Cass muttered, “To think, I can’t even escape persecution in the twenty-first century. At least the last people to attempt to drown me gave me advance warning.”
Above her on the vermillion wooden bridge that arched over the pond, Daimon stopped laughing.
She pulled herself out of the pond with Marinda’s help and frowned down at her ruined dress. “Well, there goes two thousand euros of designer dress.”
“Are you hurt?” Marinda looked her over.
“Only my pride.” And her knees. And her throat. And everything.
Esher loosed a long sigh. “The carp are all fine.”
Cass cast him a withering look. “Bully for the carp.”
She trudged across the gravel, refusing to let anyone see how much it hurt her bare feet. Daimon’s gaze tracked her. She ignored him, and the temptation to use the eunuch spell on him, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she reached the large flat stones that formed a path through the delicate topiary.
“I am going to assume this was a delightful rite of passage to initiate me into the group and I will not hold it against you.” She squared up to Keras where he stood on the edge of the covered walkway, near a deep stone step, his arms folded over his black shirt and his emerald eyes fixed on Daimon. They lowered to her. She kept her voice calm, masking the feelings whirling inside her like a tempest. “If we are going to argue again about my worth, or how I can help your side, or if I hear any more talk of me being voted out, I will be rather upset.”
She stared into his eyes, letting him see in hers that by rather upset, she meant she was going to utterly destroy everything he held dear.
Starting with Daimon.
“Now, if we are done, I would like to get clean and dry.”
Keras slowly nodded. “We shall continue our discussion about how you can help us later.”
She dipped her chin, willing to talk with him, because she needed to be part of this group, needed them to accept her so she could remain close to Marinda.
His green gaze slid back to Daimon, a troubled edge to it.
Daimon continued to stare at her.
As Cass swept towards the bathhouse, keeping her chin up and refusing to let anyone see the hurt brewing inside her as a thousand thoughts weighed her down, Cal’s voice rang out in the still air, echoing one thought in particular as he stopped near Daimon.
“Dick.”
Chapter 27
Two days had passed since the rather unfortunate meeting, one Cass had banned her from talking about. Daimon had made his excuses and left before Cass had emerged from the bath-house. Keras had decided that Cass could join the team, and that had been enough for most of the brothers to accept her into the group. The more stubborn of them, Esher in particular and Daimon, were still frosty with her friend.
Two days and nothing had happened.
The inaction grated on Marinda.
The latest she had heard was that Caterina had managed to teleport Marek to a house where Eli, a wraith on the enemy’s side, had taken her. No one had been there. It had been a dead end.
Worse than that, Caterina’s wraith brother, Guillem, had no more information to give them. Another dead end. Now, Caterina was working to turn Guillem over to their side. The human-turned-daemon wasn’t interested in helping them though, not like his sister.
Daimon had finally made an appearance again yesterday and had been distant the entire time he had been in the house. Just before she had turned in for the day, something that was still weird to Marinda, Cal had taken her aside and asked her whether Cass had been hurt by Daimon when he had teleported her to the pond.
Cass had overheard him and had refused to confirm or deny whether Daimon had injured her with his ice.
Mari couldn’t blame her friend for clinging to her mood with him, but really, it was all a little childish. It had been wrong of Cass to dump his boots in the bath, but it had been equally as wrong of him to dump her in the pond.
She sighed, unable to hold it back.
She wanted everyone to get along, but she had the feeling that wasn’t going to happen where Cass and Daimon were concerned. The two seemed intent on hating each other.
Several of the brothers had suggested drawing the enemy out by going to the gates. The enemy needed them open in order to breach the link between the Underworld and the mortal one by somehow shattering the gate while it was active. Doing that would cause the Underworld and the mortal one to pull and push at each other, slowly merging them and unleashing catastrophic events across the globe.
Creating a new realm for the enemy to rule.
One where humans were no longer the apex predator and were now the livestock, and the entertainment, for daemons.
Keras and Ares had been against going to the gates, and so had Daimon. Even Valen had expressed concerns about taking such a path.
Cal had suggested an alternative way of luring the enemy out.
The brothers would stay firmly away from the gates, not even heading to them when a Hellspawn wanted to pass through them.
Everyone, including her, had agreed it was a good plan. The best they had really. If they waited long enough, the enemy would grow desperate, the inaction grating on them as fiercely as it did on her and the brothers. The enemy would make another move, and the brothers would be ready for them.
The wait was killing her though.
Marinda had thought she could handle it, but being cooped up in the Tokyo mansion with little to do was slowly driving her crazy. The cold, vicious side of her blood that craved vengeance was growing more persistent, so much so that more than once she had found herself wandering towards the gatehouse in the white wall that enclosed the mansion.
Cass had caught her the first time, and had suggested she play for a while to take her mind off things. It had worked, but the moment her fingers had become too sore to play the pieces well, that hunger to hunt down the necromancer and his allies had returned.
The second time, she had been caught by Esher, and he hadn’t been pleased.
