Enraptured

Chapter 13

“Either you’re the biggest fucking idiot on the planet or you’ve got balls of steel. Currently I can’t decide which. Both, I’m sure, are going to get me killed in the long run.”

Here it came. Orpheus turned from the stairwell and the Siren who was continuously tipping his world off its axis and redirected his attention toward Nick. He chose his words carefully because though he and Nick were more friends than foes, the half-breed had a temper. And he was unpredictable, especially when that temper reared its ugly head. “How’d you know I was coming in?”

Nick crossed his arms over his massive chest. “Oh, let me see. It could have been my guy in Seattle informing me they’d found a dead hellhound near Lake Washington. Or it could have been news that Maelea was missing from that mansion she calls a house.”

Shit. Orpheus should have expected Nick would have all ears to the ground. He kept close tabs on what happened around his colony. He had to, to ensure the safety of his people.

“Or,” Nick went on, “it could have been the earthquake from hell—which, by the way, we don’t get many of up here in Montana. But my money’s on the two dead hellhounds my scouts killed not far from that train wreck. All of which combined has dumbshit tattooed all over it. And when I think of dumbshits, your name pops right to the top of the list.”

“Two hellhounds?” Orpheus asked, ignoring Nick’s rant.

“Two,” Nick repeated.

Orpheus’s brow lowered. “We killed five. Which means they aren’t running in normal packs.”

“Your powers of deduction are mind-numbing.”

“Your guys find signs of any others?”

“No.”

Something definitely wasn’t right. “Well, thanks to your crew for rounding them up.”

“Don’t thank me,” Nick said. “If it were up to me, you and your little entourage never would have been allowed entry into the colony. And what the hell are you thinking, dragging Maelea here? Pissing off one god wasn’t enough for you? You had to go for two just to add a little spice to the mix?”

Yep, this was what Orpheus had expected when he’d seen the sentry’s reaction in the caves. “I don’t think she’d appreciate being referred to as part of my entourage.”

“I don’t fucking care what she appreciates,” Nick snapped. “Doesn’t change shit about who she is. Hellhounds, Orpheus. I’m gonna have Hades on my ass now. And thanks to you, Zeus too, if that Siren is any indication of things to come.”

“If we had anywhere else to go, I’d have taken Maelea there and kept you out of this, but we didn’t. I’ll be gone by morning, so you have nothing to worry about. The Siren too. Zeus isn’t after Maelea, trust me.”

“Trusting you is like trusting a fucking Fury. What about Hades?”

“Hades doesn’t want Maelea either. He wants me.” Or rather he wants what Maelea is going to get for me. If she ever cooperates.

“You’ll understand if that doesn’t leave me all tingly inside,” Nick said. “And I didn’t hear you say anything about taking Zeus’s bastard with you when you leave tomorrow.”

That’s because he wasn’t. Orpheus rubbed a hand over his mouth. If Hades had figured out Orpheus needed Maelea to find the Orb, he’d hunt Maelea himself. And that meant this was the safest place for her, where Nick’s sentries could keep her hidden and safe. “I’m pretty sure she likes being called Zeus’s bastard less than being part of my entourage.”

“You’re a fucking moron,” Nick muttered.

Yeah, well, he might be, but if there was one thing Orpheus knew about Nick, it was that the half-breed would just as soon turn out someone in need as he would side with the gods. “What did you mean, if it were up to you we wouldn’t have been allowed entry into the colony?”

Nick held his hand out to the door behind him. “See for yourself.”

A strange feeling tingled low across Orpheus’s back. He pushed the door open. Inside the long room with its conference-style table and windows that looked out at the now-black lake, he spotted Queen Isadora, her sister Casey, Theron—the leader of the Argonauts—and Isadora’s new husband Demetrius.

Oh, this was just fucking terrific.

“Why don’t you sell tickets,” he mumbled to Nick. “There’s bound to be fireworks now.”

“Deal with it,” Nick muttered. “I’ve had to for the last few hours.”

The door closed behind them. Isadora’s concerned brown eyes bored into his. For whatever reason, she seemed to think he had some hero streak inside him. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that whatever heroic qualities were in his lineage had skipped right over him and shot straight to his younger brother Gryphon.

