Bound

Chapter Nineteen

“Hang on, Tasa.”

Titus shifted Natasa in his arms. His muscles ached, and sweat slicked his skin. She was cool against him, but he knew he hadn’t lost her yet. Her occasional twitch and the soft moan when he shook her encouraged him and kept him going.

He reached the peak of the ridge they’d been climbing. The eagle screamed, fluttered its wings, then dove down into the small valley. There, nestled between two mountains and built beside a lake, sat a small, well-tended cottage.

The soft notes of a gentle song drifted to his ears. Calypso. It had to be. His aching muscles pushed forward all on their own.

Natasa groaned in his arms with every jostling step down the hillside. “Not long now, baby. I’m gonna get you help.”

Rock and dust gave way to packed, even ground. His boots sloshed through the small stream flowing out of the lake as he crossed to the house. Just as he rounded the far corner, a female carrying a bucket stepped in front of him, drew up short, and gasped.

Calypso didn’t look like an immortal deity. She wasn’t tall like Persephone, nor dressed in rich gowns. She wore a common cotton dress. Her curly dark hair was pinned up on the top of her head, and her cheeks were pink and sun-kissed. The only hint he had it was her was the music she’d been singing before he’d startled her. Music that had drawn him toward her like a sailor to a siren.

Her eyes widened, then narrowed. And she uttered one word. “Odysseus.”

“No,” he said quickly. “Titus. She’s hurt.” He nodded down at Natasa passed out in his arms. “She needs help.”

He didn’t wait for the nymph to answer. He stepped into the open door of the cottage, looked around, and finally decided the best place for the nymph to work her magic was on the table.

He laid Natasa on the old scarred surface and moved the few cups sitting close to the sideboard at his back. Calypso stepped into the cottage after him, eyed Natasa warily, then set her bucket on the counter in the adjoining kitchen. “You are not…Odysseus? I sense him in you.”

“I’m his descendant. And we’ve been looking for you.”

Her expression was full of speculation, but slowly, it relaxed. “What happened to her?”

“I’m not sure.” The nymph was blocking him from reading her mind. That or he was too frazzled to make his gift work. He raked a hand through his hair. She had to help him. She had to…

He took a deep breath to calm the raging panic. “I think she ate something she shouldn’t have. She was holding a clump of flowers in her hand when I found her passed out on the ground.”

Calypso leaned over Natasa, pried her eyelids apart and looked at her pupils. She ran her fingers over Natasa’s throat and felt for a pulse. Easing back, she looked down Natasa’s body and back up to her face. “What did the flowers look like?”

“Um…” Titus tried to remember. “Long stalks, yellow-and-white umbrella-shaped flowers.”

“The roots. Were they tuberous?”

“There were no roots. They were broken off. Ripped.”

Calypso was quiet as she held her hands out, hovering them over Natasa’s belly. “She burns hot inside, yet her skin is cold and clammy.”

Titus didn’t answer. Didn’t know what to say. She had to help. She had to do something…

The nymph slowly lowered her hands. “Tell me, does she know she carries the fire element inside her?”

He swallowed hard. There was no sense lying. Not now. “Yeah.”

Her gaze flicked to his. Soft, light blue, compassionate eyes his forefather had once gazed into. “She ate hemlock. The fact the roots were missing tells me she knew that was the most poisonous part of the plant.”

“Can you heal her?”

The nymph’s gaze dropped to Natasa’s face. “No. The damage is already done. Her pulse is slow, but paralysis has yet to set in. She has, maybe, twenty-four hours left. Probably less.”

Titus’s eyes slid shut, and he braced his hands against the table, letting his head drop between his arms. He’d failed. They’d been so close to finding Calypso and locating her father and she’d gone and done something so stupid, so selfish…

“You care for her.”

It wasn’t a question but a statement. And why it unleashed a rush of fury inside him, he’d never know. He pushed away from the table and threw his arm out. Felt like slamming his fist through a wall. “I don’t just care about her. I love her, dammit. And she went and threw it away like it didn’t even matter.”

Calypso looked back at Natasa, lying still against the table. “Sometimes we have to let go of those we love in order to save them. I did that for Odysseus. He would have died here, trapped forever. He was meant to be free. She did this for you, so that you could live.”

For you…so he couldn’t have it.

He didn’t want to understand, but he did. She’d done this to kill the fire element within her. Too keep Prometheus’s wrath against the Olympians from being unleashed. To save him. Again.

Titus closed his eyes and sank against the back of a chair, nearly swept under by a tidal wave of misery so high it was all he could see.

