Marked

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The lodge was a massive expanse of wood built at the far end of the enormous cavern. As they walked through the central courtyard and passed the waterfall, Theron stayed close to Acacia’s side. Though he sensed the villagers’ unease was solely due to his presence, he didn’t put it past them to take a swipe at her because of him.

Gods, there were so many. He scanned the crowd that parted for them. So many worn and battered and bearing marks of battles past. How could so many have been kept secret from the Argonauts for so long?

It was clear Nick was the band of half-breeds’ leader. He exuded an air of authority over the entire colony, and heads bowed slightly as he passed. Not for the first time, Theron wondered who this rogue warrior was. He’d noticed the fingerless leather gloves Nick wore, and that strange sense that had struck Theron at Acacia’s store hit him again as they walked—the feeling that this man was both human and Argonaut.

But how could that be possible?

They reached the steps of the lodge, and Nick led the way into what appeared to be a gathering area. A giant iron chandelier lit with candles showered golden light over the space. The ceiling featured beams carved from massive trees and the floor was a rich honey-colored wood. A giant staircase directly ahead led to the second floor. To the right a living area, complete with leather chairs and rustic tabletops set in various groupings, littered the space. Double doors opened to the left.

Nick led them into the office. Once inside he closed the doors and pulled the blinds, blocking out the view and the curious eyes from the village below.

Acacia didn’t wait for an invitation to sit. She dropped onto one of the green leather couches in the corner of the room on a long sigh. She didn’t look good, and as he had back in her store, Theron sensed the illness racking her body. The same illness that plagued Isadora.

Skata, he needed to get her back to the castle. Like, now.

The guilt he felt over what he’d been sent to do was swift and useless, so he pushed it aside and decided to dwell on the facts. “What is this place?”

Nick eased into the chair behind a large oak desk, leather creaking beneath his big body. “Refuge. Or the best we can get. The caves allow us protection. Any daemon who ventures inside will be lost in the tunnels and picked off by our sentries. This colony’s been in existence for nearly five hundred years, and not once has it been breached.”

Five hundred years. Dear gods.

“How many are there?” Theron asked.

“In this colony?” Nick’s brow lifted, and though he volunteered answers, the challenge in his eyes was evidently clear. “Two hundred and forty-seven. On a good day. But our numbers rise and fall as our people move from colony to colony.”

Two hundred and forty-seven? Holy skata. And there were other colonies? That the king knew about?

When he could speak after the shock that brought, he asked, “They don’t remain?” If the fortress was as impenetrable as Nick claimed, why on earth would any of these half-breeds risk venturing out into the human world, where they could be identified and killed on sight?

“We have to live, Argonaut. Although I’m sure you’d like it if we didn’t.”

Theron sensed the aggression, and didn’t respond. Nick’s eyes narrowed to thin pinpoints. “No comeback for me? Yeah. I didn’t think so.”

In the silent tension between them, Nick lifted a pencil and tapped it against the edge of the desk.

“What do you mean, colony?” Acacia asked in a small voice from the couch.

Nick turned her way, and his voice gentled. “What do you think I mean, Casey?”

Theron’s eyes narrowed as he looked between the two. There was a connection between them, a bond that set off a strange tingling in Theron’s chest.

Wary, Acacia eyed Nick. “I—I’m not sure. But I have the strangest feeling those people out there aren’t…”

“Aren’t what, Casey?” Nick asked. “Aren’t…human?”

Her eyes flicked to his, and whatever she saw there made her catch her breath.

Nick nodded Theron’s way. “Show her.”

The command wasn’t just startling, it was inconceivable. You didn’t order an Argonaut, especially its leader, to do anything, because doing so was as good as inviting a death sentence. But Nick obviously didn’t give a flying fuck about protocol and threats. And that made him the most dangerous kind of adversary.

