Enraptured (10 page)

Sirens. In Argolea. This couldn’t be good.

“Your Highness,” the redhead said as they both inclined their heads in a brief bow. “Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”

“You’re most welcome,” Isadora answered, very aware the observers in the room were as curious about this meeting as she was.

“This is Rhebekkah,” Theron said, gesturing to the redhead, “and Khloe. They’ve come with a request from Athena.”

Isadora didn’t need to catch Casey’s skeptical look on the far side of the room to read her sister’s mind. She and her two half sisters shared more than just their father the king’s royal blood. They shared a link to the Horae, the ancient Greek goddesses of balance and order. She had no doubt that Casey and Callia’s Hora markings were vibrating just as hers was, indicating a major imbalance.

“It’s not often we get a request from Olympus.” Isadora moved toward Theron’s desk and leaned back against the aged mahogany. Theron stepped up on her left, Demetrius on her right, flanking her with their size and support, both staying far enough away to let her take the lead. “What can we do for Athena?”

“We bring Athena’s condolences on your father’s passing,” Khloe said.

A small space in Isadora’s chest pinched at the mention of her father, who’d finally passed from old age not more than a month ago. He’d been a great king but a lousy father. They’d never been close, but he’d instilled within her a love for their realm and an honor to serve, and for that she would always be grateful.

“Thank you. That means a great deal to me.”

Both Sirens nodded.

“But,” Isadora added, “something tells me my father’s passing isn’t the reason you’re standing before me now.”

The Sirens glanced at each other and then Khloe said, “It’s no secret that in these tumultuous times it is as important as ever to maintain balance within the human realm.”

No one knew that more than Isadora. “I agree.”

“There are those who would choose to destroy the balance the gods have created,” Khloe went on. “One in particular, who seeks the Orb of Krónos for personal gain. I’m sure you’re aware of the Orb’s significance.”

Oh, was she ever. Not that they needed to know that little detail. “I was under the assumption the Orb had not been found,” she lied.

“Unfortunately, it has. By a warlock who once inhabited your realm.”

Apophis. Yep, Isadora knew him too. And she was fully aware he was lurking somewhere in the human realm, in Gryphon’s body, waiting for the chance to use the Orb and build his coven of witches so he could one day overthrow Zeus.

“Interesting.” Isadora crossed her feet at the ankles, braced her hands against the solid desk. “But I’m not sure what that has to do with us.”

“Athena respectfully requests the help of your Argonauts in locating the warlock,” Rhebekkah said, “and the Orb.”

Isadora narrowed her eyes. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Orb isn’t of much use without the four basic elements.”

“You’re correct. It’s not.”

“So you’re telling me the Sirens are having trouble locating one insignificant warlock who is unable to harness the true powers of the Orb? And you want our help because he’s of this realm?”

“Not entirely,” Khloe said. “Normally, we wouldn’t need to enlist the aid of your guardians, but our efforts have been diverted. You see, it’s one of your own that seeks to take the Orb from the warlock and disrupt the balance of the human realm. We have Sirens working to head him off, but he already has one element. Perhaps more.”

Orpheus.

Their visit suddenly made a whole lot more sense.

She pushed away from the desk, stepped toward the windows, and looked out at the emerald green fields beyond the castle. Far off in the distance, the Olympic Ocean glimmered in the sunlight. “One of our own, you say?”

“Yes,” Khloe said, turning after her. “An Argolean. One with a history of causing imbalance within the human realm. He also happens to be a daemon hybrid. I’m sure you can understand why Zeus does not want to see the Orb fall into his possession.”

Skata.
Orpheus’s lineage was one secret she’d kept for many years. And had hoped to forever keep from the Argonauts.

Isadora caught Casey’s surprised look before she turned back toward the Sirens, careful to keep her face as neutral as possible. “So you want us to find the warlock before this Argolean hybrid does.”

“Yes.”

“And what of the hybrid?”

“We’ll take care of him.”

