“I already sent word to Argolea for Acacia and Isadora to join us,” Theron said. “Callia’s in the clinic seeing to Titus. When they get here, I’ll call her up.”
Acacia, or Casey as everyone but Theron called her, was Theron’s mate, a half-breed, and Callia was Zander’s mate, a healer who tended to the queen and the Argonauts when needed. Since Atalanta was hunting the Horae, it was never smart for them to be in the human realm, but in this instance Skyla was right—they might be the Argonauts’ best chance at finding Gryphon before Nick’s sentries did.
“Zander, D,” Theron said, turning toward the guardians, “head down to the tunnels, see what you can find out. Orpheus, Skyla.” Theron looked their way as Zander and Demetrius both headed back for the elevator that would take them down. “Why don’t you two hit the orchard. Nick’s men have probably already messed with Gryphon’s trail, but maybe you can use some of those super Siren tracking skills Skyla has left and see what you can find. I’ll go try to talk some sense into Nick before one of his men kills Gryphon. He’s pissed about what happened yesterday, and in his mood I don’t think he’d stop them if they tried.”
Orpheus’s gut hitched at that thought, but it warmed at the fact that even with the incident yesterday, the Argonauts weren’t abandoning his brother. There was a bond there, among all of them, one that couldn’t be broken even by the Underworld.
“Okay,” Skyla mumbled, already in Siren mode, heading for the hallway and the stairwell that would lead out to the courtyard.
Before Orpheus took two steps to follow her, Theron grasped his sleeve. “O, wait.”
When Orpheus turned to face the leader of the Argonauts, Theron glanced toward the elevator doors that were closing, then toward the hallway where Skyla had already disappeared. “I didn’t want to say anything to the others, but there’s something else.”
Orpheus’s nerves jumped another notch. “What?”
“Maelea’s missing.”
“What do you mean, missing?”
“No one’s seen her since she retired for bed last night, and she’s not in her room.”
“That’s nothing new. She likes to wander at night.”
“Right,” Theron said, “and that’s my concern. If she happened to come across Gryphon while wandering…”
Oh, shit.
“Gryphon’s not thinking clearly,” Theron went on. “There’s no telling if he’d see her as a threat or bargaining chip if he found her while trying to escape. And it’s no secret none of us even know what he has planned…even you.”
Dread welled in the bottom of Orpheus’s stomach. He’d dragged Maelea into all of this. He’d gone looking for her because, with her ability to sense energy shifts on earth, she’d been the one person who could tell him where the Orb of Krónos was being used, which he’d needed to reunite Gryphon’s soul with his body after he rescued Gryphon from the Underworld. Hades already hated her simply because she was Persephone’s daughter. And now Hades knew she’d helped the Argonauts find the Orb, that she’d played a hand in rescuing Gryphon from Tartarus. Outside these castle walls—if she made it that far—Gryphon wasn’t the only threat to her safety.
Guilt seeped in to mingle with the dread. Because of Orpheus, she’d lost her home and her freedom. And because of him, she could very well lose her life now too.
Urgency pushed at Orpheus from all sides as he headed for the doorway at the end of the hall. “We’ll find her. We’ll find them both.”
“Let’s just pray they’re not together,” Theron mumbled at his back.
***
As Gryphon guided Maelea forward, her spine pressed against his chest and her ass bumped into his groin every time she hesitated in the darkness. She was smaller than he’d originally thought, but the baggy clothes he’d seen her wear from his window had hid muscles he didn’t know were there. Dressed in the slim black pants and long-sleeved shirt so no one would see her making her escape, and plastered tight against him in the dark tunnel, he also realized how many curves she’d kept hidden under all that fabric.
“Which way?” he growled in her ear when she hesitated at the fork in the tunnel. He’d let go of her mouth so she could breathe, but he kept a firm hold around her waist, not for a second risking the chance that she would bolt.
“I…I’m not sure. I—”
Her words cut off and she sucked in a breath as he pressed his fingers into her hip. “Don’t lie to me, female. Which way?”
“Right,” she managed. “To the right.”
He released his hold on her hip, steered her in that direction. “This will go a whole lot smoother if you don’t fight me.”
She didn’t answer as they moved ahead through the tunnel, but he could feel the anger and fear radiating from her. That and the light. The same weird light that had drawn him to the window each and every time she’d been in the courtyard. The same light that had told him she was out tonight, that she might be his ticket out of this place.
A voice echoed from ahead, deeper in the cave. She hitched in a breath. Wrapping his free hand around her mouth, he pulled her back against the cave wall and held her still. The voice grew louder. His adrenaline jumped. Taking a step back the way they’d come, his spine slid from solid rock to air, then rock again, and he realized the wall opened here. Not much, a gap really, but if he turned sideways, enough to squeeze through. As the voice continued to grow in intensity, he knew it was his only shot. He twisted Maelea, shoved her through the gap, then shimmied in after her.
She grunted under his hand. The gap turned to the left. When his body came up flush against hers, he realized she’d reached the end.
