Cursing Athena (Order Of Seven) (7 page)

The lion’s thunderous roar carried across the night air, chilling Danika’s already frazzled nerves. She covered her ears and drew her knees into her chest to shield herself from the gruesome sight and sounds of Alexei Karpos’ untimely demise. His high-pitched keening combined with the sound of tearing flesh burned itself deep into her psyche, never to be forgotten.

Insane. She’d gone insane—lost her flippin’ mind. There was no way to explain, no making sense of what she’d seen. That black smoke that had slithered out of Alexei’s mouth was not of this earth. A chill shot up the length of her spine. Inhuman. Evil. Alexei was most definitely evil.

It wasn’t until she felt a warm, wet nose nudge her arm that she dared to look up. Lost in thought, or more realistically, lost in shock, she’d failed to notice the lion had finished doling out its grisly justice. It towered over her, with the distinct, coppery smell of blood evident on its warm breath.

Frozen in place, and positive she was about to become dessert for the hungry beast, Danika watched with terror filled eyes as the great cat lowered its enormous head and licked her arm. Its tongue was rough, like sandpaper, and nearly as big as her arm.
Holy…whoa! Is it…sniffing me?

Apparently done breathing in her scent, the cat blew out a deep breath, as if sighing, and lay down, placing its head on its enormous paws. With another brilliant flash of light, Mr. No Name reappeared in the lion’s place, his naked body lying motionless on the cool pavement.

“Holy hell,” she mumbled.

Yep. I was right. I’m a nutter.

Breathless and mute, Danika sat openmouthed and silent as her very naked helper sat up and slowly met her gaze.

The silence between them was deafening.

Watching her intently as if he were afraid she’d bolt, No Name raised a cautious brow. “I’m, uh…I’m guessing you have a few questions right about now.”

A few questions?
Dumbfounded, Danika opened her mouth, a thousand thoughts racing through her head, but too flabbergasted to speak.
Try a million questions, Cat Man. You can start by telling me what exactly the hell you are.

No doubt sensing her shock, he cast her a gentle smile. “I can see you’re a bit shell shocked. Let me introduce myself. Name’s Tydeus of Calydon, but you can call me Ty.”

Chapter 9

Danika sat shivering on the cold, hard pavement, eyeballing Ty with what looked like a heaping mixture of disbelief and wonder. “Tydeus of…what? Who…no, wait…What? What exactly…are you?” Her voice was shaky, weak, and her body shook, no doubt from the trauma she’d endured. She glanced down the alley toward the shredded remains of what was once Alexei Karpos for a brief moment before regarding him again. “And what was that thing that attacked me? It looked like Alexei, but…I’m not so sure.”

Warmth radiated from Ty’s chest, spreading throughout his limbs. Danika was tough, a fighter. More than that, she was going to be okay. Most mortals would up and run at the first sight of hinky, underworld business. But not Danika. She was afraid, yes, but she didn’t let that fear keep her from asking questions. Baby girl was tenacious—magnificent.

Despite her fear, despite all that had gone down this evening, beneath her frightened exterior Ty sensed Danika’s trust in him. She’d witnessed his inner beast roar to life, sat by while his monster tore that murderous, demon POS limb from bloody limb, and despite it all, she’d remained.

Sweet, Blessed Aphrodite!
She remained! Which meant only one thing…
fuck.

Danika was his life mate.

His pulse skyrocketed, his head swimming with questions. He had no memory of his time as a lion. But the mere fact that she sat in front of him now, alive and whole and breathing, meant she was his true mate, the one woman capable of taming his savage beast.

Even now, as she sat quiet and still, eyeing him with equal amounts of curiosity and trepidation, he sensed the same electrical spark, the same intense pull he’d noticed earlier at the club.
Great Zeus above!
The timing was all wrong, but…
shit
…he’d found his mate, his fated female.

Silence permeated the air as she stared at his naked form with wide, spooked eyes.

Ty closed his eyes and groaned.
Athena be damned!
Naked. His ass was as naked as a two-dollar hooker on a busy night. And dammit, as much as he enjoyed the way her hungry eyes drank him in, he didn’t enjoy watching her shiver in fear amidst a sea of garbage in a rank, filthy alleyway. Hell no. His mate deserved to hear the truth about what they were to each other in a clean, safe environment. He also needed to make sure no harm came to her beyond the shock and terror of what she’d experienced.

