The Guardian (5 page)

She let out a frustrated breath and tried to think of another way to il ustrate her powers. She waved her

arms around like smoke.

He grimaced in distaste. “This is annoying.”

The demon had no idea.

She stopped as she tried to think of something else to try. There had to be a way she could write …

Before she could blink, he manifested in front of her. The sheer size of him, and shock at his sudden

appearance in her face, made her gasp. At a distance, he’d been fierce. Up close like this, she could

literal y feel his powers. They were like an electrical current in the air that made the hair on the back of her

neck rise.

He absolutely dwarfed her and it wasn’t due to the armor bulking him up. He
was
this large.

Those blue eyes scorched her with a coldness so frigid, it was a wonder she didn’t have frostbite.

In the next heartbeat, he wrapped one wel -muscled arm around her and pul ed her into his arms. His eyes

glittered an instant before he lowered his lips to hers.

For the merest nanosecond, she was stunned by the warm softness of his lips. The gentleness of his

embrace as he swept his tongue against hers in the sweetest kiss she’d ever known.

Until she remembered he was a demon who’d been torturing Solin. Her fury igniting, she bit his lip with

everything she had.

He pul ed back with a curse.

“You bastard!” Lydia froze, wide-eyed, as those words flew out of her mouth instead of the empty breath

she normal y spoke. Shocked, she clamped her hands over her lips and throat.

Had that real y been
her
? Was that what her voice would sound like? It was alien and foreign, and …

Unbelievable.

The demon’s eyes turned deadly as he wiped the blood away from his lips with the back of his hand.

“You’re lucky I don’t kil you for that.”

But that wasn’t her greatest concern. What had he done to her? How could he have given her a voice

when no one else had been able to do it?

No one.

Not even Solin.

With a sinister snarl curling his upper lip, he licked the area where she’d bitten him. “You can speak now.”

“How?” The sound of her own voice made her jump.

He rubbed his thumb over his bottom lip, then grimaced at the pad that was coated red from his stil -

bleeding wound. It matched the red lines bisecting his face. “I have al kinds of powers. That’s just one of

them.”

“Is that why you kissed me?”

His gaze turned even more glacial. “Not at al . I had yet to have my lip busted open today so I thought I’d

better see to it. Thank you so much for being kind enough to oblige me.”

His sarcastic humor caught her off guard. For a moment, she didn’t see him as a terrifying demon. He

almost seemed …

Human.

Disturbed by that thought, she looked around nervously. “What other powers do you have?”

Her question brought the scary right back to him—with interest. When he spoke, he growled out his words

like the demon he appeared to be. “Pray you
never
find out.”

Fine. If he wanted to play that game …

“Why did you bring me here?”

His gaze drifted in the direction of the bed.

Heat scorched her cheeks. “You can forget it. Unless you’re into necrophilia, it ain’t ever gonna happen.”

“Necrophilia?”

She steeled herself for the probability of his attack. “I’d kil myself before I let you touch me.”

Seth went completely stil at those words as they struck him harder than a blow and took him straight into

the past.
You rotten piece of filth, you’re beneath me
. She didn’t say that, but her tone and indignation

implied it. Suddenly, he was a young man again, being laughed at for his ineptitude.

Rebuffed.

Humiliated.

Not good enough even to keep.

He felt now, just as he’d done then. Raw and sore from a truth he couldn’t help. He hadn’t asked to be

born, and he damn sure hadn’t asked to be immortal. He’d tried to be decent. Once. And what had it gotten

him?

Tortured for centuries.

His anger ignited and it took everything he had not to strike her and knock her from that gilded pedestal

where she looked down her patrician nose at him.

But the one truth he knew better than anyone—the truth that had been spoon-fed to him until he’d gagged

on it—was that words were far more painful than physical strikes. They were always what lingered long after

the cuts healed and the bruises faded.

Verbal blows cut to the soul and ate at the heart for eternity.

“Don’t flatter yourself, woman.” He raked a sneer over her body. “I’d rather masturbate with flea-infested

sandpaper than touch you.”

Lydia was momentarily stunned by his crude and vivid insult. No one had ever said anything like that to

her before. “Then why am I here?” Nothing else made sense.

He answered her question with one of his own. “Why did you come for Solin?”

Why did he think? “Because he was in trouble and he needed someone to help him.”

“You would risk your life for him?”

She scoffed at his ridiculous question. “I think that answer is obvious. I’m here, aren’t I?”

That seemed to confuse him al the more. “But why?”

“Why what?”

His scowl deepened even more. “Why would you risk your life to protect his?”

She realized that he honestly had no concept of what she was talking about. It was as if they were

speaking entirely different languages again. “Is there no one you protect?”

Proud, he straightened his stance. “Myself.”

“And…”

Vivid emotions played across his features. Surprise, thoughtfulness, shock, and final y he just looked even

more confused. “No one. Sentient creatures are treacherous at best, cruel at worst. None are worth a drop

of my blood or sweat.”

Wel . That was that, then.

He was a demon, through and through. No soul. No ability to value or love anyone except himself. Why

would she expect anything else here? “Then that tel s me al I need to know about you, doesn’t it?”

He arched a thick painted black brow. “What does it tel you?”

“That you’re a bastard.”

He didn’t smile, but she could tel that insult bitterly amused him. “Aren’t we al ?”

“No.” She lowered her voice into an adamant tone. “No, we’re not. Not by a longshot.”

He curled his lips into a sinister sneer that had probably given countless people nightmares or strokes.

“Then you’re a fool. Solin has already left you. He didn’t even look back for you when I freed him.”

Yeah, right. She knew better. “You’re lying to me.”

