Nick frowned. “Obviously it happens more than the Argonauts would like to admit.”
“Dangerous,” Acacia said, missing the barb as her eyes flicked back to Nick. “Because of those beasts. What were they?”
“Daemons,” Nick said matter-of-factly. “Beasts of the underworld spawned by Hades and given power by a demigod. They hunt us.”
Her eyebrows drew together, forming a crease in the middle of her forehead that was so damn sexy, Theron’s legs itched to cross to her and kiss it from her skin.
“Why? I don’t understand that. I mean, I’ve never heard of them. Do they hunt humans too? Is this some big conspiracy theory the government’s not telling us?”
Nick placed a hand on her arm. And that stab in Theron’s chest shot up to a warning roar. He fought the urge to throw himself at Nick and pry the man’s hand off Acacia’s arm, then break every bone in the half-breed’s body.
“You have to stop thinking of yourself as human, Casey,” Nick said. “I know it’s hard to understand, but you’re one of us, and as such your life is vulnerable in different ways. The goal of the daemons is to eradicate the Argoleans and everything associated with them. And that, unfortunately for us, means our people as well.”
“But why? What did we ever do to them?”
“Nothing,” Theron said, drawing her attention his way. Her violet eyes flicked up to his, and when their gazes met, the roar in his head quickly morphed from one of protection to white-hot desire, just as it had that night up at her house by the lake.
And that’s when it hit him. All of it at once. The real reason he hadn’t recognized who and what she was the first night he’d met her. It wasn’t because he’d been hurt. It was because she was his One.
He swallowed hard at what he hoped couldn’t possibly be the real explanation. She was just a woman. She was human, something he couldn’t stomach even on a good day, which this most definitely was not. And she was going to save his race, whether she knew it or not. He had to focus on that. And not the…other possibility.
“It goes back centuries,” he said, harsher than necessary. “To a disgruntled hero who sold her soul to Hades in exchange for immortality. She seeks to destroy that which shunned her. And she’s unleashed her daemons on the world to extinguish a race she hates.”
“And that’s why you’re here,” she said plainly, those mesmerizing eyes of hers still locked on his. “To protect the race.”
“To protect his race,” Nick cut in, shooting Theron a contemptuous look. “Make no mistake, Casey. Theron isn’t here to protect the Misos. Your father the king hasn’t tried to contact you once in twenty-seven years, and now suddenly he wants to see you? Before you agree to anything, ask yourself just what the heck he or this guardian could possibly want from you.”
Acacia looked from Nick to Theron and back again. And then, as if someone had turned off a light inside her, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch. The color drained from her face, leaving her weak and spent, reminding Theron that even though her mind was strong, her body was not. “I don’t know what to think of any of this.”
Nick rose from the couch and moved toward the door. On the wall he pushed some kind of button connected to a wire that disappeared into the rock. “You don’t have to think about it yet. I want you to get some rest. You don’t look well.”
Acacia’s eyes flipped open just as the door creaked. A female who looked to be no more than twenty-five edged into the room. “Yes, Nick.”
Nick helped Acacia from the couch. “Helene, this is Casey. I want you to get her settled in a room upstairs. She’s had quite a day and needs to rest. Bring her anything she needs.”
Helene smiled at Nick, her dark eyes sparking, and only when she came more fully inside did Theron realize the half-breed female walked with an obvious limp.
“Of course. Hi, Casey. We’re glad to have you with us.”
Acacia glanced from Helene to Nick. “But—”
“It’s okay,” Nick said. “Theron and I have things to discuss, and you need to sleep before you fall over. You’re completely safe here. Rest, and when you wake, I’ll answer your questions.”
Acacia glanced around the room again in indecision, then finally turned her attention to the dark-haired woman. “I guess I am a little tired.”
Helene’s grin widened. “Come on then. I know just which room to give you.”
Theron watched the two women exit the office, consumed by a dark desire to follow Acacia out and up those grand stairs—which was suddenly starting to make a sickening sort of sense.
No, no, no. He had to be wrong.
“Enough with the crap, hero.”