“You came this far, Guardian,” Calypso said softly. “Use your gift.”

“The only way for the element to be free is at her rebirth.”

Calypso’s thought penetrated the despair. And in a rush, all the knowledge he’d received from the Orb came flooding back. Calypso was Atlas’s daughter, and Prometheus was her uncle. Zeus forbade the gods from uttering words about the Titan, but he didn’t prohibit thinking.

Death. Rebirth. The name Natasa was Old Greek, and it meant, literally, resurrection.

He pushed away from the chair, a renewed sense of urgency coursing through him. “Can he save her? Prometheus?”

“He can free her,” Calypso thought. “But he has to do it before the poison claims her and destroys the element.”

Titus didn’t care about the damn element anymore. All he cared about was the woman lying still against the table.

He reached for the nymph’s hand. “Touch me.”

Calypso’s brow wrinkled, but she lifted her hand and slowly lowered her palm against his.

Electricity flowed from her into him, a million thoughts and memories and emotions. A wave of nausea rushed through Titus’s body, and his knees buckled, but he gripped the table with his free hand, ground his teeth against the pain, and fought to stay in control.

When the transfer finished, he let go of her and sagged to his knees.

Calypso reached out to help him up.

He blocked her with his arm. Once was all he needed. “I’m”—he hissed out a breath—“fine.”

His strength returned quicker than in the past. A sign he was mastering control? He didn’t know, nor did he care. He pushed to his feet and reached out to pick up Natasa. “Thank you.”

The nymph closed a hand over Natasa’s arm. “Leave her. Where you’re going it’s not safe for her to travel. Find him, bring him here. I will watch over her. You have my vow.”

Titus didn’t want to leave Natasa, but the nymph was right. Thanks to the memory transfer, he knew exactly where Prometheus was chained, and he knew there was no way he could keep Natasa safe where he was going.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he nodded, leaned down toward Natasa, and brushed the hair back from her brow. “I’ll be back soon, ligos Vesuvius. I promise.”

She groaned and tipped her head his way as if she’d heard his words. Tears pricked his eyes, and his heart felt like it cracked open wide in his chest. He pressed his lips gently against her cheek, then whispered in her ear, “I love you, fire-girl. I’m not letting go of you. Don’t you dare let go of me.”

“Hades’s and Zagreus’s armies have withdrawn. Phin’s with Cerek, Orpheus and Skyla, burning the bodies and cleaning up the mess.”

Isadora sat perched against a pile of pillows in a bed in one of the suites of the colony, cuddling Elysia in her arms, listening to updates from Theron. Seated on the bed beside her, Demetrius leaned close and brushed his fingers over their daughter’s hand. Elysia yawned, then grabbed on to him, her tiny little hand barely wrapping around his masculine index finger.

Demetrius hadn’t left Isadora’s side, not since she’d gone into labor, and after everything that had happened in the delivery room, and everything he and Callia and Casey had told her had happened with Hades and Nick, she could see the guilt and fear eating away at him. She knew he was desperate to go after the brother he’d never seen eye to eye with but now felt he owed. But she also knew he was torn. He was already head over heels in love with their daughter—a fact that warmed Isadora from the inside out—and couldn’t bear leaving either of them just yet.

She understood. She felt the same. She didn’t want him anywhere but at her side. But Nick…

She looked up at Theron, who’d been none too pleased when he found out Casey had crossed to the human realm to help, and how close she’d come to death when Isadora’s situation had turned dire. Guilt washed through her, that she’d caused so much trouble for everyone during an already tumultuous time, but this was always the way it was going to be. Anytime any one of the three sisters was in jeopardy, the others would be affected. And Zander too, since Callia was his vulnerability.

Her gaze cut to Callia and Zander standing on the other side of the bed, he behind her rubbing her shoulders, she looking down at Elysia with a wide smile. This time, thankfully, tragedy had been averted.

It wouldn’t always be.

Her gaze slid back to Theron. She pushed thoughts of what could have happened out of her mind and focused on what they needed to do next. “The Misos can’t come back here. Now that Hades knows where they’re located, they won’t be safe. And with Nick gone…” Her heart pinched, and she cuddled Elysia closer, so very thankful for what Nick had done for her but afraid for him at the same time. “They’ll need to stay in Argolea.”

“The Council will throw a fit about that,” Demetrius said at her side.

