“Am I? You sacrificed yourself for her. You were ready to surrender your life for hers. And I know you gave her your gem. You never did those things before. You never would have thought to do those things for her before. What’s different this time? It’s more than her race. More than her beauty. No, what’s different this time is you. What you feel. What she makes you feel.”
He stared at the nymph, hating that she was wiser than she looked. Hating even more that his mouth was as dry as a desert.
“That’s not…” He swallowed, trying to make his words work, but they seemed lodged in his throat. “I can’t—”
“It is possible. And you can. And the sooner you accept that you can, the sooner you’ll know how to deal with it.”
She pushed off the desk. “It would be smart to have her transferred to your bedchamber. No matter what happened between the two of you today, I think it wise if she woke in your bed, not in the tower where you had her imprisoned when she first arrived. That might put her in a bad mood.”
“She’s already going to be in a bad mood when she wakes,” he muttered.
Nysa smirked. “So I can have her moved?”
Dazed, he realized he’d said that aloud, too. “Fine. Whatever. But I still want guards stationed outside the door. I don’t want her leaving yet.”
“Yes, My Prince.”
She crossed the room but paused at the threshold and looked back. “For the record, Zagreus, loving someone doesn’t make you weak. It actually makes you strong. And contrary to what you or the gods think, love—true love—is not a myth. It is the very reason there is light in this world. Without it, we would all live in darkness.”
She left, leaving silence in her wake, interrupted only by the pulse in his ears and the crackle of flames in the torches on the walls.
He’d known nothing but darkness his whole life, even during the brief times his mono mia had been with him. Now things were different, though. Nysa was right. He felt different, and he couldn’t go on ignoring that fact.
He placed a hand against his chest, where Talisa had touched him earlier. Heat permeated his palm. Heat and the strong, steady beat of a heart he’d forgotten he still had.
Was Nysa right? Was this… thing… growing in his chest… love?
He didn’t know. He had no experience with that emotion. Lust? Yes. Obsession? Absolutely. But love was a foreign concept. His parents certainly didn’t love each other. He’d definitely never witnessed any kind of love in the Underworld where he’d been raised and periodically tortured. And if love made one selfless, then no god or goddess on Olympus could claim to know its nuances because they were the most egotistical beings in the cosmos.
His palms grew sweaty, his skin hot. He lifted both hands and looked down, unsure if this reaction was normal or a sign whatever had almost killed him the other night was about to claim him again.
Then out of nowhere, he thought of the only person he knew who’d ever been in love—the selfless kind of love Nysa spoke of. And before he realized what he was doing, he pushed out of his seat and focused on her, knowing instantly how to find her.
Cynna kicked off the covers and stared at the moonlit ceiling fan turning a slow circle above.
She couldn’t sleep. The alien taking up space inside her had recently decided the dead of night was the perfect time to practice kickboxing. Or acrobatics. Or whatever the hell the kid was doing in there.
“All right, all right,” she whispered, throwing her legs over the side of the bed and sitting up. “I’m going. Sheesh. You’re already as demanding as your father.”
She glanced once at her mate, asleep on his stomach beside her, his bare arms wrapped around his pillow, his handsome face tipped her way, the sheet riding low across his back to showcase his muscles in the low light.
Part of her wanted to wake him so he could suffer through this insomnia with her—after all it was his fault she was in this situation. But another part knew he was exhausted and needed rest. Ever since Talisa’s abduction, he’d been out helping the Argonauts search for her. This was the first time he’d been home in days.
Careful so as not to wake him, she rose, then bent awkwardly for the shirt she’d ripped off Nick only hours ago. After tugging the oversized garment on, she pushed up the long sleeves and carefully stretched her sore back.
Gods, she was already losing her center of gravity. She could not imagine how much worse it was going to get in the next few months.
The kid roundhouse kicked her again. Placing a hand on her side, she winced and muttered, “Skata, I’m going, I’m going,” and headed for the hall.
The house where they lived on the outskirts of the Kyrenia settlement in Argolea was quiet and dark as she made her way down the stairs. She had no idea what time Nick was heading out again in the morning, but she knew he wasn’t staying long. Though his relationship with Theron and the Argonauts was often tenuous, he and Talisa’s mother Casey were close friends. But she knew it was Nick’s connection to Zagreus—and Cynna’s part in that connection—that he felt most guilty about. That connection was the real reason he wouldn’t give up searching.
Thoughts of Zagreus, of the year she’d spend with the Prince of Darkness and all that had happened between her and Zagreus and Nick, spun in her mind as she moved into the dark kitchen, opened a cupboard, and retrieved a glass.
Did Zagreus really believe Talisa was his reincarnated mate? She moved to the sink and filled the glass. Or was it possible he was using Talisa to get to her and Nick?
Gazing out across the moonlit yard toward the dark forest and mountains beyond, she sipped her water, remembering Delia’s words from the other day. “You and your mate would be wise to remember that he is more powerful than the Argonauts believe him to be. And that he does not forget. Ever.”
