Bliss (14 page)

“What is this called again, Darius?” asked Rylan.

“Chocolate cake,” replied Kassandra, giving Darius the grace to finish the large bite that he had forked into his mouth. She knew he was eating to avoid the ply of questions coming from Rylan. The teenager liked to ask a lot of questions, and Kassandra could tell that even Saad’s patience was starting to wear thin.

On more than one occasion during the long dinner it had been Rylan’s comic adventures, or misadventures, depending on how you looked at them, that had eased the tension in the air. A few times during Rylan’s recounting of
a story, she had caught Darius giving a hard stare at the teenager, as if he was sending him a special silent message he didn’t want to share.
I’m being absurd.
She fought the giggle as both Rylan and Darius took their third pieces of chocolate cake.

“You look stunning, Kassandra,” said Rajheb, eyeing her like she was the chocolate cake.

Muttering a thank you, she could have sworn she heard a low growl from Darius.
Now, that was insane.
He had made it plain as day he wasn’t interested in her.

“Yes, that color suits you. I hope you don’t mind that I had
Fiona pick out something for you,” said Saad, reaching for a drink of his sparkling mineral water.

That remark threw her off. Here she was thinking it was great not having the sultry, exotic
Fiona at the table while the young woman had obviously gone out of her way to pick out a stunning outfit for her. Kassandra admitted to herself that she had been pleased by the choice, and her pulse had quickened when she had spied herself in the mirror.

Tonight she felt regal. For the first time in her life she understood her friend Melissa’s motto, “Clothes make the woman.”

The dress was a deep shade of green. It was form fitting with a low neckline and, while it was long at the back it was cut just below her knees in the front, allowing her legs the freedom to move. It had off-the-shoulder sleeves tied with small bows and the material felt like silk on her skin. When she had tried it on she had been stunned to discover how well it fit her.

“Tell
Fiona thank you,” she said, actually meaning it, as she took a sip of her coffee.

“You were made to wear beautiful things, Kassandra. And if you were mine I would deck you in diamonds and jewels,” countered Rajheb.

“Okay, that’s it. We’re done,” said Darius, pushing his chair away from the table to move to stand behind her.

Kassandra attempted to take another sip of her coffee, but Darius yanked on the back on her chair and took her arm before she could say
or do anything else. Just before he left, he grabbed two more pieces of the chocolate cake and, without a word, he not-so-politely escorted her out of the formal dining room.

Yanking her arm free once they were safely out of earshot of Saad and Rajheb, Kassandra fought the urge to kick Darius in the shin. “What was that for?”

“What?” He marched ahead of her, acting like nothing had happened back there.

“Why are you behaving like such a brute?”

“Me, a brute? Sweetlips, if you wanted to see a real brute we should have stayed a few more minutes with them because I promise you I would have done something completely brutish...like bash Rajheb to a pulp,” he grumbled.

“Ohh,” she responded, pondering his words. If she didn’t know better
, she’d think he was jealous. But that notion was absurd. She was nothing but an anchor around his neck.

A few minutes later
, she was sitting with Darius to watch his nephew Reece eat his cake. By the look of rapture on his face, she had a funny feeling this was his first taste of chocolate.

Sitting up in bed with a white starched shirt on, Reece said, “This is the best thing I have ever tasted.”

“Oh come on. It’s only chocolate cake. You’ve have cake before, right?” she replied, watching as he shook his head to indicate no. “Okay, mystery man. You and your uncle are a pair,” replied Kassandra grinning in delight at the two of them.

A stretch of silence was her cue to leave. As it was
, she felt awkward around Reece. The image of the young child Darius had cradled in his arms was still too fresh in her mind. It was such a huge leap for her to look at him now and see a fully grown man, who was as devilishly handsome as his uncle. Her rational brain went
bleep
every time she tried to think how that kind of a transformation could be physically possible. It was like so many other unexplainable things that had occurred since she met Darius.

