Chapter Twelve
She needed to recharge her system.
With that sole need in mind, she tossed back the covers and tried to stand up, only to be stopped by an arm curling around her waist and dragging her back into bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Castor nuzzled her neck.
She laughed. “You’re insatiable, and I need a shower.”
He didn’t let her up. “I wasn’t the only insatiable one.”
She giggled, then sobered, teasingly serious. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He grunted his amusement as she peeled his arm from her. Not bothering to cover up, she padded across the room naked.
“I could get used to that sight in the mornings.”
She didn’t respond to his mumbled comment, pretending not to hear. Reality wasn’t something she was ready to face yet, and those words came under the heading of later.
Once she was in the bathroom, she decided a shower wasn’t going to cut it. She needed water immersion. With a flick, she turned the knobs for the oversize spa. Once the tub was filled, she lowered herself in and leaned back, closing her eyes with a sigh, and letting the magical properties of the water seep into her skin. In an instant she was transported in her mind. Rather than bathwater, the pristine water of a warm spring surrounded her, the air fresh and clean.
“What have you done?”
The whispered words were barely audible. Leia sat up with a jerk, sloshing the water over the side of the tub. “Calliadne?”
But her sister wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
Must be more tired than I thought. She lay back in the water.
“What have you done to us, Leia?”
Her eyes flashed open. This time the voice was unmistakable. Calli was trying to talk to her.
Leia sank beneath the water and waited. “I’m here, sister.”
A shimmering version of Calli’s face swam before her eyes, iridescent and rippling with the water. “You’ve brought destruction on your own people.”
Leia shook her head. “I knew what I did last night wouldn’t make you happy, but I did it for the right reasons.”
“Your actions have brought death upon us.”
Leia gripped the sides of the tub hard. She hadn’t hurt anyone last night. Stirred them up and pissed them off, sure. “What are you talking about?”
“Kaios. When you first lost your spring, he warned us to stay away. Now he’s brought a warlock.”
Why? Why attack the nymphs? “But you had no part in it. I made you react to me.” Calli’s image wavered and faded. Seconds later, pain exploded through Leia, like a shard of ice being stabbed into her brain and down her spine. She curled in on herself and screamed in agony, the sound gurgling out into the water still clear as day to her nymph’s ears. She knew this pain. It could mean only one thing. One of her brethren was dead.
Arms plunged into the water and scooped her out. “Leia?” Castor’s frantic voice penetrated the haze of pain.
She pried open her eyes. “My people are under attack,” she gasped out.
“What are you talking about?”
Through sheer will, she swallowed down the acrid taste of bile and forced the pain from her body. A couple deep breaths and the agony wasn’t gone but pushed back. “Put me down.”
He stood her up, and she ran to the bedroom and started pulling on clothes—whatever was at the top of her suitcase, which happened to be jeans and a black T-shirt.
He followed. “What are you doing? What’s going on?”
“Kaios is attacking the nymphs by the chapel in the woods. He has a warlock. I have to help them.”
Castor didn’t ask more questions. Instead he started pulling on his own jeans and T-shirt.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Coming with you.”
“No—”
“Demigod.” He pointed at his chest. “And your…” She held her breath for whatever else he thought he was to her. “Boss,” he finally said. “I’m coming with you.”
She didn’t argue. In silence they finished dressing, she pulled her hair back in a quick and messy ponytail, and they rushed from the room. Castor pulled out his cell phone. “Marrok. We have a problem.”
He quickly explained the situation to the wolf alpha, then hung up and put his phone in his pocket. “They’ll be right behind us. With help.”
“No help.”
“Why?”
“If their people find out the sign from the gods was a lie, it will ruin everything.”
“You sure?”
No. But the last time she had tangled with Kaios she had lost everything, and everyone, dearest to her. She didn’t want to risk the two alphas. “Yes.”
He pulled out the phone and handed it to her as they reached the car. “You call them. I’ll meet you there.”
She frowned even as she reached for the phone. “How—?”
“I’m a lot faster than any car.” Right. Demigod.
She dialed as she got in the car and strapped in. Marrok picked up immediately and she told him the same thing she’d just told Castor.
“I’m still coming,” Marrok insisted. A female voice sounded from another room. “So is Tala.”
“Okay. But no one else.”
“Agreed.”
She hung up and headed into war.