“I do too.” She took the second ring and reached for his left hand, sliding it past his thick knuckle to the base of his finger. “I believe in us. Nothing can break this bond, Cerek. Absolutely nothing.”
His lips met hers, and his arms wound around her back to pull her tight against him. And as she lost herself in the taste and feel and heat of him, she repeated the words in her head.
Everything will be okay.
She’d make sure of it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Cerek opened his eyes in the dead of night and stared at the dark ceiling high above.
Against his chest, Elysia groaned and snuggled closer, her bare leg sliding over his beneath the covers while her warm breath heated the skin near his heart.
“Shh, emmoní.” Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he trailed his fingers down the length of her hair to soothe her. “Go back to sleep.”
She relaxed against him, and her breaths slowly lengthened as sleep overtook her once more. But he couldn’t join her. He hadn’t been able to sleep, not after his father had left and he’d carried her to this bed, laid her out, and made love to her until they were both sweaty and shaking. Not after she’d tugged his head against her breast and massaged his scalp. Not even after she’d sensed he was still not sleepy, slid beneath the covers, and taken him deep in her mouth until he’d exploded.
He should be wrecked from two powerful orgasms and a day—who was he kidding, days—filled with drama. But he wasn’t. Because every time his focus turned away from Elysia, all he felt was that weird energy in his limbs. All he knew was some strange desire to climb out of this bed and go…he didn’t know where.
Elysia groaned again and shifted against him. Knowing his anxiety was ruining her rest, he gently tugged his arm out from beneath her and watched her roll to her side away from him.
His heart pinched as his gaze drifted to the ring on her finger. Gods, he really did love her. Not because she was his soul mate but because she understood him in a way no one ever had before. She was right. Nothing could break this bond between them. He needed to stop worrying, because that worry was only causing her stress.
She sighed and relaxed into her pillow. Not wanting to disturb her any more, he pressed a soft kiss against her temple. “Sleep, emmoní.”
Carefully, so as not to wake her, he climbed out of bed, tugged on his sweats and T-shirt, and moved soundlessly out of the room. Closing the door at his back, he stood in the dark living room and drew a deep breath that did nothing to relax the tingling in his limbs.
Food might help. He hadn’t eaten much the last few days. Maybe this weird energy was hunger.
He headed for the hall, hoping like hell the whole way that it was hunger.
At the main corridor, he turned left. The marble beneath his bare feet was cool. Low light from sconces along the walls lit his way. He passed massive oil paintings, pillars that rose to the arced ceiling, wide doorways that opened to libraries and offices and suites. At the grand staircase, he didn’t stop. Just moved up the steps to his right as soundlessly as he’d moved across the floor.
Something was pulling him. Something that had nothing to do with nourishment or hunger. It was like a magnet, pushing his legs into motion, drawing him closer. Dragging him toward a purpose he couldn’t see.
He followed the curved staircase to the highest level. The stairs came to an end at a set of double doors. Pulling the right side open, he stepped beneath the archway and moved into the octagonal-shaped room with walls of glass.
His feet slowed. The floor here wasn’t marble but wood. Not a single piece of furniture, art, or adornment decorated the empty room. The eight walls rose fifteen feet and angled in to form a peak. Moonlight shone through the glass to cast shadows along the hardwood, and the twinkling lights of Tiyrns far below and the stars high above illuminated what was left.
The energy vibrating in his legs and chest intensified, pushing him farther into the room. He stopped beneath the peaked ceiling and looked down. The hardwood gave way to intarsia, an elaborate mosaic of inlaid wood that created a 3-D image of a winged Omega symbol.
He ran his bare foot over the pattern. It was flat, the illusion of depth created by the different colors in the woods of the image. His heart beat hard as he lifted his gaze four feet above the intarsia. Energy gathered in his arms and shot to his hands, making him draw the three middle fingers of both hands together to form a peak.
