The Guardian (Dark-Hunter #20)

Jaden hesitated before he answered. "Yes, you can teleport him out of here, but you have to understand something before you do. In the condition he's in, he won't be able to help you in any way. None. Noir and Azura have his powers sucked down to virtually nothing, and by returning yours to you, he is literally drained to the level of a human. He's defenseless right now. He can't even move."

It didn't matter. She wasn't about to leave him here. Not like that. Not after he'd sacrificed himself to keep her safe. Only a heartless bitch could do such a thing. And she might be a lot of things in life, but that had never been one of them.

She blinked away her tears. Later she'd cry. Right now, she had to stay on task. "I don't care. I won't leave him."

His features softened. "Thank you."

She didn't understand his gratitude. "For what?"

"For being the woman I thought you were. You've no idea how rare a beast that is."

Before she could stop herself, she hugged him for his kindness.

Jaden held her tight, as if he were trying to commit this to memory because he knew he wouldn't have anyone else hug him for a long time.

If ever again.

Lydia stepped back from him. "Are you sure you can't come with us?"

"Positive. If I break my word and leave against Azura's wishes, someone a lot more important to me than I am will be hurt. I can't do that."

She understood and she hated it for him. He didn't deserve to be here any more than Seth did.

As she started back to the bed, Jaden stopped her. "Where will you take him?"

"I don't know. I doubt it'll be safe at home. If the ones after me found me here, then they most likely know where I live. Same thing for Solin's place."

"Do you have any friends?"

"Not really." In spite of her talks with Seth, she had a hard time trusting people, too. Plus being immortal made it difficult to have humans as friends. They tended to notice when she didn't age.

"Then you should go to Sanctuary."

She frowned. "Sanctuary?"

"It's a bar in New Orleans that's owned by a group of Ursulans."

Her heart clenched in fear. By nature, both the Katagaria and Arcadian branches of Were-Hunters were highly territorial. They couldn't stand for another species to enter their domain. Many times, such an action would start all-out war. That was the last thing she needed.

Not to mention, bears and jackals were mortal enemies.

"I can't go there. They'll kill me."

"No, they won't. I swear. The Peltiers are different. It's run by an Arcadian bear named Aimee and her Katagari mate, a wolf named Fang. They have doctors there who can help you with Seth. It's your best shot."

"An Arcadian mated to a Katagari?" She'd never heard of such a thing, never mind the fact that they were two different species.

"I told you, they're different."

She wanted to believe him, but ... "You're sure they won't hurt us?"

"Positive. They'll welcome you both, and do you no harm."

Please don't be lying to me.

But why would he? He really did seem concerned about Seth. You keep telling Seth to trust other people. It's your turn to put some faith in them.

Realizing the truth of that, she nodded, then returned to the bed where Seth lay.

He opened his eyes and cursed obscenely when he saw her again.

"Nice to see you, too, beast." She smiled at him and brushed the hair back from his bruised cheek. "I told you if you returned my powers that I'd get you out of here. Just so you know, I keep my word."

Seth didn't know what stunned him most. The fact that she'd come back for him or the feather-light kiss she brushed against his lips.

Even through his vicious, biting pain, both of those warmed him completely. And when she pulled back, he suddenly found himself in a strange room with red brick walls and no windows. He lay on a small, thin bed that was surrounded by strange steel and glass cabinets, the likes of which he'd never seen before.

Where was he?

Was this another hell realm?

The door behind Lydia flew open so fast, it rattled on its hinges. Three large men came in, ready for battle.

Grinding his teeth against the pain he knew would come, he put his arm out to block Lydia from them and sat up.

Too late, he realized that was a bad mistake as unimaginable agony ripped through him and stole his strength. His head swam and vision dimmed. But he refused to pass out and leave her to them.

He groaned out loud as the pain increased even more. It was absolutely killing him.

"Seth!" Lydia wrapped her arms around his shoulders and laid him back against the bed with a care that amazed him. Her lips touched his ear as she held him close and trembled against his body.

In that moment, he wanted to die with her like that. Wrapped around him, offering him comfort. Especially if it was a lie and she really didn't care about him. He didn't want to live and discover the truth.

The men came forward and surrounded his bed.

Seth tried to summon his strength to fight. How could he protect her?

I'm worthless.

The one with long black hair braided down his back placed a hand on Lydia's arm. "We'll take care of him."

Seth shoved him away. "Don't touch her!"

Instead of making him mad, the man offered him a smile as he moved her further away from the bed. "My name is Carson and it's all right. We won't hurt her or you."

Seth wasn't sure if he believed him. But what choice did he have? It was bad enough that he was injured to the point he could barely move. He was also bare-assed naked. Gods, just what he needed.

More humiliation. And in front of guys he could beat down like punks if he wasn't so injured. Damn. Would his degradations never cease?

