sileni pl. silens – Sub-race of satyrs who celebrate peace, harmony, and pleasure rather than violence
Siren Order – Zeus’s elite band of personal warriors. Commanded by Athena
skata – Swearword
Tartarus – Realm of the Underworld similar to hell
theós – Term of endearment; my god
therillium – Invisibility ore, sought after by all the gods
thisavrós – Term of endearment; my treasure
Titans – The ruling gods before the Olympians
yios – Son
Acknowledgments
I don’t generally leave notes at the end of my books, but this one seemed to call for it, so here goes…
First of all, I want to thank all my loyal readers for supporting me and this series even though I took a pretty lengthy break between books. I’ve mentioned this before in my newsletters, but there were a number of reasons I had to take a break from writing the Eternal Guardians books. The biggest was that I was contracted for other work, but just behind that was the fact I never want to repeat storylines—keeping things fresh and exciting for you, my reader, is always my goal. Coming up with new material in this world is progressively tough, but it’s important to me, which is why I don’t want to rush any of the books. On top of all that was also the fact this hero—Zagreus—was a challenge. And when I say challenge, I mean…oh my gods, he was a nightmare!
I never intended to write this book. The goal was always for Zagreus to remain a villain on the fringe of my Guardian world. But after readers finished TWISTED, I started getting tons of emails asking when Zagreus was going to get his story. My reaction was… Really? The Prince of Darkness? The guy who tortures people? You want to read that? The answer was a resounding, “Yes!” So I set out to come up with a way I could explain why he’d done the awful things he’d done and figure out how the heck I could turn him into a hero. (Not an easy task, let me tell you!)
That leads me to my second thank you, which goes to author Rachel Grant. Back when I was contracted for those other books, and I was subsequently trying to figure out how the hell I could write a book for Zagreus—the villain!—she sat with me in a bar in Denver on the last night of the Romance Writers of America conference and helped me plot out Zagreus’s whole backstory, from Hades’s curse to Talisa’s reincarnation storyline. Rachel is a master at plotting, and I don’t know how I would get through this wild writing world without her. She always makes me look at things from a new angle, and I am forever grateful for that. (She also makes the BEST chocolate martinis!) That night in Denver was the first time I realized I could make this book work, and it was the first time I was actually excited to write this story.
I wish I could say things went smoothly from that point on—gosh, that was a while ago!—but, alas, I can’t. I got stuck in the story, other books came due, then the world turned upside down with Covid-19 and lockdowns and my kids being home 24/7. (That’s a whole OTHER topic I won’t get into!) Needless to say, some authors are super productive when the world goes crazy. I am not. But I appreciate everyone who has been patiently waiting for this book. And I hope it lived up to all your expectations.
And that brings me to the other author I need to thank…Darcy Burke. Darcy continually encouraged me through this writing process and wouldn’t let me give up on this story, even when I got stuck or was sure I’d forgotten how to write altogether. People come and go from our lives. Some leave a mark and some don’t. But the special ones stick around even when times are tough, and they lift us up and make us strive to be better. That’s what Darcy has done for me, not just with this book but with all my books. There aren’t enough thanks in the world to express how much I appreciate her being there for me, especially during this whole last year.
I also want to thank my husband, Dan, who always supports me and my dream of being an author. And I need to thank him especially for not asking, “Aren’t you done with that book, yet?!”
Finally, I want to thank my daughter, Alia, who is old enough to read my books now, and who loves to talk about characters and plots and what I’m writing next. She was the first person to read this story, and the first to tell me it worked (thank the Fates!) She’s also the one who has encouraged me to dive right into the next Eternal Guardians book so you, my fabulous readers, don’t have to wait too long for the next part of this story.
The world is a dark place. We’re reminded of that every day. And it’s so easy to get bogged down in the ugliness of it all. But there’s still light out there if you look. My goal is always to give you a place to escape reality, to help you find the magick you may be missing, and to encourage you to be the light for yourself and for others.
As long as you keep asking for magickal stories in the worlds I’ve created, I will be here writing them.
~Elisabeth
Dear Reader
Thank you for reading WICKED! I hope you enjoyed Zagreus and Talisa’s story! If you’re interested in reading more books in the Eternal Guardians series, visit my website here to check out exclusive excerpts and access buy links.
While each book in the series can be read as a stand alone, it is, of course, more fun to read them in order. The books in the Eternal Guardians series include:
MARKED – Book 1
Theron
ENTWINED – Book 2
Zander
TEMPTED – Book 3
Demetrius
ENRAPTURED – Book 4
Orpheus
ENSLAVED – Book 5
Gryphon
BOUND – Book 6
Titus
TWISTED – Book 7
Nick
RAVAGED – Novella
Ari
AWAKENED – Book 8
Damon
UNCHAINED – Novella
Prometheus
HUNTED - Novella
Erebus
ENSNARED - Novella
Ryder
WICKED - Book 9
Zagreus
If you enjoyed WICKED and any of the other books in the Eternal Guardians series, I would appreciate it if you would help others enjoy them as well by doing one of the following:
Recommend them: Please help others find these books by recommending them to friends, readers’ groups, and discussion boards.
Review them: Tell readers what you liked or didn’t like by reviewing them at one of the major retailers, review sites, or on your blog. I appreciate all reviews whether positive or negative.
To find out what I’m working on next, you can sign up for my Newsletter here. All through 2021, newsletter subscribers are getting a free book per month from some of the hottest romance authors in the business!
Visit my website to see a full list of my books. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, or like my FB page to get exclusive excerpts, behind the scenes first looks, and upcoming series/book updates.
Stay tuned for more books in the Eternal Guardians series. I’m definitely not done with this world yet!
~Elisabeth
Also by Elisabeth Naughton
Eternal Guardians Series
(Paranormal romance)
MARKED
ENTWINED
TEMPTED