by Renee Field
“I told you I work at the library but I’m also a Captain in the reserves. Naval reserves. I...um...break codes,” she coughed.
He slowly backed away. A huge grin lit up his face and his eyes actually sparkled. “Go figure. That’s why you were able to open this blasted book. Just what else are you keeping from me, sweetlips?”
Kassandra gulped. She wasn’t ready to share everything with him. As much as it killed her to lie, and to ignore Saad’s earlier warning that she disclose to Darius that she was able to find lost things, she hesitated. Heck, it’s not like he trusts me either. “Nothing. That’s it. You know the rest. I can speak ancient Greek and four other languages as well.”
“Do tell, what are they?” he asked, a smug smile lighting up his face as he moved to perch on the edge of the bed.
“Well, it’s not really a language anymore, more a list of symbols.” She paused and took a deep, calming breath as his eyes bored into her. “Okay, I can speak, French, Hebrew, Assyrian and, um, decode Sumerian symbols.”
“What the…? You’re serious. Who taught you?” Disbelief was written all over his face.
That made her feel good. She’d been thrown surprise after surprise, so she was going to enjoy her moment as the tables turned on him.
Tilting her head up, she replied boldly, “My father.”
“Some father. I’m thinking I’m going to enjoy meeting your father.”
Kassandra’s chin came up. “That won’t be necessary,” she replied, shaky with the thought of Darius and her father ever meeting.
The one and only time she’d had the courage to introduce a boyfriend to her father had been during her last year of high school. Her father had taken one look at the boy and declared that he was unfit for her. Worse, he’d called the boy a weakling to his face. That had been it. Humiliated beyond words, she had vowed then that her love life would remain private.
“I’ll decide what’s necessary, sweetlips, and if you’re thinking I’m afraid to meet this infamous father of yours, you are sadly mistaken. Trust me, I can handle myself. Now, I’ve got some explaining to do, which will hopefully answer a few of your questions that you claim I never answer. So sit down and get comfortable,” he said, patting the spot next to him on the bed, “and listen.”
Thirty minutes later Kassandra and Darius were both sneaking into Saad’s office while Rylan kept Saad and Rajheb occupied.
Kassandra had liked Rylan much better the second time when she’d met him fully clothed. She also enjoyed seeing Darius squirm as he tried to handle the overzealous teenager. It had taken him a full ten minutes to convince Rylan he didn’t need to come with them into Saad’s office. Kassandra knew Rylan had only agreed when she proposed that he could be the diversion to ensure they wouldn’t get caught. When she highlighted the dangerous aspect of that mission it had thrilled Rylan no end. A low growl from Darius had told her he wasn’t pleased by that idea, but Rylan had pounced on it.
“Are you sure he’ll have an undersea map?” asked Kassandra.
“I saw it here when we first arrived. He had it opened on his desk. Here it is,” Darius replied, shuffling three books off of a large map.
Peering over Darius’ large shoulder, Kassandra made out the light blue circle graphs that showed where large volcanoes were located on the undersea map. “Why does he have a geological survey map of the ocean floor?”
“Um, they’re not exactly what you think they are,” Darius replied, his fingers moving deftly from one large circle to the other like he was judging the distances between them.
“Okay, what are they?” she asked, trying to get a good look at the map.
“Sinkholes.”
“What? They are not. That’s the sea’s floor. There’s nothing to sink into except the Earth’s crust. That’s insane,” she replied.
“Well insanity and the sea, if you ask me, go hand-in-hand.”
Darius’ patience was worn thin. He didn’t have time to explain to Kassandra what she was really looking at. All he cared about was ensuring their cover wasn’t blown. Finding the sinkholes that connected the seven seas would make it easier for him to slip into each ocean undetected. Since he couldn’t explain what everything else was, he realized he was going to have to borrow the map from Saad without asking for it.
