The Guardian (19 page)

the last thing he needed.

Jaden crossed the room and placed his hands on her shoulders. His eerie eyes burned her with their

intensity, anger, and disgust. “Lydia, listen to me,” he growled between clenched teeth. “They almost cut him

in half. Do you understand? I…” he winced as if he couldn’t bear whatever flashed through his mind. When

he met her gaze again, she swore she saw tears in his eyes. “Long ago I was one of the most revered

warlords ever born, with a lot of field experience of god-war and massacre proportions. I fought and

survived battles that would make Quentin Tarantino’s movies look like a 1950s Disney musical, and I’ve

never, ever seen anything so gruesome. Do you hear me?”

Those words hit her like blows.

He couldn’t be serious. Surely not …

Her own tears cut warm trails down her cheeks as she imagined what he’d found. What was left of

Seth …

Releasing her, Jaden raked a trembling hand through his hair and winced. “It’s … it’s sick what they did to

him. I didn’t think anyone could be crueler than Noir. I stand corrected.”

He snarled something in a language she’d never heard before. “I should never have let him go alone. I

knew better. It’s my fucking fault. Al of this.” He lowered his head and fisted his hands in his hair. “How could

I have been so stupid? So selfish? Gah, I’m such a fucking idiot.”

She wasn’t sure if he was talking about his guilt over Seth or something else. But it was obvious, his past

was every bit as brutal and traumatizing as Seth’s.

Reaching out, she placed a comforting hand on Jaden’s shoulder. “You did what Seth asked.”

Jaden shook his head and this time there definitely were tears in his eyes, and her own flowed in

response to seeing a man this strong hurt so much. “I just wanted five minutes of not having Azura and Noir

breathing down my neck. Five minutes.” His gaze tore into hers with the hatred that he bore for himself. “I

condemned an innocent child into an eternity of hel for that five minutes. I’m worse than they are.”

“No, Jaden. You’re not. You think they have given his pain any consideration at al ?”

He curled his lip as he shrugged her touch away. “Don’t patronize me and tel what I am and what I’m not. I

see myself for what I’ve become and I’ve never deluded myself or tried to spin my actions into something

they’re not. I know the beast in me and live with it every day.”

And he hated it. He didn’t say it because he didn’t have to.

She knew there was no way to comfort him and even if there was, he wouldn’t let her. He was too bent on

flogging himself for his past mistakes.

Meanwhile, there was another man here who needed help. One who had somehow become important to

her. If she couldn’t help Jaden, the least she could do was go to him.

“Where is Seth?”

Jaden hesitated before he answered. “His room.”

“Take me to him.”

“I real y don’t think you need or want to see this.”

She glared up at his peculiar eyes. “If you don’t take me to him, right now, this second, I’l walk out that

door and find him myself.”

He growled low in his throat as he glared his anger at her. “And you would, too. You stubborn fool. Just

remember, it was that kind of blatant stupidity that trapped me here. You should listen once in a while when

someone warns you.”

Lydia thought about that. He was right. She’d always been prone to leap and then think about the

consequences on her way down the cliff, into the swirling ocean. Solin had dogged her hard over that her

entire life. But she wasn’t going to change today.

“He needs us.”

Jaden shook his head. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Before she could blink, they were in Seth’s room, which was stil bathed with that eerie blue glow. She

took a second to get her bearings in the dark silence that heightened the sound of her own heart beating.

The jackal in her smel ed his blood, not that she couldn’t see it plainly enough.

How did he have any left inside his body?

Completely naked, Seth lay on the bed so stil , he didn’t seem real or alive. With his head turned away

from her, his straightened auburn hair spil ed over the black pil ow.

Bracing herself for the worst, she walked across the room slowly.

His breathing was so shal ow, she could barely see his chest moving. His skin had a deathly ashen pal or

to it and was covered with a fine sheen of sweat. Sweat that made the swal ow on his neck glisten,

reminding her of how he’d gotten that tattoo.

She choked back a sob over the pain of his life, wishing she could make him forget it.

He lay with his long legs stretched out and one arm draped over his chest, just above …

She froze in horror. “Oh my God,” she breathed as she final y saw what Jaden had warned her about.

Never in her entire life had she seen a wound so foul. It looked as if a sword had gone through his

stomach, just above his hip and below his bottom rib, stopping only when it hit his spine.

How could he stil be alive? How? It defied any kind of logical explanation and she couldn’t imagine how

excruciating it had to be.

Worse, he was stil conscious. Against al odds and al reason. His eyes were mere slits, but they glowed

with his agony as he turned his head to look at her.

His breathing became ragged as he gave her that familiar scowl that was redundant with his face paint.

How could he stand it and not scream? How? But then she knew.

He was used to pain.

It was al he knew.

She wanted to scream for him over what they’d done. There was no sense in this. Damn them al for it.

Why wasn’t someone tending him? Doing something to al eviate his pain?

But then she knew the answer to that, too.

No one cared. No one except her.

Taking his bleeding hand into hers, she knelt on the floor beside him. The last thing she wanted was to jar

the bed in any way and cause him more pain. “What happened?”

His grip was weak as he swal owed. He didn’t answer her question. With his gaze locked on hers, he

spoke to Jaden, who stood just to her left. “I’m returning her powers to her. I need you to send her out of

here, back to her own world.”

Lydia shook her head in denial. “I won’t leave with you like this.”

His glared intensified. “You
have
to, and you need to go now.”

“No. I—”

“Listen to me, Lydia.” He tensed and grimaced as if pain tore through him. For several seconds he

panted from the weight of it. Then his tight grip relaxed and he opened his eyes again. “I wasn’t attacked. I—

I was tortured.”

It took several heartbeats before she understood what he was saying. But it made no sense. “Why?”

