“Medea? Medea?” Orpheus’s voice drifted out from the garden.
“That’s my father. I have to go.Please, Tavyss. Don’t give it back to her, not before we have time to talk again. Come back tomorrow please. Think about what you are doing!”
For a long moment, she stared at him, her heart breaking with disappointment. How could he even consider hurting her family? He simply shook his head. She could wait no more. Her father was close, and this was no time to make acquaintances. With one last pleading glance, she tucked her wand away and raced for home.
Chapter Twelve
Tavyss landed in front of the stone cottage and barged through the door, the gem clutched in his hand. Rage glowed bright and hot in his chest, and he spit fire into the hearth, setting the logs ablaze. He paced the small room, blood burning, and watched the flames dance in the grate.
She’d played him for a fool!Even if she hadn’t directly lied to him, she’d known she was misleading him. Had she realized all along he’d been searching for the grimoire when she’d cast him to Paragon? No, she couldn’t have. He’d purposely not mentioned exactly what the goddess was looking for, wanting to spare her the details. Still, she’d taken the book without permission. She was a thief and a liar.
By the Mountain, she was his mate.
He ran a hand down his face. Flashes of her body under him filled his mind, what it felt like to bury himself deep between her thighs. Instantly his flesh responded to the memory. He was ready for her again. Wanted her again. Was desperate to have her here, to hold her tonight.
Fuck, what was he thinking? She couldn’t livehere. Now that he knew what she was, the safest place for her was in that garden where Hera’s attention never strayed. The only other place she’d be safe from the goddess was on Paragon, and that destination would most assuredly not be safe for him.
He cursed. She’d have to continue living in the garden, but he could not be apart from her. Not now that they were mated. Perhaps he could build a cottage of their own next to the orchard. He couldn’t shirk his duty guarding the gate, but they could have their own place, their own stolen moments.
Fuck, he wanted more than stolen moments. He wanted all of her moments.
He stormed toward the bed and tossed the gem onto the small table beside it. Stretching out on the lumpy mattress, he stared at it, wishing there was some way he could both appease the goddess and serve his mate. The worst part was, she was right. She’d won the book by her own merits, through cunning and magical strength, and by Hera’s own admission, the goddess had not noticed it was gone. Hera admitted she hadn’t looked for the book in decades, and Medea wasn’t old enough to have taken it that long ago. Which meant that Hera didn’t care about the book itself, only her pride and revenge.
A growl rumbled in his chest. Maybe he should return the book to Medea. Nothing about Hera was deserving. But then, that was a ridiculous, impossible idea. Hera would expect him to deliver the book. She was already obsessed. He could only put her off for so long. What he needed was to sleep. An idea would come to him in the morning.
He closed his eyes and slipped away, drawn into dreams of Medea, his mate.
* * *
Light and heatflooded Tavyss’s face. Had morning come so soon? He’d spent the night tossing and turning, made restless by the decision before him. Now his eyes burned as he cracked them open.
“Hera!” The light that woke him was not the sun but radiated from the goddess who hovered over him.
“Good morning, dragon. You’ll excuse the early visit, but I came as soon as I saw it in my looking glass. You found the book!”
She lifted the diamond from his bedside table and held it up toward the window. Never before had she called up the garden in her looking glass, but that did not mean she couldn’t see his cottage. He was stupid not to have foreseen this turn of events.
“I told you to bring this to me immediately upon its retrieval. I trust you have reason for the delay.”
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know how to free it from the jewel.”
She stared down her nose at him in quiet condescension. “I care not about the state of it. Only that it is back in my possession.”
His head began to pound. “Why go through such trouble to get it back if you have no intention of using it?”
Her face morphed into a monstrous visage. “Because it’smine. I don’t want it, but I don’t want anyone else to have it.” Her sleek blond eyebrow arched toward her hairline as she clenched her teeth. “You’re a fool if you don’t realize that this book in the wrong hands could be a weapon of mass destruction.”
What was it Medea had said? Her parents had kept the book out of the wrong hands. That was how they ended up here to begin with, as a reward for saving the realm of men from this book. They’d proven themselves worthy of it but had selflessly let it go.
“What will you do with it now?” Tavyss asked quietly.
She shrugged as if it didn’t matter one way or the other. “Return it to the protection of the underworld.”
He frowned. How was that safe? The book had almost been retrieved by a tyrant and had been called up by an untrained sorceress. It was clear the goddess didn’t care. She was already growing restless and easing toward the peacock feather.
“Leave it in my care,” he blurted, an idea sparking somewhere in his aching brain.
She turned slowly back toward him, her eyes narrowing. “What are you talking about?”
