The Dark-Hunters (414 page)

“Not at all. I know how to keep a secret.”

“Good.” Geary rubbed Arik’s arm before she headed to the boat. “Come on, kids, let’s get this under way. We have a date with destiny.”

Arik paused as Kat narrowed her gaze on him with such intensity, he could actually feel his skin burn.
“How many times do you have to be warned? I can’t believe you’re this stupid.”

“I’m not. She and I have an agreement. We give her a couple of innocuous trinkets to prove that Atlantis is real and save her father’s reputation, and then she will doctor her findings to help send others off on a wild-goose chase. She will help us safeguard the location of Atlantis.”

Kat looked stunned by his declaration. “Are you serious?” she asked in a low tone that only he could hear.

“Yes. She understands why it can’t be found and is in full accord.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Ask her.”

Kat led him on board the small boat where Geary was already making preparations to sail. “So, Gear … where’s the rest of the team?”

Megeara looked a bit sheepish. “I’m thinking we only need the three of us.”

“Why?”

She met Arik’s gaze before she answered. “Look, Kat, I know how much finding Atlantis means to everyone, especially you, but I’ve done a lot of thinking and I don’t want it really found. I know it doesn’t make sense to you right now, but I think this is for the best and I want you to trust me.”

Kat still looked unconvinced by Geary’s reasoning. “So why are we going back?”

“A couple of reasons. One, I want inarguable proof that it’s there, to silence everyone who laughed at my dad, and two, we need to destroy the datum so that no one will see it and get curious about it. The last thing we need is someone digging down there on a site we helped set up.”

Kat folded her arms over her chest as she gave Geary a doubting stare. “Are you sure about this?”

“Positive.” Geary reached out to pat Kat’s shoulder comfortingly. “I’m sorry, Kat. I know you wanted to be there when we unveiled the discovery, but we can’t tell anyone where Atlantis really is.”

Kat shrugged. “Don’t apologize to me, Doctor. It’s your excavation.”

Geary couldn’t believe that Kat wasn’t angry or hurt. But she was grateful for her friend’s levelheadedness.

Of course, there was a third reason Geary wanted to go. Apollymi. If Geary unleashed Apollymi, she would save Arik. But since Kat didn’t know that and Arik would kill Geary if she mentioned it to him, she kept that to herself. No matter what, she had to save him. She couldn’t stand by and let him die because he’d wanted to be with her. It was wrong and she loved him too much for that.

In less than an hour, they had the boat prepped and were under way. Kat was at the helm while Geary stayed on deck, looking out at the passing boats around them. The island was breathtaking in the background, rising up out of the water with a grand majesty unparalleled. Her father had been right. Greece was one of the most beautiful places in the world.

And this was the first time in years she’d headed toward the site without feeling anxious and elated.

There was definitely nothing but dread in her stomach now. She glanced over to where Arik stood, checking their diving gear. For once there was no guessing about Atlantis. There was no doubt. It was there. Waiting. Just as her father had said.

She was about to show it to the world.

And release a goddess.…

Geary gripped the rail as she again heard Apollymi’s voice in her mind, calling out to her. She could save Arik. Keep him safe forever.

The promises sounded so good to her, especially as she watched him laying out their gear.

There’s no other way.
She’d done her own research and checked it with Tory. Neither of them had been able to think of or find any example of a god becoming human. At least not unless the god was cursed or there was some other extenuating circumstance that didn’t apply to this case.

It was hopeless. To keep Arik, Geary would need Apollymi.

“What am I doing?” Geary whispered. “Don’t meddle in the affairs of the gods unless you want to get eaten.” It was a lesson that resonated through ancient literature.

Who was she to tamper with fate? But as she watched Arik, she couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. The thought of sending him back to die.

“It’s an interesting moral dilemma, isn’t it?”

Geary tensed as she heard a voice to her right. She turned her head to find a handsome man standing in the shadows, barely a silhouette. His black hair was short and the glowing blue eyes marked him as another of Arik’s brethren.

“Who are you?”

“M’Adoc,” he said in a low tone. “I’m one of the three leaders of the Oneroi.”

A wave of fear went through her. “Are you here for Arik?”

