“There’s no need for apologies,” Casey said in her ear. “All that matters to us is that you’re safe. And you are. That’s all we care about.”
Talisa swallowed and nodded, knowing her mother was just trying to make her feel better.
Drawing back, she swiped at her eyes again, looking from one parent to the other. “I-I don’t understand, though. How did you get here?”
“Zagreus brought us here,” her mother answered.
Talisa’s heart stuttered, and she looked between her parents toward the table where Rhen was rolling out a long map on the surface for everyone to see, and Zagreus was giving directions and pointing out locations.
Confused—no, shocked—she looked back at her mother. “Why? That doesn’t make sense. I mean, I’m happy to see you but—”
“He didn’t have any other choice,” her father cut in, drawing her attention his way. “He obviously knows you’re as stubborn as your mother.”
“As if.” Casey glanced at her mate, but there was no heat in the look. It was more playful than irritated. “Everyone knows the stubborn gene comes from your side of the family tree.” She waved her hand. “All those super-human abilities clearly interfere with common sense.”
“They do not,” Theron replied innocently.
“Where should I start?” Casey held up a hand and started ticking off fingers. “Your whole silly feud with Nick when we first met. All that time you thought Demetrius was a traitor. The tiff you got into with Titus when he was just trying to help Natasa. And I won’t even go into the grudge you had against Orpheus for, like, ever…”
“Okay, okay.” Theron frowned and held up his own hand, blocking Casey from going on. “We get it, meli. No one likes me.”
“Well, no one but me.” Casey smirked, then inched closer so she could slide her arm around his waist. Her other hand landed against his chest as she peered up at him. “But then, I’m stubborn that way.”
“Yes, you are, meli, which I adore.” Theron’s voice softened as he closed his arm around Casey’s shoulder and tugged her in close. Angling his chin down toward her, he added, “You also happen to be very forgiving, something I’m eternally thankful for.”
She smiled, and the two exchanged quiet words and kissed.
It was a familiar show of affection, one Talisa was used to from her parents, but it seemed totally foreign here in this place. As she looked past her parents back toward the table, where Zagreus was still pointing things out and the Argonauts were all listening intently, her skin grew hot, and everything that had once made sense in her muddled head suddenly didn’t.
“Would someone please tell me what’s going on?”
Her parents both looked her way. She knew she sounded panicked, a little crazed, but she didn’t care. She glanced from face to face again. “Zagreus has no reason to bring you here. Why would you listen to him? Why would you trust him?”
“Don’t you trust him?” her mother asked. “Isn’t that why you’re still here?”
Talisa’s mouth snapped closed. That was exactly why she was still here, but her parents and the Argonauts were a completely different story.
“He brought us here because the two of you and few soldiers don’t stand a chance against Pandora and three thousand satyrs,” her father said.
They knew about the satyrs and Pandora. The blood drained from her face. She had to tell them the rest. “Max—”
“We know about Max, too.” Her mother squeezed her hand. “It’s not your fault. No one blames you. But that’s the other reason everyone’s here. To get Max back. We’ve been frantically searching for both of you. Now we know why we couldn’t find either one of you.”
Because of Pandora’s box and Zagreus’s protective barrier around this kingdom.
Talisa glanced past her parents once more, this time focusing on Zander and Callia, her aunt and uncle and Max’s parents, both listening intently to whatever Zagreus was describing.
Guilt hit her hard, right beneath the solar plexus. She should have rushed home to tell them where Max was as soon as she saw him at that fortress. She shouldn’t have waited. She shouldn’t have—
Her mother squeezed her hand again, interrupting her thoughts. “He also brought us here because of you. Whichever side of the family tree your stubbornness comes from—”
“Yours,” Theron muttered to his mate.
Casey smirked his way then looked back at Talisa. “It was obviously evident enough for Zagreus to know you wouldn’t leave. Not when Max was in jeopardy. So he came and got help. Because, as your father said, you clearly need it.”
Talisa’s pulse was a whir in her ears. She knew Zagreus wanted her gone—he’d said so too many times to count—but if he was so sure about an imminent attack, he could have forced her to leave. The way he’d forced her to leave that club when they’d first met. The way he’d forced her back to this castle after she’d freaked out just yesterday. Except…
He hadn’t forced her to go. He’d gone and gotten help. He’d gone and gotten the Argonauts for help—the one group she never expected him to turn to in need.
“If you go off, trying to rescue your cousin who clearly doesn’t want to be rescued… you’ll get all of us—including all the nymphs back in Ehrendia—killed.”
His words in those trees ran back through her mind. Words he’d said but she hadn’t really heard until now.
She glanced past her parents once more and focused on Zagreus. On his chiseled profile and the flex beneath his scruffy jaw as he spoke. On the way he moved his big hands and pointed out places on the map. On the way he warily glanced her way as if he felt her eyes on him, then quickly looked back at the map and shifted his weight.
Her chest warmed. She’d been wrong—so wrong. He did care about more than himself. He cared about this kingdom. He cared about the nymphs and silens. He even cared about Max because her cousin’s safety mattered to her. But mostly, he cared about her. In a way no evil being should ever care about anyone. In a way that electrified her body and made the blood hum in her veins.
“I don’t suppose there’s any way I can talk you into going home with your mother,” her father said in a low voice.
Slowly, she looked back at her parents, any animosity she’d had toward them regarding the Argonauts and her role in their land quickly dissipating. “I’m not leaving.”
Her father frowned.
Her mother tipped her head and smirked her father’s way. “Told ya.”
Sighing, her father rested his hands on his hips. “In that case, you’d better be involved in the planning so we all know how best to defend this place.”
Shock rippled through Talisa all over again. Not just that her father, Nick, and the Argonauts were here, but that they were including her. Something she’d yearned for longer than she could remember.
When her father turned and held out his hand toward the table, she looked to her mother, who shot her a reassuring smile.
Head light, she walked up to the group and listened to Zagreus’s deep voice as he described the terrain along the perimeter of the kingdom.