The truth is Talos didn’t just find me. He’s captured me again.
Orpheus watches me for a long moment.
Then he exhales slowly, like he’s making peace with something he doesn’t like.
“Fine,” he says. “You don’t have to tell me tonight.”
Relief hits so fast it makes me dizzy, but it doesn’t last.
His next words wrap around my throat like a promise and a threat at the same time.
“You will tell me,” he says. “Eventually.”
I swallow hard.
Orpheus steps back, gesturing toward the bed. “Sit.”
I hesitate.
“Cassia,” he says, and his voice is softer now, but it’s still commanding. “Please. You need to breathe.”
I move to the edge of the bed and sit, hands clenched in my lap like if I let go, I’ll fall apart again.
Orpheus kneels in front of me.
The sight is so wrong it steals my breath.
A King on his knees.
Not bowing. Not submitting.
But positioning himself lower, deliberately, so I don’t feel like he’s towering over me.
It makes my throat burn again.
“I’m going to keep you here tonight,” he says quietly. “No arguments. No pride. You’ll sleep behind locked doors with guards on the hall.”
I look at him. “That feels like a cage.”
“It’s a shield,” he replies. “You don’t have to like it. You just have to survive it.”
My breath shakes. “And what about tomorrow?”
His gaze flicks up, intense. “Tomorrow, I find this Talos, and we deal with this problem.”
A chill rolls through me.
“That’s a bad idea,” I whisper.
Orpheus’s mouth curves slightly. “So was stepping in front of a blade for me.”
I flinch.
“Don’t throw that back at me,” I mutter.
We stare at each other, the air between us charged with things I don’t want to name.
I can feel how close we are to crossing another line. Not physical, not yet.
