That distraction and curiosity had peaked when he stopped his training to go speak with her sister. It was possible she’d misjudged the prince—Cal’s words from the other night still pestered her in the back of her mind—but who would she be if she took his words at face value? Had she not been lied to by men too many times to count? And by men like him the most. Cunning, charming, mysterious, cocky—devastatingly handsome.
She would not be so easily infatuated by their kind anymore. Not even when he seemed genuinely open to helping her sister. Especially not when he had seemingly risked everything—risked this very ship Thalia stood on—for her life. There had to be an ulterior motive, something more than just his allegiance to Alexander. She would not let Dimitris have the upper hand.
The last time she let a man—
“Get out of your head.”Herpsychí’s voice swept into her mind.
“I am not in my head,”Thalia snapped back.
The creature jumped off the banister of the foredeck, landing on Thalia’s shoulder before swatting her paw against the seer’s head.“We do not speak of him any longer, nor do we grace his ego with our thoughts.”
“I was not thinking of the prince, Myko.”
“You know it is not the prince I am referring to.”
Thalia huffed, plopping down on the stairs of the deck.“Tell me, are they not one and the same?”
“I have not made a decision on the matter yet. Though Nyx has seemed to take a liking to him.”
Whipping her head to the side, Thalia glared at the little cat.“And what would the opinion of my sister’spsychí matter?”
Mykonos extended her leg once more, this time smacking her paw against Thalia’s nose.“Because if Nyx sensed any ill will toward Dafne, the prince would be panther food by now.”
It didn't matter at this point if Dimitris was compassionate purely out of the goodness in his heart. Thalia had made up her mind—she would feel nothing. Not loyalty, not affection, not hope. Hope was a fickle thing. Hope was not something she could afford. That pestering voice in her head came knocking once more.
“It is curious to me that you give grace to Alexander and Leighton, yet the brother deserves none,”Mykonos chastised. Had herpsychíactually made up her mind then?
“They have earned my grace, my trust. Have never once harmed me or the ones I love.”
“You seem to forget that Dimitris has come to your rescue not once, but three times,”Mykonos hissed.
Thalia puckered her lips, narrowing her stare.“You have been spending too much time with Cal; his empathy and need to fix people is rubbing off on you.”
“Possibly. Or possibly you just hate that I am right.”
Against all better judgment, Thalia decided to heed the words of not only herpsychí, but Cal as well. One chance, that is all she had to give—and if he squandered that, he would not deserve another. She stood outside his quarters, pacing back and forth,deciding whether or not she should knock, or if she should just stride through the door and begin her half-hearted apology for her incredulous attitude she still wasn’t sure he deserved. If she didn’t act soon, Thalia was sure she would chicken out, find a reason why she should go straight to her own quarters, and pretend the thought never occurred to her.
That was it then she would just waltz in, say her peace, and head straight back out before he gave her a reason to take back the apology. A snide remark, a flirtation stare—really anything that came from that man.
She pushed down the lever of the door, swatting it with force to open. Her hand didn’t even have time to fly to her mouth, or better yet her eyes, before a yelp escaped Thalia’s lips. If she thought seeing Dimitris shirtless was distracting…
This. Was. So. Much. Worse.
“Eyes up here,gatáki,” he purred, seemingly unembarrassed that his entire body was unclothed. No low-slung training trousers, no undergarments, just his bare, tanned skin, peppered with more whirls of tattoos than just the wolf and moons on his ribs. Her eyes trailed unapologetically up from his thighs, to his—gods, she should not be staring atthat.
“Like what you see?” That voice. She could drink in the poison that it was and would drown in it gladly.
“What?” she muttered out.
Dimitris stepped closer to her, too close. She couldn’t breathe, and her whole body heated as he leaned in. Gods, was he about to kiss her? Did she strangely want him to? He bent down in front of her, holding her gaze with those devilish silver eyes.
“What—what are you doing?” Was she panting? Her mind could not think straight.
His lips curved up in a grin that almost sent her melting to the floor. “Just grabbing these.” Dimitris held up a pair of sleeping trousers. “It looked like you were about to faint taking me in.”
And just like that, his enchanting hold on her popped. Thalia scoffed, waving her hand in a dismissive motion. “Hardly, Prince. I would rather scrape my own eyes out than see you in that state again.”
“Are you not supposed to be apologizing?”That gods-damned cat needed to mind her own business.
