Enslaved

Chapter Eight

“My lord, we have…a problem.”

Seated on his blackened throne in the heart of the Underworld, Hades turned his attention from the view of the boiling red sky he’d been gazing out at to Orcus, the four-foot-tall gnomelike troll whose one and only job was to monitor that fucking stain Maelea.

“Be careful in how you present this problem, Orcus, or it will be the last you ever voice.” Hades was in a piss-poor mood already. Not only had his wife, Persephone, been summoned back to Olympus for the miserable summer, but Maelea hadn’t shown herself in months. The stain knew he was hunting her, so she was hiding somewhere, likely with those pathetic Misos. Only no one knew where their precious colony was located. He’d had hellhounds searching for Maelea for months, and they’d come up empty. Not even Orcus, who always knew where she was, could find her.

Hatred brewed hot in Hades’s veins. Because Maelea had not only helped Orpheus find the Orb of Krónos, but had helped the Argonauts, she had to pay. Fuck the Fates and their so-called rules that said he couldn’t touch her unless she ventured into the Underworld. Fuck his wife’s inevitable reaction. He didn’t care what it cost him. He wanted Maelea dead and gone once and for all. It had become his obsession.

Orcus, knowing the extent of Hades’s fury, swallowed, tapped his long clawlike fingernails together. “Yes, my lord. It seems Maelea is on the move.”

Hades pushed himself forward in his throne, excitement bubbling in his chest, the first he’d felt in months. “That’s not a problem, you moron. It’s what we’ve been hoping for.”

“Yes, my lord, I know. It’s just…”

Hades rose out of his chair and glared down at the pathetic creature, his patience at its breaking point. “Spit it out already, Orcus.”

“Somehow she ended up in a tunnel. She and…an Argonaut.”

Those fucking miserable Argonauts. Always interfering. Orpheus—the son of a bitch who’d become a good-for-nothing Argonaut, thanks to Lachesis the Fate—obviously had a soft spot for the stain. “They left together?”

“It looks that way,” Orcus answered.

An Argonaut would be of use getting her settled somewhere, but out in the open, Hades’s minions would be able to track her. One measly Argonaut was not a detriment to Hades’s goal. And if Orpheus was killed in the process? Even better. “I’m still not seeing the problem, Orcus.”

Orcus wrung his scaly hands together, looked right and left. “My lord, the tunnel they were in…” He swallowed, finally looked up at Hades. “It was the Tunnel of Arima.”

Hades stiffened. “She found the therillium? Is that what you’re telling me?”

Orcus nodded. “Yes, my lord. She and the Argonaut…They found it and…and it’s possible they took pieces with them.”

“Do you know this for certain?”

Orcus looked to the left and motioned with his hand. A kobalos, a distant cousin of Orcus, hobbled into the room, his long nails clicking along the black stone floor.

“My lord Hades.” The kobalos bowed. “It is with great pleasure I meet you, my king.”

“Dispense with the pleasantries,” Hades snapped. “Tell me what you know of the stain.”

The kobalos lifted large, round eyes to peer up at Hades. “She and the male escaped the tunnels before we could catch them.”

That anger morphed to fury. “How the hell did they get there in the first place?”

“I don’t know, my lord. Perhaps the river. We had no warning. They escaped through a crack in the rocks just before Typhaon arrived, hindering our pursuit. A few tried to follow, but the sunlight…”

Son of a fucking bitch. Hades barely resisted the urge to backhand the kobalos across the room. One more reason to despise his brother Zeus. The King of the Gods had banished the monster Typhaon to the bowels of the earth, and the beast had discovered Hades’s therillium supply. It guarded the ore now, making it nearly impossible for the kobaloi to mine. Typhaon was a problem Hades was constantly trying to work around, but Hades adapted because it was imperative the therillium supply not be found. If any of the other gods—especially Zeus—got their hands on it, Hades would no longer be the only god who possessed the power of invisibility.