Or at least they had. Before Gryphon’s soul had been lost to Tartarus.

He pushed that painful thought aside and focused on the here and now. She looked better than she had the last time Orpheus had seen her. She’d gained a few pounds and her face was no longer pale and sunken in. And the slacks and sweater were a major improvement over the gowns she used to wear. Behind her, Demetrius’s jaw was set in a tight line as always. The Argonaut may have softened around the edges thanks to Isadora, but that didn’t mean he’d softened toward anyone else, even if that anyone else had helped save his life. Then there was Theron, leaning against the table with his hand on his wife Casey’s shoulder, watching Orpheus with an I always knew you were gonna fuck things up look on his face.

“Let me guess,” Orpheus said. “You’re all here on vacation. No, wait. Some kinky swingers’ honeymoon.” He caught the flash of annoyance in Theron’s eyes but ignored it. “You know, if it were me, Isa, I’d have gone for a sunny beach, not a creepy castle in the middle of nowhere. But then what do I know? Maybe kinky twisted shit turns you all on.”

Isadora shot Theron a warning look before he could respond, the shy little princess she used to be nowhere to be found in the confident queen she’d become. She stepped forward. “Tease all you want, Orpheus, but you know why we’re here.”

“No, I can honestly say I don’t. Don’t tell me you screwed the kingdom already, Isa.”

“Tell him,” Nick cut in. “Tell him what you told me.”

Isadora sighed. “We had a few visitors at the castle. Two, to be exact. Sirens. Sent by Athena to enlist the help of the Argonauts.”

“Help how?” Orpheus asked.

“In locating Apophis and the Orb of Krónos.”

Interesting. “Why?”

“Because Zeus wants it for himself.”

“That I get. But why come to you? And the Argonauts?”

“Zeus knows you’re looking for it. And he obviously also knows your link to the Argonauts.”

Of course he did. Zeus kept his ear to the ground too. Or rather his Sirens did.

His mind drifted to Skyla and their last few days together. But this news wasn’t anything he didn’t already know. He was well aware she’d been sent by Zeus to seduce him, snag the Orb when he finally found it, then kill him. They were both toying with each other in the meantime. What didn’t make sense was why the hell Zeus would think his chosen Siren couldn’t get the job done.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Isadora’s eyes softened again. “Because I sensed those Sirens weren’t telling me the whole truth. And because I’m worried about you.”

“You need to give up this crazy hunt for the Orb, O,” Theron cut in.

Orpheus ignored Theron. “What did you tell them? The Sirens?”

“That we would do what we can. Which,” Isadora added with a lopsided grin, “means nothing.”

Nothing. If it were up to Theron and the Argonauts, it’d be something.

“Why don’t you tell them about your traveling companion,” Nick said at Orpheus’s back.

Shit.

“Maelea?” Isadora asked. “We already know.”

“Not that one,” Nick said. “The other Siren.”

Isadora’s surprised eyes skipped back to Orpheus. “You’re traveling with a Siren?”

Man, he was so fucking ready to kill Nick. He didn’t have time for this shit. He still had to convince Maelea to tell him where the Orb was tonight so he could make tracks and find that shitty warlock. “The Siren is none of your concern. Yours either,” he said, shooting Nick a glare. “I can handle her.”

Isadora looked at her husband standing across the room with his hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans, then to her sister and Theron leaning against the table, all three sporting the same what the hell did you expect? expressions. When she refocused on Orpheus, though, her eyes weren’t filled with the same indifference. They brimmed with worry. A worry that stoked his annoyance with this whole damn situation. “Orpheus—”

“Isa,” he mocked. What he wouldn’t give to call up his daemon and be done with all of them.

A frown turned her lips. “I know you can take care of yourself, but three Sirens in two days? That’s not good. Even for you.”

“You just worry about yourself, okay? I’ll worry about me.”

A knock sounded at the door. Nick answered with a yes, and seconds later a dark-haired half-breed popped his head into the room. “Um, Nick. We’ve got a situation.”

“What now?” Nick asked.