Lydia moved past Carson to return to Seth's side. "Can I stay with him?"

The beefy man with long, curly blond hair scoffed. "Girl, I don't think you want to see this. Carson's a whiz at medicine, but dayam." He gestured toward Seth's injuries. "This is some seriously nasty shit. Unless you're a doctor, too, you'll just be in the way, and you'll probably lose some lunch before all is said and done."

Lydia bit her lip in indecision.

"C'mon," the blond man said more gently this time. "My name's Dev, and we won't be far away. Just in the next room, okay?"

Still she held on to Seth's hand and that succeeded in bringing tears to his eyes. But he blinked them back before anyone else saw them.

"I'll be okay, Lydia. Go with him."

Her topaz gaze glowed with her reluctance. But finally, she nodded. "If you need anything, call for me and I'll come."

He let go even though it pained him to do so.

Dev took her out of the room.

Carson glanced at the man with short, black hair. "Colt? Can you let Margery know it's safe to come in now?"

"Sure, Doc. I'll also let Fang and Aimee know we've got company."

"Thanks." Carson draped a warm, thin blanket over Seth's loins to give him a modicum of modesty.

He hated to admit it, but he was grateful for Carson's action, and he despised the fact that he couldn't dress himself or conjure enough powers to do it.

The Greek Phonoi and Dolophoni had stripped his armor off not long after they'd driven him into the Wall. Those bitches. If he ever laid hands on either group, he'd tear them apart.

But last night, he hadn't stood a chance. Not when his powers were already low and they assaulted him with reapers and dagnytes first. He still had no idea why Thorn would have aligned himself with the Greeks. Normally he stayed out of such things. The dark lord despised demon politics.

Not that it mattered. The important thing was that Seth had to get enough strength back to protect Lydia before they found her.

Seth glanced over to the door Colt had left through to see a tiny woman with red hair several shades lighter than his and blue eyes, come in. She wore some kind of blue shirt and a white jacket with a long white skirt that had running shoes peeking out from beneath the hem. Her hair was coiled into a bun and she had a pair of cat-like glasses.

She offered Seth a kind smile. "Glad to know the danger's past." Pushing her glasses further up on her nose with her knuckle, she joined Carson beside him. "The woman's named Lydia, by the way."

"Yeah I know," Carson said as he laid out things Seth couldn't identify. "He called her by name before she left. Our guest here is Seth."

She smiled at him again. "Hi, Seth. I'm Margery, Margy or Marge, Mars or about a dozen other nicknames people use for me. I'll answer to just about anything so long as it's not an insult. And in case you're wondering, I'm the other doctor who works here with Carson. We're going to get you patched up real fast, okay?"

Frowning at her outgoing ebullience, Seth wasn't sure what to make of these individuals. His powers were so weak that he felt exposed and unsure. Defenseless. He hated to be this vulnerable when he didn't know who or what he was up against.

What their abilities were.

Never mind their intentions.

Carson shined a light into his eye that had the broken blood vessels.

Cursing, Seth grabbed his hand and shoved the light out of his face.

"It's okay," Carson said patiently. "I'm just trying to assess what all has been done to you."

"Isn't it obvious? I had the shit beat of me." What kind of physician couldn't tell that by looking at him from across the room?

Did they not know what they were doing?

Carson laughed. "Yes, I'm aware of that. But I need something a little more specific before I treat you." He stepped forward again. "May I look in your eyes? I want to see if you're in shock or have a concussion."

Seth nodded, and did his best to not strike out at him. But it was hard when Carson's merciless light made his head hurt even worse than it already did.

Once Carson finished with that, he slid the light into his jacket pocket. "Do you mind if we wash the paint off your face?"

Yes, he did. Greatly. "Why?"

"Well, it's going to make it a lot harder to clean and dress the cuts you have and I'm pretty sure you're going to need sutures on one of them. Not something we want to do over greasepaint. That's if you don't mind?"

What did it matter at this point? Could he really look any weaker to them than he already did?

"Okay."

Margery came forward with a warm cloth to clean his face while Carson examined the cut one of the Phonoi had made through his stomach.

One day, he was going to find that bitch and pay her back tenfold for that cut. She'd had the nerve to laugh after she did it.

Once Margery had his face clean, Carson felt the bones around the eye Noir had punched. Seth could only imagine how beautiful that "kiss" was after last night's punch.

Carson sighed. "All right, Seth, I know you're not a shapeshifter. And by the severity of these wounds and the fact you're still alive, never mind fully conscious and not screaming your head off, I'm going to assume you're some kind of immortal. Not a Dark-Hunter with those eyes. So what are you, then? Demon? Vampire?"

Seth choked on the word he hated. "Demigod."

Carson exchanged an unidentifiable look with Margery that Seth wasn't so sure about, then asked, "Greek?"