Isadora didn’t like the sound of that at all. She glanced toward Theron and read his
no
way
in
hell
look. He wasn’t Orpheus’s biggest fan—not by a long shot—but even he knew Orpheus had helped the Argonauts on several occasions.

She refocused on Khloe. “I’ll speak with my Argonauts and see what we can do. Unfortunately we’re stretched thin as it is. We recently lost a guardian, as I’m sure you’re aware, and with the increase in daemon-hybrid activity, in addition to Atalanta’s daemons still roaming the human realm, my guardians have their hands full.”

“Of course,” Khloe said, though her olive green eyes screamed her skepticism. “If they could keep a lookout and report back anything they hear to us, though, Athena would be most appreciative.”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem,” Isadora lied. “And if you happen to come across this Argolean hybrid, I would appreciate the same.”

“Of course,” Khloe replied in what was very clearly the biggest lie of all.

Loud footfalls echoed from the hallway. Isadora looked toward the door just as Titus stepped into the room and froze, his hazel eyes shifting to Isadora, the Sirens, over to Theron, and back to Isadora again.

Isadora moved toward the Sirens and held out her hand. “Please send my best to Athena.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

They each grasped her hand in turn, bowed slightly, then turned for the door. Titus moved back to let them pass.

When they were finally alone, Theron said, “Titus, close those doors.”

A lock of wavy hair fell free of the leather tie at the nape of Titus’s neck as he shut the double doors and turned to face the room once more with
no
way
that
was
real
eyes. “Was that what I think it was?”

“Yeah,” Theron muttered. “
Skata.
” He pinned Isadora with a hard look. “You don’t seem surprised by the announcement good ol’ O is a hybrid.”

Isadora caught Demetrius’s gaze at Theron’s side and drew from his strength. He knew the truth about Orpheus too. He’d been in Atalanta’s lair. He’d seen Orpheus’s glowing eyes. Though Orpheus hadn’t shifted then—at least when she’d been there—it had been more than clear what he really was.

She looked back at Theron. “I’m not.”

“Holy Hades,” Zander said. “Orpheus is a hybrid? All this time? How the hell is that even possible?”

Isadora raked a hand through her short hair as shock rippled across the room. Even she had no explanation for that one. Orpheus was Argolean, Medean,
and
daemon. It made no sense, and yet there he was.

“He’s an Argonaut now, too,” Theron pointed out with a dark look that said this was not at all what he’d expected or wanted. “Don’t forget that. As the last remaining descendant of Perseus’s line, he’s got Gryphon’s guardian markings. Man, this is a clusterfuck. An Argonaut-daemon hybrid. Wait until the Council catches wind of this.”

“Don’t forget Orpheus is also Lucian’s nephew,” Isadora said. “And even before we lost Gryphon, he was next in line to take Lucian’s place when the Council leader retires.”

Titus snorted near the door. “Now that’s something I’d like to see.”

“No way a daemon hybrid will ever serve on the Council of Elders,” Theron said. “
Skata
. When did you find out?”

Isadora dropped her arm and stepped into the middle of the room. “When I discovered his lineage is irrelevant. What remains is that this is Orpheus we’re talking about. Before we even found Casey, I had a vision that Orpheus would somehow be important to our cause, and he’s proven that time and again.”

She knew her foresight wouldn’t be enough to convince them, so she turned to Zander and Callia, both of whom looked as shell-shocked as Theron. “And let’s not forget, without Orpheus’s help you wouldn’t have your son Max now either.”

Zander put his arm on Callia’s shoulder, pulled her back against his chest protectively.

Isadora turned from face to face, pleading a case she’d known from the first day she’d assumed the crown she’d one day have to make. “Orpheus is of no more threat to us than Nick is.”

She knew the reference to Nick Blades, the leader of the half-breed colony in the human realm—a colony made up of Argolean-humans—would resonate with the group. Aside from being their biggest ally in the human realm, Nick was also Demetrius’s half brother, and he wanted to see Atalanta and her daemons destroyed as much as they did.

“We would be remiss if we aided Athena and her Sirens in their quest to persecute him,” she added.