Afraid of spooking her further, Ty held up a finger and addressed her cautiously.
“One second, sweetness.” He looked to the heavens and held up a hand. “A little help here, boss?”

A loud crack pierced the silence, and with a brilliant flash of light, Ty found himself sitting atop the black silk sheets of his Cal King bed.

He glanced down and frowned. He was still completely nude.
Great.
The goddess had teleported him halfway across town, but couldn’t see fit to drum up a pair of sweats?
Would it really have been that difficult to manifest him some clothes? He gnashed his teeth and groaned. Athena was a proud goddess. This was obviously payback for his constant cursing of her name.

Danika’s quick intake of breath drew him from his irritated stupor. She sat across from him, wide-eyed, hands clutching her chest as she gasped for air. “Holy snot rockets! Did we just…”

Ty looked to the ceiling and rolled his eyes. “Thanks a lot, boss. Way to put the poor girl at ease.” Drawing the top sheet over his lap in an effort to make her a little more comfortable in his presence, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

“We teleported from the alleyway to my apartment. Yes.”

Danika paled, her breath coming in short, shallow pants. Eyes narrowed, she shook her head. “Impossible…” She turned her gaze from him. Mouth agape, she quickly scanned the room from his flat screen TV, to his mirrored ceiling, and finally to the wall of glass overlooking the city.

He barked a quick laugh. If he had a dollar for every time someone had uttered the word “impossible” to him, he’d have more money than Oprah. As it stood, though he lived a comfortable life, TV’s daytime guru kicked his ass in the money department.

“I’m afraid not, babe. I’ve got a whole bag of tricks up my sleeve.” He held up his arm and cast her what he felt was his best cheeky grin. “Oh, wait. I’m not wearing any sleeves.”

He had hoped a little levity would help to ease her tension, but so far it wasn’t working. It was just as well. The situation wasn’t funny, and he was definitely not a funny man.
Cold-blooded, underworld mercenary was more like it.

Unusually still, Danika seemed every bit as freaked out as she had been in the alley. And could he blame her? Hell no. Not only had she been attacked by a flesh-eating, soul-sucking demon, she’d witnessed his transformation into a raging lion, and found herself teleported to his apartment moments later. Frankly, he was surprised she was still conscious.

Fucking Athena
. The last time his beast came out she’d claimed she was busy and left him to walk the streets of the city with no clothing for over an hour. Awkward! The ladies sure didn’t mind, but the police? Yeah, they weren’t too happy about his state of undress.

As much as he despised Athena, Ty was thankful the goddess had seen fit to teleport them to his place. He needed privacy, as well as the comforting familiarity of home, to help him when it came time to expose the truth of his relationship to Danika. Just because she hadn’t fled up to this point, didn’t mean she wouldn’t. Hell, it wasn’t every day you found out you were a shifter’s mate.

Danika fidgeted atop the black satin coverlet, her voice shaking as she spoke. “So, uh…what are you? Some sort of wizard?”

“Pshh.” Ty swiped his thumb over his mouth and bit back a laugh. “Nope. Sorry to disappoint. The name’s Ty, not Harvey. And that Dumblepuke character? Yeah, he’s a work of fiction.” He jabbed a thumb to his chest and gave her a nod. “I’m the real deal.”

With her brows knit together, she shook her head in disbelief. “Okay, then. So, there wasn’t any abracadabra, presto change-o, one minute you’re a man, the next you’re a lion thing going on?”

Seemed someone either watched too much TV, or read one too many of those paranormal romance type novels. “Shit, no. Trust me; I wouldn’t willingly shift if I didn’t have to. I’m cursed.”

Her brow shot up again, marking her obvious disbelief. “Cursed,” she said with a slight nod. “Uh-huh…”

The issue of whether or not Danika believed him didn’t seem to dampen her physical attraction to him in the least. She eyed him with frank curiosity, openly ogling his naked form from the chest down. Electricity arced between them, a heady, palpable feeling that hardened his cock, creating a tent out of the sheet covering his lap.