He glanced over to where Arik worked, unable to see him in the glare of the afternoon sun. “Ultimately, yes. But I know from my dealings with humans that you’re going to fight me if I try to take him, and that I don’t want.”

“You’re right about that. I won’t give him up. Not now. Not ever.”

“I know. You love him. It’s why I heard Apollymi laughing a few minutes ago.” He glanced back to Arik, who was checking their small dredge. “I give my brother kudos … to gain the love of a human is no small feat. The ability of the human heart to sacrifice for the one it loves … there is nothing on Olympus that can even begin to compete with that.”

A weird chill went over her body at his words and the way he said them. It gave her insight to this stranger. “You’ve known love.” It was a statement.

His jaw flexed as if he was gritting his teeth, and a flash of pain darkened his eyes, confirming it. “The Oneroi know nothing of love and the Skoti know even less.”

Still, she didn’t believe him. He’d known it and, by the looks of it, he’d lost it. “Then why are you here?”

“To warn you not to be foolish.”

Well, that was nice of him. But she didn’t need his warning. She’d never been a stupid woman. “And how am I foolish?”

“You’ve given your heart to someone who has sold you out completely.” He cast his gaze meaningfully at Arik.

Geary scoffed at him. “You’re wrong. Arik loves me.”

He shook his head. “Arik has no conviction. If he had, he’d have never been turned by Solin.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh yes, I do. Arik is weak. He’s always been weak.”

“You—”

“Sh,” he said, cutting her off. “Before you defend him, ask yourself this. How does a Skotos become human?”

“He already told me that. He made a pact with Hades.”

“Yes, and you’re a woman who has spent her entire life steeped in ancient Greece. Have you learned nothing of our ways? Has a god ever given such a gift without receiving something extremely valuable in return?” There was an ominous note in his voice.

“What are you saying?”

“You mean so much to Arik that he bartered your life to be here. He isn’t the one who will die when his time ends, sweet child.” His blue eyes were searing with heat. “
You
will.”

Geary shook her head in denial. That was total crap and she knew it. “You’re lying.”

“I can’t lie. I’m Oneroi.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Arik came out of nowhere to rush M’Adoc. She expected them to fight. Instead, M’Adoc allowed Arik to grab him by his shirtfront, shove him up against the wall, and hold him there.

Like a true Oneroi, there was no anger or any emotion evident as M’Adoc stared unblinkingly at him. “I told her the truth.”

“You what?” Arik asked from between gritted teeth.

“I told her of your deal with Hades. That you swapped her life for your mortality.”

Arik’s face went pale as his eyes filled with absolute horror. He didn’t deny it. Rather, he looked guilty.

Geary knew then that M’Adoc wasn’t lying. “Is this true, Arik?”

He cursed before he shoved M’Adoc again. “I have no intention of fulfilling that bargain.”

M’Adoc looked at her. “As I said, he has no conviction. We don’t understand human emotion and we can’t handle it. When he returns to his true god state, he will come back here for you and kill you. As promised.”

“Bullshit!” Arik roared.

Geary wanted to believe in Arik’s rage. She needed to. But part of her was drawn toward M’Adoc. He made a convincing argument.

He looked at his brother with those cold, unfeeling eyes and it made her wonder if that’s what Arik would look like once his time had expired. “You know it’s true, Arik. When you are no longer corrupted by human emotion and Hades tells you to kill her, you will do it. You won’t have a choice and you won’t have any feelings left for her.”

“Never!”

“Not even when you’re chained in Tartarus, under Hades’ constant abuse?”

Arik flinched. He couldn’t help himself. Too many centuries of torture hit him at once, and those had been doled out by Hypnos. No one was better at making a god suffer than Hades. Everyone knew that. Arik met Megeara’s worried gaze.

“He’s telling the truth, isn’t he, Arik?”

Arik watched as she backed away from them. He released M’Adoc and turned to face her. “Megeara, please…”

She shook her head back and forth as she looked at him as if he were scum. That look cut him straight to the marrow of his bones. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Because I was stupid, okay? I didn’t want to hurt you.” He reached for her, but she stepped away.

“You intended to kill me?”