Cal had talked his brother down for her, and he had suggested that she train in order to not only hone her skills but work off some of her energy and make her feel that she was getting somewhere.
Marinda had found the idea appealing. It wasn’t just the thought of sparring and practicing, it was the prospect of possibly learning new moves and ways to control herself when she was fighting.
Keeping the cold, dangerous side of her contained.
Cal hadn’t had a chance to offer his services.
Cass had practically dragged her away from him, saying that she would teach her all she needed to know.
Marinda dodged the twisting violet orb that came at her. It did a sharp arc and whizzed back towards her, and she leaned left, evading it again.
While Marinda was learning how to use her speed to her advantage, and was testing the limits of it, she wasn’t exactly learning anything new about fighting.
Not unless Cass thought she was going to dodge, duck and dive her way out of danger.
“This isn’t working,” Marinda said as she dropped to avoid the orb. “Where’s the danger? I don’t think the enemy is going to be annoying me with shiny balls of magic.”
She felt bad when Cass pouted, but this wasn’t the time for her to be gentle and gratefully accept what she was being offered when it wasn’t what she needed. Dodging magic balls wasn’t giving her the release she needed. She didn’t feel in danger. She didn’t feel that burst of energy and excitement, and fear, she had when she had been training with Cal in London.
She needed to be pushed to the limit, needed a good work out to burn off some of the rage knotting inside her and make her feel she was getting somewhere.
Doing something productive.
Cass planted her hands on her hips. “Shiny balls of magic is how I fight. You’re not suggesting I get physical?”
“Get physical,” Daimon snorted as he strode past them, heading for the house, his boots loud on
the pale gravel that covered most of the front garden. “Like someone like you knows how to get physical.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “What is that meant to mean, snegovik?”
Daimon turned incredulous blue eyes on her. “Snowman? That’s the best insult you can come up with?”
“That I can say in front of Mari, at least. Believe me, I have others in mind whenever I look at you.” Cass tilted her chin up, jutting it out.
“I think the word you’re really looking for is krasivyy.” He grinned at her, flashing straight white teeth.
Whatever that word meant, it flustered Cass.
Her friend muttered something in Russian under her breath as she imperiously turned away from him.
“Snegovik.” Cass bit out.
Daimon shrugged his broad shoulders and continued to the porch.
Just before he stepped inside, he muttered, “Koldun’ya.”
Cass blushed again.
“Maybe try not insulting our hosts?” Marinda didn’t think that the infighting was going to help them in the battle against the enemy. Cal had told her that they needed to be a united front.
For some reason, Cass seemed determine to irritate Daimon.
Cass flicked Marinda a black look. “How was I meant to know he could speak Russian?”
“Because he’s several hundred years old and has been in this world for two hundred of them?” Something Marinda still found incredible. Apparently, Cal was the baby of the group at a tender seven hundred and sixty-five. “It stands to reason he might know a few languages, Cass.”
Cal spoke fluent French, as well as modern and ancient Greek, Spanish, German and a few other languages.
“What did he call you?” she said.
Cass grumbled, “Witch.”
Not as bad as Marinda had presumed, and far better than Cass was dishing out to him.
“Oh, I’m not cut out for this.” Cass huffed and pulled a face. “I thought I could train you, but I don’t know the first thing about fighting with fists.”
Marinda was tired, and feeling honest because of it, couldn’t stop herself from saying, “You wanted to stop me from training with Cal. What is it you have against him? He’s taken good care of me, Cass. He helped me find out what I am and he did his best to protect me from those daemons, even with his powers restricted.”
She could understand why Cass wanted to protect her, but Cass didn’t know Cal as she did. She only knew what she had seen. She didn’t know how he felt, or the man he was when no one was watching him.
Marinda went to Cass and hugged her. “I know you want to keep me safe, but standing between me and Cal… that’s only hurting me.”
She waited, and relief flowed through her when Cass wrapped her up in her arms and held her.
“I’m sorry. Since Eric… died… I’m feeling a bit protective of you.” Cass lifted her hand and smoothed Marinda’s hair, a comforting touch that Marinda soaked up.
As crazy as Cass made her, Marinda was glad that she was here with her.
“I miss him,” she murmured, throat tight.
“Me too.” Cass hugged her closer and whispered on a sigh, “Me too.”
She rested her head on Cass’s shoulder and enjoyed the warmth of her friend’s arms around her, and the quiet that came over her. She was so tired. She wanted to sleep, but she felt restless, the need to hunt her father’s killers keeping her constantly on edge.
Cass muttered, “Your god is watching us.”
He was?
She drew back and looked around, stopped when she spotted him near a tree in the corner of the garden. He didn’t hide that he was watching her, and she savoured the concern that shone in his blue eyes as much as she had Cass’s hug.
She smiled at him and stepped back as Cass released her. “Cass was just saying she needed someone else to teach me.”
Cass preened her long black hair. “Only because I need to get some things from my home, mind. It’s important you continue your training while I’m gone.”