"Egyptian."

"Ah. Okay, I'm a little rusty on your pantheon. We don't come across you guys much here. And let's face it, I can't exactly Google real facts about ancient gods. So I'm hoping you can help me out a little. Do you know, offhand, if I can give you anything to relieve your pain?"

That question confused him. "I don't understand."

Margery patted him gently on the shoulder. "Do you know what medicines can ease your pain?"

Oh ... He remembered his adoptive father had used salves and some kind of root plant to soothe pain, but he had no idea what any of them had been. It was too long ago to remember.

And since then ... Noir, Azura, and the others had only wanted to give him pain, never take it away.

"No. Whenever I'm injured, I eventually heal without anything."

"Has anyone ever tried to give you anything?" Carson asked.

Only a hard time. "No."

Carson rubbed his jaw as he thought it over. After a few seconds, he nodded at the other doctor. "All right, Marge ... I'm going to give you the honor of choosing for him. Have fun."

"Oh thanks a lot, Carson. I appreciate it." She winked at Seth. "If it doesn't work, remember the one you want to be mad at is the male doctor, not the woman."

Carson snorted at her, then turned his attention back to Seth. "Do you mind if I knock you out?"

Hell yes, he minded. Last thing he wanted was to be hit anymore. He was tired of it.

Anger ripped through him as he glared at Carson. "Why would you want to do that?"

"So that we can work on you without causing you pain."

Yeah, right. No one cared about giving pain to others. They lived for it.

And now that he thought about it, he realized how stupid it was to be here with them. What had he done?

How could he have let them separate him from Lydia? Dear gods, they could be doing anything to her right now. Anything. What if she needed him?

What if they were hurting her?

Panic laid hard talons into his conscience. He had to find her before it was too late. "Where's Lydia?"

"She's safe," Carson reassured him.

Bullshit.

"I don't trust you ... Lydia!" He tried to sit up, then groaned as the pain in his stomach and head made him sick.

The doctor forced him back down, but he wasn't about to go. Not until he was sure they weren't raping or torturing her. Or worse, handing her back to Noir.

"Lydia!"

She came running through the door.

Only then did he breathe easily. He shoved at Carson so that he could reach for her.

Lydia took his outstretched hand and held it tight. Frowning, she glanced around at all three of them. "What's wrong?"

He couldn't answer for a few seconds as he struggled with the misery that tore into him from every angle. The only thing that grounded him was her soft touch ... the concern in her warm eyes.

"I didn't know what they were doing to you," he said at last.

"They were feeding me."

Really? He found it impossible to believe. "You're all right, then? No one hurt you? You're sure?"

Lydia's heart broke at the panic in his suspicious gaze. She cupped his face in her hands, desperate to calm him down and soothe him before he hurt himself any worse. "Not everyone is cruel, Seth. I told you that. It's all good. They're not going to hurt us. I promise." She pushed him back onto the bed.

Seth growled in fury as another round of agony shot across his stomach and down his back. Gah, it hurt.

Lydia took his hand into hers and placed her head next to his on the bed. He closed his eyes as he savored the first bit of real pleasure he'd ever known.

"I'm right here, Seth," she whispered to him as she brushed his hair back from his face. "I'm not going anywhere." She kissed his cheek, then looked up at Carson. "Do whatever you need to."

"You sure? 'Cause he's better off untreated than having another episode like that one."

"He won't fight you." She tightened her grip in his hand. "Will you, sweetie?"

Seth couldn't speak as he heard her endearment. No one had ever used one for him or if they had, he couldn't recall it. In that moment, he knew he was lost to her.

There was nothing she could ask of him that he wouldn't do. Nothing.

"I won't fight," he breathed.

The doctors returned while Lydia stroked his hair. He'd never felt anything better than her fingers against his scalp. Her tenderness left him even more raw and bleeding than his wounds. It shattered something deep inside him that craved her.

Suddenly, something sharp bit into his arm. Cursing, he reached for the doctor and grabbed him in his fist.

Lydia pulled at his hand. "It's all right, Seth. It's just medicine. It'll help you. I promise. Please let go."

Seth did, but only because she asked him to.

Lying back, he tried to focus on Lydia's face.

He couldn't. His eyelids were so heavy now. The pain was fading and as it went, it pulled him with it.

Seth tried to fight it, but in the end, he took one breath and surrendered himself to the darkness.

Lydia let out a relieved sigh as Seth finally relaxed. "I'm so sorry about that," she said to Carson.

"Think nothing of it. Believe me, we've seen just about everything you can imagine, and a few things I'm sure you can't, shoot through our doors at one time or another." Carson inclined his head toward Seth. "And he's not the only one with a really bad past. Believe me."

Margery brought a tray of medical instruments over to the bed. "You might want to go finish eating now, hon. He should be out for a while."