No, he didn’t forget, did he? The Prince of Darkness never forgot anything. A shiver rushed down her spine as she lowered the glass. He would never forget how she’d betrayed him. How she’d freed Nick from that prison. How she’d helped him and the others esca—
Her heart rate shot up when she realized she wasn’t alone. Water sloshed over the side of the glass as she whipped around and stared toward the dark corner of the kitchen.
Someone was sitting on the far side of the table in the shadows. Someone big. Someone—her pulse turned to a whir in her ears as she froze—familiar.
Oh gods… It was him. She could just make out the shape of him in the dark—a shape she would never forget.
He didn’t speak. Just continued to watch her from the shadows.
Slowly, she set the glass on the counter, then gripped the granite edge for support, praying for—willing—Nick to wake upstairs before it was too late.
“H-how did you find me?” she managed, trying for calm.
“I’ve always been able to find you,” he answered in a low voice.
She swallowed hard. Her gaze strayed to the doorway and the hall that led to the stairs.
“My uncle is still soundly sleeping,” Zagreus said. “He has no idea I’m here.”
Cynna’s gaze shot back to Zagreus, and her stomach tightened even more. His hand rested on the table, his long fingers slowly drumming against the worn surface as he stared at her across the room. She had a sudden urge to tug on the hem of the long shirt to ensure he couldn’t tell she was pregnant. But she was afraid to do anything to draw attention to her belly.
“Relax,” he said in a low voice. “I’m not here to harm you. Or him.”
Cynna didn’t believe that for a second. “Then why are you here?”
“To talk.”
“About what?”
“You.”
Cynna wasn’t sure how to read that. In the year she’d spent with the god, he’d never been much interested in learning about her. Hadn’t wanted to talk much to her, either. She’d been a trophy more than anything.
Tense minutes passed in silence. She racked her brain, trying to figure out what to say, what she could do
to make Nick wake the fuck up…
“Why did you help him?”
Her thoughts came to a spinning stop when she realized Zagreus was talking about Nick. About what she’d done in that prison cell. When she’d defied Zagreus’s orders.
“I…” She glanced around the dark room, searching for an answer. She had no idea why he was asking this, especially after all these years. “Because it was the right thing to do.”
“You didn’t know him then.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Why didn’t you help any of the others? He wasn’t my only prisoner.”
No, he hadn’t been. She swallowed again, not liking the answer, but not willing to lie in case he could tell. “I… I wasn’t ready to help anyone before that. I was too wrapped up in my own pain to see anyone else’s.”
“But he changed that.”
“Yeah.” Her gaze slowly slid back to Zagreus’s, uncertainty swirling in her stomach because she didn’t know where this was going. “He did.”
He stared at her a long moment, then pushed out of his chair.
Tensing, Cynna took a hesitant step to her left, away from him, but he didn’t move toward her. Instead, he turned and studied the seascape hanging on the wall.
Something was off here. Cynna’s gaze narrowed on Zagreus standing with his back to her in the silence. The god she remembered was direct and to the point. If he had something to say, he said it then unleashed his wrath. He also had zero interest in art.
Was it possible he’d been telling the truth and that he wasn’t here to harm her?
She zeroed in on her gift, the one she hadn’t been able to conjure moments before because she’d been too scared, the one that granted her the ability to tell truth from lies. And realized…
He had been telling the truth. He wasn’t here to harm anyone.
“Zagreus?” she asked slowly. “Are you… all right?”
“That’s a loaded question,” he muttered. “Pretty sure we both know I’ve never been all right.”
Holy shit…
Cynna stepped away from the counter, her heart beating hard and fast, this time not from fear. Carefully, she said, “Is this about Talisa?”
He turned his head but didn’t meet her gaze. And for a moment she thought he wasn’t going to speak. Then he said, “How did you know he was worth giving it all up for?”
She wasn’t sure what he meant. But she couldn’t help but wonder… “How did I know Nick was worth giving up my revenge for?”
“Yes.”
Whoa. All her fear dissipated. Carefully, she moved toward the table and sat in a chair. “I didn’t know he was worth it.” Something in Zagreus had changed. Something that surprised him more than it did her. “I just knew it was time for me to stop doing the wrong thing and start doing the right one instead.”
He’d gone back to looking at the painting on the wall, but she sensed he wasn’t seeing it. He was lost in his own thoughts. In memories that had nothing to do with her and everything to do with a past that had shaped him into who and what he was today.
She wasn’t sure what compelled her to go on, but she suspected he was waiting for more. For something that made sense. And for reasons she couldn’t define, she wanted to give him that.
“People who live through horrible things can so easily get lost in their own pain and misery that they become capable of the same or even worse things,” she said softly. “I know. I lived it. I did horrendous things, not because you or anyone told me to, but because I could. Because I wanted others to suffer the way I was suffering. But none of it brought my family back. None of it fixed the wrongs I’d endured. And spending most of my adult life plotting revenge against a sister I didn’t know only made my life even more desolate and empty.”
He was silent in her kitchen, still looking at the painting on her wall. Only now there was a perplexed expression on his face. One that was so at odds with the malicious god she’d once known, it relaxed her ever more.
No, he wasn’t here to harm her or Nick. He was here because he was confused.
“Does Talisa know?” Cynna asked, sensing if she didn’t prod him, he’d stand there all night. “About her past lives? How you’re connected?”
