Marked

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“Nice view, isn’t it?”

Casey turned from the window outside her father’s suite and dropped her arms. “Stunning.”

Isadora gestured toward the Aegis Mountains in the distance. “Better view from up there if you ever feel like a hike.”

“I know. Hades showed me.”

Isadora’s smile faded at the mere mention of the god’s name. Today the soon-to-be queen wore a long peach gown with a straight bodice and elbow-length ballet sleeves. Her blonde hair spilled down her back in waves, and she looked regal and grand and very much the princess she was, though Casey wasn’t clear why her sister had to dress the part even in private.

But there was something very sad about her. For a while, Casey had convinced herself it was Hades’s contract on her soul weighing heavily on Isadora’s shoulders. But the more she got to know her sister, the more Casey was convinced there was something more going on. The troubled look in her sister’s eyes had something to do with what had happened when Isadora had been in Tartarus. Casey had asked, of course. But Isadora had never uttered a single word about what had gone on there. And from the looks of it, she never would.

Casey heaved out a sigh. And told herself, In time. She was still learning a lot—and there was always more to learn—about Argolean customs and royal workings and just what place she had here. More often than not she was overwhelmed and a little homesick, but one thing they’d quickly learned was just how tightly she and Isadora were bound. If one got too far away for too long, the same symptoms they’d each experienced before came back. They’d yet to push the boundaries, and each was curious to see how far and how long they could be separated, but they had time for all that. Like five hundred years’ time.

And five hundred years was plenty of time to figure out what had happened to Isadora, and how they were going to break Hades’s bloody contract.

She looked back out the cathedral windows over the parapet to the city below and watched as a woman—a gynaíka—stepped out of a shop door, stopped on the sidewalk, then disappeared into thin air.

Okay, now that was something else Casey was having trouble getting used to. Here in Argolea, cars and other forms of transportation weren’t needed, because the people all had the ability to poof from place to place like Star Trek characters being beamed around. Isadora had explained it was a gift from the gods, a benefit of living here as opposed to on Earth, but that there were still limitations. You had to be outside to flash, and walls and structures created barriers that were impenetrable, but it sure made moving from one end of the city to the other quick and easy. And really, it was pretty cool. Casey, of course, had inquired if this was an ability she’d soon develop and was told it was possible, due to her lineage, but so far, no go.

Just another disappointment in a long line of disappointments throughout her life. Her very long life.

“How was he today?” Isadora asked, clasping her hands behind her back and pulling Casey from her melancholy thoughts.

“He’s fine,” Casey said, not dwelling on what she still didn’t know. Since the king was dying, she was making an effort to learn as much as she could before his time was up. But it wasn’t easy. Especially when the old king talked to her as if she were Isadora and drifted off to sleep in the middle of their conversations. “Sleeping now. He asked me when the wedding will be.”

Isadora harrumphed because she knew the king was mixing them up all the time lately, even though they looked nothing alike. Where Isadora was petite and blonde and beautiful, Casey was tall and dark and…not. “You told him never, I hope.”

“I’m not sure what to tell him.” Okay, now that sounded like she was having a pity party, didn’t it? Snap out of it.

“Casey,” Isadora said softly. “Theron’s not going to marry me. He never wanted to.”

Casey’s heart pinched. She hadn’t seen the Argonaut in two weeks. The one who’d turned her world upside down, then vanished into thin air even before Hades and Persephone had disappeared.

She’d been trying not to read too much into that, but it was hard not to. Maybe he hadn’t cared for her the way she’d thought. Maybe the connection they’d shared had been all in her head. Maybe Hades was wrong and she wasn’t his soul mate after all.

Isadora shook back her long hair. “He only agreed to the marriage because my father—our father—thought it was the only way to keep the Council off my back. That’s not an issue anymore. I’m not afraid to stand up to them. I faced down a god already. Two, actually.”

Casey looked down at her hands and vowed they’d face him down again. “That’s true, you did.”

Isadora pressed a hand to her stomach. “Don’t tell anyone, but I was quaking the entire time.”

“Doesn’t matter. You did it. How many Argonauts can say they did that?”

“One.”

At Isadora’s word, Casey’s head came up. She looked back out the window.

“You know,” Isadora said, “rumor has it he would have ripped Hades to pieces to protect you.”

