“A what?”
“A hero,” Nick repeated. “Your grandmother was Greek, right?” Acacia nodded. “In Greek mythology, the heroes were mortals of great strength and ability, spawned from the union of a mortal and a god.”
Acacia’s eyes shot to Theron’s face, and as unexpected as she was that first night he’d met her, the connection they’d shared flared hot and bright. A connection that made absolutely no sense, considering who and what she was. “You’re telling me he’s a god?”
“No,” Theron said quickly, refocusing. “A descendant. The first heroes were half human, half god. Over time, as they reproduced, our race was born and the lines were blurred. My people are the offspring of those original heroes.”
“What race?” she asked hesitantly.
“We are called Argoleans. Our home is in another realm, established outside the human world.”
Her brow shot up in a “what the hell have you been smoking?” look. “You mean like Olympus?”
“No.” Theron shook his head. “Olympus is home to the gods. Argolea was a land established specifically for our race, a place where we could flourish and remain free.”
Nick huffed. “You mean where your kind could hide.”
Theron ignored the barb. He’d deal with Nick and his colony of half-breeds later. Right now he could see that Acacia wasn’t buying any of what he’d just told her, and making her understand her lineage was important if he was going to get her to go back with him. “Your father is of my kind.”
“What he’s neglecting to tell you, Casey,” Nick said, straightening, “is that he’s not just an Argolean. He’s an Argonaut. One of his race’s so-called Eternal Guardians. The leader, if I’m not mistaken. And aside from the obvious—why he’s in our world now—I’m just a little curious why he’s zeroed in on you.” Nick crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Theron.
Moment of truth. The hair on the back of Theron’s neck stood up as he looked from Acacia to Nick and back again. He hoped to Hades this gamble paid off. “Your father’s name is Leonidas. King Leonidas. The ruler of my kingdom.”
Nick swore and dropped his arms.
Casey’s eyes grew even larger. “My father’s a king?”
Theron nodded.
“As in red robe, pointy crown and a jester at his feet king?”
Theron lifted one brow, amused at her wit. “The gods were never fond of jesters. Didn’t get passed down to us.”
She only continued to stare at him with that same wide-eyed, you-are-higher-than-a-hot-air-balloon look on her face. She turned to Nick, the candles on the walls casting warm light across her face. “Explain to me what this place is. And who are all those people outside?”
Theron’s humor faded. What was that pinch in his chest he experienced whenever she looked to Nick for answers?
Nick’s scarred features softened in a way that kicked up that pinch to a stab. “They’re like us, Casey. Half-breeds, or so his race calls us. Half Argolean, half human.”
“What do you call them?” she asked quietly.
A frown pulled his eyebrows together. “Really fucking unlucky.”
Theron gritted his teeth as Nick moved to sit beside her on the couch.
“Misos, Casey,” Nick said. “It means half, which is what we are. I know this is confusing, but do me a favor. Just tell me if I’m wrong. You’re twenty-seven years old, yet you feel like you’ve never belonged anywhere. You’ve flitted from job to job, never passionate about anything in particular. You loved your grandmother, but you always sensed she didn’t understand you because you were different, and you never felt bound to stay with her after you were grown. Your friends never truly accepted you, and you didn’t fit in with the people you interacted with. When you started working at XScream and you met Dana, as much as the club sickened you, it was the first time you’d ever felt a connection with another person that went deeper than the superfluous. And though I scared you and gave you every reason to be afraid of me, you trusted me with your life and didn’t once question who or what I was. At least not out loud.”
Acacia’s chest rose and fell as she took long, steady breaths, but her eyes were locked on Nick’s. “How do you know all that?” she whispered.
“Because I’ve been there. Because I was once like you, wondering where I fit in. I found it here. With my people. With our people, Casey.”
“I—I don’t understand this. How…?” She glanced toward Theron. And his chest grew tight at the questions in her eyes. At the way she looked to him for answers. “If you live in a different”—she swallowed—“world, then how did my mother…? Was my mother one of you?”
Theron shook his head. “From what I know, your father met her when he was in the human world. Many from our race do cross over from time to time, but it can be dangerous and it isn’t encouraged.”