“Orpheus has always had a hard-on for power,” Titus pointed out. “He kept that damn Orb after Max brought it to us. Shit, he practically gave it to that warlock and started this whole damn mess.”

Before she said the words, she knew Titus read them in her mind, but she said them anyway, for the benefit of the others. “We know he did that in an attempt to save Gryphon’s life. He had no idea that warlock’s energy had destroyed Gryphon’s soul or that the warlock would harness the Orb’s power to take possession of Gryphon’s body.”

Titus crossed his arms over his massive chest. “Doesn’t change the fact Gryph’s in Tartarus right now because O fucked things up.”

No, it didn’t. Just as it didn’t change the fact the Argonauts stuck together. They were all still mourning the loss of their brother in battle. And even though Orpheus now had Gryphon’s guardian markings, he would forever be an outcast as far as they were concerned. The one responsible for Gryphon’s death.

Theron pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had the mother of all headaches. “We’re not saying Orpheus is the enemy, Your Highness. We’re just pointing out his track record isn’t so great. And now that we know he’s a hybrid on top of it all…”

Theron let the words linger, and Isadora’s protective wall where Orpheus was concerned sprang up. She owed him her life. More than her life. She owed him for saving Demetrius in Atalanta’s lair and for helping her stop the Council from executing him. She also owed him for protecting the life of her unborn child, a child who she was every day more and more convinced would play an important role in this world. She wasn’t about to let Zeus or Athena or any Siren “take him down.”

“His intentions are not at all what you think.”

“How does anyone know
what
he thinks?” Theron asked. “He’s a hybrid, for shit’s sake.”

Footsteps echoed in the hall again, followed by the crack of the door opening. Before Isadora could answer, Cerek peeked in the room, his short brown hair mussed as if he’d just run through a wind tunnel. “Um, guys. Sorry to interrupt, but we just got a message from Nick at the colony. There’s trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Isadora asked.

“Hellhound trouble. Nick’s sentries killed two earlier tonight while out on patrol.”

“
Skata
,” Theron mumbled. “Why the hell would Hades be sending hounds to Montana?”

“He wasn’t,” Casey said, stepping over and touching her mate’s arm. “He was sending them for Orpheus.” She glanced from Theron to Isadora. “Where would Orpheus go in the human realm if he was in trouble?”

“The colony,” Isadora breathed. “He and Nick are friends.”

“Yes,” Casey said, looking to her sister, the
we
have
to
warn
him
more than clear in her eyes.

“That’s not all,” Cerek added. “There’s something else you might need to know. Ever heard of Maelea?”

“Zeus and Persephone’s daughter?” Callia asked, with a wrinkle in her brow. “What does she have to do with all of this?”

“Nick’s got a friend in Seattle. One who keeps tabs on otherworldly events in the area. Maelea’s been living there near Lake Washington, blending in, not causing any trouble. Apparently a portal opened and closed near her house earlier, not once but twice. A hellhound was killed. And the female’s now missing.”

“
Skata
,” Theron muttered, shooting Isadora a
see?
look.

“Holy shit,” Zander murmured. “Now Zeus’s interest in O is starting to make a lot more sense. Hades’s too.”

Yeah, Isadora was thinking the same thing. And hating where her thoughts were heading. She looked toward Cerek with a whole new urgency. “Tell Nick we’re on our way.”

Demetrius, who’d been silent through the entire conversation, stepped forward. “
Kardia
.”

“Don’t worry,” she said to him, sure she wasn’t easing his fears. She knew he remembered what had happened the last time she’d crossed into the human realm, but this was different. This time they weren’t going alone. “You’re coming with me. Several of you are. This isn’t something we can ignore any longer.”

Skyla needed a drink.

She eyed the bottle of Jameson behind the bar in the dining car. If she were home on Olympus, she’d down the whole damn thing. Here on earth, she needed to keep her wits about her. Especially around the hybrid.