He started down the steps. Both Orcus and the kobalos backed up quickly, eyes wide with fear.

“You”—Hades pointed at the kobalos—“seal the holes, do you hear me? And you find out where she came from. If anyone else discovers our mine I will hold you personally responsible, and I will torture you until you are begging for death. And you.” He rounded on Orcus. Orcus’s eyes flew even wider. “Send hellhounds. I want Maelea dead. Her and that fucking Argonaut who helped her. You find them and you kill them, or I’ll make his”—he nodded toward the kobalos—“torture seem like nothing.”

Both creatures nodded quickly and stared up with enormous, frightened eyes.

“Go!” Hades bellowed.

They scurried off like rats.

Alone, he pressed his fingers against his temples, drew two calming breaths. He was juggling too many balls, trying to keep too many from stealing his power, from taking what was rightfully his. His wife would be pissed when she returned from Olympus and discovered he’d killed her precious child, but Hades didn’t give a fuck. Aside from his own bitter need for revenge, there was more at stake here than just one mere mortal’s life. Atalanta, the bitch, was still scheming for a way to get the Orb and control the human realm. And if she somehow found his therillium mines because of Maelea or that miserable Argonaut, she might just have a chance.

His hounds would pick up Maelea’s scent and kill her. With one problem solved, he needed to stop worrying about the stain and focus on the Orb. Once he had that, everyone would bow to him, even the monster Typhaon.

He crossed to the window. An acrid burst of hot air swept across his face and he breathed in the misery floating on the wind. Somehow, Atalanta planned to use the Argonaut who’d been freed from the Underworld to get her that Orb. Since the Orb now resided in Argolea, that plan made sense, especially since Atalanta couldn’t cross into that realm—no Olympian god could.

But Hades could.

A plan began to form in his mind, and his anger slowly dissipated one agonizing moan at a time. He knew just who in Argolea he could use.

“You bastard,” Maelea sputtered as Gryphon hauled her through the woods next to him.

“I’ve heard that before.” He didn’t loosen his hold on her arm, all but dragging her as he skirted the cliff and headed down the hillside in the direction of the valley.

Dusk was rushing in fast, and that fact only made Maelea more determined to get away. She wasn’t spending the night with him. Not after what had happened in those tunnels. “That’s because you are one. We had a deal.”

“The deal changed.”

She tried to wrench her elbow from his grip, only he held her too tightly. “I didn’t agree to this.”

He jerked her to a stop. Glared down with those dead, light blue eyes. Eyes, she noticed out here in the daylight, that were more piercing than they’d been in the tunnels. And much more unfriendly. “Get this through your head, female. I don’t care if you agreed or not. You’re not leaving me. Not until I’m done with you.”

He yanked her forward again. And as she struggled to keep up with his long legs, her mind spun. What if he really was crazy, just as those females had said? She’d seen the way he twitched and looked around as if he were hearing things. It didn’t matter that he’d saved her life back there in the caves. He’d nearly gotten her killed too. If she stayed with him, only bad things would happen. She felt it in her gut.

And the darkness inside her…it was too attracted to him. Too tempted by him. She had to get away.

Escape plans tumbled through her mind as he dragged her around pine trees and over downed logs. The forest grew darker with every step they took, and her arm ached where he held her bicep with a death grip. She couldn’t break free until he loosened his grasp. But when he did…

“Where are you taking me?” she asked when she couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Into that town. We need wheels.”

She nearly choked. “I have no money. I know you have no money. How do you plan to find wheels?”

“That’s not something you need to know.”

Maelea’s temper skyrocketed. She wasn’t a helpless female. She’d lived for thousands of years by keeping to herself and never relying on another. She wasn’t about to change that philosophy now.

Stay calm, she told herself as they reached the bottom of the hillside and headed for the river. When they got to the town, when he was distracted looking for wheels, then she’d make her break.

At the first opportunity, she was gone.

