The glare Zakara shot his way could have melted ice, but Ryder ignored it and stayed focused on Zeus.
“You’re sure of this?” Zeus asked.
“Completely. She’s of no use to you.”
Zeus’s eyes narrowed, and a tingle rushed down Ryder’s spine at the assessment he saw in the god’s eyes. “Perhaps not,” Zeus finally said. “But I’ve decided to keep her just the same. Khloe?”
The king of the gods turned away. The redheaded Siren stepped forward once more. “Yes, my king.”
“Take Zakara here to her room. See that she’s properly bathed and dressed. Then bring her to me in the grotto. We’ve much to discuss.”
Oh no... Ryder stepped toward Zeus. “But—”
“Your obligation to me is fulfilled, dream weaver.” Zeus held out a hand, and an arc of electricity shot forward, surrounding Ryder in a halo of energy that stilled his feet and left him immobile. “Return to the cosmos. If I need you again, I know where to find you.”
Zeus threw his other hand forward, and the power that slammed into Ryder sent him spinning through time and space until there was nothing but darkness.
* * * *
“I don’t know! I’ve told you multiple times I don’t know. It’s the truth. I swear it!” Kara chanced a look at the king of the gods from her spot on the marble bench in the middle of the elaborate grotto. He didn’t believe her. Even after she’d answered every one of his questions and been brutally honest about what had happened in that cabin, he didn’t believe her. And she wasn’t sure what to tell him to make him see she wasn’t lying.
“I know the dream weaver did not take you to the human realm. It’s beyond his powers. You altered the dream he created and morphed it into reality. You have to be the one who transported you both there.”
There was no way that was possible. And she was still too shaken over the fact Ryder was Morpheus, the god of dreams, and that he’d tricked her all on Zeus’s orders to think too much about that fact. “It wasn’t me. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I don’t have any powers.”
“You lie. All Argoleans have some kind of gift. I bestowed that upon the heroes’ ancestors when I created the realm of Argolea.”
“Well, you messed up with me because I’m not like anyone else in Argolea. Ask anyone who knows me. They’ll tell you the same thing. I’ve no gifts or powers at all. There’s no way I could make a dream into reality. I can barely take care of myself let alone someone or something else.”
Zeus stopped in front of her, his jaw locked tight, his eyes hard and unfriendly. “You test my patience, female.”
She could tell. Not that she was trying to test him—she didn’t want to do anything to piss the god off. She just wanted to get the hell out of here. But her inability to do or be what someone else expected was again biting her in the ass, making her feel like a monumental failure.
“I’m sorry. If I knew how to help you, I would.” Lie. “I just...don’t.” She curled her fingers into the stone bench and chanced another look up at him. “Can I please go home now?”
“You are home.” He glanced to the left. “Guard.”
A male who was as big as one of the Argonauts and dressed in some kind of armor stepped out of the shadows of the plants in the grotto.
“I’m done with her for now.”
“Yes, my king. Shall I take her back to her room?”
Her “room” had been as plush as any hotel suite, with a big four-poster bed, marble bath, and a stone balcony that looked out over the view of Olympus. The Grecian peach gown they’d made her dress in she could do without, but the room had been nice, and she was suddenly so tired, all she wanted was to fall asleep on that big bed and deal with reality later.
“No.” Zeus pinned her with a hard look. “If she’s not going to cooperate, neither will we. Take her to the pit.”
Shock rippled over the guard’s face as he looked from Zeus down to Zakara and back again. “Y-yes, my king.”
Her stomach tightened with fear as the guard grasped her by the biceps and pulled her from the bench. Zakara had no idea what was going on, but as she was led toward the arched opening to the grotto, Zeus’s voice stopped her.
She glanced over her shoulder, a tremor of terror rushing down her spine at the malice she saw in the king of the gods’ soulless black eyes.
“I can be your greatest savior or your worst nightmare, female. Think long and hard about that fact before our next meeting.”
Chapter Seven
His skin was stretched so tight across his chest, Ryder was afraid it might rip in two.
