help.
She looked around at the people, scanning their faces and their outfits. None of them looked like guards. There had to be guards here somewhere. She frowned as she recalled that whenever she had visited towns in the past, there had always been males who had kept order in them.
And sometimes she had even seen her father’s soldiers.
She tried to recall where she had seen them. What town?
It pinged into her head and darkness swallowed her before she could even will the teleport. She landed at the edge of a larger town, one she recognised. There was a barracks here. She remembered Calistos telling her as much when he had brought her here to buy her a present as a reward for keeping still while a pretty female had painted her portrait at the palace.
Calindria kept her hands tucked beneath her arms so no one could brush them and get hurt, and hurried into the town, her tired legs throbbing with each stride. Her eyes darted around and she ignored the way three males outside a tavern looked at her as she searched the streets for soldiers.
There had to be someone.
She was close to desperate when she reached the other end of the town and hadn’t seen a single soldier, turned to look for somewhere to rest and paused as five males walked out of a building, all of them dressed in fine black armour that hugged their lean figures.
Relief swept through her, so strong her knees almost buckled. She stumbled towards the males.
“Help. Please help me.”
Chapter 27
Calindria wanted to reach for the soldiers and grab them to make them notice her when they didn’t seem to hear her. She fought the urge. Killing one of them by mistake wasn’t going to help her cause, even though it would get her noticed.
And probably killed or tossed into Tartarus.
“Help me,” she growled, her tone hardening as panic and fear gripped her tighter, spurred by the thought of being locked away and unable to help Thanatos.
One of the soldiers looked at her, his eyes dark, and as he turned towards her, she noticed the others had females tucked close to them. They weren’t here to patrol. She glanced at the building they had exited. A tavern. They were off duty, but that didn’t mean they weren’t able to help her.
“I need you to take me to Hades’s palace.” She hurried up to the one male who had noticed her.
He curled his lip and scowled as he raked his gaze over her. “What business does a beggar have with my god-king?”
“A beggar?” Her mouth flapped open and then snapped shut. She looked down at herself and couldn’t blame him for thinking she was a pauper. She was filthy, wearing a torn tunic, and looked desperate. “I am no beggar. I am the daughter of Hades.”
He laughed in her face. “Good one. Hades does not have a daughter. Did you hear this?”
He leaned backwards towards the other soldiers, his near-black eyes remaining locked on her as he swept his hand in her direction.
“This here is the daughter of Hades everyone!”
The females took one look at her and laughed, and two of the males joined them. She scowled at them all, hurt welling inside her, filling her with a need to back away and leave so they would stop laughing at her, but darkness was swift to devour it and use it as fuel.
Calindria stared the male down, knew it the moment crimson ringed her pupils and that darkness crossed her face, because he was quick to close his big mouth. Another male exited the tavern, muttering about having to pay, and stopped when he found the group of males and females blocking his path.
“What is going on here?” He tucked a black Corinthian helmet with a gold plume that ran down the centre of it under his arm and scowled at the males.
A commander.
Maybe luck was with her after all.
“This one thinks she is the daughter of Hades.” One of the males almost laughed those words.
The commander pushed him aside and stalked towards her, placed his hand on the right shoulder of the male before her and moved him aside too. The moment his eyes met hers, he looked as if he believed her.
And gods, it was a blessed relief.
“I need to reach the palace. Thanatos was sent to rescue me by my father but he has been taken captive. We must save him.” She took a step towards the commander and his dark