“Shh,” he whispered, not letting go of her mouth. She’d shifted around so her face was mere millimeters from his. His arm snaked down to her hip to hold her still, his leg pressed between both of hers, and he used his weight to push her into the wall and keep her quiet. They’d been walking for a good ten minutes. They had to be close to the main intersection. In the central space deep below ground, tunnels extended in various directions, several of which would lead him to freedom. He just had to figure out which ones.
Her heart raced beneath her breast, so loud in the quiet he was afraid the guards might hear it. But the thump, thump, thump was drowned out by the heat from her body, circling around him in the confined space, and the scent of…jasmine.
The same scent he’d noticed in the orchard. Only this wasn’t from any tree or flower, it was coming from her. He looked down. Couldn’t see even an inch in front of his face. But she was there. Against his skin, her breasts pushed into his chest as she drew each labored breath, her lips hovered against the palm of his hand, and that intoxicating fragrance mixed with her body heat to leave him light-headed.
Footsteps pounded somewhere close. Gryphon turned his head to listen, held his breath. Against his hand, Maelea drew in a startled breath, the effort forcing her breasts tighter against his chest. Breasts, he couldn’t help notice, even now when they were about to be discovered, that were firm and plump and warm against his chilled skin.
Tingles raced over his flesh where they touched, fanning out to spread tiny tendrils of heat all across his body. It had been months since he’d been close to a female. Months since he’d let anyone touch him. Most days he couldn’t even stand the feel of cloth against his skin, but this—her body against his, soft where he was hard, warm where he felt frigid—this didn’t bother him. It relaxed him. Heat pooled in his stomach, trickled lower, brought every nerve ending to life.
“Nothing,” a voice said from the tunnel beyond. A male voice. One Gryphon didn’t recognize. “I don’t see any sign of them.”
“They had to have come this way,” another voice said.
Maelea sucked in another breath, held it. Her nipples pressed into his chest, stiff points hardening against the fabric of his shirt.
His stomach tightened at the contact, and without thinking, he shifted his hand from her hip to her rib cage, then higher, to the edge of her bra.
A strangled sound echoed in the back of her throat.
“Did you hear that?” the first voice asked.
Gryphon’s hand froze. In the darkness his palms grew sweaty. He looked down at where he’d almost touched her, still couldn’t see shit.
Skata, what the hell was he doing? He wasn’t here to get hot and heavy with the female. He only needed her to get away. Dammit, he really was going bat-shit crazy if he was trying to feel her up out here in the dark, when they could be discovered at any moment.
He lowered his hand back to her hip. Knew if he didn’t do something right away, she’d ruin his chance to escape. She stiffened as he leaned close and his lips brushed her ear, but he ignored the reaction. And he fought the shards of heat touching her like this sent ricocheting to his belly when he said, “Make another sound like that and I’ll kill them both.”
Her body shook against his, a mixture of fear and hatred, but to her credit she didn’t utter another sound. And in the silence, he felt his control resolidify. Several seconds passed before the first voice said, “Whatever it was, it’s gone now. Let’s split up. You keep on going, I’ll double back.”
“Sounds good.”
Footsteps pounded away. Gryphon waited a good minute before his heart rate slowed enough so he could put some venom in his voice. “Don’t test me, female. I guarantee if you do, you’ll lose. All I need from you is to get me out of these tunnels and away from the colony. If you do that, no one will get hurt, you included. Do you understand? Nod once if you do.”
Silky hair brushed his cheek as her head bobbed. She drew in a breath through her nose, one that lifted her chest all over again and pressed those wicked breasts tighter to him, dimming all other sound until the beat of her heart was all he heard. A sound he was sure he could now pick out in a crowded room, even with drums and trumpets blaring.
It had been months since he’d heard anything as clear as this. The voice usually overrode everything. But right now, the voice was nothing but a dull buzz somewhere far off in the background.
He stepped away from Maelea, stared down at her in the darkness. He still couldn’t see her, but his other senses—smell, hearing, touch—were alive and vibrating with the need for…more. More of whatever the hell she was doing to him.
He had no fucking idea what was happening, but since returning from the Underworld, the only constant he’d grown to expect was that when weird shit happened in his head, it meant something bad was about to go down. Case in point: what he’d done to Titus and Nick out there in those woods.
Skata…he really was losing his shaky grasp on reality. Before that happened for good, he had to get out of these fucking caves. And he needed her to get him there.
He pulled her out of their hiding place and back into the tunnel, harder than necessary. A yelp slipped from her lips. He turned her around again so her back was once more plastered against his front and whispered, “Okay, nice and slow. Your fate and the fates of those in this tunnel are in your hands now. Understand?”
She nodded again, swallowed beneath his hand, then cautiously stepped forward.
And in the silence, he told himself that if he was too hard on her, if she was afraid, it was a good thing. Because she should be scared shitless. There was no telling what might set him off or what he’d do next.
Gods, please don’t let me kill her. Just let me get away.
“Good girl,” he managed, reassuring both of them at the same time. “This will be over soon, Maelea. Just do as you’re told and in a few minutes, we’ll both be free.”
Chapter Four
He knew her name. That shouldn’t have surprised Maelea, but it did. And it pushed that frustration and fear even closer to the forefront.