Now her friend was making excuses, covering up the fact that she didn’t know much about fighting without magic. The look on Cal’s face said it was clear he knew Cass was trying not to lose face by admitting there was something she couldn’t do.
“That’s okay,” he said as he approached them. “I can take over for a while. Fill in for you, like.”
It was sweet of him to play along.
Cass nodded, turned to her and touched her cheek, her brow furrowing as she looked down into Marinda’s eyes. “Be careful now.”
Marinda had the feeling her friend wasn’t talking only about being careful during the training Cal was going to put her through. Cass wanted her to be careful with her heart too, and other things that made Marinda want to blush as Cal’s gaze landed on her, sending a thousand volts shooting through her veins to heat her.
Cass went inside.
Cal offered his hand to her.
“Ready?” he husked, his gaze heating as he looked at her.
Sending a hot, achy shiver through her.
“As I’ll ever be,” she breathed, unable to get her voice above a whisper as need coiled inside her, heating her another ten degrees.
His eyes darkened.
Hunger rolled through her.
She slipped her hand into his and another bolt of lightning struck along her nerves, tugging a gasp from her lips.
Cal pulled her to him, banded his arm around her waist and kissed her.
The heat inside her exploded into wildfire that scorched every inch of her and her heart raced, drumming fiercely against her chest as she moaned and kissed him back, a desperate edge to it. His lips clashed with hers, his breaths heavy as he tugged her closer still.
“Gods, I want you, Mari,” he growled against her mouth, a sharp thrill chasing through her in response.
He sounded so hungry, so possessive and as filled with need as she was. She grasped his shoulders and pulled him closer still, needing to feel every inch of him against her.
“I…” She hesitated, heart stuttering, fear clashing with hunger inside her, pulling her in opposite directions. She crushed the fear and yanked him against her. “I want you too.”
Cal groaned, bent and lifted her, and then froze and cursed. He pressed his forehead to hers.
“What’s wrong?” She squirmed in his arms, unable to keep still as excitement flooded her, the thought she was finally going to know a man’s touch—Cal’s touch—pushing her right to the edge.
“My room is right next to the TV area.”
That almost tossed a bucket of ice on her libido.
But it wasn’t taking no for an answer, not this time.
“Somewhere else then?” she breathed and kissed him again, hoping to convince him, because if he delayed much longer, her nerve was going to fail her.
“Too dangerous.”
She wanted to curse at him.
“So who’s room is furthest away from where everyone might be?” Was that her voice, so raspy and needy?
“Keras’s.” He didn’t sound happy about that. “But fuck him… he never uses it.”
Darkness whirled around them and when it receded, they were in a square room with beautiful depictions of dragons and other things painted on the panels. It was certainly a step up from the plain white walls of Cal’s room, but she didn’t mention that. She didn’t want him feeling self-conscious and he would if she compared their rooms.
She wanted him wild and reckless. She wanted to be wild and reckless too.
Cal carried her over to a wide wooden dresser and set her down on top of it. He kissed her again, slower now when she wanted it fast and frantic, filled with passion that would keep her skirting the edge of control so that little voice at the back of her head remained distant, barely noticeable.
She was doing this.
Her heart skipped a beat at that thought.
She fought the trickle of nerves that ran through her, trying to stem the flow of it a
s she kissed Cal, as his lips danced over hers and their breath mingled. She had never kissed anyone the way she always ended up kissing him, so desperately, as if she feared it would end before she was ready.
Marinda slipped her hand around the nape of his neck and held him to her as she kissed him. She moaned as his tongue traced hers, teasing it and sending another shiver through her. She wanted this to be leisurely, slow so she could savour it, but her body wasn’t getting the message.
Her hips rocked forwards.
Cal grunted and then groaned when she did it again, and that trickle of nerves was in danger of becoming a torrent when she felt the hard bulge in his jeans press against her.
The thrill that shot through her dammed the nerves though, holding them back. She did it again, and again, rolling her hips to meet his, to rub that length of steel. It didn’t satisfy her. Each stroke of it between her thighs only made her want more.
Cal drew back and seized her hips, stilling them as he gazed down into her eyes, his filled with a myriad of emotions that blended together into one heated look.
“We really doing this?” His eyes searched hers. “We don’t have to rush.”
A blush scalded her cheeks as something dawned on her.
He knew that she was new to this. Untouched.
Part of Marinda wanted to take the out he was clearly giving her, but the rest screamed that she wanted this. She wanted to know what it was like to be with Cal. She didn’t want to wait any longer, not when everything was so uncertain.
Marinda twisted the front of his T-shirt into her fist and pulled him back to her, seizing his mouth in a passionate kiss she hoped showed him that she was serious.
They were doing this.
Chapter 28
Cal groaned and pressed closer, shifted his hands up to her waist.
Marinda gasped into his mouth as his palms made contact with her bare flesh. Heat rolled through her, slowly stealing control from her, and she couldn’t stop herself from lowering her hand to the hem of his T-shirt. Her belly fluttered and she steeled her nerves. She was going to do this.
Calistos: Guardians of Hades Series Book 5 Page 27