“I don’t love her. I never did,” he added quickly.
“That’s good to know. She doesn’t love you either. Not like that anyway.”
He stared at her. Completely taken aback that she was showing so little emotion at his revelation. Didn’t she feel any of what he did? Had he so totally damaged her that the connection they’d shared was completely gone?
Something in his heart broke wide open. “Then there’s no reason for me to come back, is there?”
“Yes, there is. One reason.”
He held his breath as she stepped closer. “You made a promise to protect me. Until the end. Since it looks like I’ve got at least four hundred and fifty years to go until I’m senile and forget that promise, I’m holding you to it. Every one of the Argonauts has told me your word is gold. So I want to know why you’re so quick to go back on your promise to me, when you’ve upheld every other one you’ve ever made.”
His heart bumped. Once. Twice. “Is that what I’m doing?”
She nodded. “No one blames you, Theron. You were put in an impossible position. You did the right thing.”
Words lodged in his throat. “I didn’t—”
She gripped his hand, and electricity crackled along his nerve endings at the connection. “Yes, you did. One for many? I would have done the same. The only mistake you made was not being honest with me. It was my choice to make. Isadora’s choice. From now on we tell each other everything. No more secrets.”
Hope flared in his chest even as he tamped it out. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Yes, I do. Once in a lifetime, remember? Hera’s curse and all that? Did you think I missed that connection when we made love? The same one we’ve had since the beginning, but magnified a thousand times? Theron, To peprōmenon phugein adunaton. Remember?”
It’s impossible to escape from what is destined. Yeah, he remembered. How could he ever forget?
She stepped closer until the heat from her sexy little body made him light-headed. “I’m your destiny and you’re mine. Don’t turn away from that.”
He didn’t want to, but he couldn’t see another way around it. “Acacia, my duty is here now.”
“Nick is not your soul mate.”
“Nick is…” What was Nick to him? “A friend,” he decided. “I gave him my word. And he needs my help more than you or anyone in Argolea.”
She studied him a long beat. Then said, “Fine, then I’ll stay too.”
“You can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not safe for you. And because Isadora needs you there.”
“Then I guess that makes your decision easy. Come back with me.”
She wanted him. He read it in her eyes. But the reality of their situation was that he wasn’t the guardian she or her sister or any of the others thought he was. And if he went back he’d be nothing but an imposter. He didn’t move, even though inside, his heart was breaking. Hera was getting her way. Yeah, he’d found his soul mate, and just as she wanted, it had cost him everything else he’d ever believed in. “I…can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Won’t.”
Her arms dropped to her sides. “I see.”
“Acacia—”
She shook her head and avoided his arms when he reached for her. She made it as far as the door before she stopped and looked back. “You know the ironic part of this whole thing? You said Hera’s curse was intended only for the Argonauts. But you never mentioned what happened to the other half of the equation when all was said and done. Free will, right?” She chuckled, but the sound held no humor. “That’s a pretty crappy consolation when I’m facing four hundred plus years knowing I’ll never love anyone the way I love you.”
He stood there, feeling the stabbing pain in his chest as he stared at the empty doorway. Oh, gods, she loved him. Loved him even after everything he’d done and the numerous ways he’d deceived her. His heart kicked up even as he ticked through the thousand reasons they would never work.
Trivial. All of it. She’s all that matters. Don’t let her go.
He shouldn’t. With her he’d felt alive for the first time. Sure, he’d lived for over two hundred years, but when he met Acacia, his world had finally come to life. She’d taught him about forgiveness. She’d shown him that humans were as varied and unique as the stars. She’d proved that their compassion was what made them special, and somehow, in all of that, she’d helped him let go of his anger and uncover his humanity. That piece of himself he’d shunned so long ago.
His heart pounded hard in his chest as every second with her passed through his mind. Every smile and touch, every whisper and kiss, every challenge along the way and the love she’d showered on him right from the start. Even when he hadn’t deserved it.
With her he could do anything. Even lead a war he wasn’t sure he knew how to win. But without her…without her there was no reason to be.
Don’t let her go.
He couldn’t. Wouldn’t.