Titus had reached his limit with the coddling shit. Much to Callia’s disapproval, he’d showered, dressed, and was now riding an elevator up to the main floor to find out what the hell was happening with Gryphon.

At his side, Callia crossed her arms and frowned. “I still think you need more rest.”

“I’m sick of that freakin’ bed. If you like it so much, you go lie in it.”

“You’re the worst patient ever,” she mumbled.

“No, that’d be your mate.”

At the mention of Zander, Callia’s face softened, and a wistful smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. “He is a horrid patient, you’re right.” She shot him a look. “But you’re not far behind.”

Titus didn’t answer. Sweat broke out on his forehead, but he didn’t dare look Callia’s way and give her any reason to order him back to bed. He was weaker than he should be and knew he could use at least a few more hours of rest, but he’d had it with the clinic and the strange looks he’d been getting ever since Callia put up that damn Do Not Touch sign. And though he liked Callia, he couldn’t stomach being around her much longer. She thought about Zander constantly, and every time she did, she’d get that sappy newlybound look on her face. The one that screamed happiness and reminded Titus of everything he was never going to have.

He put that thought out of his head, refocused on Gryphon. Shit, he seriously hoped Nick’s men hadn’t found the dumbass yet.

The elevator door pinged open and he stepped off onto the main floor. Night had settled over the lake, and the tall arching windows stared out at nothing but darkness. Seated on a couch in the middle of the room, Max glanced their way. At Titus’s side, relief whipped through Callia, and she stepped around him, heading for her son. “What are you doing out here?” she asked.

Max shrugged. Picked at a thread on the arm of the sofa. “Zander told me to wait out here.”

Zander. Not Dad. Titus didn’t need to read minds to pick up the animosity.

“Where is he?” Callia asked in a stiff voice as she sat next to her son, obviously picking up on it too.

Max nodded toward a cracked door across the room. “In there. With Theron and Nick.”

Happy for any reason to get away from Callia and her son, Titus turned in that direction, pushed the door open, and stepped into the space. Nick sat behind an intricately carved Russian desk, dwarfing the piece of furniture as he flipped papers. Theron and Zander stood in front of him, hands on hips, shoulders tense. No one looked up when Titus stepped into the room. No one even noticed him.

“You’re not going,” Nick said. “End of story.”

“I have an Argonaut down there,” Theron said.

“I don’t care if the queen of fucking England’s down there,” Nick snapped, “The hole’s being sealed as we speak.”

“You can’t do that—” Zander started.

“I can do whatever the hell I want,” Nick tossed back.

Theron braced his hands on the desk and leaned forward. “You son of a bitch.”

Nick glanced up at Theron, and his amber eyes were as steely as Titus had ever seen them when he said, “Let me make something clear to you, Theron. You don’t have any authority here. I allow you and your Argonauts to use the colony as a stopping ground when you’re in the human realm out of simple courtesy, but I don’t have to. You have no say in how the colony is handled or maintained. The tunnel’s being filled in for security reasons, and that’s that. You don’t like it, you can poof back to the mother ship for all I care.”

Nick cast a glare Zander’s way, then pushed back from his chair and rose to his full height. At six and a half feet and close to two hundred and eighty pounds, he was a force to be reckoned with, but then so was Theron. And as a descendent of Heracles, there wasn’t much that made Theron back down.

“My guardians and I are going into that cavern to look for Gryphon,” Theron said. “That, my friend, is the end of the story. Come on, Z.” He signaled Zander, turned for the door, caught Titus’s gaze, and clenched his jaw. Behind him, Zander’s thoughts were easy to pick up. This is so fucked.

Titus had rarely seen the leader of the Argonauts so worked up. Something big was going down here. His gaze jumped from face to face, trying to read each of their thoughts, but emotions were too close to the surface to get an accurate picture of what was happening.

“If you do that,” Nick answered before Theron and Zander reached the door, “you’re signing your death certificates. We’ll close up the cavern whether you’re in there or not.”