Casey frowned. “The Argonauts are a bunch of Chatty Cathys. None of them was there. They don’t know what happened.”

“Chatty Cathy.” Humor lit Isadora’s voice, but she didn’t smile. Not once in the past two weeks had Casey seen her smile. “I like that one. I’m going to use it.” That humor faded. “But you know what happened, don’t you.”

Yeah, Casey knew. It was all she thought about whenever she was alone. Because she wanted to read so much more into what Theron had done—or been willing to do for her. But if that was the case, then where was he?

“He never loved me,” Isadora added quietly. “I was nothing more than another duty he was fulfilling. You…you’re his soul mate.”

Casey looked at her sister. “How do you know for sure?”

“Because guilt is the only thing that could keep him away. Guilt for having lied to you. For bringing you here. For thinking he could do his job and not see you as a consequence. Otherwise he’d be here right now, planning war strategy with Cerek and Zander. If there was only one word to describe Theron, it would be loyal. He’s loyal without fault to the people he loves. And he knows he let you down.”

Casey watched a bird sweep across the sky. She could think of a lot of words to describe Theron—hot, sexy, overwhelming and generous. But Isadora was right. Loyalty ruled him. After having that foundation crack, it made sense he’d be shaken now.

“What if he doesn’t come back?”

Isadora pursed her lips. “I’ve been thinking about that. And I have an idea. If you’re up for it, that is. It’s a little sneaky.”

“You know where he is?”

Isadora nodded. “As of yesterday, at least. Orpheus got a message from someone named Niko in the Misos colony. It seems they’ve got an interesting new colonist helping rebuild what was damaged in their recent daemon attack. Only he’s not Misos. According to Orpheus, he’s way too big and strong.”

Casey’s heart kicked up to the beat of a marching band. He’d gone back to the colony? To a place where everyone despised him?

Her heart filled. Of course he had. That would be his way of making amends. He’d gone to help them rebuild and start over. Her people. He’d gone to protect what was hers.

“The only problem is,” Isadora said, “no one knows where the colony is.”

Casey turned slowly toward her sister. “I do.”

“I thought you might.”

Theron swung the hammer with more force than necessary. The nail shot through wood and flew out the other side. Swearing at himself and the hole he’d created, he reached for another nail from the pouch in the tool belt around his waist and gently tapped it into place. Damn aluminum nails here in the human world. If it were up to him, he’d be using iron. Or fucking steel.

“You look like you need a break, hero,” Nick said from across the room. He smacked a nail into place on the wall they were rebuilding and ran a forearm over his sweaty brow. “Water’s in the kitchen.”

“I don’t want water,” Theron grumbled, gently tapping another nail as if it were an egg.

“I didn’t ask you if you wanted water,” Nick said. “Gitcha ass in there anyway. You’re surly as a bear and I want five minutes peace from you.”

Theron shot him a droll look, narrowed his eyes in challenge and dropped the hammer into the toolbox at his feet.

Nick sent him a sour grin and went back to work.

When Theron first arrived at the colony and offered to pitch in on the reconstruction, Nick had been more than a little surprised. He’d never asked why Theron was there, and he’d never inquired about Acacia. Theron figured that meant the half-breed either already knew what had happened or he was taking pity on him.

That last thought didn’t sit well with Theron, but it was the only thing that kept him from picking the half-breed up and tossing him out one of the hidden windows in the rock wall that looked down to the canyon below. “I’m not getting you one,” he muttered. “You can get your own damn water.”

“Hallelujah,” Nick said as Theron headed out of the room. “Some twisted god up there took pity on my soul after all.”

Theron flipped him the bird—a gesture he’d learned hanging around with the Misos—before he rounded the corner.

But there was no heat in the exchange, and as he walked down the hall toward the kitchen at the back of the lodge, he felt a strange sort of communion with the half-breed. He was still cautious around the man, because there was something just not right about Nick. But the scarred leader of the colony was growing on him. It took balls to stand up to a hero—especially one of Heracles’s line. Nick had done it without a second thought from the very start.

A pot of soup simmered on the stove, but Theron ignored it. As he pulled open the refrigerator and looked for a chilled bottle of water, he again tried to figure out what Nick’s connection was to Argolea. And just as it did whenever he thought of home, an image of Acacia lying in his bed, naked and spent from the best sex of his life, flashed through his mind.

