Titus’s brain was running a mile a minute trying to figure out who the redhead with the emerald eyes could possibly be, and how the hell she was messing with his gift—and curse.
As she stood rooted in place in Nick’s office, staring wide-eyed at Theron and Nick engaged in a heated argument about Gryphon, he tried again to tap into her thoughts. But just the same as in Maelea’s room and again in the elevator, he wasn’t getting enough to read her.
Who the hell is this?
I don’t remember seeing her around here before.
Wow, she is hot.
Thoughts from his Argonaut kin swirled in the room, several of whom had finally noticed he’d dragged some unknown female into the office. The last came from Cerek, which not only shocked the hell out of Titus, because Cerek never paid females any kind of attention, but set off some protective instinct inside him he didn’t know was there. He stepped in front of her and shot Cerek a warning look.
Then realized, belatedly, that he could hear his kin clear as day, but still not her.
Okay, freakin’ weird. She was definitely screwing with his powers. And yeah, it was juvenile and totally not like him, but he didn’t want anyone else touching her until he figured out just what was going on.
Nick finally looked past Theron and caught sight of her, then narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Silence settled over the room. Theron turned, noticed her standing behind and to the right of Titus, and narrowed his own eyes. “Who is this?”
“I found her snooping in Maelea’s room,” Titus said. “I don’t know who she is, but she says she’s a friend of Maelea’s.”
“What do you want with Maelea?” Theron asked her.
She moved back a step until she bumped into the windows that looked down over the lake. “N-nothing.”
“She had this.” Titus held out the book she’d been holding. The one that he’d taken from her in the elevator. The one she’d found in Maelea’s room. The one that was a diary of sorts, giving a detailed listing of the gods and their offspring.
Theron took the book and flipped it open. The redhead drew in a sharp breath and held it as he scanned pages. And even though Titus couldn’t read her mind, he knew panic when he saw it. Something important was in that book. Something she didn’t want them to see.
Theron lifted his head, focused on her eyes. But only one thought reached Titus’s mind: This is all we fucking need.
Before he could read more, footsteps echoed near the door, drawing Theron’s attention. Noticing the queen and her sisters, Titus reached for the sleeve of the redhead’s sweater to tug her out of the way. She stumbled, reached out to steady herself. Her fingers landed against his bare forearm, and just as before when he’d touched her bare skin, the room spun, and warm tingles rushed all over his skin.
She drew in a quick breath, tensed against him. The sweet scent of her perfume—or maybe it was just her—bombarded him. A scent as sweet as roses he’d never smelled before, one that hit him on the most basic of levels and sent his already overly aware hormones into overdrive.
Holy hell. Who was this chick?
She let go of him quickly. Pushed back. But in her eyes, he saw the same awareness he was suddenly feeling.
Theron’s eyes lit when he caught sight of Casey, but ever the leader of the Argonauts, he bowed in Isadora’s direction before moving toward his wife. “Your Highness.”
Isadora frowned, rubbed a hand over her pregnant belly. “Am I ever going to get you to stop that, Theron? It’s bad enough I get it in Argolea. Here, at least, I’d like you to treat me as you do everyone else.”
Casey moved up on Theron’s left, smiled, then rose on her toes to kiss his cheek. “He treats everyone but me like a bear, Isadora. I’m not sure you want him barking orders at you the way he does at them.”
At his side, the redhead watched the conversation with careful eyes, but Titus recognized the moment she realized who the females were. Every muscle in her body tightened all over again and worry crept into her emerald eyes.
Oh yeah, definitely otherworldly. And she was definitely somehow linked to the gods, if this reaction was any sort of indication.
“Careful, meli,” Theron said to Casey, “or I’ll start barking at you.”
“Promises, promises,” Casey answered with a grin.