Nick wasn’t lying. Titus’s adrenaline inched up a notch as he read the Come on, challenge me, I dare you thought coming from Nick.

Zander’s eyes narrowed. He looked Nick’s way again. “What’s down there in that cavern?”

Nick clenched his jaw but didn’t answer. But Titus heard the lies racing across the half-breed’s mind as he fished for something to get them to back off.

“Where the hell did Gryphon and Maelea end up?” Theron asked in an accusing tone. “There’s something you’re not telling us.”

They’ll find out soon enough. Or they’ll make things worse for the colony. You don’t have a choice here.

Nick’s thoughts echoed in Titus’s mind, piquing his own curiosity. This was about more than just Gryphon and—oh, great—Maelea now.

The half-breed leader clenched his jaw once, twice, then finally muttered, “Fuck,” followed by “Get in here and close that damn door.”

Titus closed the doors at his back. Caught Theron’s Read his mind and tell me if he’s telling the truth thought.

Nick moved in front of his desk and rubbed his hand across his forehead as if he had the mother of all migraines. “I told Isadora there were extenuating circumstances to relocating the colony here after our location in Oregon was destroyed.”

“I remember,” Theron said. “The Russian Misos colony loaned you the property.”

“Right. This place had been sitting empty for quite some time. It wasn’t being used as a residence. Turns out, there’s a reason for that.”

“What reason?” Zander asked.

Tell them, don’t tell them. Nick’s thoughts bounced around as he debated his options. Shit, if I don’t tell them, they’ll just go down there and fuck things up.

Nick scowled and motioned them to follow as he stepped toward the wall at the back of his office. “This way.”

He touched the molding high on the right side of a bookshelf. The entire unit swung out, revealing a secret passageway.

“Sweet,” Zander muttered. “Where the hell does it go?”

“Just shut it and keep up,” Nick said, stepping through the open doorway and into a steel-walled tunnel. Titus followed Zander and Theron inside. At his back, the massive bookcase snapped closed with a clack. Titus was too far back to read Nick’s thoughts, but he picked up Zander’s and Theron’s, and both were wondering what the hell was going on.

No one spoke as they reached a circular staircase that seemed to go on forever. Nick started down without a word. Theron followed. Zander turned back to Titus and whispered, “You okay? You’re sweating. Maybe we should go find Callia.”

Titus wasn’t missing this. He needed to know where Gryphon had gone. He stepped past Zander. “I’m fine.”

Before Zander could press him for more, they reached the bottom of the stairs. The floor was concrete, the walls cinder block.

Titus wiped the sweat from his brow, ignored the pain in his side. “What does this place have to with Gryphon?”

“You’ll see in a minute,” Nick answered.

The panel lights flicked green, then the steel door hissed open and disappeared into the wall. He stepped into the dark room, lit by only a glowing orange lamp somewhere in the center of the space. The rest of them followed.

“Skata,” Theron muttered when he came to a stop.

Titus read his No fucking way thought before he moved out from behind Theron’s massive body and stopped next to him. Shock registered first as he stared ahead at the glowing orange rocks rotating on a pedestal in the center of the room with what looked like a heat lamp hovering above. “Is that—?”

“Therillium,” Nick answered, dragging a hand over his close-shaved head. “It glows orange when heated. In its normal state it’s green.”

“Skata,” Theron muttered again. “You’re housing your people over Hades’s personal stash of invisibility ore?”

Nick shot him a look. “Trust me, it wasn’t my first choice. But when our colony in Oregon was destroyed, we didn’t have many options. The Russian Misos colony agreed to loan us this location with the provision that we keep the therillium mines secret and continue to provide their colony with enough ore so their location remains hidden. I had my doubts at first, but Hades doesn’t know we’re here. He doesn’t even know this castle exists.”

“How the hell not?” Theron asked.

