The scent of thyme was stronger here. She drew a deep breath as she reached the end of the hall and stepped into a massive living room done all in masculine greens and burgundy. The ceiling was at least twenty feet high, made of thick pine beams and rustic materials. Another fireplace built entirely of river rock graced one whole wall. Next to it, a sea of windows looked out into a wonderland of woods made up of wild olive, myrtle and strawberry trees.
She gasped at the beauty, and stopped dead in her tracks. In her peripheral vision she saw movement, and swiveled her head in time to see the two men standing with Theron near the windows gape at her as if she were a three-headed beast.
“Holy Hera,” the blond one said. “She’s human.”
“Acacia.” Theron immediately crossed the floor to her. “What are you doing out of bed? You shouldn’t be up and around.”
“I…” She glanced around him at the other two, clearly as shocked by her as she was by them, and didn’t know what to say.
Both were nearly as big as Theron, with the same strange markings on the backs of their hands. The blond was David Beckham handsome, with a youthful face and a wicked glint in his silver eyes. His short hair was unkempt, and the thin mustache and goatee was damn sexier than she would have expected.
The other was dark and mysterious, with eyes she sensed saw way more than he let on. A thin scar ran over his upper lip, and his golden skin glowed in the light coming through the windows.
But it wasn’t their good looks that gave her pause. It was the power she sensed from both of them. As if it radiated off their bodies and swirled in the air around her. She knew immediately these were Theron’s guardian kin. Two Argonauts. Up close and in the flesh. Theron’s comment about women throwing themselves at their feet? Yeah. She got that now.
The blond marched toward her. Theron immediately put his body between her and the guardian and spoke in a language she didn’t understand. His words sounded oddly Greek, but were different at the same time.
The blond guardian stopped mere feet away. Stared at her around Theron’s shoulder with cautious eyes while Theron continued to speak in a harsh tone she hoped was a warning not to harm her. The other guardian stayed rooted in place across the room, still shocked and staring, but even still, Casey swallowed back a lick of fear. If one of them wanted to squash her like a bug, he could in an instant.
When Theron stopped speaking, the blond guardian’s eyes flicked from her face to Theron’s and back again. And then he did something she never would have expected. He dropped to one knee in front of her and lowered his head.
Casey’s eyes grew wide, but before she could ask what was happening, Theron wrapped a hand around the guardian’s arm and pulled him to his feet. “Enough, Zander.”
Zander stood to his full height but bowed his head one more time her way. “Many apologies. I didn’t realize who she was.”
Theron slanted an uncomfortable look her way before turning back to his guardians. He said something again in that native tongue Casey was coming to despise, and then the dark guardian finally spoke up.
“Leonidas wants to see you.”
Her father?
Theron’s eyes narrowed. “How did he know I was here?”
“He didn’t,” Zander said. “Cerek and I came to see if you were back. We were going to cross over and look for you if you weren’t, but I guess we won’t need to now.” He nodded Casey’s way. “You’re taking her, I assume.”
Theron quickly said something again in that native language, and both guardians looked bewildered. Casey didn’t have a clue what was going on, but she sensed when something wasn’t right, and big red warning flags were raised in her head.
Just what was Theron hiding from them? From her?
“Theron,” the one named Cerek said in a placating tone. “It’s not wise to—”
“Enough,” Theron barked. Casey jumped at the sound of his hard voice. “It’s not open for discussion.” He glanced at the blond guardian. “Zander will go with me. Cerek, you’ll stay here.”
Casey’s gaze shot to the dark guardian, who looked as enthused by that order as she was.
Casey touched Theron’s arm. “Theron. I—”
He turned her way, and she saw then the man he’d been when he came into her store that day. Hard. Unfeeling. Full of purpose that had nothing to do with her. She hadn’t realized just how much he’d softened toward her until this moment.
As if he knew what she was seeing, he gently took her hand and turned her toward the hall. “Come, meli. You need to rest.”
She let herself be pushed along, partly because she didn’t have the energy to argue and partly because she was still trying to make sense of the strange encounter. But behind her she heard Cerek say, “Skata. Did you hear what he just called her?”
That tingling ignited across her back again as Theron led her to the bedroom and tucked her into the massive bed.
“I won’t be long,” he said. His eyes were once again soft and gentle, but there was an edge to them that hadn’t been there before.
“I could go with you if you want—”
“No,” he snapped.
She recoiled, and he quickly sat on the side of the bed and took her hand. Turning it palm up, he rubbed his thumb over her skin. “No,” he said softer. “It’s Argonaut business. You’ll be better off here. And besides, I want you to get some rest.”
“You said the daemons couldn’t cross into Argolea.”
“They can’t. The portal’s safely guarded.”
“Then why did you tell Cerek to stay?”
His thumb rubbed a soft trail over the inside of her wrist. “Because I feel better knowing he’s here, that’s all. You have nothing to worry about, meli.”
Yeah. Like she was buying that one. She was just about to ask him what was really going on when she looked down at where he touched her. “You’re not doing that mind-control thing on me again, are you?”
He chuckled. “I was trying. Is it working?”
“No.”
He smiled then as he looked up. That same sexy grin that had nearly melted her before. At her house. In that cave. Here, right now. “I never was very good at it.”
His smile faded as he let go of her hand and stood. “I’ll be back soon. If you need anything, ask Cerek. He won’t harm you.”
She found his last comment oddly unnerving, but before she could ask what that meant, he was leaning down. She lifted her face for his kiss, only to be disappointed when he pressed his lips to her forehead. Then he was gone.
With a frown, Casey eased down into the pillows. She could smell Theron here, as strong as if he were lying beside her. The scent of thyme wasn’t as prominent in the bedroom, but it was still definitely somewhere in the house.
She closed her eyes and tried to figure out what was going on. Why wasn’t he being honest with her?
Her mind spun with possibilities, but before she could spend anymore time wondering, sleep claimed her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Imbeciles!”
Atalanta roared out her frustration as she slammed her hands down on the altar of her temple. The solid stone split in two with an earth-shattering crack and fell together at her feet.
Two steps down, in front of the now-demolished altar, Deimus dropped his head in supplication. Behind him, and several feet away, three other daemons did likewise.
They were morons. All of them. And they were fucking up her plans.
She rounded the mess, her bloodred skirt flying behind her. “She lives and the half-breeds survive. You are useless, Deimus!”
He didn’t lift his head or try to defend himself, even as she reached for the sword at his hip, unsheathed the blade and plunged it deep into his chest in one mighty thrust.