes then. Something that had looked a lot like panic.

“That’s enough,” Cynna said.

The nymph’s fingers lifted from Nick’s skin, and she stepped back. Moving around him, she knelt to pick up the lid, recapped the jar, then sank back against the far wall near the other nymph.

Cynna moved forward, her eyes never wavering from Nick’s, and the scent of jasmine hit him as it always did when she drew close, filling his senses, messing with his mind. She was tall for a female, at least five ten, and in those ridiculously high-heeled boots, only a few inches shorter than him. Today her blonde hair was swept over one shoulder, a blue streak near her temple contrasting sharply with her caramel skin. Her face was heavily made up, her eyes rimmed in thick black, making her look every bit the dominatrix. And though he knew he should be anxious over whatever she and Zagreus had cooked up for him next, he wasn’t. Because there was something about her that interested him. Perplexed him. Made him want to know more.

He’d never admit it, but the mystery of who she was and how she’d come to be here had saved him. Saved him from going mad or giving in to all that dark energy Zagreus was waiting to claim.

“You just…won’t…break.”

Her words were a whisper, a frustration, a surprise. She never spoke to him. Though he’d spent more time with her than anyone else in this hellhole, she never addressed him directly. She gave the commands to her grunts, and they did her dirty work. She never even got near him.

Something about today was different, though. A tiny voice in the back of his head screamed what was about to happen in this cell was on a whole different level from what he’d been through before.

She stepped close, so close he could feel her heat but not close enough to touch, then moved to her right, slowly making her way around him. His stomach tightened, and that blistering arousal came rushing back.

“This isn’t a game.” Her warm breath fanned his nape, sending a shiver across his bare skin. And in his wounds, where the nymph had spread the balm, heat gathered and grew, radiating outward, heading for his belly. “You cannot beat Zagreus. No one wins against the Prince of Darkness.”