Marked (Eternal Guardians #1)

“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.”