His chest contracted as that familiar urge to go to her tightened his muscles. But he ignored it. Fought the desire from the inside out. The look on her face when Hades had told her the truth—the look of total betrayal—haunted him. Even now. Because that betrayal had been real. And there was no way he could ever forgive himself for it.

“Something smells good.”

He jerked at the sound of her voice, spilling water down the front of his shirt and onto his jeans. Sure he had to be imagining things, he turned slowly and stared bug-eyed at the woman he’d convinced himself would never want to see him again.

Her smile was filled with sweetness and sinful promises. And his body responded to her just as it had from the beginning, lighting up his veins and sending all his blood due south before he could consciously stop it.

She walked to the industrial stainless-steel stove and lifted the lid on the gigantic pot. Wisps of steam rose up around her face as she drew in a whiff. His eyes ran over her sumptuous breasts, prodding the front of her fitted pink tee, down the sleek line of her hips to her beautiful backside, which filled out her jeans like perfection. And the blood in his groin pooled stronger, harder, until he was sure he’d burst.

She set the lid back on the pot with a click. “I made you soup once. I wasn’t sure you liked it.”

“I loved it,” he said, before he thought to stop himself.

She flicked him a wicked grin. “Hmm…I’m not so sure. I think it wasn’t quite ready when you had it. Needed to simmer a little longer. I was thinking of trying again. If you’re still hungry. I’m better at everything the second time through.”

His groin swelled at her innuendo and a little voice inside his head screamed, Yes! But there was one small section of his brain that hadn’t turned to mush, and unfortunately for him, his conscience now ruled that part.

“What are you doing here, Acacia?”

Her smile wobbled, and though it made him more of an ass, he couldn’t play the flirting card with her. Not when it would leave him bruised and more battered on the inside than he’d ever been from any battle.

“The Argonauts have been looking for you.”

He tossed his empty water bottle in a recycle can and turned to reach for another. “They’ll be fine without me. Zander’s a better leader than he thinks.”

“Demetrius is making that difficult. But then I’m sure you know how he works.” She tipped her head to the side. “What’s the story there, anyway? I get the feeling Demetrius doesn’t like you and wouldn’t be overly upset if you didn’t come back, though he’s the only one.”

Of course Theron knew how underhanded Demetrius could be, but it wasn’t his problem anymore. He wasn’t the leader of the Argonauts now. There were more important things he needed to see to, like figuring out a way to protect so many in this world he’d neglected for too long. And talking about it with the woman he was never going to be able to stop loving and had no right to wasn’t his idea of a party.

“No real story. Just a long-standing family feud. Zander knows how to deal with Demetrius.” He brushed by her for the door. “I have work I need to get back to.”

“Theron.”

Her hand on his arm stopped him. And with just one touch, his resistance crumbled. He turned to look down at her and saw himself gather her into his arms and kiss her senseless until he made both of them forget just why it was he couldn’t have her.

But he didn’t. Because he couldn’t.

“Don’t walk away from me,” she said. “We need to talk.”

He closed his eyes because just looking at her was too painful. “Acacia—”

“No, don’t do that,” she said harshly, bringing his eyes open. “Don’t placate me and tell me I’m being unreasonable. Because you’re the one being unreasonable here, hiding out and ignoring your duties. My father is dying and the Council is breathing down Isadora’s neck. Even with everything that happened, they still don’t think she’s qualified to rule. And with you gone, the Council’s claiming the guardians are unstable. You can’t just walk away and expect everything will be all right. It doesn’t work that way.”

His eyebrows drew together, and though he couldn’t be certain, he had a strange feeling she wasn’t here because she missed him, as he’d hoped. “Are you saying Isadora wants me to come back, knowing what happened between you and me? Are you saying you want me to return? Knowing”—his stomach churned—“what you now know?”

“Yes. And yes.”

“Just like that?”

“Your responsibilities are bigger than what happened to any of us.”

He could barely believe what he was hearing. She didn’t want him back after all. “I’m not marrying her,” he blurted. “I already told the king that before the scene at the Stone Circle.”

“I know. So does she.”

“I don’t love her. I never did,” he added quickly.

“That’s good to know. She doesn’t love you either. Not like that anyway.”

