Kinship reverberated in Titus.
“Soul mate?” Natasa asked, her brow drawn low.
“Theron’s distracted right now,” Callia said. “If you’re leaving, you need to go soon.”
“Hold on.” Natasa pulled her hand from Titus’s and pressed her fingers against her temple. “Everything’s happening so fast. I need to th—”
From her pocket, Callia pulled out the Orb. The circular disk sat in the palm of her hand, the chain hanging between her fingers. Natasa jerked that direction. Froze.
The same buzz Titus had felt before in the presence of the Orb lit off in his head, but now he knew why. “You’re giving this to us?”
“No.” Callia grinned. “Isadora would kill me if I lost the Orb. But there’s no reason you can’t use it while you’re here, right?”
It took only a split second for her thought—and meaning—to reach Titus. And he was suddenly thankful not only for Zander, but for Callia too. He owed them both, big-time. Expectantly, he looked toward Natasa.
“Between your power and the Orb’s,” Callia said to her, “you should be able to open a portal. It’ll save travel time.”
Natasa glanced warily from Callia to Titus, then back to the Orb. Cautiously, she stepped forward, then carefully ran her finger down the edge of the circular metal. “I…I wouldn’t know how.”
“The same way you fried that guard’s armor and threw that fireball at Zagreus’s army,” Titus told her. “Center yourself.”
“You charbroiled Zagreus’s satyrs?” A wide smile cut across Zander’s face. “Sweet.”
Callia nudged the guardian in the ribs. Zander twisted out of her reach and muttered, “What? That’s more than any of us can do, thea. Even Phin.”
“You…” Slowly, Natasa turned to face Titus. “…trust me.”
Surprise echoed in her voice, but there was something in her eyes… A feeling, an emotion he couldn’t quite read. Something that made him wonder what the hell Theron had said to her. “You already know the answer to that question.”
“I know you did, I just…”
Tears filled her eyes. She wrapped her hand around his neck and pulled him down for a hard, swift kiss.
A happiness Titus had never known washed through him. And his knees nearly buckled from the strength of the emotion.
Across the room, Zander laughed. “Payback is a total bitch. And this is gonna be fucking fun to watch.”
His head felt light as a feather by the time Natasa let him go. She blinked several times and hugged him tight. Dazed, Titus couldn’t stop the smile creeping over his face.
Natasa let go. “Okay.” She faced the Orb in Callia’s hands again. “Let’s do this. Where are we going?”
“Ogygia.”
She glanced over her shoulder with wide eyes. “Calypso’s island?”
He nodded.
“Wow. Okay. You know where that is? Because that’s not exactly on my map of frequently traveled destinations.”
He tapped his temple with his index finger. “Thanks to the Orb, baby, I know a lot of shit I didn’t before. You open the portal, and I’ll take us there.”
Natasa drew in a breath and placed her hand over the metal disk in Callia’s hand. “Here goes nothing.”
“Stay together. Single file. Don’t push. Everyone will make it through.”
Isadora pressed a hand against her lower back and drew in a breath as colonists filed past her toward the portal Zander had opened. They’d rounded up most of the people they could find and corralled them in the ballroom, the biggest room in the castle. Chandeliers sparkled above. Light pouring from the open portal bounced off intricately carved dark wood beams high overhead, the arched windows looking out at the lake below and the fancy long tables and chairs. But all Isadora could focus on was what was happening outside the castle, beyond the safety of the lake, where Hades and his son Zagreus were either lying in wait or already battling the colony’s soldiers and her Argonauts.
She looked around the busy room, searching for Demetrius. He and Callia had gone to check the other floors for lingering colonists. And dammit, where was Nick? That low ache she’d been dealing with the last few hours flared again, and she pressed harder against the spot, wishing she’d held her tongue and hadn’t said those things to Nick in the tunnels below.
Of all the times for her to get pissy with him. But it wasn’t like she’d known Hades and Zagreus were about to attack, right? She drew in another breath that didn’t completely fill her lungs because the kid was taking up so much space, blew it out, twisted to the right and left, hoping to ease the pain. Demetrius she would deal with later. But Nick had a responsibility to his people. He should be here right now. Where the hell was he?
“My lady.”
The small voice drew Isadora’s attention. She looked down at the cherub face. A girl, about five, with curly dark hair cut short, smiled up at her. The right side of her face—from cheekbone to forehead—was puckered and scarred from what looked like some kind of recent burn.
These colonists had already been through so much. Isadora’s frustration with Nick and Demetrius slid to the wayside. She knelt in front of the girl as best she could with her large belly, bringing them to eye level. “Hi there.”
The girl lifted a doll. Her right arm and hand were also puckered and scarred. “Minnie said to tell you it’s coming soon.”
A woman placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Marissa, now isn’t the time.” Then to Isadora with pink-tinged cheeks, “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I tried to tell her no. She doesn’t understand royal etiquette yet.”
“It’s okay.” Isadora glanced toward the girl’s mother. “This isn’t exactly a time for etiquette, either.” She looked back at the girl. And the name and description—and especially the doll—finally clicked. “Marissa… I think you might know my sister, Casey.”
Marissa’s eyes lit up. “Is she here? I haven’t seen her in so long.”
Casey had saved the child from a daemon attack months ago, when the colony had been housed in Oregon. “No, she’s across the portal, in Argolea, where you’re going with your mother. You’ll see her soon.”
The girl clutched her doll and jumped up and down in excitement. “Minnie will be so happy.”
Isadora smiled, then remembered what else Casey had said about the child. She was a soothsayer, like Isadora, and she used her doll as her medium. But whereas Isadora couldn’t see into her own future, this child might be able to.
Suddenly, the girl’s words took on new meaning.
“Marissa,” Isadora said calmly, trying to get the child’s attention once more as people passed. “You said Minnie wanted to tell me it’s coming. What’s coming, honey?”
“It” could be anything. War, death, Hades himself. Isadora’s nerves hummed as a hundred different options raced through her mind.
“It,” Marissa said as if it were common knowledge. “That which will change your life forever.” She pointed to Isadora’s belly. “The future.”
The baby? Oh, good Lord. Of course it was coming soon. Anyone with eyes could see Isadora was as big as a house and would deliver sooner rather than later.
Feeling foolish for getting so worked up, Isadora pushed to her feet with a grunt. So as not to make the child feel unappreciated, she placed a hand on her belly and smiled down at the girl. “You’re right. Soon. But thankfully, not today.”
Marissa smiled. “Soon. Do not be afraid. Everything happens for a reason. Even pain and death.”
Isadora’s heart stuttered. Horrified, the mother hushed the girl and whisked her away.
Pain and death? What did that mean? Those nerves that had settled just moments before came raging back.