His heart contracted. He slid his leg over hers and tugged her into the curve of his body, not wanting to let go of her. She made the softest mewling sound but didn’t wake.
Arousal speared through his groin. Though he wanted nothing more than to push her legs apart, lift her hips, and slide inside her from behind, he decided letting her sleep was the more heroic thing to do, especially since only a few hours ago, he’d been worried that fever was going to burn her alive.
He ran his hand down her smooth back, loving the texture of her flesh beneath his hand. The sheet fell loosely at her hips. In the light of dawn, her skin was luminescent and no longer hot to the touch, only slightly warmer than his.
Their conversation from earlier ran through his mind. He brushed her hair aside and studied the triangle on her neck. Prometheus’s daughter. What kind of sick son of a bitch gifted this kind of curse to his child? The ramifications of what he’d discovered trickled through him. It was going to consume her if they didn’t find the god before it was too late. And what it would unleash…
He squeezed his eyes tight. Duty and desire warred inside him. He couldn’t abandon her, but every instinct he had as an Argonaut fought against his own personal wants.
A knock sounded at the door. He lifted his head and looked that way. Quietly, a voice—Callia’s voice—called, “Titus? Are you in there? I need to talk to you.”
Shit. What the hell was Callia doing here? And how did she know he was here?
Fucking Nick…
He looked back down at Natasa. She hadn’t even stirred at the knock. She was obviously more exhausted from the last few days than she’d let on.
Worry rippled through him, but he tugged up the sheet and pulled her hair back over her neck, covering the mark. Quietly, he climbed out of bed, pulled on his pants, then crossed the floor and gently cracked the door open.
Relief washed over Callia’s features. “There you are. Everyone’s been looking for you.”
He shifted, making sure she couldn’t see into the room. One glance into the hall told him she was alone. “What are you doing here?”
“Helping you.” “I came with Isadora. She needs to speak with you.”
Titus went on instant alert.
“Don’t worry. The Argonauts aren’t with us.”
He searched her mind and discovered she wasn’t lying. She couldn’t hide her thoughts from him the way Zander could.
Nodding, Titus slipped out the door and closed it tightly behind him. His instincts screamed keeping Natasa out of whatever the queen was up to was his only move. “Lead the way.”
Halfway down the hall, he realized his feet were bare, his hair wasn’t tied back, that he hadn’t shaved and that he wasn’t even wearing a shirt. Not exactly an acceptable way to meet the queen, but he didn’t give a rip. His mind was ten steps ahead, planning how they’d get out of the colony and where they’d go next.
The hallway opened to a great living room, flanked by an enormous fireplace and arched windows that looked out at the blue-green lake. Morning sunlight glistened off its surface like a thousand sparkling diamonds, but it wasn’t the view that stopped Titus dead in his tracks. It was the queen.
And Theron, and Zander, and Phin, and Cerek. All staring his way as if he’d sprouted horns.
“Shit,” Callia thought. “When did they get here?”
“Sorry.” The queen cringed. “They just arrived.”
“Skata,” Phineus muttered, moving forward. “Where the hell have you been, you mad fuck? We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Ever hear of your Argos medallion? That’s why we wear them, numbnuts.”
Titus held up his hands to block Phin from touching him and stepped to the side. Phineus pulled up short, staring at him in question.
Sweat broke out on Titus’s forehead. He was getting way too used to Natasa’s touch. It was messing with his reaction time. “What are you all doing here? I was going to contact you later.”
Yeah, right. It sounded good, at least.
Theron’s brow dropped low. “Where’s the girl?”
There was no friendliness in that tone. It was straight up, leader of the Argonauts business-cold. Titus’s back tightened. “Sleeping.”
“Where?”
“In a bed.” Theron and Zander exchanged glances, but whatever they were thinking, they kept closely guarded. Titus’s anxiety jumped to a higher frequency. “She’s not working for Zagreus and Hades like you thought. She’s not a threat.”
“Oh, yeah, she is.”
The one thought got through, but Titus couldn’t figure out from whom it had come from.
Theron pushed off the arm of the sofa he’d been leaning against and unfolded his arms. “T, she’s not what you think.”
Fuck that. They didn’t know a thing about her. “She’s—”
“She’s Prometheus’s out.” The queen stepped forward, her arms crossed over her bulging belly, her expression hard and serious.
Footsteps echoed from the hall. Demetrius moved into the room, his gaze locking on Isadora.
Isadora glanced his way, but her expression hardened, then refocused on Titus. “We’re pretty sure she’s the unquenchable fire ancient texts wrote about eons ago. The end of all things, should Prometheus never be set free. Lena told Callia about Natasa’s erratic temperature. We know about the fire in the redwoods and the charred Amazon city. If she is this unquenchable fire, then she has to be stopped before whatever is inside her burns free.”
Titus’s jaw flexed. “She’s not evil.”
He wasn’t turning her over to them so they could lock her in another freaking cage. They didn’t understand what she…
He looked from face to face. They were all blocking his ability to read their minds. Which meant only one thing.
They weren’t just talking about locking her away. They were talking about killing her.
“No.” He shook his head. “Not happening. Don’t even fucking think about it.”
“Titus,” Isadora said carefully. “No decisions have been made, yet. But we have to consider all possibilities. This is bigger than all of us. This is the fate of the world. You can’t turn your back on that.”
Yeah, he could. He considered telling them the rest—that she was the fire element—but knew that wouldn’t save her life, at least not a life she wanted to live. Being caged was no sort of life, and he wasn’t condemning her to that again.
Tension surged in the room.
“Be sensible, man,” Phineus muttered. “She’s just a girl.”
A girl who meant more to Titus than anything else ever had, save his order. He sent a scathing look Phin’s way, then glanced from face to face again. Pleading with his eyes, he finally said the only thing he could. “She’s not evil.”
Theron’s stare darkened. “You’re about to make a choice that can’t be changed, Guardian. Be sure it’s the right one.”
Chapter Fourteen
Silence echoed through the room. Titus’s pulse pounded hard. He stared Theron down. “There is no choice.”
Theron’s jaw clenched. He looked toward the queen. Unspoken words passed between them. To Zander, he said, “Go get her.”
Zander pushed away from the wall. Titus scrambled to block his path. “Don’t, Z.”
Zander’s expression softened. “Come on, T. You know I won’t hurt her.”
Titus believed that, but it was Theron he didn’t trust. The leader of the Argonauts was all business unless it came to his soul mate. If the roles were reversed, if it were Casey they were talking about, this wouldn’t even be a question. “You’re not touching her.”