Holy…
mother
. She lifted the glass of ice water she’d ordered to cool down after her run-in with Orpheus and downed the whole thing. Her barriers needed strengthening if he was able to get to her so easily. Daemon, she repeated to herself.
Daemon
. Why the hell was she flat out ignoring that part of him?

A loud shriek of metal against metal echoed through the car. The cup of ice flew out of her hand. Screams echoed. Skyla fell forward. She smacked into a booth, hit the floor with a thud. As she pushed up the train came to a stop. She looked out the window and saw a river of snow rushing down the mountain right toward her.

Oh…
fuck
.

Snow plowed into the train, sending it end over end like a matchbox car tossed into a clothes dryer. Skyla sailed backward, crashed into the wall. Her head cracked into glass. Pain nudged the conscious ends of her mind, but the screams echoing around her dragged at her attention. That and the smash of glass breaking, of snow pouring into the car and sucking out every last molecule of air.

When she tore her eyes open, silence met her ears and nothing but a vast empty darkness surrounded her. A frigid cold darkness.

Oh…
gods
.

Instinct had her clawing at the snow. She managed to get her hands up near her face, was somehow able to dig enough snow out of the way to create a pocket of air. Drew deep breaths to tamp down the terror.

Common sense nudged the panic to a manageable level as she lay cradled in the snow, her fingers numb, her arms and legs packed against icy-cold walls. She had no idea if she was facing up or down, how the dining car was lying in the snow, or if the car had been ripped to shreds by the avalanche. The fact the snow hadn’t hardened yet told her she hadn’t blacked out, but that didn’t ease her anxiety.

Orpheus’s image flashed in her mind. The way he’d looked when she walked away from him in the sleeping car. The disappointment on his face. The yearning in his eyes…

Stop.

She smacked her head against the snow behind her. Told herself to stop being a fool. He wouldn’t be looking for her. He was a daemon. He knew why she was here, and even though he was playing her own seduction game—for whatever reason—that didn’t mean she meant anything to him. That didn’t mean he had any desire to see her live.

A shiver racked her body. Panic closed in again. Panic over the fact she was by herself here in the dark. That no one would find her. That no one would miss her when she was finally gone. The Sirens would move on. Sappheire would likely take her place as Athena’s favorite. She had no family left, no close friends. She was over two thousand years old, with countless battles fought and won under her belt, and her life had been reduced to this moment. To dying in an avalanche in the middle of frickin’ nowhere. Alone.

Don’t panic. Stay calm.
Using her brain had always worked for her before. Somehow, it had to work again.

She kept her breaths slow and shallow. Used her fingers to claw out more space around her face. Wiggled her body to make room before the snow hardened and she was truly stuck.

From somewhere to her right, a muffled sob reached her ears.

She froze, listened.

Another sob. Then a scream.

“Who’s there?” she asked.

The crying cut off. Silence met her ears.

“Who’s there?” Skyla asked again.

“Me,” a muffled voice echoed. “I’m…here. I’m here.”

Relief pulsed through Skyla’s veins. She wasn’t totally alone. “What’s your name?”

“K-Katie,” the small voice said. “I’m eight. I—I can’t find my mom!”

Skyla tried to turn that way. She didn’t have much room, but her flailing earlier had created enough space around her so she could move. Able to get her hands in the vicinity of the voice, she started digging. Snow fell into her tiny pocket of air and began packing near her feet but she didn’t care. The fact she wasn’t alone was all that mattered. “Keep talking to me, Katie. I’m trying to get to you. My name’s Skyla.”

“S-Skyla is a weird name.”

“It is,” she agreed as she dug. Her fingers were numb, her heart pounding hard in her chest. But she kept on digging, because anyone was someone.

“I—I’m cold,” Katie said.

“Me too, Katie.”

“I’m so scared.”

Skyla’s fingers broke through and closed around flesh and bone. Katie gasped. Skyla continued digging, using her arms and legs to move the snow around as much as possible until the small child was only inches from her. When she could manage, she wrapped her arm around the human girl and pulled her close, the heat of her upper body against Skyla’s torso a stark improvement over the ice-cold snow packed tight now up to her waist.

