Page 20 of The Demigod Complex
Castor was silent for so long, she glanced back up. Her eyes widened at the expression on his face, a mixture of guilt and tender protectiveness. But that couldn’t be right.
Before she could say anything, he took her face in his hands. “Don’t go.”
She blinked as her heart pulsed. “What?”
“Don’t go to the mating ceremony. Go home. I’ll deal with things here.”
She bit her lip. “What about Marrok and Tala?”
“When I explain things to them, they’ll understand that you couldn’t stay,” he said softly.
The thing was, no way could she back down now. She may have hidden in the foyer, but something inside her cried out in protest.
She hadn’t resigned for a reason. Because she’d be leaving the only happiness she’d found in a long, long time—Castor and her job. Just to escape the worry that she’d be found.
No.
A big, fucking no.
She’d let Kaios do too much to control her life, even when she’d thought him dead and gone. No more. Leaving, running and hiding, meant Kaios would win. Again.
She swallowed. “No. A werewolf at their mating is a big deal to them. Don’t say anything to them.”
“Then I’ll tell them you’re sick or something. I’m not going to put you through facing your own personal demon. Not for me.” His eyes darkened, turning the color of a storm. Any second now, lightning would flash.
This was why she was unable to resist him. Castor Dioskouri was an intrinsically good man who put others before his own needs, despite being a demigod.
She covered his hands with her own, leaning into the heat of him. “I want to stay. I’m going to help them, and Kaios can be damned to the lowest pits of Hades.”
With a groan Castor released her face only to pull her into this body and wrap his arms around her. He settled his chin on the top of her head. Leia closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation of being surrounded by him, giving in to her own weakness. Just for a second. “You have a good heart, Lyleia Naiad. Why help people you’ve only just met?”
Because they were Castor’s friends, only she couldn’t tell him that. “Because you think they are good, and their goal of bringing peace to their packs is a worthy one. And I’m sick to death of running.”
He grunted. “What’s your plan?”
She scrunched up her face. “If I told you, you wouldn’t let me do it.”
He moved his hands to her shoulders to lean back and look her in the eyes, frowning. “Which means it’s dangerous.”
“Not necessarily dangerous. More like…”
“Stupid?”
Usually a term like that would earn him a verbal smack down, but he was worried about her, so she let it pass. “I’ve been called worse. I’ll be fine.”
“I can’t talk you out of this, can I?”
“No. It’s been so long since I’ve had a chance to use my powers at all, let alone for a good cause. I’m not asking you, Castor. I’m telling you. Iwantto do this.”
To feel some worth. To access the elements again. Maybe show her sisters that by abandoning her they were complicit in her fate. And show a certain werewolf that she was done.
“Do you need to be at the mating ceremony for it to work?” She could see his mind ticking over, trying to make a solution that fit his determination to protect her.
“It’s better if I am. I need to be close by.”
“Which means you’ll have to come face to face with Kaios.” His lips flattened in a grim line her fingers itched to smooth over.
She held onto his hands tighter. “I’ll handle him.” With Castor there, she knew she could.