“Well, that’s it for me. I’m glad you’re
feeling better, Reece. I’ve got to turn in. Long day and all, plus I want to be fully awake for that big adventure tomorrow, you know. A girl's got to get some beauty sleep,” Kassandra rambled as she headed for the door.

Bad habits die
d hard. Her father had always said that when she rambled he knew she was either lying to him or about to get into mischief. Thankfully Darius had no idea her ramblings were a nervous indication of what she planned to do tonight. If he did, she knew without a doubt he’d tie her up again.

“I’ll be there soon,”
said Darius, finishing his cake quickly.

“That won’t be necessary,” she replied, coolly,
hastening out of the bedroom.

Kassandra waited a full hour before she snuck back
up to Saad’s office. She was positive she’d find a secret door in his office, and she couldn’t let the opportunity pass.
What is he trying to hide?

Tiptoeing silently, she made her way unobstructed to
Saad’s office, which of course was once again locked. How Darius had managed to open the locked door with a few ancient Greek words mystified her. Hell, though, she’d try it. Repeating the rhyme word for word she was amazed when the door unlocked.

Stepping inside
, she shut the door as silently as she could and went over to the wall behind Saad’s large chair. Running her fingers along the inseam of the paneled wood, she pushed. And voila!

She almost let out a “whoopee” when the wall moved back and opened
, but she managed to clamp her jaws shut just in time to avoid making noise. Poking her head in, she spied a fully lit long corridor. Opening the door must have turned on the lights automatically. Stepping into the secret hall, she paused with a sharp intake of breath when the door shut behind her
. Great, no escape, now Mrs. Marble.
She forced herself to slow her ragged breathing and compose her thoughts.

Faint voices
coming from the end of the corridor alerted Kassandra that she wasn’t alone. Careful to make no noise, she kept her body tight to the wall as she walked to the end of the long hall. She stopped when the hall lead to a large opening. Glancing around she noticed it was a cave equipped with the most modern, up-to-date equipment she’d ever seen. Then the voices started to get louder.

“The injections aren’t working. I’ve told you that.”

Kassandra could barely discern the two figures to her far right. They were walking her way. Eyeing a large pink buoy she crouched low and slunk behind it.

“I’ve brought someone who will help.”

Her breath hitched when she realized it was Rajheb and someone else coming her way. Forcing her panic down, she practically screamed when a large hand clamped over her mouth.

Without
a thought, she bit down hard.

“Ahh, sweetlips, you don’t listen very well. I told you to stay put
, and look where I find you. As for biting me the second time, I’m really going to enjoy paying you back,” said Darius, whispering the words into her right ear while his hand remained firmly over her mouth.

“Now, I’m going to
move my hand, but you’ve got to promise me you’ll be extra quiet.”

She nodded. His voice and erotic words were doing strange things to her body. A throb began to pulse between her legs. It was a wanting she had no time for.

“Good.” His body brushed up hard against hers. He was once again asserting his dominance, giving her no space to breathe, letting her know in no uncertain terms he didn’t trust her.

She prayed he’d inch back a step to give her more breathing room. No such luck. They were crouched together like canned sardines as they watched Rajheb move to a side door and haul out an old man who had obviously had the crap beaten out of him. Kassandra heard Darius’ gasp and realized he knew the person.

“Who is he?” she whispered.

He motioned for her to be quiet, and she complied, aware
that he was trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. Not that they had to. Rajheb and the other man, who wore a long white lab coat like a scientist’s or a doctor’s, weren’t attempting to lower their voices. In fact, they seemed to be having a heated discussion.

“I’ve told you before
, I can’t fix them. They’ve mutated because of the plague. They are rogue,” said the old man.

Kassandra watched
, horrified, as Rajheb smacked the man hard in the face. She felt Darius’ grip on her hand tighten.

Edging back a fraction of an inch, she tilted her head up at him to whisper, “We’ve got to save him.”

