She wasn’t going to cough it up. And he didn’t have time to try to pry it out of her. “Where would Maelea go if she wanted to disappear?”
Natasa’s eyes finally met his. Shimmering, gemlike eyes he knew he was going to have a hard time forgetting. “I thought that’s why she came here.”
“No, she was brought here, and not willingly. Where would she choose to go if she could?”
“I don’t know. She has property in Seattle and up on Vancouver Island. But I looked in both places before coming here. She wasn’t at either location.”
No, she hadn’t been. She’d been here at that point. But if Gryphon was using her to escape, he could force her to take him anywhere. Both locations were long shots, but they were options, if Gryphon’s trail kept leading west.
“Stay put in the colony,” he said as he moved for the door. “We’ll finish this when I get back.”
Fire flashed in her eyes as she climbed off the table. “We won’t be finishing anything, Argonaut. This conversation’s over.”
Humor curled one side of his mouth as he turned the knob. “I don’t think so, female. I have a feeling this, whatever it is, is long from over.”
***
An hour later, Titus stared down at the bloodbath beneath his feet. The motel room was something straight out of a Fright Night movie marathon. Five beheaded daemons, blood sprayed along the walls and floor, a bed torn to pieces.
Skata. Gryphon knew better than this. He knew to cover his tracks. Humans were not to know about the war between the Argonauts and Atalanta’s daemons. Bodies were always to be destroyed. But this…he’d left this here for anyone to find.
“Orpheus wiped the last cop’s mind,” Skyla said at his side. He hadn’t even heard her come back into the room. “That élencho comes in handy. We lucked out; this motel is in the middle of nowhere and there weren’t any other guests staying here.”
“What about the hysterical kid?” Titus kicked a daemon sword to the side. After meeting Orpheus and Skyla at the site of those daemon bodies, they’d disposed of the remains, then continued west and come across a pack of dead hellhounds. They’d cleaned up that mess as well, and finally found this.
Police lights swirling, an ambulance waiting. A handful of small-town cops who’d looked shocked to hell and back, mingling around outside. It was still night, but dawn would be breaking soon, and they had to clean up this disaster before anyone else arrived. Like the FBI special-crimes unit or some paranormal-obsessed freaks.
“Orpheus wiped his mind as well,” Skyla said. “Kid was lucky. The daemons destroyed that office. I’m not sure how he hid from them.”
Dammit. Gryphon should have wiped the kid’s mind, then torched the place after he killed these fuckers. If humans knew daemons roamed their world, pandemonium would break out. And there was no telling who or what Atalanta would target if that happened. Or what the gods would do in retaliation. It was the Argonauts’ responsibility to clean up Atalanta’s mess.
Orpheus’s boots crunched over broken glass as he came back into the room. “They’re gone. For now. But we don’t have much time before others show up.”
From the corner of his eye, Titus saw the way Skyla reached for Orpheus, wrapped her hand around his, and squeezed, giving him a little of her strength. And he thought back to the redhead at the colony. About how he could touch her like that if he wanted. About the light-headed, way-too-enticing feeling he’d experienced when his skin had brushed hers. About the fact she was the first person in over a hundred years he’d wanted to touch again.
Orpheus swiped a hand over his brow, let go of Skyla, and stepped farther into the room. He looked like shit. Worry lines creased his face and dark circles marred the skin under his eyes. He probably hadn’t slept since Gryphon went missing, but then Titus couldn’t blame him. To bring his brother all the way back from the Underworld, only to have it result in this…
“We’ll find him,” Skyla said softly.
“I know,” Orpheus answered, turning a slow circle as he stood in the middle of the devastation. “That’s not what I’m worried about. I’m worried about what the fuck he’s doing in the meantime. He’s obviously not thinking right.” He eyed the handcuffs hanging from the bedframe. A sick look crossed his face, and Titus picked up the memory rushing through his mind, one of seeing those female undergarments on the floor in the bathroom.
Skyla moved back to reach for his arm. “Maelea’s strong.”
Orpheus huffed. “Maelea’s not strong. She’s a pincushion.”
“She’s lived for thousands of years—”