That moment, when he’d held her in the salon, ricocheted through his memory. The way she’d tensed, then relaxed, then—reluctantly, now it seemed—agreed to join him in the shower.
She was spooked. That was why she’d taken off. That was why she was pissed now. She’d felt the same thing he had upstairs. The same deep connection that wasn’t rooted in a forced and silly soul mate bond but was deeper, more immediate, more…real.
He moved down the stairs, his gaze directly on her, not willing to let her out of his sight now for even a minute. “Are you okay?”
She darted a venomous look toward Titus, standing on her right, then one at Theron again. Still not meeting Nick’s eyes, she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m fine.”
Theron’s dark hair swayed as he moved toward the stairs. “When did you get out? Holy skata, we’ve been frantically searching for you everywhere.”
Nick ignored the leader of the Argonauts, pushed past him, and reached for Cynna’s elbow. “Don’t take off like that again.”
Her gaze finally swung his way, but her eyes weren’t soft and compassionate as they’d been upstairs. No, now they held a sharp edge. One he’d seen before. In Zagreus’s lair. “I’ll go wherever the hell I want. I’m not your prisoner.”
So they were back to this now…
“Nick,” Theron said at his back. “There are things happening in Argolea that concern you.”
“Argolea?” Cynna’s eyes widened, and she shot a look at Theron over Nick’s shoulder. “Oh, you should definitely go.”
“The Council’s got a serious set of sticks up their asses,” Titus said somewhere to Nick’s left. “Orpheus is doing the best he can to try to keep the peace, but shit, man. It’s O. We all know how well that’s going over.”
Zander muttered something Nick didn’t catch. Something about the Council and the witches and some kind of settlement. All crap Nick couldn’t care less about. And Argolea was the last place he ever wanted to visit again.
His hand tightened around Cynna’s elbow, and a desperate urge to get her alone, to finish what they’d started upstairs consumed him. He tugged on her arm, drawing her a step back toward the stairs. “You’re coming with me. We have unfinished business.”
Cynna dug her bare heels in and struggled against his grip. “I don’t think so.”
“It’s definitely stronger,” a female voice said near Gryphon. One Nick recognized. “I could feel it as soon as we came into the castle. It’s clearly coming from him.”
Nick’s irritated gaze darted to Maelea, whom he hadn’t picked out on first glance because she’d been standing behind her mate, then to Gryphon. “You brought her here? Stupid Argonaut. The therillium ore isn’t camouflaging this place anymore. Hades can find it again if he looks.”
Gryphon reached for his mate’s hand and drew her to his side. “We’re not staying long. You need to come back with us.”
“Who the hell is that?” Cynna mumbled, still pulling back from Nick’s hold.
“Maelea.”
Cynna’s eyes widened. “Maelea…as in Zeus and Persephone’s daughter?” She tugged harder against his grip. “Oh yeah. I’m so not getting caught with that. Let go of me right now.”
Nick’s irritation reached its breaking point. He clenched his jaw and pulled her another inch toward the stairs.
“Nick—”
“Look,” Nick answered before Theron could get more than his name out, “I’m not interested in whatever crisis you’ve got going back in Argolea. You all know the way out, so find the fucking door on your own.”
“Niko, stop.”
Nick stilled at the use of his given name. His gaze shifted to the right, toward Demetrius, whom he hadn’t even noticed when he’d come down the stairs because he’d been so focused on Cynna.
His brother’s dark hair was messy, his skin sallow, and there was a haunted look to his black eyes. One that stopped Nick cold.
“She’s sick,” Demetrius said. “We’re not sure what’s wrong with her, but Callia thinks you might be able to help.”
She.
Isadora.
His soul mate.
The swirling irritation came to a shuddering halt. Nick’s gaze drifted over the faces around him, seeing nothing and no one as he searched for that connection he felt to Isadora. The soul mate draw was still there. Lurking beneath the surface. But it wasn’t as strong as it had been even a month ago. Something he was grateful for but suddenly way the fuck confused by. Especially since he hadn’t realized she was sick. Now, yes, he could feel that something was off, but he’d had to think about her, to focus on her to realize it. Which was a thousand times different from years past.
His brow dropped low as he looked back at his brother. “What can I do? Your bond with her is stronger.”
“Not anymore,” Demetrius answered in a strained voice.
Nick had no idea what Demetrius meant, but when Cynna pulled back on his grip again, his attention darted her way.
“You should go with them,” she said. “They clearly need you.”
And she didn’t. His gaze sharpened on her dark eyes. And he saw again what he’d seen upstairs in the salon, just after he’d held her.