Common sense told Theron he was basically SOL here. The half-breeds already knew who he was. Acacia would never believe until she saw for herself. And until he won her trust, she wasn’t going anywhere with him anytime soon. Ever since the incident at the store, she’d been looking at him like he might be a daemon himself.

Reluctantly, he held up his hands, flashing the markings on his skin. Because he was an Argonaut, he could open the portal from wherever he was. When his pinkie fingers touched, a burst of energy flooded the room. His hands glowed white light that shimmered and backlit the markings. And in the light, the portal opened, casting a vision of the kingdom of Argolea over the walls and floor and ceiling, filling every inch of space in the office with its presence.

Acacia gasped. And Theron tried to view it from her perspective—as an outsider looking in. He’d opened the portal countless times with barely a thought, the beauty and regality of his home lost on him over the years. But now, looking at it through her eyes, at the blue-green mountains and the white marble buildings with their bronze-topped spires, for the first time he saw secrets. Lies. Half-truths that had possibly left an entire section of their race in peril.

He separated his hands, and the portal closed in a rush, the light and vision fading as quickly as they’d appeared.

Wide-eyed, Acacia looked up to his face. “Okay, that was a little freaky. Chriss Angel Mindfreak freaky. Wh-What the hell was that?”

Theron glanced toward Nick. “Chriss Angel?”

“An illusionist. Human. No doubt you wouldn’t know him.” He refocused on Acacia. “That was Argolea, Casey.”

“Argowhat?”

“Argolea,” Theron repeated. “My home and the home of your father.”

Her wide eyes slid to Nick for reassurance in a way that made Theron want to pull her eyes right back to him and punch Nick smack in the face.

Nick rose from his chair and moved around the front of his desk. “Theron’s a hero, Casey.”

“A what?”

“A hero,” Nick repeated. “Your grandmother was Greek, right?” Acacia nodded. “In Greek mythology, the heroes were mortals of great strength and ability, spawned from the union of a mortal and a god.”

Acacia’s eyes shot to Theron’s face, and as unexpected as she was that first night he’d met her, the connection they’d shared flared hot and bright. A connection that made absolutely no sense, considering who and what she was. “You’re telling me he’s a god?”

“No,” Theron said quickly, refocusing. “A descendant. The first heroes were half human, half god. Over time, as they reproduced, our race was born and the lines were blurred. My people are the offspring of those original heroes.”

“What race?” she asked hesitantly.

“We are called Argoleans. Our home is in another realm, established outside the human world.”

Her brow shot up in a “what the hell have you been smoking?” look. “You mean like Olympus?”

“No.” Theron shook his head. “Olympus is home to the gods. Argolea was a land established specifically for our race, a place where we could flourish and remain free.”

Nick huffed. “You mean where your kind could hide.”

Theron ignored the barb. He’d deal with Nick and his colony of half-breeds later. Right now he could see that Acacia wasn’t buying any of what he’d just told her, and making her understand her lineage was important if he was going to get her to go back with him. “Your father is of my kind.”

“What he’s neglecting to tell you, Casey,” Nick said, straightening, “is that he’s not just an Argolean. He’s an Argonaut. One of his race’s so-called Eternal Guardians. The leader, if I’m not mistaken. And aside from the obvious—why he’s in our world now—I’m just a little curious why he’s zeroed in on you.” Nick crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Theron.

Moment of truth. The hair on the back of Theron’s neck stood up as he looked from Acacia to Nick and back again. He hoped to Hades this gamble paid off. “Your father’s name is Leonidas. King Leonidas. The ruler of my kingdom.”

Nick swore and dropped his arms.

Casey’s eyes grew even larger. “My father’s a king?”

Theron nodded.

“As in red robe, pointy crown and a jester at his feet king?”

Theron lifted one brow, amused at her wit. “The gods were never fond of jesters. Didn’t get passed down to us.”

She only continued to stare at him with that same wide-eyed, you-are-higher-than-a-hot-air-balloon look on her face. She turned to Nick, the candles on the walls casting warm light across her face. “Explain to me what this place is. And who are all those people outside?”

