The Guardian (31 page)

It was inconceivable. She’d been here for two days while he made preparations. No pulse. No heartbeat.

And now she was just as she’d always been.

“Don’t you remember the last week?”

Lydia shook her head. “I was at home. I remember that I was angry about something, but I don’t

remember what. Then I woke up here. Did you teleport me?”

“No, baby, I didn’t. You real y have no memory of…” he didn’t want to mention Azmodea if she didn’t

remember it, “coming after me?”

She shook her head. “Why did I come after you?”

Solin’s eyes misted as he realized what the Guardian had done for her.

He’d freed Lydia forever so that she could final y live her life without either of them having to fear that the

other Greeks would find her. Everyone thought she was dead now.

For the first time in her life, she was completely safe.

But why would he have done such a thing?

Why do you think?

The Guardian loved her. There was no other reason for it. None. He’d given his own freedom, his life, for

Lydia.

Solin stood there, amazed and grateful. Never in his life had anyone done anything like this for him. “Do

you remember anyone from the last couple of days?”

She arched her brow. “Like?”

“A man with red hair?”

“Haven’t been to McDonald’s in a long time. Are you okay? You’re looking at me real y strangely.”

“Never better.” He smiled at her. “I’m just grateful you’re awake. You’ve been extremely sick the last few

days…” He’d have to explain eventual y why she was missing several days out of her life. What better way

than il ness? “We were worried about you, that’s al .”

But inside, he felt like shit as he debated what to do. He hated to keep a secret from her, especial y one

that involved someone who obviously loved her as much as the Guardian did.

She had a right to know what he’d done for her. But if she had no memory of the Guardian, why disturb

her with the truth?

Obviously, her safety had meant more to the Guardian than anything else. Who was he to interfere?

So long as she didn’t remember, he would never speak of it.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, touching her warm cheek—something he would never again take for

granted. “I can have George make you anything you want.”

Lydia smiled at his offer. “Banana pancakes would be wonderful.” She didn’t know why, but she had a

strange banana craving.

“Get dressed and I’l have them waiting in the atrium.” Solin kissed her hand as if it were a holy relic and

hesitated before he final y let go and left her.

Yeah, okay, her father was in a very, very strange mood.

As she went to the armoire and opened the door to get something a little less hideous to wear, there was

a shadow in the back of her mind.

A world beyond a world.

Why did that seem important?

She opened and closed the armoire door. The way the blue wal paper flashed on the ceiling reminded

her of something. But what?

It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t quite grasp it.

Blue on the ceiling?

What did I get into?
She felt woozy and had a voice. But what real y confused her was when she pul ed

her gown off and saw …

Was that a swal ow?

What on earth?

Frowning, she fingered the weird tattoo on her shoulder just below her col ar bone that hadn’t been there

before. It was incredibly colorful and beautiful, but she had no memory of having it done. And if that wasn’t

strange enough, she had some weird Egyptian cartouche around her neck.

Okay, remind me to never, ever drink again.

* * *

Seth didn’t bother to look up at Noir as the bastard came to drain his powers again. He was so weak he

could barely breathe. Since his return, as part of his punishment, he hadn’t been al owed to charge them at

al .

And for that smal mercy he was actual y grateful.

Without his powers, he had no way whatsoever to see Lydia. There was no temptation to even try …

Which kept her safe.

Stil , he would give anything to have one more second with her. To see those beautiful topaz eyes …

Noir laid his chest open, bringing him out of his numbed state as pain seared him. His overlord had

become even more sadistic in his attempts to make sure Seth suffered as much as possible. And in

guaranteeing that Seth would never escape again.

Not that he would.

He had no reason to go anywhere and every reason to stay. So long as he was here, Lydia was safe.

That was al that mattered to him. At least that was what he kept tel ing himself. But over the weeks, it’d

gotten harder to remember the sound of her voice. The softness of her touch.

It terrified him that the day might come when he’d have no memory of her whatsoever.

And that was a far worse torture than anything Noir and his demons could dish out.

But his initial torture on his return here had at least clarified one thing in his memory. He knew why Lydia’s

jackal form had seemed so familiar.

Her mother had been one of the jackals in his adoptive family.

Her grandfather was the one who’d sold him to Noir.

The irony of that stayed with him. But it didn’t stop the part of him that loved her anyway.

Noir raked his claws down the side of Seth’s face as he final y pul ed back. “You are too repulsive to look

at.”

Seth had no response as he closed his eyes and tried to escape in his mind.

But he’d given Lydia his swal ow and cartouche to keep her safe whenever she awoke, and without those

he had no choice except to stay here and feel everything.

* * *

kept pul ing her here at night. It was almost as if it were trying to tel her something.

But whatever it sought, they never found it.

Arching up toward the dark sky, she saw a shadow moving far below. One that was terrifying and …

She saw eyes of steel set in a face that reminded her of warmth.

But as soon as she saw them, they were gone.

Yeah, I’ve lost my mind now.

And she had.

Time to wake up and see about moving the rest of her things from her home in England to her father’s

estate. She was stil sick from the week she’d been in a coma. And he was too worried about her to leave

her alone. Which was fine with her.

Lydia had a feeling that in the coming days, she was going to need someone with her.

She just didn’t know why.

* * *

mattered. Pain was pain no matter whose hand dealt it.

Was it time to be drained again?

Hadn’t they already been here?

He couldn’t remember. Each feeding now seemed to hurt more than the one before and they blended

together into a never-ending cycle of cruelty.

