“Bullshit!” Zander’s eyes flashed again, and he lurched toward Theron. “You’re not calling the shots on this one, you son of a bitch.”
Voices rose. Tempers flared. Nick and Demetrius quickly moved between Theron and Zander, who were on the verge of throwing punches and would never see eye-to-eye on a plan because they were each too worried about their own child to listen to reason.
Casey rubbed her throbbing temple and looked toward her sisters, both of whom seemed as frustrated and helpless as she felt. All the male posturing going on wasn’t helping matters, and she was just about to tell her sisters and Cynna they should continue their discussion in another room when Maelea appeared in the doorway wrapped in a black robe that matched the wild hair around her pale face.
Alarm immediately shot through Casey. She dropped her hand from her forehead and stepped forward. “Maelea? Are you all right?”
Maelea shook her head, but before she could answer, Gryphon, her mate, appeared in the doorway behind her, looking even more disheveled—his blond hair matted on one side, his light blue eyes glazed as if he was still half-asleep, his white T-shirt wrinkled, and his grey sweats tugged up on one leg as if he’d just yanked them on.
“Geez, you move fast when you want, female,” he muttered.
“Sorry,” Maelea said to her mate at her back. “But they need to be warned.”
Voices quieted behind Casey. Callia moved up at her side, and Casey sensed the males taking notice of Maelea in the doorway, but she didn’t turn to look at them. “Warned about what?”
“I sensed something,” Maelea said, looking from face to face. “An energy that moved into the castle a few minutes ago. It woke me. It… It’s powerful.”
Maelea had the ability to sense energy shifts here and in the human realm, created when portals opened or closed or when immortals crossed realms. Because Hades was constantly hunting her for being the result of his wife’s indiscretion, and because Hades was technically not an Olympian and could cross into Argolea unnoticed, she was always on guard. But Hades couldn’t step foot in the Argolean castle. It was protected by magick impenetrable even to him. Which meant the energy she’d felt was from something else. Or created by someone else.
“Nick and Cynna just got here a few minutes ago,” Callia said. “You probably felt Nick’s energy when he moved into the cast—”
“No. This energy is not from Nick.” Maelea cast a quick look at Nick and Cynna then glanced toward the queen. “This is something else. I can’t quite get a read on it. It’s different. It’s not completely dark, but it’s strong.”
“Shit.” Nick glanced toward Cynna. “You don’t think…?”
Cynna swallowed hard. “Yeah, I think it could be.”
“Skata.” Nick looked toward the door where Gryphon seemed as confused as everyone else, then back at Cynna. “Tell them the rest, quickly.”
“What rest?” Theron asked, growing agitated all over again.
Cynna ran a hand through her hair. “The rest is what I was getting to before everyone got all bent out of shape. Max wasn’t a prisoner. According to Zagreus, he’s working with the satyrs.”
“That’s bullshit,” Zander cut in.
“And he wasn’t alone,” Cynna went on, glancing Zander’s way. “Pandora was with him.”
Silence fell over the room.
“Pandora,” Isadora said, pushing out of her seat. “The first human female?”
“Yep. Same one,” Nick answered. “She was one of Zagreus’s prisoners in his Yucatan lair when we were there. He’d easily recognize her. I checked with some contacts in the human realm before we came over here tonight. Pandora’s box was stolen from the Titan Epimetheus recently. If Pandora was at the satyr compound, and Max is cooperating with the satyrs in whatever they’re doing, then odds are pretty good she’s got her box and is using it to control him.”
“Motherfucker,” Zander muttered, looking quickly at Callia.
Callia moved close to her mate and squeezed his hand.
“Three thousand satyrs,” Cynna said, “Pandora, and Max, who has the power of transference, which”—she glanced toward Zander and Callia—“we need to discuss later, all together. With her box, an army, and Max on her side, Pandora is incredibly powerful. Nick and I both think she’s planning an offensive attack as retaliation against Zagreus for holding her prisoner all those years.”
Casey’s stomach dropped. That meant the woman was planning an attack on Talisa. She looked toward her mate.
“This changes things dramatically.” Isadora also turned toward Theron. “Since we don’t yet know Zagreus’s location, our first priority has to be getting Max away from Pandora and preventing whatever she and the satyrs have planned.”
Theron slowly nodded, but his gaze skipped from the queen to Casey, and in her mate’s eyes, Casey saw the sudden fear. “Agreed.”
“Once Max is secure,” Isadora went on, “we’ll use Pandora to locate Talisa. She’s strong.” Her gaze drifted to Demetrius, and Casey knew her sister was thinking about the time their own daughter had been missing, taken by Zeus as a prisoner of Olympus. “And she’s a natural warrior.” She turned and stepped toward Casey, reaching for her sister’s hand. “She can survive a few more days. I know she can.”
Casey squeezed her sister’s hand and nodded, but inside she was a bundle of nerves and worry.
Yes, Talisa was tough—tougher than most females—but this was not the same situation Elysia had been through. She wasn’t being held captive by the Sirens. She was at the mercy of the Prince of Darkness.
“Talisa will be fine.” Cynna looked toward Casey. “She’s not in any danger. I know this is hard to understand, but I honestly believe Zagreus is not a threat to—”
Black smoke swirled in the center of the room. Energy popped and sizzled.
Feet shuffled. Theron shouted, “Acacia” and darted in front of Casey, pushing her to his back as he cursed under his breath that he didn’t have his blade.
Casey stumbled and grasped Theron’s shoulder to keep from falling. The other Argonauts had moved in front of their mates as well, but all eyes were locked on the fading smoke in the center of the room, not on what Theron was doing. And when Casey chanced a glance around Theron’s wide shoulders, she realized why.
The god they’d all been talking about was standing in the middle of the room. Only he didn’t look a thing like the sadistic Prince of Darkness who’d unleashed hell on this land with his father twenty-some odd years ago. He looked… as if he’d just been through hell.
His hair was wild and damp. His clothing torn and streaked with dirt. Bruises, cuts, and scratches marred every part of his exposed skin, and his lip, though already slowly healing from his immortal genes, looked as if it had been split open wide.
His gaze skipped over every face in the room, stopping when it reached Maelea at Casey’s side.
Everyone was utterly silent. Everyone but Cynna who stepped right up to Zagreus as if he wasn’t a threat at all and said, “What happened?”
Casey wasn’t sure what was going on. Nick wasn’t stopping Cynna. Wasn’t reaching for her. Didn’t seem worried at all. He just crossed his arms over his chest again and tipped his head, waiting for Zagreus’s answer.