“Thank the Fates,” he breathed, pulling her tight again and burying his face in her hair. “Scared me, sotiria.”
She closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around him again, and just luxuriated in being close to him. She’d been so scared too. When she saw those hellhounds, she’d thought that was it. The end of everything. Just when she’d finally found a reason to live. When she’d finally been given a reason to let go of her dream of Olympus.
His body stiffened against her, and she eased back, watched his eyes narrow and focus over her shoulder.
She turned to look behind her. Skyla eased off the bed, a smug expression on her face.
Gryphon tried to push her behind him, but Maelea wasn’t having any of that. “It’s okay, Gryphon. Skyla knows.”
His gaze dropped to her with surprise. “You told her?”
“I told her everything.”
His eyes widened. “Everything?”
Maelea’s lips curled, because she knew he was thinking back to that boat. And the stairs at her beach house. And the beach. And the kitchen table. And the sofa… “Well, not everything.”
Heat flared in his eyes. He leaned down and kissed her. “Don’t tease me. Not yet.” Before she could answer, he looked back to Skyla. “I’m taking her with me.”
“I figured you might,” Skyla said.
“Don’t try to stop me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. How did you get away from the Argonauts?”
“Orpheus.”
Surprise flashed in her green eyes, followed by approval. “Well, I’ll be.”
“The Council’s already looking for me. They’ll be down here soon enough.”
“The Council?” Skyla’s gaze shifted to Maelea. “Shit. You two need to get out of here now, then.” She moved to the door, opened it, and peeked out. “Coast is clear.”
Maelea lifted the cardigan someone had brought for her from the bed, tugged it on. “Where are we going?”
“As far from Tiyrns as we can,” Gryphon said, nudging her toward the door.
“Gryphon, wait.” Skyla stopped him at the door. “Don’t take her back to the human realm. She’s safer here. Even with the Council.”
“Don’t worry. They won’t get their hands on her.”
A smile spread across Skyla’s face. “It’s good to see you looking…human.”
A slow smile turned Gryphon’s lips. “It’s good not to need your singing, Siren.”
Skyla chuckled as she pulled the door open, then sobered. “Go. Before it’s too late. And good luck. To both of you.”
Gryphon looked right and left, pulled Maelea out into the wide hall with him. “What was that about?” Maelea whispered as they headed for a back set of stairs.
“What?”
“The ‘singing’ comment?”
“Skyla has a way of taming…things…with her voice. It’s how she and Orpheus got me out of the Underworld when I was freaking out.”
Maelea’s heart bumped as they headed for a steel door. Thank the Fates for Skyla, too.
Gryphon typed numbers into a keypad and the door hissed open. A small, dimly lit set of circular stairs looked as if they led down into the bowels of the realm. They moved inside. The door closed behind them. They seemed to descend forever. When they reached the bottom step, Gryphon dragged her toward a wooden door, illuminated only by the dim yellow lights in the ceiling.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“The undercroft. It’s where we store extra weapons.”
He typed another code into yet another access panel. The door swung open. Inside sat racks and racks of weapons—knives, swords, throwing stars, things with serrated teeth she didn’t know how to define.
He grabbed a multitude of weapons. Strapped on a scabbard, which he slung over his head so it cut across his back. Slipped others into pockets she didn’t know he had. He handed her a dagger.
Her stomach rolled at the thought of having to use the weapons. Obviously, he expected someone to come after them. The Argonauts? This so-called Council? Would they really try to kill them? For the first time she realized everything he was leaving behind by being with her. “Gryphon—”
He grasped her hand, pulled her back out of the room. “Come on, we don’t have a lot of time.”
The door closed and locked behind them. He led her down a long narrow tunnel through a maze of twists and turns that made her thankful he was with her. And then finally they came to a third access panel. He typed in more numbers. The door hissed open. Nothing but darkness beckoned.
Trepidation rushed over her spine as she stared into the black abyss. “Gryphon, maybe we should rethink this.”
“Rethink what? This tunnel leads out into the mountains.”
She turned to face him. “Rethink leaving. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“I’m not.”
“You are. You’re walking away from your kin, from your order. From your life. I don’t want to be responsible for that. I—”