“Nothing’s a hundred percent certain, kardia,” Demetrius said, sitting in the chair next to her, “but those Sirens aren’t going to remember anything. When they wake up though…” His voice trailed off as he looked to Nick.
“When they wake up, what?” Isadora asked.
Nick scratched the back of his head and shot his brother a keep your trap shut look. “Nothing. They’ll just be wondering what the hell happened, that’s all.”
“Why do I get the feeling there’s something you’re not telling me?” Isadora asked.
Because there was. Nick hadn’t informed Isadora his guys were leaving the Sirens with a Titan. Even though a few hadn’t been condemned to Tartarus with the others at the end of the Titanomachy and still roamed the earth, Zeus hated them with a passion. If Isadora knew they’d left the Sirens with one just to screw with the King of the Gods, she’d be less than thrilled. In fact, she’d be irate. Orpheus wasn’t getting in the middle of this one.
“Where’s Maelea?” he asked.
“Upstairs.” Isadora set her tea on the coffee table. “Asleep.”
“And the Siren?”
“She said something about needing air,” Casey answered.
Disbelief rippled through Orpheus. “You let her leave?”
“No.” Isadora pushed to her feet. “She’s still here. The guards know to keep a lookout for her.”
“Take the elevator to the top floor,” Nick said to Orpheus. “There are a number of turrets and towers on the south end that no one uses because of the wind. If she wanted privacy, that’s where you’ll find her. I’ll double-check with the guards and make sure she didn’t pull anything funny.”
That thought didn’t put Orpheus at ease. There were measures taken when outsiders visited the colony, steps to make sure they couldn’t find their way back. Skyla couldn’t leave on her own now unless she was escorted out. But knowing her, if she’d suddenly decided to split, she could have seduced any one of those dumb guards to get free. And they would have fallen for her seduction skills a hell of a lot faster than he had.
Orpheus clenched his jaw, turned back for the elevator. Nick’s voice stopped him. “What are you gonna do with her?”
Orpheus pushed the call button. “Get rid of her, once and for all.”
Nick crossed his arms over his chest. “If you decide to let her live, make sure she can’t find her way back here. And if you don’t…clean up the mess.”
Orpheus didn’t answer as the elevator door opened. From inside the car, he heard Nick say, “So this means you’re all taking off, right?”
“No,” Isadora answered. “At least for tonight, we’re staying.”
Fucking fantastic. Just what Orpheus needed. The sooner he got the info he needed from Maelea, the sooner he could get the hell out of here and away from all of them. But first he had the Siren to deal with.
He took the elevator up another ten floors to the top as Nick had directed and stepped out into an empty space. Unlike the other levels, this one was nothing but stone floors and towering columns, void of furniture and rugs. A wall of windows looked out into the blackness.
He crossed the long room, pushed the arched doors open, and stepped out into the cold. A gust of wind lifted the hair from his forehead, and a shiver ran down his spine. Shrugging deeper into his thin jacket, he searched the flat, barren terrace covered in a thin layer of snow that ran the length of the south wing. No movement caught his attention. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He tuned in to his enhanced daemon sense—which, thankfully, still worked—and picked up nothing. To the right he spied a curved set of stairs that disappeared up into the darkness.
The Siren had to go. Didn’t matter that she was hotter than sin. Or that he felt connected to her on some weird-ass plane. She was a distraction he couldn’t deal with anymore.
The stone steps curved up and around. His boots crunched on snow as he skipped steps to get to the top. He paused when he spotted Skyla standing across the small terrace, looking out into the darkness, a trancelike expression on her perfect face.
Gods, she was beautiful. Even pissed off and ready to be done with her, he couldn’t deny that fact.
For a second he thought she was asleep. But then he realized she couldn’t be. Not standing straight with her eyes open. He took one more step onto the terrace and another gust of wind slapped him in the face, sending shivers over his skin. Skyla’s hair blew away from her cheeks, but she didn’t so much as quiver in the cold.
His aggravation regarding her and her Siren sisters came back tenfold. Along with his stupidity for not kicking her to the curb when he should have. “Getting new orders from the mother ship?”
She jerked in his direction. “Orpheus.”