“Because the therillium”—Nick motioned toward the slowly turning chunk of glowing orange rock—“keeps the castle invisible. The tunnels are sealed with only one way in or out, which is known only by me and one other person. Hades uses kobaloi to mine his therillium, but they can’t come out into the sunlight, so they’re no threat to us. As for Hades himself, he doesn’t dare venture into the mines.”

“Why not?” Zander asked.

“Because there’s something darker and fouler down there than just kobaloi. Something even Hades won’t mess with.”

The pain in his side forgotten, Titus shifted his gaze from the ore to Nick when he read the leader of the half-breed’s thoughts. “Typhaon. Shit. Are you telling us the most deadly creature in all of ancient Greece is down there?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah. The ore lets him take on a smoldering fire-demon form. And as he’s found something the gods all want—”

“He’s not about to let it go,” Theron finished for him. Of course all of the gods would like to get their hands on a substance that could make them invisible, but Typhaon wasn’t just any monster. Even Hades feared the legendary beast that had been trapped underground by Zeus thousands of years ago. “Skata. How the hell do you get more if and when you need it?”

Nick perched his hands on his hips, stared at the glowing ore. In the orange glow the cuts on his scarred face from his run-in with Gryphon looked deeper and angrier than before. “Very carefully.”

It was clear the half-breed wasn’t going to elaborate. And in the silence, Theron’s We need to get Gryphon the hell out of there NOW thought slammed into Titus.

“I’m going in,” Theron announced.

“No, you’re not,” Nick said quickly. “We’re not giving Hades any reason to look twice at this location.”

“Gryphon and Maelea—”

“Are dead by now,” Nick said bluntly. “If they even made it out of that river, and I seriously doubt they did. Trust me. If the freezing cold didn’t get them, the kobaloi certainly did. And on the off chance they somehow survived all that, if they ran into Typhaon…”

Then they’re nothing but dust now, Zander thought.

“The tunnel’s getting sealed, Theron,” Nick said. “I want to kick Gryphon’s ass because of what he did, but this decision isn’t a personal one. I won’t risk my people to kobaloi, Typhaon, or Hades just so you can save one rogue warrior. It’s well past time you accepted facts and let the guardian go.”

The cover of darkness made it easy to hide in the shadows.

Crouched behind a rusted Ford pickup that had seen better days, Gryphon scanned the building to his right and waited.

The town was small, just one main street and a couple of shops. They’d waited until late, until the measly handful of stores had already closed for the day. Beside him, Maelea breathed slowly, and her pulse raced beneath the skin of her wrist, which he hadn’t dared let go of since they stopped on that cliff. The female was pissed, but he didn’t care. He was thinking clearer than before and he knew it had something to do with her. Whatever she was, however she was linked to the gods, he wasn’t above using her to get to his ultimate goal.

Even now, Atalanta’s draw was strong. Her voice was a dim vibration in the back of his head—tolerable when he was near Maelea—but inside there was always that desire to find her. A desire he would eventually use to his advantage.

A man exited the small A-frame building on the end of town Gryphon had scouted out earlier, locked the door behind him, then headed for his car across the parking lot, tossing his keys in the air and catching them again as he whistled. Gryphon shifted on the asphalt to look around the other side of the pickup, watched as the man climbed in his SUV and closed the door, then started the ignition and backed out of the lot.

“What now?” Maelea asked.

The parking lot light above was burned out, draping the area in darkness. Without answering, he tugged Maelea toward the door, continuing to stay close to the building so no one could see them.

He already knew the store didn’t have a security system, but that didn’t mean a night guard wouldn’t be driving by sometime tonight.

He used his elbow to break the glass on the door. It shattered and sprayed across the floor inside. Reaching in, he unlocked the dead bolt, then pushed the door open and dragged Maelea in after him.

Glass crunched under their boots. The shop was dark. Tables were laid out with clothing and supplies. Coats hung on one wall, boots were lined up against another. To the right, a long counter ran the length of the room, and behind it, another glass case was filled with weapons.

He went there first, tugging Maelea along with him. Grabbing a military-grade flashlight from a table, he smashed in the glass, then opened the cabinet door and stared at the knives and daggers.

