Cass looked down at the beast, her voice like a sigh as she said, “It’s a cliché, but it’s true. All good witches need a cat.”
Daimon hunkered down and held his hand out to the animal. It snubbed him, standing and turning away, flicking its tail.
“Milos is normally so sociable.” Cass looked at him. “Maybe he’s picking up on the fact I don’t want you here.”
He sighed and stood again, and jerked his chin towards the feral tom. “Cats don’t tend to be very impressed by gods. That’s all this is.”
She shrugged again and turned away from him too. “I can’t imagine why.”
He clenched his jaw, bit back the words he wanted to say, and focused on the reason he had come back from Hong Kong to see her.
“I’m sorry.”
She stopped in the doorway and looked across at him, her eyebrows pinned high on her forehead. “Did you say something?”
Daimon huffed. “I said I’m sorry.”
“For what? Another attempt to drown me? Being as frigid as your power? Upsetting Mister Milos? Or perhaps you’re sorry for stalking me?” She turned back towards him, her black eyebrows lowering into a frown. “I’m not even going to point out how angry you would have been if our positions had been reversed. I’m bigger than that.”
She hit him with a sly smile that said she was enjoying this—having him at her mercy.
“I’m only here because I pulled the short straw when we were deciding which of us was going to protect you and get your arse back to Tokyo.” He folded his arms across his chest.
She chuckled, swept the black nails of her right hand across her chest and smiled again. “You’re a terrible liar.”
She turned back towards the door.
“I’m flattered you felt the need to stalk me.”
And disappeared inside.
Daimon glared down at Milos, who glared right back at him and moved to block his path again.
“You have something against me. I get that. All your kind do.” He kept his voice low as he crouched in front of the cat. His gaze flicked to the door and then back, meeting Milos’s green eyes. “Small god, I ask you that if… when… the time comes that you’ll do your duty as a guardian deity and protect the one you clearly treasure and love.”
The cat stared at him for a moment, and then stood and rubbed against his knee, purring deeply.
Daimon took that as a yes.
Milos moved aside and hopped up onto the white wall, his tail flicking back and forth as he stared out at the sea.
Did Cass know that Milos wasn’t just a cat? He wasn’t sure what things about his world she did or didn’t know, but maybe it was time he found out.
He stepped up onto the terrace, the tiles cool beneath his feet, and into the small house. It was cramped on the inside, with an open kitchen and living room, and a corridor leading deeper into the house.
It was far from the glamourous home he had imagined Cass living in. This was as rustic as it came, with furniture that looked hand-made and a tiny kitchen consisting of an old white stove, a sink and two cupboards. The only light in the room was a naked bulb hanging in the middle of the ceiling and an oil lamp on the desk to his left.
Maybe the coven didn’t pay their witches well. He knew a thing or two about covens, and most of them operated like mercenaries, taking on contracts across the world. He glanced around at the small home again. Either the coven only paid Cass a small wage for her work and kept the bulk of the money for themselves, or Cass liked being off grid for some reason.
“I’m just grabbing some things.” Cass’s voice drifted from the shadowy corridor. “Make yourself at home.”
Outside, Milos growled. The deity wasn’t happy about being left behind again.
“Cass…” Daimon started, shoved his hand up his forehead and over his white hair, and blew out his breath. “I am sorry.”
He wasn’t sure why he needed her to accept his apology so badly, but he did. He needed to know things were all right between them, that he hadn’t messed everything up, and he needed her to know that he was aware he hadn’t been the easiest man to put up with. He knew he had done a lot of things wrong.
“About trying to drown me?” She poked her head out of a room, an expectant look on her beautiful face.
“About that… About a lot of things…” He clenched his fists at his sides, fighting for the right words.
“I could list them for you if it makes it easier.” She stepped back into the corridor. “But I won’t.”
He waited for her to go back to packing, but she lingered, and her aquamarine eyes gained a sombre edge he didn’t like.
“Do you know why I moved here?” She glanced around the small house, her fine black eyebrows furrowing slightly. “I came here because it was quiet… a world away from persecution… a world away from everything.”
Everything?
The way she had said that word made him feel that her coming to this remote and sparsely populated island had been about more than just avoiding humans who had wanted to drown her for being a witch.
She had been trying to escape something else too.
“Was there another reason you moved here?” He wanted to take a step towards her to regain her attention, but forced himself to keep still, giving her space he could feel she needed.
“No. None. It was warm, quiet. The people respect me.” She was quick to duck out of sight, back into the other room.
He wasn’t the only terrible liar in the building.
He mulled over what she had said, and how she had looked.
She had picked somewhere warm where people respected her.
She didn’t feel respected in chilly Russia?
He took in his surroundings. This island home in the Aegean had to be the complete opposite of where she had grown up. All the covens he had come across had lived together in a building big enough to accommodate them all. The last coven he had crossed paths with had owned an enormous estate in England with acres of land and several large buildings on the land, including a palatial main house.