He tried to explain, but his tongue seemed to thicken in his mouth as fear seized him. How could he even begin to make her understand? “It wasn’t like that.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“I’d already made the deal when Hades set down the terms. I had no choice. He sent me here before I could even try to renegotiate.”

“And so you intended to kill me,” she repeated.

“In the beginning, yes, but—”

“But what?” she asked, her tone ragged with pain and rage. “There’s no
but
here, Arik. You
fully
intended to kill me. How could you?”

“He’s Skoti.”

“Shut up!” he snarled at M’Adoc. Arik turned back toward Megeara. “Please, baby.” He reached for her again.

She stepped back. “Don’t touch me.”

Arik couldn’t breathe as he saw the tears in her eyes. The betrayal. She was hurting, he knew it. He could feel it like his own pain. It cut through him, lacerating his heart. “I would never hurt you. You have to believe that.”

“Great words for a man who’d planned my death from the beginning, huh?”

She was right. How could he ever convince her that he’d changed? He was Skoti and Skoti were nothing.

He turned on his brother, hating him for telling her. “Damn you, M’Adoc.”

“There’s nothing to damn me over, Arik. I’m not the one in the wrong here. You are. You should never have made that bargain.”

He wanted to kill M’Adoc for this. But he was right. It’d been wrong of Arik to come here. He should have been content to stay with her in her dreams.

M’Adoc spoke calmly. “Skoti are forever selfish, Megeara. It’s why we must police them. They become mad with their hunger to the point they don’t care who they harm or how they harm them so long as they get what they want. Arik wanted you and so he was willing to kill you for it.” He met Arik’s gaze. “If you truly mean what you say now, then for once, do the decent thing. Surrender yourself to me.”

Every instinct inside Arik rebelled at the very idea of it. Every one. They would kill him and he knew it.

But then, he would die anyway. Hades would never allow him to renege on their bargain. No one backed out of a deal with the devil.

And perhaps this was the kindest end. Megeara hated him now. She thought him the lowest of forms. If he left with M’Adoc, she wouldn’t grieve for him or ask herself if maybe there was something she could have done to save him.

She would be at peace.

That would be the best gift he could give her.

“He’s right, Megeara,” Arik said, forcing all emotions out of his tone. “I would have killed you once I returned to my natural state. I’m sorry.”

Geary couldn’t breathe as he spoke those words. Part of her had still believed in him over M’Adoc. She didn’t want to think that her Arik could ever harm her.

But if what they said was true …

It stung her so deep in her heart that she felt as if she’d die from the pain.

Arik turned to M’Adoc and whispered something to him. She couldn’t hear it, but M’Adoc inclined his head before Arik sighed. “Then I’m ready to go.”

His crystal gaze met hers and the love she saw there singed her to the spot. “Good-bye, Megeara.”

She noted the satisfaction in M’Adoc’s eyes.

Satisfaction …

“Even in human form we feel nothing.”
M’Adoc should have no emotions at all. None.

But he was satisfied.

Realizing that if M’Adoc could feel, he could lie, she opened her mouth to stop them. But before she could make a single sound, M’Adoc placed his hand on Arik’s shoulder and the two of them vanished from the boat.

“No!” Geary shouted, her heart pounding as reality crashed through her.

Arik was gone.

He was going to kill you,
her mind tried to rationalize. But the scariest bit was that part of her didn’t even care. It wanted him back no matter what.

She felt the boat slowing down.

Kat came out on deck and approached her slowly. “Where’s Arik?”

Unable to even begin to explain Arik’s disappearance, Geary burst out laughing hysterically until she started crying and gesturing hopelessly toward the prow. She honestly felt like she was having a nervous breakdown. How could she tell Kat everything? The woman would think her crazy and who could blame her?

Gods in the real world? None of this would be believed. Ever.

Kat scowled. “Hon, are you okay?”

“No,” she said, trying to gain a handle on herself. “No, I’m not.”

Kat cocked her head in a gesture that reminded Geary of Solin whenever he was “listening” for something preternatural.

“What are you doing?” Geary asked.

Kat let out an uncharacteristic curse. “M’Adoc was here? How could you let him take Arik?”