capable of. What he has been working for all these years. He will remember his destiny.”
Talisa stared at the nymph, shocked by the transformation. Ana had never been submissive like other nymphs, but something had changed in her the last few seconds. An energy, a vibe, an aura that made Talisa wonder if the nymph was really a nymph after all or if she’d been using some kind of glamour the whole time she’d been in Ehrendia.
“And you…” A snarl turned Ana’s lip as she forced Talisa back another step. A snarl that—oh shit—made her eyes flash to an icy blue that nearly glowed. “You will cease to exist. Just as you ceased to exist every other time you’ve returned from the dead and tried to turn him.”
Returned from the dead…?
She was just about to ask what the hell the nymph meant by that when Ana drew something out of the pocket of her cloak and tossed it into Talisa’s face.
Talisa sputtered and stumbled, some kind of powder burning her eyes. Gasping, she tried to wipe it away, then a foot connected with her stomach and shoved hard.
Talisa sailed backward and tumbled down the small hill with a grunt. Rocks dug into the backs of her legs and the palms of her hands, sending pain spiraling through her body.
“She’s all yours,” Ana said somewhere close.
Low, menacing growls echoed in the trees. Growls that caused Talisa’s every thought and movement to come to a whirring stop.
Growls Talisa had heard once before. In that club, after Zagreus had hit Max with that blast of energy.
Through blurry vision, she stared at the pack of satyrs emerging from the dark forest.
“Zagreus bound her powers,” Ana announced to the beasts. “She should be easy to subdue. I’m sure she’ll provide hours of entertainment for you boys before you kill her. As much as I’d love to stay and watch, I don’t have time. The prince is waiting.”
She pinned Talisa with those hauntingly translucent blue eyes, her expression smug and victorious, the hair peeking out from beneath her hood no longer blonde but brown. “Thank those meddling Argonauts for your fate, paidí. I warned that guardian what would happen if I was ever set free. He should have listened.”
Talisa had no idea what Ana was rambling about or which guardian she was referencing, but one thing was clear.
The bitch had set her up. And now she was leaving Talisa to die.
Fury gathered inside Talisa. A fury that had nothing to do with Zagreus and colored everything red.
As Ana turned away, Talisa lurched off the ground and hurled herself at the female.
Chapter Eight
It was well after midnight by the time Zagreus made his way into the castle.
He washed the grime from his hands in the empty kitchen, ignoring the rumble in his stomach. Most of the servants had retired for bed already. He knew the kitchen maids had left him food, which his body clearly needed, but he was more concerned with making sure Talisa hadn’t caused any trouble while he’d been gone. Once he was certain she was sound asleep where she was supposed to be, he’d come back and refuel.
He tossed the towel on the counter, turned out of the massive kitchen and into the grand hall dimly lit by a smoldering fire, and headed for the stairs.
He’d left his men in the courtyard with instructions to keep the sentries on high alert tonight. The satyrs they’d tracked all day had roamed their borders but hadn’t actually breached their lands. They were getting bolder, though, clearly looking for a weak spot in Ehrendia’s defenses. Almost as if…
Almost as if someone inside Ehrendia was feeding them information.
That thought revolved in Zagreus’s mind as he made his way up to the highest floor in the castle. Rhen had thought the same. They’d discussed it just before Zagreus had come into the grand hall. Rhen had noted that the satyrs had followed the border too closely all day for their path to be random. And Zagreus agreed.
Those satyrs had known where the borders edged empty land. They’d been searching for a break in Zagreus’s magick. Or they’d known they were being followed and had been leading his sentries away from the castle.
The hair on Zagreus’s nape tingled with that last thought, and his feet came to a stop in the middle of the corridor.
Footsteps pounded close. His gaze shot to the open doorway ahead that led to the narrow, curved staircase up to the tower.
Nysa appeared in the