Page 33 of The Guardian (Dark-Hunter 20)
It wasn't right.
"What can I say, Master?" He sneered the title with an audacity that was as impressive and fearless as it was idiotic. "I am that stupid. Besides, it was a winning proposition for me. If Adarian had freed me, I would never have to be in your sickening presence again. If he didn't, then I would get to see your face when you realized that you are too weak to take over the human realm without him."
Seth actually smiled at Noir. It was cold, gloating, and cruel, but it was a smile. "After all these centuries of plotting and scheming, right when you were on the brink of seeing all those dreams fulfilled, you now have to watch as all of it slips away. Everything you'd hoped for is now gone. You can't do shit. And that, my lord ... watching you fail to achieve the one thing you wanted most, is worth it."
Noir let loose a scream of bloodcurdling rage that echoed through the room. Then he blasted Seth through the wall behind him. His eyes glowing bright red, Noir stalked toward him with a deadly intent.
Seth lay on the floor with his skull split open and blood pouring out of his eyes, nose, and mouth. Still, he looked up at Noir and laughed through his pain, showing off a mouth full of bloody teeth. "I don't care what you do to me anymore. So go ahead and do your worst."
Now it was Noir's turn to laugh. "Trust me, little worm. I fully intend to."
Jaden released her.
It took Lydia a couple of minutes to get over the shock of seeing Seth like that. She'd assumed he was always submissive to Noir. That Noir had beat him like a tamed puppy.
The truth was far different. Even while knowing what Noir was capable of, he stood his ground. He was either the bravest man in history.
Or the dumbest.
"Does he always egg Noir on?"
"Unfortunately. He's never been able to help himself. No matter how many times they beat him down, he always finds the courage to get back up for another round."
She still couldn't believe he'd rubbed Noir's nose in it. And inside, she was so proud of him for what he'd done. "Why didn't you tell Noir the truth about who freed the Malachai?"
"How could I? Seth would never have been here, but for me. I figured it was the least I could do for him. I never dreamed the stupid little bastard would tell Noir the truth. Like I said, he has never learned when to keep his head down."
Obviously.
"And Noir delivered well on his promise. He rained down utter hell on that boy for centuries. He made it open season for any demon in the realm to do whatever they wanted to Seth."
"Thank you for not showing that to me."
Jaden inclined his head to her.
"So what made Noir release him after all that time?"
"He needed him. While playing," Jaden said that with complete sarcasm, "with the Dream-Hunters he'd turned against the Oneroi, Noir found out about something called the key to Olympus."
"Which is?"
"Something that can kill any and all of the Greek gods, including Zeus, and allow their powers to be channeled into one being. He who has the key doesn't need the Malachai to take over the world. He would be the most powerful creature in it."
And if that creature was Noir ...
Yeah. It'd suck to be human or anything in his path.
"Before Noir could learn more, his Dream-Hunters escaped his hold and returned home. All but one, and he tortured that one for over a year, trying to get the location of the key."
"He wouldn't break?"
"No, he broke ... into many pieces. But before he died, he told Noir that there was only one Dream-Hunter in existence who knew the key's location."
"Solin."
He nodded. "And since none of us can capture a Dream-Hunter, he went to Seth for it."
She scowled as she tried to figure that one out. "Why would Seth be able to capture one?"
"Son of chaos, war, aggression, and destruction, Seth has some epically impressive powers. Whenever Noir allows him enough of them, he has the ability to send the swallow on his neck out to do his bidding. It was the swallow that captured Solin in a dream and brought him here."
Shocked and stunned, Lydia tried to grasp that concept. While it wasn't uncommon for gods to have living marks on them, this was completely unexpected. "Where did he get it?"
"Now there's the kicker. His sorrow and pain conjured it out of the ether."
That didn't make a bit of sense. "How so?"
"In ancient Egypt, the swallow was seen in two basic roles. It was a form the dead would often choose to revisit the earth and see their loved ones. Or one the gods would use, such as when Isis became one so that she could search the land for her husband's remains. While it was venerated and at times welcomed because it was a form the gods would take, the swallow was also seen as an omen of grief and sorrow."
Jaden paused for a minute as if he needed to collect his emotions before he continued. "When Noir brought Seth here, he..."
She knew it had to be bad. Jaden's breathing was ragged again. "He what?"
"He wanted Seth to understand his place in this realm. So he set the worst demons he had loose on the boy. For two days straight, they assaulted him and when Noir finally went to get him, the tattooed swallow was there on his neck. No one, not even I, knows how he conjured it. But he did. He'd used it so that he could mentally escape the horrors of what was being done to him. Noir tried to remove it so that Seth would never have that refuge again. But he couldn't. In the end, he discovered that if he kept Seth weak enough, he wouldn't be able to manifest it and escape. Now that swallow serves as a perpetual reminder to Seth that he can never get away from Noir. That Noir owns him, body and soul."
No wonder he'd clawed at it when she'd asked him why he had it. "Do the colors on it mean anything?"
He nodded and when he spoke, she wanted to cry for Seth. "Rebirth, victory, purity, death, the sun, and the sky ... All the things that Seth longs for."
All the things that had been denied him.
And that made her so angry on his behalf that she wanted to go and stomp Noir into the ground.
If only she could.
"Why didn't the Malachai return for him?" she asked.
"Who knows. They are innately evil. I've never known one who could care for anyone other than himself. Why should he come back and keep his word?"
"Because you should always keep your promises."
Jaden scoffed. "Yeah, right. Trust me, babe, that seldom happens."
Perhaps, but the world shouldn't work that way. Ever. Then again the world was never perfect.
And that broke her heart even more.
Lydia squeezed her eyes shut as she again saw Seth as Jaden had found him-with that awful bolt in his mouth. She shuddered in revulsion. "I wish you hadn't shown me any of his past." Even though he'd warned her ... She'd never be able to get it out of her head.
"And neither will Seth," Jaden said, reminding her that he could read her thoughts. "You asked him why he doesn't sleep. It's because he relives it all over again in his dreams. I remember when he was little, he'd wake up crying every night, only to be punished for it. Back then, he had no protection from the others. I did what I could to help him, but I'm limited, too. And like Seth, I spend more time in Noir's dungeons than I do being free to roam."
She felt for both men. Trapped here. Forever. She couldn't imagine anything worse. "Is there any way to break the two of you out of here?"
