Page 39 of The Guardian (Dark-Hunter 20)
She froze in horror. "Oh my God," she breathed as she finally saw what Jaden had warned her about.
Never in her entire life had she seen a wound so foul. It looked as if a sword had gone through his stomach, just above his hip and below his bottom rib, stopping only when it hit his spine.
How could he still be alive? How? It defied any kind of logical explanation and she couldn't imagine how excruciating it had to be.
Worse, he was still conscious. Against all odds and all reason. His eyes were mere slits, but they glowed with his agony as he turned his head to look at her.
His breathing became ragged as he gave her that familiar scowl that was redundant with his face paint.
How could he stand it and not scream? How? But then she knew.
He was used to pain.
It was all he knew.
She wanted to scream for him over what they'd done. There was no sense in this. Damn them all for it. Why wasn't someone tending him? Doing something to alleviate his pain?
But then she knew the answer to that, too.
No one cared. No one except her.
Taking his bleeding hand into hers, she knelt on the floor beside him. The last thing she wanted was to jar the bed in any way and cause him more pain. "What happened?"
His grip was weak as he swallowed. He didn't answer her question. With his gaze locked on hers, he spoke to Jaden, who stood just to her left. "I'm returning her powers to her. I need you to send her out of here, back to her own world."
Lydia shook her head in denial. "I won't leave with you like this."
His glared intensified. "You have to, and you need to go now."
"No. I-"
"Listen to me, Lydia." He tensed and grimaced as if pain tore through him. For several seconds he panted from the weight of it. Then his tight grip relaxed and he opened his eyes again. "I wasn't attacked. I-I was tortured."
It took several heartbeats before she understood what he was saying. But it made no sense. "Why?"
He broke out into another round of sweat as if talking was straining him too much. "The Greek gods are looking for you. Not to take you home. They've been sent here to kill you."
Her jaw fell under the assault of disbelief that hit her hard. "What?"
"He's telling the truth," Jaden said from behind her. "I found him bolted to the Wall. It looked like they'd spent all night, trying to force him to take them to you."
Seth coughed up blood, something that made the rest of his body bleed even more. Tears of pain gathered in his blue eyes. "I told them nothing. But they know that you're in this realm. It's why they breached my room. Somehow they could tell you were in here." He had to pause to catch his breath. "Jaden had you shielded last night in his room so they couldn't locate you."
His words stunned her. None of it made any sense. "Why would they want to kill me?" What had she ever done to them? She'd purposefully stayed away from the Greek gods.
"They wouldn't say. But you have to go and hide from them. They won't stop until you're dead." He lifted her hand to his bloody lips and kissed her knuckles. The moment his lips touched her skin, she felt a rush go through her as he restored all of her powers.
When he released her hand, the blood was gone from her skin. "Go."
When she didn't leave, he glanced past her to Jaden. "Get her out of here."
Jaden nodded, then pulled her toward a corner, out of Seth's line of vision. Before they left, he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "You should know something."
"What?"
"He could have stopped his torture at any time by telling them where to find you. The only reason it stopped was that his morning relief saw that it was Greek gods and not Thorn's people attacking him and called for reinforcements. Otherwise, he'd still be bolted to that Wall ... protecting you."
With his blood and flesh.
Her heart shattered as she heard those words. Seth didn't believe in protecting anyone except himself. How many times had he said that? Yet there he lay, torn apart because of her.
How could she leave him to this?
"Can you do something to heal him?"
Jaden shook his head. "I don't have those powers."
And neither did she. Nor did she know anyone with them.
"What's going to happen to him after I leave?"
Jaden fell silent as he considered it. "He'll eventually heal. The pain will be unbearable until he does, but ... he'll live. However, if Noir finds out he was tortured and not attacked by Thorn's people, and why he was interrogated by Greeks ... his punishment will be a lot worse than this. By keeping you here, he's brought enemies into Noir's home. That's not something the King Asshole and Queen Whore take lightly."
She couldn't imagine anything worse. Her stomach heaved at the thought.
And in that moment, she knew what she had to do.
No matter what it cost her.
"How do I get him out of here?"
