“Doesn’t matter. There are four of you. He picked each of you for a reason. Because he believed in you and knew what you were capable of. My father always said you’ll never know where your destiny leads until you take that first step. This is your first step, not just for yourselves, but for your people.”
The nymphs glanced from one to another then slowly nodded, communicating in some silent nymph way Talisa didn’t have time to wonder about. Holding up their hands, they pressed their palms together, forming a circle.
Talisa stayed where she was, watching from beyond the circle as their eyes slid closed and they began reciting the ancient words that would camouflage the border and form a protective barrier around the kingdom.
Okay, Fates, if you ever wanted to interfere in my life, this would be the perfect time.
The amulet grew warm against Talisa’s skin. Refusing to think about her own destiny, Talisa closed her eyes and reached for the gem at the end of the long chain while the nymphs’ voices echoed around her.
Her fingers wrapped around the warm stone. She pictured the barrier growing like an invisible wall all around the border of the kingdom. Imagined the dark forest beyond fading into nothing. Could almost hear the sizzle and pop of energy in the stone arch that only magickal words could break. And she focused on protection. On safety. On nothing evil crossing into this land.
The nymphs’ voices quieted. The amulet chilled in Talisa’s fist. Gasps echoed on the air, followed by one nymph muttering, “It worked.” And another saying, “Holy Hades, it did.”
Talisa’s eyes shot open. She looked past the nymphs toward the stone arch. From this side, she could see the trees and forest beyond in the moonlight, but the energy was no longer flickering. A steady hum met her ears, and she felt rather than saw the invisible barrier that protected the kingdom.
“Holy skata,” Talisa breathed. “It did work.”
The nymph closest to Talisa jumped up and down and reached for her arm. “We did it! Look what we did!”
A slow smile broke across Talisa’s face, but when the nymph bumped into her, she winced at the quick shot of pain up her arm. She’d been so focused on fixing the mess she’d made, she’d forgotten she was still slightly injured.
“You did it. Good job, all of you.” She forced a smile for their benefit. “Now get back up to the castle in case anyone else needs your help.”
All four giggled like schoolgirls but rushed back toward the path that led behind the waterfall as if they couldn’t wait to share the news of what they’d done.
Talisa was just about to follow when the energy in the arch sizzled and popped. Seconds later, Rhen and his men walked under the stones.
The males moved past Talisa, nodding their heads slightly. Several muttered, “Princess,” but none slowed to speak with her.
Rhen drew to a stop several feet away and swiped an arm over his sweaty brow. “The ground has been cleared. No one who ventures close will see what happened out there.”
Talisa exhaled another breath of relief. “Thank you.”
Rhen glanced back toward the stone arch. “Looks like you fixed the border issue.”
In the moonlight, Talisa took her first good look at the sileni. He was a few inches taller than Talisa, close to six-three, she guessed, muscular in all the right places and as handsome as the nymphs were beautiful—flawless skin, striking good looks, dark hair and eyes, with just a hint of scruff on his square jaw that probably drove the nymphs wild. And though a few days ago he might have turned her head, today he didn’t even elicit more than a casual glance from Talisa.
“Not me.” She headed for the path, not ready to decipher that reaction just yet. “The nymphs did. I just directed.”
He fell into step beside her. “I think you did more than direct. The prince hasn’t been teaching them all that long. Even with their abilities joined, they would have needed more than a little direction to get that border secured.”
Talisa wasn’t sure that was true, but as they moved behind the waterfall, she thought of the amulet hot in her palm as she’d been picturing the border reforming. And the way it had grown hot when she’d thought about that lock on the dungeon door opening as well.
Zagreus had said the amulet was powerful. That it enhanced strength. Had she somehow willed both of those things to happen with her mind?
“I also think you had a lot more to do with what happened outside the border than you’re letting on,” Rhen said at her side.
His words pulled her attention from her spinning thoughts and drew her feet to a stop at the entrance to the tunnel. She turned behind the roaring waterfall and looked up at him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I’m pretty sure you do. The prince doesn’t generally use a sword when battling his enemies. He doesn’t need to.”
Oh… right.
“The majority of those satyrs were taken down with a blade,” Rhen went on. “And something also tells me you might recognize this.”
When Rhen lifted his hand, Talisa spotted the black handle and short blade resting in his palm.
“This is yours, isn’t it? We found it stuck between a satyr’s eyes. Only a skilled warrior could make that kill. Especially against a charging beast.”
The way he was watching her, closely, intensely, put her on instant alert. “If you think I’m a threat—“
“I know you’re a threat. But not to me. And not to my people. What you just did here, helping to secure our border, proves that. I’m more concerned with what kind of threat you are to the prince.”
Her gaze skipped over Rhen’s flawless features, and that tightness she’d felt before, when she’d been trying to keep Zagreus conscious, reformed in her chest. “He’s immortal. What kind of threat could I possibly be to him?”
“Oh, I think you know what kind of threat I mean.”
Talisa swallowed hard.
“You were leaving, weren’t you?” he asked quietly.
Her pulse kicked up. She looked down at his leather breastplate, stained with satyr blood and other things she didn’t want to imagine, unsure how to answer.
“I was there the night you found him in the club.”
Her gaze darted back to his. “The night I found him?”
“Weren’t you there looking for someone?”
She had been. She’d been at that club numerous times looking for… someone. And she’d always left feeling as if she hadn’t found him. Even when she’d found lots of other males. It was the real reason she kept going back.
“He’s been searching for you for a long time,” Rhen said. “Since well before he came to Ehrendia. I think—no, I know part of him thought he wouldn’t find you again. That too much time had passed. Then, out of nowhere, you walked up to him in that club. That was a sign. As was the fact, this time, you aren’t a nymph. All day today, while we were out tracking those satyrs, he was anxious to get back to you. To make sure you were still there. That you were safe. The only threat to his existence, princess, is losing you. If that were to happen, in his mind, there’d be no reason to go on. Not anymore.”
None of what he was saying made sense. Yet at the same time, Talisa’s heart pounded hard.