The blackness inside rippled and rolled. When he got out of this blasted cell—after he found Isadora and brought her home—those fucking guards who’d tossed him in this hellhole were going to wish they’d never been born.
Heavy boots clomped on the stairs. Keys jangled and an argument with several participants broke out. He strained to listen, but his ears were still ringing and the pounding in his head made it hard to concentrate. More than a week on that miserable island, without anything substantial to eat and no decent sleep, had taken its toll. He was weaker than he’d realized. He couldn’t call up a spell to spring the lock on these bars and he couldn’t even hold his own against four measly guards.
Isadora. He had to get to Isadora. He had to keep it together long enough to find the others and…
The cell door swung open. He looked up just in time to see Theron lunge for him.
“You motherfucking son of a bitch!” Theron’s fist plowed into Demetrius’s jaw, slamming him against the wall.
“Theron!” someone screamed.
Stars fired off in Demetrius’s vision but he didn’t have time to defend himself. The leader of the Argonauts grabbed Demetrius by the arms as if he were nothing but a rag doll, pulled him forward, and slammed him back again. “Where is she?”
“Theron, stop this right now!” Casey’s voice echoed in the room.
Darkness edged Demetrius’s vision as Theron’s fingers dug into the meat of his arms, sending blinding pain ricocheting to his head.
“Theron. Skata. He’s not going to tell you where she is if you kill him.”
Demetrius’s gaze swung out and he saw Zander standing a good four feet back, looking as thin and weak as Demetrius felt. Then Casey, Theron’s bride, next to him, worry and fear awash on her face. Demetrius’s vision blurred but he shook his head to clear it, picked out Cerek and Phin behind her, and finally Titus standing outside the bars of the cell, watching the entire scene with a Man, you’re a dumbshit look in his hazel eyes.
Two thoughts got through Demetrius’s fuzzy brain. One, Theron was ready to tear him to pieces. And two, no one was about to stop him.
The guard’s superior voice echoed back through Demetrius’s mind and he realized in a rush they blamed him for Isadora’s disappearance. Hadn’t even once considered the fact there could be an alternate explanation.
The blackness erupted inside him, bubbled up from the depths of his soul where he’d always known true evil lurked. These weren’t his friends, never really had been, and he’d been seriously mistaken if he thought they gave a rat’s ass about him. They’d never believe him if he told the truth. He could see that now in the deeply carved lines of Theron’s face, leaving Demetrius with an oh-so-fucking-clear picture of reality. His reality.
“Where is she?” Theron asked again from between clenched teeth.
Demetrius didn’t answer. Only stared at the leader of the Argonauts and cleared his mind of everything. Everything they could use against him or twist into their own vile truths.
“If you don’t tell me where she is right now—”
“He’s not gonna tell you,” Titus said from outside the cell. “You’re wasting your time, Theron. He’s put up a block.”
Fury erupted in Theron’s eyes. His fingers tightened around Demetrius’s arms. But it was Casey’s voice that stopped the guardian from ripping Demetrius’s limbs off.
“Please, Demetrius,” she said in a weak voice. “Please just tell us where Isadora is.”
His gaze strayed to Casey, and he saw then that the king’s half-breed daughter was pale and thin as well. As pale and thin as Isadora had been when he’d last seen her.
“We saw where you live,” Theron said, dragging Demetrius’s attention back to his face. “We saw your little lookout room, you sick fuck. We know you’ve had this planned for a long-ass time. And thanks to what Gryphon told us about your materas, we now know why. If you want to live to ever see the sun again, you’d better tell us where she is right this minute.”
They’d been to his flat. They’d seen his pictures. And they knew Atalanta was his mother. Oh yeah, they’d already tried and convicted him. He wasn’t getting out of this one.
“Shit,” Titus muttered. “He knows where she is, but he’s not going to tell us.”
Menace erupted over Theron’s face. “I ought to—”
“Not if you ever want to see her again,” Demetrius finally said. Theron’s eyes went wide with rage, but Demetrius didn’t back down. “Now take your fucking hands off me.”
The others must have read the fury on Theron’s face, because they each moved forward, ready to pull Theron back. But the leader of the Argonauts easily shook off their arms. He released his hold but he didn’t look away. “You sonofabitch no-good traitor. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Demetrius swiped at his bloody lip. “Not everything’s about you, Theron. The sooner you figure that out, the better off we’ll all be.” He looked at the others. “Titus is right. I do know where she is and I’m not going to tell you. I am, however, willing to make a deal.”
“You’re not taking Acacia or Callia anywhere. And we don’t make deals with scumbag-sucking—”
Demetrius shot Theron a scathing look. “I don’t need them. And you will deal if you want to save your soul mate’s life. I’m willing to take you to where Atalanta’s holding the princess, but once she’s free you’re going to do me a favor.”
“You’re higher than a kite if you think we’re gonna release you after what you did.”
“I don’t expect you to. I want something else.”
Theron’s gaze jerked Titus’s way, but the other guardian shook his head. “I can’t read him. Your guess is as good as mine.”
Theron’s gaze swung back to Demetrius. “And just what do you want?”
“That, you’ll find out later.”
Theron scoffed. “Why should we trust you? Not only are you a witch but you’re Atalanta’s son. And thanks to you, Gryphon’s gone. You could be leading us into a trap just like you did him.”
Gone. Demetrius thought back to the way Gryphon had been on the island. Possessed. Which meant his soul was dead. Likely in Tartarus.
Not his biggest problem now. He couldn’t do anything about it anyway. And considering everything else, the fact they knew he was part witch didn’t even matter. The only thing that mattered was getting to Isadora before it was too late. “I could be,” he answered with a shrug. “At this point, though, I’m the only option you’ve got. And contrary to what you think you know, things aren’t always what they seem.”
Theron turned away in disgust, looked toward Casey. The half-breed’s eyes reflected worry, fear, and indecision. “Theron.”
He glanced to the other Argonauts, none of whom seemed to know what the hell to do. And in the silence, Demetrius prayed they would take him up on his offer. He knew exactly where Atalanta was holding Isadora, and thanks to the vileness that lingered inside him he was the only one who could get to her.
Theron turned to face him again and hatred brewed in his eyes when he said, “Fine. We’ll agree to your terms. But that’s where the hospitality ends. And you’d better pray we get to her in time, because if we don’t I’m going to enjoy ripping you apart with my bare hands. Titus?”
“Yo.”
“Get Orpheus over here. We’re gonna need him. And tell the SOB we found the traitor who got his brother killed. That ought to light a fire under his ass.”
“It’s as cold as the fucking Arctic up here,” Phineus mumbled as he rubbed his hands together to ease the chill they all felt.