Maelea pushed back and looked up. Gryphon’s blue eyes sparkled, and as he stared down at her, one corner of his lips curled in a smile that shot heat straight to her belly. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
She waited for more. Waited for him to tell her he still loved her. Fought back the panic rushing through her veins. Looking down at his chest, she caught sight of the circular outline of something disk-shaped beneath the fabric of his shirt.
The Orb of Krónos. He had the Orb. He really didn’t need her anymore. None from his world did. They had what they’d been seeking.
A burst of light erupted behind her before she could figure out what to say. Gryphon shoved her behind him. She blinked at the burn in her retinas, held up a hand to block the glare. Slowly, the light dimmed until what faced them wasn’t man or creature or monster. It was a god. The King of the Gods. Her father.
A collective curse rumbled from the group.
Stunned, Maelea stepped out from behind Gryphon, shrugged off his hand when he tried to stop her. Three thousand years she’d waited for this moment. To look upon her father with her own eyes. He wasn’t gray and aged, as she’d envisioned over the long years of her life. He was youthful and strong with short, dark hair and a lean body covered in…very human-looking jeans, a T-shirt, and a light jacket.
His eyes softened when they landed on her. And a smile—a real smile—spread across his lips. “My child, this has been a long time coming.”
Light radiating from him drew on something in the center of her chest. She took a step toward him.
“Maelea,” Gryphon said warily at her back.
She stopped in front of her father, still unable to believe any of this was real.
Zeus’s smile widened. “You’ve finally earned your place on Olympus. You found the strength to call upon your gift. And you killed what my brother Hades created with his darkness.” He held out his hand. “Come, child. It’s far past time. Come and secure your place with the gods.”
She looked down at his hand. Everything she’d ever wanted was only inches from her. All she had to do was reach out and take it.
Slowly, she turned to look behind her. At the Argonauts standing with their feet apart, arms at their sides, bodies ready for whatever battle Zeus might throw their way. To Sklya at Orpheus’s side with her hand at her lower back, reaching, Maelea already knew, for her dagger. At Atalanta’s smoldering body at their feet. And finally to Gryphon, at the front of the group, staring at her with wide, light blue, mesmerizing eyes.
I would give up anything for you.
Her heart contracted. And the road home, a home that had nothing to do with Olympus, spread out in front of her like a winding trail of gleaming gold.
She turned back to face her father. And knew as soon as she made this choice, she could never take it back. Even if it turned out Gryphon didn’t want her anymore. “I’m not going with you.”
Zeus’s smile dimmed. “What did you say?”
“I said…I’m not going.” Her chest warmed. Telling her yes. It was the right choice. The only choice. “I don’t want to leave.”
Shock filled Zeus’s eyes, and his gaze shot past her. “You stay because of him?”
Maelea moved fully in front of Gryphon. “I stay because I choose to. My choice has nothing to do with you.”
“So like your mother.” Disbelief morphed to contempt in his eyes, and a chill spread down Maelea’s spine at how quickly her father could go from wanting her to hating her. “Conniving and treacherous. He’ll not give you the Orb, if that’s what you’re after. In fact, in a minute, it will be mine. But you, child, because you turned your back to me, you will be left to dwell in this realm all alone, just as you were cursed by my brother.” His dark eyes narrowed. “I gave you a chance.”
Maelea’s adrenaline shot up, and she felt—and heard—the Argonauts move up around Gryphon, protecting both him and the Orb. “I’m not after the Orb. But you just confirmed to me that you are. And I’m pretty sure you’ll not get it. Not without a fight.”
Zeus chuckled, and his gaze swept over the group, hovering on Skyla to Maelea’s right before swinging back her way. “Do you think the Argonauts and one backstabbing Siren scare me?”
Maelea tensed at the venom in his eyes. Behind her the clink of weapons being drawn drifted to her ears.
Oh gods, what had she done? Even with the Orb the Argonauts were no match for Zeus. Had she just condemned them all as she’d condemned herself? Her pulse soared.
“They might not scare you, Zeus, but I do.”
Zeus cursed, and, shocked by the new voice, Maelea turned toward the left. Toward the frail-looking creature hovering over the frozen ground, her diaphanous robe shimmering in a ray of golden sunlight.
“Lachesis,” Gryphon whispered at Maelea’s back.
A Fate. Maelea’s pulse beat even faster as the female floated toward them and stopped between Maelea and the King of the Gods.
“She’s made her choice,” Lachesis said. “Go back to Olympus.”
Fury erupted in Zeus’s eyes. “This is not over.”
“For now it is,” Lachesis said matter of factly. “The Orb belongs not to you, not to your father, and very definitely not to your brother. It belongs to them. And what they choose to do with it is their choice. Much as Maelea’s future is her own.”
Zeus’s enraged eyes shot over the group again. “If you think you’re safe because Atalanta is dead, you’re sorely mistaken. You do not want to take on the gods. You will lose, I guarantee it. Give me the Orb now and I’ll let you and those who dwell within your realm live.”
Silence echoed through the clearing.
“You’ve been given your answer,” Lachesis said, a smug grin across her face as she extended her arm and closed her fingers into a fist. “Go back to the light once and for all!”
She threw her hand forward, opened her fist, and whatever power had gathered there shot toward Zeus. In a poof of smoke and flames, he disappeared into nothingness.
“Whoa,” someone whispered.
“Holy shit,” another said.
As Lachesis turned to face her, Maelea caught sight of the rest of the Argonauts—Demetrius, Cerek, Phineus—and Nick emerging from the trees at her back, holy shit looks on their faces at the scene they’d just witnessed.
“This is the reason Orpheus’s soul was given a second chance, child,” Lachesis said, drawing Maelea’s attention her way. “So that he could find you, and so that you could fulfill your destiny.” The Fate lifted both hands in front of her and pulled them back as if drawing on two invisible ropes. “I release you from both the light and darkness. Your life is your own. You will remain ageless—I can’t change that—but when you choose to move to the Isles of the Blessed, so it will be.”
Maelea gasped as her links to both the Underworld and Olympus were pulled right out of her body. Her legs sagged, and she would have slumped to the ground, but Gryphon was right there to catch her, his arms sliding around her waist, his body pressing up tight against her back to support her all over again.
Lachesis looked his way and smiled. “Take care of her, Guardian.”
“I will,” Gryphon answered, glancing at Maelea, a smile on his lips and a sparkle in his eye that banished whatever lingering fear remained.
Lachesis’s smile faded, and she moved back, looked over the rest of the group. “The race to find the last remaining elements will intensify. And revenge now burns hot in the gods’ veins. You’ve won the battle, but not the war, my friends. Every moment the remaining elements are hidden, Krónos plots his freedom. Find them, guardians, and end this war once and for all.”