He handed Nick what looked like a palm-sized computer and ran his finger over the screen, calling up an image. “Sentries just spotted them. Two beyond the outer perimeter. Doesn’t look like they’ve figured out we’re here yet, but their tracking skills are among the best. They’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“Fucking A,” Nick muttered.

“What?” Theron said, letting go of Casey and stepping forward to look at the screen.

Nick pinned Orpheus with a hard look. “I just figured out what happened to the rest of the hellhound pack.”

“What do you—?”

Nick turned the screen so he could see the two Sirens lurking in the woods outside the cave where they’d left their vehicle. “Man, you are major-league fuckup if I ever saw one.” He glanced toward the male who’d brought him the news. “Get Kellon and Marc and take them down quietly.”

“Hold up.” Demetrius moved closer to Isadora. “You go killing a Siren or two and that’s bound to get back to Olympus. Orpheus is right. Zeus has never paid any attention to Maelea before, which means odds are good he’s not after the girl like we thought. He’s after Orpheus, just like O said. And that means killing his warriors isn’t going to do anything but piss him off more than he already is.”

Unease rippled through Orpheus. Why the hell was he being tailed by two more Sirens? Something smelled rotten. Little by little it was becoming clear Zeus didn’t trust Skyla as far as he could throw her. Which begged the question…why had he assigned her to Orpheus in the first place if he knew she was going to fail?

“Good point,” Theron said. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking disorienting them is a better bet,” Demetrius answered.

“A spell?” Orpheus asked, surprised Demetrius was embracing his Medean heritage so easily. The last time he’d used his powers, it had been to help Orpheus banish Atalanta to the Fields of Asphodel. But that had been out of pure hatred rather than anything else. As far as Orpheus knew, Demetrius hadn’t used his gift since.

“Or two,” Demetrius said. “But I’ll need your help. I’m still a little rusty.”

Spells tumbled through Orpheus’s mind. The idea had potential, but it wasn’t a done deal. “We might be able to work something.” He looked to Nick, then Theron. “But we’ll need your help too.”

Both nodded in agreement, and Orpheus found himself shocked that the Argonauts were willing to help him out on this. They could just as easily hand deliver him to Zeus.

Trying not to look as bowled over as he felt, Orpheus laid out the plan, and when he was done caught the nods and agreement of the others.

Who would have thought it?

They moved for the door.

At his back, Isadora said to Casey, “Why don’t you and I go have a talk with that Siren upstairs.”

Orpheus’s unease reignited. Yeah, Isa, you have a nice little chat with the Siren. Butter her up. Because when he got back, he intended to put an end to their games and find out what was really going on.

“Think this will work?” Demetrius whispered.

Crouched beyond an outcropping of rock on a gentle slope in the darkness, Orpheus peered down the twenty or so yards toward the small clearing below where the two Sirens—his tail—were scanning the trees, their superior Siren senses obviously picking up the fact there was more to this forest than met the eye.

“So long as Theron and Nick do as they’re supposed to, yeah,” Orpheus answered in a low voice. “I think it can work. You sure those aren’t the two that visited Isa at the castle?”

“They’re not.”

Orpheus studied the two drop-dead-gorgeous Sirens below. “Yeah. Guess you’d know. Pretty hard to forget a body like that.”

“I couldn’t care less about their bodies.” Then, under his breath, “C’mon, Nick.”

Not for the first time, Orpheus found himself impressed Demetrius and Nick seemed to be getting along. They’d hated each other for years. Though they shared the same mother, the same link to the gods, Demetrius had grown up in Argolea and trained with the Argonauts, whereas Nick had been banished to the human realm because of his mixed-breed heritage. Orpheus now knew that was because the Council had seen him as a threat and had wanted to have him killed. All because he had something the rest of them didn’t. He was a true demigod. Half human and half god. More pure than any in Argolea.

It explained a lot about the man. But Orpheus still wasn’t sure what had been the catalyst for the brothers’ truce. He suspected it had something to do with Isadora. Something more than the fact that she was now queen. He thought about mentioning it, then decided not to. It didn’t much matter to him either way. He had more important things to worry about.

