He stared at her so long in silence, she wasn’t sure if he’d heard her words. Then he surprised her when he said, “The young Argonaut Maximus is being held in a satyr fortress in the Sierra-Nevada Mountains.” He nodded at something on the table. “I wrote the coordinates on that note.”
Her gaze shot to the slip of paper she hadn’t even noticed in the dark.
“I had nothing to do with his imprisonment. The satyrs have not been under my control since my lair in the Yucatan was destroyed. Talisa and I only confirmed he was there earlier today.”
Cynna’s gaze snapped back to his. “Talisa knows he’s there?”
Zagreus’s jaw clenched. “Yes. Which is why you need to get this information to the Argonauts so they can figure out what to do. I don’t have enough resources to rescue him. There are at least three thousand satyrs gathered at that fortress.”
“Three thousand?” Cynna shot to her feet. “That’s an army. Who’s leading them?”
Zagreus’s lips thinned. “The young Argonaut.”
“Max? That’s not possible. He hasn’t been missing long enough to—”
“I’m pretty sure he’s being manipulated by Pandora. And her box.”
“Skata.” The blood drained from Cynna’s cheeks when she realized what that meant. “She didn’t die in the Yucatan.”
“No, unfortunately. The bitch has a knack for surviving. Locked up without her box she was docile, but once she was freed, she found her treasure then joined forces with the satyrs. And after they captured the young Argonaut, it didn’t take her long to figure out his gifts.”
Pandora’s husband, Epimetheus, was a Titan. He’d been guarding her box all these years while she’d been in hiding. But the god was also a fool—weak and feebleminded thanks to his obsession with Pandora and his subsequent separation from her. It would have been easy for Pandora to steal her box back from him, especially since she’d never really cared for the elder god.
Cynna looked around the room, the reality of what Zagreus was saying slamming into her. If Pandora had her box and could control Max with it, and if she knew Max had the power of transference, then she could technically control any power Max came in contact with. Which meant Nick couldn’t join in the raid to rescue Max. Pandora could not be trusted with the powers of a god.
“He already has your mate’s powers,” Zagreus said.
Realizing he’d read her mind, Cynna lifted her head. “What do you mean?”
“He can store them.” When her eyes widened, he added, “I’m guessing from your reaction he didn’t tell anyone here. Talisa didn’t know either, and she’s ticked that I wouldn’t go after him, but I’m not giving Pandora access to any more of my powers. The ability to harness electrical energy is enough.”
“Oh, skata.”
“Whatever powers your mate ever used in his presence, he, and in turn Pandora, can now access.”
Holy shit. Cynna pressed her hand against the table for support, her mind already spinning with the need to wake Nick and warn him. But reality stopped her.
“You didn’t have to come here and tell me any of this.” Her gaze skipped over his. “Why did you?”
“Because it was the right thing to do. The same way letting you go was the right thing to do.”
He was talking about when she’d willingly gone back with him to his underground lair in the Yucatan to once more be his Mistress of Torture. When she’d known sacrificing herself so Nick and the others and all of Argolea would be saved was the right choice to make. When Zagreus had realized she really was in love with Nick.
They stared at each other. An odd expression crossed his features, one that made her think he wanted to say more but wasn’t sure how. And in the silence, she realized the real reason he was here. Not just because he was struggling with Talisa and their relationship. And not simply to tell her about Max.
He was here to make amends for what had happened between them—between him and her in that underground lair long ago.
He stepped past her before she could figure out how to respond to that, careful not to touch her, but stilled when he reached the doorway to the hall.
Still reeling, Cynna looked after him.
He turned, but he didn’t meet her eyes. Instead, his dark gaze seemed to focus on her shirt. “Your child has his father’s powers. That will piss off a lot of gods—both on Olympus and in the Underworld. Do whatever you have to do to keep him safe.”
Cynna placed a hand over her belly. She hadn’t even realized Zagreus could tell she was pregnant. But she wasn’t afraid. If anything—as his gaze lifted to hers—she felt… protected… in a way she never had before.
Whatever had happened to him, whether it was the years he’d spent with the Fates after he’d let her go or these last few days alone with Talisa, had changed him. Changed him in ways even she could never have expected.
“We will,” she managed, her throat thick, wanting him to know it was okay. That finally, after all this time, everything they’d done to each other was in the past. “And thank you.”
He nodded once, then frowned. “She”—he cleared his throat—"Talisa will be back as soon as I can convince her to stop being so damn stubborn.”
Cynna chuckled and smoothed her hand over her belly. “Yeah, good luck there. That girl is exactly like her father, the bullheaded leader of the Argonauts. ”
His scowl deepened. “Wonderful.”
In a puff of black smoke, he disappeared as if he’d never even been there.
Cynna stared at the fading smoke in her kitchen, amazed that had just happened.
Zagreus, the Prince of Darkness, wasn’t quite so dark after all. And he was head over heels in love with a mortal.
A wry smile curled her lips. Honestly, she couldn’t think of a better match for him than the spunky, tough-as-nails warrior-female. Talisa could hold her own and put any male in his place—even a god.
Her mind skipped from Talisa to the Argonauts and how they would react when they learned the news. Then it jumped to Max.
Smile fading, she rushed for the stairs to wake her mate.
Chapter Eighteen
Zagreus flashed to the same forest where he’d taken Talisa after leaving that club. He still had a hike ahead of him, and he was anxious to get back to the castle and check on her, but he wasn’t stupid enough to open a portal anywhere near Ehrendia, just in case anyone was paying attention.
He moved through the darkness, the only sounds those of leaves rustling in the slight breeze, bat wings fluttering high above, and his bootsteps crunching needles and twigs along the forest floor. The familiar scents of moss and pine surrounded him, fir and Aspen rising to the stars, their trunks and limbs lit only by a smattering of moonlight. He didn’t see or smell or hear any of it, though. His mind was still too fixed on his conversation with Cynna. On her words, which he now couldn’t stop replaying.
She was right. Revenge was why she’d come to him. And revenge was why he’d let her stay, even though he’d known she wasn’t his mono mia. He’d been blind to everything but that singular goal, and he’d known he could use her to get exactly what he’d wanted.