Awakened (Eternal Guardians Book 8) (42 page)

Panic pushed aside the shock. Panic that gave way to bone-melting fear.

Zeus had said Cerek’s usefulness had now been spent. What did that mean? Was Zeus going to kill him once and for all? She couldn’t let that happen. She wouldn’t.

Shaking, she turned for the stairs, intent on finding her father, but stopped when she remembered her father’s words.

“I’ll fucking kill him.”

He thought Cerek was a traitor. He’d never help her rescue Cerek from Zeus. And the Argonauts would be no help either. As soon as her father told them what Cerek had done, they’d take his side.

Her mind spun. Her hands grew sweaty. She couldn’t do this alone. She needed help. She didn’t even know how to get to Olympus.

Max…

Max had snuck into Olympus to find her. Max could help her get there. And Ari. Ari wouldn’t side with the Argonauts over his son. He’d do whatever was needed to rescue Cerek.

Hope trickled in to swirl with the panic threatening to pull her under. A hope she prayed would carry her to Cerek before it was too late.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

C
erek gasped and fell forward, landing against the cold stones beneath him on his hands and knees as a wave of consciousness returned.

“Thank you, Guardian,” Zeus said somewhere above him. “You have been most useful.”

Dazed, Cerek looked up and watched as Zeus smiled a malicious grin and turned the Orb of Krónos in his hands. Holy
skata
. Zeus had the Orb. Zeus had the Orb…
because I gave it to him
.

Nausea rolled through his belly, shot up his throat, and made him gag. Dropping his head again, Cerek coughed several times, trying to dispel the horror and disgust. But he couldn’t get rid of it, because the reality of what he’d done hit him with the force of a tidal wave.

The energy he’d felt in the Argolean castle had been the draw of the Orb. Zeus had sent him to find it. And he’d used Cerek’s connection to Elysia to ensure his victory.

Oh gods… Elysia…

His heart squeezed so tight, he groaned at the sharp slash of pain. She must hate him right now. He needed to get to her. Needed to tell her he hadn’t known what he was doing. On shaky hands, he slowly pushed to his feet. He needed her to know he hadn’t planned it or that he—

“So you’re done with him?”

Cerek froze when he heard the familiar voice. The familiar
goddess
voice.

“Yes,” Zeus answered. “He’s yours, Aphrodite. After my Siren makes one slight adjustment.”

Cerek glanced to his left where Zeus stood with a smug-looking Aphrodite. The Siren at his side lifted her bow, the arrow aimed directly at his heart.

“We can’t have him causing any more trouble now, can we?” Zeus said. “And since we don’t know when he might be of use in the future…”

A whir sounded as the arrow torpedoed away from the bow. Before Cerek could react, the tip struck him in the chest. He stumbled back but didn’t fall. The arrow turned to stone inside his flesh, hardening the cells outward from the spot in a chain reaction that left him nothing more than a statue standing in the middle of Athena’s temple.

A statue that could hear and feel and sense everything around him but couldn’t move.

“A
re you sure this is going to work?” Elysia asked, glancing through the trees outside the gates of Olympus where they stood in the shadows, hidden from view.

“It’ll work.” Max shrugged into the invisibility cloak. “There’s enough magic in this thing for one more use. Once I’m through the gate, I’ll create a diversion. The guards will investigate. They’re totally predictable.”

Nerves rolled through Elysia’s belly as she looked up at Ari, remembering how frightened his mate Daphne had been when they’d left. “And you? You don’t have to go with me, you know.”

Ari sheathed the dagger at his thigh. “I’m going with you.”

Elysia breathed a little easier, but not much. Shifting the bow across her back, she reminded herself that a thousand different things could go wrong between here and Circe’s cave. She didn’t even know if Circe would help them, but she had to try. Cerek could be anywhere on Olympus. She was banking on the witch telling them what Zeus had planned for him now that he’d brought the god the Orb.

“You’re sure she’s on Mount Olympus?” Max asked, drawing Elysia’s attention.
 

She nodded. “The details of Cerek’s memory were clear. It was a cave in the highest mountain. That has to be Olympus.”

“I’ll meet you both there,” Max said. “Don’t leave until I reach you.”

Ari nodded. “Be safe, Guardian.”

“You too, old man.”

He stepped away, but Elysia grabbed Max by the sleeve before he could pull up his hood. “Wait.”

He turned to face her. “What, Lys?”

He hadn’t hesitated to help her in this, even though she knew he wasn’t completely convinced of Cerek’s innocence. He was helping her because he cared. Because they were family. And since she’d returned to Argolea, things had happened so fast, she hadn’t had the chance to tell him what his support meant to her. She needed to make sure he knew now…before it was too late.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

A crooked smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “I wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Yes, you would. You think because you have the power of transferability, you’re safe, but you’re not. Not here. Your ability to access and use others’ gifts is something Zeus covets. The king of the gods considers you a much bigger prize than the Orb.”

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“I do, though,” she said softly. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to you. Especially because of me.”

