She shot him a back off look he didn’t heed. Tried to pull her hand away. Couldn’t wrench it from his grasp.
The sentry gave her another once-over, then motioned with his hand as he turned and headed down a tunnel to their right. “This way.”
Orpheus leaned close to her ear. “Don’t piss them off.”
She didn’t miss his deadly serious tone or the I’m not kidding look in his eyes when he eased back. And her unease at where he was taking them shot up another notch.
Their guide didn’t speak much, and his pace was quicker than theirs. But after a series of turns through a maze of tunnels Skyla was sure she’d never remember, they eventually reached a door at least ten feet high made of solid steel.
The sentry flipped up a piece of what looked like rock on the wall but obviously wasn’t. Underneath, a keypad was backlit by a green glow. He typed in a code, then the door slid open to reveal a room with stone walls, a concrete floor, lockers and cabinets along one whole side, and a man as big as Orpheus standing in the center of the vast space, his hands on his hips, his amber eyes less than thrilled that they’d arrived.
“I had a feeling I’d be seeing you,” the man said.
Orpheus tugged Maelea into the room. Her eyes were wide with fear but she let Orpheus pull her along, didn’t even flinch at the contact. And that irritation that he so obviously cared about Maelea’s safety reared its ugly head all over again in Skyla’s chest.
“It’s nice to see a familiar face,” Orpheus said.
“Uh-huh.” The man turned skeptical amber eyes toward Maelea, then to Skyla. After a long beat of silence that amped Skyla’s already tightly strung nerves, he pushed a button on the wall near an elevator. “From the looks of the three of you, I’m guessing you’ll be needing food and clothes and somewhere to rest.”
“That would be good,” Orpheus said. “We appreciate it.”
The elevator opened with a ping. The man held out his hand, waited while Maelea and Skyla stepped into the car, then followed Orpheus in. He punched a button on the panel, turned, and crossed his arms over his massive chest, locking his stare on Skyla.
He knew who she was. She could see it in those eyes. Only this guy wasn’t just a man. He was something more. He was bigger than Orpheus and that was saying a lot. His blond hair was cropped short and he wore large gauges in his earlobes. And dressed all in black with those guns at his hips, the fingerless gloves, and that long scar down the left side of his face, he screamed threat in every way imaginable.
“Nick,” Orpheus said into the low hum from the elevator, “this is Skyla and Maelea. Ladies, this is Nick Blades, leader of the Misos colony.”
Nick didn’t answer. Didn’t even spare Maelea a glance. And as tension filled the car like a helium balloon inflating, Skyla realized this was one of the few half-breed colonies scattered across the globe. Argolean-human survivors of Atalanta’s war who’d taken refuge together. It was well known on Olympus that Argoleans placed no value on the Misos mixed-breed bloodline and that their past king refused to grant them protection because of societal discrimination. Since Zeus refused to get involved in anything Argolean related, he left them alone as well. Obviously, from the look of bitter contempt in this guy’s eyes, he knew that and thought less of Zeus than he did of the new Argolean queen.
Which meant he thought even less of her.
Her anxiety amped and the weight of the bow in her boot reminded her she needed to be careful.
The elevator door opened. A wall of arched windows looked out over a view that seemed to come straight off a postcard. Blue-green water in every direction, snow-capped mountains surrounding a lake. Even an eagle swooping through the air to catch a fish, then sailing high once more.
Maelea’s eyes grew wide but still she didn’t speak. Skyla turned a slow circle and took in the two-story stone room with its high peaked ceiling, intricate iron chandeliers, multicolored throw rugs, and fancy Russian furnishings.
She’d have bet her throwing stars they were in a castle. But a castle out here? In the middle of a lake? In the center of nowhere? It made no sense.
Footsteps echoed behind them and Skyla turned just as an attractive woman with a slight limp stepped down from the staircase that curved up and to the left.
“This is Helene,” Nick said. “She’ll take you someplace where you can freshen up and relax. Orpheus and I have things to discuss.”
