When he opened his eyes again, the sky was clearing, clouds dissipating as if they’d never existed.
“You’re right,” he said. “I owe you. For helping Andie when I could not.” He paused, and I watched something that looked almost like pain flicker across his features. “If there’s anything House Zeus can do for House Poseidon—”
“As far as I’m concerned, our alliance stands, Stormwright.” Orion cut him off smoothly, but his attention had shifted—not to Alexander, but to me. “But in any other way, I couldn’t care less about House Zeus.” His sea-dark eyes held mine. “I’m here for you.”
Something twisted in my stomach. Alexander had stopped the storm. He’d pulled back from that edge, had humbled himself to another Alpha because—
Because of you,a traitorous part of my mind whispered.For you.
The mere thought made me want to recoil. Another voice slithered in my head. The one that had first appeared the moment I’d met him.
Look at him. Another performance. Another lie. No Alpha acts this way. They can’t. This is just what he wants you to think, what he needs you to believe. Don’t be fooled again.
Orion turned fully toward me, dismissing Alexander’s presence. His expression softened into something that looked almost gentle.
“I was honest on the yacht, Miss Cross,” he offered. “It would be my greatest pleasure to get to know you better. And to help you find your freedom.”
Help me find my freedom? How exactly was he supposed to do that? He was here, yes, but by his own admission, he washonoring his pact with my Olympian House. I wanted to believe him, but nothing in my life was ever so simple.
“Andie,” Alexander began, “you don’t have to—”
“She doesn’t have to listen to you,” Orion interrupted smoothly. “That’s rather the point, isn’t it? Unless you’re suggesting she lacks the capacity to make her own choices.”
“I’m suggesting that she’s been through enough without having you use her situation for—”
“For what, Stormwright? Unlike you, I’m not the one who’s made her life a living hell.”
The scent of the two Alphas thickened again, making my head pound. Every word felt like a physical weight pressing down on my skull.
They don’t care about you,the voice in my head whispered, louder now, insistent.They only care about themselves. About what you represent, what you can give them. You’re just a piece on their board, and they’re fighting over who gets to move you next.
The voice was right. It had to be right. Because the alternative—that any of this was real, that either of them actually gave a damn about me—was too dangerous to believe. I’d believed once. On the yacht. In that guest room with Alexander’s hands on my skin and his scent filling my lungs.
Look where that had gotten me.
“I don’t know what you’re both here for,” I said, cutting through their argument. “But I’m not interested in it.”
They both stopped, turning toward me with identical expressions of surprise.
“Have a good day, Lord Maris, Lord Stormwright.” I forced my voice to stay level, detached. “Or don’t. Just keep me out of it.”
I walked past them both, past Orion’s sea flowers still glowing on the altar. Past Alexander’s rigid form and the lightning scars hidden beneath his perfect suit. My legs felt unsteady, but I kept moving, following the shadowed path back down through the olive trees.
Neither of them tried to stop me.
13
Jealousy
Alexander
“I want you to know, Lord Stormwright, that I don’t trust you. But for Andie’s sake, I’m willing to accept you.”
Seated across from me with her arms crossed over her chest, Danae Wayland cut a strange picture. My mate’s best friend was a small woman and Andie’s complete opposite. Unremarkable where Andie was divine, she wouldn’t have impressed any Alpha with her looks. But there was something about her, a hidden fire, that told me she was far more than she seemed.
“For Andromeda’s sake, we’ll all work together,” Cassandra Reed said. She’d set up a makeshift workspace in one corner of the healing room. Her diagnostic equipment looked half-Olympian and half modern medical. I wished it had given me hope, but at this point, few things could encourage me anymore.
Helena stood by the window, her regal posture rigid with tension. She hadn’t looked at me directly since I’d arrived.