Thalia’s blade lowered, the adrenaline fleeing as she realized it was Cassius before her, not some creature posed to trick her.
“What was that thing?” Thalia croaked. She hadn’t gotten up. In fact, she didn’t think her legs worked properly.
“They’re called the Nestos. They’re one of the few creatures in this forest that can communicate.” Cassius’s face was careful. “How did it lure you?”
Thalia glanced up; her heart still hadn’t returned to normal. “I saw my father.”
Surprise flared, then something like deep regret flashed before it was gone in an instant. Good. She hoped he regretted his betrayal—the lie he spoke when he swore he’d fight the creatures who’d killed her father. Hoped it haunted him as much as it haunted her.
Cassius studied her a beat longer, and Thalia wondered if he knew she was lying, could hear her heart skip a beat, perhaps knew there was something deeper going on. But he didn’t push as he offered her a bloody hand. “We should get back to camp. It’s not safe out here.”
Thalia ignored the hand, getting shakily to her feet. “How do you know the way back?”What is he even doing out here?
“We’re taught the safe paths of the forest and which to avoid.”
“We.” Thalia’s lip curled, and she couldn’t stop the sneer from twisting her features despite the death she’d just narrowly avoided.
Cassius stiffened, looking over his shoulder. “If you have any wish to survive this world, insults will not get you far.”
“And you know this so well?”
Cassius whirled to her, eyes glowing faintly. “I know that your tongue will damn you quicker than your blade.”
“You don’t know me,” Thalia gritted out.
Cassius raised a brow. “I don’tknowyou?” He stalked to her, and Thalia took a step back to avoid their chests brushing. “I know you better than you know yourself.”
Thalia’s heart climbed as he leaned closer.
“I know that you hate honey in your tea. I know that your favorite color is blue. And not the blue of the sky—blue like the lakes in the south, where the water is so clear you can see the rocks at the bottom.”
“Shut up,” Thalia whispered, but Cassius kept advancing.
“I know that you would rather spend the day riding Helios than be at court. I know that you hate when Katrina sings those awful songs.”
“Stop it.” Her chest rose and fell, her heart beating against her rib cage.
But Cassius didn’t stop. Her back pressed against a tree as he continued, speaking low, “I know that you would rather cut off your own arm than continue to see Agripa fall into ruin.”
Thalia lifted her chin. “Well, perhaps I should cut it off, then, seeing as you had a hand in its suffering.”
Cassius’s face seemed to ripple like a pebble cast over a stream. Thalia blinked and it was gone. “I did what I had to do.”
“You did nothing,” Thalia hissed. “You betrayed your kingdom, you betrayedme.”
“And you hate me because of it,” Cassius said lowly.
“Hateis not a strong enough word for what I feel for you.”
He smirked, although it didn’t reach his eyes. “When you’re ready to hear what really happened that night, I shall be glad to share it. Perhaps when you’re no longer blinded by your own rage.”
Thalia’s fingers tightened around her blade. It would take nothing to cross the distance between them and plunge it straight into his heart. “Fuck. Off.”
Cassius took a step back, cold air rushing between their bodies as he said, “You’d do well to mind your tongue when you meet His Highness. He’s far less forgiving than I.”
Then he turned his back and stalked into the night.
Chapter Seven
