1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Five

by Julie Kenner

  He stepped forward, and though Daphne wanted nothing more than to feel his skin brush hers, she moved back. Two steps were all she had until her butt hit the bookshelf behind her. The Argonaut lifted both large hands, and her stomach caved in, waiting for his touch, wondering where he would start. But instead of his skin grazing hers, he rested his hands on the shelf near her head, boxing her in.

  His mismatched gaze skipped over her features. Heat surrounded her as he leaned in, jacking her arousal up even higher, making her forget the Sirens, her reason for being here, even her own name.

  Her body instinctively swayed toward him. Her eyelids lowered. She lifted her head toward his, her lips trembling in pure anticipation.

  He stopped millimeters from her lips and whispered, “Can’t sleep, huh?”

  His warm, minty breath brushed her sensitive skin. Her mouth watered, desperate for a taste. Without even realizing it, she eased even closer. “No. I’m not the least bit tired. I think I may need help with that.”

  “Help, huh?”

  His words were a throaty purr, his massive legs so close they skimmed her own, making her sex ache. It was all she could do to keep from reaching him, but Sappheire’s voice—something she didn’t expect—whispered that he needed to make the first big move so she knew she could completely draw him in.

  She didn’t want to think about Sappheire right now. Didn’t want to think about the Sirens or her mission. She just wanted to be taken. By this savage? Oh yes... She didn’t even care what he’d done anymore.

  He leaned toward her ear, his warm breath fanning her neck, sending tingles straight down her spine. His lips just barely brushed her lobe, and her eyes slid closed. “Here’s your help, little nymph,” he whispered. “Lock yourself in your room where it’s safe because if I see you out here again, I won’t be held responsible for my actions. I’m unpredictable. And not in any way you want a male to be.”

  A tremor ran down Daphne’s spine, dimming her arousal. Cool air washed over her as the Argonaut drew back. Slowly, she opened her eyes, but the instant she looked up, she knew the Argonaut wasn’t the least bit turned on like her. His jaw was hard, his eyes icy and cold. And when she heard the wood crack behind her where he still gripped the shelf, she realized what she’d missed thanks to her stupid excitement.

  He was every bit the savage Athena had claimed him to be. His eyes were wild. His skin flushed. And it wasn’t just arousal dragging him to the edge of control. It was something else. Something she knew instinctively she should be afraid of.

  “I’m no hero, nymph. Don’t invade my space again.”

  He let go of the shelf, turned, and exited the room without another word.

  Daphne sagged back into the bookshelf and drew in a shaky breath. But fear didn’t come. Because as soon as she was alone, she realized what she’d missed moments before.

  He hadn’t been icy until just the last moment. When she’d obviously tried to seduce him. Before that, when he’d been watching her and she’d been her silly, rambling self, his expression had been one of noticeable interest, just as it had been when he’d looked at her downstairs in his gym.

  He was attracted to her. Very attracted. He just wasn’t attracted when she used her Siren skills. That meant straight up seduction wasn’t going to work. She needed to finesse the situation, make him trust her. She just wasn’t sure how to go about doing that.

  She pushed away from the bookshelf and remembered Silas. Silas could help her. She’d talk to the half breed and figure out the best way to get close to Aristokles.

  Then she’d finish the job she’d come to do. And forget about the sexy savage who made her body ache.

  * * * *

  Ari found Silas in the lowest level of the hold, a dark, windowless room carved out of the cliff that they used for storage.

  Dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, Silas stood on the far side of the room, making notes on the clipboard in his hand as he checked supplies on the shelves that lined the walls. “We’re almost out of wine,” he said without turning, obviously hearing Ari’s footsteps. “You drink too much of it, you know. I’m pretty sure I replenished that stock two months ago.”

  Ari wasn’t in the mood to talk about his drinking habits. He wasn’t in the mood for anything except getting that nymph far, far away. Resting his hands on his hips, he glared toward the Misos. “If she’s well enough to wander around the hold, she’s well enough to leave.”

