Chapter One
Dimitris
Violet eyes narrowed on Dimitris, claw-like nails clacking against the armrest of the chair opposite him.
A feral creature sat in the seer’s lap, hissing with pearly teeth on display.
Lavender and pine mixed in the air, emanating from the vase that sat on a small wooden table beside the bed.
The scent was a stark contrast to the rigidness of Thalia’s posture as she stared at him.
With each crackle and pop of the fire he had to remind himself not to let the seer’s disdain nor the cat's obvious hatred bother him.
He was only doing what was ordered.
Dimitris had spent many days in these chambers, watching as the moon-haired woman slept curled up next to that little daimon of hers.
Watched as she healed, albeit slowly, from whatever monstrosity they’d encountered in the dungeons of Aidesian.
But descending into the underworld had been by his own choosing, some strange allegiance to his brother and those Ander loved, despite the years and distance between them.
And now, somehow, that very brother pressured him into the one situation he absolutely did not want or need.
Confined quarters with that damned cat, unable to escape to the woods when he wished to be alone, be rid of her scent.
For days they waged this war of silence, but there was no longer time to ignore their fate. They were to set sail for Skiatha to rally an army for the impending war and time was no longer a luxury.
“You think this is how I meant to spend my winter, seer?” Dimitris rumbled, tapping his foot in the corner of the room where he leaned, arms crossed, against the stone wall.
Thalia’s brow twitched up—a match to her psychí’s dark smudge across the top of her head.
“Actually, I do,” she chuckled, though her voice was the furthest thing from lighthearted.
“You have barely left my side since Aidesian, I can only guess it is because you enjoy my company. Or perhaps it is because you are afraid I will send Mykonos after you.” The cat hissed once more at the declaration, showing off tiny incisors as if the small creature would cause him to shake in his boots.
How many times would that thing let out that high-pitched noise?
“You wish, gatáki. The only thing I am afraid of is my brother slitting my throat or throwing me in the dungeons for killing a precious member of his crew.”
It made Dimitris’s skin crawl, the undying loyalty Ander gave everyone but him.
For as long as he could remember it was that way.
Even Ajax seemed to receive more brotherly love than Dimitris ever had.
And, still, Dimitris had bent the knee when Ander delivered his orders to venture to Skiatha, because although he said he was asking as a brother, not the future king, there was no real choice in the matter.
“I wish? Trust me, fengaráki, there is nothing I wish for less. Your stench has been unbearable.” Once again, the daimon hissed in agreement.
His stench? Thalia must be still healing in her head if she thought he was the one overwhelming the air, especially if she thought it was bad.
Every time he stepped foot in this room it was here, the oddly sweet scent of something he could not place, an unnamed flower he would find in the woods, the fresh air that came when a full moon rose in the sky.
It would wash over him in waves and it was utterly infuriating that such a woman made him want to fall down to his knees and beg while simultaneously making him loathe himself for the thought.
She was untouchable. And he wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot spear even if she weren’t. Thalia would probably claw his eyes out.
“Well, I regret to inform you that neither of us has a choice. I even suggested Leighton go in my stead,” Dimitris said.
“Ander would never allow that,” Thalia replied, placing Mykonos down on the floor.
The little creature padded over to Dimitris and he flinched ever so slightly as she brushed up against his legs. Thalia’s lip twitched up in an I told you that you’re afraid of her kind of way and Dimitris immediately turned his face to stone.
“And why is that? He knows the course to get there, the soldiers trust him—”
“The soldiers trust me as well,” Thalia scoffed, cutting him off.
“I do not doubt that, gatáki, but Leighton is much more suited to the task than I am.” Dimitris pushed off the wall. “So, I ask again…why me?”
“Because he doesn’t trust you,” she snapped.
It felt like an arrow struck right into his chest and Dimitris’s blood boiled.
Ander didn’t trust him. His own flesh and blood.
Dimitris knew that already, especially with what happened with Marianna, but that was always an emotion between brothers.
Something he passed off as envy and well-deserved grief.
A mocking of some sort. To hear someone else say it out loud made it seem finite, unchanging, as if there was nothing he could do to prove himself to the beloved captain and prince.
Brother—it was as if that word meant nothing when it came to him.
“He trusts me with you.” Dimitris was ready to storm out of Thalia’s chambers, but attempted to roll his shoulders back, stand tall, brush off the slight as he had done so many times before.
“No,” she said, her tone nonchalant, “but he does trust that I will keep you in line. It is time to grow up, Prince, and accept the responsibilities that come with your title.”
That was it—he was tired of being insulted, by his parents, by his brother, and especially by this feline woman. She was no longer injured. She had no excuse for her venomous words other than being a cold-hearted bitch.
“You know nothing of the responsibilities of my title, of what an alpha means on this isle,” he growled.
Thalia’s eyes coated over with a whitish-blue hue and a chill crept into the room, causing the hairs on Dimitris’s arms to raise. Icicles formed and crackled against the stained glass windows in the room, spiraling out in a delicate pattern before the windows themselves shattered.
