“Zeus’s wife? Why would she care about you and your race?”
“She hated Heracles. For a variety of reasons, but mostly because he was one more of Zeus’s blatant infidelities. And because of Zeus’s affection for the heroes as a whole, she likewise hated the Argonauts. What better way to get back at all of us than by convincing the Fates to make sure we are never happy?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Argonauts, every one of them, me included, were given one soul mate. Just one. And it’s always the last person they would ever choose. Most Argonauts go their entire lives without finding theirs. Since I met you, all the signs point to you being mine.”
“What signs?”
Don’t tell her.
He glanced around the forest again, remembering that being out in the open like this wasn’t safe, but unable to let this subject drop. “The attraction between us, for one. The sexual heat.” Her cheeks blushed again, encouraging him. “The fact that even when I thought you were human, I recognized something unique and alluring in you I’d not recognized in another.”
“You’re not wild about my being human, are you?”
He didn’t answer. Couldn’t.
She looked at his chest, then up to his eyes, and if he thought he saw a flicker of disappointment, she masked it well. “Just how many women do you have to sleep with to find this soul mate?”
He recognized her sarcasm, and knew he was dancing perilously close to the edge with her. “It’s not like that.”
“Oh, it’s not?” she asked innocently. “Then that means you don’t want to have sex with me?”
He eased closer and dropped his voice. “I want very much to be with you, you know that. You can see it in my eyes.”
“To see if I’m your soul mate,” she said plainly.
“Yes.” Her eyes flashed. “No,” he corrected. Good gods, she was trying to trap him in a lie. “I want to lay with you because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the way you feel and taste since that night in your house.”
She tipped her head. “And an eager and willing captive is so much more appealing than a combative one.”
“Acacia—”
“You know what, Theron? Don’t even try to dig yourself out of this one.” She patted him on the shoulder. “Nice try, though. I’m sure it works on some women. Just not me.” She marched up the path with a smug sway of her hips.
As she moved away, Theron cursed under his breath and berated himself for being so stupid. Why in the name of Zeus had he told her about the soul mates? She’d never understand the importance or the fact the Argonauts as a whole were seemingly immune to tapping into their humanity, which was Hera’s original plan. Even if they did, the fact the goddess had made sure their other half was the exact opposite of what they wanted was a guarantee of disaster. And an Argonaut who’d found his soul mate and then lost her? He might as well just open a vein and bleed out all over the floor. Because that’s what it would be like. Nothing left inside him. Theron knew that was true from watching his kinsman Zander these past ten years. And it wasn’t something he ever wanted to experience.
Of course, Acacia would never get that. Hell, she hadn’t even fully accepted who and what she was. And then he’d gone and told her he’d know if they were destined to be together by screwing her? Yeah. All things considered, he was lucky she hadn’t hauled back and nailed him in the nuts for that suggestion.
He was so caught up in his own thoughts, he didn’t realize Acacia had picked up her pace until she rounded the bend and disappeared from sight. A tingle spread down his spine as he jogged to catch up with her. As he turned the corner, he discovered the forest opened into a clearing and what had once been a small settlement.
Had been, he realized, because all that was left now were a few burned-out buildings, half walls and foundations supporting blackened beams and broken windows.
Acacia stood at the edge of the village, her eyes taking in the entire scene as he stepped up to her. “This was where it happened,” she said, lifting a thin arm and pointing toward what was left of a house, three buildings in. “That was hers.”
The settlement was nestled into a valley. Mountains rose on three sides, and a creek meandered along the edge of town, bubbling and gurgling in the warming air. “They struck from the mountains. The villagers didn’t even have time to react.”
Theron turned in her direction only to falter at the pain he saw etched deeply into her face. Once again he was awed by her strength and resolve. By her loyalty to a people she’d just discovered and the ease with which she pitched in to help. And through all that, he realized if she turned out not to be his soul mate, he’d be hard-pressed to find another gynaíka who intrigued and mystified him the way she did.
He looked out over the burned homes and imagined what the half-breed families must have gone through during that vicious attack. Daemons were not known for mercy. And the king had been aware of their struggle for eons.
His chest tightened. Back at the colony, he’d been able to convince himself the problems of the Misos were not his to bear. But standing here, staring at the destruction, all he could think was We could have done something.
“Acacia, I—”
“Shh.” She placed her hand against his chest, and the skin beneath his shirt tingled with awareness from just the slightest touch. “Did you hear that?”
He listened, hearing nothing but the wind whistling through the ominous Douglas firs. The air was warm, so he knew she couldn’t have heard a pack of daemons. “I don’t hear anything.”
“That.”
He turned his head to listen closely. And heard the slightest sound. “That’s—”
“A voice,” she said, excitement building in her words.
“Acacia, wait—”
But she didn’t listen. She took off at a slow jog toward the only intact building in the settlement. An old barn that sat at the far end of town with a rope from the second-floor loft blowing gently in the breeze.
“Marissa?” Acacia called. “Honey, answer me if that’s you. It’s Casey. Marissa? We’re all worried about you.”
Silence.
Theron caught up with her just as she stepped inside the dark barn. He grasped her upper arm and leaned close to her ear. “Stay close to me. On this we don’t negotiate.”
She nodded and let him take the lead, but she continued to call out to Marissa, and he didn’t stop her because he hoped the child would respond to her voice.
“Marissa?” she called again. “We’ve walked a long way to find you. There are a lot of people worried about you, honey. Don’t be scared, sweetie. But you have to tell us where you are.”
A shuffling sound echoed from above. Acacia put her hand on Theron to stop him. She nodded toward the ceiling and they both glanced up.
A ladder to the left looked as though it led to the second floor. Theron placed a hand and foot on the cracked rails and prayed they’d hold his weight. Just as he was about to step on the first rung, they heard a small voice from above.
“Casey, is that you?”
Acacia let out a long, relieved breath. “Yes, honey. It’s me.”
“Are you alone?”
The two shared a glance, and Theron shook his head, afraid if the youngling knew he was there, it might scare her into retreating again, but Acacia ignored his warning. “No, Marissa. I’m not alone. Theron’s here with me.”
“He is?”
“Yes.”
Silence.