Page 45 of The Demigod Complex
He checked that no one was watching and gave the door the tiniest kick. It burst open, splintering the wooden doorframe where the lock was. A quick search of her apartment showed him Leia was gone. Castor pulled out his phone and dialed the only person he could think of.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
“She’s protected,” Delilah answered.
He had to concentrate on not crushing the phone. “Protecting her ismyjob. Tell me where she went.”
“Funny, she sees protectingyouasherjob.”
He shook his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means she loves you. How you managed to get her to feel something other than numb is a miracle.”
Leia loved him. His stomach clenched with elation and roiling fear for her safety. “Delilah…if anything happens to her and I’m not there, I’ll never forgive myself.”
Chapter Sixteen
Leia’s gaze roamed over the wooded scene beyond the window over the kitchen sink. As places to hide went, this one was idyllic. The napaeae wood nymph who dwelled here had been nothing but welcoming. A nice change.
After she had given Castor the slip, she’d met up with Delilah, who’d flown her back to Colorado. There, Tala and Marrok had stepped in and hidden her away in a tiny cabin, one that smelled of the pine trees the logs had been hewn from, in the middle of the wilderness. The home where she stayed was as basic as you could get, with a combined kitchen and living area on the first floor, and a ladder leading up to a loft that functioned as a bedroom. Minimal furniture, a power generator, and a well system for water, and she was set.
For how long she had no idea.
A large pond was situated within walking distance, about half a mile down a steep hill from the flat area on which the cabin was situated. The presence of water so close and nature all around her was what she’d been wishing for and dreaming of since the day she’d lost them. She’d felt incomplete, living only half a life. Now she had it, but pure happiness still lay out of reach.
She missed Castor. His absence was a hole inside her, an ache that no amount of time would fix.
Only three days had passed since she’d left. Disappearing on him had come with a certain amount of guilt, even if she was doing this to protect him. When you loved someone, sacrifice came with the gig. Right?
“Leia.”
She could’ve sworn she heard his voice on the wind calling her name. Fabulous. Now she was hearing things. Not even the loss of her spring had made her lose her sanity.
“Leia, it’s Castor. Honey, are you in there?”
She dropped the glass she was drying with a hand towel, hardly hearing the sound of it shattering in the sink.
No. He couldn’t be here. This had to be a trick.
Cautiously, she moved to the window at the front of the cabin and inched back the edge of the white linen curtain to peer outside. Sure enough, Castor Dioskouri stood in the field of wildflowers outside her new home.
By the gods. Her eyes drank in the sight of casual jeans, a short-sleeved black T-shirt, and hiking boots. The wind ruffled up his dark hair. She gulped, battling the need to run outside and pitch herself into his arms even as she knew she had to throw him off the property. Now.
Leia took a deep breath before she pulled open the door. Hands on her hips, she confronted him. “What are you doing here?”
She glanced at the tall pine trees around them but caught no trace of the protection by which she was supposedly surrounded. Where had they been when a demigod walked right onto the property. Huh?
His intense, blue-eyed gaze zeroed in on her, and he stalked across the field toward her. “I’m here to be with the woman driving me absolutely crazy.”
Her heart picked up its pace trying to punch through her ribs. She ignored it and tilted her chin. “I left you.”
“I noticed.” He stopped only a foot away.
The scents of clear blue sky and his spicy aftershave, her gift to him, floated across the distance to curl around her, making the ache of longing in her heart worse.
“You didn’t give me two weeks’ notice.”
That’s what this was about? “There’s a letter in the top drawer of my desk. Delilah will help you with a smooth transition to a new executive assistant.”