He imagined Cass’s coven lived in a large compound complete with a mansion too.
So why had she traded a life there for a life of quiet?
And respect.
His gut squirmed in response to that word, one he could hardly apply to his actions around her. Neither he nor his brothers had shown her respect. They had all treated her with distrust and tried to keep her out of their business.
Maybe he needed to be the one to change that.
Because deep down, he did respect her. He saw her value, what an asset she was for his side, and that in the battle ahead, she could be the key to them winning.
He would make her see that he believed in her.
He blew out his breath.
He just wasn’t sure where the hell to begin.
He looked out of the door, struck by the beauty of the place Cass called home. Endless blue water. Dusty hills. White houses that seemed to reflect what light there was, making the place seem even brighter. The warm air was dry, not moist as it was in Hong Kong, and the fresh breeze carried the scent of the sea.
Everything about this place felt so tranquil.
He could picture himself here, whiling away his days, eating well and living off the small patch of land Cass owned. He imagined her garden had been lush before, well-tended.
He drifted towards the other window to his right, wanting to see the view in that direction. When he’d had his fill of the beautiful coastline and the itch to check on Cass had grown too fierce to ignore, he turned back towards the main door and his gaze caught on a letter on her desk.
On a word that leaped out at him and had him frowning as he leaned closer for a better look.
Offspring?
He scanned the letter and then read it again, a weight settling in his gut as he tried to make sense of it. His thoughts spun as he kept reading it over and over, only a few things sticking in his mind.
It was from her coven. It
was the last time they would ask her to return home. There was a man awaiting her arrival.
She would bear a child as expected of her.
It was dated four days ago.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and braced one hand against the desk, supporting his weight. He reached for the letter and stopped, his hand hovering barely an inch from it as he battled the urge to screw it up and toss it away, as if that would make a difference.
Cass was promised to another.
He had come here fearing she had a man, and she did, one who was waiting for her, expecting her to bear him a child for her coven.
“Ready.” Cass’s voice had him jerking upright and spinning away from the desk, his heart rushing in his ears as his gaze settled on her.
She sauntered towards him, her hips swaying enticingly, a slight smile curling her rosy lips.
Flirting with him again.
All his feelings, his frustration and anger, must have been painted across his face because she drew up short and her ice-blue eyes warmed with what looked a hell of a lot like concern.
“What’s wrong?” She lowered the black bag she had packed to her side and canted her head, leaning towards him.
“Nothing,” he snapped. “I’m bored of waiting for you. I’m leaving now… with or without you.”
She frowned at him. Stared into his eyes for so long that he feared she would be able to read why he was upset with her, even when he wasn’t really sure himself. He had told her that he didn’t have a heart to give her, and she had told him that she didn’t want it anyway. Everything that had happened between them had been nothing more than harmless flirting.
So why the hell did he feel as if she had just ripped out his heart and squeezed it until it shattered?
“I’m leaving.” He turned away from her and came face-to-face with the cat.
The ginger and white tom glared at him and then sauntered past him with his head and tail held high, heading for Cass.
“Oh, Milos. I’ll have to come back to feed him now the nearby summer residents have gone home to the mainland.” She began to bend to pet the cat.
“Not going to happen.” Daimon bit those words out from between clenched teeth, wrestling with his feelings, fighting to find some balance again. “You’ll have to ask a neighbour.”
She straightened and scowled at him. “I just said they’ve all gone away. This cat is my responsibility and he’s been with me a long time. I won’t leave him behind like that. I won’t abandon him.”
Abandon.
That word stuck in his mind.
He could see in her eyes that she meant what she had said. If she wouldn’t abandon an animal, she definitely wouldn’t abandon the man who was waiting for her.
She had only been flirting with him.
He hammered that into his head, over and over again when it refused to stick. None of it had been real. She had been teasing him, tempting him, probably finding it amusing. She knew about his problem. Had it given her pleasure when she had found a way to circumvent his ice and she had touched him, making him believe something impossible?
That he didn’t have to be alone anymore.
“I’m leaving.” He closed his eyes and turned away from her.
“Daimon.” She grabbed his arm, sending a hot shiver rolling up it. “What’s wrong? Don’t tell me nothing. Something is wrong.”
He opened his eyes and looked across at her, thought of a thousand things he wanted to say.
He had foolishly thought she had really liked him.
He had foolishly allowed himself to feel something for the first time in centuries.
He had foolishly admitted the truth to himself—that while he had loved Penelope, it hadn’t been true love, the sort that would have lasted forever.
He had grown to love her and then he had lost her, and he had mourned her but part of him knew he had mourned what had been taken from him more than he had grieved her.
He had foolishly admitted that the loyalty he felt towards Penelope had been forged as a shield to protect him from the loneliness he had endured for centuries, giving him a reason to not look at other females, a reason not to feel cold and forsaken whenever he was around his brothers and their women.
In the end, only one word rose to the tip of his tongue, the rest of them held back by fear, by pain that had grown since meeting Cassandra, agony that ripped at him every moment he was near her.