  Silas made another mark on his paper. “I thought you’d appreciate having something prettier to look at than me.”

  “How pretty she is has nothing to do with this.”

  “Ah.” A mischievous smile curled Silas’s lips. “So you did notice.”

  Ari’s frustration shot up. Yes the nymph was pretty, but his opinion would be the same if she were Aphrodite beautiful or Medusa ugly. Stonehill Hold was his one and only refuge, and he wasn’t about to be bullied by a nymph in his own home.

  “I want her gone,” he said. “I’ll be back by nightfall tomorrow. When I return, she’d better not be here.”

  “Daphne.”

  “What?”

  Silas turned to face him. “Her name’s Daphne, not she. And what you want and need are two very different things, Argonaut.”

  Ari’s jaw clenched. “Don’t pretend to know what I need. I’m no good for any female, especially that one, and we both know it.” He stomped back up the steps, refusing to give in even an inch. “Tomorrow, Silas. No excuses.”

  “What you need,” Silas muttered, “is a two-by-four to the head.” Then louder, “Get some wine while you’re out. It does wonders for your personality.”

  Ari ignored the smartass comments and moved back to the main level where he headed for his rooms. The entire west wing of the hold was his domain. An office complete with desk and chair he’d carved by hand opened to a bedroom suite filled with a bed, side tables, and a sitting area flanked by a wide stone fireplace. Crossing toward the closet on the far side of his room, he pulled out a backpack and set it on the bed.

  His gaze slid over the empty wine bottle on the nightstand. Scowling, he looked down at his pack and checked the supplies he kept inside for his patrols. So he drank to fall asleep. Big deal. A lot of people did that. A lot of normal people did that, and he was way past normal. Normal people didn’t have to deal with his curse. Normal people didn’t have the blackout episodes he did. Normal people didn’t have random flashes of the horrible things they’d done while in the midst of one of those episodes.

  Needed a woman? No way. Sure, he had desires just like the next guy, and he had no problem fulfilling those desires when he was out on his scouting trips. There were always willing females if you knew where to look. But the last thing he needed was one infiltrating his personal space.

  More frustrated than before, he snapped the top of his pack, pulled on a jacket, then slung the straps over his shoulders. Screw Silas and his opinions. Ari didn’t need anything but himself. He’d been getting along just fine alone for dozens of years.

  He headed for the door and the frozen wilderness beyond. And hoped he ran into another pack of daemons. A good bloodletting would take his mind off that nymph. But something told him it wouldn’t be enough to make him forget that she now had a name.

  * * * *

  Daphne hadn’t slept well. Her dreams were a mixture of Ari and the Sirens and her long-destroyed village.

  She climbed out of bed and yawned as she dressed in the sweats and T-shirt Silas had given her after dinner. The clothing was huge. She had to roll the pants down at the waist several times just so they stayed up, and the light-blue T-shirt wasn’t much better—hanging like a dress almost all the way to her knees. After tucking it in as best she could, she fluffed her hair and told herself she could still make this work. She’d aced her strategy training. She simply had to think outside the box where Aristokles was concerned.

  She turned out of her room and moved barefoot through the hall. When she reach
ed the kitchen on the lower level, she found Silas filling a backpack on the table with supplies—water, bandages, gloves.

  She approached slowly, not sure what he was doing. “I hope you’re not running away.”

  Silas glanced up and smiled, his hair damp around the collar from a shower, his light-blue eyes sparkling, making her almost forget about the scars on his face. “Good morning. Sleep well?”

  “Fine,” Daphne lied as she pulled a chair out at the table and sat. “Are you going somewhere?”

  Silas shoved a bag of granola into his pack. “Supply run. We’re low on several things.”

  Panic clawed at her chest. “How long will you be gone?”

  “Three, maybe four days. I’m supposed to take you with me.”

  Shit. She couldn’t let that happen. “Um—”

  “I don’t think you’re well enough to leave, though.”

