He moved close, his body heat wrapping around her, warming her, and then his big hands landed against her upper arms, gently turning her to face him. “You are never a sacrifice, kardia.”
Tears burned in her eyes. Useless tears she didn’t understand.
His hands slid up to cup her face and tip her gaze up to his. Confusion clouded his features. “What’s wrong?” he whispered.
She didn’t know. And that frustrated her more than anything. It was more than that vision—a vision she wasn’t about to accept. It was more than what was happening with the Misos and the Council. It was even bigger than the distance that was stretching between them. It was something else. Something she couldn’t grasp yet. “I’m just tired,” she managed. “And I miss you. So much.”
He pulled her in close, wrapped his arm around her, and slid one hand into her hair. “I’ve missed you too. You have no idea how much. I’m sorry I haven’t been here. I’m sorry I left you to deal with everything on your own. I won’t do that again.”
As she fought back the stupid tears, she rested her head against his chest and closed her arms around his back, drawing in a deep whiff of his masculine scent, loving his heat, loving his strength, loving him more than she ever thought she could. “No, you’re doing what you need to be doing. I want you to find Nick. We can’t let the gods have control of him if he really does have Krónos’s powers inside him. I’m just…”
“What?” His fingers paused their gentle massage against her scalp.
“I’m lonely without you.”
“Kardia…” He eased back, then bent his head and brushed his lips over hers. “I’m here. I’ll always be here for you. No matter what. You are my everything.”
The kiss was sweet. A soft brush of skin against skin, but the moment his flesh touched hers, she wanted more. Needed their connection if for no other reason than to prove to herself that this overwhelming desire to find Nick wasn’t personal. He wasn’t the man she loved. This one was. This one was her life.
She lifted to her toes, slid her tongue along the seam of his lips, then groaned when he opened and kissed her deeply. His hands tightened around her back, and at her front, she felt his body’s reaction, felt his muscles tighten and his erection swell against her belly.
“Prove it to me,” she whispered. “Prove it to me right now.”
He drew back, just enough so he could look down at her in the dim light. “On one condition.”
“Anything.” Right now she’d promise whatever he wanted just to be close to him.
He brushed a lock of hair way from her temple in a move that was so tender, her heart rolled beneath her ribs. “After, you let me make you something to eat. You’re thinner than when I left.”
She pushed down the irritation, the reminder that he still thought of her as weak, and rose back to her toes. “After. But right now all I want is you.”
Escape.
The word pulsed in Cynna’s head, growing louder with every passing second.
Her eyes popped open, and a searing burn slid up her throat. Rolling to her side, she coughed, trying to expel the vileness inside her.
Her body shook with her coughing fit. When it passed, she blinked and looked around. She was lying on her side on the bed in her room. Something sticky covered her fingers. Something red and—
Her eyes grew wide as she looked down at the dried blood on her hand and the puddle of red on the mattress beneath her. She jolted out of the bed and raced for the bathroom before she lost what was in her stomach.
Pain radiated outward from her belly. Backing away from the toilet, she leaned against the wall while she tried to catch her breath. Her mind was a foggy mess. She patted her arms and legs, looking for wounds but couldn’t find any. What had happened? Where had all the blood come from? The last thing she remembered was being in Nick’s cell, her hands traveling over his body, bringing him to release, then coming back here to her room and—
Zagreus…
Oh shit.
Bits and pieces flashed in her memory. Him, the satyrs, her fighting frantically. But she couldn’t piece them together, couldn’t form a coherent picture of what they’d done to her. Panic spread through her veins, and she frantically checked every part of her body, looking for marks, for wounds, looking for what Zagreus had been up to.
The only thing she found was a slightly swollen red bump on the inside of her right forearm and a tiny puncture wound in her skin. The rest of her body was untouched.
Relief stole through her. A relief that he hadn’t let his satyrs have their way with her, that he hadn’t raped her. It might be stupid, but giving herself to Zagreus was one thing. Having him take without her consent was something altogether different. And since she was only just barely holding it together these days, she feared something like that might send her over the edge.
Escape.
The word drowned out everything else. Whatever Zagreus had done to her was a result of her going to Nick last night. And that meant Zagreus didn’t trust her and that this was only the beginning. It also meant Nick was in as much danger as her.