Wicked

by Elisabeth Naughton

  “Yes. And it sounded like Talisa was with him when they saw Max with the satyrs.”

  Isadora glanced toward Casey and Theron. “Then that means Zagreus has to be holding Talisa somewhere close.”

  Theron crossed his own thick arms over his chest. “If Zagreus is still controlling the satyrs, it makes sense to find him before we attack the satyr compound.”

  “Bullshit!” Zander’s eyes flashed again, and he lurched toward Theron. “You’re not calling the shots on this one, you son of a bitch.”

  Voices rose. Tempers flared. Nick and Demetrius quickly moved between Theron and Zander, who were on the verge of throwing punches and would never see eye-to-eye on a plan because they were each too worried about their own child to listen to reason.

  Casey rubbed her throbbing temple and looked toward her sisters, both of whom seemed as frustrated and helpless as she felt. All the male posturing going on wasn’t helping matters, and she was just about to tell her sisters and Cynna they should continue their discussion in another room when Maelea appeared in the doorway wrapped in a black robe that matched the wild hair around her pale face.

  Alarm immediately shot through Casey. She dropped her hand from her forehead and stepped forward. “Maelea? Are you all right?”

  Maelea shook her head, but before she could answer, Gryphon, her mate, appeared in the doorway behind her, looking even more disheveled—his blond hair matted on one side, his light blue eyes glazed as if he was still half-asleep, his white T-shirt wrinkled, and his grey sweats tugged up on one leg as if he’d just yanked them on.

  “Geez, you move fast when you want, female,” he muttered.

  “Sorry,” Maelea said to her mate at her back. “But they need to be warned.”

  Voices quieted behind Casey. Callia moved up at her side, and Casey sensed the males taking notice of Maelea in the doorway, but she didn’t turn to look at them. “Warned about what?”

  “I sensed something,” Maelea said, looking from face to face. “An energy that moved into the castle a few minutes ago. It woke me. It… It’s powerful.”

  Maelea had the ability to sense energy shifts here and in the human realm, created when portals opened or closed or when immortals crossed realms. Because Hades was constantly hunting her for being the result of his wife’s indiscretion, and because Hades was technically not an Olympian and could cross into Argolea unnoticed, she was always on guard. But Hades couldn’t step foot in the Argolean castle. It was protected by magick impenetrable even to him. Which meant the energy she’d felt was from something else. Or created by someone else.

  “Nick and Cynna just got here a few minutes ago,” Callia said. “You probably felt Nick’s energy when he moved into the cast—”

  “No. This energy is not from Nick.” Maelea cast a quick look at Nick and Cynna then glanced toward the queen. “This is something else. I can’t quite get a read on it. It’s different. It’s not completely dark, but it’s strong.”

  “Shit.” Nick glanced toward Cynna. “You don’t think…?”

  Cynna swallowed hard. “Yeah, I think it could be.”

  “Skata.” Nick looked toward the door where Gryphon seemed as confused as everyone else, then back at Cynna. “Tell them the rest, quickly.”

  “What rest?” Theron asked, growing agitated all over again.

  Cynna ran a hand through her hair. “The rest is what I was getting to before everyone got all bent out of shape. Max wasn’t a prisoner. According to Zagreus, he’s working with the satyrs.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Zander cut in.

  “And he wasn’t alone,” Cynna went on, glancing Zander’s way. “Pandora was with him.”

  Silence fell over the room.

  “Pandora,” Isadora said, pushing out of her seat. “The first human female?”

  “Yep. Same one,” Nick answered. “She was one of Zagreus’s prisoners in his Yucatan lair when we were there. He’d easily recognize her. I checked with some contacts in the human realm before we came over here tonight. Pandora’s box was stolen from the Titan Epimetheus recently. If Pandora was at the satyr compound, and Max is cooperating with the satyrs in whatever they’re doing, then odds are pretty good she’s got her box and is using it to control him.”

  “Motherfucker,” Zander muttered, looking quickly at Callia.

  Callia moved close to her mate and squeezed his hand.