But as they waited for Nick and Theron to make their move, one question Orpheus had been wondering since Demetrius and Isadora had come back from that island popped out of his mouth before he thought better of it. “Aren’t you afraid the honeymoon phase is going to wear off?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“With Isa. Let’s get real, Argonaut. You are who you are. Just because we sent Atalanta to the Fields of Asphodel doesn’t change the fact she’s your mother. Doesn’t change the fact what’s evil in her is evil in you.”

Demetrius’s jaw clenched. “Isadora knows what I am.”

“Yeah, but aren’t you afraid at some point she’s going to realize it—you—were a mistake? I mean, good sex only lasts so long. And gods know Isadora wasn’t getting any before you, so it’s not like she had a lot to compare to. But that infatuation will wear off soon enough. I mean, she’s the queen of Argolea, and you’re—”

“Why do you care so much?”

Why? Orpheus wasn’t sure. Maybe because he still couldn’t believe someone could love evil. And maybe it was because a small part of him was jealous. Not jealous that Isadora was taken, but jealous of how easily she’d brushed aside everything she’d known for years to be true about Demetrius and had found the one thing in him no one else could see.

He frowned because he knew the last wasn’t it. “I don’t. I’m just wondering when I can sit back and say ‘I told you so.’ The train wreck’s coming. You know it is.”

Demetrius’s jaw clenched harder and he turned his attention back to the Sirens below. “You’re the train wreck, Orpheus. Case in point, the mess you left back there in the mountains.”

Yeah, he might be a fuckup, but he was smart enough to know he wasn’t marriage material. Wasn’t even relationship material. What he had going with the Siren was nothing more than straight-up sexual attraction. Which, as he’d told Demetrius, would burn out soon enough. Tonight, if he had anything to say about it.

His mind drifted to Skyla, and before he could stop himself he wondered what she was doing right this minute. A burst of desire rippled through him when he pictured her kiss-me lips and that made-for-sin body. Which both lit him up and pissed him off at the same time.

The brush to the left of the Sirens rustled, and Orpheus’s adrenaline shot up when he saw Nick stumble into the clearing. The Sirens both pulled their bows, just as he’d seen Skyla do a dozen times. As they’d planned, Nick was covered in blood, crimson streaks all across his chest and thighs, and both Sirens caught the scent immediately, went on high alert as he dropped to the ground at their feet.

A shout echoed from the trees. One Siren shifted her bow in that direction. The other kept her arrow trained on Nick. Seconds later, Theron drew up short at the clearing’s edge, his parazonium—the ancient Greek dagger all Argonauts carried—in hand. He lifted both arms when he caught sight of Zeus’s assassins. “Don’t shoot. I’m an Argonaut.”

The first Siren stepped back near the second. Their wary gazes darted between Nick, facedown in the grass, and Theron. “What are you doing out here?”

“The same thing you are. Hunting. Two from your order came to Argolea in request of our help.”

“Who?” the one on the right asked.

“Khloe and…” He seemed to think for a minute. “Reanna, Remea—”

“Rhebekkah?” the second Siren asked.

“That was it,” Theron said. “Rhebekkah. Said you two were hunting Orpheus.” He nodded toward the ground, slid his parazonium back into its sheath at his back. “Here he is.”

The Sirens exchanged glances, then looked toward Nick. “How do you know it’s him?”

Theron chuckled. “O’s not hard to miss. Shitty attitude, fuck-off mentality. I could sense him a mile away. The fact he shifted into one of those shit-for-brains daemons was also a dead giveaway.”

So Isa had told Theron and the others that he was a hybrid. Wonderful. One more thing for them to hold against him.

“Where did you find him?” the multicolor-haired Siren asked.

“In the mountains. Hiding. The other two got away. Two females. But this is the one you want, right?”

The Sirens looked unsure. The second—the dark-haired one—stepped closer to Nick, nudged his shoulder with her kick-ass boot. The same boots Skyla wore. The first lowered her weapon, moved closer to Nick too.

The second looked up at the first. “I think he might be dead.”

They both refocused on Theron as they depressed the end of their bows, shrinking them down to nothing. “He was to be brought in alive, Argonaut,” the first said.

