Free Unchained: An Eternal Guardians Novella by Elisabeth Naughton

back over every interaction he’d had with the witch.
    “Elysia’s had nothing but regret about leaving Circe in that cave,” Cerek said long seconds later. “She didn’t have to help us, but she did. I guarantee Zeus has come up with some twisted form of punishment for her because of us. He keeps all kinds of sick monsters trapped in the bowels of Mt. Olympus.”
    The memory of that blood hit Prometheus again. He turned to look back at the Argonauts. “What did you just say?”
    Cerek met his gaze. “I said Zeus is probably punishing her because of us. That witch is as much a prisoner as I ever was.”
    As much as Prometheus ever was.
    “I was not always a good witch, Titos. But I want to be one. I hope you believe that.”
    He’d felt the truth in those words when she’d said them, did believe them even if she’d kept her identity secret, and every time he though about that blood, each time he remembered the agony he’d felt when he’d touched it, he knew Cerek was right. She was being punished for helping the Argonauts. And judging by the way she’d been pulled away from Prometheus during the times they’d been together, that punishment had happened right before his eyes, and he hadn’t realized it.
    He’d been punished daily by Zeus. Chained to a rock in the blistering heat of the sun, unable to move as he waited for a giant eagle to slice into his side with its razor sharp beak, rip out his liver, and leave him in blinding pain until the wounds slowly closed and consciousness returned.
    Yes, Zeus could come up with all kinds of horrendous punishments. For a witch who’d helped the Argonauts, Prometheus knew the king of the gods would not hold back.
    The urge to find her, to save her, to rescue her from the same kind of hell he’d lived through overwhelmed Prometheus. “You’re certain she’s on Mt. Olympus.”
    “Yeah,” Cerek answered. “She can’t leave there. Her magic’s confined to the mountain.”
    “Where? Where is her cave?”
    “At the top. There’s a path that winds all the way up.”
    Prometheus’s mind spun. He could transport to Olympus. The minute he stepped foot into the realm of the heavens, though, Zeus would know. The king of the gods would sense him. He wouldn’t have much time to find Circe and transport her to freedom.
    “Thank you.” Plans ricocheted through Prometheus’s brain as he turned away from the Argonauts.
    He made it two steps before his daughter’s mate stepped in his path and held up both gloved hands. “Hold up. You’re not thinking about going to Olympus to get her, are you?”
    “No, I’m not thinking about it.” He’d already decided.
    Titus’s jaw tightened. “You’re walking into a trap. You know that, don’t you? All for a witch.”
    He might be, but he didn’t care. Witch or not, Circe made him feel alive in a way nothing and no one had in over a thousand years. Regardless of why she’d sought him out—whether it was her doing or Zeus’s—he wouldn’t leave her to the same torment he’d endured.
    Before Titus could stop him, he pictured Zeus’s precious mountain and flashed.
     
    * * * *
     
    Mt. Olympus was cold and dark when he arrived.
    The sun had set. Night pressed in from all sides as Prometheus stood behind a rock outcropping, staring toward a dark cave opening. There had to be more than a hundred caves on this damn mountain, but he’d yet to pass a single one. This had to be the right place.
    He hoped it was, at least, because Zeus had probably already been alerted to an outside force in his realm. It wouldn’t take long for the king of the gods to zero in on that energy and locate Prometheus.
    “You’d better be there,” Prometheus whispered beneath the starry sky.
    He moved away from his shelter and into the tunnel. Cool air washed over his cheeks, sending a shiver down his spine. It was dark, but his Titan eyesight picked out every bump and ridge on the rock walls. He followed the tunnel around twists and