He closed his arms around her and hugged her tight. And in his familiar embrace, tears burned her eyes. “Nothing’s going to happen to me, Lys. I promise. I may be reckless from time to time, but not when it comes to you.” He leaned back and looked down at her. “I want you to be happy. If he makes you happy, then I guess I have to accept that.”

“He does make me happy.” When Max frowned, she added, “Someday when you find your soul mate and you fall in love, you’ll understand.”

His grim expression said he didn’t agree, but as he let go of her and stepped back, he didn’t argue. “Just stick to the plan. And don’t leave Olympus before I get there.”

Elysia swallowed hard and nodded. As she watched him pull up the hood of the invisibility cloak and disappear, she said a silent prayer that their plan worked. Because she couldn’t live without Cerek or Max in her life.

The massive wrought iron gate of Olympus rattled. Even though she couldn’t see him, Elysia knew he was climbing up and over the structure. Seconds later, the gate creaked open.

“He unlocked it,” Ari said at Elysia’s side. “Now we wait.”

Elysia’s pulse raced. Now they waited for the guards stationed inside the gate near the small stone structure to follow Max and his diversion.

Long minutes passed in silence. The only sound was the roaring pulse in Elysia’s ears. One guard stepped out of the gatehouse and looked up the paved road that angled toward the gods’ temples. Something had caught his attention. Some
one
Elysia hoped stayed true to his word and didn’t do anything reckless.

The first guard motioned to the other. Seconds later, the two grabbed spears leaning against the gatehouse wall and jogged up the path toward whatever had piqued their interest.

“That’s our cue,” Ari whispered. “Quietly.”

Elysia’s stomach tightened as she followed Ari out of the shadows. They pulled the gate open wider and slipped through the space, then tugged it shut behind them so it looked latched but wasn’t. Ari ducked behind the gatehouse and moved into the forest on the far side, motioning for Elysia to follow.

The trek to Mount Olympus took longer than she’d expected. Without the power to flash in this realm, they had to move on foot. By the time they made it through the thick forest to the path at the base of the mountain, Elysia was hot and sweaty and wishing she’d worn a tank rather than the tight pants and long-sleeved fitted black shirt that made her blend into the shadows.

They paused for water. Elysia took the canteen Ari handed her, drew a deep drink, and gave it back.

“How do you know she’ll help us?” he asked, capping the canteen and reattaching it to his belt.

“I don’t.” Elysia started up the steep path that wound around the mountain. “But something in that memory Cerek showed me made me think Circe is as much a prisoner as he was. I don’t think she’s on this mountain by choice.”

“You think Zeus tricked her?”

“That or she made a deal with him that didn’t go the way she planned.”

“She’s still a witch, you know.”

“I’m part witch.”

“Yeah, but she’s the strongest witch in all the realms, whether she’s trapped on Olympus or not.”

Elysia was fully aware of that and hoped they could use it to their advantage.

Thirty minutes later, Elysia swiped her windblown hair back from her face as she stood on the stony path and eyed the opening of the cave high in the mountain. “Don’t draw your weapon. We don’t want to spook her.”

Something moved inside the shadows of the cave. At Elysia’s back, Ari muttered, “Something tells me she already knows we’re here.”

“Enter, warriors,” a female voice called from beyond the darkness. “If you dare.”

They could be walking right into a trap, but Elysia had to try. She just hoped that if they failed, Max would find Cerek and free him before it was too late.

Drawing a deep breath, she stepped into the darkness and paused to let her eyes adjust.

Rock walls, a stone floor. The tunnel led deep into the cave. At the far end, a red hue beckoned her forward.

Elysia followed the path, winding through the mountain until the tunnel opened to a massive room. Three steps led up to a raised platform where a woman dressed in a long flowing green robe stood in front of a golden pedestal topped with a bowl. Flames shot high from the bowl, twisting and turning in the darkness just as the fire-red curls spilled down the female’s bare spine.

“I saw you coming,” Circe said. “I see all in the flames.” She glanced over her shoulder with piercing green eyes. “Even your destiny. The Argonauts will fail.”

Urgency pushed Elysia forward. “I’m not an Argonaut.”

“No, you are not.” Circe turned fully to face them. “But you have the power of Athena within you, and that makes you as much a warrior as him.” She nodded toward Ari but kept her gaze locked on Elysia. “I cannot help you in your quest.”

“We don’t need your help,” Elysia said. “We just need to know where he is.”

“You already know where he is,” the witch responded. “Search your intuition. Zeus’s use for him is done. There’s only one place where he is wanted. Flesh or stone.”

Panic swelled inside Elysia. Stone… Zeus couldn’t have turned him to stone again…could he? She opened her mouth to ask the question when another thought hit.

Where he’s wanted…

Elysia turned toward Ari. “He’s with Aphrodite.”

Ari’s mismatched eyes widened. “He’s
where
?”

Elysia whipped back to Circe. “How do we bring him back? You brought him back once before.”