Unchained: An Eternal Guardians Novella by Elisabeth Naughton

in her neck, he focused his gift so the tissue could begin to heal.
    “You’re not safe here,” she rasped. “You have to go.”
    “Shh.” He wrapped his arm around her and held her while he let his gift work. “Don’t move too much just yet.”
    She stopped trying to turn and sank into him. “How did you find me?”
    “The Argonauts.” When her brow wrinkled, he added, “Cerek.”
    “But how did you know who I was?”
    “I finally used my superhuman brain.” Her frown deepened in such an adorable way, he chuckled. “Okay, it’s not so superhuman. I just put your clues together. Keia. Goddess pharmakeia. I remembered that was what the commoners used to call the witch Circe. And when I thought back to what you’d said about Zeus punishing you for helping another, I realized you were the witch who helped rescue Cerek from Zeus’s service.”
    Her green eyes softened in the dark. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I wanted to tell you who I was, but I couldn’t. There are rules.”
    “I know.” He lifted his hand, checked the wound beneath. The bleeding had stopped. The wound was still fresh, but a layer of new skin was already beginning to form. “And I’m not upset. I understand why you couldn’t tell me.” His gaze drifted to her face. “Though you should have told me about that shade.”
    Tears filled her eyes. “I wanted to, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t put you in danger.”
    “I’m a Titan, Circe. Even weakened by adamant, I can kick a shade’s ass.”
    “I see that. But it’s not the shade I’m worried about.”
    Zeus. She was talking about Zeus. “He can’t hurt us anymore.”
    “Titos—”
    “Come on.” He pulled her to her feet. “We need to get back up to the surface so we can get the hell out of this realm. There’s not enough adamant in these walls to immobilize me, but there is enough to prevent me from teleporting.”
    She pushed a hand against his chest, her feet shuffling over the ground as he maneuvered her toward the door. “You don’t understand. It’s not the adamant keeping me here. It’s—”
    “It’s her love of power,” Zeus said from the doorway.
    Prometheus drew to a stop, his arm around Circe’s waist. Against him, Circe froze and whispered, “Oh gods.”
    “Stay behind me,” Prometheus said in a low voice, pushing her back.
    “There’s no need for that, Titan.” Zeus stepped into the room. “We’re all friends here, right, witch?”
    Behind Zeus, five Sirens rushed in, bows drawn, arrows poised at Prometheus’s heart.
    “Just so we’re clear,” Zeus said. “Those arrows are made from adamant. So if you decide to bolt, Titan, you won’t get far.”
    Prometheus’s jaw tightened. His dream had become a reality, the alternate future he’d ignored. He was trapped. Again. Only this time it wasn’t just him. “Let the witch go. You used her as bait and it worked. She means nothing to you and we both know it.”
    “Oh, she was bait,” Zeus answered, lacing his fingers together behind his back. “But willing bait.”
    “Titos,” Circe whispered in a pained voice at his back.
    “Go on.” Zeus lifted a hand toward the witch. “Ask her yourself. Ask her about our deal. Her freedom from this mountain in exchange for seducing you into giving her the water element.”
    Shock rippled through Prometheus as he turned and stared into Circe’s green eyes. “Is that true?”
    Guilt rushed over her flawless features. “Yes, at first. But that was before I knew you. You have to believe me. I changed my mind.”
    The pain of betrayal lanced his chest, as swift and sharp as that eagle’s beak had ever been. He turned away from her.
    “Never trust a female, Titan.” Zeus clucked his tongue. “I thought you would have picked up that tidbit over your long lifetime.”
    Anger and betrayal and stupidity swam in Prometheus’s veins. “When would I have picked that up? When I was chained to that rock?”
    Zeus grinned. “It was a nice rock.