Zagreus held his arms loosely at his sides. “I suggest you three turn around and leave. And quickly forget you ever saw me.”
No one moved.
Realizing she was holding her breath, Talisa slowly exhaled. The daemon on the left—the one who had growled—shifted his glowing green eyes her way, making her heartbeat kick up even faster.
“What have you got there?” the daemon asked, his eyes narrowing on Talisa, glowing even brighter. “Oh, you dirty devil. Why, she’s one of the—”
Zagreus lifted a hand and blasted the beast with a stream of electricity, just like the electricity he’d hit Max with. The daemon flew backward and slammed into the base of a tree. The other two grabbed blades from their backs and charged.
Talisa scrambled to her feet, but by the time she was upright, it was over. All three daemons were writhing on the ground, just like Max.
Wide-eyed, she watched as Zagreus stepped up to the first, held his hand over the squirming body, and muttered ancient words. The daemon erupted in flames, his scream echoing through the steadily darkening forest.
Talisa’s heart rate jackknifed. Hands shaking, she shuffled back, but as the ghastly screech died out, she quickly realized this was her chance. With Zagreus distracted, she could get the hell out of here.
She shifted her hands in the bindings until her pinkies touched. Nothing happened. The portal didn’t open. It didn’t even hiss.
Dammit, he’d bound all of her gifts.
Pulse thundering, she looked back at the flames and watched as Zagreus moved up to the second sputtering daemon, held his hand out over the body, and ignited that one in flames as well. It’s gruesome shriek rang in her ears.
She had seconds before he torched the third and turned his attention back to her. Seconds to make a break for it.
Slipping quietly around the other side of the thick fir tree, she moved away from the wide trunk and pushed her legs into a run. She was taking a wild chance—no powers, no idea where she was, no ability to open the portal on her own—but it was the only choice she had left.
Because she knew any beast she encountered out here in the dark would pale in comparison to the fury of the monster she’d just left behind.
Elysia rushed up the main staircase in the Argolean Castle in Tiyrns. By the time she reached the third floor, she was sweaty and out of breath, but she didn’t slow her steps.
Voices echoed from the open doorway that led to her mother’s office midway down the corridor. Marble floors gleamed in the low light from sconces on the walls, and tall columns reached to the high ceiling, but tonight she couldn’t see any of it. Tonight all she could think about were Talisa and Max and what they both might be enduring right this very second.
Casey stepped out of her mother’s office just before Elysia reached the open doorway. Elysia’s feet faltered, and she sucked in a breath as she drew to a stop.
One look at Elysia’s face, and Casey’s features tightened. She reached for Elysia’s hand. “What is it? What’s happened?”
Casey jolted as soon as their fingers touched, and her eyes flew wide. And too late, Elysia remembered that her aunt had the gift of hindsight and could see into a person’s past when she touched them, especially if that person was thinking about that past, as Elysia had just been doing.
Casey immediately released Elysia and covered her mouth with her hand, her violet eyes—the same color and shape as her daughter Talisa’s—shocked and horrified.
Guilt slammed into Elysia. Guilt for trying to cover for Talisa. Guilt for thinking she and Max could handle things on their own. Guilt for everything.
“I’m sorry,” Elysia said, her throat thick. “I’m so sorry.”
“I...” Casey looked past Elysia, toward the stairs, as if in a daze. “I have to go find Callia.”
Callia was also her aunt, and Max’s mother. Elysia’s chest ached as Casey rushed off, leaving her standing alone outside her mother’s open office door.
Voices continued to echo from inside—her mother’s, her father’s, Theron’s—but she couldn’t focus on their words. Swiping at her eyes, she pushed her feet forward and stepped into the room.
The queen was sitting behind her desk, her long blonde hair catching the lights from the chandelier above. Elysia’s father Demetrius, and Talisa’s father Theron both stood to her left, Demetrius’s thick arms crossed over his chest, Theron’s hanging loosely at his sides. Across the room, Max’s father Zander sat perched on the arm of the leather couch, while Elysia’s mate Cerek leaned back against the cushions, looking relaxed and at ease with one ankle propped on his opposite knee.
All four Argonauts were still dressed in their warrior gear—long-sleeved thick black shirts, fitted leather pants, and heavy boots that kept them warm and dry in any weather. They’d obviously been out on patrol in the human realm, hunting Hades’s daemons, and had just crossed back into Argolea to give the queen her daily report.
Cerek spotted Elysia first, and a warm smile slid across his face. But the second he read the emotions in her eyes, he shot out of his seat and crossed toward her.
“Emmoní?” He reached for her hand. “What’s wrong?”
“I...” Tears filled her eyes, the words like sandpaper in her throat.
He captured her face in both hands and tipped her eyes up toward his, his warm chocolate gaze growing instantly worried. “What? Tell me. What’s happened?”
“I...” Those tears spilled over her lashes.
“Elysia?” Footsteps sounded. Through blurry vision, she spotted her father at Cerek’s side. “Are you hurt?”
Cerek let go when Demetrius reached for her and tipped her chin up so he could look into her eyes, too.
Part of her was thankful because she didn’t want to see the disappointment in her mate’s face when she told him what she’d let happen, while another part just wanted him to wrap his arms around her so she could pretend everything was fine.
“I... I’m all right. It’s not me. It’s...” Her stomach pitched. “It’s Max. And Talisa.”
Footsteps sounded again, then Theron was suddenly pushing his way past her father, grasping Elysia’s arm and turning her to face him.
Theron’s chiseled features were as hard as she’d ever seen them, his dark eyes intently focused on her face as he searched for answers to questions he’d yet to ask. Zander was already at his side, staring at her with silvery eyes she knew could shift to a legendary rage at any moment, light where Theron was dark, but every bit as formidable and intimidating.
Though neither was as big as her father, and she’d never been afraid of either as they were family, she didn’t want to say the words. Didn’t want to be the one to tell them the future of the Argonauts—their children—might already be dead.
“What about Talisa and Max?” Theron asked.
“I...” She looked toward her mate, who was still at her side. Confusion marred his familiar eyes, but he reached for her hand and squeezed, encouraging her in a way she needed.
Wrapping her fingers around Cerek’s, she looked back at Theron and gathered her courage. “I ran into Max in the library. He told me about the Argonauts’ decision. That Talisa wasn’t going to be allowed to begin her training. He said when he saw her, she was visibly upset. He... We were worried about her being reckless.”