“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, though my voice stuck in my throat. “This is all my fault.”
“No, it isn’t,” Orion said gently, his eyes hollow. “It’s because of all of us. Panos has had it out for us for years. How he got to her, I’ll never know. He was out on the field. We saw him flee. Callista was gone by the time we got downstairs. The letter arrived this morning.”
“He did this because of me,” I said. “You read the note. He’ll let her go but only if you give me to him.”
“And that isn’t going to happen,” Yuto said with a growl from where he’d stopped pacing in the middle of the room.
I frowned. “But if you don’t make the trade, he’ll—”
“I amnotgiving you to Panos.”
“But—”
“He’s right,” Eryx said. “We won’t make that trade.”
“I don’t understand,” I whispered. “She’s Callista. You have to do everything you can to get her back.”
“And we will,” Eryx said, voice insistent. “But if we make that trade, Panos wins. And we cannot let that bastard win.”
I glanced from Yuto to Eryx and then to Aleka who was giving me an encouraging nod. “Don’t worry, love. We aren’t going to feed you to that creature. None of us will ever let him lay a hand on you again.”
Relief and gratitude rushed through me, but it was quickly replaced by a hanging sense of dread and guilt. My life or hers. That was the deal. And I couldn’t let her die because of me.
“I appreciate what you all are saying, but I—”
“Aradia,” Yuto growled, stalking toward me with fury in his eyes. “You stop right there. I won’t let you even say it out loud. We’re not making the trade. That’s the end of the conversation. Stop arguing with me about this.”
Jutting out my chin, I crossed my arms and gave him a look that emphasized exactly what he knew I was thinking. “If you don’t do something, Callista is dead. I know you won’t let that happen, so what’s your plan then? What are you going to do to stop Panos?”
Yuto pursed his lips and stalked from one end of the room to the next. Tension tightened his shoulders, and every step was more thunderous than the last. Finally, he came to a sudden stop and whipped toward Eryx with a very vicious eyebrow raised. “Tell me you have a plan. One that does not involve the trade.”
Orion cleared his throat, his gaze shifting my way. “Ihave a plan. But I’m fairly certain you won’t like this one any better than the trade.”
Yuto furrowed his brows. “Does it involve putting Aradia in harm’s way?”
“We-ell,” Orion tried, but Yuto shut him up with a single forceful glare.
“Come up with something else then.”
“At least hear him out, my lord,” Eryx said. “It might not be ideal, but it could be better than what we have.”
“Which is nothing,” Orion added.
Yuto’s scowl deepened. “Fine. Tell me this grand plan of yours that involves Aradia getting killed.”
Orion sighed. “It won’t get Aradia killed. You’ll be right by her side every step of the way.”
“Every step what way?” I finally asked. No one had bothered to ask me if I wanted to hear the plan. The planabout myself. It was time I got invited into the conversation, particularly if I’d be the one in danger.
Orion shifted his gaze my way and winced. “Panos wants Yuto to trade you for Callista. That means he’ll let his guard down if he thinks he’s going to get you. He might even leave Callista unattended, which would give one of us an opportunity to get her out of there.”
“You want to use Aradia as bait,” Yuto snapped, fury rolling off his body in waves. “Absolutely not.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one who makes that decision?” I asked, heart thumping.
Now, I didn’t reallywantto be used as bait, but I saw the merits of the plan. We’d set a trap for Panos. When he fell right into it, we’d hopefully manage to get Callista back. It made sense, in a terrifying way. Plus, no one had volunteered any other ideas. It was either this or nothing.
Yuto took my arms in his gloved hands and steered me toward the back corner of the room. He leaned toward me, pain flickering in his red eyes. “I don’t want you doing this, Aradia.”