Theron’s humor faded. What was that pinch in his chest he experienced whenever she looked to Nick for answers?

Nick’s scarred features softened in a way that kicked up that pinch to a stab. “They’re like us, Casey. Half-breeds, or so his race calls us. Half Argolean, half human.”

“What do you call them?” she asked quietly.

A frown pulled his eyebrows together. “Really fucking unlucky.”

Theron gritted his teeth as Nick moved to sit beside her on the couch.

“Misos, Casey,” Nick said. “It means half, which is what we are. I know this is confusing, but do me a favor. Just tell me if I’m wrong. You’re twenty-seven years old, yet you feel like you’ve never belonged anywhere. You’ve flitted from job to job, never passionate about anything in particular. You loved your grandmother, but you always sensed she didn’t understand you because you were different, and you never felt bound to stay with her after you were grown. Your friends never truly accepted you, and you didn’t fit in with the people you interacted with. When you started working at XScream and you met Dana, as much as the club sickened you, it was the first time you’d ever felt a connection with another person that went deeper than the superfluous. And though I scared you and gave you every reason to be afraid of me, you trusted me with your life and didn’t once question who or what I was. At least not out loud.”

Acacia’s chest rose and fell as she took long, steady breaths, but her eyes were locked on Nick’s. “How do you know all that?” she whispered.

“Because I’ve been there. Because I was once like you, wondering where I fit in. I found it here. With my people. With our people, Casey.”

“I—I don’t understand this. How…?” She glanced toward Theron. And his chest grew tight at the questions in her eyes. At the way she looked to him for answers. “If you live in a different”—she swallowed—“world, then how did my mother…? Was my mother one of you?”

Theron shook his head. “From what I know, your father met her when he was in the human world. Many from our race do cross over from time to time, but it can be dangerous and it isn’t encouraged.”

Nick frowned. “Obviously it happens more than the Argonauts would like to admit.”

“Dangerous,” Acacia said, missing the barb as her eyes flicked back to Nick. “Because of those beasts. What were they?”

“Daemons,” Nick said matter-of-factly. “Beasts of the underworld spawned by Hades and given power by a demigod. They hunt us.”

Her eyebrows drew together, forming a crease in the middle of her forehead that was so damn sexy, Theron’s legs itched to cross to her and kiss it from her skin.

“Why? I don’t understand that. I mean, I’ve never heard of them. Do they hunt humans too? Is this some big conspiracy theory the government’s not telling us?”

Nick placed a hand on her arm. And that stab in Theron’s chest shot up to a warning roar. He fought the urge to throw himself at Nick and pry the man’s hand off Acacia’s arm, then break every bone in the half-breed’s body.

“You have to stop thinking of yourself as human, Casey,” Nick said. “I know it’s hard to understand, but you’re one of us, and as such your life is vulnerable in different ways. The goal of the daemons is to eradicate the Argoleans and everything associated with them. And that, unfortunately for us, means our people as well.”

“But why? What did we ever do to them?”

“Nothing,” Theron said, drawing her attention his way. Her violet eyes flicked up to his, and when their gazes met, the roar in his head quickly morphed from one of protection to white-hot desire, just as it had that night up at her house by the lake.

And that’s when it hit him. All of it at once. The real reason he hadn’t recognized who and what she was the first night he’d met her. It wasn’t because he’d been hurt. It was because she was his One.

He swallowed hard at what he hoped couldn’t possibly be the real explanation. She was just a woman. She was human, something he couldn’t stomach even on a good day, which this most definitely was not. And she was going to save his race, whether she knew it or not. He had to focus on that. And not the…other possibility.

“It goes back centuries,” he said, harsher than necessary. “To a disgruntled hero who sold her soul to Hades in exchange for immortality. She seeks to destroy that which shunned her. And she’s unleashed her daemons on the world to extinguish a race she hates.”

