“Meleager,” Titus said behind Natasa. “The Argonaut was Meleager.”
The name bounced around Nick’s brain, pinging like tiny pinballs smacking into each other in a vast empty space. Meleager. Meleager…
And then the name finally registered, and his wide-eyed gaze shot to his brother. “Atalanta’s lover. You’re telling me she—our mother—was this Argonaut’s soul mate?”
Natasa nodded, drawing his attention. “She didn’t know Zeus had turned Meleager into a daemon. She thought he’d gone back to the Argonauts, and when he disappeared and no one could find him, she blamed the order for not searching harder for him. Years went by with no word from him, and, eventually, she accepted his death and gave in to her grief. But she never stopped blaming the Argonauts. And eventually, that grief pushed her to make her pact with Hades for immortality and revenge.”
Perspiration formed on Nick’s forehead. He wasn’t sure what to say. What to think for that matter. This was all way more than he’d expected when Theron had dragged him back here. His mother’s vendetta against the Argonauts hadn’t just been because they’d passed her over for induction into the order based on her gender as everyone thought, but because she’d blamed the Argonauts for her mate’s death.
Reunion.
The word trickled back into his jumbled thoughts like a cog stuck in a wheel, trying to break free.
Reunion…
Re—
Vibrations rippled all along his spine as his gaze shifted to Callia. “What do Atalanta and Meleager have to do with Isadora?”
Callia shot a worried look toward Zander. Her mate nodded, then she turned her violet eyes on Nick once more. “It proves that what nearly killed Atalanta is the same as what’s happening to Isadora. It’s all about life-force energy and the soul mate balance. Whether you or Isadora want to accept it, she is your soul mate, and as any of the Argonauts will attest, the soul mate bond is the strongest bond there is.”
Nick looked toward his brother, but Demetrius was no longer watching him. He was pacing again, this time raking his hand through his hair as if just the thought of standing still might kill him.
“We’ve tried everything else,” Callia went on, drawing Nick’s attention back to her. “We’ve had Isadora hold the Orb of Krónos, hoping the powers contained in the disk would help, but they haven’t. We’ve confirmed that she gets an increase in energy when you’re in the same room. Touching you amplifies that increase. We’ve even tried infusing your blood into hers, which worked for an hour or so to bring her vitals back to normal, but the effects slowly wore off. We know that you’re the key to her being healthy again, but nothing we’ve done so far has worked. This, though…” She glanced toward Natasa, then looked back at Nick. “This proves there’s really only one way to solve this problem.”
Nick waited for the healer to tell him what that one way was, but Callia didn’t go on. She just stared at him with a sorrowful expression. Everyone did, actually. Everyone but Isadora, who sat still behind her desk, as silent as she’d been through the whole conversation, glancing repeatedly toward her mate across the room, and Demetrius, who, Nick was pretty sure, was going to wear a path in the marble floor if he didn’t slow his steps soon.
Nick’s brow dropped. “I don’t think I’m follow—”
Reunion…
The word. The meaning. This intense powwow. Everything suddenly clicked.
Nick’s gaze shot to Isadora, then to Demetrius again—neither of whom were looking at him—then finally back to Callia. “Someone tell me this is a practical joke.”
An eerie silence settled over the room.
“Seriously,” Nick said, looking from face to face. “This isn’t funny.”
“Do you see Orpheus in the room anywhere?” Zander muttered. “If this were a joke, that lunatic would be here dragging it out, loving every minute of it. This is no joke, man.”
No way. Nick’s chest stretched tight as a drum. No way they were implying that the only way to save Isadora’s life was for him to…
He took a big step back and rested his suddenly sweaty hands on his hips, unable to even think the words. Yeah, there might have been a time when he’d considered it, even fantasized about it because the soul mate curse had been tormenting him and seeing Isadora so happy with his brother had been like a knife to the chest, but no way in hell would he ever have acted on it.
His attention shot toward Demetrius. “You, of all people, can’t be listening to this insanity. Please, Demetrius, for the love of all that’s holy, tell me this is a fucking joke.”