Skyla knew those “things” meant her. “I won’t—”
Orpheus leaned toward her, his hot breath and low voice millimeters from her ear. “Go with Maelea. She’s liable to jump out a window if we aren’t there to stop her.”
When he eased back, Skyla saw the spark of mischief in his eyes, but the tight line of his jaw belied the carefree attitude. And the fact he’d obviously picked up on Nick’s animosity toward her nixed her jealousy and made her that much more determined to stay.
She opened her mouth to tell him just how little she cared about what Maelea did or didn’t do when he mouthed the word please. And just that fast her resistance wavered. As if he had some magical control over her.
“I’ll come find you both when I’m done down here,” Orpheus said.
She felt she shouldn’t go. But she couldn’t seem to say no. She found herself nodding as she stepped away from him.
The female, Helene, smiled and held a hand out to the stairs. “You both look tired. Come. This way.”
Skyla gripped the intricately carved mahogany banister and looked down at Orpheus as she followed Helene and Maelea. The heat of his stare burned into her soul, and as she climbed the stairs she remembered that day at Perseus’s castle when she’d gone to tell Cynurus she’d thought it over and she was ready to leave the Sirens for him.
He’d been with that Arcadian princess, the one his parents had wanted him to marry. She’d walked in on them doing nothing more dastardly than looking over a book together, but Skyla had been devastated, as devastated as if he’d been kissing the woman right in front of her. Never before had she realized the difference in their social status until she saw him with the sort of woman he should be with. He was heir to an entire kingdom and she was nothing…nothing more than an assassin. No royal blood, nothing to offer him except embarrassment when his family found out who and what she was. She wasn’t even a commoner. She was lower than that. She was someone who did Zeus’s dirty work, who killed and schemed and who had only met him because Zeus had targeted him as a nuisance to be dealt with.
Her heart squeezed tight as memories, emotions she’d long buried, came back tenfold. He wasn’t the same man he’d been then but there were similarities, and she was starting to see the things she’d loved about Cynurus in Orpheus. His worry over Maelea, his compassion for humans, though she was sure he’d never cop to it. And then there were the moments when he looked at her the way he was doing now. As if he wanted her the way he had then. As if she was the only female for miles and he was a man who’d been denied far too long.
She had to pull her gaze away, to break the connection before it sucked her under. Head spinning, she realized Helene and Maelea were gone. A quick shot of unease filtered through her before she heard their voices from the stairs above. She picked up her pace and reached them on the next level, where they were walking down a wide corridor lit every few yards or so with ornate sconces on the red-papered walls. Large arched doorways led into rooms she couldn’t see. Beneath her feet, a lush blue rug with tiny white flowers ran down the middle of the hall.
“What is this place?” Skyla asked, interrupting something Helene was telling Maelea.
Helene’s limp was more obvious as she glanced over her shoulder. “The castle was built by a Russian grand duke who sought exile in the United States in the late 1800s. He had it built for his wife, who was Romanian. Unfortunately, they were both killed before they could reach the States, as were their families. Since his wife was also a Misos, the castle fell into the hands of the Russian Misos colony. It sat empty for
more than a hundred years. For whatever reason, no one from that colony wanted to relocate here. When our colony in Oregon was destroyed by Atalanta’s daemons, Nick found out this was available, and here we are.”
She stopped in front of a door, turned the knob, and pushed the heavy mahogany mass open so Maelea and Skyla could enter the room.
It was a suite, not a room, with high arching windows, again looking down to the water, and a four-poster bed so big there were steps to climb into it. A fireplace ran along the left wall, a formal couch and high-backed side chairs placed in front of it. And beyond, a doorway Skyla guessed led to a bathroom.
This one room was as big as Skyla’s entire living space back on Olympus. A room clearly made for a princess, not a mere commoner. Definitely not an assassin.
Helene flipped on the lights, illuminating the jewel colors in the furnishings and the thick velvet comforter on the bed. “We were lucky they’d furnished most of the place. Though I have to admit sometimes it can be a little creepy.”
