A chair lay on its side, pillows from the top berth were scattered about, and Skyla’s armor was strewn over the floor. As Skyla climbed through the window, he reached out to her, slid his hands around her waist, and helped her jump down from the sill. The long, lean line of her body pressed against his as she gripped his shoulders and eased to the floor.
For a moment he remembered their little bet. What he’d wanted to do to her out in the corridor. His blood warmed. His pulse picked up speed. When her gaze flicked to his and her cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink, he knew she felt it too.
She took a quick step back. Broke the contact. Moved to pick up her armor. “What’s the plan?”
War strategy. She had an easier time talking about that than the attraction still simmering between them. But could he blame her? It was a helluva lot easier for him to think about how to kick some hellhound ass rather than the kiss she’d laid on him out in the snow. The one that was still smoking through the toes in his boots.
He pushed his hands into his pockets, fingered the earth element as she took off her coat, tied the garment around her waist, then strapped on the breastplate and arm guards. Man, she was sexy. All long legs and willowy curves. Built, obviously, to seduce. But he liked that about her. Because it meant when this thing between them eventually burned out, he’d have no regrets about whatever came next.
“I was thinking we’d lure them out with my daemon,” he said. “You wait in the trees until we’ve got them all. I take down what I can, you swoop in and get the rest.”
She turned his way, her golden hair waving behind her as she moved. “Are you sure your daemon will come out and play this time?”
“Sweetheart, my daemon’s ready to play anytime, anywhere. Just say the word and he’ll be there.”
“Hm.” She stepped over the chair, crossed to the small bathroom door. “I’ll feel better about that when I see it for myself.”
“A pregame warm up? Siren, you surprise me.” He reached for the button on his jeans. “I’m not sure we have time, but I’m ready to give it a try if you are.”
She huffed an exasperated sound as she grasped the handle of the door, pulled it open. “Get real.”
He smiled because he knew he’d gotten under her skin.
A scream echoed through the small space.
Skyla let go of the handle and jumped back, the dagger strapped to her lower back already in her hand.
Orpheus rushed over, peered around the corner into the bathroom, and spotted Maelea crouching on the floor with his blade in her hand.
“Holy Hades.” He reached in and grasped the girl by the shoulders, hauling her up and out of the bathroom. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What the hell do you think I was doing?” She wriggled out of his grip, dropped down on the lower berth, breathing heavy. “There are hounds out there.”
Skyla moved to Orpheus’s side, slid her blade back in its sheath. “We saw them. We were wondering what happened to you.”
“I heard noises outside so I hid in the bathroom,” Maelea said. “I’m not stupid, you know.”
“No, you’re not,” Orpheus said. “You were smart to hide.”
She glared at him. “What other choice did I have? Run? Then Hades would have exactly what he wants. He hasn’t paid me any mind in all this time, but since you came after me, twice now I’ve had to run from his underlings. Thanks for that, by the way.”
Orpheus’s spine stiffened because what she said was true. That guilt he’d gotten good at ignoring came back tenfold.
“Maelea—” Skyla started.
Maelea tossed Orpheus’s knife to the floor, pulled her legs up to her chest, and curled into herself. Conversation done.
Skyla looked at Orpheus and tapped her wrist with her index finger, indicating they didn’t have time for this.
“We’re going to take care of the hounds,” Orpheus told her. She didn’t answer. “You’d be wise to stay here until we come back and get you.”
Still nothing from her.
When long seconds passed without an answer, he finally glanced to Skyla again, who nodded toward the open window and the hellhounds that waited for them.
“We’ll be back for you, Maelea,” he said as he climbed out the window and helped Skyla to the ground. “Sit tight.”
“Where else would I go?” Maelea muttered with a wicked bite as they walked away. “All I have left is this holding cell you created for me.”
Chapter 11
Snow crunched under Skyla’s boots as she made her way around trees and downed logs, careful not to give away her location, her eyes ready for anything that might jump out at her. She knew Orpheus was somewhere to her left, circling the hellhounds’ position from the other side, but she couldn’t see him. He moved like a shadow—silent, deadly, utterly undetectable until the last second.