Her body trembled as they moved down the pitch-black tunnel. The voices were gone. She couldn’t even hear footsteps anymore. She wanted to scream out for the sentries to come back, to find her, but knew if she did, Gryphon would make good on his promise.
Tears of anger burned the backs of her eyes. Images of what he’d done to Nick, of what Nick had described he’d done to Titus, swam in her mind. She bit her lip beneath his palm, reminded herself that any kind of unexpected reaction from her would only lead to his being trapped…to his doing something drastic, like injuring either her or those sentries. Like killing them all.
There were worse things than being a prisoner, she told herself. He’d said he just needed her to get out of the tunnels. She had to believe he’d hold to that promise. Once he was free, she’d be a burden—something to slow him down. He’d want to get away as fast as possible. There was no other reason for him to keep her.
They turned a corner. Her elbow knocked into rock and she bit down harder on her lip to keep from crying out, tasted blood against her tongue. His hand slid from her hip to her elbow and rubbed until the pain dissipated. And at the soothing and way-too-comforting touch, warning bells went off like giant red flags waving in the wind.
Oh yes, there’s a reason he would keep you around.
Every muscle in her body tightened as his hand moved back to her hip, his fingers digging into the pressure points of her groin to direct her movements. She suddenly became aware of his powerful thighs brushing her hamstrings, of his hips pressing up against her backside. And she remembered all too well how his fingers had grazed the underside of her breasts when he had her pinned in that cramped space only moments ago, how heat had radiated from his body to hers, how he’d hardened—even if only slightly—behind the fly of his jeans.
No. He couldn’t possibly want her for that.
Why not? He’s a monster. Like Hades. You feel the darkness of the Underworld inside him.
Anger and an increased need to escape vibrated within her. Options raced through her mind. Dammit, she’d lost her backpack in the orchard. She had no weapons now. Nothing to use to even attempt to overpower him. How was she going to get away?
She had to get away.
They rounded another corner. A light burned ahead. He jerked her back into the darkness, even tighter against him. Near her ear, he whispered, “Shh…” and his hot breath sent gooseflesh all over the skin of her neck. A sensation that was both terrifying and electric. “Don’t move.”
Voices echoed ahead—several—in the central opening of the cave where the tunnels all joined together. Hope erupted in her chest. He’d never make it past them. There were too many. There was no choice for him but to surrender.
“He’s got to be in here,” a male voice said—Nick’s voice. “I want two in every tunnel and the rest of you here when he shows himself.”
Boots clomped. Metal clanged. The sounds grew closer. Someone was heading their way.
Yes!
“Skata.” Gryphon jerked her back down the tunnel they’d just come through. Maelea’s foot slipped on the rocks and a muffled yelp fell from her lips as she scrambled for her footing, trying to keep up in the blinding darkness. Back toward the direction of the orchard, which they seemed to be backtracking to, another voice rang out.
A growl emanated from Gryphon. He yanked her around, tight to his side, both of their backs pressing against the cold rocks. Water dripped down from somewhere above to send a chill over Maelea’s skin as she worked to catch her breath.
But the anger…it built inside her. Vibrated stronger. Gave her a confidence she didn’t know she had.
“You…you can’t get out,” she rasped, her courage growing. “There are too many. It’s over.”
“I say when it’s over!” His fingers dug into her wrist. He dragged her toward an elbow deeper in the tunnel. Dim voices still echoed from the central space of the cave, but they weren’t following. The footsteps ahead echoed louder. Someone was
running toward them. A light barreled closer.
The sentry from before. The one who’d gone back to check the orchard door. It had to be. She needed to do something fast before Gryphon killed him.
“Here!” she screamed. “I’m here!”
Gryphon’s fingers dug into her wrist with a death grip, and he yanked her so close, the air whooshed out of her lungs. The sentry’s boots skidded to a stop.
Whatever fear she’d felt before was replaced with determination. She wasn’t going to go willingly this time. She had let Orpheus drag her to this colony. She’d spent her life hiding. But not anymore. This time, she was in control.
She jerked hard on Gryphon’s arm. “No! I’m not going any farther with you.”
Light from the sentry’s lantern ahead curved around the bend, illuminating the cave and Gryphon’s enraged eyes. Behind her, toward the main chamber of the caves, voices dimmed as if they’d heard her too. An eerie silence settled over the space, followed by the squawk of a radio from the sentry frozen around the corner.
Fear raced down her spine, but she held her ground. And when Gryphon muttered, “Stupid female,” and his grip tightened on her wrist, she didn’t even think, she reacted.
She wrenched her arm from his grip. Electricity raced down her arm. The force of it hit the rocks at her feet, vibrated through the floor of the cave. A great cracking sound echoed.
“Dammit,” Gryphon muttered, glaring into her eyes, taking one menacing step forward.
She braced herself for his fury, for the first time not afraid of what might happen to her. Energy rippled through her limbs, into the rocks beneath her feet. But before he could reach out and grasp her again, a rumble echoed through the tunnel.
Gryphon stopped. Looked up and around. Voices echoed through the cramped space. And Maelea took the opportunity to strike.
She thrust her arms out full force. “No, you son of a bitch.”