  Daphne’s gaze shot to his. The male’s blue eyes sharpened when he added, “And call me selfish, but I think you can do some good here while you finish healing.”

  She didn’t know what he meant but as he pushed his pack to the end of the table, pulled out a chair, and sat across from her, she found herself hanging on his every word. “Ari left on a scouting trip. He’ll be back later tonight. He’ll likely be ticked you’re still here, but he can just deal with it. He needs to deal with it.”

  “Why?”

  “Ari thinks it’s better for everyone if he isolates himself.”

  “Why does he believe that?” she asked, playing dumb.

  “Because he’s bullheaded,” Silas answered. “But I fear this self-imposed isolation of his is slowly catching up with him.”

  “You care about him.” The realization hit before she could stop the words from spilling from her lips.

  “Of course I do.” Sighing, Silas shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “It’s more than the fact he saved my life. I’d heard rumors about the crazed Argonaut just as you, but I quickly realized he’s not what everyone says he is.”

  “And what is he?”

  Silas didn’t immediately answer, and in the silence, Daphne thought back over everything she knew of Aristokles. The stories she’d heard from Zeus and Athena contradicted with what Silas had told her last night. And after spending a few minutes with Ari in the library, she didn’t know who to believe.

  “You know the story of the Argonauts, right? How each are given a soul mate?”

  Daphne remembered a story her mother had once told her. “Hera cursed them. Because of Zeus’s affection for his son Heracles. She was jealous that Zeus had created a realm for Heracles’s descendants, and she cursed him and all the Argonauts with a soul mate.” She frowned. “I never understood how that could be a curse though.”

  “It’s a curse because the soul mate in the equation is the worst possible match for that particular Argonaut. The person he’s forever drawn to but who will torment his existence. Some Argonauts never find their other half. Some do. Ari found his, fifty-odd years ago, in the human realm while on patrol with his Order. She was a nymph, like you. Young and beautiful. And she was running from Zeus.”

  Silas leaned forward to rest his forearms on the table. “Olympians can’t cross into Argolea. It was the one safeguard Zeus put in place, to protect the Argonauts from Hera’s wrath. But that safeguard turned out to be a source of frustration for Zeus. See, Ari took the nymph to Argolea. He tended her wounds, gave her a place to live, and eventually they fell in love. But when Zeus discovered Ari had stolen his prize, he was livid. Since he couldn’t cross into Argolea himself, he sent his Sirens to get her back. There was a confrontation. In the struggle, Ari’s soul mate was killed.”

  It was the same story Daphne had heard from the Sirens. With one minor change: in the telling she’d heard, the nymph hadn’t loved Ari. He’d recognized her as his soul mate, kidnapped her, and she’d been trying to escape his clutches when the Sirens arrived to rescue her.

  “Ari lost it then,” Silas went on. “The death of a soul mate is like losing half of who you are. He withdrew from the Argonauts, went into isolation in the human realm, struggled to deal with his grief. Months passed, but he couldn’t find the strength to return home. His son Cerek wouldn’t give up on him, though. Cerek tracked him down, tried to bring him back, but Ari refused to go. When it became clear to Ari that Cerek was never going to give up on him, he faked his death. You saw those scars on his neck?”

  Daphne remembered the scars she’d seen up close last night in the library. “Yes.”

  “They cover the whole left side of his body.”

  “From what?”

  “A fire. One he set on purpose. His son thinks he’s dead. Most everyone does.”

  Everyone but Zeus and Athena and the Sirens. Daphne tried to imagine the scene but couldn’t. Tried to imagine what it would take to isolate one’s self so dramatically, but came up blank. Even in her darkest moments, she’d never wanted to be alone, which was why she’d jumped at the chance to become a Siren when she’d been chosen.

  “It wasn’t until after all this that Ari started having his episodes,” Silas said.

  “Episodes?” Daphne looked back at the male across from her.

  “Spans of time where he completely blacks out. He’s not aware of what he’s doing while in these episodes, but he has flashes of them afterward, and of the things he’s done while in them. From what we’ve been able to discern, the episodes are usually triggered when he senses Sirens close by.”