He broke out into another round of sweat as if talking was straining him too much. “The Greek gods are

looking for you. Not to take you home. They’ve been sent here to kil you.”

Her jaw fel under the assault of disbelief that hit her hard. “What?”

“He’s tel ing the truth,” Jaden said from behind her. “I found him bolted to the Wal . It looked like they’d

spent al night, trying to force him to take them to you.”

Seth coughed up blood, something that made the rest of his body bleed even more. Tears of pain

gathered in his blue eyes. “I told them nothing. But they know that you’re in this realm. It’s why they breached

my room. Somehow they could tel you were in here.” He had to pause to catch his breath. “Jaden had you

shielded last night in his room so they couldn’t locate you.”

His words stunned her. None of it made any sense. “Why would they want to kil me?” What had she ever

done to them? She’d purposeful y stayed away from the Greek gods.

“They wouldn’t say. But you have to go and hide from them. They won’t stop until you’re dead.” He lifted

her hand to his bloody lips and kissed her knuckles. The moment his lips touched her skin, she felt a rush go

through her as he restored al of her powers.

When he released her hand, the blood was gone from her skin. “Go.”

When she didn’t leave, he glanced past her to Jaden. “Get her out of here.”

Jaden nodded, then pul ed her toward a corner, out of Seth’s line of vision. Before they left, he leaned in

to whisper in her ear. “You should know something.”

“What?”

“He could have stopped his torture at any time by tel ing them where to find you. The only reason it

stopped was that his morning relief saw that it was Greek gods and not Thorn’s people attacking him and

cal ed for reinforcements. Otherwise, he’d stil be bolted to that Wal … protecting you.”

With his blood and flesh.

Her heart shattered as she heard those words. Seth didn’t believe in protecting anyone except himself.

How many times had he said that? Yet there he lay, torn apart because of her.

How could she leave him to this?

“Can you do something to heal him?”

Jaden shook his head. “I don’t have those powers.”

And neither did she. Nor did she know anyone with them.

“What’s going to happen to him after I leave?”

Jaden fel silent as he considered it. “He’l eventual y heal. The pain wil be unbearable until he does,

but … he’l live. However, if Noir finds out he was tortured and not attacked by Thorn’s people, and why he

was interrogated by Greeks … his punishment wil be a lot worse than this. By keeping you here, he’s

brought enemies into Noir’s home. That’s not something the King Asshole and Queen Whore take lightly.”

She couldn’t imagine anything worse. Her stomach heaved at the thought.

And in that moment, she knew what she had to do.

No matter what it cost her.

“How do I get him out of here?”

Jaden hesitated before he answered. “Yes, you can teleport him out of here, but you have to understand

something before you do. In the condition he’s in, he won’t be able to help you in any way. None. Noir and

Azura have his powers sucked down to virtual y nothing, and by returning yours to you, he is literal y drained

to the level of a human. He’s defenseless right now. He can’t even move.”

It didn’t matter. She wasn’t about to leave him here. Not like that. Not after he’d sacrificed himself to keep

her safe. Only a heartless bitch could do such a thing. And she might be a lot of things in life, but that had

never been one of them.

She blinked away her tears. Later she’d cry. Right now, she had to stay on task. “I don’t care. I won’t leave

him.”

His features softened. “Thank you.”

She didn’t understand his gratitude. “For what?”

“For being the woman I thought you were. You’ve no idea how rare a beast that is.”

Before she could stop herself, she hugged him for his kindness.

Jaden held her tight, as if he were trying to commit this to memory because he knew he wouldn’t have

anyone else hug him for a long time.

If ever again.

Lydia stepped back from him. “Are you sure you can’t come with us?”

“Positive. If I break my word and leave against Azura’s wishes, someone a lot more important to me than I

am wil be hurt. I can’t do that.”

She understood and she hated it for him. He didn’t deserve to be here any more than Seth did.

As she started back to the bed, Jaden stopped her. “Where wil you take him?”

“I don’t know. I doubt it’l be safe at home. If the ones after me found me here, then they most likely know

where I live. Same thing for Solin’s place.”

“Do you have any friends?”

“Not real y.” In spite of her talks with Seth, she had a hard time trusting people, too. Plus being immortal

made it difficult to have humans as friends. They tended to notice when she didn’t age.

“Then you should go to Sanctuary.”

She frowned. “Sanctuary?”

“It’s a bar in New Orleans that’s owned by a group of Ursulans.”

Her heart clenched in fear. By nature, both the Katagaria and Arcadian branches of Were-Hunters were

highly territorial. They couldn’t stand for another species to enter their domain. Many times, such an action

would start al -out war. That was the last thing she needed.

Not to mention, bears and jackals were mortal enemies.

“I can’t go there. They’l kil me.”

“No, they won’t. I swear. The Peltiers are different. It’s run by an Arcadian bear named Aimee and her

Katagari mate, a wolf named Fang. They have doctors there who can help you with Seth. It’s your best shot.”

“An Arcadian mated to a Katagari?” She’d never heard of such a thing, never mind the fact that they were

two different species.

“I told you, they’re different.”

She wanted to believe him, but … “You’re sure they won’t hurt us?”

“Positive. They’l welcome you both, and do you no harm.”

Please don’t be lying to me
.

But why would he? He real y did seem concerned about Seth.
You keep telling Seth to trust other

people. It’s your turn to put some faith in them.

Realizing the truth of that, she nodded, then returned to the bed where Seth lay.

He opened his eyes and cursed obscenely when he saw her again.

“Nice to see you, too, beast.” She smiled at him and brushed the hair back from his bruised cheek. “I told

you if you returned my powers that I’d get you out of here. Just so you know,
I
keep my word.”

Seth didn’t know what stunned him most. The fact that she’d come back for him or the feather-light kiss