“Quiet,” he mouthed.

In case she didn’t get it, he proceeded to place a finger over her mou
th, effectively shushing her. How sad, thought Kassandra, that the gesture also caused her heart to race.

Worse, she had to clamp her mouth firmly shut so as to keep from fl
icking her tongue out to lick his finger. An erotic image of drawing his finger deep into the recess of her mouth to suckle it made her dizzy. God, how she hated this man.

Chapter
Twelve

Darius had known the minute Kassandra started rambling that she was trying to hide something. It wasn’t like her to act nervous, but nerves were exactly what he sensed from her body as she hastily left Reece’s bedroom. If he could have, he would have gone after her immediately.

However, Reece’s innocent question, asking if he’d been intimate with Kassandra yet, had unsettled him so much
he couldn’t leave the room. He had queasily realized he needed to explain some very important details about being a Titan in human form to his nephew, pronto. Having the sex talk with his nephew wasn’t at the top of his favorite things chart, but he knew it had to be done. And his frankness had certainly seemed to deflate any ideas Reece might have been conjuring. For a Titan, taking human form was a disguise. They were still Titans to the core, and passion ruled their blood. He had finally managed to convey that idea to Reece.

Now, here he was. The urge to throttle Kassandra fueled his cells. What by
Zeus
had she been thinking? He took that back. She hadn’t been thinking at all. If she had, she most certainly wouldn’t have ventured back into Saad’s office, and without a doubt she would not have opened Saad’s secret wall panel. The panel that Darius had had every intention of discovering himself after ensuring that all was well with his nephew and that Kassandra was sound asleep.

The woman never did as told. He probably should have tied her up again for
her own safety. She could have ranted all she wanted but at least she would be alive.

Darius eyed the imposing Red Sea guards who were walking about in human form. They were even wearing black military uniforms. He wasn’t fooled. Every
Titan sense within his body knew who they were. He calmed his breathing and reached out to shield both his thoughts and those of Kassandra.

He knew the Captain of the Red Sea guards was probably scanning the area telepathically. There were a dozen of them.
Too many for him to take on his own. The warrior he was wanted to fight his way out, while the rational part of his brain knew stealth was his best option. Still, though, it almost killed him to watch Rajheb man-handle Master Odeon and not barge in and strangle Rajheb with his bare hands.

However, Odeon was a master like no other. He was an ancient
Titan. Darius hadn’t been surprised when Odeon had telepathically told him in no uncertain terms to not interfere. At least he now knew where their chief scientist was.

He had been working with Jamie to find a cure for the deadly plague killing his
mardom
, and Jamie had informed him that Odeon had disappeared two weeks ago. Once he was in the water he’d reach out and let Jamie and his twin know Odeon’s whereabouts and tell them of the strange happenings at Saad’s place.

A shrill alarm sounded briefly and then a steel covering slowly opened up to the turbulent sea below.

“What is that over there?” asked Kassandra.

He wished he could speak telepathically to her. Her human voice could easily be picked up by the
Titans. Darius prayed that the sound of the cooling engines and machines drowned them out.

“Sharks,”
he answered briefly, his eyes narrowed in annoyance as he tried to reach out with his inherent sense to read the sharks minds. No such luck.
These must be the sharks that Saad was worried about.

A loud thrashing bang caused Kassandra to grip his arm.

“I need you to fix them. We have one week left, and then we need to deliver them. If he can’t fix them, kill him,” said the scientist to Rajheb.

“Darius, they just said...”

“Shh,” he replied, shaking his head.

It angered him
that they were experimenting on sharks. The bigger question was why? He just hoped Master Odeon could fix them or, better yet, put an end to Saad’s experiments. Did all of this have something to do with the plague? And who was the strange human dressed in the lab coat? What were Saad and Rajheb thinking to work with a human?