Isadora didn’t care. She had bigger problems to deal with. Like how they were going to find Nick and save him from a hell he’d sacrificed himself to, all for her. It didn’t matter if he was Krónos’s son—though her stomach rolled at just the thought. All that mattered was that he’d saved her. Saved them. “The Council can kiss my ass.”

“When can she go back?” Theron asked Callia. “I don’t think it’s safe for her to be here where Hades knows he can reach her. Even with Nick as a prize, he’s going to be pissed he lost her soul. Especially since we now have Maelea.”

Thank the gods Maelea and Gryphon were back in Argolea with Max, getting the colonists settled. Things could have gone from bad to worse had Persephone’s daughter been in the room when Hades showed up.

“Tomorrow, probably,” Callia answered. “She should be strong enough by then.”

“We still have to deal with the issue of the fire element,” Casey said from Theron’s side. “Even if Zagreus can use Nick to harness Krónos’s powers and…crap….I don’t know, figure out how to somehow free the Titan, we still need that element. And having Prometheus on our side would be a huge boost.”

Theron crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at Zander. Isadora knew from talking to Callia that Zander had let Titus and Natasa go in search of her father. She leaned into Demetrius, totally understanding the reasoning, but every second that passed without word from them amped her worry another degree.

“What of her ‘unquenchable fire’?” she asked, looking up at the rest of them.

“Titus isn’t going to let that happen,” Zander said. When all eyes turned his way, he added, “Trust me. I saw the guy. He’s got it bad for her. No way he’s letting her out of his sight.”

Theron rubbed his forehead. “According to Phin, he had it bad for her before any of this even happened.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Casey’s lips curled in a smile. “I remember a time when you ‘had it bad.’”

Theron’s arm wrapped around Casey and he pulled her close to his side. “I still have it bad, meli. Especially when you pull stunts like that last one. But that doesn’t change the fact the object of his obsession is more of a loose cannon than Zagreus ever was.”

Footsteps echoed from the hallway. Isadora looked past Theron and the others who were turning to see what the ruckus was about. Surprise registered when Titus appeared in the doorway. Unlike the last time Isadora had seen him, there was a wild look in his hazel eyes. His clothes were wrinkled and covered in dirt, his hair free of the usual leather strap, hanging in messy waves around his face. And there was enough stubble on his jaw to tell her he hadn’t thought of shaving in days.

Theron dropped his arm from Casey’s waist. “Titus—”

“You.” Titus looked past the leader of the Argonauts and zeroed in on Demetrius. “I need you right now.”

“What’s happened?” Demetrius let go of Isadora and the baby and pushed to his feet.

Titus took one step into the room. “I have to get to Prometheus before it’s too late. He’s the only one who can stop it. I know where he is…I just don’t know how to get there.”

“Stop what?” Theron asked.

“Where?” Demetrius said.

“Pandora.” Titus didn’t even look Theron’s way. “He’s being held in a cave high in the mountains.”

Pandora. Isadora’s pulse picked up speed. She looked up at her mate, who was suddenly looking down at her. Prometheus was on the island where she and Demetrius had been trapped together by Atalanta. Where Zeus had dumped all the worst of the monsters and beasts from the ancient days. They’d been within walking distance of the Titan and hadn’t even known it. “Oh my gods,” she muttered.

She didn’t have to ask what Titus was trying to stop. Everyone knew.

“How long?” Demetrius looked back at Titus.

Titus scrubbed a hand through his messy hair. Panic filled his eyes. “I don’t know. Eighteen hours, maybe less.”

“Holy skata,” Theron muttered. “And you’re just now telling us?” He looked to Zander with a see what kind of mess you caused look. “We have to make sure she’s contained before—”

Fury flashed in Titus’s eyes, and he hurled himself toward Theron, slamming the leader of the Argonauts back against the wall beside Isadora with a crack. “You’re not touching her!”

Isadora gasped and pulled the baby close to her body in a protective move. Casey and Callia scrambled toward the bed to protect her.

“Son of a bitch.” Demetrius lurched around the bed. Zander’s boots scuffed the floor. Theron’s head hit the wall with a crack, but the leader of the Argonauts had the strength of Heracles on his side. Isadora knew he wasn’t really hurt, just surprised….as were they all.

“Dammit, Titus.” Zander grasped him by one arm. Demetrius got hold of the other. Together they yanked Titus back from the death grip he had on Theron’s throat.

“What the fuck has gotten into you?” Theron roared.

Titus’s face looked pained, but he jerked against the hold Zander and Demetrius had him in. “You’re not putting her in a cage. She’s not a freakin’ animal!”