  Daphne’s head was suddenly spinning. Zeus and Athena had implied he killed Sirens in his crazed need for revenge, but if that were the case, he would have started killing them as soon as his soul mate died. What Silas was describing made it sound like Ari’s “episodes” began after he’d left the Argonauts. Months after his soul mate was already gone.

  That didn’t sound like revenge at all. It sounded like...a curse.

  Daphne opened her mouth to ask more, but before should get the words out Silas went on.

  “For a while, he kept himself locked in this hold. Thought if he isolated himself, he could stop the episodes. But his duty was too strong. The need to protect is engrained in his Argonaut DNA. He now runs his own missions, hunting daemons and safeguarding the people he swore to defend ages ago. But any time he has a blackout, it weighs heavily on him. Thankfully, they’re few and far between these days.”

  Daphne’s brow wrinkled again. Zeus had made it sound like Ari’s attacks were stepping up, not lessening.

  Silas shook his head. “Things changed a few months ago, though, when one of Ari’s friends called asking for his help. Nick is one of the few people from Ari’s old life who knows Ari’s still alive. I was hesitant about Ari traveling to Mexico. Offered to go with him but he wouldn’t let me. You see, he hasn’t had an episode in quite a while, and I was worried about how he would react. Turns out Ari didn’t encounter any Sirens on his trip, but something did happen there. When he came back, he was different. Sullen. Moody. No longer laughing and lighthearted as he’d been when we were renovating this place.” He looked up and around again. “He’s never said exactly what occurred, but I think seeing his old friend made him realize what’s missing in his life—friendship, family...love.”

  Daphne’s head grew light. Did she have those things? Definitely not love. She’d never known a male deep enough to fall in love. And with her parents gone, she had no family left. She had friends, though, didn’t she? Her Siren sisters were her friends. But even as she tried to convince herself of that fact, she knew it was a lie. The way Sappheire had left her in the woods without a single word of comfort or encouragement proved she wasn’t a true friend in any sense of the word.

  “He reacts to you in a way I haven’t seen him react to anyone else,” Silas said. “He’s nervous around you. Not in a dangerous way, but in an interested one. I’m not trying to set you up, just to be clear. That’s not my goal. I simply think your being here is good for him. It forces him to see tha
t he can be around others and not flip out. And he needs that. He needs to see he isn’t the monster everyone believes him to be.”

  Daphne stared down at the table, taking in all this new information, trying to process it, trying to fit it into what she’d been sent here to do. He still killed Sirens. That fact was irrefutable, and she couldn’t ignore it. But if he didn’t know he was doing it, if he really was cursed in some way, then that made a huge difference to her.

  She needed to spend more time with him. Needed to figure out if Zeus or Silas was correct. Then she’d know how to proceed.

  “I don’t want you to think he’s dangerous,” Silas said. “He can be a grouchy pain in the ass sometimes, but he’s never had an episode while he’s been in the hold, and as I said, the only ones at risk when he does are Sirens, which you are clearly not.” A half smile curled his lips then faded. “But yes, I’d like you to stay. If you’re amenable to the idea. At least until I return.”

  She was. But not for the reasons he wanted.

  Knowing she couldn’t agree too quickly, Daphne bit her lip. She still needed to play the damsel-in-distress role. No matter what she decided to do about the Argonaut in the end, she couldn’t let her cover slip. “He won’t want me here. Especially if you’re gone. He pretty much told me last night to get lost.”

  “I know.” Mischief filled Silas’s light-blue eyes. “That’s why I have an idea. The question is simply whether or not you’re brave enough to go through with it.”

  Chapter Five

  Daphne wasn’t sure about Silas’s so-called plan. He wanted her to take the damsel-in-distress façade one step further and insist Ari teach her self-defense. She had to admit it wasn’t the worst idea out there, but she wasn’t a hundred percent sure she could pull it off. Sure, she sucked at marksmanship, but she knew full well how to take care of herself.