It made no sense to him. Deranged, killi
ng sharks...unless, Saad and the scientist were trying to find a way to control the sharks to use them as their own fighting machine. Still though, for what purpose? He’d have to sort through all those questions later. At the moment he had to get Kassandra out of here before they were discovered. He could only shield their thoughts for so long before the Red Sea guards sensed the influx of Titan power.

“When I move
, inch back, and then we’ll make a dart for the corridor,” he said.

The
guards moved to flank Rajheb’s side. It was now or never. Darius made his move motioning for Kassandra to follow him back up the corridor. Even though the hall was no longer lit, he relied on his other senses to allow him to move at ease. Pressing on a notch by the door they stepped through into Saad’s office. He breathed a sigh of relief. A click told him the automatic shutting mechanism had sealed the door again. He quickly ushered Kassandra back to their bedroom and wasn’t one bit surprised to find Rylan there waiting for them.

“The yacht’s ready and I managed to get those wet suits and tanks you asked for,”
said Rylan, standing at attention like a young cadet.

Darius didn’t want to know how the kid did that
. He simply wanted to be underway. “Let’s go,” he said, ushering everyone to the balcony.

“We’re jumping?” asked Kassandra, eyeing the eight foot drop.

“We can’t risk being seen going out the front door, and this is the quickest way to the dock. I’ll jump first and then I’ll catch you. I promise.” Darius gave Kassandra’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

Smiling, she said,
“Okay, mister, you asked for it.”

Darius didn’t like her mischievous tone.
He nodded once and then jumped easily to the ground and proceeded to get into position to catch Kassandra.

What is she doing
? He watched disbelievingly as she backed up into the room and then took a flying leap to the top of the balcony railing, which her hands briefly touched as she propelled herself forward, tucking in her knees to complete a full rotation to land on her feet, like a cat. The grin lighting up her face was equally amazing.

“Can I just pop...?” asked Rylan from the top.

Darius eyed the semi-god and in no uncertain terms informed him telepathically that he was not allowed to pop anywhere while Kassandra was present, and that he’d have to jump. Rylan grimaced and eyed the ground for the fifth or sixth time.

“He’s afraid of hurting himself,” said Kassandra, backing up to give Rylan space.

How can a semi-god get hurt?
Darius snarled at Rylan to get his ass moving now or never.

“You should catch him,” said Kassandra.

“He’ll be fine. Jump, Rylan. Now!” said Darius, turning his back on the teenager to make his way to the dock.

“Okay...okay
,” said Rylan as he jumped awkwardly over the railing. While his landing wasn’t perfect, he did manage the feat. “I think I broke my ankle,” he whined as he shuffled down to the dock.

“No you did not, and st
op whining,” said Darius, ushering them both onto the yacht. “You can still stay here, Rylan, or better yet, go visit your Uncle if you’d like,” taunted Darius, knowing full well that his words would spur the rebellious teenager into action.

“I’ll
manage. And guess what? My ankle is feeling better already,” he replied, jumping onto the yacht to prove his point.

“I just bet it is,” grumbled Darius, as he started the engine. “Rylan, take this bag with you
. It’s got the ancient book with it. I want you to take another look at it and try again to figure out a way to get us unbound. Okay?”

“W
ill, do, Captain,” said Rylan, giving a mock salute as he grabbed the bag and headed below deck.

“Hey, when did you get here?” asked Rylan
, practically yelling at Darius and Kassandra to come see who was on board.

“Thought you could leave without me, Uncle?” asked Reece, lying down in the small bunk.

“I thought I told you to go to the safe house,” said Darius, ushering Rylan out of the way so he could make sure Reece was okay.

“I’m fine. I’m coming with you. This is my family, too,” he said, trying to sit up.

“Look, Reece, you still need to rest. I need you to be safe.” The last thing Darius needed was an argument. He ran a shaky hand through his hair.

“Let him come, Darius,” said Kassandra, surprising him.