“Whoa. Wait. No one told me that. You wanted him alive?’ He scratched his head, perched one hand on his hip. “Well, damn. That creates a problem, doesn’t it?”

“A big problem,” the second said. She cut a look at her partner. “Athena will not be happy.”

“Especially not when she finds out Skyla got away,” the first replied.

So these two Sirens were hunting Skyla too. Orpheus’s suspicions as to Skyla’s real intentions bloomed all over again, stringing his chest tight as a drum.

“We’ll take it from here, Argonaut,” the first said. “You’re free to go.”

“Are you sure?” Theron asked. “I mean, I wouldn’t want you…ladies…to get into any trouble over this.”

The second sent a hard glare his way. “Leave now, Argonaut. Before we change our minds and decide you’re better off dead too.”

A shocked expression rushed across Theron’s face. He held his hands up again and stepped back toward the dark forest. “Okay, okay. Hint taken. Good luck, ladies.”

He disappeared from view. And beside Orpheus, Demetrius tensed. That was their cue.

“Wait,” Orpheus whispered.

The multicolor-haired Siren leaned down toward Nick and muscled him over onto his back. When she caught sight of his face she swore loud and clear.

Nick’s eyes popped open. “Now that didn’t sound all sweet and seductive to me.”

He kicked the legs out from under the brunette. She landed on her ass with a thud. The first reached for her bow, but Nick was already on his feet.

“Now,” Orpheus said. He and Demetrius cast the illusion spell before she could pull her arrow, multiplying Nick by a hundred times all across the clearing.

“Fuck,” the first Siren muttered as she shifted her bow right and left, not sure where now to aim.

“No thanks,” Nick muttered, the mouths of all the illusions moving to disorient the Sirens, “we’re really not in the mood.”

The Sirens glanced from one image of Nick to another, then at each other. Finally, knowing they were likely screwed, they lowered their weapons. Though they might look cornered, Orpheus knew they weren’t. He’d seen Skyla in that position more times than he could count.

“Now the rest,” Orpheus whispered.

He and Demetrius focused their powers, called on their Medean heritage. The chant grew up around them, echoed in the still night air. From below, a Siren asked, “What was that?”

“Oh, just a little surprise,” Nick said with a smile in his voice.

The Sirens’ voices faded into nothing as the chant grew louder and Orpheus and Demetrius whipped the disorientation spell into a frenzy. When it was finally done, Orpheus opened his eyes to look down at the clearing, where both Sirens were lying on their backs in the grass, passed out.

“Did it work?” Demetrius called.

The images of Nick faded as their concentration broke, leaving only the real Nick standing in the meadow. He knelt near the multicolor-haired Siren and felt along her neck. “Yep. Pulse is strong. Though I’m pretty sure they’re both going to have major-ass headaches when they come to.”

Orpheus picked his way down the hill and stopped in the clearing next to Theron, who’d reemerged from the trees. “A major headache is an understatement. When they wake up they won’t remember a thing, not about what happened here or anything about this forest. Though I did like seeing their faces when you multiplied. I’d love to pull that one on their boss.”

“Don’t wish for things you don’t really want,” Nick answered as the SUV Orpheus had rented in Kalispell pulled into the clearing next to them and the same half-breed who’d informed them of the Sirens’ presence climbed from the vehicle. “He’s gonna be pissed when he finds them.”

“Where are you taking them?” Orpheus asked.

“Aidan’s gonna drive them south,” Nick said. “There’s a Titan posing as a human down in Texas. Figured we’d leave them with him. He’ll get a kick out of tormenting Zeus and Athena.”

Nick looked to Orpheus. “We’ve got what, twenty hours?”

“Give or take,” Orpheus answered.

“Piece of cake,” Aidan said. “In twenty hours they’ll be tucked in safe and sound and Zeus’ll be pitching a conniption fit, wondering what the hell happened to them.”

That wasn’t the only fit Zeus would be pitching. While their toying with his Sirens couldn’t be linked directly back to the colony or even to him, Orpheus had a feeling somehow it would catch up with him. Shit always did.