“And that’s why you’re here,” she said plainly, those mesmerizing eyes of hers still locked on his. “To protect the race.”

“To protect his race,” Nick cut in, shooting Theron a contemptuous look. “Make no mistake, Casey. Theron isn’t here to protect the Misos. Your father the king hasn’t tried to contact you once in twenty-seven years, and now suddenly he wants to see you? Before you agree to anything, ask yourself just what the heck he or this guardian could possibly want from you.”

Acacia looked from Nick to Theron and back again. And then, as if someone had turned off a light inside her, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch. The color drained from her face, leaving her weak and spent, reminding Theron that even though her mind was strong, her body was not. “I don’t know what to think of any of this.”

Nick rose from the couch and moved toward the door. On the wall he pushed some kind of button connected to a wire that disappeared into the rock. “You don’t have to think about it yet. I want you to get some rest. You don’t look well.”

Acacia’s eyes flipped open just as the door creaked. A female who looked to be no more than twenty-five edged into the room. “Yes, Nick.”

Nick helped Acacia from the couch. “Helene, this is Casey. I want you to get her settled in a room upstairs. She’s had quite a day and needs to rest. Bring her anything she needs.”

Helene smiled at Nick, her dark eyes sparking, and only when she came more fully inside did Theron realize the half-breed female walked with an obvious limp.

“Of course. Hi, Casey. We’re glad to have you with us.”

Acacia glanced from Helene to Nick. “But—”

“It’s okay,” Nick said. “Theron and I have things to discuss, and you need to sleep before you fall over. You’re completely safe here. Rest, and when you wake, I’ll answer your questions.”

Acacia glanced around the room again in indecision, then finally turned her attention to the dark-haired woman. “I guess I am a little tired.”

Helene’s grin widened. “Come on then. I know just which room to give you.”

Theron watched the two women exit the office, consumed by a dark desire to follow Acacia out and up those grand stairs—which was suddenly starting to make a sickening sort of sense.

No, no, no. He had to be wrong.

“Enough with the crap, hero.”

Slowly, Theron pulled his gaze from the closed door to look toward the suddenly aggressive half-breed in his presence, ready to do battle to the bitter end. Whatever questions he had about Acacia would have to wait.

Nick’s scarred face twisted into a scowl. “I’m done playing games. It’s time you tell me just what you’re doing here and what the hell you really want with Casey.”

Casey couldn’t remember ever being so tired. She was sore from the attack in her bookstore, emotionally spent and mentally whacked out. As she followed Helene up the wide staircase, she tried not to think about everything Nick and Theron had just told her. It was ludicrous, wasn’t it? Other races didn’t exist. And mythological heroes were just that…mythological, for crap’s sake.

But even as she fought what they’d told her, she had the strangest sense she was wrong. It explained so much about who she was and where she’d come from and why she’d never connected with anyone in this world.

And holy cow, she needed a lobotomy if she was so easily buying into all this.

They reached the top of the staircase, and Helene gestured down a long hallway lined with closed doors and lit with candles every ten feet. “I think you’ll like the blue room. It’s very peaceful.”

For the first time, Casey noticed the girl’s limp and wondered if she’d recently been hurt, possibly by those beasts they’d encountered earlier. “Are you all right?”

Helene smiled. “I’m fine.”

“But your leg—”

Helene stopped and lifted one pant leg. A metal bar was anchored in a Nike running shoe. “Titanium. It’s new and I’m still getting used to it. My last prosthesis bugged me to no end. This one’s lighter.”

Casey tried not to stare as the girl dropped her pant leg and kept moving down the long hallway. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I—”

“It’s okay,” Helene said. “I’ve been without my leg for a hundred years.”

Casey’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “You’re a hundred years old?”

“One hundred and thirty-six, to be exact.”

The hallway spun. Casey reached a hand out to steady herself. “How is that possible?”

