“You could bind yourself to one of the other guardians.” He glanced at her. The look in her eyes said, Not in a million years.
“The truth, Demetrius.”
Gods, she was so stubborn. A major pain in his ass. She always had been, right from the start. “I can’t.”
She eased up on her toes until her sweet breath brushed the side of his face, until his heart squeezed so tight it was hard to get air. “You can. It’s easy. All you have to say is ‘I love you.’ Listen,” she said softly, her breath tickling his cheek, her words warming the cold space left in his chest. “I love you. I love you. I love…you.”
“Isadora…”
Voices brought his head up. The ruckus grew louder and footsteps pounded the stairs. Isadora turned just as three guards appeared from the dark tunnel.
“What’s the meaning of this?” she demanded. “I left instructions we were not to be disturbed.”
The tallest guard moved forward and grasped her by the arm. “The prisoner’s to be moved to the Argolion to face sentencing.”
Oh, shit.
“What?” Isadora refused to let go of Demetrius’s hands. “He’s yet to stand trial.”
“The Council, upon the king’s request, voted unanimously moments ago to convict him of high treason. We have orders, Princess. Let go of the bars.”
Isadora’s shocked face shifted back to Demetrius. She knew, just as he did, what the charge of high treason entailed. There was no such thing as a “sentencing” in this case.
“No,” Isadora whispered. Then louder, “No. I won’t let this happen. You tell the Council they—”
The tallest guard lifted her around the waist and jerked back hard until she was forced to release the bars. “I said let go, Princess!”
Things happened so fast, Demetrius barely tracked them. All he knew was the guard had a death grip on Isadora, she was struggling in his arms, screaming for him to release her, and he was hurting her. The black mist swirled in his chest and pushed forward, turning his vision to a dark hazy red. When the closest guard unlocked the cell door and the second moved to cuff him, he charged, knocking them both to the ground before going straight for the third. “Let go of her!”
He got in one good punch before the other two were on him. Isadora screamed. Voices rang in the air. A club nailed him in the small of his back, sending blinding pain to his skull. Another hit him behind both knees, forcing him to the ground.
“Get down, you son of a bitch!”
“Get her back!”
“Stop! You’re hurting him!”
Blow after blow hit him from all sides, until his vision swam and stars exploded behind his eyes. Someone wrenched his arms at his back and slapped cuffs on his wrists. Another guard shoved his battered face into the cold, dirty stones. Behind him, he heard crying.
“Please stop!”
Isadora. His Isadora. This was the last time he was going to see her. He couldn’t let this be her last memory of him. He’d already taken everything else from her.
The guards hauled him to his feet. “Get up, maggot.”
The room spun. Warm sticky wetness slid down his cheek. He tasted the coppery tang of blood. He stumbled but the guards caught him. “Kardia,” he rasped.
“I’m right here,” Isadora answered.
He swung his gaze to the right and zeroed in on her broken voice, on the pale halo of blond around her head that made her look like an angel, on her perfect face that was, even now, fading in and out of focus. “You were right. You’ve always been right. About me, about everything. I only wanted to save you from this. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all of it.”
The guard shoved him hard in the back. He stumbled forward. “No one cares, maggot.”
“Demetrius—”
“I love you, kardia,” he said louder as the guard shoved him up the first step. He twisted around to look at her. “You have my heart. You always have. Just you. Just you, Isadora.”
As they dragged him away, his last image was of her standing between both her sisters with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Chapter 25
Isadora stared at the empty stairwell through a sea of tears.
“Oh, Isadora,” Callia said.
“Isa,” Casey said softly on her other side. “I had no idea.”
She wasn’t going to let this happen, and she wasn’t about to act like all was lost either. Isadora stepped away from both of her sisters and wiped her cheeks. Her mind raced as conversations and links swirled behind her eyes. He had a brother. In the human realm. Someone he might not get along with but who would undoubtedly hate Atalanta as much as he did. Someone who was closer than she realized. If only she knew where he was, so she could figure out a way to bring him back here and have him explain to her father—
“Oh, skata.” Her eyes grew wide. “Nick.”
“Nick?” Casey asked, eyebrows drawn together. “What does the leader of the Misos have to do with any of this?”
“Nick is Demetrius’s brother.” Isadora brought her hand up to her mouth. “Oh, gods. Why didn’t I figure that out sooner?”
“Demetrius has a brother?” Callia asked.
“Holy crap,” Casey muttered. “That’s why Theron’s always been confused by Nick. Because he’s both Argonaut and human.”
Isadora turned a slow circle. She had to get to him. But he’d moved the half-breed colony to a new location somewhere in Montana, and she had no idea where that was.
“The Argonauts will never let you through the portal,” Casey said, following her train of thought.
Isadora stopped. “Orpheus can get me there.”
Callia looked at each of them. “You’re seriously going back to the human realm after what just happened to you?”
“He’ll want something in return,” Casey said, ignoring Callia’s question.
Yeah, Isadora didn’t doubt that for a minute. Orpheus never did anything without something in return. “He can have whatever the hell he wants, so long as he helps me.”
She headed for the stairs, frantic to get to Orpheus before it was too late.
Casey’s hand on her arm stopped her. “Hold up.” When Isadora turned, Casey and Callia exchanged glances. Callia nodded, then Casey said, “We’re going with you. You’ll need help convincing Nick.”
“He likes us,” Callia added with a half smile. “More than he likes you, at least.”
Isadora breathed easier. But not by much. Because on this one, her sister was right. “We have to hurry.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Orpheus grabbed his spell book from the shelf in the back room of his shop and shoved it into his bag. “All I did was bring the traitor back, like you asked.”
Isadora stepped around the table so she was in his face again. “You’re lying.”
So what if he was? That was his prerogative and she could take a flying leap for all he cared. Being daemon was bad enough. Admitting you were part witch to the Council would surely get him blacklisted. While he didn’t much care what people thought of him, he didn’t have time to dick around. Helping the Argonauts with their little raid had already slowed him down. He had one goal now, and everyone else could go to hell. Especially Demetrius. So what if they’d united their powers to lock good ol’ Atalanta away? Eventually the bitch would find her way out of that purgatory. But Gryphon would still be dead.
The daemon in him pushed forward, the need for retribution strong. Controlling the beast, he glanced around, mentally ticked off what else he’d need. Delia’s witches had given him shit as to where he might find that rat bastard sonofabitch Apophis. In Gryphon’s body, the warlock could be anywhere. His next step was to head back to Thrace Castle and see what leads he could pick up there. Maybe torture a witch or ten if he had to. From there…from there he didn’t know where the fuck he’d go.