A hand brushed the hair back from his face. Sick from the agony they caused him, he tried to move away

and fight, even though he knew it was futile.

Until he managed to open his eyes enough to see the face of his tormentor.

For a ful minute, he couldn’t breathe as he saw the last person he’d ever expected to see again …

Lydia felt the tears stinging her eyes as she saw what Noir had done to him.

And al because of her.

The bolt was back in place and he’d been beaten so badly that she barely recognized a single feature on

his face. He’d been hit so many times that his eyes were swol en out of shape and colored various shades

of purple. He could barely open them even a slit.

She bit back a sob before she spoke. “I told you that I would always come for you,” she whispered before

she placed a gentle kiss on his bleeding cheek. She stepped back so that he could see she wasn’t alone.

Ma’at, Maahes, Thorn, and Solin were with her.

Maahes unchained him while Ma’at healed him, and Solin kept an eye out for any of the demons or Noir.

Seth fought against his release, but couldn’t speak until Maahes removed the bolt. He choked on his own

blood, then refused to leave with them. “I can’t go. You won’t be safe.”

“I’m not leaving you here,” Lydia insisted.

Furious at her, he glared at Solin. “Get her out of here before they find her.”

Solin snorted. “Believe me, I’ve tried to talk sense into her. She won’t listen.”

Seth turned his glare to Thorn. “Why would you bring them here?”

Thorn grinned. “Solin made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Believe me, violating my truce with Noir isn’t

something I do lightly.”

He wanted to kil the bastard for that. But Thorn was every bit the immortal. Plus he had powers even Seth

couldn’t fathom.

Seth looked back at Lydia. “I have to stay … please.”

Lydia couldn’t believe that he was stil wil ing to stay here for her safety. If she’d had any doubt before

about how much he loved her, that cleared it. “Al right, fine. If you stay. I stay.”

“We al stay,” Maahes said.

Ma’at nodded. “Agreed.”

Thorn snorted. “You can stay if you want. But I’m getting the hel out of here. Noir’s side smel s. I prefer my

demons and slime hole to his.”

Seth glared at Solin, hating him for his interference. “Why did you tel her? Damn you! She would never

have remembered me.”

Lydia arched a chiding brow at him. “My father didn’t tel me anything and I’m stil angry at him for that. But

I remembered you. Even though I didn’t understand it, I felt you with me constantly. And if that wasn’t

enough…” She took his hand and placed it on her stomach so he could feel the slight swel ing there. “You

left me with a very special gift.”

The news slammed into him harder than one of Noir’s blows. She was pregnant?

With his child.

Unimaginable joy ripped through him as he felt the slightest fluttering of his son or daughter moving inside

her.

But that only solidified his resolve. “You won’t be safe if I leave.”

She cupped his now healed face in her hands. “No one ever is, Seth. No matter how hard we try. No

matter how much we plan and prepare. There wil always be an enemy at the door and a storm trying to

knock us down. Life’s not about security. It’s about picking up the pieces after it’s al over and carrying on.

We can choose to be cowards who fear letting someone inside us, and do that alone. Or we can choose to

be brave and let someone stand by our side and help us. I’m not a coward. I never have been. And there is

nowhere else I plan to be, except beside you. Forever. Be it on earth, or here in this hel hole if that’s what it

takes. I wil always be with you.”

In that moment, he realized he didn’t need his swal ow to fly him away from pain.

Al he needed was her.

And she was right. It took much more courage to lay his heart open to someone else than it did to keep it

guarded. To let someone else in to that place deep inside where only they could do you harm.

Only Lydia could destroy him.

And yet only she gave him life … at least one worth living.

Solin curled his lip at him. “Believe me, I’m not happy about her decision any more than you are, but we

are family, and families stay together. So if you don’t want to go … George wil hate you forever. He’s

extremely fond of his room in Greece and won’t be happy about giving up the view. But he’l get used to it.

Eventual y.”

Seth couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They were wil ing to stay here to protect him?

Were they out of their minds?

“What about Verlyn?” Seth asked. Noir would only set him loose again to find him. And now that Lydia

was pregnant, she would be in more danger than ever.

Lydia smiled. “Don’t worry. We have a place to take you where you’l be safe from his reach until al of

your powers return.”

“How can you be so sure?”

It was Ma’at’s turn to laugh. “It was what I was working on when you were taken from my temple. I promise

you, you’l be safe there. It’s the one place neither Noir nor Azura, nor any of their servants can reach you.”

Stil , he wasn’t convinced.

Until he looked into Lydia’s eyes. “I won’t leave you here alone, Seth.” She kissed the cartouche she

wore, then pul ed it off over her head to hang it around his neck.

At first, he thought it was the one he’d left with her, knowing it would keep her safe once she came out of

the spel he’d placed on her to make her appear dead. But as he looked at it, he realized it was different.

She smiled at him. “It’s ‘I love you’ in ancient Egyptian … Just so you know. Now, please, come home with

me.”

He stared at the raised, golden hieroglyphs that spel ed out words he hadn’t known.

Not until Lydia.

His throat went dry.

Home. He’d never had one of those before either. He wasn’t even sure what the word meant.

But when he looked into her eyes, he saw the one thing he couldn’t deny.

The only woman he’d die for. So if he was wil ing to die for her, the least he could do was live for her, too.

“Take me home, Lydia.”

Lydia lay on the bed, watching as Seth fed their son for the first time. He was stil terrified he was going to

hurt the babe, even though she’d promised him he wouldn’t. He was far too gentle for that.

“What are we going to name him?” she asked.