Wicked (Eternal Guardians #9) - Elisabeth Naughton Page 0,32

through the doorway but paused with one hand holding the old wood door open.

“And just for the record,” he added, this time not looking at her, “your being here is not a coincidence. It’s destiny. You found me, mono mia, not the other way around. You can fight that feeling all you want, but it won’t go away. It’ll just burn hotter until you give in to it. Or until you die.”

He turned his head and pinned her with eyes that pierced her very soul. “Running won’t save you. Not from what’s inside you, and never from me.”

The door snapped closed, followed by a loud clank that told her he’d locked her in.

As his footfalls faded on the stairs, she gasped and stared into the glowing embers of the fire he must have lit in the big stone fireplace across the room, trying to make sense of everything.

She had no idea what his words meant. Coincidence? Destiny? He was speaking in riddles. And how the hell did he know what she felt? He couldn’t. She didn’t feel anything for him, dammit! Nothing but contempt.

But she couldn’t get his other words out of her head no matter how she tried. He’d called her princess again. He knew she was Argolean. He had to have seen her markings. Everyone knew the Argolean queen’s daughter was not an Argonaut.

And why in bloody hell did he keep calling her mono mia? She wasn’t his. She wasn’t anyone’s. So why in the name of the Fates did she keep responding to it, as if she’d heard him call her that before?

Nothing made sense. Everything was in turmoil. All she knew for certain was that she was trapped, bone tired, and she had a splitting headache that wasn’t going away.

Easing back into the pillows, she stared up at the beamed ceiling and tried to figure out what the hell she should do next.

People would realize she was gone at some point. Her father would come looking for her. But if what Zagreus said was true, that this whole damn kingdom was protected by magick, they wouldn’t find her. No one would find her. And Max…

Her eyes stung, but she blinked back the useless tears, refusing to give in to the rush of emotion.

He had to be alive. He was strong—way stronger than her. While her gift was physical strength, he possessed the power of transference. He could utilize the abilities or magick of any being around him. He could outmaneuver a stupid pack of satyrs. With any luck, he was already back in Argolea, alerting the Argonauts to what had gone down.

With any luck…

That was the key, wasn’t it? Judging by how her luck was going these days, the odds were not in her favor.

She drew a deep breath, closed her eyes, and reminded herself she was a warrior. Even without her gift of strength, she was smart. And regardless of whatever silly things Zagreus said, she could still win.

Running wouldn’t save her?

Bull-shit.

She’d find a way out of this bloody prison if it was the last thing she did. And before she ran once and for all, she’d make sure Zagreus never abducted another female again.

Chapter Six

He was hot. And bothered. And not in any of the ways he wanted to be hot and bothered.

Zagreus moved into the bedchamber he rarely used and let the heavy wood door slam behind him. Torches already lit on the walls cast a warm glow over the large four-poster bed and the plush velvet furnishings arranged in front of the stone fireplace, reflecting off the dark arched windows that looked out into the courtyard and over the lake down the hill. A low fire burned in the hearth, adding to the ambience, but it did nothing to ease the ball of stress inside him.

He bypassed the table already set, kicked off his boots, and headed for the bath. Just as he reached the foot of the bed, Ana stepped under the bath’s archway.

“My Prince.” She drew up short with a towel in her hands. “You’re back. I had the servants bring up your meal.”

“I’m not hungry.” He stepped around the nymph and into the marble bath to find the sunken tub already filled with steaming water. Candles were lit around the periphery of the room.

“Your water is all prepared,” the nymph said at his back, not taking the hint he wanted to be alone. “I’ll get your wine.”

As she scurried out, he stripped off his filthy clothes, dropped them on

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