“Nothing.”
She bit out a curse in Russian, picked up her cat and cuddled the wretched thing. All the while, Milos glared at him. Daimon glared right back. He knew he was being a dick. He didn’t need the small god pointing it out to him. He was sure Milos had been a dick himself more than once in his life, had probably been a bastard to Cass countless times since she had found him.
“He’s coming with us then.” She tipped her chin up, her sparkling blue eyes daring him to say a word against it.
“Fine. Whatever.” Daimon took hold of her bare arm and stilled as that heat rolled through him again, marvelling over the fact he could touch her and she wasn’t in pain, wasn’t in any danger.
He brushed his thumb over her skin, wanting to feel it without his gloves, flesh-to-flesh, as he had in the bath.
He shut down that need. She couldn’t be his. She already had someone waiting for her.
“Daimon,” she whispered, pressing closer to him, until the heat of her body soaked into his clothes and ignited a need to tug her closer still, so they were pressed together, not a molecule of air between them.
He stepped instead, embracing the cold darkness, letting it wash over him to give him strength.
Milos hissed and growled throughout the teleport, and continued as they landed in the middle of the main room of the mansion.
Cass struggled with the cat, gently chastising it.
Increasing that feeling Daimon had, the one that said she didn’t know the truth about cats.
“Neko!” Aiko leaped onto her feet from the couches in front of him and hurried over to Cass, her dark eyes bright for the first time since Esher had disappeared. “Kawaii!”
She drew that word out as she melted over the raggedy cat who was in no way worthy of being called cute. Milos went still in Cass’s arms, purring now and evidently enjoying the sudden attention.
“What is its name?” Aiko didn’t take her eyes off the animal.
“Mister Milos,” Cass offered.
“Ah, Milos-chan. You are so cute.” Aiko went to touch him and then hesitated, her dark eyes lifting to Cass. “Can I?”
“Of course.” Cass smiled, the first one she had given to Aiko, and it was strange but nice to see her more relaxed around her.
Daimon wanted to warn Aiko that Milos was one cranky son of a bitch, but she touched the beast before he could. The cat was all sweetness with her, rubbing her hand and purring deeply.
Aiko smiled properly for the first time in too long, her eyes lighting up as she petted the cat, who greedily devoured the love she poured onto him.
He watched her as Cass let her take Milos into her arms, as she carried him like a baby to the couches and petted him, a smile constantly etched on her face. He hadn’t been able to make her feel better, no matter how hard he had tried, and gods, that made him feel like a complete failure. He had wanted to make her smile like this, lifting her spirits.
Cass’s gaze lingered on his face.
“Don’t feel bad. You’re a bit too frosty for Aiko to pet and petting cats makes a lot of people feel better about things.” She walked away before he could glare at her and whispered words trailed in her wake. “But I’d rather pet you.”
Daimon turned slightly, looking over his shoulder at her back as she walked away from him, an ache building inside him, a consuming need to go after her so she could do just that. He fought it, waging war against the urges she stirred in him, the attraction that blazed between them, but he wasn’t strong enough to deny those things, even when they only caused him pain wors
e than anything he had felt before.
He wanted her.
He could touch her.
Yet he still couldn’t have her.
The ground shook and the air trembled.
Daimon’s senses lit up.
Daemons.
Chapter 11
Cass had barely had a chance to set her bag down in her quarters when the ground shook and the air trembled, and then went eerily still.
Voices broke the dreadful silence, Daimon and Cal.
Had something happened?
Her eyes widened as she sensed it.
Power. Familiar power.
The Erinyes.
She rushed from her room, bare feet loud on the wooden slats of the covered walkway, and didn’t stop until she had reached the main room of the house.
“What was that?” She did her best not to sound as out of breath as she was, the combination of running and adrenaline enough to have her panting for air.
Daimon didn’t take his eyes off the front door of the mansion. “They can’t breach the wards. They’ll keep bouncing them back.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it.” She stretched her arms out for balance as another miniature earthquake hit and was gone in a flash.
She hurried to Aiko and Marinda. Megan got up from the couch, her hands lowering to cover her baby bump, rubbing it through her loose mulberry jumper. Her chocolate eyes sparkled with worry as she looked at Cass, her brow furrowed. Cass presumed Ares had dropped her off for some time with the girls, something he often did.
As gruff as the god of fire could be, Cass shared Megan’s wish that he was here.
Three gods protecting the mansion seemed better than two.
“Someone care to send a message?” she said and Cal gave her a black look. She shrugged it off. “I’m not saying you two strapping gods can’t handle this alone, but I would rather have six strapping gods standing between us and whatever is on the other side of this barrier. You have a pregnant woman here.”
Daimon looked back at her, a scowl darkening his features, darkness reigning in his eyes.
Darkness that had nothing to do with the fact she had questioned their strength and prowess, or the mention of Megan.
Daimon: Guardians of Hades Series Book 6 Page 11