Starlight sparkled all around him as he stood in the center of his homeland, Oneiroi, the wavering blues, greens, and purples of the cosmos illuminating the clouds beneath his feet and the ether surrounding him. Breathing deeply, he turned a slow circle and scanned the mountains and trees, the shimmering waterfall that fell into the mystical pool of Lethe, the arched rock opening beyond that led to his private retreat.
Once, he’d lived here with his family, until Zeus had destroyed that dream. Hours ago, he’d envisioned living here with Zakara, but Zeus was once again invading his world, twisting what should be a fantasy into a blistering nightmare.
He wasn’t going to let the king of the gods win this time. Not when he had the power to stop him.
Thoughts tumbled through his mind. He wasn’t sure how Zeus’s Sirens had found them, but they’d mentioned the human realm when they’d come for Zakara. He knew for certain he hadn’t morphed their dreamscape into reality, which meant she had. She had a gift she didn’t even realize she could control, and that was what Zeus wanted, he realized. The ability to shift dream to reality had lingering repercussions. If she perfected that gift in a wakeful state, Zeus could manipulate her to his advantage whenever he wanted. He could, in effect, alter reality in ways that wouldn’t just be dangerous for any mortals or immortals in his way, they could be downright detrimental for the whole of mankind.
Urgency and a need to stop Zeus, to save Zakara, caused his chest to tighten even more. He would never get back to Olympus without Zeus knowing. He needed someone to act as a diversion. He was a loner, though. He existed in this realm entirely by himself. He had no allies. His only living relatives—his grandmother Nyx, the shadowy goddess of night, and Thanatos, the barbarian god of death—were not entities he could go to for help. If they learned of Zakara’s gift, they’d each want it for themselves.
No, he had to turn to someone else, but who?
His conversation with Zakara the night before filtered through his mind, and in a heartbeat, he knew.
He rushed past the waterfall and into his cave, quickly locating the magical powder his father Hypnos had left. Grabbing a vial of the glittering substance, he shoved it in his pocket and headed for the door. Once back out in the shimmering colors of the cosmos, he closed his eyes and imagined the female who was his new target.
Thankfully, she was still asleep. She hadn’t risen for the day, was sleeping in on her weekend, which meant he had time to make this work.
He didn’t bother weaving a dreamy beach scene as he’d done in the past. She was already in the midst of her own dream, he found. A nightmare to some. A fantasy to her, he realized. And the male who was with her...
Holy fuck...that was not a male he wanted any part of.
Her long black hair flew all around her as she swiveled, ducked under the male’s blade, then swung out with her own weapon. Perspiration dotted her forehead. Metal clanked against metal, and grunts filled the night air as they battled across the ridge. Ryder’s adrenaline surged as he stood in the shadows of the forest and waited, wondering what the hell kind of dream this was and why she was conjuring a battle with the Prince of Darkness, Hades’s depraved son, but her twisted fantasies were not his concern. His only concern was getting to Zakara and making sure Zeus didn’t harm her.
It nearly killed him, but he waited until Talisa got the upper hand in the battle. As soon as
she shoved her boot into Zagreus’s side and sent him tumbling off the small cliff, though, he stepped out of the trees and quickly said, “Talisa.”
Sweaty and breathing hard, Talisa turned and stared at him across the rocks. “Who are you?” A roar sounded from the valley below—one that had obviously come from the Prince of Darkness, but she didn’t bother to look. Her eyes narrowed on Ryder, and she gripped the gleaming sword tighter with a hand marked in ancient Greek texts. “Where did you come from?”
Any other female would look out of place in this scene, but not her. Her long hair was pulled back in a tight tail, and a leather breastplate stamped with the seal of her forefather Herakles covered her fitted dark top and slender torso. Tight black trousers ended in knee-high black boots. There was blood and dirt and other things splattered across her skin and clothing from the battle, but she didn’t seem the slightest bit afraid or disgusted. She was as confident and lethal as any warrior he’d ever met in the dream world or reality.
“My name is Morpheus.”
