Wicked (Eternal Guardians #9) - Elisabeth Naughton Page 0,3

this female wasn’t hiding. As she slid onto a barstool, tossed her silky hair over her shoulder and chatted with the bartender, Zagreus realized she didn’t even seem the slightest bit apprehensive about where she was or who could be watching.

He scanned the room for other Argoleans. Didn’t sense any.

The female smiled at something the bartender said. As the male made her drink, she glanced back at the dance floor once more, searching for... something.

She didn’t look Zagreus’s way, but those amethyst eyes caught the light again, and the familiar sight hit Zagreus like a punch to the gut, causing that pressure in his chest to cinch down even tighter.

It couldn’t be her. She always came back as a nymph. Always.

And yet...

He knew those eyes better than his own. He’d looked into them hundreds, no thousands of times. The rest of her might change, but her eyes—those shimmering gems that were the gateway to her soul—always, always remained the same.

His pulse beat hard and fast. Indecision warred inside him. He needed to go, to disappear before he drew attention, but he had to know the truth. He’d been burned before and knew the consequences. Yet, even if exposing himself now destroyed the carefully constructed plan for revenge he’d finally set in motion, he had to know if it was her.

His mono mia.

Before he could stop himself, he stepped out of the shadows and into the pulsing lights of the club.

Chapter Two

Talisa glanced over the busy club, searching for any male capable of taking her mind off her shitty life.

At least for an hour or so.

There were all kinds in the crowd tonight. Some she recognized from previous visits. Many she didn’t.

Her parents would shit bricks if they knew she’d not only crossed into the human realm but that she was visiting a debauched establishment such as this, but she didn’t care. Tonight was for her. Everyone else could be damned as far as she cared.

The first time she’d heard whispers about this club from the witches who lived in the mountains outside Tiyrns, she’d been intrigued. The minute she’d crossed the portal and stepped through the doors, she’d been excited. And when she’d learned of the dark rooms down below where all kinds of erotic things were possible, she’d been hooked.

This was the one place in the cosmos where she could let her hair down. Where she didn’t have to worry about what was expected of her as part of the Argolean royal family. Where she could forget about the fact she was the wrong gender to serve with the Argonauts and give in to all those twisted, dark urges she—a female, descended from the long line of ancient Greek heroes—was not supposed to have.

Her blood hummed as she glanced over faces in the crowd. It had been way too long since she’d had a male beneath her. Months since she’d been able to visit the club. She didn’t dare hook up with any males in her own realm—all were deathly afraid of her father—and she wasn’t about to let anyone there know what kind of kinks she was into. Plus, she had no use for any kind of relationship, long-term or otherwise. She was perfectly happy being single. So long as she got her rocks off now and then.

“Here’s your drink.” The bartender’s voice pulled her attention from the dance floor.

Smiling, she turned back to the bar, tugged cash from her bra, then slid it across to him. “Thanks.”

She tossed back the shot and winced as the golden liquid went down, already warming her throat.

The bartended chuckled and handed her a glass of ice water. “This will help.”

She mumbled another thanks and sipped.

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” he said as he used a towel to dry a glass.

“That’s because I haven’t been here in a while.”

She wouldn’t say she was friendly with the bartender, a decent enough looking half-breed who lived in the human world. But he’d been nice to her the handful of times she’d visited the club, and he always let her know if there was anyone to watch out for in the area.

She glanced back over the writhing bodies on the dance floor, the triple whiskies in the shot she’d just swallowed already relaxing her, heating her blood, and making her anxious for some action. “Some new faces.”

“Yeah. A few.” He rested his forearms on the shiny wood bar and leaned toward her, lowering his voice. “The two wiry-looking tall guys in the corner in