He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, still staring at the picture. “Yes.”
“Does she remember?”
“No. I don’t know how she knows. One of the nymphs must have told her. They’re always gossiping.”
Cynna wanted to ask about these nymphs—he’d had nymphs at his lair in the Yucatan when she’d been with him, but something told her these nymphs were different. Since he seemed agitated, though, she decided to stay on the topic of Talisa instead.
“And you’re worried about that? About what the nymphs are telling her? That she won’t want to stay with you because of what she hears?”
He turned a scowl Cynna’s way. “I wish that was the problem. I’ve tried to get her to leave numerous times only she won’t.” He glanced toward the window over the sink and muttered, “She’s the most stubborn female I’ve ever met.”
Two things hit Cynna at once. The first was that Zagreus was in love with Talisa. Really in love with her. Which was why he was so off kilter. And the second was something she understood well.
“You don’t think you deserve her,” she said quietly.
“I know I don’t deserve her. I just don’t know how to convince her of that fact.”
“Wow.”
Zagreus turned to face her. “What?”
She blinked up at him, shocked not just that this was happening, but that he was here talking to her about it. “She’s in love with you, too. That’s why you’re so freaked out.”
“I’m not freaked out.” He huffed and went back to looking through the window. “And no one said anything about love. Only mortals believe in that silliness.”
Cynna couldn’t help but smirk, knowing he was lying through his teeth. But that smirk faded when she said, “You and I are very similar. Too similar. We both wandered through life with nothing but revenge to lead us. That’s why it was so easy to let things go on between us as long as we did. We were a distraction for each other.”
He turned and looked at her, his expression unreadable, but she didn’t let that deter her.
“We were both broken, but that doesn’t mean either of us was or is a lost cause.” She leaned forward in her seat. “There’s more to life than misery and revenge. So much more than I ever knew was possible. And it’s not dark, it’s light. I didn’t believe it before I met Nick, but he changed that. He changed everything for me. All it took was doing the right thing. When I was young, my mother once told me that it doesn’t matter what you did yesterday, only what you do today. I don’t think I really understood what she meant by that until Nick came into my life. But once he did, once I made the choice to do the right thing, that was the turning point. I realized I could love someone and that it wouldn’t destroy them. But more than that, I realized I could be loved and not be destroyed.”
He stared at her so long in silence, she wasn’t sure if he’d heard her words. Then he surprised her when he said, “The young Argonaut Maximus is being held in a satyr fortress in the Sierra-Nevada Mountains.” He nodded at something on the table. “I wrote the coordinates on that note.”
Her gaze shot to the slip of paper she hadn’t even noticed in the dark.
“I had nothing to do with his imprisonment. The satyrs have not been under my control since my lair in the Yucatan was destroyed. Talisa and I only confirmed he was there earlier today.”
Cynna’s gaze snapped back to his. “Talisa knows he’s there?”
Zagreus’s jaw clenched. “Yes. Which is why you need to get this information to the Argonauts so they can figure out what to do. I don’t have enough resources to rescue him. There are at least three thousand satyrs gathered at that fortress.”
“Three thousand?” Cynna shot to her feet. “That’s an army. Who’s leading t
hem?”
Zagreus’s lips thinned. “The young Argonaut.”
“Max? That’s not possible. He hasn’t been missing long enough to—”
“I’m pretty sure he’s being manipulated by Pandora. And her box.”
“Skata.” The blood drained from Cynna’s cheeks when she realized what that meant. “She didn’t die in the Yucatan.”
“No, unfortunately. The bitch has a knack for surviving. Locked up without her box she was docile, but once she was freed, she found her treasure then joined forces with the satyrs. And after they captured the young Argonaut, it didn’t take her long to figure out his gifts.”
Pandora’s husband, Epimetheus, was a Titan. He’d been guarding her box all these years while she’d been in hiding. But the god was also a fool—weak and feebleminded thanks to his obsession with Pandora and his subsequent separation from her. It would have been easy for Pandora to steal her box back from him, especially since she’d never really cared for the elder god.
Cynna looked around the room, the reality of what Zagreus was saying slamming into her. If Pandora had her box and could control Max with it, and if she knew Max had the power of transference, then she could technically control any power Max came in contact with. Which meant Nick couldn’t join in the raid to rescue Max. Pandora could not be trusted with the powers of a god.
“He already has your mate’s powers,” Zagreus said.
Realizing he’d read her mind, Cynna lifted her head. “What do you mean?”
“He can store them.” When her eyes widened, he added, “I’m guessing from your reaction he didn’t tell anyone here. Talisa didn’t know either, and she’s ticked that I wouldn’t go after him, but I’m not giving Pandora access to any more of my powers. The ability to harness electrical energy is enough.”
“Oh, skata.”
“Whatever powers your mate ever used in his presence, he, and in turn Pandora, can now access.”
Holy shit. Cynna pressed her hand against the table for support, her mind already spinning with the need to wake Nick and warn him. But reality stopped her.
“You didn’t have to come here and tell me any of this.” Her gaze skipped over his. “Why did you?”
Wicked Page 27
