Read Ravaged: An Eternal Guardians Novella (1001 Dark Nights) Online

Authors: Elisabeth Naughton

Tags: #1001 Dark Nights, #Eternal Guardians, #erotic, #Elisabeth Naughton, #Fantasy

Ravaged: An Eternal Guardians Novella (1001 Dark Nights)

BOOK: Ravaged: An Eternal Guardians Novella (1001 Dark Nights)
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Ravaged

An Eternal Guardians Novella

By Elisabeth Naughton

 

 

1001 Dark Nights

 

 

Ravaged

An Eternal Guardians Novella

By Elisabeth Naughton

 

1001 Dark Nights

Copyright 2015 Elisabeth Naughton

ISBN: 978-1-940887-58-6

 

Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose

Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Ravaged

An Eternal Guardians Novella

By Elisabeth Naughton

 

Ari

Once an Eternal Guardian, now he's nothing but a rogue mercenary with one singular focus: revenge.

 

His guardian brothers all think he’s dead, but Ari is very much alive in the human realm, chipping away at Zeus’s Sirens every chance he can, reveling in his brutality and anonymity. Until, that is, he abducts the wrong female and his identity is finally exposed. It will take more than the Eternal Guardians, more even than the gods to rein Ari in after everything he’s done. It may just take the courage of one woman willing to stand up to a warrior who’s become a savage.

 

ABOUT ELISABETH NAUGHTON

Before topping multiple bestseller lists--including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal--Elisabeth Naughton taught middle school science. A voracious reader, she soon discovered she had a knack for creating stories with a chemistry of their own. The spark turned into a flame, and Naughton now writes full-time. Besides topping bestseller lists, her books have been nominated for some of the industry's most prestigious awards, such as the RITA® and Golden Heart Awards from Romance Writers of America, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, and the Golden Leaf Award. When not dreaming up new stories, Naughton can be found spending time with her husband and three children in their western Oregon home. Learn more at www.ElisabethNaughton.com.

 

ALSO FROM ELISABETH NAUGHTON

Eternal Guardians

(paranormal romance)

MARKED

ENTWINED

TEMPTED

ENRAPTURED

ENSLAVED

BOUND

TWISTED

 

Aegis Series

(romantic suspense)

BODYGUARDS IN BED

FIRST EXPOSURE

SINFUL SURRENDER

EXTREME MEASURES

LETHAL CONSEQUENCES

 

Against All Odds Series

(romantic suspense)

WAIT FOR ME

HOLD ON TO ME

 

Stolen Series

(romantic suspense)

STOLEN FURY

STOLEN HEAT

STOLEN SEDUCTION

STOLEN CHANCES

 

Firebrand Series

(paranormal romance)

BOUND TO SEDUCTION

SLAVE TO PASSION

POSSESSED BY DESIRE

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Book Description

About Elisabeth Naughton

Also by Elisabeth Naughton

Foreword

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

Eternal Guardians Lexicon

Also From 1001 Dark Nights

An excerpt from Twisted by Elisabeth Naughton

Special Thanks

 

ONE THOUSAND AND ONE DARK NIGHTS

Once upon a time, in the future…

 

I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.

I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and

the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast

library at my father’s home and collected thousands

of volumes of fantastic tales.

 

I learned all about ancient races and bygone

times. About myths and legends and dreams of all

people through the millennium. And the more I read

the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered

that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually

become part of them.

 

I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher

and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I

would not be telling you this tale now.

But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off

with bravery.

 

One afternoon, curious about the myth of the

Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to

see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar

(Persian:
شهريار
“king”) married a new virgin, and then

sent yesterday's wife to be beheaded. It was written

and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,

the vizier's daughter, he’d killed one thousand

women.

 

Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived

in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged

places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had

never occurred before and that still to this day, I

cannot explain.

 

Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have

taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can

protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to

protect herself and stay alive.

 

Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.

And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a

point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.

And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that

he might hear the rest of my dark tale.

 

As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new

one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before

you now.

 

 

 

“There will be killing till the score is paid.”

― Homer,
The Odyssey

 

CHAPTER ONE

Time was irrelevant on Olympus. Something Daphne was grateful for today.

The sun set low on the horizon behind the shimmering white marble of Zeus’s palace as she lifted the magical bow and arrow all Sirens wielded, pulled the string back for the umpteenth time, and zeroed in on her target a hundred yards away. Holding her breath, she released the string. A sting echoed in her finger, and she jerked her hand back and winced as the arrow flew through the air toward the trunk of a tree carved into the face of the god of the Underworld.

A
thwack
echoed across the space. The arrow grazed Hades’s right earlobe.

Daphne frowned. She’d been at this for three hours and still couldn’t hit the stupid god anywhere deadly, let alone between the eyes where she was supposed to tag him.

“Better.” Sappheire, Athena’s right-hand Siren and the leader of Zeus’s female warrior army, nodded at Daphne’s side. “You keep practicing and you’ll get there.”

Daphne wasn’t so sure. All Sirens went through rigorous training in a variety of different areas—combat, seduction, warfare, strategy—and she’d passed each section with high marks from her trainers. But she couldn’t take her final Siren vows until she conquered the marksmanship exam. And at the moment, her aim wasn’t even close to one-hundred percent, which was why she was out here now, on the training field behind Siren headquarters, working on her shot long after the other recruits had retired to the mess hall for dinner. So far she’d failed the test three times. Until she could hit a target repeatedly dead center—without injuring herself—she was SOL. Which meant her dream of being a full-fledged Siren kept hovering in the distance, just out of reach.

“That’s a nice thought,” she said, lowering her bow and shaking out her hand. “I’m not sure how realistic it is, though.”

“Persistence will pay off.” Sappheire’s luxuriously sleek mane—a mixture of blonde and chestnut and ginger locks—swayed as she turned Daphne’s way, and those brilliant blue eyes for which she was named sparkled. “If this is your calling, it’ll happen. Just don’t give up.”

Dressed in form-fitting black pants, a tight, black, low-cut tank that showed off her cleavage and muscular arms, and kick-ass stiletto boots that elongated her legs, Sappheire pressed the button at the end of her bow, shrinking the weapon down to a six-inch metal bar. She’d lost the leather breastplate and arm guards she usually wore in the field, but she still looked as menacing as any warrior. And not for the first time, Daphne was glad this Siren had taken a liking to her instead of harassing her as she did some of the other recruits.

Slipping the weapon into her boot, Sappheire added, “Athena’s been watching you.”

Watching her fail? Daphne winced. She wasn’t sure she needed to know that, not when she already felt like a major loser.

Daphne shrank her own weapon. She was dressed the same as Sappheire—tight black pants, fitted black tank, crazy high boots it had taken her years to learn to walk in—but where Sappheire wore the outfit with confidence and grace, Daphne still felt awkward in the take-notice-of-me-now getup. “Well, if nothing else, I’m sure she’s entertained.”

BOOK: Ravaged: An Eternal Guardians Novella (1001 Dark Nights)
9.34Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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