“You don’t understand. If one hair on his head gets hurt, I will be in big trouble,” he replied, bone weary with the responsibility of having to keep everyone safe.

“It’s his decision, Darius. It’s his family. And, while I don’
t understand what’s going on, I do appreciate the seriousness of the situation. I don’t think it’s safe to send him back to Saad’s house. Besides, what better way to keep an eye on him than to have him with us?”

Her logic undid him.

“Fine,” he said to Reece. “You can come, but stay there. Don’t you dare come out of that cabin. Do you hear me?” He attempted to sound angry while tucking the blankets around Reece like he was still a ten year-old, which caused Reece to grin.

Running back up on deck
, Darius surveyed the scene.

“What can I do?” asked Kassandra.

Darius moved away from the wheel as he replied, “Take the wheel.”

“With pleasure.
Ah, Darius we need lights. I can’t see where I’m going.”

“Follow them,” he said, pointing out the two leaping dolphins to her right.

“Friends of yours?” she replied sarcastically.

“You could say that
.” He turned his attention to the dock and saw Rajheb and Saad running toward them.

“We’re not goin
g to get away,” said Kassandra unable to keep a note of panic out of her voice. “Darius, they’re getting in the other boats.”

“Oh yes we are,” replied Darius
. “Put the yacht in full throttle. Now!”

Kassandra obeyed quickly. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Darius smile as Saad and Rajheb
tried again and again to start their boat.

“You did something to their boat,” stated Kassandra.

“I didn’t. Rylan did,” he said, giving credit where credit was due.

An hour later, Darius ordered the yacht to stop.

“This is the place. Rylan and Kassandra
, go suit up. I need to talk to Reece alone,” he said, moving below deck.

Fifteen minutes later he returned and had to force himself
not to laugh at how ridiculous Rylan looked. “Just where did you get the suits?” asked Darius.

Rylan scowled at him.
“Don’t say it. Not a word. I didn’t have a lot of time. I had to grab what I could. I thought this one would fit her, but it doesn’t, so unless you’d like me to...”

“Sorry Rylan, it will do.” He cut
off the kid’s prattle, wishing he could take a photo for future reference of Rylan, the semi-god, clad in a hot pink wet suit.

“Anyway, this is top of the line. It has a digital driver so we c
an speak to each other, a crystal silicone seal, an equalization system to fit over any nose and an exhaust valve feature so we won’t get any bubbles, and...”

“Okay, I get it. It’s top of the line. Just finish getting ready, will you
?” Darius gritted his teeth.

“Where’s your suit? And where exactly are we going?” asked Kassandra, reaching over the deck to test the temperature of the water with her finger.
“My god that’s even colder than yesterday.”

“The suit will keep you warm,” said Darius, wondering if it would.

Okay here’s the hard part,
he thought. For the past hour he had tried to think of a plan that would allow him to get the relic, and the only way he could do it was as a Titan, which meant the unthinkable.

Part of him reasoned that if he
was lucky and got the artifact he’d be able to get his sister, Mercka, to erase Kassandra’s memories of what she was about to witness. The bigger worry was if his father. If King Sadok found out about what he was about to do – break another sea law…he didn’t even want to think about it. But the truth of the matter was that he was running out of time.

“Once you’re in the water I’ll explain,” he said, ushering them to the bow of the yacht.

“How? I won’t be able to hear you,” said Kassandra, fiddling with her mask.

Darius knew she was delaying jumping into the cold Atlantic water after her recent experience in it.
Taking her in his arms he leaned his body tight up against her wet suit, not missing the feel of her breasts sharply outlined in the suit as they brushed up against his chest.

“I promise you’ll be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you
. You’ve got to trust me on this one okay, sweetlips?” He tucked a stray curl under her cap. Darius knew if he had to he would force her into the ocean, but he didn’t want that. He wanted her compliance. He ached for her trust. Trust that he had no right to expect, but still he yearned for it.