Her violet eyes widened. “The god of dreams.”
“Yes.” He took a step toward her, thankful she recognized his given name. “I need your help.”
“Why me?”
“Because Zakara trusts you.”
Her face paled, and she lowered her sword to the ground, stepping toward him. “What’s happened? Where is she?”
“Zeus took her.”
“Holy skata.”
“I don’t have time to explain, but I can’t get back to Olympus to rescue her without a diversion.”
“Kara’s my cousin. What about the Argonauts?”
He’d considered enlisting the help of the guardian warriors and rejected the idea just as quickly. “Zeus will expect them. We can’t do anything to tip him off or he may hurt Zakara. If you can help me get into Olympus, I can immobilize everyone there except Zeus. Then you can get Zakara to safety while I deal with the king of the gods.”
Her scrutinizing gaze skipped over his features. She was tall for a female. Only a few inches shorter than him in her boots. And, he could already tell, a finely tuned deadly weapon just waiting to strike. One he would hate to tangle with in the wrong situation. Especially since she’d just kicked the Prince of Darkness’s ass.
“Tell me what you need me to do.”
He breathed a quick sigh of relief. “We’ll need to work fast.”
* * * *
Kara shivered, unsure how long she’d been in this dark pit.
Hours had gone by. Hours in which she’d been left shivering and alone, surrounded by nothing but utter blackness. The walls of the pit were dirt, the floor uneven mounds of rock and twigs and things she didn’t want to imagine that stabbed into her bare feet when she moved. She had no concept of space, didn’t know how big the pit was or how far it ran beneath the surface of Olympus. The only thing she’d been able to identify when she’d been lowered into the abyss was darkness. Darkness and the smells of mildew and death that even now made her nearly gag.
She shivered again and pulled her legs closer to her body where she sat leaning against the dirt wall. There was no sense searching for a way out. Zeus would not have created an exit from the pit, not when he used it to punish his underlings. Fuzzy memories filled her mind. Memories of her cousin Elysia retelling an account of her time on Olympus with the Sirens. At one point, Elysia’s mate Cerek had been thrown into a hole very similar to this while Elysia had been training with the Sirens. Except Kara distinctly remembered Elysia saying it hadn’t been for a few hours or even a day. He’d been trapped in the darkness for at least a month.
Terror wrapped around her throat and squeezed tight. She shivered once more, holding onto herself tighter. She’d never survive a month in this hellhole. She’d go mad long before that time was up.
She closed her eyes, fighting back the tears. She never should have trusted Ryder. She never should have fantasized about romance and adventure. Why had she ever wanted to leave Argolea? Who cared if her life had been boring and meaningless; at least she’d been safe there. Protected. Now she had nothing. Nothing but this dank, dirty hole to remind her of how stupid she’d been. How foolish. How gullible.
The sound of metal creaking brought her eyes open. She lifted her head and squinted at the light coming toward her. Footsteps sounded, then stopped, and she held up a hand because that light was now shining directly in her eyes, blinding her.
“Get up,” a male voice said. The same guard who’d brought her here hours ago. “The king of the gods wants to see you again.”
Kara scrambled to her feet, thankful for any reason to get out of this pit. “Wh-where?”
He took her by the arm and turned her. “This way.”
She couldn’t decipher their direction, but he wove her around and through a series of tunnels until they came to a heavy steel door, which hinged open with a scream of metal scraping metal.
It was some kind of elevator. Much bigger than the cage and rope she’d been lowered into the pit from earlier. A low light above illuminated the car . As the door slammed shut behind them, she felt the lift moving upward and breathed easier knowing the darkness—for now—was behind her.
The guard handed her a damp rag. “Clean your face.”
She’d prefer a shower, but the cloth felt like heaven compared to where she’d just been. As the car rumbled to a stop, she pushed the scraggly hair away from her eyes and let the male lead her into an ornate marble corridor.
The soles of her feet were sore from the pit, but she did her best to keep up as she followed. She recognized this hallway. As he turned to the right and a stone archway appeared, she realized she was right back where she’d been only hours ago, in the grotto where Zeus had questioned her before.