Nothing happened. He wasn’t sure why he was here. Didn’t know what he was doing. But the heavy vibrations in his limbs wouldn’t let him leave. Staring at the empty space above the winged Omega, he heard words echo in his mind. Words that were foreign and made no sense. Before he knew what he was doing, he spoke the words aloud:
“Hekàs, ô hekàs, éste bébêloi.”
A flash of light illuminated the room, followed by a pop and a sizzle. Cerek’s spine tingled as the words he’d just spoken translated in his head: Begone whatever is unholy.
Confusion rushed in. What could be unholy in this room? There was nothing here but air.
No sooner did the thought hit than a small portal the size of a porthole window opened above the winged Omega, sizzling with energy all around the edges. A warning blare echoed in his ears when he spotted a small metal disk in the window, one with four chambers, three of which were filled. One chamber held a diamond. The second housed a teardrop-shaped glass container swirling with a white cloud of gas. In the third sat a vial of red liquid that looked like blood.
His eyes grew wide, and his heart raced when he realized what he was seeing. The Orb of Krónos. The magical medallion that was home to the four classic elements—earth, air, water, and fire—and had the strength to grant the owner powers never seen before, not by any god.
Some unseen force lifted his hand away from his body, reached through the open portal, and closed his fingers around the Orb. Power raced into his fingers, up his arm, and straight into the center of his chest, obliterating every other thought and desire and want.
In a moment of absolute clarity, he realized this was his purpose. This was what he’d been reborn to find. This disk did not belong to the Argoleans but to the king of the gods, and it was his destiny to return it to its rightful owner.
Elysia sat upright in bed and gasped.
“Cerek?” She looked across the bed to find his side empty. “Cerek?” Her gaze darted around the dark room.
Her heart beat strong and fast, and perspiration dotted her spine as she threw back the covers, pulled on her nightgown from the floor, and found her robe. Something was wrong. Something didn’t feel right. Her hands shook as she belted the robe and rushed for the living area. Again the dark room was empty.
She darted out into the hall, looked up and down the dark corridor. Turning to her left, she pushed her feet into a run, her bare soles connecting with the cold marble. Her pulse turned to a roar in her ears. When she reached the staircase, she stopped, looked up and down. Wasn’t sure which way to go.
“Son of a bitch.”
She whipped around to see her father rushing toward her in the dark, dressed in sweats and a T-shirt, his dark hair mussed, his black eyes focused and intense.
“You felt it too?” he asked.
She swallowed hard, unsure what to say.
“Where is your mate?”
“I-I don’t know.”
“Holy skata.” He swept past her for the stairs. “The Orb.”
No. Her eyes widened. That wasn’t what she’d felt. Panic swirled in her chest. “Patéras…”
When he didn’t stop, she rushed up the stairs after him.
He climbed to the highest level in the castle and yanked open the double doors. Elysia raced after him and drew to a sharp stop inside the glass room with a gasp.
Cerek stood facing away from them. Energy snapped and sizzled at his front as the portal closed. As the flash of light slowly faded, Cerek turned toward them with the Orb of Krónos cradled in his hand.
/> “Oh my gods, Cerek.” Elysia stepped farther into the room. “What are you doing?”
His gaze lifted from the Orb to her. And she drew in a sharp breath when she saw his eyes. No, not his eyes. These weren’t the same warm chocolate brown she’d gazed into only hours ago as they’d made love. These were black as night and empty as death.
“Not Cerek,” he said in a voice that wasn’t his. This voice was deeper, darker, possessed. “Cerek’s usefulness has now been spent.”
“Zeus,” her father muttered at her side.
Cerek’s crazed eyes shifted Demetrius’s way. “Circe predicted you would try to protect the Orb. Your miniscule spells are nothing compared to her power, Guardian.”
He sneered the last word and glanced back at Elysia. “Thank you for being so predictable, female. It’s because of you he was able to answer his calling.” Cerek’s hand closed around the Orb. “This now belongs to me.”
