Her breaths slowed as she drifted to sleep beside him, but Ari knew he’d find no sleep. Because as he looked into the flames on the far side of the room and her words of love echoed in the air around him, he knew he couldn’t keep reality at bay any longer.
Zeus would never let her live. Not with the way she’d sacrificed her duty for his enemy. By now his Sirenum Scorpoli had probably already shared what had happened in those woods. And that meant every moment she spent in this hold put her life in that much more danger.
His chest pinched so hard it stole his breath. Rolling to his side, he wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her in tight to his chest. Gods, she awed him again and again. She believed in him when she had no reason to. Cared for him when others would turn away. Loved him even when he didn’t love himself.
She was wrong. Love wasn’t the blessing. She was the blessing. And he would do whatever he had to do to keep her safe.
Even if that meant becoming the savage she didn’t believe him to be.
*
Daphne slid out of bed at dawn, tired but in need of caffeine. She hadn’t been able to sleep much, thoughts of the Sirens and Athena and Zeus and the Sirenum Scorpoli sifting through her mind. She knew that wasn’t the last they were going to see of Zeus’s secret sect, and as much as she hated to leave Ari naked and asleep in that big bed of his, she needed to talk to Sappheire about what their next move should be.
She found one of Ari’s huge button-down shirts in the closet, tugged it on, and headed for the hall. Voices echoed from the kitchen, and her brow lowered as she tried to figure out who Sappheire was talking to.
“And I bet that’s something you do regularly on Olympus,” a familiar male voice said.
“Actually,” Sappheire answered, “it’s not. I can’t tell you the last time I went out on a date. The only males on Olympus are gods who aren’t interested in anything but casual sex. And, no thanks, I don’t need to be another notch on an immortal’s bedpost. The males I encounter in the human realm won’t even come near me when they discover what I am.”
The male chuckled, then the refrigerator door opened and closed, and as Daphne listened, she realized it was Silas, back from his supply run a few days early. “Maybe it’s not what you are but the way you look. Gorgeous females are more than a little intimidating to the average guy.”
“It’s not real,” Sappheire said. “It’s part of the whole Siren gig. Immortal glamour to create the perfect female. The old me isn’t anything like this, believe me. Daphne’s the only female I can remember in all the recent classes who wasn’t altered. Nymphs are so genetically blessed. It’s disgusting.”
Silas chuckled again. “Something tells me you’re wrong. Zeus doesn’t pick the homely girls for the Siren Order. I’m sure he was fully impressed before your transformation.”
“Well, I did always have great tits. Those didn’t change.”
“See?” The sound of a knife hitting a cutting board echoed from the kitchen as Daphne drew close, but it was the smile she heard in Silas’s voice that piqued her interest. “There you go.”
“Are you agreeing with me?”
“I’m definitely not arguing. They’re more than nice from where I’m standing.”
They both looked up when Daphne stepped into the room, Silas from the stove where he was cooking, and Sappheire from the counter where she sat on a stool sipping a cup of coffee with a silly grin. The Siren was still wearing the same pants she’d had on yesterday, but the light-blue T-shirt hanging off her toned shoulders had to be Silas’s.
“Oh, there you are.” Sappheire’s smile wobbled as she set her mug down. “I was just telling Silas here about your irritating genetics.”
Silas grinned. “She doesn’t give her own genetics enough credit. Nice shirt, Daphne.”
This wasn’t one of the shirts Silas had picked out for her before he’d left, which meant he knew where she’d gotten it. And how. Daphne knew she should be a little embarrassed, but she wasn’t. Not at all.
“How’s the patient?” Sappheire asked.
“Fine.” Actually, he was better than fine, but Daphne didn’t want to share that with her friends. Some things were meant to stay private. She crossed to the far side of the kitchen, pulled a mug from the cupboard, and poured herself a cup of coffee. “He was more than surprised to learn you were here though, Sappheire.”
“I bet he was,” Sappheire mumbled, lifting her cup again. “Not as much as this guy though.”
Silas chuckled. “You shocked me, I’ll admit it.”
“But it was a nice kind of surprise,” Sappheire said with a smile in her voice. “Wasn’t it?”