And then he’d have to find a wet suit with oxygen tanks for Kassandra, because he couldn’t leave her behind. Come to think of it, he’d have to get an outfit for Rylan because Kassandra believed the teenager was human. Boy, the kid was going to love that. Darius stifled his frustrated groan. Having to deal with Kassandra was enough of a distraction. Now, having to keep tabs on Rylan shortened his fuse even more.
Shoving the map into his shirt, he headed for the door.
“Darius, what is this?” asked Kassandra, holding up what looked like the statue of a two-headed serpent.
Darius’ heart stilled. It couldn’t be? Barely able to speak, he said, “Kassandra, very slowly, put that down.”
“What?” She proceeded to ignore his warning and actually moved the two-headed serpent closer to her face so she could get a better look at it.
“Put it down. Now! And very slowly,” he replied, coming to stand next to her, not daring to touch the ancient relic, which he knew would awaken if his hand came into contact with it. How by Hades had Saad come to possess two of Typhon’s heads?
“Kassandra, I’m going to take off my shirt. Place the object in it and wrap it up. Then very slowly give it to me, okay?”
She was chewing on her lip but nodded her head. Thankfully this one time she wasn’t balking at his command or asking any questions. Once the relic was securely covered, he took it, careful to keep it from coming into contact with his skin.
“Care to explain that to me?”
“No, not really. But trust me when I say that statue would mess with your head.”
“Am I supposed to understand any of what you tell me?”
Darius wanted to pull her into his arms. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Grinning at her, he said, “For listening to me for once.”
Expecting a saucy retort she surprised him with a, “You’re welcome.”
He took her hand in his and before she could yank it free or say anything to spoil the moment, he said, “Time to go.” He took a second to telepathically inform Rylan that they were safe and on the move. The plan had been that he and Kassandra would get the map and then join Saab and Rajheb for dinner while Rylan delayed them by leading them to think that he and Kassandra were enjoying the pleasures of each other. While his body ached to do just that, the clock was ticking and the safety of his mardom was at stake.
“Do we really need to dine with them?” asked Kassandra, a frown causing lines to form on her forehead. He could tell she was less than thrilled by the idea.
“Yes we do. Once they retire to their...um....beds,” said Darius, thinking they would probably each be enjoying an Um’elles for the long night, “then we can leave without getting caught. We’ll have to stop further up the coast at a friend of mine’s for two wet suits and diving tanks, but then it’s the open waters for us. Okay?”
Taking a moment to stop, he pulled her into a dark corner. Oh, how he loved the feel of her body up close and personal. “Kassandra, I want you to know I truly am sorry this has happened to you.” His lips brushed hers as desire swamped him.
It was she who pulled him in tighter. “I’m not,” she replied, bravely smiling up at him like he was her knight in shining armor.
Guilt washed through Darius like a cold shower. The only way for him to get the relic was to rapture into his original form, with Kassandra in tow, which meant... the idea repulsed him so much, he couldn’t even bear to think it. He wanted to throw her from him and make her run from the beast he truly was.
For the first time he understood what his twin had felt that eventful day over thirty years ago when Darius had been the one to break the sacred sea law and rapture into
a human. Looking back he realized he’d been showing off. When he stupidly got caught in a human net, it was the first time in their history that a Titan didn’t uphold the harsh sea law. Instead of killing him, his brother had done the unthinkable – freed him.
Shaking his head, Darius realized what he was beginning to feel for Kassandra wasn’t something he could describe, and it unnerved him. Sure she was stunningly beautiful and her mind was as complex as an octopus’ but there was more to her than those two qualities. There was something about her that called to him like no other woman or Siren ever had. That wasn’t good.
In the end he had taken an oath to protect his mardom, but he knew his father would not allow him to break another sacred Titan sea law. If Kassandra found out what he truly was she would pay the ultimate price – death.
“You should be sorry,” he snapped. He grabbed her arm to lead the way to their bedroom where they would change and then walk arm-in-arm, like two lovers, into the dining room.
“Why?” she asked. Her wide brown eyes shone with innocence.