He stared at her. Completely taken aback that she was showing so little emotion at his revelation. Didn’t she feel any of what he did? Had he so totally damaged her that the connection they’d shared was completely gone?

Something in his heart broke wide open. “Then there’s no reason for me to come back, is there?”

“Yes, there is. One reason.”

He held his breath as she stepped closer. “You made a promise to protect me. Until the end. Since it looks like I’ve got at least four hundred and fifty years to go until I’m senile and forget that promise, I’m holding you to it. Every one of the Argonauts has told me your word is gold. So I want to know why you’re so quick to go back on your promise to me, when you’ve upheld every other one you’ve ever made.”

His heart bumped. Once. Twice. “Is that what I’m doing?”

She nodded. “No one blames you, Theron. You were put in an impossible position. You did the right thing.”

Words lodged in his throat. “I didn’t—”

She gripped his hand, and electricity crackled along his nerve endings at the connection. “Yes, you did. One for many? I would have done the same. The only mistake you made was not being honest with me. It was my choice to make. Isadora’s choice. From now on we tell each other everything. No more secrets.”

Hope flared in his chest even as he tamped it out. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Yes, I do. Once in a lifetime, remember? Hera’s curse and all that? Did you think I missed that connection when we made love? The same one we’ve had since the beginning, but magnified a thousand times? Theron, To peprōmenon phugein adunaton. Remember?”

It’s impossible to escape from what is destined. Yeah, he remembered. How could he ever forget?

She stepped closer until the heat from her sexy little body made him light-headed. “I’m your destiny and you’re mine. Don’t turn away from that.”

He didn’t want to, but he couldn’t see another way around it. “Acacia, my duty is here now.”

“Nick is not your soul mate.”

“Nick is…” What was Nick to him? “A friend,” he decided. “I gave him my word. And he needs my help more than you or anyone in Argolea.”

She studied him a long beat. Then said, “Fine, then I’ll stay too.”

“You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not safe for you. And because Isadora needs you there.”

“Then I guess that makes your decision easy. Come back with me.”

She wanted him. He read it in her eyes. But the reality of their situation was that he wasn’t the guardian she or her sister or any of the others thought he was. And if he went back he’d be nothing but an imposter. He didn’t move, even though inside, his heart was breaking. Hera was getting her way. Yeah, he’d found his soul mate, and just as she wanted, it had cost him everything else he’d ever believed in. “I…can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Won’t.”

Her arms dropped to her sides. “I see.”

“Acacia—”

She shook her head and avoided his arms when he reached for her. She made it as far as the door before she stopped and looked back. “You know the ironic part of this whole thing? You said Hera’s curse was intended only for the Argonauts. But you never mentioned what happened to the other half of the equation when all was said and done. Free will, right?” She chuckled, but the sound held no humor. “That’s a pretty crappy consolation when I’m facing four hundred plus years knowing I’ll never love anyone the way I love you.”

He stood there, feeling the stabbing pain in his chest as he stared at the empty doorway. Oh, gods, she loved him. Loved him even after everything he’d done and the numerous ways he’d deceived her. His heart kicked up even as he ticked through the thousand reasons they would never work.

Trivial. All of it. She’s all that matters. Don’t let her go.

He shouldn’t. With her he’d felt alive for the first time. Sure, he’d lived for over two hundred years, but when he met Acacia, his world had finally come to life. She’d taught him about forgiveness. She’d shown him that humans were as varied and unique as the stars. She’d proved that their compassion was what made them special, and somehow, in all of that, she’d helped him let go of his anger and uncover his humanity. That piece of himself he’d shunned so long ago.

His heart pounded hard in his chest as every second with her passed through his mind. Every smile and touch, every whisper and kiss, every challenge along the way and the love she’d showered on him right from the start. Even when he hadn’t deserved it.

With her he could do anything. Even lead a war he wasn’t sure he knew how to win. But without her…without her there was no reason to be.

Don’t let her go.

He couldn’t. Wouldn’t.

He dropped the water bottle and ran for the door.

“Now that’s some mighty fine chicken noodle. Just can’t get that on Olympus.”

Theron spun around and stared at a small, elderly woman dressed in white diaphanous robes who hadn’t been in the kitchen moments before, sitting at the table eating a bowl of soup. He recognized the face. Atropos, the third of the three Fates. And there was only one reason she could be here now.