Helene’s arms were suddenly around her, supporting her, as she helped Casey inside the room. “Whoa there. I take it Nick hasn’t explained that part to you yet.” She eased Casey into a chair Casey vaguely registered as being white and incredibly soft. “Our life spans are relatively long. Not as long as an Argolean’s, of course, but it’s one of the reasons we live here in the colony and not with humans.” A wry smile slid across her pretty face as she crossed the room to an armoire. She opened the double doors, fiddled inside for a few moments and came back with a mug of steaming tea, which she handed to Casey. “A one-hundred-and-thirty-six-year-old woman who looks like she’s thirty? That might garner a little attention in the human world, don’t you think?”

Casey took the tea and brought it to her lips. A familiar scent surrounded her as she took a deep drink. “I smell lavender.”

“Yes,” Helene said. “It’ll help you rest.”

“You use it for healing,” she said, as images of her night with Theron flickered through her mind.

“Among other things.” Helene crossed to a gigantic four-poster bed done all in light blue fabrics and folded back the plump covers. Crisp white sheets beckoned, promising respite. “There’s a small button on the wall next to the door. If you need anything, just push it and someone will come running.”

“So modern?” Casey asked, remembering the candles.

Helene smiled. “Yes. It’s not the Ritz, but we do have electricity and indoor plumbing. A main generator powers the colony, but because we’re not self-sufficient and everything costs money, we try not to overburden it. Candles are cheap and soothing, so we use those quite a bit. Up near the surface we have a lookout station complete with surveillance equipment, satellite phones and everything we need to connect with civilization.

At Casey’s perplexed expression, Helene came around the bed. “I imagine you have a thousand other questions, but for now, try to rest. When you wake, Nick will tell you anything you want to know. Now sleep, Casey. And don’t worry. Tonight nothing will harm you.”

“Thank you, Helene.”

Alone, Casey leaned back in the plush chair and studied the room she’d been given. Pale blue walls on three sides matched the comforter on the bed. Two club chairs separated by a small side table occupied the corner. An enormous stone fireplace, already burning, took up nearly one whole wall. But the far wall held the most interest. It was made entirely of stone, and a small, naturally occurring opening formed a porthole-type window that had somehow been sealed with glass and covered by a variety of branches which, she imagined, camouflaged the opening from the outside. One look out into utter darkness signaled that this part of the cavern must form the edge of some massive cliff.

So strange to be in a room in a cave. Kind of like the Anasazi tribes in the Southwest. Big villages built deep into the rocks for protection.

Tired to her bones, she rose and pulled the small blue drapes to block out the darkness, blew out the candles on the walls, then tumbled into bed, not wanting to think about what had happened to the Anasazi. Or about hiding places or predators. Or kings or countries or gods or heroes. She just wanted to think about…nothing.

But it didn’t work. As soon as she closed her eyes she saw the fight in her grandmother’s store. The fire. And…Theron.

Why had he really come back for her?

Not to finish what they’d started in her house, that was for sure. Not that she even wanted to anymore.

Liar.

Casey rolled to her side and closed her eyes tight. Stupid thoughts. Where Theron the Wonder Hero was concerned, she needed to watch her back, be on guard, not let him get to her the way he had the first time they met. The way he’d manhandled her on the hike up here was proof of that, wasn’t it? If he was his race’s idea of a hero, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to know more about her lineage.

She let out a long breath as her muscles relaxed one by one and sleep tugged at her. And though she fought it, she pictured Theron’s face. His dark eyes. His lush lips. The perfectly shaped nose and the small scars from battles fought and won. Saw, clearly, the smoldering look across those chiseled features when he’d bent and kissed her with the slightest brush of skin against skin that night at her house. And felt the rush of arousal in response that heated her blood.

Damn, but for all her posturing she was in deep trouble. Even with all that she’d lost today, she had a sinking suspicion events hadn’t turned her world upside down. He had. And that feeling had nothing to do with daemons and heroes and kings and half-breeds. It had to do with one man who, somehow, had wormed his way into her soul from the very moment she’d laid eyes on him.