Cynna nearly choked. “The Fate?”
“One and the same,” the Fate answered. “Well done, Niko.” A victorious grin curled her lips. “Very well done.”
Nick smirked. “You could have…oh, I don’t know…hinted that all I had to do was go see Zeus to finish this.”
“Fates can’t give answers. Only lead you to the choice. But you didn’t even need me for that. You had her.” She nodded toward Cynna.
Cynna swallowed hard. She’d never met a Fate before. Was this normal for a god?
“Take care of him, child.” Lachesis’s blue eyes grew serious. “He may be immortal now, but he will still be challenged. By his brothers. By his father. By his duty. Krónos will become even more determined now to break free from Tartarus. The search for the last element needed to complete the Orb will intensify, and darkness will try to win out. He will need you more than you think. Especially as he works to protect his people. The Council of Elders in Argolea is corrupt, as you know. But do not run from the fight. Embrace it. Together. And make a difference in your world.”
“I will,” Cynna managed.
To Nick, she said, “And take care of her, warrior. She is a special one.”
Nick smiled down at Cynna, a warm, loving, for-her-only smile that heated every inch of Cynna’s skin. “I already know that.”
Lachesis floated to her feet. “When she passes from this world into the next, the choice to stay or pass with her rests in you.”
Nick looked back at Lachesis. “It does? I thought immortality meant…immortality.”
“Choice is always with you, Niko. No one controls you. No one ever did. Every god has the same choice. Most are simply too caught up in the trappings of power to be anything but selfish. If love is your guide, however, I know you’ll make the right choice when the time comes. Live and be happy. Use your gifts for good. But be wary of Zeus and Poseidon.”
She disappeared as abruptly as she’d arrived, and as soon as she was gone, Cynna looked up at Nick. “Zeus and Poseidon?”
“I’ll explain later.” When she lifted her brows, a wary expression crept over his face, and he added, “In exchange for their help, I agreed to do them a favor.”
Being indebted to the gods could not be good. “That sounds ominous.”
He glanced toward the sinkhole filled with water and frowned. “It might be. Now.”
Before she could ask more, he wrapped his arms around her and whispered, “Enough about them.”
She lifted to his kiss. Reveled in his strength, his warmth. His love. And as she slid her arms around his neck and stroked her tongue along his, she felt herself flying and knew he was flashing them away from Zagreus’s lair forever.
She opened her eyes and discovered he’d brought her back to the same bedroom where they’d stayed together last night. The one at Delia’s house in the settlement. “Don’t you have work to do? Helping move your people back from the mountains?”
“Someone else can deal with that. For the next few hours I plan to work only on you.”
She smiled, loving that answer. But before she could ease up and show him just how much she loved that with her mouth, a shiver rippled across her spine. One look told her he’d obliterated her clothing again.
Her brow lifted. “Not interested in unwrapping?”
“Not right now.” He lowered her to the bed, and warmth bloomed all through her belly when she realized he was already naked too. “Right now I just need you.”
Love and happiness filled her soul. “You have me, Nick.” She stroked her fingertips over the scar on his cheek. “You always will.”
He rolled to his back and pulled her on top of him so she was straddling his legs, then slid his hands to her bare hips. “Prove it to me, my strong, sexy, sinful Cynna. Show me that I am yours and you are mine. I’m completely at your mercy, exactly as I was before.”
A wicked, erotic smile pulled at her mouth. He was remembering the tunnels, when she’d pleasured him with her hand. Her whole body tingled with a surge of white-hot lust as she thought back to that moment too. Only this time, she planned to use way more than her fingers to bring him to a soul-shattering release.
She grasped his wrists and pinned them to the mattress above his head, then leaned down and gently brushed her lips across his. “Brace yourself, handsome. I can’t promise this won’t hurt.”
His lust-filled grin consumed his entire face. And as she pressed her lips to his neck, his collarbone, his chest, and worked her way south, he groaned. “Mm… That’s it, baby. That’s exactly how I like it. Don’t you dare stop.”
She wouldn’t. If it took the rest of her life, she’d show him just how much his love meant to her. Because, thanks to him, she was finally home.
ETERNAL GUARDIANS
LEXICON
adelfos. Brother
agapi. Term of endearment; my love.
ándras; pl. ándres. Male Argolean
archdaemon. Head of the daemon order; has enhanced powers from Atalanta