  “Three thousand satyrs,” Cynna said, “Pandora, and Max, who has the power of transference, which”—she glanced toward Zander and Callia—“we need to discuss later, all together. With her box, an army, and Max on her side, Pandora is incredibly powerful. Nick and I both think she’s planning an offensive attack as retaliation against Zagreus for holding her prisoner all those years.”

  Casey’s stomach dropped. That meant the woman was planning an attack on Talisa. She looked toward her mate.

  “This changes things dramatically.” Isadora also turned toward Theron. “Since we don’t yet know Zagreus’s location, our first priority has to be getting Max away from Pandora and preventing whatever she and the satyrs have planned.”

  Theron slowly nodded, but his gaze skipped from the queen to Casey, and in her mate’s eyes, Casey saw the sudden fear. “Agreed.”

  “Once Max is secure,” Isadora went on, “we’ll use Pandora to locate Talisa. She’s strong.” Her gaze drifted to Demetrius, and Casey knew her sister was thinking about the time their own daughter had been missing, taken by Zeus as a prisoner of Olympus. “And she’s a natural warrior.” She turned and stepped toward Casey, reaching for her sister’s hand. “She can survive a few more days. I know she can.”

  Casey squeezed her sister’s hand and nodded, but inside she was a bundle of nerves and worry.

  Yes, Talisa was tough—tougher than most females—but this was not the same situation Elysia had been through. She wasn’t being held captive by the Sirens. She was at the mercy of the Prince of Darkness.

  “Talisa will be fine.” Cynna looked toward Casey. “She’s not in any danger. I know this is hard to understand, but I honestly believe Zagreus is not a threat to—”

  Black smoke swirled in the center of the room. Energy popped and sizzled.

  Feet shuffled. Theron shouted, “Acacia” and darted in front of Casey, pushing her to his back as he cursed under his breath that he didn’t have his blade.

  Casey stumbled and grasped Theron’s shoulder to keep from falling. The other Argonauts had moved in front of their mates as well, but all eyes were locked on the fading smoke in the center of the room, not on what Theron was doing. And when Casey chanced a glance around Theron’s wide shoulders, she realized why.

  The god they’d all been talking about was standing in the middle of the room. Only he didn’t look a thing like the sadistic Prince of Darkness who’d unleashed hell on this land with his father twenty-some odd years ago. He looked… as if he’d just been through hell.

  His hair was wild and damp. His clothing torn and streaked with dirt. Bruises, cuts, and scratches marred every part of his exposed skin, and his lip, though already slowly healing from his immortal genes, looked as if it had been split open wide.

  His gaze skipped over every face in the room, stopping when it reached Maelea at Casey’s side.

  Everyone was utterly silent. Everyone but Cynna who stepped right up to Zagreus as if he wasn’t a threat at all and said, “What happened?”

  Casey wasn’t sure what was going on. Nick wasn’t stopping Cynna. Wasn’t reaching for her. Didn’t seem worried at all. He just crossed his arms over his chest again and tipped his head, waiting for Zagreus’s answer.

  Zagreus glanced from Nick to Cynna and back again, as if trying to gauge their reaction to him, but didn’t respond. Then his gaze shot back to each of the Argonauts before finally resting on Theron.

  Frowning, Cynna turned, crossed the room, and grasped a tissue from the table near the couch. Bringing it back, she handed it to Zagreus. “You’re bleeding. Here. Ignore
them and tell us what happened. Was it the satyrs?”

  “No.” He dabbed at his bloody lip. “My father found me before I made it back.” He glanced toward Theron. “Which means it won’t be long before he finds your daughter, too.”

  “You son of a bitch!”

  Theron lurched forward, but Nick was quicker. He darted between Theron and Zagreus and shoved Theron back.

  Casey gasped. There weren’t many who could best Theron’s herculean strength, but Nick was a god, as powerful as Zeus and Poseidon and Hades, and he stopped Theron in his tracks with a hand smack in the center of his chest.

  “Cool the fuck down,” Nick said, “and listen to what he has to say.”

  Theron’s eyes filled with rage, but breathing heavily, he stilled and waited. And not sure what the hell was happening, Casey turned wide eyes toward Zagreus and waited, too.