“We’re going to die,” Katie sobbed against Skyla’s chest.

“No, we’re not,” Skyla lied. But even she knew things weren’t looking good. The utter darkness around them signaled they were buried deep. She ran through options in her head and decided trying to dig out was better than lying down and dying without a fight. On a deep breath, she let go of the girl and reached out to give it her best shot.

Her fingers dug into ice-cold snow. From somewhere deep below, a rumble echoed. Fear wound its way around her heart just as the earth shook with a force that knocked Katie into her and brought snow falling down around them.

“Skyla!”

Skyla grabbed onto the girl. “Take a deep breath, Katie! Fill your chest with as much air as you can!”

The shaking continued until Skyla wanted to scream. She knew they were dropping deeper into the snow, farther from salvation. She held tighter to the girl. Katie sobbed against her chest.

The shaking stopped. Skyla went right to work, digging around their faces to create another pocket of air. Then stopped short when she heard a noise.

She stilled. Listened.

“Is that…?” Katie started.

The sound echoed again. Muffled, but distinct. A voice.

Hope leaped in her chest. No, not one voice, Skyla realized. Several. There were people out there.

“Here!” she screamed. “We’re here!”

“We’re here!” Katie yelled at her side.

The voices increased in intensity, and then a flicker of blue light cut through the darkness. Then another, and another, until the snow near her face began to break away piece by frozen piece.

Adrenaline coursed through Skyla’s body as she struggled toward the light. Snow flicked into her eyes. Then a hand broke through, followed by another voice. This one not muffled, but clear and strong. “We’ve got another one!”

Relief was like the sweetest wine. Warm and brisk and encapsulating. Katie sobbed out her excitement.

“Grab my hand,” the voice yelled.

Skyla grasped Katie’s arm, pulled it up. “Take the girl first!”

Snow kicked back in Skyla’s face as Katie was drawn up and out of the hole, then Skyla reached for the hand held out for her and used her boots to dig in for leverage so she could climb.

Bright light burned her eyes as she was hauled out of the broken windows of the railcar. Voices echoed around her. She held up her hand to block the glare and saw dozens of people digging in the snow, some holding flashlights to aid the rescuers. A shiver racked her body, the night air decidedly colder than it had been in that frozen pit. From the corner of her eye, she saw someone whisk a blanket around a young girl with dark hair. Saw a man and a woman rushing toward the girl. They grasped her in a tight hug and rocked her back and forth.

And even though Skyla was free, that rush of emptiness washed through her again as she watched. She’d sacrificed that—love, companionship, a family—for the Sirens. To stay on Olympus doing what Zeus commanded because it was safer to remain numb inside than to feel anything again.

Through hazy vision, Skyla watched Katie’s parents lift the girl into their arms and carry her away. And as she swiped at her frozen cheeks she told herself it was melting snow, not tears. Sirens didn’t cry.

Her chest pinched with the weight of the emptiness around her until it was hard to draw a single breath. Then the image of Katie and her parents was blocked by a body rushing toward her. A body with wide shoulders, a broad chest, and a pair of intense gray eyes that drew her in like a lifeline.

“You stupid Siren.” Orpheus’s arms were around her before she realized it was him. In a whir of movement he jerked her tight against his warm body, slid his hands into her wet hair and lowered his mouth to hers.

Her mind was still a blur of sensations, but the heat of his lips, the roughness of his whisker-covered jaw, the way he kissed her like a man starved, overwhelmed every one. She was alive, she’d been found. And she wasn’t alone.

She reached for him, dug her numb fingers into the fabric of his shirt, opened her mouth and drew him in. Then she kissed him back as she’d promised herself she would never kiss anyone ever again.

Someone moaned. She wasn’t sure if it was her or him. All she knew was this kiss. This moment. This man, daemon, Argonaut,
whatever
, who tasted of promises and regrets and a thousand other emotions she couldn’t define in the moment.