She quickly looked away, a deep flush crawling across her ivory flesh as her gaze darted to the wall, then the floor, anywhere but him.

It took everything he had to hide the smile wanting to emerge. Danika was attracted to him in spite of her fear, and it was evident in her rosy cheeks as well as the scent of her sweet arousal permeating the air.
Sweet, Blessed Aphrodite!
He wanted her—badly.

There was really no point in holding back, so he continued on with the truth about himself. “Brace yourself, sweetness, because what I’m about to tell you is going to sound really out of this world.”

Danika’s head shot back as she gaped at him, eyebrows raised, full of skepticism. “Uh…more out of this world than a crazy man with black smoke oozing out of his mouth? Crazier than you morphing into the King of the Jungle and devouring my attacker? More bizarre than being poofed from an alleyway into your apartment?” She stared at him as though he were a lunatic and barked out a sarcastic laugh. “I don’t know…after tonight, I’m not sure things can get any crazier.”

Ty chuckled. “Trust me, babe. Crazy knows no bounds. I’m an immortal, and you’re my mate.”

His apartment building probably could have exploded all around her, and she still wouldn’t have moved. Danika sat frozen in place, her face void of expression for several long seconds.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, her brows knit together and she squeaked out a breathless reply. “Imm-Immortal? As in you never die? And mate? As in, we have hot, crazy monkey sex, and love each other forever mate?”

Ty chuckled, despite the seriousness of the conversation. Danika was precious. “That would be a yes on both accounts.” He cleared his throat. Time to get down to the nitty-gritty. “Have you read any of the Greek tragedies?”

She mashed her lips together and let out a nervous, high-pitched whine, but remained still. “Um…” She blew out a breath and shook her head, confusion marring her features. “Not since I was in school. Why?”

Ty wasn’t surprised. Most people found the ancient stories boring as shit. He shrugged. “Yeah, well, the thing is…I’m in one.”

Danika’s eyebrows shot up, a look of incredulity twisting her gentle features. “Seriously? You really expect me to believe you’re a living, breathing fictional character?”

Ignoring her blatant skepticism, and too deep in it to stop, Ty pressed on with a shake of his head. “Not fictional. Real. I was one of the seven warriors to attack Thebes and a favorite of the Goddess Athena. She not only blessed me with my boyish good looks,” he waggled his eyebrows and smiled, “but with the gifts of strength, agility, and a propensity for war.” His jaw tensed and he squared his shoulders, pride filling his chest. “I fought and won many a battle for the Goddess. There were none that could best me.”

He knew he sounded boastful, but he spoke the truth. His skill and valor on the battlefield earned him his position as leader of The Order of Seven.

Several moments passed before Danika responded, and when she did, her voice was quiet, reticent. “So, that’s how you ended up immortal, then? Athena blessed you for being her killing machine?”

Ty winced at her words.
Killing machine…
Danika didn’t know that half of it. If she knew the man, the monster he’d once been, she’d run screaming for the hills. But that was a thousand lifetimes ago. Times had changed. He’d changed, and was a better man.

He breathed in deep and shifted atop the bed. “Not exactly. Athena promised me immortality, but amended her vow after I was mortally wounded.”

Danika raised a brow, skepticism temporarily overcoming the fear and confusion marring her features. “I thought none could best you?”

Ty chuckled, impressed with her tenacity. “Touché, my sweet. You’re right to call me out,” he said with a nod. “Had I won my battle, things would be very different.” Ty breathed in deep through his nose, then blew the air forcefully out of his mouth with a groan. He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I was stubborn, stupid and refused to lose. My desire to conquer, coupled with a love of war and bloodshed remained, even as I lingered at death’s door. This angered the Goddess.”

“Love of…bloodshed?” She paled even further and began inching toward the edge of the bed. “What…what exactly did you do?”

Ty hesitated for a brief moment before sharing the bloody truth of his past. If they were to be together, united in every way, she needed to hear the truth from him—the whole truth. “I tore my enemy apart.” He paused for a brief moment, hesitant. “Literally.”

“Okay, then…” Danika jumped off the bed, fear and uncertainty rolling off her in waves. She kicked off her heels, and clutching a shoe in each hand, slowly backed away from him toward the bedroom door.