She swallowed hard and moved down the steps into the space. Towering trees, plants, and fountains blocked sight of the buildings surrounding the open courtyard. Above, stars twinkled in the night sky, making her think of her magical night with Ryder on that rocky lakeshore beach.
Don’t think about Ryder, or Morpheus, or whatever he wants to call himself. He betrayed you. He used you and sold you off to Zeus.
Anger bubbled inside her as the guard stopped in front of a stone bench where the king of the gods was casually waiting.
“My king.” The guard bowed. “Your guest.”
With one hand resting on his knee, Zeus looked up and smiled. “Sit here beside me, little one. We’ve much to discuss.”
Zakara swallowed hard as the guard disappeared into the shadows, but did as Zeus commanded, not willing to do anything to anger him right off the bat. She knew how powerful he was. She’d heard stories of his ruthlessness. Being thrown in a dark, cold pit was far from the worst thing he could do to her.
She rested her hands in her lap, hating the gauzy peach dress that was now covered in muck.
“I take it you’ve had plenty of time to contemplate your situation,” Zeus said at her side.
“I have, my king.”
“And you know what I want.”
“I do.”
He turned to glance down at her. “So tell me what I want to know.”
“I...” Her heart raced with the only explanation she’d been able to come up with. “I did shift Ryd—I mean, Morpheus’s—dreamscape into reality. Originally he’d taken me to a tropical beach, but I always preferred mountain landscapes to tropical ones, and when we were there, I pictured a place I’d fantasized about once before.”
“The mountain lakeshore cabin.”
“Yes.”
“Had you ever been there?”
“No.” She twisted her hands together in her lap. “My parents don’t permit me to leave the realm of Argolea.”
“For good reason, I’m sure.”
For this very reason, but she refrained from saying so and antagonizing the god.
“So how did you know it was a real place in the Mountains of Montana in the human realm if you’d never been there?”
“I saw pictures of it in a book. We have several books about the Pacific Northwest in the castle library back in Argolea because—”
“Yes, I know.” Zeus’s jaw clenched. “Because the half-breeds once housed a colony there.”
Technically, they were called Misos—a race of half Argolean, half human mortals—and they despised the derogatory term half-breeds. But she kept that to herself as well.
“Yes,” she said instead.
Zeus pushed to his feet and stepped toward a red-flowering bush, fingering a bloom in his hand. “And what did Morpheus say when you altered his dreamscape?”
Her stomach tightened with the memory, a reaction she didn’t like. “He was surprised. I didn’t realize it at the time—I thought he was the one making the change—but looking back now, I realize he’d been startled that it had happened.”
“I’m sure he was. Tell me”—Zeus turned—“how exactly did you do it? Did you have to wait for Morpheus to weave the first dream, or can you alter any dream, even one of your own, into reality? Can you twist a thought or idea into reality the same way?”
“I...” Her brow lowered. Turn a thought into reality? That had dangerous implications. “I don’t know. I’ve never done it before. It just...happened.”
“I don’t believe that. You’re twenty-six years old. All Argoleans by your age have mastered their gifts. Tell me how it’s done.”
Panic swelled inside her. “I don’t know. This is all new to me.”
“We went around this before, little one. ‘I don’t know’ is not an acceptable answer. Didn’t your time in the pit show you that?” He dropped the bloom and moved toward her. “I want an answer. How did you alter reality?”
“I’m telling you the truth.” She looked up at him, her breaths growing fast and shallow. “I don’t know. If you’d just listen to me.”
“I am listening to you. And what I’m hearing is defiance.”
“I’m not trying to defy you.”
“Refusing to answer my questions is defiance.” A vein in his temple began to pulse. “No one defies me. No one says no to the king of the gods.” He drew closer, looming over her like a menacing shadow, causing her to ease back on the stone bench. “Do you know what happens to those who defy me? I crush them. And make no mistake, little one. I will crush you if you don’t tell me what I want to know.”
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