Daphne whipped toward him with wide eyes, but when the half breed met her gaze, she discovered he wasn’t horrified like her. He was impressed. “Why—?”
“Booby traps,” he said. “Ari wired this place up good in the event we were ever attacked.” He pointed toward a dagger sticking out of a dead female’s chest. “A rain shower of blades. Dirty bombs.” He glanced toward the charred remains on the hillside beside them. “Barrels of oil he could light on fire.”
Daphne looked back at the burning structure, a new sense of terror ripping through her. “Are you saying he set this fire himself?”
“Maybe. Hard to know. Zeus could be trying to smoke him out of the safe room.”
“Is there no other exit?” Cerek moved up next to Daphne, his features tight, his eyes a little wild. Wild, Daphne knew, because she’d told him his father was alive, and they’d just walked into a nightmare.
“If Ari’s in the safe room, he can get out.” Silas pointed toward the south. “A tunnel runs from there, through the mountain, and exits in a ravine on the other side of the ridge.”
Hope leapt in Daphne’s chest. She scanned the snowy hillside.
Cerek took a step in that direction, but Theron, the massive Argonaut with shoulder-length dark hair Daphne had learned was the leader of the Argonauts, stepped in his way and pressed a hand to Cerek’s chest. “Be careful. If what the half breed said is true and Ari’s in one of his episodes, he could be dangerous. Even to you.”
Cerek’s back tightened. “He’s my father. I’m not afraid of him.”
“I know you’re not, but—”
“He can control it,” Daphne said. They both turned her way. “He just has to focus. If I can get to him, I can help him.”
The skepticism in Theron’s eyes said he wasn’t convinced. “Let’s hope you’re right, female.” He glanced toward the other warriors who’d flashed in just after them, standing behind Cerek. “Zander, Demetrius, and I will take Silas around the south side of the building and check the hold. Skyla, you and Sappheire go with Cerek and Daphne to where the tunnel lets out and see if you can find him. Orpheus, Phin, and Gryphon are coming up from the west where the path leads down the mountain in case anyone’s coming or going that way. I sent Titus to find Nick. He and Cynna are on holiday, but if we run into Zeus, we’re going to need our own god on our side. Let’s hope we get out of here before that happens. Everyone clear?”
Heads nodded. Blades were drawn. As a light snow began to fall, Daphne looked from face to face, both awed and relieved that so many had come to Ari’s aid. He thought no one cared. If he knew what they were all willing to do for him—
“Good.” Theron stepped past Daphne and headed for the burning hold. “Let’s wrap this up before anyone gets hurt.”
“That dumbfuck better be alive when we get to him,” Zander muttered as the group parted and he followed Theron down the snowy hillside. “Or I’ll kill him myself.”
Cerek turned to Daphne. “Come on.”
Daphne had so many questions, about the Argonauts, about their relationships with Ari, about Cerek and what he’d been through these last fifty years, but now wasn’t the time to ask them. She and Cerek had spoken briefly regarding Ari before they’d left Argolea, about who she was to Ari and how she’d known to go to Argolea for help, and though she knew Cerek had a million questions of his own, he didn’t ask them either. Both of them were lost in thought as they hiked through the snow.
Her throat grew tight and her hands trembled as she stepped around trees and boulders, trying not to sink into the snow, trying not to let fear get the best of her. Sappheire and Skyla were silent as they followed. But the closer they drew to the ravine, the harder it was for Daphne to keep her pulse steady and her breaths slow and even.
The sound of metal hitting metal reached Daphne’s ears first. Her heart rate shot up when she realized blades were striking. Her legs pushed into a sprint.
“Daphne,” Sappheire hissed.
But Daphne didn’t stop. Couldn’t. Her heart lurched into her throat.
Breathless, she reached the edge of the ravine and looked down. Ari stood in the bottom of the small, snowy valley, his blade clanging against the dagger of a Sirenum Scorpoli as she lunged and tried to slice him. His arms were a whir of black menace, his blade a violent weapon that beat her back. And though Daphne couldn’t see his eyes, she knew they were black and crazed. Could tell by his jerky motions that he was in that moment where all he craved was blood.
Screams echoed from the other side of the ravine. Daphne’s gaze jerked that way, toward the dozen or so Sirenum Scorpoli sliding down the snowy incline. Her heart rate went stratospheric.
“Holy gods,” Cerek muttered at her side.