His voice trailed off as he scrambled up the steps. And in the silence that followed, Demetrius couldn’t help but be awed by Isadora’s strength. Gone was the timid princess he’d mocked for nearly two hundred years. In her place stood a gynaíka who was calm and collected and the only female in this world or the next who he had ever truly wanted.
She was the first to break the silence. “Do you have anything to say to me?”
Yes. A thousand things. Not a single one of which makes a difference now.
Fixing an impassive look on his face, he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the wall.
“Fine,” she said. “Then I’ll go first. I know you didn’t plan to open the portal in that field outside the colony. But I want to know what happened there and how we got from that field to Pandora. I think you owe me that much at least.”
He did. He owed her so much more. But why would she think he hadn’t opened the portal to that field on purpose? His gaze shifted her way. Didn’t she know about his flat? About the pictures of her Theron had found there? About all the other evidence the Council had trumped up to prove he was the traitor they wanted?
“I was in Atalanta’s chamber before two days ago, wasn’t I?” she asked. “Her daemons captured us in that field. You didn’t turn me over to her. They took us to her stronghold, and when she saw us together she knew what you’ve known all along. That I’m your soul mate. And she saw an opportunity then to get what she really wanted. That’s how we got to Pandora. She banished us there so you’d be forced to protect me and we’d grow closer, and then she came back to claim her prize when she figured enough time had passed.”
Fury welled in his chest over the fact Isadora had been manipulated for the goddess’s cruel plans. But it was followed quickly by surprise that Isadora so easily saw through his lies and was pulling out a truth he didn’t want her to know. If she believed he was a bastard and that he’d used her for Atalanta’s gain, she could forget him when he was executed and move on with her life. But if she believed the truth…
He moved forward to grasp the bars of his cell and added just enough contempt to his voice to get his point across. “You live in a fantasy world, Princess.”
She stiffened but didn’t recoil as she would have in the past. “The most logical answer is usually the right one.”
“Not this time.” His gaze traveled the length of her body, a condescending sweep he’d used numerous times before to put her on edge. “But if it makes you feel better to pretend something so you can sleep at night, by all means go for it, Highness.”
He sneered the last word and knew it hit its mark when she narrowed her eyes. But she didn’t turn and leave in anger as he expected. Instead she stepped closer to the bars. The sweet scent of her rose up to make him light-headed.
“You can be an ass all you want, Demetrius, but it doesn’t work on me. Not anymore. And you can tell all the lies you want as well, but I know the truth. You never would have willingly turned me over to Atalanta.”
He scoffed, turned, and was about to push away from the bars when her delicate hands closed over his, warm and tempting and so alive they froze him in place.
“I love you,” she whispered.
His head jerked her way, and that heart she’d kick-started back on Pandora leaped to life in his chest. Even though…what was the point?
“I know exactly what you’re doing,” she said softly. “The same thing you’ve been doing my whole life. Trying to make me hate you so you can go on protecting me. Well, I’m not falling for it. And I don’t need you to protect me anymore. Do you think I care what the Council thinks? What my father thinks? All I care about is what’s right. Their condemning you for something you didn’t do is wrong, just as your protecting me from the Council’s archaic traditions is wrong. They’ll all learn I’m pregnant soon enough. If you won’t stand up and tell them the truth now, how am I supposed to do so later?”
No. Atalanta had been right. She really was pregnant with his…Gods. His stomach dropped.
“You…you have to get rid of it.”
She leveled him with a yeah-right look. “Nothing’s happening to this baby.”
Baby. She’d already given it a title. Panic pushed in. “Isadora, what lives in me will live in it.”
“Good.”
Good? Had she gone mad? “You don’t realize—”
“Do you honestly think I believe you’re like her? Demetrius, who we are is not a result of where we come from. It’s the combination of what we do and how we live that determines who we are. If I’m to condemn you simply because you’re related to her, then I might as well damn myself in the process. Every Argolean can link his or her heritage back to the gods. And I don’t care if it’s Zeus or Poseidon or Hades, each one is as cruel and self-serving as Atalanta in one way or another.”
His brow wrinkled as he looked down at her calm and perfect face. “You saw what lurks inside me. The black mist—”
“I saw it.” Her fingers tightened around his. “But I also saw that you didn’t give yourself over to it. Not completely. And as long as I’m here, I won’t let you. Hera picked a pretty damn good soul mate for you, because I have the power of balance within me, thanks to my link to the Horae. And I gave it to you. Let me be your balance, Demetrius.”
She had. In Atalanta’s chamber, he’d felt the energy and power rushing from her hands into his, and it had been enough balance to keep the darkness in check.
Was it possible she could love him, even knowing who and what he really was?
He looked down at her stomach, hidden behind the powder blue silk of her gown. “That thing inside you—”
“Baby,” she corrected. “Our baby. Conceived in love, even if you didn’t like the fact I tied you up.”
His gaze shot back to her face. And heat stirred in his groin at the memory. He’d loved what she’d done to him that night with her little spell. Loved every moment of it and only wanted more. “How can you be so confident when everyone else knows I’m the enemy?”
“Because I know you and those fools don’t.” When he frowned, she added, “Don’t you see? The humanity you scoff at is what sets you apart from Atalanta. All I have to do is think about the things you’ve done for me—like not telling the Council the truth today because you don’t want them to punish me—and I realize how heroic you are. I might not agree with your tactics, but I understand them. And knowing you’re doing all this to protect me? It only makes me love you that much more.”
He could barely breathe. She loved him. Really loved him. Even knowing the truth.
She moved closer to the bars, until her heat was all he felt. “I felt the connection we shared when we made love. I felt it every time you kissed me on that island. I feel it now, in the bars between us. You’ve been protecting me from yourself for years, but you don’t have to anymore. I didn’t come down here because I needed confirmation of your innocence, Demetrius. I already know that truth. I came down here because I need to know you didn’t do all this just because some twisted sense of fate says I’m your soul mate. I need to know you really love me too.”
He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the bars even as her love wrapped around him like a warm caress. She was asking for the impossible. For something that didn’t even matter anymore. The truth would only prolong her pain after he was gone.
“Promise me you’ll get rid of that thing inside you.”
“Not even close.”
His eyes squeezed tighter. “Then at least give it away.”
“It’s not an it. And he stays. Tell me the truth, Demetrius.”