form.”
“His punishment was breeding with a demon. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Part of it…” My voice trails off as we get closer to the darkest part of this truth.
His jaw tightens. “What else?”
“When he found out about the pregnancy, he chose to stay. He wouldn’t abandon his family, even if that meant eventually living in near exile from the rest of us. Even if that meant sticking around, knowing an incubus would eventually come for my mother.” My lower lip trembles. “And for me.”
His color is back to a warm, healthy flush. His muscles are coiled tight like he’s ready to fight. I can hardly see the blue in his eyes for how blown out his pupils have become.
“No.”
Everything’s tied up around that one word. His disbelief. My rebellion. The inevitable consequences of both.
Z’s countenance has turned into a cringe that nearly matches my own. “Well, damn. That’s not good.”
Max whips his glare to him. “Why are you still here?”
“Actually, you should be grateful I am.” The older man rises with a sigh. “I might be the only one who can get you out of this mess. And believe me, this is a mess.” He lifts his brows high and checks his watch. “Looks like I arrived just in time. Or perhaps a touch late.” He casts his gaze to me. “Does your family know?”
I shake my head. “No. I mean, I don’t think so.”
“But they will soon.” Z states it as the fact it is.
“Yes.” I dip a shaky nod. “He’s already here.”
“Who’s here?” Maximus asks.
“Arden. He’s the incubus. He was sent for me.”
His gaze is raging cobalt. “You knew about this?”
“I didn’t know why he was here until last night.” I can’t help being defensive about it.
“Over my dead body will I let him have you.” He growls the promise like it’s truth etched in stone.
“It’s too late for that anyway,” Z chimes in. “If you’ve been together, then she’s already defied the edict of Hades himself.” With a soft but annoying cluck of his tongue, the king of the gods glances down at the sheet slung low over his son’s hips. “Breeding out her humanity is a moot point. This kind of rebellion is cause for punishment of the worst kind. They’ll be booking her a ticket to the underworld the moment they catch wind of this.”
Maximus paces to the door and pivots. He drags his hand over his mouth. “This is insane.”
“I get it,” Z says. “Trust me. I do. You should hear about some of the crazy shit I’ve gotten myself into over the years.” He follows Maximus to the door, placing his hat back on his head. “We should grab a beer. I could tell you some stories—”
“I don’t care about your stories or your crackpot theories about my parentage, all right?”
Z answers with a contemplative purse of his lips. Then, “Listen, I’m nothing if not an eternal romantic.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. If half the stories are true, womanizer is the better word.
“This whole situation with your little devil…” He gestures toward me. “Let me make some calls. I might be able to get this sorted out.”
Maximus laughs roughly. “Who the hell are you going to call? The god of the underworld?”
“Hades and I are in fact on speaking terms at the moment, which isn’t always the case. I can’t say the same for my other brother.” His smile is tight then. “But we can talk that through another time.”
Maximus reaches for the door and swings it open. “Out.”
“Maximus.” I rush to him, ignited by a surge of desperate—and probably dangerous—anticipation. Still, I latch on to his arm, clutching as deeply as his clenched muscles will allow. “Wait,” I plead. “Please, just wait.”
“Wait for what? I think we’ve both entertained enough of this, don’t you?”
“Let him help.” Fresh tears burn at the back of my eyes. But this time, they’re made of hope. My last hope. “Please. What can it hurt?”
A valid question. What can it hurt—because by now, I’m probably screwed in a thousand and one ways.
“I can protect you, Kara,” he says more softly, like Z isn’t watching the whole thing.
“I know you can, but…” I look to Z. “Do you really think you can change their minds?”
He shrugs. “Even if I can, everything has a price.”
My heart falls. “What kind of price?”
“Theirs.” For the first time, the lines etched across Z’s face have hardened. “And mine, of course. You know how this works. I’m not going to