By the gods, how he hated her innocence! Why by Theyths couldn’t he have popped out of a book by a woman used to the ways of men? That would have made things a lot less complicated. As he propelled them towards their room he was sure he could hear the Fates giggling in his head. A sure sign he wasn’t about to like the events that unfolded around him next.
“Why, Darius?” Kassandra’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Why should I be sorry?”
Turning her swiftly into his arms, he cradled her head in his two large hands. “I’m not at all who you think I am. If you knew the real me then you would run, if you could, as fast as your legs would take you in the opposite direction. Trust me on that one, sweetlips. So don’t think of me as your average guy next door because nice I most certainly am not. I’m not the type of guy you want. And, I will do anything, absolutely anything, to get unbound from that blasted book and from you. Do I make myself clear?”
“Absolutely. That makes two of us,” she replied coldly, twisting herself free once they made the safety of their bedroom.
Good, he thought, hating that he had had to vent his anger on her. But, that was better than ever pretending there could be something between them. A human and a Titan. As if. And why did he wish for something he could never have, all the while hating himself over the choice he must make.
Dinner was a silent affair. Tension tighter than a sailor’s knot between Kassandra’s shoulder blades made eating difficult and polite, inane conversation even more tiresome. She had clenched her jaw shut so hard after hearing Darius admit she meant nothing more to him than a chain that had been brokered around his neck that now her mouth ached.
She was the chain he was trying to unhook by any means. Which was good because she wanted her freedom. Still though, after all they had been through together, she had naively thought she was starting to get to know the real him. Worse, she had believed he was starting to like her. His cold, calculated words had dashed whatever hope, whatever dream she might have been harboring deep inside of her. Without a doubt she knew now there could be nothing between them.
“What is this called again, Darius?” asked Rylan.
“Chocolate cake,” replied Kassandra, giving Darius the grace to finish the large bite that he had forked into his mouth. She knew he was eating to avoid the ply of questions coming from Rylan. The teenager liked to ask a lot of questions, and Kassandra could tell that even Saad’s patience was starting to wear thin.
On more than one occasion during the long dinner it had been Rylan’s comic adventures, or misadventures, depending on how you looked at them, that had eased the tension in the air. A few times during Rylan’s recounting of a story, she had caught Darius giving a hard stare at the teenager, as if he was sending him a special silent message he didn’t want to share. I’m being absurd. She fought the giggle as both Rylan and Darius took their third pieces of chocolate cake.
“You look stunning, Kassandra,” said Rajheb, eyeing her like she was the chocolate cake.
Muttering a thank you, she could have sworn she heard a low growl from Darius. Now, that was insane. He had made it plain as day he wasn’t interested in her.
“Yes, that color suits you. I hope you don’t mind that I had Fiona pick out something for you,” said Saad, reaching for a drink of his sparkling mineral water.
That remark threw her off. Here she was thinking it was great not having the sultry, exotic Fiona at the table while the young woman had obviously gone out of her way to pick out a stunning outfit for her. Kassandra admitted to herself that she had been pleased by the choice, and her pulse had quickened when she had spied herself in the mirror.
Tonight she felt regal. For the first time in her life she understood her friend Melissa’s motto, “Clothes make the woman.”
The dress was a deep shade of green. It was form fitting with a low neckline and, while it was long at the back it was cut just below her knees in the front, allowing her legs the freedom to move. It had off-the-shoulder sleeves tied with small bows and the material felt like silk on her skin. When she had tried it on she had been stunned to discover how well it fit her.
“Tell Fiona thank you,” she said, actually meaning it, as she took a sip of her coffee.
“You were made to wear beautiful things, Kassandra. And if you were mine I would deck you in diamonds and jewels,” countered Rajheb.
“Okay, that’s it. We’re done,” said Darius, pushing his chair away from the table to move to stand behind her.
