She thought he admired—wanted—the Russian witch.
“We didn’t see any female on the way here. She must have gone the other way.” Calistos didn’t seem to notice the death grip his sister had on Thanatos’s arm, and Thanatos was thankful.
Although, if he had wanted to avoid her brother discovering that his relationship with Calindria had been more than merely platonic, he probably should have stopped staring at her. He couldn’t though. His eyes wouldn’t obey him as she fussed over the wounds and helped him with the shackles, summoning vines that snaked inside the locks and undid them.
He rubbed his wrists when they were free and his fingers accidentally brushed hers. Her eyes darted up to meet his and he stared into them, losing himself a little as heat rolled through him. Heat she cranked up to an unbearable degree as she ran her hands over his chest, lowering her eyes there, checking over his wounds. Gods, he swallowed hard, the leather of her gloves was so incredibly soft, teased him in a wicked way that had his blood burning like an inferno in his veins.
He stared at her mouth, aching to kiss her again, aware there wasn’t time and that Calistos was watching him now.
Only he couldn’t bring himself to care about either of those things.
The need to kiss Calindria overruled reason, made him a slave to it and had him bending his head and capturing her lips when she looked desperate for him to kiss her. He needed to reassure her that he was fine, needed to make sure she knew how badly he wanted her, how fiercely he needed her in his life, and how deep his feelings for her ran.
Consequences be damned.
Her kiss was sweet but laced with desperation and a possessiveness that made him want to growl, made him want to rejoice, because it made him feel his little warrioress wasn’t going to let him go without a fight.
That her feelings for him weren’t going to change once she was back with her family.
When he drew back and glanced at Calistos, the blond male looked far from impressed, but he also didn’t look as if he was going to try to stop this thing that was happening between Thanatos and his sister either.
“If the lovebirds are done cooing over each other, maybe we can get on with this battle?” Calistos arched an eyebrow at him.
Heat burned Thanatos’s cheeks.
Calindria’s face turned scarlet too and she stared at her boots.
Thanatos took hold of her hand and the feel of it in his hit him hard. He looked down at it. It was so small compared to his, but her grip was strong, fierce, and he could feel the resolve that flowed through her. He lifted his gaze to meet hers, wanted to tell her how much he loved the way she held his hand so possessively.
How much he loved her.
But now wasn’t the time.
He dragged his eyes away from hers, scanning the room, and cursed. “My sword.”
Calindria eased down into a crouch without relinquishing his hand, pressed her free one to the ruptured stone floor and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply, sweat dotting her brow, her delicate features pinching hard. Her hand trembled in his and he wanted to tell her to stop, that he didn’t need his sword. He could fight without it. It wasn’t worth her hurting herself by trying to locate it.
Her eyes flicked open. “It’s close to here.”
She rose to her feet and tugged on his hand, pulling him towards the door. She gave her brother and Marinda a wide berth, placing him between her and them, and his need to help her master her power grew stronger still. He hated that she feared being near her twin, knew how much it must be hurting her to have to keep her distance.
Thanatos followed her along the corridor, seized hold of her and pulled her against his chest and covered her with his wings as a blast rocked the building and dust rained down on her.
“Cass is going over the top as usual,” Calistos muttered. “We should join them.”
“Wait.” Calindria pushed free of Thanatos’s arms, her blue eyes wide as she peered past his wing to her brother. “The sword is just in here. Wait for us.”
Her fear trickled into him, and her brother seemed to sense it too, because he nodded and smiled tightly.
“Not going anywhere, sis.” Calistos looked as if he wanted to touch her when she swallowed and nodded, the worry not leaving her eyes. “Come on. Let’s get Mr Muscle here his sword and get back to the fight.”
Thanatos scowled at the little god of wind, sure that had been an insult. “Listen to me, Hades’s kid, and listen well—”
“Here we go with the kid shit again.” Calistos squared up to him. “I thought you’d loosen up a little now you have a girlfriend.”
Thanatos stiffened. He knew that term. He wasn’t sure it applied to him and Calindria, but he found he wanted it to.
“Girlfriend?” Calindria sounded so innocent and confused that Thanatos’s urge to put her brother in his place became an urge to divert the course of the conversation before her brother could explain it to her.
“Ah, it is a word for a woman in a steady relationship with a man.” Marinda jumped right on it, her French accent making the words sound light when they fell like lead in the thick air.
Thanatos did not put her in her place. The furie was powerful, dangerous, and he had decided he didn’t want to die.
“Steady relationship,” Calindria murmured, and when she glanced at him, the look in her eyes hit him hard.
She wanted that.
She wanted to be his girlfriend.
He had never had a girlfriend before, only knew of the term by overhearing her brothers talking, using that word for some of their females. He wasn’t really sure of the protocols. Was he meant to ask her to be his girlfriend? Or was the title automatically applied once a relationship reached a certain point?
Was he boyfriend material?
He had heard that term too.
He felt disturbingly nervous as he looked at Calindria, unsure how to proceed.
“A male girlfriend is a what?” Calindria looked at her brother.
“Not Thanatos, that’s for sure.” Calistos gave him a hard look, one that told Thanatos he wasn’t boyfriend material in his opinion.
“Why not?” he growled and then cursed. “We are getting side-tracked.”
He tried to tug Calindria forwards, rage simmering in his veins now, his mind churning as he tried to figure out why Calistos didn’t think he was suitable for his sister.
She stood her ground, an immovable object as she glared at her brother. “I want to know.”
“Boyfriend,” Marinda supplied, her accent making it sound like something exotic.
“Boyfriend,” Calindria repeated, as if trying that word on for size. He stiffened when she looked at him, looped her arm around his and canted her head, her eyes locking with his. “Boyfriend.”
She almost growled that word, the possessive edge to it setting his blood aflame as she sidled closer to him.
“Come, boyfriend.” She pulled him forwards, into a room where his sword was waiting.
“Yeah, I can’t wait for Dad to hear about this,” Calistos muttered.
All the warmth Thanatos had felt on hearing Calindria claim him as her boyfriend drained from him, his blood turning to icy sludge in his veins as a chill tumbled down his spine.
Hades would kill him.
He tried to shut that out of his mind as he broke free of Calindria’s hold and grabbed his sword from the table in the centre of the room. He weighed the weapon, trying to shove his mind back on track, because he had the feeling that capturing the demigoddess was going to be more important than ever now that Calindria had decided they were boyfriend and girlfriend.