He gripped her arms. “What did you just say?”
“I said I was wrong.”
“No. The other part.”
Her face went all dreamy, just as it had in every fantasy he’d had of her over the years. “I said I love you. I’ve always loved you. Even when I thought I had a reason to hate you, I loved you. I should have told you before—so many times—but I was scared. I’m not scared anymore.”
His brain and heart clicked into gear at the exact same time. And even before the first bell tolled outside in the courtyard, he was pulling her toward the main doors.
“Zander. Wait. What are you doing?”
“We’ll go right now. We’ll get Max and go. The portal won’t be heavily guarded, not with everyone here. We—”
“No.”
The finality to her voice and the way she stopped short brought him around to look at her.
“No,” she said softer. “We’re not going anywhere. Nothing’s changed, Zander.”
“But you said—”
She moved in close, and the heat from her body drifted up and around him, warming that place he thought had gone cold. “I said I love you, and I do. But that doesn’t change our reality.” Her hands rested gently on his breastplate again, right over the symbol of Achilles branded into the leather. “I’m your vulnerability, aren’t I?” At his silence she lifted her eyes, eyes so clear he was sure he could see himself in them. “Your weakness, your Achilles’ heel. Zander, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. Right now it’s all that matters.”
“That isn’t your curse to bear.”
She slid her arm around his back and ran her fingers over the scars there now. Her scars, which he’d taken from her when he’d opened himself fully to her. “It’s not yours either.”
“Thea—”
“I would go to the ends of the earth with you if I could, Zander, but I can’t. We both know Atalanta is going to be gunning for Casey and Isadora and me. And Max isn’t safe in the human realm either.”
“I can protect you both.”
Her hand curved around his cheek, and reflexively he leaned into her touch, wanting it everywhere, anywhere. “And who’s going to protect you? If something happens to me, it happens to you. And then who will take care of Max? We can’t abandon him there again.”
“I…” His heart squeezed tight because he was getting exactly what he wanted—her love—and yet, he would never have her. She was right. How could he take them into the human realm and know there was a strong chance doing so could condemn their son all over again? And yet if he stayed here…
He closed his eyes as the pain in his chest condensed to the only thing he could feel. “I can’t live without you.”
Her other hand came up to frame his face. “You don’t have to. You never have to. I’m always going to be right here.”
Yeah, but he wouldn’t be. He looked down at her. “The king won’t change his mind. He—”
“You promised me you would make all of this right. Do you remember that? At the colony? Zander, this is your chance to do that.” She took a deep breath. “You have to go through with the binding ceremony. You have to marry Isadora.”
“No—”
“Do you think I want this?” Her eyes filled with tears. “I want you and us and the life we should have had a long time ago, but that can’t happen. And more than that, I want our son to grow up in a world where what happened to me won’t happen to another female.”
She moved in close until it was all he could do not to grab her and hold on for dear life. “Zander, you have a chance to change things, to make a difference, to help Isadora reshape our world. It’s ironic, don’t you think, that Ar-golea was a realm set aside by the gods, a place of peace, and yet we have as many problems as they do on earth?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Make this right for Max. And for me. You can do that for us. You’re the only one who can.”
“What you’re asking me to do…” His eyes fell closed again. “I can’t love another. I’ve tried. Gods, I’ve tried. But you’re it for me, thea. Just you.”
“I will always be yours, Zander.” Her voice quivered. “And not because some curse says I am. Open your eyes and look at me.” He did, and when he focused on her violet eyes he saw everything he felt reflected back on her face. “I’m yours because I love you. Because the connection we share is stronger than anything the king decrees or does. No binding ceremony can break that. For me there’s no one but you. But we need you here. To stay in this realm, to be there for Max, to help the Argonauts and to make our world better. If you leave we can’t go with you. But if you stay…Oh, Zander, there’s so much good that can come from it.”
His heart broke into a thousand pieces. He never thought—not in a million years—that her love wouldn’t be enough. But it wasn’t. Fate seemed to be pushing them in different directions and he was powerless to stop it.
He rested his forehead against hers and just tried to breathe. But even that hurt. “This sucks.”
Her fingers twined around to run through the hair at the nape of his neck. “It does. I agree.”
Silence settled between them. And like it always did, the silky smooth glide of her fingers against his skin calmed him from the inside out.
“A true leader sets aside his personal wants for the good of the whole,” she whispered. “And he makes sacrifices. Ones that, in the end, justify all that came before.” When he lifted his head and frowned at her, a sad smile spread across her perfect face. “Someone once told me that.”
“Sounds like a moron. I’m not a leader.”
“No, but you’re a guardian. The best one I know. And you’re a father. That makes you a leader, whether you think so or not. Zander, do you know your irises are silver?”
What was left of his heart pinched. Tight. He rested his forehead against hers once more. “Because of you.”
“Oh…”
“You’re holding up the proceedings, Argonaut.”
The king’s irritated voice echoing from above brought tension to Zander’s shoulders all over again. He glared up to the balcony where the fragile king stood leaning against the banister in his white regal suit, a scowl on his wrinkled face and a cane in one hand. It was clear he couldn’t see them, but he could hear them, and Zander had no doubt the now-blind king could picture what was happening below.
Theron, dressed in his uniform and red cloak, stood at the king’s right, Casey at his left. Neither the leader of the Argonauts nor his bride looked thrilled with the situation, and the king was positively fuming.
Callia’s soft fingers against his cheek drew his face back to hers. “Ignore him.”
“He’s your biological father. He should care.”
“He’s doing what he thinks is best. Look at me.” When he did, the shine of tears in her eyes told him this was as hard for her as it was for him. Probably harder. “Don’t let him poison our last few seconds together.”
“Thea…”
She brushed the hair back from his temples, and her voice hitched when she said, “I love you, Zander. Always. Remember that whenever things get to be too much. Me and Max. We’re yours no matter where you go or what you do. Nothing, no one, can change that.”
Mine. As he looked down into her eyes, he saw his life broken into two parts. The way it was before her, empty and meaningless, and the way it had been since she’d come into it, full and with purpose. She’d uncovered the humanity in him, given him balance and healed him in a way no one else ever could. And though part of him burned with the heat of a thousand suns knowing they couldn’t be together, she was right. She was his. Would always be his.