Skyla turned a slow circle and noticed the dainty wallpaper, the heavy curtains, the intricate touches like fancy curved iron grates over the vents and rich cherry hardwood floors.
“The bathroom’s through here.” Helene pushed open a door on the far side of the room. “The suite across the hall is just like this one. You’re welcome to it,” she added for Skyla. “I’ll have the cook send up some food for you both.”
She moved past Skyla to the door. Skyla turned to look after her. “How is it no one’s found this place?”
“Our sentries are good, that’s how. Get some rest. I’m sure Orpheus will be up to see you when he and Nick are done speaking.”
Orpheus.
As the door closed, that space in Skyla’s chest tightened again and the word hero echoed even louder.
How did this female—Helene—know Orpheus? The way she said his name indicated a familiarity. A friendship. She’d sensed the same connection between Orpheus and Nick earlier.
Daemon hybrids didn’t have friends. They were loners. And they didn’t care about others. They didn’t protect them or rescue them from avalanches or worry about what they thought or felt. A lump formed in her throat, a big one that told her everything she knew about the world around her was being shot to hell the longer she spent with him.
“I’m going to take a shower.”
Skyla had nearly forgotten she wasn’t alone. She looked toward Maelea standing near the windows, an I hate this place more than I hate you look on her face.
“Go ahead,” Skyla said, ignoring the look, too frazzled to deal with it right now. “I’ll be here.”
“Of course you will be,” Maelea muttered as she disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
A tiny part of Skyla felt for the girl. She’d lost her home, her anonymity, and Nick obviously wasn’t happy Orpheus had brought her here to the colony, but at least she was alive. If she’d stayed at her house in Seattle, she’d be dead now.
Dead.
The word echoed in Skyla’s mind as she moved to the windows, looked out at the blue-green lake around her quickly fading in the dusk of evening. For so long Cynurus had been dead to her, but he was alive. In Orpheus. Alive and so very close.
Water lapped at the rocky shore. A flock of birds soared far off in the distance. From this view, there was no way to get to the island unless you had a boat or helicopter. And that was good, because it meant surprise was thwarted by the water, the jagged mountains surrounding this lake, and the mass of caves they’d come through to get here. They were safe for the time being. But not safe from the memories bombarding her from all sides. The ones of Cynurus that were mixing with what she’d learned of Orpheus the last few days and the emotions toward him that had nothing to do with the past and everything do with the present.
What if Athena was wrong? What if Orpheus wasn’t the monster they all wanted her to believe he was? What if he was after something that had nothing to do with the Orb? Questions revolved in her mind, but the biggest one—the one that wouldn’t leave her alone and made her heart beat faster—sounded loudest.
What if he really was a hero after all?
Chapter 13
“Either you’re the biggest fucking idiot on the planet or you’ve got balls of steel. Currently I can’t decide which. Both, I’m sure, are going to get me killed in the long run.”
Here it came. Orpheus turned from the stairwell and the Siren who was continuously tipping his world off its axis and redirected his attention toward Nick. He chose his words carefully because though he and Nick were more friends than foes, the half-breed had a temper. And he was unpredictable, especially when that temper reared its ugly head. “How’d you know I was coming in?”
Nick crossed his arms over his massive chest. “Oh, let me see. It could have been my guy in Seattle informing me they’d found a dead hellhound near Lake Washington. Or it could have been news that Maelea was missing from that mansion she calls a house.”
Shit. Orpheus should have expected Nick would have all ears to the ground. He kept close tabs on what happened around his colony. He had to, to ensure the safety of his people.
“Or,” Nick went on, “it could have been the earthquake from hell—which, by the way, we don’t get many of up here in Montana. But my money’s on the two dead hellhounds my scouts killed not far from that train wreck. All of which combined has dumbshit tattooed all over it. And when I think of dumbshits, your name pops right to the top of the list.”
“Two hellhounds?” Orpheus asked, ignoring Nick’s rant.
“Two,” Nick repeated.
Orpheus’s brow lowered. “We killed five. Which means they aren’t running in normal packs.”
“Your powers of deduction are mind-numbing.”