  “Go on,” Cynna said.

  “I said it won’t be long,” Zagreus snapped. “Not that he’d found her. He doesn’t know where she is, yet. But he’ll be coming back. And since he’s combined forces with Pandora, he’ll be sending her satyr army to attack first. I don’t have the numbers to fight off Pandora’s army and a legion from the Underworld. That’s why I’m here.” He glanced at the Argonauts. “Because it’s your duty to protect the mortal realm from threats of the Underworld, is it not?”

  “They’re your satyrs,” Theron growled.

  “They’re not my satyrs. They turned on me a long time ago.”

  “Just send Talisa home.” Panic pushed at Casey’s chest. “Release her and there is no threat.”

  “I tried that.” Zagreus glanced her way. “But she’s stubborn as shit and won’t leave. She’s in no immediate danger, though. I assure you of that.”

  “You expect us to believe that when you’re holding her as a prisoner?” Theron growled.

  Zagreus rubbed at his forehead. “I don’t give a shit what you believe. I’m telling you, plainly, that she’s not my prisoner, and she’s perfectly safe, for the moment at least. She’s been a guest in the kingdom and treated like royalty. Which is probably part of the problem. She doesn’t want to leave. I’ve tried repeatedly to get her to go, only she refuses to listen to reason.”

  Cynna turned and glanced at Nick. Some kind of silent communication passed between the two, one that made Cynna’s lips tip up slightly before she looked back at Zagreus. One that made Casey think… Cynna believed what Zagreus was saying. So did Nick.

  And recognizing the frustration coming from Zagreus’s voice and realizing what it stemmed from, Casey started to wonder if maybe he was telling the truth, too.

  “What kingdom?” Cynna asked the god.

  Zagreus’s lips thinned. “Ehrendia.”

  Gasps echoed through the room. Followed by whispers of disbelief. But all Casey could focus on was her rapid pulse and suddenly damp palms.

  “The borders of the kingdom are protected by magick,” Zagreus went on, “but Pandora knows where we are, and now that her army has joined forced with my father, the kingdom’s in deep shit. I tried to get Talisa to leave again as soon as we saw what was going on with Pandora’s satyrs, but now that she knows her cousin is being controlled by Pandora’s box, she’s even more resistant to going, even when I’ve told her she’s in freakin’ danger.”

  “Skata,” Casey mumbled, sucker punched not just because she recognized that look in Zagreus’s eyes when he spoke about Talisa, but because she understood now why she and her sisters hadn’t been able to harness their Horae gifts to find Max and Talisa. “The box and the magickal border were blocking our view.” She looked back to Zagreus. “I believe you.”

  “Acacia.” Shock reverberated from Theron’s voice.

  She glanced toward her mate. “Our daughter is just as stubborn as you, Theron, and when she puts her mind to something, no one can change it. Not even her soul mate.”

  Gasps echoed around the room again, but Casey ignored those too and looked back at Zagreus. “What kind of defenses does Ehrendia have?”

  “Not much of any,” he said bluntly, eyeing Casey carefully. “In addition to the border, it includes me and about three hundred silens, most of whom are not natural fighters.”

  Shit, that wouldn’t be enough. And holy shit, silens were real, too. “I’m assuming you have a plan. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here now.”

  “I do.” Zagreus warily glanced Theron’s direction once more. “But it depends on him. And on the rest of you, cooperating.”

  “Why should we cooperate with you?” Theron asked in a low voice. “You already said Talisa is not your prisoner.”

  “Because you want her back here safe where she belongs as much as I do.” He looked over the other faces. “And because she’s more important than any of you realize. You think you’ve been protecting her all this time by keeping her trapped in this land, but the reality is she’s the only thing standing between you and annihilation.”

  “What are you talking about?” Nick asked, eyes narrowed.

  “I’m talking about the Orb of Krónos. I’m talking about the markings on her arms. There’s a reason she was born a warrior. I didn’t understand it until recently, but there’s a reason she was brought back now, in this time, and why she found me.”

  “Holy shit. No man or god can destroy it,” Casey mumbled. Words she’d read in the ancient texts filled her mind, making sense for the first time.