Kassandra attempted to take another sip of her coffee, but Darius yanked on the back on her chair and took her arm before she could say or do anything else. Just before he left, he grabbed two more pieces of the chocolate cake and, without a word, he not-so-politely escorted her out of the formal dining room.
Yanking her arm free once they were safely out of earshot of Saad and Rajheb, Kassandra fought the urge to kick Darius in the shin. “What was that for?”
“What?” He marched ahead of her, acting like nothing had happened back there.
“Why are you behaving like such a brute?”
“Me, a brute? Sweetlips, if you wanted to see a real brute we should have stayed a few more minutes with them because I promise you I would have done something completely brutish...like bash Rajheb to a pulp,” he grumbled.
“Ohh,” she responded, pondering his words. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was jealous. But that notion was absurd. She was nothing but an anchor around his neck.
A few minutes later, she was sitting with Darius to watch his nephew Reece eat his cake. By the look of rapture on his face, she had a funny feeling this was his first taste of chocolate.
Sitting up in bed with a white starched shirt on, Reece said, “This is the best thing I have ever tasted.”
“Oh come on. It’s only chocolate cake. You’ve have cake before, right?” she replied, watching as he shook his head to indicate no. “Okay, mystery man. You and your uncle are a pair,” replied Kassandra grinning in delight at the two of them.
A stretch of silence was her cue to leave. As it was, she felt awkward around Reece. The image of the young child Darius had cradled in his arms was still too fresh in her mind. It was such a huge leap for her to look at him now and see a fully grown man, who was as devilishly handsome as his uncle. Her rational brain went bleep every time she tried to think how that kind of a transformation could be physically possible. It was like so many other unexplainable things that had occurred since she met Darius.
“Well, that’s it for me. I’m glad you’re feeling better, Reece. I’ve got to turn in. Long day and all, plus I want to be fully awake for that big adventure tomorrow, you know. A girl's got to get some beauty sleep,” Kassandra rambled as she headed for the door.
Bad habits died hard. Her father had always said that when she rambled he knew she was either lying to him or about to get into mischief. Thankfully Darius had no idea her ramblings were a nervou
s indication of what she planned to do tonight. If he did, she knew without a doubt he’d tie her up again.
“I’ll be there soon,” said Darius, finishing his cake quickly.
“That won’t be necessary,” she replied, coolly, hastening out of the bedroom.
Kassandra waited a full hour before she snuck back up to Saad’s office. She was positive she’d find a secret door in his office, and she couldn’t let the opportunity pass. What is he trying to hide?
Tiptoeing silently, she made her way unobstructed to Saad’s office, which of course was once again locked. How Darius had managed to open the locked door with a few ancient Greek words mystified her. Hell, though, she’d try it. Repeating the rhyme word for word she was amazed when the door unlocked.
Stepping inside, she shut the door as silently as she could and went over to the wall behind Saad’s large chair. Running her fingers along the inseam of the paneled wood, she pushed. And voila!
She almost let out a “whoopee” when the wall moved back and opened, but she managed to clamp her jaws shut just in time to avoid making noise. Poking her head in, she spied a fully lit long corridor. Opening the door must have turned on the lights automatically. Stepping into the secret hall, she paused with a sharp intake of breath when the door shut behind her. Great, no escape, now Mrs. Marble. She forced herself to slow her ragged breathing and compose her thoughts.
Faint voices coming from the end of the corridor alerted Kassandra that she wasn’t alone. Careful to make no noise, she kept her body tight to the wall as she walked to the end of the long hall. She stopped when the hall lead to a large opening. Glancing around she noticed it was a cave equipped with the most modern, up-to-date equipment she’d ever seen. Then the voices started to get louder.
“The injections aren’t working. I’ve told you that.”
Kassandra could barely discern the two figures to her far right. They were walking her way. Eyeing a large pink buoy she crouched low and slunk behind it.
“I’ve brought someone who will help.”
Her breath hitched when she realized it was Rajheb and someone else coming her way. Forcing her panic down, she practically screamed when a large hand clamped over her mouth.