He ground his teeth, tried to hold back the words lingering on his tongue, but today the darkness was too strong. And part of him was sick and tired of holding back. “It means you’re a bigger ass than I thought if you think she’s safe now that our mother is dead.”
Demetrius turned fully his way. “Do you have a problem with me?”
Nick met his brother’s stare head-on. He didn’t give a fuck who overheard them. He’d had it with this celebration and the in-your-face reminder of what should be his but never would be. “I’ve always had a problem with you. But today it’s more than just the fact that your kind left me to die in the human realm. Look around you, brother. Look at the faces of your Council.”
He waited while Demetrius scanned the crowd, and knew the moment Demetrius’s gaze fixed and darkened on Lucian, the Council leader, who’d been staring at Isadora with malice and disgust all afternoon. He knew the exact second Demetrius finally cued in to a bitter truth Nick had figured out hours ago.
“Pat yourself on the back, brother. You and your Argonauts got your wish. You finally got rid of our mother. And in the process, you probably killed our soul mate too.”
He waited for the darkness in Demetrius to roar to the surface—the same darkness that was in Nick, thanks to their twisted mother. Waited for the Argonaut to turn and pound his fist into Nick’s jaw—a move that, for reasons he couldn’t explain and didn’t want to overanalyze, he craved. But Demetrius didn’t move. He simply stared out at Isadora as if she were the antidote to his anger. And when she turned to look Demetrius’s way and her smile turned to worry, Nick couldn’t bear it anymore.
He left Demetrius standing on the edge of the room and headed for the door. The Misos delegates who’d crossed over with him would find their own way back. If he had to spend one minute more staring at something he was helpless to prevent, he’d go mad. Like his fucking mother.
He crossed the foyer, stepped into the early-summer sunshine and a courtyard full of flowering vines and swaying trees, closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath that did shit to ease the darkness inside.
“Nick.”
Isadora’s soft voice dragged his eyes open. He told himself not to turn, told himself to just walk away, but the soul mate draw was so strong, he couldn’t stop himself.
She was a waif of a female. Too small, too soft, too…everything he’d never been attracted to but now couldn’t stop thinking about.
“You’re not leaving so soon, are you?” she asked. “I want you to stay.”
“Do you? Do you really?”
Her eyes widened, and he knew his voice was too harsh, but he couldn’t seem to keep the bite from his words. “Of course I do. You’re as much a part of this celebration as anyone. Without you…” She lifted her slim shoulders, dropped them. “Without you, we never would have won.”
Frustration, anger, yearning all coalesced inside him and overrode the only thing he could rely on: restraint. “You haven’t won. You were safer before Atalanta’s death.”
“What do you mean?”
Don’t say it. It wasn’t his place. This wasn’t his fight. He shouldn’t even care what happened in Argolea. But dammit, she was his. “Your Council will overthrow you as soon as this celebration is forgotten. I see it on Lucian’s face. I read it in his eyes every time he looks at you.”
Shock at his bluntness ran across her features, but she didn’t argue, and he knew from her reaction that she’d already considered that fact. “The Argonauts won’t let that happen.”
“You think the Argonauts are going to save you?” A smug huff slipped from his lips. “How long do you think they can last against the Council’s army? Because trust me, princess, the Council’s building that army as we speak. And when they have enough strength behind them, they’ll convince your people to disband the Argonauts. Atalanta was the only thing keeping them alive, keeping you alive. There’s no reason for the Eternal Guardians without her as a threat. Your Council doesn’t give a shit about gods or elements or orbs or what will happen if Krónos is released from Tartarus. They only care about themselves. And self-preservation means eliminating anything that poses a threat to their control. The monarchy, the Argonauts, especially that child inside you.”
Isadora’s face paled, and she rested a protective hand against her swollen belly. “What would you suggest I do?”
Don’t say it. Do not even think it. “Come with me.”
A soft creased formed between her eyebrows. One he itched to kiss. “With you?”
He stepped close—too close. Her sweet scent rose all around him. Possessed him. “I can protect you. In the human realm, the Council can’t touch you.”
“But the gods—”
“They don’t know where the colony’s located. And I have ways to keep you safe. Ways the guardians and even my brother can’t.”
Her gaze searched his. And though he could see in her soft brown eyes that she was contemplating, something inside warned she was about to turn him down. “I can’t leave Demetrius. He—”
That darkness surged before he could stop it. “You never had a choice. You didn’t know you were my soul mate when you were stranded on that island. If you had—”
Pity filled her eyes. “Nick, I—”
A shadow shifted behind her, and the scars on Nick’s back lurched to life. He didn’t want her pity, dammit. He wanted her.
“You’re mine too.” He closed one hand closed around her nape. Used the other to tip her face up. Then he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her in a way he never should. Kissing her in a way that made the darkness inside pulse with excitement.
She groaned against his lips. He kissed her harder, digging his fingers into her scalp. Her hands came up to rest against his chest; her fingers curled into his shirt.
She was drawing him in, pulling him closer. Victory flared hot in his veins.
She pushed hard, breaking the kiss, forcing him to stumble back a step.
Her chest rose and fell from her deep breaths. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair falling free from the decorative pins. She was gorgeous and pissed and his. The darkness pounded in his veins, begging to be set free, and a triumphant grin spread across his lips. He leaned down to kiss her again.
Her palm connected with his cheek, and a crack echoed through the courtyard. The sting of the blow rushed across his skin.
“That was a warning, Nick. Don’t touch me like that again. Ever.”
The darkness inside roared to life. Screamed for him to toss her over his shoulder, drag her into an empty room, and ravish her. Finally take what was his. Ruin her for everyone else, even her kingdom. And he wanted to. He hungered for it. But then he caught sight of the face in the shadows at her back.
Demetrius.
The darkness snapped and snarled inside him, gearing up for a fight he needed in ways he couldn’t explain. Nick rubbed a hand over his jaw and didn’t look away from his brother. “You want me, princess, admit it. You always have. I bet you’re wet right now just from that kiss.”
Isadora gasped. Demetrius stepped out of the shadows, the shock in his eyes replaced with fury and wrath and all the darkness Nick fought deep inside.
Finally...
“Step away from her, Niko.”
Niko. Oh yeah, Demetrius was good and pissed now. He never used Nick’s given name. No one did.