Lydia wouldn't put money on that. Not from what she'd seen of his stamina. "Or he could wake up in a few minutes and reach for your throats again. If you don't mind, I'd rather stay like I promised. He doesn't trust easily and I don't want him to stop trusting me, you know?"

Margery's glance went straight to Carson before she caught her slip, then quickly turned it back to Lydia. "I do know. But if you're squeamish, you might want to face the wall while we work."

"That I will do."

Carson brought her a chair.

Sitting down, Lydia listened to them as they started patching Seth up. She would have commented on the germs, but then given Seth's immortality it probably wasn't that big a concern.

"So how long have you two been doctors?"

Carson laughed. "About a hundred years for me. Margery, a little less."

Margery snorted. "A lot less. I'm human and I've been working with Carson for over a decade, but haven't had my medical license all that long."

Fascinating.

"So what clan do you belong to?" Carson asked.

Lydia had no idea what he was asking about. "Clan?"

"You're Tsakali Katagaria ... what clan are you?"

Her heart pounded as she swung around to face him. "You can't say that to anyone. Ever. Okay?"

He arched his brow. "Ah ... okay. But that's going to be a little hard to keep secret here. Any Were-Hunter who comes into contact with you will know it instantly."

Crap! Why would Jaden send her here after telling her not to breathe a word of her jackal status to Seth? Surely someone as powerful as he would have known that other Were-Hunters could sense her and identify her species. Had he done it intentionally? Was that why Seth was so mistrusting of him?

She suddenly felt like a complete blind fool for ever listening to Jaden.

And I even hugged him. She could beat both of them. Him for doing it and her for listening.

Her entire body started shaking as she feared Seth's waking up to hear this. "Then we can't stay. We have to go."

Carson scowled at her. "What are you so afraid of?"

Death. Dismemberment. Noir finding them. Solin getting hurt. Seth dying when he couldn't.

Greek gods out to kill her.

The list kept growing by the second.

Don't tell him any of it. It was none of his business. Especially since Seth's paranoia had started to infect her.

But she had to make sure they kept their mouths shut. For everyone's well-being. "You can't tell anyone that we're here or tell them anything about us. Do you understand?"

Carson's gaze turned dark and dangerous. "Who are you running from?"

She bit her lip as she debated what she should let out and what she should keep between her and Seth.

"Listen," Carson's tone matched his dour expression. "The people and animals here are my family. If you pose a danger to them, I need to know. We've already been attacked once and nearly destroyed. If we have another enemy coming, then we need to know immediately. We have children and infants here to protect."

Children. Here.

That changed everything. She didn't want anyone ever having the memories she had. No child should hear or see their mother die.

Please, don't kill me. She wasn't sure who that was directed at exactly. Seth or Carson.

But she couldn't put the kids in harm's way. "He's a servant to Noir, and I freed him. When Noir finds out that he's gone, he will come after him, no holds barred. It will get extremely bloody."

"And you?"

"I was told that some of the Greek gods want me dead. It's how Seth was injured. They were trying to find me. I don't know why, though. I really don't."

Carson cursed, then turned to Margery. "Tell the others."

Grabbing a towel to wipe the blood from her hands, she quickly left the room.

Lydia rubbed her head, which was starting to ache from all of this. "I didn't mean to endanger you. Jaden said we'd be safe here ... that you could help Seth."

"It's all right. We can cope as long as we're forewarned. Just don't let us get blindsided." He returned to working on Seth. "Man, whoever did this to him certainly knew what they were doing."

"How do you mean?"

"I mean he was interrogated by someone who knew exactly how to wring as much pain as possible out of him and not kill him. Poor bastard."

"Will he be all right?"

"He'll heal. I don't know about the 'all right' part. That's not my department. I can only fix bodies. Hearts and minds are another matter."

Lydia turned to look at Seth's bare face, which was still covered with bruises and cuts that marred his otherwise flawless handsomeness. She wanted to cry, but Solin had taught her to keep that inside.

When they know what makes you cry, they know what hurts you most. Don't give your enemies that.

Closing her eyes, she reached out to talk to him and see what was happening.

But Solin didn't answer. And that scared her even more than her current predicament. Here, in this realm, with her powers restored, he should be easy to contact. She'd never, ever had trouble finding him before.

He'd only be silent to her if he couldn't answer because he was fighting.

Or he was dead.

She couldn't even contemplate the latter. It would destroy her to lose him.

Suddenly, she felt another powerful presence coming into the room. Warm and at the same time freezing, it thickened the air on the other side of Seth's bed.

Carson pulled back and grabbed a scalpel from his tray as if ready to battle who or whatever it was.

Lydia did the same, 'cause whatever it was, it would be fierce if it chose to fight them. And she had a sickening feeling that it was coming here for her.

But most of all it wanted Seth.