He kissed all thought out of her head, and when she was sure he’d demolished a few thousand brain cells in the process, he drew away and stared down at her with those achingly familiar eyes. The ones she couldn’t get away from. The ones she’d never been able to forget.

Someone threw a blanket over her shoulders. He tugged it tight at her chest, pulled her close to his warmth again, and whispered in her ear, “If you’re trying to impersonate a Popsicle, you’re doing a damn good job.”

Skyla had obviously hit her head harder than she’d thought, because she couldn’t seem to process anything yet. And when he scooped her up in his arms like a damsel in distress, it took several seconds before she realized what he was doing. She pushed a hand against his chest, a hand that was shaking and did nothing to stop him. “I…I can walk.”

Was that her voice? It didn’t sound like her. It sounded as if it came from someone else. She was strong, confident, a warrior. Not someone who needed tending. She should tell him to stop and put her down. Wasn’t a hundred percent sure she wanted him to.

He didn’t look at her, just kept walking with her cradled in his arms like some fragile woman. “I’m sure you can. Humor me for the time being, would you? You go acting all Rambo Girl on me and the humans around here won’t know what the hell to think. And I’m pretty sure they’ve had enough surprises for one night.”

He stopped at a grouping of humans near the end of the train, which hadn’t been swallowed by the avalanche. The cars were dislodged from the tracks but somehow appeared to still be in one piece. Gentler than she expected, he set her on a boulder near a fire someone had built, tugged the blanket around her shoulders again, and mumbled something to the woman next to her. Then he turned and headed back to the buried cars.

She was aware someone was checking her head, knew bandages were being applied, and that another voice was asking her questions to see if she had a concussion, but all she could focus on was Orpheus thirty yards away, searching for more survivors, digging with the humans, all while wearing nothing more substantial than jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved henley.

Her chest tightened. Her mind spun. She ran her fingers over her lips, lips that were still tingling from his kiss and alive with heat.

She was too rattled to do anything but sit by the fire and watch Orpheus work from a safe distance. Someone offered a jacket. Around her, people recounted the earthquake and the avalanche.

Earthquake
. Yeah, earthquakes happened, but here? In the Rockies? Stopping the train she and Maelea and Orpheus were traveling on? This was not a coincidence. Her mind drifted to the hellhounds back at Maelea’s house. There was only one person who could be linked to both. Too late she remembered she’d left her armor in their stateroom on the train, which was now probably covered in snow.

The ground shook. Skyla gripped the rock she was sitting on, pushed down the panic. When the shaking stopped, shouts echoed in the distance, and men ran toward a buried railcar that had somehow rumbled to the surface.

Her mind flashed to another rumble, another moment when the earth had opened before her. That shaking hadn’t been god-induced, just as this aftershock seemed too gentle to be generated by Hades.

She searched for Orpheus. Couldn’t find him. Pushed to her feet and dropped the blanket on the rock.

“Skyla?”

She ignored her name being called from around the fire. Stepped past fallen trees and boulders that had been dislodged from the ground. Moved through the dark and into the woods, searching. And finally spotted him…a good twenty-five yards from the others, hidden from view behind an outcropping of rock, his hands extended in the direction of the still-buried cars, his eyes closed, the earth element shining in his palm like a falling star.

Her breath caught as she watched him harness the magic of the element with something seated deep inside him. Something she was sure not even Zeus knew he possessed. The ground shook again. A rumble echoed. Shouts grew to her right, and she looked that way to see another group of men run to yet another railcar that had risen to the surface of the snow.

Suddenly, how she and Katie had been saved made sense.

Her gaze shot back to Orpheus. Only he was no longer focused on what he’d been doing. He was staring right at her. And his eyes were no longer the familiar gray she knew so well. They glowed a blinding green that lit up the night.

***

Orpheus had gotten used to people being afraid of him. Most of the time he relished it. But the stark shot of fear in Skyla’s eyes as she stared at him across the snow hit him dead center in the chest in a way that not only knocked him for a loop, it pissed him off. Especially after he’d just saved her life.