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

didn’t mean she condoned stereotypes. In the otherworldy universe, nymphs were considered less than the other races, interested only in sex. She hated that perception. It was part of the reason she’d worked so hard to become the best Siren she could be.
    Even if she wasn’t all that great.
    That’s why you’re here. To fix that point.
    He stepped past her and motioned for her to follow. “I’m sure you have a million questions. I’m starving though. We’ll talk while I cook.”
    Daphne couldn’t seem to stop herself from glancing toward the doorway where Aristokles had disappeared. “What about him?”
    “Ignore him. He’s being moody.”
    She had no idea what the male meant, but she wasn’t sure she was with it enough to go exploring on her own just yet. She followed the Misos back up the stairs and into the massive kitchen.
    “Have a seat.” He nodded toward the hand-carved barstools near the counter. “I’ll get you something to drink. I remember being extremely thirsty when I first awoke.”
    Daphne’s mouth was suddenly bone dry. As she pulled out a chair and sat, she licked her lips, thankful someone seemed to know what she needed because right now, she had absolutely no clue.
    He handed her a glass of clear liquid. “Drink.”
    Daphne drained the entire glass, then lowered it to the counter and swiped the back of her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t realize how thirsty I was. Thank you...”
    “Silas.”
    “Thank you, Silas. I’m Daphne.”
    He opened the refrigerator and pulled out lettuce and other salad fixings. “How is it you came to be out here in the wilds all by yourself, Daphne?”
    She’d known the question would be asked, she just hadn’t expected it to be asked by anyone but her target. Either way, she needed to relay the same story Zeus had suggested because it might trigger a useful reaction in the crazed Argonaut. “I was... escaping.”
    “From?” Silas reached for a tomato.
    She thought about lying. She didn’t know this male. He could be Aristokles’s henchmen or even his slave. But he didn’t act like either. His shoulders were relaxed, and there was a look of contentment across his scarred features as he worked. And when she thought back to what she’d seen of the two sparring downstairs, it was clear he wasn’t afraid of the Argonaut.
    She suddenly didn’t want to lie. It wasn’t in her nature to lie anyway. But she couldn’t tell the truth either. She figured a half-truth was her best bet. “There’s a god who wants something from me. I was in the wilds because of him.”
    “Running from him?”
    Daphne definitely wanted to run from Zeus. His lecherous gaze put her at instant unease, and she hated the way he kept referencing her mother. In a way, accepting this assignment was running from him, wasn’t it? “You could say that.”
    He sliced through another tomato. “If it was a god, I’m guessing you came through a portal.”
    “I did.”
    “Which explains the dress you were wearing when Ari found you.”
    Ari... Her body warmed just thinking of the Argonaut. He’d been the one who’d found her. Rescued her from those daemons. Brought her here and stripped her of her shredded garments.
    Arousal stirred in her belly all over again, but as her gaze drifted to the knife in Silas’s hand, it cooled. He sliced through the flesh of the tomato. Juice spurted across the cutting board, instantly reminding her of that daemon’s claws slashing through her skin.
    “Thank you,” she said softly, “for taking care of me.”
    “You’re welcome. But I didn’t do much aside from make sure you were comfortable. Ari’s the one you should thank. Without his healing gift, you’d be dead.”
    Daphne stared at the Misos’s scarred profile, unsure she’d heard him right. The Argonaut. He was implying that the Argonaut hadn’t just rescued her from those daemons, but healed her as well.
    That went against everything she knew of the monster.
    Silas glanced up.