“No.” Elysia reached out and stepped forward. But before she could touch him, another flash of light filled the room, followed by a swirling cloud of black smoke.
Demetrius jerked her back.
Elysia coughed as the smoke filled her lungs. Her father drew her to his chest, but Elysia struggled against his hold. When she was finally able to break free and turn, Cerek was gone.
“Skata,” Demetrius muttered. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
Her father swept out of the room and rushed back down the stairs, but Elysia couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Could barely breathe.
The whole time…
The whole time?
Cerek had been working for Zeus the whole time? Oh gods… He’d tricked her on Pandora, on Olympus. He’d made her fall for him so she’d bring him to Argolea, where he could then find the Orb and steal it for Zeus. Her father had been right. The black magic Demetrius had sensed around Cerek was real.
Circe… The witch Circe had been involved. She must have been the one who’d wiped his memories. Who’d set this whole plan in motion. Who’d forced him to—
The memory Elysia had picked up from Cerek when they’d made love after their binding ceremony flashed in her mind. The red-haired female standing over him, chanting an elimination spell. Except that wasn’t just an elimination spell she’d heard. She replayed the memory, focusing on the words. It had also been a reprogramming spell. One that was specifically targeted to begin at a set time and in an explicit place.
Elysia covered her mouth with her hand in horror. The warm metal around her ring finger pressed against her lip, drawing her attention. Lowering her hand, she stared at the platinum band and had another memory flash. Of being in that tent with Cerek. Of the worry in his eyes when he’d tried to convince her to run away with him. Of his words as they’d lain together in the candlelight.
“Home isn’t a realm or a castle or a city, emmoní. Home is wherever you are.”
No, he hadn’t betrayed her. Not on purpose, at least. No male who’d been planning something as treacherous as this could have said those words with such conviction, she’d felt them deep in her soul. She didn’t believe he’d known what Zeus had planned. Wouldn’t. Because she knew in her heart he was as much a victim in all of this as she was.
Panic pushed aside the shock. Panic that gave way to bone-melting fear.
Zeus had said Cerek’s usefulness had now been spent. What did that mean? Was Zeus going to kill him once and for all? She couldn’t let that happen. She wouldn’t.
Shaking, she turned for the stairs, intent on finding her father, but stopped when she remembered her father’s words.
“I’ll fucking kill him.”
He thought Cerek was a traitor. He’d never help her rescue Cerek from Zeus. And the Argonauts would be no help either. As soon as her father told them what Cerek had done, they’d take his side.
Her mind spun. Her hands grew sweaty. She couldn’t do this alone. She needed help. She didn’t even know how to get to Olympus.
Max…
Max had snuck into Olympus to find her. Max could help her get there. And Ari. Ari wouldn’t side with the Argonauts over his son. He’d do whatever was needed to rescue Cerek.
Hope trickled in to swirl with the panic threatening to pull her under. A hope she prayed would carry her to Cerek before it was too late.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Cerek gasped and fell forward, landing against the cold stones beneath him on his hands and knees as a wave of consciousness returned.
“Thank you, Guardian,” Zeus said somewhere above him. “You have been most useful.”
Dazed, Cerek looked up and watched as Zeus smiled a malicious grin and turned the Orb of Krónos in his hands. Holy skata. Zeus had the Orb. Zeus had the Orb…because I gave it to him.
Nausea rolled through his belly, shot up his throat, and made him gag. Dropping his head again, Cerek coughed several times, trying to dispel the horror and disgust. But he couldn’t get rid of it, because the reality of what he’d done hit him with the force of a tidal wave.
The energy he’d felt in the Argolean castle had been the draw of the Orb. Zeus had sent him to find it. And he’d used Cerek’s connection to Elysia to ensure his victory.
Oh gods… Elysia…
His heart squeezed so tight, he groaned at the sharp slash of pain. She must hate him right now. He needed to get to her. Needed to tell her he hadn’t known what he was doing. On shaky hands, he slowly pushed to his feet. He needed her to know he hadn’t planned it or that he—
“So you’re done with him?”
