Tempted (33 page)

She took a step forward and lifted her head, looking proud and regal and confident. “I know you didn’t choose your fate any more than Demetrius did. You’re both pawns in Atalanta’s quest for vengeance. And I know you hate her as much as he does.”

“Do you want to know what I hate? Not just her, but you and your world and everything it stands for. Do you know the story of me and my so-called brother?”

“Not all of it. Just that she conceived you in an attempt to complete the prophecy on her own.”

“She didn’t conceive us. She mixed together her own cesspool of vileness. Have you heard of superfecundation?” When the princess shook her head he said, “It’s when a female does the nasty with two different guys on the same night and is impregnated by both. Twins with different fathers. Only Atalanta didn’t just pick anyone. She chose Akrisios, an SOB guardian in his own right, and then to seal the deal with evilness, she found the most horrific human serial killer and did the hokeypokey with him too.

“Since it was clear right from the start that her little plan didn’t work, she knew she had to get rid of us. Best option? Send us to Argolea so we could infiltrate the Argonauts. She had her daemons leave us in the human realm in a place she knew the Argonauts would find us. And they did. Took us both back to Argolea. From Demetrius’s markings, they knew he was Akrisios’s son. But me? Well, let’s just say the Council didn’t think I was Argolean material. They had me cast out to the human realm, where they left me to die.

“Of course, I didn’t,” he sneered. “I survived. No thanks to any of your Argonauts. Not even my so-called brother. So you tell me, Princess, why should I help you save him when you and your kind have never done shit for me?”

Isadora’s gaze dropped to his hands. “You have the markings. That’s why you wear long sleeves and those fingerless gloves all the time. You…” Her gaze lifted, her eyes wide with awe. “You’re an original Argonaut, spawned from the union of a god and a human. That’s why the Council banished you. They’re afraid of you.”

Nick clenched his jaw and looked out the windows to the calm blue water, wishing the serene image would dampen the firestorm brewing deep inside.

He didn’t hear Isadora step closer, but he sensed her, just as he’d always been able to sense whenever she was near.

“Nick,” she said softly. “I can’t do anything about the past. I can only assure you of the future. My father’s health is steadily failing. He’ll be dead in a matter of weeks and the rule of Argolea and the Argonauts will fall to me. I guarantee I’ll not let what happened before happen again to you or your people. But I need your help to set things in motion. And it starts with saving Demetrius’s life and proving to the Council their reign ends here. Then we can focus on this war and finally defeat Atalanta for good.”

He looked down into her chocolate eyes. “You know about the soul mate curse?”

“I don’t think it’s so much of a curse anymore.”

“Think again, Princess. Demetrius and I, thanks to the whole super-fucking-twin thing, only get one. I’ve known you’re ours since you first showed up at my colony with Casey, looking for Theron. I’m sure Demetrius has known for years.”

Her eyes ran over his face and surprise flushed her cheeks a delicate shade of pink. “And that’s why you were never nice to me either.”

“Why should I be? No one should be subjected to either one of us. You don’t have a clue what lurks inside us.”

“Yes, I do,” she said softly. “But your humanity is stronger. It’s why you make a great leader for your people and why Demetrius is so valuable to our race as an Argonaut.”

No, Demetrius wasn’t just a valuable Argonaut. He read it in her eyes. His brother had come to mean something more to her. Reality chilled a space in his chest. “You’re in love with him.”

“I am,” she whispered. “Deeply.”

Her chocolate eyes softened with emotions, and looking deep, he knew she was telling the truth. Something pinched in his chest. “You could have been mine.”

“Maybe,” she said, not denying it. “In another lifetime, perhaps. But not now. I love him, Nick. I always will. Please help me save him.”

He shouldn’t. There were a thousand reasons he shouldn’t get involved. But that damn humanity she mentioned wouldn’t let him turn his back the way he wanted.

“Shit,” he muttered. “Go get your Grand Poobah. I don’t have all day for this, you know.”

A bright smile spread across Isadora’s face, making her look…like a goddess. A gorgeous, powerful, confident goddess. “Thank you. I won’t forget this.”

She rushed from the room, and as the blackness inside him settled he told himself he wasn’t doing this for Demetrius. He was doing this for her. For the soul mate he was never going to have, thanks to the all-fucking-mighty gods.

Nick was just stripping the fingerless gloves from his hands when Orpheus came back in with all three women.

“I’ve got this,” Orpheus said, bringing his hands together so his pinky fingers touched and the portal burst to life between them.

Brow drawn low, Nick glanced from Orpheus’s newly marked hands up to the
ándras
’s face. “What the hell?”

“Long story. But I think we should avoid the Gatehouse and the Executive Guard. Since you can only open the portal there, I’m saving us some time. Isa? Daddy’s chamber?”

“Yes, please,” Isadora said.

With one last beaming smile, Isadora stepped through the portal, followed by each of her sisters. Scowling, Nick followed.

They appeared in some kind of sitting room in the castle in Tiyrns. A maidservant jumped to her feet with a horrified expression. “Dear gods…”

“It’s all right, Althea,” Isadora said quickly. She stepped past the others to calm the flustered servant. “We need to see my father.”

“But the king is sleeping. He’s—”

“This can’t wait.”

Isadora pushed open the massive double doors to the king’s bedchamber. The curtains were drawn, casting the room in darkness. From the enormous bed on the far side of the room, a frail voice said, “Who’s there?”