“What is this place?” Maelea asked.

“Army surplus store.” He chose three knives, each with a different blade, knew it had been too much to hope for guns—those would have come in handy if Nick and his men found them. He turned and looked at the cash register.

It was old style, with push buttons and a locked drawer, not new and high-tech electronic. Using the tip of a knife, he fiddled with the lock, jimmied the drawer open. No money sat inside. The owner had obviously emptied the drawer before closing up shop.

Petty cash. The guy had to keep some kind of money around for emergencies.

Gryphon rifled through drawers until he found a zippered pouch. Inside he counted at least three hundred dollars in different bills. Not ideal, but enough to get them the hell out of here. He tucked the envelope into the waistband of his jeans, then turned and scanned the store for a thigh holster for his knife.

He moved through the shop quickly, grabbing supplies they’d need, pulling Maelea along behind him, handing her coats and blankets to hold with her free arm while she continued to protest his every move. “Why do you need this? What’s that for? You can’t carry all this stuff, you know.”

Skata, she never stopped talking. It was beginning to grate on his nerves. He grabbed a length of rope, tossed it on the pile she was carrying, turned, and scanned the room one more time.

“Someone’s going to find us,” she said. “It’s only a matter of time. I bet police are on their way right now.”

His gaze zeroed in on what he’d been looking for and he smiled.

He reached across the table, picked up a set of handcuffs.

“What are those for?” she asked in a startled breath.

Gryphon’s grin widened.

Before she could sputter off another protest, he tugged her toward the door. “Come on, we’re done.”

They went out the way they’d come in. Maelea nearly tripped and dropped the load she was carrying, but Gryphon caught her at the last second. The heat of her body warmed his side, slid across his arm. And that flare of desire burned hot all over again. A desire he knew—now that he was thinking clearly—would only distract him from his goal.

A siren rang out down the street. Gryphon’s head swiveled that way, and he didn’t miss the burst of hope in Maelea’s eyes or the way her pulse picked up speed against his fingers. “Come on.”

He stopped at the rusted pickup truck he’d checked earlier, pulled the Ford’s door open, and pushed Maelea inside. She grunted as the supplies fell out of her arms and splayed across the seat and floor. “Hey!”

He climbed in after her. Tugged the door shut, looked all around for keys.

Come on. This was a small town in the middle of nowhere. There had to be keys in here some—

He pulled the visor down. A set of keys dropped into his lap.

Victory pulsed in his veins. He slid the key into the ignition and felt the motor hum beneath his feet. When the passenger door creaked open, he threw out a hand and grabbed Maelea by the wrist before she could get away.

“Let me go!” she hollered.

“Not a chance, female.”

He snapped a cuff around her left wrist. She gasped in surprise and outrage. Then he snapped the other cuff to the grab handle on the dashboard.

“You son of a—”

“You need to come up with new curse words, female. Yours are getting old.” He shoved the truck into reverse, backed out of the lot, and shifted into drive. The passenger door slammed shut.

Maelea struggled to free her wrist from the cuffs. “You’re not keeping me here, you bastard!”

He swerved around a dog in the road on their way out of town. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he spotted a cop car pulling into the lot they’d just exited, lights flaring, siren roaring.

Too late, boys.

A smile twined its way across his face as they left the town behind. He ignored Maelea’s thrashing and string of curses, instead breathed in the fresh air sailing through the open window. For the first time since he’d come back from the Underworld, he truly felt free.

They made it five miles up the winding mountain road before he slammed on the brakes.

Maelea, still struggling to free her arm from the handcuffs, flew forward, hit the dashboard, and bounced back. She groaned at the impact. “What the hell…?”

“Skata.”

She gave up fighting long enough to rub her forehead with her free hand, but her words died off as she stared ahead at what blocked the road.

Three sets of eyes glowing green in the darkness peered back at them. Three sets of eyes that were definitely not human.