toward her like a moth to a flame. And he was tired of acting as if he wasn’t.
Lifting his hands to her face, he gazed deep into her hypnotic violet eyes that were familiar and new all at the same time, then lowered his head and kissed her.
She sighed and drew him into her mouth. And as he tasted the sincerity and sweetness in her kiss, he tried to convince himself she was right. That this time really was different. That they were different. And that they’d broken the cycle, just as she’d said.
Then he prayed at some point he’d believe it. And that believing wouldn’t cost her everything.
As Talisa knelt behind a large boulder on the edge of the cliff and looked toward the satyr fortress two-hundred or so feet below in the mountains, all that contentment she’d felt with Zagreus in his lookout shifted to worry and fear.
A familiar worry and fear edged with duty she couldn’t ignore.
They’d hiked for several more hours, crossing the river that fed into the lake, then up the hills on the other side and into a thick forest. On the far side, Zagreus pointed out the archway created by two great firs, indicating a northern access point to the kingdom of Ehrendia.
She never would have seen it if she’d been by herself. His magickal border around Ehrendia kept the kingdom well protected. But it wasn’t impenetrable, as she’d learned the night he’d been injured.
And impenetrable was something that was very much on her mind as she stared at the satyr fortress in the fading afternoon light.
The fortress itself was a giant stone monstrosity with very few windows that sat on the edge of another cliff overlooking a narrow canyon. From Talisa’s vantage point, it appeared dark and depressing, but that wasn’t what worried her.
No, what sent that fear sliding down her spine were the satyrs—so many she couldn’t count—on the flat bluff between their hiding spot and the fortress, holding spears and axes and blades as they sparred, clearly gearing up for a war.
“Holy gods,” she whispered as she watched the satyrs practicing combat moves, swords and blades swinging and clanking in the cool breeze. “There are so many.”
“More than I knew,” Zagreus said quietly at her side.
“Are they all yours?” She glanced his way, but he didn’t meet her gaze. Just stared down at the activity with a dark and unreadable expression.
“No. I don’t recognize many. Satyrs are like wolves. They live in small pack-like groups called sects, with one definite alpha. And sects don’t generally socialize with each other. Not like this. Something’s drawn them together here.”
“You mean someone. Do you think it’s Pandora?” They’d talked some about Pandora on their hike out here, but he hadn’t given Talisa many details. She knew Pandora was powerful so long as she had her box, and technically she was ageless, but as the first woman ever created, she was still human. And that meant mortal.
“I don’t know.” Zagreus’s eyes narrowed on something far below. “Look.”
Talisa glanced back down toward the training field. The door on this side of the fortress had opened. She squinted to see better. A female in a long black gown with curly dark hair falling to the middle of her back stepped into the daylight.
Talisa tensed. “Pandora.”
“Yeah, but she’s not alone.”
Pandora reached back for someone. A hand appeared—long fingers, wide palm—a masculine hand. Then a body—a human body.
No, not human, Talisa realized as the male stepped into the daylight as well, the sun glinting off his blond hair. Argolean.
“Max,” she whispered.
Talisa shifted around the boulder where she was hiding so she could get a better look. The last time she’d seen Max, he’d been injured, barely moving on the floor of that club. But he didn’t appear injured now. He was as tall and muscular as he’d ever been. And wearing those dark boots, pants, and shirt beneath that black leather duster falling off his broad shoulders, he looked as formidable and dangerous as any of the Argonauts.
He stilled three steps into the sunlight, then abruptly turned and looked up in their direction.
Talisa gasped.
Zagreus jerked her back against him behind the boulder so she was completely hidden. In her ear, he whispered, “Not a sound.”
Her heart raced as she tried not to move, but her pulse was so loud in her ears she was afraid it would give them away.
Could Max sense her? Could he sense Zagreus and his powers?
Long seconds passed that felt like minutes. Finally, Zagreus’s