  “What?” Theron asked, moving to her side and reaching for her hand. “Meli?”

  Casey ignored her mate and continued to stare at Zagreus. And when his eyes met hers, she said, “You have the Orb, don’t you?”

  “No.” He looked toward Theron. “Talisa does. And if you have any hope of finishing what you all started, it has to come back here, with her.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Talisa had a strange sense of déjà vu as she opened her eyes and blinked in the low light.

  Someone was moving around the room. Not the same room she’d woken in before, dazed and confused. No, this room was way nicer. But just as familiar.

  Pushing up on her hands so she could scoot back into the pillows, Talisa realized this was Zagreus’s room. Zagreus’s big gothic canopy bed. And that he wasn’t the one moving around making noise.

  The heavy velvet curtains swept open, and sunlight flooded the room. Slamming her eyes shut, she twisted away from the light, groaning at the burn in her retinas.

  “Good, you’re awake.” Nysa moved to the next set of drapes and yanked those open as well. “I won’t have to shake you.”

  There was something unfriendly in the nymph’s voice, but Talisa was too busy blinking against the brightness to wonder what. And the fragmented memories suddenly flooding her mind were too intense to ignore.

  The hike yesterday with Zagreus, finding the satyr compound, Max…

  Before she could get too excited at the knowledge Max was really okay, another memory hit. This one of her and Zagreus in the trees, arguing. Him, telling her they were going back, trying to force her to leave. Her, breaking free and…

  What? What had she done when she’d broken free of his hold?

  “You’re as selfish as everyone said you were. I-I can’t believe I didn’t see it before…”

  Her own words echoed back in her head. Every ugly one she’d uttered to him in anger. And her pulse beat hard and fast when she remembered that boulder rising in the air then whirring past Zagreus’s head.

  He’d ducked out of the way, hadn’t he?

  She swallowed hard, frantically thinking back. Yes, he had. That rock hadn’t hit him. Relief swept through her, but was quickly shattered when she remembered his words as he’d grabbed her again.

  “Stop fighting me, dammit. And stop using your fucking brain strength to throw things at me.”

  Wide-eyed, she looked down at her trembling hands and turned them over in her lap. Had she really done that? She’d never been able to move objects with her mind before. Couldn’t even remember
consciously thinking about throwing something at him. All she knew was that she’d been so upset then, she hadn’t been thinking straight. And he’d been the one thing standing in her way.

  She glanced over the bed and realized she was right in the middle of the mattress. The pillows around her weren’t disturbed. She’d slept here alone. He obviously hadn’t wanted to have anything to do with her once he’d brought her back to the castle.

  She wasn’t sure what had happened after their fight, but she suddenly didn’t care. All she could think about was him. What she’d done. And why he would ever want to be around her again after she’d all but accused him of being the monster everyone else thought him to be.

  Panic pushed at her chest. She looked up at Nysa, standing at the side of the bed, eyeing her warily, almost as if she wasn’t sure what Talisa would do. “He’s all right, isn’t he?”

  Nysa’s eyes narrowed. “Zagreus?”

  “Yes.”

  “He’s fine,” she said cautiously. “How are you?”

  “Stupid.” Talisa threw back the covers and moved to the other side of the bed. She was wearing a flimsy white nightgown again, just like the first time she’d awoken in this castle, but this time she barely noticed. She pushed to her feet and glanced around. “Where are my clothes? I need to talk to him.”

  “Your clothes are being cleaned.” When Talisa turned to look at the nymph, Nysa said, “I brought you some new things to wear. If you’re interested. As long as you’re feeling better.”

  It hit Talisa then that Nysa knew what had happened. What she’d done. And that the nymph had been sent to guard her.

  “I’m fine. I’m not…” She looked down at her hands. “I don’t even know how I did that.” Her gaze met the female’s hesitant one across the bed. “But I won’t flip out again like that, I promise.”

  “Hm.” Nysa’s gaze narrowed. “It seems to me your gift of strength is stronger than you thought. And that it might be tied to your emotions. Gifts unchecked like that can be dangerous. You’re lucky Zagreus was there to help you.”