Wicked (Eternal Guardians #9) - Elisabeth Naughton Page 0,36

same violet eyes with Talisa, and both looked shellshocked and terrified. With good reason. “I’m so sorry to hear what happened.”

“Tell us whatever you can,” Casey said. “About where he took them. We tried to use our gifts to see into the present, but we can’t find either of them. They’re hidden to us.”

When the three sisters joined their gifts, they could see into the present and locate any soul in any realm. The fact they couldn’t see Talisa and Max now told Cynna things were worse than she’d thought.

“I don’t know that I can help you there. When I was with Zagreus, he never mentioned any other hideouts or locations where he might be keeping them.”

Casey’s eyes fell closed. At her back, Callia rubbed her forehead.

“Tell them what you told me,” Elysia said at Cynna’s side. “About the nickname he used for Talisa.”

Casey’s head came up, and fear darkened her eyes. A fear that told Cynna she knew something she wasn’t sharing. “What nickname?”

Cynna’s chest tightened. Glancing at Isadora on her other side, she said, “You all know I voluntarily went to Zagreus. He didn’t find me or kidnap me.”

“We know,” Isadora said, touching her arm. “You thought Zagreus could help you exact revenge.”

Cynna had. She’d been so stupid back then. Not just for blaming Isadora for her parents’ deaths, but for thinking a lifetime of hatred could change anything.

She swallowed the guilt. Everything was different now. The person she’d thought was her biggest enemy was now her family, and Cynna owed Isadora and her surrogate sisters so much.

Forcing herself to go on, she said, “I did. But I went to him with a lie. Not about my reason for being there, but about who I was.”

“I don’t understand.” Callia moved up on Casey’s right. “Who did you tell him you were?”

“I told him I was her.”

“Her who?” Casey asked.

“His mono mia.”

When all three sisters—Casey, Callia, and Isadora—only stared at her in shock, Cynna sighed and added, “His mate. The female he’s loved and lost too many times to count. The one he bound his soul to so he could always find her in any lifetime. The one he now believes is Talisa. And if it’s true, if Talisa really is her, then nothing any of us do is going to matter. He’ll never let her go.”

Chapter Seven

Talisa blinked and squinted into the bright light.

Lifting a hand to block the glare, she shifted beneath the covers and pushed herself back into the pillows. She had no idea what time it was, but judging by the sunshine blazing through her windows, it had to be midday.

When was the last time she’d slept ‘til noon?

Groggy, she glanced down only to realize her nightgown was completely unbuttoned to her belly. She quickly reached for the two halves and pulled the gown closed, then remembered unbuttoning it late last night in the dark.

When the marking on her hip had grown so hot it had felt as if her skin was about to burn off. When she’d dreamt of Zagreus naked and submerged in some kind of pool, surrounded by flickering candles as he stroked himself.

Her cheeks warmed, and arousal stirred low and hot inside her all over again. She’d dreamt of him before but never like that. Usually, when he entered her dreams, the images centered on warfare and using her warrior skills to defeat evil. This dream had been different, though. This dream had been intimate. Hot. So real something inside ached to experience it all again.

One hand drifted from the buttons at her chest and slid down her bare abs, moving slowly toward that aching, wet place between her legs that needed release. As her eyes drifted closed, she pictured Zagreus touching himself the same way, remembering his muscular chest glistening with water and reflecting the candlelight, the amulet on the long chain lying against his tanned skin. Remembered how he’d wrapped his long fingers around his impressive shaft and groaned.

Need singed every nerve ending. She arched her back and pushed her hand lower, desperate for that first touch. Just as her fingers drifted into her curls, a heavy clank echoed through the room.

She jerked upright and quickly yanked the covers up to her chest, hiding her nakedness. The old wood door pushed inward, and the male she’d just been fantasizing about stepped into her room followed by a nymph Talisa hadn’t seen yesterday.

Heat rushed to Talisa’s cheeks. She swallowed hard. The nymph crossed the floor and set the bundle in