He held his hands up to form a mist. There in the middle of it, she saw the room Solin had been in. A

room that was now completely empty. “You see? He’s gone and yet you remain, even though he knows I’l

most likely torture and kil you for being here.”

The demon was lying about her … She refused to finish that thought in case he was in her head. Solin

would never do such a thing. She knew that for a fact. “Then he had a good reason for leaving me.”

“Yes, he traded your freedom for his.”

She shook her head in denial. “I don’t believe you. Not a single word and not for a single nanosecond.”

And she didn’t, even though her animal instincts said he was tel ing her the truth. She had faith in Solin.

She would always have faith in him.

Seth was amazed by her steadfastness to someone he was sure didn’t deserve it. The only thing he held

that much belief in was the wil ingness of others to hurt or sacrifice him for their own whims, personal gains,

and pleasures.

How could anyone her age be so stupid and blind?

Suddenly, he heard Noir cal ing for him. But for her presence, he’d wince. He knew what his overlord

wanted and he knew how the bastard would react when he disappointed him with his report.

Again.

This was going to leave a mark …

But he had no choice. To make Noir wait would only worsen his punishment.

Sighing in resignation, he manifested food for the woman on top of his desk. There was no point in

making her starve when he didn’t know how long he’d be gone this time.

His gut tightened into a knot that choked him. Not from fear, but dread.

“I’l return.”

Lydia started to ask where he was going, but he left too quickly.

Grateful for his absence, she tried again to find some way out of here. There were no windows. No closet.

Just this one room and nothing else. How weird …

“What do I do when I have to go to the bathroom?”

Not that she had to right now, but …

A loud swoosh behind her made her jump sideways. She turned around to see a door in the wal . Her

heart pounding, she ran to it, hoping it led to a hal way.

What was there actual y startled her more. It was a huge, gleaming bathroom with a marble steam shower

and a claw-foot tub. The bright decadence seemed out of place with the austerity of the bedroom. Obviously

this was where the vain bastard spoiled himself.

She rocked the door back and forth as she considered its appearance. Was that how things worked

here? You asked and … “I want to leave.”

Nothing happened.

C’mon. Don’t do this to me. You know you want to let me out of here
. She tried again. “Where do I leave?

What do I do when I have to leave?” Maybe the key was in the phrasing.

But again she was disappointed when no door appeared.

You didn’t really think it would be that easy, did you?

A jackal could hope.

Speaking of which, she tried to turn into one. But even that innate ability was taken from her. She was as

good as human.

How horrible. Not that being human was bad, but she didn’t like the feeling of vulnerability. She liked

having her powers. Al she had left right now were her heightened senses.

At least you have something.

Oh, goodie. Lucky me! Maybe tomorrow I’ll win Shirley Jackson’s Lottery.

Yeah, that would be her luck.

“But I do have a voice now.” She couldn’t resist saying that out loud. It was so strange to be able to speak

after a lifetime of silence.

The last time she’d spoken …

She flinched at the horror that had cost her her voice. Her mother had stolen it from her to keep her safe.

In the end, she wished her mother had let her scream and die with the rest of them.

It would have been a far kinder fate. Especial y if the demon did to her what he’d done to Solin.

Wanting distraction from the past that hurt too much to even contemplate, and the future that wasn’t

looking any better, she returned to the bedroom, where the warm pleasant scent of food beckoned her to

the desk.

She pul ed back the ornate silver lid to find a strange assortment. Fried bananas? Ironical y, she loved

them. Could he have picked that out of her brain? That thought actual y scared her. She didn’t like the idea

of anyone reading her thoughts.

The other dishes made a little more sense—pastries and some kind of fried meat pie. There was also an

abundance of fresh fruit and wine. Enough to probably feed her for days.

It al looked scrumptious, which begged one question. “Is it poisoned?”

With a demon, there was no tel ing. Though to be honest, if he wanted her dead, he certainly didn’t have

to resort to that. He could most likely kil her with his thoughts. And definitely with his hands.

Surely the food was safe.

Taking the empty plate, she fil ed it, then sat down to eat in the lair of her enemy.

* * *

Seth despised that one word with a furious passion. It ranked right up there with eye-gouging, gutting, and

castration.

He wasn’t afraid of Noir. Merely, he knew what the bastard was going to do to him when he answered,

and he dreaded the coming pain.

Just don’t geld me …
Sex was the only source of remote pleasure he could have here. Sadly, he’d hate to

lose it.

“I’m close, my lord.”

Noir hissed like a snake that was gearing up to strike. “Close? Is that not what you told me two days

ago?”

No, I told you to leave me alone to question him, King Moron, and you sent me on so many effing

errands that I haven’t had more than an hour to question him in over forty-eight hours.

Seth ground his teeth to keep from saying those words that would have him castrated. He forced himself

to keep his gaze trained on the floor at Noir’s feet. If he looked up, Noir might pluck his eyes out. But what

he real y wanted to do was beat the shit out of him.

If only he could. Without his powers, he wouldn’t get in a single punch before Noir would have him pinned.

And because he’d tried that enough times, he knew exactly the punishment for
that
particular stupidity.

“I have final y found a way to break him. I wil have it for you very soon.”

Instead of placating Noir, it sent him off into a homicidal rage. “Tel me truthful y, does it hurt to be that

stupid? I just have to know. Real y? I would think by now you’d have learned what I do to failures.”

Seth braced himself as pain exploded throughout his entire being and his armor vanished. As soon as he

was naked, Noir blasted him through the stone wal behind him. He landed in a painful heap on the floor

where he tried to catch his breath, but it was impossible to breathe through the throbbing agony. Noir rapidly