Cerek froze when he heard the familiar voice. The familiar goddess voice.
“Yes,” Zeus answered. “He’s yours, Aphrodite. After my Siren makes one slight adjustment.”
Cerek glanced to his left where Zeus stood with a smug-looking Aphrodite. The Siren at his side lifted her bow, the arrow aimed directly at his heart.
“We can’t have him causing any more trouble now, can we?” Zeus said. “And since we don’t know when he might be of use in the future…”
A whir sounded as the arrow torpedoed away from the bow. Before Cerek could react, the tip struck him in the chest. He stumbled back but didn’t fall. The arrow turned to stone inside his flesh, hardening the cells outward from the spot in a chain reaction that left him nothing more than a statue standing in the middle of Athena’s temple.
A statue that could hear and feel and sense everything around him but couldn’t move.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Elysia asked, glancing through the trees outside the gates of Olympus where they stood in the shadows, hidden from view.
“It’ll work.” Max shrugged into the invisibility cloak. “There’s enough magic in this thing for one more use. Once I’m through the gate, I’ll create a diversion. The guards will investigate. They’re totally predictable.”
Nerves rolled through Elysia’s belly as she looked up at Ari, remembering how frightened his mate Daphne had been when they’d left. “And you? You don’t have to go with me, you know.”
Ari sheathed the dagger at his thigh. “I’m going with you.”
Elysia breathed a little easier, but not much. Shifting the bow across her back, she reminded herself that a thousand different things could go wrong between here and Circe’s cave. She didn’t even know if Circe would help them, but she had to try. Cerek could be anywhere on Olympus. She was banking on the witch telling them what Zeus had planned for him now that he’d brought the god the Orb.
“You’re sure she’s on Mount Olympus?” Max asked, drawing Elysia’s attention.
She nodded. “The details of Cerek’s memory were clear. It was a cave in the highest mountain. That has to be Olympus.”
“I’ll meet you both there,” Max said. “Don’t leave until I reach you.”
Ari nodded. “Be safe, Guardian.”
“You too, old man.”
He stepped away, but Elysia grabbed Max by the sleeve before he could pull up his hood. “Wait.”
He turned to face her. “What, Lys?”
He hadn’t hesitated to help her in this, even though she knew he wasn’t completely convinced of Cerek’s innocence. He was helping her because he cared. Because they were family. And since she’d returned to Argolea, things had happened so fast, she hadn’t had the chance to tell him what his support meant to her. She needed to make sure he knew now…before it was too late.
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
A crooked smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “I wouldn’t do something like that.”
“Yes, you would. You think because you have the power of transferability, you’re safe, but you’re not. Not here. Your ability to access and use others’ gifts is something Zeus covets. The king of the gods considers you a much bigger prize than the Orb.”
“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“I do, though,” she said softly. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to you. Especially because of me.”
He closed his arms around her and hugged her tight. And in his familiar embrace, tears burned her eyes. “Nothing’s going to happen to me, Lys. I promise. I may be reckless from time to time, but not when it comes to you.” He leaned back and looked down at her. “I want you to be happy. If he makes you happy, then I guess I have to accept that.”
“He does make me happy.” When Max frowned, she added, “Someday when you find your soul mate and you fall in love, you’ll understand.”
His grim expression said he didn’t agree, but as he let go of her and stepped back, he didn’t argue. “Just stick to the plan. And don’t leave Olympus before I get there.”
Elysia swallowed hard and nodded. As she watched him pull up the hood of the invisibility cloak and disappear, she said a silent prayer that their plan worked. Because she couldn’t live without Cerek or Max in her life.
The massive wrought iron gate of Olympus rattled. Even though she couldn’t see him, Elysia knew he was climbing up and over the structure. Seconds later, the gate creaked open.