“It’s me,” Isadora answered, stepping into the room. The sisters followed, each moving to stand on one side of the king. Nick hung back near the door with Orpheus, not entirely sure what he was doing here and hating every minute of it.

“
Pateras
,” Isadora said. “I’ve come to ask you to spare Demetrius’s life.”

The old king pushed himself up in the pillows and narrowed his beady eyes. “He betrayed the Argonauts.”

“No, he didn’t.” Isadora moved to the foot of his bed. “He saved my life. He tried to save Gryphon’s. I was there. He never would have sided with Atalanta.”

“He lied to us. He’s Atalanta’s son. The proof shows—”

“The proof is wrong.” She moved around the side of the bed. “You told me once that a true leader knows when to listen to history and when to focus on reality. The history is irrelevant here. We’ve all made mistakes we wish we could change. You included. He can’t change where he came from any more than you can change what happened to Mother. His mistake was simply that he kept his lineage secret from you and everyone else for fear of persecution. For fear of what’s happening to him right now. He’s not evil, Father. He’s more heroic than you or I will ever be.”

She softened her voice. “If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be standing in front of you now. He saved me from the warlock in Thrace Castle. He kept me safe over the last week and a half. He found me in Atalanta’s stronghold and made sure I came home. He’s not the enemy here. Please don’t let the Council condemn him for something he hasn’t done.”

The king’s eyes darted around the room, but they didn’t seem to focus. “You have no proof of what’s in his heart. The Council convicted him based on the evidence at hand.”

Nick saw the same thing happening to Demetrius that had happened to him. Isadora was right. He couldn’t stand back and let it keep happening. If he did, he was no better than his brother.

“I’m your evidence,” he said from the back of the room.

“Who’s there?” the king asked, looking his way.

Nick caught Isadora’s thankful expression and moved fully into the room. “Nico. But you, Your Highness, will probably only remember me as that child the Council wanted to get rid of.”

The king winced. Nick told the same story he’d told Isadora, and when he was done silence settled over the room.

“I…knew not of your lineage,” the king said. “Only that you were—”

“Yeah.” Disgust rolled through Nick, but he tamped it down. “A threat. I got that loud and clear.”

“
Pateras
,” Isadora said, reaching for the king’s hand. “Nick isn’t any more evil than Demetrius. He’s proof the humanity of the heroes overpowers anything Atalanta may have given them.”

“My brother would never turn to Atalanta,” Nick said. “No more than I would. And I can tell you flat out, my only goal in this lifetime is to defeat the bitch.” He glanced at Isadora. “Considering what she put Demetrius’s soul mate through during this last week, I can pretty much guarantee that’s his goal too.”

Isadora’s eyes softened so much, Nick felt that cold space in his chest warm just a touch.

“Please,” Isadora said, refocusing on her father. “Please spare him.”

The king sighed. “I can’t. The Council’s already made its decision.”

“You can stop it, though. All you have to do is pardon him.”

“If I do that, I’ll look weak in the eyes of the Council. And they’re already looking for a reason to declare me unfit to rule.”

“Fine, then abdicate the throne to me. I’ll pardon him.”

The king’s brow wrinkled. “You?”

“Rule is going to fall to me soon, whether you like it or not. Pass it to me now.”

“You’re not ready.”

“I’ve never been more ready.”

“It’s not that easy—”

“It is,” she said, her voice rising. “I’ve faced down Hades twice. I saved the earth element from both him and the warlock. I’m not about to let the Council push me around. Our world is changing, but I won’t be part of the problem. And as queen, I won’t allow them to be part of the problem anymore either.”

She moved closer to the bed, gripped the king’s hand tighter. “
Pateras.
Dad. I’ve never asked you for anything before. I’m asking you now. I’m begging. I’ve already lost my soul. Please,
please
, if you ever loved me, if you ever trusted me to become the leader you taught me to be, don’t take away my life as well.”

The king’s milky gaze held hers, and in the silence Nick saw indecision and pride in the old
ándras
’s face. And he couldn’t help but feel the same pride in his own chest. She really was royal material, contrary to what everyone thought. And for reasons he’d never understand, she loved his brother. Eternally.

“Althea,” the king barked, breaking the moment.

The maidservant rushed in. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“Get me my wreath. Callia? Acacia? Help me from this blasted bed.”

“Holy shit,” Orpheus muttered at Nick’s side. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

Nick frowned. He didn’t share Orpheus’s awe. Even though he knew he’d done the right thing here, he’d also sacrificed something as well.

Althea scurried out of the room. The sisters helped the king stand. Isadora glanced toward the clock high on the wall. “We don’t have much time. Hurry.”

“Isadora,” the king said. “Kneel. Here.”

She did as he commanded, looking up with expectation and impatience.

Althea hustled back into the room with a golden box in her hands. Several other servants followed, curious as to what was happening.

The king handed the box to Casey. She held it steady while he opened the lid and extracted the gold laurel wreath each king and queen before had worn at their coronation. He held it high over Isadora’s head. “The future lies not in the hands of the gods and goddesses nor in the kings and queens of old. It lies before us.”

At his feet, Isadora circled her hand in a hurry-up-already move the old king couldn’t see. And Nick chuckled. Oh yeah, she was going to be okay as a leader. In fact, knowing how persuasive she could be, he sorta dreaded dealing with her.