He released a long breath above her head, but didn’t seem to want to let go of her either, and for that she was glad. So very glad. “How in the name of the gods did you get out of the castle unnoticed?”
“Orpheus’s invisibility cloak.”
“Damn daemon,” he muttered. “I’m gonna burn that thing.”
“No, you won’t. I won’t let you.” She hugged him tighter, digging her fingertips into the muscles of his back. “I looked everywhere for you.”
He swallowed hard. “I couldn’t stay. I would have come back. I just—”
“I didn’t do it.”
He stilled against her. “You didn’t?”
She shook her head and beat back the tears that wanted to fall. “I couldn’t. I don’t want anyone but you.”
His arms tightened around her with the strength of a vise, and he lifted her feet from the floor, turning his face into her neck as he held her to him. “Stupid female,” he whispered against her. “So, so stupid…”
Those tears spilled over. She couldn’t stop them. She sifted her fingers into his hair. “We’ll have to find another way, because I can’t be with anyone else. I would rather die than do that to us. I love you. Just you. Always.”
His mouth found hers. And she clung to him as he kissed her, knowing that this, their love, was stronger than any soul mate bond. His strength would keep her alive. It had to.
“Love me, Demetrius,” she said against his mouth. “Love me right now.”
He pulled her toward a pile of blankets on the far side of the small room and lowered them to the floor, tugging her on top of all his strong, delicious heat. After swiping the cloak from her shoulders, he slid his fingers up under her sweater, lifted his mouth back to hers, and whispered, “Ah, kardia. I already do. I’ll love you forever. No matter what.”
Cynna lay in bed, staring up at the dark ceiling, unable to sleep. Again.
She glanced down at Nick softly dozing against her, his head pillowed on her chest, his legs intertwined with hers in the sheets, his arms wrapped around her, holding her close. Love blossomed all through her heart as she ran her fingers through his silky hair, but it didn’t ease her worry or stop that niggling voice in the back of her head.
Sighing, she looked back up at the ceiling. The voice was right. Even if Nick didn’t wise up to reality and leave her on his own, there were still a hundred reasons why they just wouldn’t work in the long run. The biggest of which, that voice whispered, was Zagreus.
A shudder ran through her as her mind drifted to the Prince of Darkness. He was still out there. Probably pissed that she’d left. And though she wanted to believe they’d escaped from his prison on their own, she knew if he hadn’t wanted them to go, they’d still be locked in that hellhole. Which meant he was biding his time, waiting for…something.
Disjointed memories swam through her head. She tried to pull them into view. Couldn’t quite make them connect. She remembered being in her room in the caves. Remembered someone holding her down. Remembered Zagreus’s menacing voice echoing in her ears.
“You’re going to make him fall for you. And when he finally turns his back on that useless hero honor and chooses you, then we’ll have what we want. Then I’ll come and reclaim you both.”
That shudder turned to icy fingers rushing down her spine. She’d been so focused on Isadora and what was happening with Nick and his soul mate these last few days, she’d ignored the biggest threat of all.
She glanced down at Nick again, her heart racing. And remembered Zander’s words earlier in the queen’s office.
“Have you ever seen what happens to an Argonaut when his soul mate dies?”
Yes, she had seen it. She’d seen Ari. The former Argonaut was completely broken. Nick was strong enough to fight the darkness but not a shattered soul. What would happen to him if Isadora died? What would he do?
In a firestorm of understanding, Zagreus’s plan made sense. The reason he’d let them go. The reason he hadn’t come after them yet. The reason he’d made her drink his blood that night in her room.
A new, more crucial urgency pushed at her from every direction. Slowly, so she didn’t wake Nick, she climbed out from under him, dropped to the floor, and found her clothes. Tiptoeing out into the hall, she pulled them on while her fingers shook with both fear and dread.
She didn’t bother with her jacket, just rushed downstairs and out onto Delia’s porch before it was too late. Picturing the castle, she closed her eyes and flashed to the front gates.
The guards let her pass with hardly a look, something she was grateful for now. She raced into the castle, then stopped in the massive foyer. It was past midnight. Everyone was likely asleep. But this couldn’t wait until morning. Gripping the banister, she skipped stairs and raced for the upper floors.