Zagreus glanced from Nick to Cynna and back again, as if trying to gauge their reaction to him, but didn’t respond. Then his gaze shot back to each of the Argonauts before finally resting on Theron.
Frowning, Cynna turned, crossed the room, and grasped a tissue from the table near the couch. Bringing it back, she handed it to Zagreus. “You’re bleeding. Here. Ignore them and tell us what happened. Was it the satyrs?”
“No.” He dabbed at his bloody lip. “My father found me before I made it back.” He glanced toward Theron. “Which means it won’t be long before he finds your daughter, too.”
“You son of a bitch!”
Theron lurched forward, but Nick was quicker. He darted between Theron and Zagreus and shoved Theron back.
Casey gasped. There weren’t many who could best Theron’s herculean strength, but Nick was a god, as powerful as Zeus and Poseidon and Hades, and he stopped Theron in his tracks with a hand smack in the center of his chest.
“Cool the fuck down,” Nick said, “and listen to what he has to say.”
Theron’s eyes filled with rage, but breathing heavily, he stilled and waited. And not sure what the hell was happening, Casey turned wide eyes toward Zagreus and waited, too.
“Go on,” Cynna said.
“I said it won’t be long,” Zagreus snapped. “Not that he’d found her. He doesn’t know where she is, yet. But he’ll be coming back. And since he’s combined forces with Pandora, he’ll be sending her satyr army to attack first. I don’t have the numbers to fight off Pandora’s army and a legion from the Underworld. That’s why I’m here.” He glanced at the Argonauts. “Because it’s your duty to protect the mortal realm from threats of the Underworld, is it not?”
“They’re your satyrs,” Theron growled.
“They’re not my satyrs. They turned on me a long time ago.”
“Just send Talisa home.” Panic pushed at Casey’s chest. “Release her and there is no threat.”
“I tried that.” Zagreus glanced her way. “But she’s stubborn as shit and won’t leave. She’s in no immediate danger, though. I assure you of that.”
“You expect us to believe that when you’re holding her as a prisoner?” Theron growled.
Zagreus rubbed at his forehead. “I don’t give a shit what you believe. I’m telling you, plainly, that she’s not my prisoner, and she’s perfectly safe, for the moment at least. She’s been a guest in the kingdom and treated like royalty. Which is probably part of the problem. She doesn’t want to leave. I’ve tried repeatedly to get her to go, only she refuses to listen to reason.”
Cynna turned and glanced at Nick. Some kind of silent communication passed between the two, one that made Cynna’s lips tip up slightly before she looked back at Zagreus. One that made Casey think… Cynna believed what Zagreus was saying. So did Nick.
And recognizing the frustration coming from Zagreus’s voice and realizing what it stemmed from, Casey started to wonder if maybe he was telling the truth, too.
“What kingdom?” Cynna asked the god.
Zagreus’s lips thinned. “Ehrendia.”
Gasps echoed through the room. Followed by whispers of disbelief. But all Casey could focus on was her rapid pulse and suddenly damp palms.
“The borders of the kingdom are protected by magick,” Zagreus went on, “but Pandora knows where we are, and now that her army has joined forced with my father, the kingdom’s in deep shit. I tried to get Talisa to leave again as soon as we saw what was going on with Pandora’s satyrs, but now that she knows her cousin is being controlled by Pandora’s box, she’s even more resistant to going, even when I’ve told her she’s in freakin’ danger.”
“Skata,” Casey mumbled, sucker punched not just because she recognized that look in Zagreus’s eyes when he spoke about Talisa, but because she understood now why she and her sisters hadn’t been able to harness their Horae gifts to find Max and Talisa. “The box and the magickal border were blocking our view.” She looked back to Zagreus. “I believe you.”
“Acacia.” Shock reverberated from Theron’s voice.
She glanced toward her mate. “Our daughter is just as stubborn as you, Theron, and when she puts her mind to something, no one can change it. Not even her soul mate.”
Gasps echoed around the room again, but Casey ignored those too and looked back at Zagreus. “What kind of defenses does Ehrendia have?”
“Not much of any,” he said bluntly, eyeing Casey carefully. “In addition to the border, it includes me and about three hundred silens, most of whom are not natural fighters.”
Shit, that wouldn’t be enough. And holy shit, silens were real, too. “I’m assuming you have a plan. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here now.”
“I do.” Zagreus warily glanced Theron’s direction once more. “But it depends on him. And on the rest of you, cooperating.”
“Why should we cooperate with you?” Theron asked in a low voice. “You already said Talisa is not your prisoner.”
“Because you want her back here safe where she belongs as much as I do.” He looked over the other faces. “And because she’s more important than any of you realize. You think you’ve been protecting her all this time by keeping her trapped in this land, but the reality is she’s the only thing standing between you and annihilation.”
“What are you talking about?” Nick asked, eyes narrowed.
“I’m talking about the Orb of Krónos. I’m talking about the markings on her arms. There’s a reason she was born a warrior. I didn’t understand it until recently, but there’s a reason she was brought back now, in this time, and why she found me.”
“Holy shit. No man or god can destroy it,” Casey mumbled. Words she’d read in the ancient texts filled her mind, making sense for the first time.
“What?” Theron asked, moving to her side and reaching for her hand. “Meli?”
Casey ignored her mate and continued to stare at Zagreus. And when his eyes met hers, she said, “You have the Orb, don’t you?”
“No.” He looked toward Theron. “Talisa does. And if you have any hope of finishing what you all started, it has to come back here, with her.”
Chapter Nineteen
Talisa had a strange sense of déjà vu as she opened her eyes and blinked in the low light.
Someone was moving around the room. Not the same room she’d woken in before, dazed and confused. No, this room was way nicer. But just as familiar.
Pushing up on her hands so she could scoot back into the pillows, Talisa realized this was Zagreus’s room. Zagreus’s big gothic canopy bed. And that he wasn’t the one moving around making noise.
The heavy velvet curtains swept open, and sunlight flooded the room. Slamming her eyes shut, she twisted away from the light, groaning at the burn in her retinas.
“Good, you’re awake.” Nysa moved to the next set of drapes and yanked those open as well. “I won’t have to shake you.”