“Your guys find signs of any others?”
“No.”
Something definitely wasn’t right. “Well, thanks to your crew for rounding them up.”
“Don’t thank me,” Nick said. “If it were up to me, you and your little entourage never would have been allowed entry into the colony. And what the hell are you thinking, dragging Maelea here? Pissing off one god wasn’t enough for you? You had to go for two just to add a little spice to the mix?”
Yep, this was what Orpheus had expected when he’d seen the sentry’s reaction in the caves. “I don’t think she’d appreciate being referred to as part of my entourage.”
“I don’t fucking care what she appreciates,” Nick snapped. “Doesn’t change shit about who she is. Hellhounds, Orpheus. I’m gonna have Hades on my ass now. And thanks to you, Zeus too, if that Siren is any indication of things to come.”
“If we had anywhere else to go, I’d have taken Maelea there and kept you out of this, but we didn’t. I’ll be gone by morning, so you have nothing to worry about. The Siren too. Zeus isn’t after Maelea, trust me.”
“Trusting you is like trusting a fucking Fury. What about Hades?”
“Hades doesn’t want Maelea either. He wants me.” Or rather he wants what Maelea is going to get for me. If she ever cooperates.
“You’ll understand if that doesn’t leave me all tingly inside,” Nick said. “And I didn’t hear you say anything about taking Zeus’s bastard with you when you leave tomorrow.”
That’s because he wasn’t. Orpheus rubbed a hand over his mouth. If Hades had figured out Orpheus needed Maelea to find the Orb, he’d hunt Maelea himself. And that meant this was the safest place for her, where Nick’s sentries could keep her hidden and safe. “I’m pretty sure she likes being called Zeus’s bastard less than being part of my entourage.”
“You’re a fucking moron,” Nick muttered.
Yeah, well, he might be, but if there was one thing Orpheus knew about Nick, it was that the half-breed would just as soon turn out someone in need as he would side with the gods. “What did you mean, if it were up to you we wouldn’t have been allowed entry into the colony?”
Nick held his hand out to t
he door behind him. “See for yourself.”
A strange feeling tingled low across Orpheus’s back. He pushed the door open. Inside the long room with its conference-style table and windows that looked out at the now-black lake, he spotted Queen Isadora, her sister Casey, Theron—the leader of the Argonauts—and Isadora’s new husband Demetrius.
Oh, this was just fucking terrific.
“Why don’t you sell tickets,” he mumbled to Nick. “There’s bound to be fireworks now.”
“Deal with it,” Nick muttered. “I’ve had to for the last few hours.”
The door closed behind them. Isadora’s concerned brown eyes bored into his. For whatever reason, she seemed to think he had some hero streak inside him. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that whatever heroic qualities were in his lineage had skipped right over him and shot straight to his younger brother Gryphon.
Or at least they had. Before Gryphon’s soul had been lost to Tartarus.
He pushed that painful thought aside and focused on the here and now. She looked better than she had the last time Orpheus had seen her. She’d gained a few pounds and her face was no longer pale and sunken in. And the slacks and sweater were a major improvement over the gowns she used to wear. Behind her, Demetrius’s jaw was set in a tight line as always. The Argonaut may have softened around the edges thanks to Isadora, but that didn’t mean he’d softened toward anyone else, even if that anyone else had helped save his life. Then there was Theron, leaning against the table with his hand on his wife Casey’s shoulder, watching Orpheus with an I always knew you were gonna fuck things up look on his face.
“Let me guess,” Orpheus said. “You’re all here on vacation. No, wait. Some kinky swingers’ honeymoon.” He caught the flash of annoyance in Theron’s eyes but ignored it. “You know, if it were me, Isa, I’d have gone for a sunny beach, not a creepy castle in the middle of nowhere. But then what do I know? Maybe kinky twisted shit turns you all on.”
Isadora shot Theron a warning look before he could respond, the shy little princess she used to be nowhere to be found in the confident queen she’d become. She stepped forward. “Tease all you want, Orpheus, but you know why we’re here.”
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