Nick wasn’t lying. Titus’s adrenaline inched up a notch as he read the Come on, challenge me, I dare you thought coming from Nick.
Zander’s eyes narrowed. He looked Nick’s way again. “What’s down there in that cavern?”
Nick clenched his jaw but didn’t answer. But Titus heard the lies racing across the half-breed’s mind as he fished for something to get them to back off.
“Where the hell did Gryphon and Maelea end up?” Theron asked in an accusing tone. “There’s something you’re not telling us.”
They’ll find out soon enough. Or they’ll make things worse for the colony. You don’t have a choice here.
Nick’s thoughts echoed in Titus’s mind, piquing his own curiosity. This was about more than just Gryphon and—oh, great—Maelea now.
The half-breed leader clenched his jaw once, twice, then finally muttered, “Fuck,” followed by “Get in here and close that damn door.”
Titus closed the doors at his back. Caught Theron’s Read his mind and tell me if he’s telling the truth thought.
Nick moved in front of his desk and rubbed his hand across his forehead as if he had the mother of all migraines. “I told Isadora there were extenuating circumstances to relocating the colony here after our location in Oregon was destroyed.”
“I remember,” Theron said. “The Russian Misos colony loaned you the property.”
“Right. This place had been sitting empty for quite some time. It wasn’t being used as a residence. Turns out, there’s a reason for that.”
“What reason?” Zander asked.
Tell them, don’t tell them. Nick’s thoughts bounced around as he debated his options. Shit, if I don’t tell them, they’ll just go down there and fuck things up.
Nick scowled and motioned them to follow as he stepped toward the wall at the back of his office. “This way.”
He touched the molding high on the right side of a bookshelf. The entire unit swung out, revealing a secret passageway.
“Sweet,” Zander muttered. “Where the hell does it go?”
“Just shut it and keep up,” Nick said, stepping through the open doorway and into a steel-walled tunnel. Titus followed Zander and Theron inside. At his back, the massive bookcase snapped closed with a clack. Titus was too far back to read Nick’s thoughts, but he picked up Zander’s and Theron’s, and both were wondering what the hell was going on.
No one spoke as they reached a circular staircase that seemed to go on forever. Nick started down without a word. Theron followed. Zander turned back to Titus and whispered, “You okay? You’re sweating. Maybe we should go find Callia.”
Titus wasn’t missing this. He needed to know where Gryphon had gone. He stepped past Zander. “I’m fine.”
Before Zander could press him for more, they reached the bottom of the stairs. The floor was concrete, the walls cinder block.
Titus wiped the sweat from his brow, ignored the pain in his side. “What does this place have to with Gryphon?”
“You’ll see in a minute,” Nick answered.
The panel lights flicked green, then the steel door hissed open and disappeared into the wall. He stepped into the dark room, lit by only a glowing orange lamp somewhere in the center of the space. The rest of them followed.
“Skata,” Theron muttered when he came to a stop.
Titus read his No fucking way thought before he moved out from behind Theron’s massive body and stopped next to him. Shock registered first as he stared ahead at the glowing orange rocks rotating on a pedestal in the center of the room with what looked like a heat lamp hovering above. “Is that—?”
“Therillium,” Nick answered, dragging a hand over his close-shaved head. “It glows orange when heated. In its normal state it’s green.”
“Skata,” Theron muttered again. “You’re housing your people over Hades’s personal stash of invisibility ore?”
Nick shot him a look. “Trust me, it wasn’t my first choice. But when our colony in Oregon was destroyed, we didn’t have many options. The Russian Misos colony agreed to loan us this location with the provision that we keep the therillium mines secret and continue to provide their colony with enough ore so their location remains hidden. I had my doubts at first, but Hades doesn’t know we’re here. He doesn’t even know this castle exists.”
“How the hell not?” Theron asked.
“Because the therillium”—Nick motioned toward the slowly turning chunk of glowing orange rock—“keeps the castle invisible. The tunnels are sealed with only one way in or out, which is known only by me and one other person. Hades uses kobaloi to mine his therillium, but they can’t come out into the sunlight, so they’re no threat to us. As for Hades himself, he doesn’t dare venture into the mines.”
“Why not?” Zander asked.