“I may not, but neither do you.” Thalia’s voice changed to a lower pitch and it made Dimitris want to flee to the forest. “And it will cost you your life.”
Dimitris couldn’t help but feel the bile stir in his stomach at the words. This is why he hated seers—why he avoided them at all costs. He should have avoided her.
It will cost you your life. And if Thalia spoke it, it was true.
The goosebumps on Dimitris’s skin had not receded since he left Thalia in her room.
Not as he made his way from the castle to the docks, where his crew was arranging to set sail.
Not as he threw back a stiff pour of his favorite ouzo.
Not even as he detailed the preparations of the journey to Skiatha in his logs—something that always stilled his mind.
His uncle, Cal, had joined him about an hour after Dimitris returned to the Aphrodite, informing him that the necessary supplies were all stored and ready for their journey.
The crew was onboard and stationed at their usual posts.
Everything was in place, and still Dimitris’s knee shook up and down.
Something seemed…off. He couldn’t place it, but the scent of the brine in the air was more putrid than usual.
Not the rancid smell of a full moon’s low tide, but more akin to rotting flesh on fishbones forgotten in the galley.
Running his fingers through his hair, Dimitris tried to shake the feeling.
“Set course for Skiatha, uncle. If we are able to make it out of the harbor before the tides shift, we should make significant headway.”
“Not Skiatha,” Dimitris’s heart flew straight into his throat as he whipped his head around to once again see Thalia now in a corner of his study. Gods, that woman was soundless when she wished to be.
“What do you mean? My brother explicitly directed us to sail to Skiatha, and as much as I hate doing his bidding, it is for a worthy cause…so he continuously repeated.” The last part he muttered under his breath.
“There is something we must do first,” Thalia replied, clutching a worn piece of parchment in her hand. Her tone had shifted drastically from their conversation this morning—every word came out with a shaky breath. “We must sail to Lesathos.”
Shaking his head, Dimitris laughed, his tone menacing. “That is in the opposite direction. We would lose at least two weeks if we went there first.”
“Then you’d better hope for strong winds, Prince, because we most certainly are going.
” Thalia picked up Mykonos and set her on his desk.
The creature padded about his charts, knocking his compass onto the floor with her paw.
The smack of it cracking against the wooden planks below had Dimitris’s muscles clenching.
“First off—get that foul creature off my charts, her nails are going to shred the parchment to bits and these were very expensive to commission. Second—who assigned you as captain? The last time I checked, the Aphrodite is my ship and I give the orders.” Who did this woman think she was?
Thalia’s lip curled back in a snarl. “I am not arguing with you, fengaráki, either we sail to Lesathos, or you will have to explain to Ander why we were unable to collect his army.”
Cal snickered from the chair he sat in by the roaring fire. His uncle was no help at all.
Palming his face, Dimitris huffed a low growl.
He looked up, staring down those violet eyes.
“And yet what you are asking is to do exactly that. So, are you to tell me there is something in Lesathos that is critical to the cause? Something that we must have, otherwise the mission we have been sent on will go to shit?”
“Yes.” She glared right back, crimson lip still tucked up, showing off her glaring white canines.
“And what exactly might that be?”
Claws gripped the other edge of the wooden desk as Thalia leaned in. “A person.”
“A person?” Dimitris stood, pushing back from his desk and a few more papers floated to the ground.
“Cal, you have to agree with me on this. It will take several weeks to go find one single person! That’s illogical.
Unless that person is some sort of god-killer—which no doubt they are not—they are not worth the inconvenience.
” His blood was beginning to boil once more.
There was no way he was making it through the next few weeks with her—let alone months.
“Hear Thalia out, nephew. It is clear the seer feels passionate about this.”
Traitor. What a gods-damned traitor. He should’ve known better than to think his uncle would support his decision. For years Cal had taken up residence at his townhome in Xanthia, and apparently in that time became very close to the band of miscreant pirates that made up the crew of The Nostos.
“There is a woman there. Someone I made a promise to a long time ago.” It seemed the seer was no longer the one who gave him a searing glare of death, but the cat who was now much too close with those beady, feral yellow orbs, its pupils barely there.
“And why is she so important?” The least she could do was give him a reason—any reason. It didn’t even have to be sound. Just something he could report back to his brother so Ander didn’t think he was off gambling and indulging in spirits and sex when he should be rallying an army.
“She’s my sister,” Thalia whispered.
Fuck.
“And what will happen to your sister if we do not go to her?” he asked through gritted teeth.
Thalia met his stare once more, but this time her eyes were glassy. “She will die.”
Double fuck.
As much as Dimitris argued with his brother and sister, they were kin. He would destroy isles for their safety. How could he deny this woman the very same opportunity for someone she loved? Someone she shared blood with?
“Well, you heard the woman, Cal. Set our course for Lesathos.”
“Of course, Captain.” Cal bowed and slipped past Thalia, who still stood with her nails firmly planted in the wood of the desk.
Tremors laced Thalia's body and Mykonos had moved from staring Dimitris down to purring against her human’s arm, poking with her little pink nose. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” Dimitris replied, following his uncle out, “we haven’t found her yet.”