“Holy Hades.” Exasperated, Theron ran a hand down his face as if to calm himself, then pinned Titus with a hard look. “You’re losing it, man. Pull your shit together and remember what’s at stake here. Do you have any idea what she really is?”

“She’s a person. Not an object and not a pawn that you”—he yanked his arms out of the guardians’ grips—“can manipulate in your vendetta against the gods.”

Theron’s eyes darkened. Isadora tensed, realizing how close to losing it the leader of the Argonauts was. He stalked forward, getting right in Titus’s space. “I don’t give a rip about the gods right now. I’m focused solely on what we—as guardians—took an oath to defend. Start thinking with your brain, Titus, instead of your dick. She’s the end of the fucking human world.”

“Since when do you care what happens to the human realm?” Contempt filled Titus’s eyes. “You never did before Casey came into your life. You forget shit so fast. Once you realized she was your soul mate, you were willing to sacrifice everything for her—everyone in this room and all of Argolea. I’m not asking you to do that. I’m not even asking for your friggin’ help. All I need is for Demetrius to tell me where the island is located before Natasa dies.”

“Lena said her temperature might continue to rise,” Callia said warily. “Is she overheating?”

“No,” Titus answered, staring at Theron, distrust and anger swirling in his eyes. “She ate hemlock. Poisoned herself in the middle of the night so it would kill her before the element could ignite inside her. And she did it to save the human realm, not destroy it like you all think she’s hot to do.”

Theron’s eyes widened.

“Shit,” someone muttered. “Fuck me,” someone else whispered. In the shock reverberating through the room, Isadora’s gaze found Demetrius’s. She nodded.

Demetrius looked at Titus. “I’ll take you to Pandora.”

Relief rushed over Titus’s features. He moved quickly toward the hall. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Titus—” Theron called.

Titus stalked through the door without responding, disappearing around the corner without another word.

Looking as shocked as Isadora felt, Theron turned toward Demetrius. “We’ll need charmed weapons if we have any hope of getting past those beasts on Pandora.”

“Pretty sure what we’ll need we can find in the Hall of heroes,” Demetrius answered.

Theron was going with Demetrius and Titus. Though fear shot through Isadora’s belly at the thought of Demetrius back on that nightmare of an island, a little of her anxiety eased. She knew Theron had only been performing his duty, protecting the human world as best he could, but Titus had a point. Theron had been willing to give up everything for Casey. And Titus had every right to be pissed at all of them for not giving Natasa the same benefit of the doubt, no matter who she was.

“Should we gather the rest of the guardians?” Zander asked.

“No,” Theron answered. “We don’t want to do anything to attract unwanted attention from the gods. Cerek and Phin can keep cleaning up. I’ll alert Orpheus and Skyla to watch over the Horae until the queen is clear to travel back to Argolea.” He turned toward Casey. “Can you contact Gryphon and tell him to keep everything under wraps? The last thing we need is the Council figuring out shit’s going down.”

Casey nodded, stepped forward, and wrapped her arms around Theron’s waist. “I will. Don’t worry, everything here will be fine. Just help Titus find Prometheus before it’s too late for Natasa.”

Theron frowned down at his mate. “My help’s the last thing he wants right now. But he was right. I would have given up everything for you, meli.”

Casey eased up on her toes and kissed him. “That’s what makes you human. It’s what makes you different from the gods. It’s what I love about you.”

He frowned. “My stubbornness?”

“Your flaws. And your ability to admit when you’re wrong.”

Isadora watched the exchange, regret spreading through her. She was as much to blame as Theron. Sometimes she got so wrapped up in doing for the good of the whole, she forgot that it was the individual relationships that made life so precious.

Demetrius leaned close and kissed Elysia on the forehead. When he lifted his dark eyes to Isadora’s, she ran her fingers over his rugged jawline, aware that Natasa’s life wasn’t the only one in peril here. “Be careful. Please don’t do anything stupid. We need you.”

Demetrius pressed his lips against hers. “Nothing will ever keep me away from you, kardia. Take care of our princess.”

Her heart rolled as he eased away, as he joined the others and headed for the door. Her sisters—Callia and Casey—sat on opposite sides of the bed, and through her connection to both of them, she could feel their worry and fear for their own mates

“They’ll be back,” Casey announced, brushing her fingers over Elysia’s little head. “They’ll find Prometheus in time.”

Isadora hoped so. Not only because she knew losing his soul mate might just break Titus, but because, regardless of what any of them had or hadn’t said, they couldn’t afford for Natasa’s fire to burn free.