Ah, gods. Not yet. Not now. Not before he’d had a chance to tell Acacia that he loved her.

“Bah,” she muttered, lifting the spoon to her mouth. “Atropos only likes minestrone. And Clotho won’t eat anything with meat in it. This”—she grinned—“this is the good stuff.”

Not Atropos?

The lines around her mouth and eyes crinkled as she looked up at him. “Of course I’m not. Do I look like that old hag? And Clotho spins the thread, sonny, she doesn’t stretch it. So that leaves—”

“Lachesis.”

She grinned. “You get the golden ticket.”

“Wh-What are you doing here?” You didn’t question a Fate. To have one visit you was a sacred experience, even if it was the one come to snip the thread of your lifeline—which, thank Zeus, this one was not.

“I thought I was going to have to intervene again,” Lachesis said, “considering how blockheaded you can be, but it looks like you’ve finally figured it all out on your own.”

“Intervene? Again?”

“Come now, you didn’t think that sweet little girl was making things up, did you?”

Sweet girl—Marissa. In the village.

Links fell into place. In a rush, he realized this was his one chance to find out what fate had in store for him. “The Argonauts—”

“Need a good leader,” she said, ditching her smile and growing serious. “And your woman is right. That isn’t Zander or Demetrius or any of the others. Only you can lead them, Theron. This war will get bloody, and many will die on both sides of the world. But if you choose not to lead them, then loss is guaranteed.”

His shoulders sagged at the enormity of what she was placing on him. “How do you know I can do it?”

“Because you’re of Heracles’s line. You can do anything. You’ve found your humanity now, thanks to your woman, and that makes you an even better leader, because now you feel. Never question your ability or what destiny has called you to do. This is your Star Wars moment, my son. Stand up and do what you were meant to do.”

His brow wrinkled. “Star Wars?”

She rolled her eyes. “While you’re at it, try some pop culture on for size. If you want to lead your people, Theron, you need to be able to connect with them. You’ll find most Argoleans are as hungry for human culture as you are for that woman of yours.”

She sat up straighter. “And speaking of that woman…you might want to go stop her. She’s just reached the tunnel now.”

He glanced to the door. “She’s my curse.” And my life. Why hadn’t he realized that sooner?

“Of course she is. Why would you think otherwise?”

Why would he indeed?

A smile split his face, and he turned for the door.

“Wait,” Lachesis called. “Don’t you want to hear about—?”

He didn’t wait. Not for anything else. Urgency overwhelmed him, and he tore out of the kitchen and ran through the lodge, skipping down the front steps and sailing across the courtyard past the waterfall and the sea of colonists suddenly turning and staring at him as if he’d lost his mind.

He hadn’t. He’d finally found it. And his heart. And the courage to do what he’d been born to do. “Acacia!”

She was standing near one of the tunnel openings with Nick and Isadora, saying good-bye to Marissa. All of them looked up when he came running at them, but he didn’t care. All he saw was the Misos he’d fallen in love with.

He pushed through the group, gathered her into his arms and kissed her hard and hot with everything he had in him.

When he pulled back, she looked dazed. And so damn sexy, he knew the choice he made now could never be a mistake.

Choice? Who was he kidding? There was never a choice where she was concerned. And thank Hera for that.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Keeping my promise.” He looked up at Nick, standing behind and just to the right of her, eyeing Isadora on Acacia’s other side as if the princess might just jump out and bite him. “We’re going to need your help. Someone on the inside who knows what the Misos need and how best to protect them.”

Nick’s eyes flashed. “Who’s we?”

“The Argonauts.”

Those eyes widened. “I don’t think so.”

Theron glanced down at Acacia, who was smiling at him as though she’d just hit the jackpot and couldn’t believe it. “He’ll do it. You were right. They need me more there than they do here.”

“Listen up, hero—”

But Theron didn’t hear what Nick said. Acacia’s arms were twining around his neck and she was pulling his mouth back to hers. “I love you,” he whispered. “You’re right. I’d have to be a fool to turn away from my destiny.”

She was smiling when her lips met his. “My hero, the fool,” she mouthed against him. “All mine. Four hundred and fifty years. How will I ever survive?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

“We’ll protect each other.”

“Damn right.”