A tear finally spilled over, racing down her cheek. "Sweetheart. You called me sweetheart." Without giving him a chance to reply, she disappeared.
But he didn't think she left right away, because he could still smell strawberries, could still feel her gaze burning into him. Then the skin above his heart tingled, as if she'd just traced an X.
A SULKING WILLIAM HAD refused to allow Lucien to flash him. Instead, the man had a helicopter take them to the coast of Greenland, where mountain met ice and many a human had died, forgotten and alone. The flying deathtrap could not go any farther, and Lucien was glad. He wanted out. The air was so cold, the engine kept sputtering, threatening to freeze.
He could have flashed before plummeting to the ground, so the thought of crashing didn't bother him. The fact that he was not in control bothered him. The fact that his stomach was in his throat bothered him. The fact that Anya's last memories of him might be of him hunched over and vomiting bothered him.
He nearly kissed the snow-covered land when he finally exited.
Three ATVs were already waiting for them, along with backpacks of food and water. William had seen to everything, not that Lucien trusted him. Lucien remained on guard, staying between the warrior and Anya at all times.
They climbed onto the vehicles, and he traded his lack of control for a sense of bleak isolation. An ocean of snow surrounded him. Beautiful, lovely to the extreme, but deadly. Was this how the demon had felt inside Pandora's box? Only instead of vast white there'd been nothing but eternal darkness?
"We can flash this stuff to where we need it," Anya grumbled with a glance at the backpack behind her. Heated breath caused mist to curtain her face. "I don't see why we need to haul its weight around and let it slap us in the ass every time we hit a bump."
"I agree," Lucien said.
"Well, I don't," William griped. "And obviously, you need me, so it's my way or no way."
She flipped him off. Lucien grinned at her show of spirit. Much better than the broken woman who'd left him in the bedroom.
The wind was glacial, so sharp and biting it cut past the thermal bodysuit he wore and all the way to the bone. Already he could feel his blood crystallizing, as if someone were blowing ice directly inside his veins.
"We need to climb to the highest peak," he told William. He'd checked his voice mail before leaving the house and, not surprisingly, he'd missed Torin's call while he and Anya…played. The warrior had left a message, saying he and Ashlyn had researched the area but had found no recent documented sightings of Hydra or any other beast. Too few people traveled up here, it seemed. The best place to look, Torin had advised, was the region's most dangerous area. The less traffic, the more appealing a spot it would be to a creature trying to hide.
"That's the one, then," William said, pointing straight ahead. "And don't try to flash, leaving me behind. You won't reach the top without me since I've left little presents for my…uninvited guests along the way." He paused, tilted his head. "In fact, just get flashing out of your mind, period. Maybe I should have told you earlier, but, well, you irritate me. I can't be flashed anywhere."
"What makes you so sure you cannot be flashed?" Lucien asked.
"Just trust me. Attempting to flash me hurts everyone involved. I made the mistake of rocking Hera's world, so Zeus made sure no goddess would ever be able to flash me to safety. Jealous husbands are dumb. Then Hera found out I was also rocking other goddesses' worlds, and next thing I know, I'm keeping Anya company in the slammer. Some women are more trouble than they're worth." William anchored a helmet on his head and motioned for them to do the same.
Lucien grabbed Anya's and looked it over carefully before he allowed her to do so. She gave him a secret smile before she pulled it on. His nostrils, lungs and chest stung as he donned his own. The crackle of Anya's breathing suddenly filled his ears. There was a headset built into the side, he realized, so they could communicate while they moved. Human technology could be a blessing.
"This is fun," Anya said.
It was as though she was purring straight into his ear, and his blood finally heated, melting the ice.
William cranked up his ATV and started forward. Lucien and Anya followed just a few feet behind.
"Maybe now is a good time to tell you that a group of men entered the circle about…oh, three days ago," William said into the headset. "Doubt they were looking for me."
Lucien didn't have to see his face to know the warrior was grinning with relish. "How do you know?"
"They're human. I don't mess with human women."
"Could it be Hunters?" Anya asked. Through the mask, Lucien could see her eyes blazing with curiosity.
"Most likely," Lucien said. How had they known to venture here, though? Before meeting their demise at the temple, the Hunters had complained about their lack of success.
Perhaps Cronus was somehow feeding them information as the warriors learned it, he speculated. His eyes narrowed in fury. That made sense—and did not bode well for the warriors.
"Where are they now?" he asked.
"Maybe dead." William shrugged. "Maybe on the mountain."
"I thought you monitored this place for jealous husbands," Anya said. "You should know."
"Maybe they disabled my cameras."
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
Anya leaned down—Lucien reached for her, but she maintained her balance—grabbed a handful of ice and threw it at the warrior, nailing him in the back. "Your attitude sucks. This is hardly the way to get your book back."
William continued to motor along without retaliating, almost as if he felt he deserved the chastisement. Snow and ice whipped from the chains and tires of the man's vehicle, blustering around them and making their visibility hazy. His posture was stiff, predatory, as if he expected to be attacked at any moment.
Something was terribly wrong with this situation. What, Lucien could only guess. Sadly, none of his guesses were optimistic.
TIME PASSED SLOWLY considering the sense of urgency pounding through her. Urgency and pain. Anya's ass hurt like hell. The heavy bag strapped to her four-wheeler did indeed slap at her as she'd suspected it would. Gods, she hated this. Hated not knowing the best course of action, hated not being able to read an entire situation. All she knew was that Lucien was the best thing to ever happen to her, William was clearly hiding something and she was miserable.
And if…when Lucien began growing weak—because of me, she thought guiltily—he would not be able to fight Hydra, even if they found her, placing him in greater danger. So many ifs. But Anya couldn't abide the thought of Lucien being hurt. He loved her. He'd admitted it without shame, without hesitation, and he'd meant it. Tenderness and joy had infused his confession, warming her body and soul. He loved the woman she was, not the woman he wanted her to be.
They had to find Hydra; they just had to. She'd once thought to use the artifacts to bargain for her own life. Now she knew she couldn't do that to Lucien. Instead, she was going to use them to bargain for his life.
Cronus would still hunt her, of course, because he would never stop desiring the key. Unless she killed him, which wasn't a bad idea. She might give it a shot, she thought, pursing her lips. After all, who better to murder a king than Anarchy?
Lucien would be pissed if he knew what she was thinking. He wouldn't want her to place herself at risk, no matter that she did so for him. For them. But she'd rather deal with his anger than watch him die slowly and painfully.
This is beginning to sound like love.
She shut down the thought before it could spread and deepen. If she admitted that she loved him, she wouldn't be able to resist making love to him. Already she was close to giving in. No matter the consequences. If she gave in, however, and he did die, she would be consumed with eternal grief and bound to a dead man. Not even the All-Key could break that tie.