Her chest rose and fell. Perspiration slid down her spine. She swallowed hard and tried to think clearly. She’d never witnessed one of Aella’s so called “ceremonies” but she’d heard enough about them—and the males who were the sacrifices—to know what was about to happen.
Sickness rolled through her stomach and was followed by the memory of the way Titus had reacted when those guards had touched him. And how different it was from the way he reacted when she touched him.
She might still be rattled from that kiss, she might be afraid of her reaction to him and what he was really after, but regardless of anything he had or hadn’t done, he didn’t deserve what was about to happen. She’d brought him here. She’d led him to this. If she didn’t do something to stop it, she was no better than the gods who’d cursed her.
She looked up at the rope and pulled hard. Fire ignited along her flesh. But the knots didn’t give. She ground her teeth and pulled again. “Come on!”
Still nothing loosened.
Frustrated, she blew out a deep breath then remembered what she’d done to that guard back in Argolea. The way his armor had melted beneath her palms. She’d never been able to direct what was inside her before, but then the fever hadn’t been as strong as it was now. Maybe there was a way…if she focused hard enough.
She closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath, and let it out. She fought to center herself. Then prayed this worked.
“Did you hear what I said, son?”
Son. Zagreus ground his teeth and worked not to lose his temper. The word implied some sort of loving familial relationship, which this most definitely was not. But it wasn’t every day the King of the Underworld paid you a visit. And Zagreus knew better than to piss his dear old dad off first thing. “I really don’t see how this concerns me.”
He also had better things to do than chase after his father’s latest conquest. He moved through the rock archway and into his office, tossing the latest report he’d gotten about those damn nymphs on his desk. A fish swam past the floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over the underwater view.
Hades stepped up to his desk. “If Zeus and Poseidon find her before we do, it’s going to concern you big-time.”
Zagreus met his father’s black-as-nights eyes. “Look around you, Pops. I don’t give a flying fuck what the Olympians do. I’m perfectly happy right here where I’ve always been.”
Hades’s eyes flashed, and a muscle in his temple pulsed. From deep in the caves, a pathetic groan echoed along the rock walls. “How long do you think your little underwater torture tunnels are going to go unnoticed? If someone releases Krónos before we can stop them, the sick son of a bitch will confiscate everything you’ve built and probably set up residence in your humble abode. And if my brothers find the remaining elements before your mother and I do, they’re going to lord it over all of us and likely still come after you. Do you think you’re safe simply because you live in the human realm? You’re not safe, son. You’re living on borrowed time.”
Zagreus straightened, and his jaw clenched. What his father said made a sick sort of sense, but he didn’t want to get involved. He’d survived nice and long on his own ignoring the Olympian gods and their petty battles. “What about Atalanta’s daemons? You did take control of her army after she died, didn’t you? Why not just use them to find what you’re after?”
“Because I need the greatest tracker on the planet. And that’s you.”
Smug victory spread through Zagreus. He was the greatest tracker. He could find anything. If he had enough time. The problem was, he couldn’t just leave on a whim like he used to be able to do. He had certain…prisoners he didn’t trust to the care of his guards. At least not for any extended length of time. “What is it you want from me?”
“I want you to find Prometheus’s daughter.”
“And what’s in it for me?”
“Besides the ability to keep flying under the radar, doing whatever you damn well please?”
One corner of Zagreus’s lips curled. “Yeah. Besides that.”
Hades studied him, then said, “I’ll tell you where your nymphs ran off to.”
Excitement lurched in Zagreus’s stomach. This could save him weeks of time. “You know exactly where they went?”
“Every single backstabbing one.”
Zagreus’s blood ran hot. And images of how he was going to string those nymphs up, how he was going to torture them and make them pay rushed through his mind. No one left him. No one dared and got away with it.
“How?” he asked skeptically.
“My daemons intercepted a few of the creatures protecting them from you.”
Zagreus tipped his head and considered what his father was offering. This was Hades’s specialty. Making deals, manipulating the outcome. But Zagreus knew his father never offered a deal unless it included something he desperately wanted. The only reason he was here now was because he needed someone who resided in the human realm full-time to do his bidding. The Olympians—and Zagreus’s parents because they ruled the Underworld—operated under restrictions in the human realm, only able to stay roughly twelve hours at any one time. “What about Mommy Dearest?”
“Your mother and I have…an understanding. She wants to find Prometheus’s daughter as much as I do.”
Zagreus huffed. Persephone never did anything unless it was exactly what she wanted to do too. “And she’ll stand against the Olympians? Even her father?”
“For me she will.”
Zagreus wasn’t so sure. But then, his parents’ sick and twisted relationship was beyond his comprehension, so what did he know? “And all I have to do is find this female, and my part of the bargain is done.”
“Yes,” Hades answered.
Zagreus pursed his lips. It was asking a lot, considering he’d have to leave his tunnels. But the payoff…
He grew hard just thinking about those nymphs.
“Fine. I’ll do it. But I want the location of my nymphs first. As soon as they’re back in my lair where they belong, I’ll find the female you can’t seem to live without.”
Hades’s eyes flashed. He didn’t like the addendum. But Zagreus wasn’t about to back down. Because if his father had come to him, that meant he was Hades’s last chance at finding the chick. The God-King of the Underworld wouldn’t bother to look sideways at his only son if he didn’t have to.
“Agreed,” Hades said. “But if you double cross me, this” —he gestured to the cenote that made up Zagreus’s lair— “will be the least of what comes crashing down around you. Your nymphs are in the Amazon tree city of Antiope, in the redwoods on the northern coast of California.”
A wicked grin rushed across Zagreus’s face. “Amazons, you say? I haven’t had an Amazon in quite some time.”
“Try not to go hog wild.” Hades turned for the door. “And don’t forget to bring me Prometheus’s daughter, or you will regret it.”
Titus’s head swam.
He was aware of someone dragging him, of hands closed tight over his arms tugging hard. But he couldn’t think straight. Couldn’t focus on even one watery object rushing by. The emotions bombarding him from every side were too strong—greed, anger, lust. A helluva lot of lust that wasn’t turning him on in the least.
He was dragged up some kind of stairs; then the guards swung him around and pressed him back against a cold, rock surface. Before he could make sense of his surroundings, his arms were jerked away from his body. Shackles closed over his wrists. His legs were pushed apart and strapped to something solid.