Elisabeth Naughton - Enslaved

She looked down at his hand. Everything she’d ever wanted was only inches from her. All she had to do was reach out and take it.

Slowly, she turned to look behind her. At the Argonauts standing with their feet apart, arms at their sides, bodies ready for whatever battle Zeus might throw their way. To Sklya at Orpheus’s side with her hand at her lower back, reaching, Maelea already knew, for her dagger. At Atalanta’s smoldering body at their feet. And finally to Gryphon, at the front of the group, staring at her with wide, light blue, mesmerizing eyes.

I would give up anything for you.

Her heart contracted. And the road home, a home that had nothing to do with Olympus, spread out in front of her like a winding trail of gleaming gold.

She turned back to face her father. And knew as soon as she made this choice, she could never take it back. Even if it turned out Gryphon didn’t want her anymore. “I’m not going with you.”

Zeus’s smile dimmed. “What did you say?”

“I said…I’m not going.” Her chest warmed. Telling her yes. It was the right choice. The only choice. “I don’t want to leave.”

Shock filled Zeus’s eyes, and his gaze shot past her. “You stay because of him ?”

Maelea moved fully in front of Gryphon. “I stay because I choose to. My choice has nothing to do with you.”

“So like your mother.” Disbelief morphed to contempt in his eyes, and a chill spread down Maelea’s spine at how quickly her father could go from wanting her to hating her. “Conniving and treacherous. He’ll not give you the Orb, if that’s what you’re after. In fact, in a minute, it will be mine. But you, child, because you turned your back to me, you will be left to dwell in this realm all alone, just as you were cursed by my brother.” His dark eyes narrowed. “I gave you a chance.”

Maelea’s adrenaline shot up, and she felt—and heard—the Argonauts move up around Gryphon, protecting both him and the Orb. “I’m not after the Orb. But you just confirmed to me that you are. And I’m pretty sure you’ll not get it. Not without a fight.”

Zeus chuckled, and his gaze swept over the group, hovering on Skyla to Maelea’s right before swinging back her way. “Do you think the Argonauts and one backstabbing Siren scare me?”

Maelea tensed at the venom in his eyes. Behind her the clink of weapons being drawn drifted to her ears.

Oh gods , what had she done? Even with the Orb the Argonauts were no match for Zeus. Had she just condemned them all as she’d condemned herself? Her pulse soared.

“They might not scare you, Zeus, but I do.”

Zeus cursed, and, shocked by the new voice, Maelea turned toward the left. Toward the frail-looking creature hovering over the frozen ground, her diaphanous robe shimmering in a ray of golden sunlight.

“Lachesis,” Gryphon whispered at Maelea’s back.

A Fate. Maelea’s pulse beat even faster as the female floated toward them and stopped between Maelea and the King of the Gods.

“She’s made her choice,” Lachesis said. “Go back to Olympus.”

Fury erupted in Zeus’s eyes. “This is not over.”

“For now it is,” Lachesis said matter of factly. “The Orb belongs not to you, not to your father, and very definitely not to your brother. It belongs to them. And what they choose to do with it is their choice. Much as Maelea’s future is her own.”

Zeus’s enraged eyes shot over the group again. “If you think you’re safe because Atalanta is dead, you’re sorely mistaken. You do not want to take on the gods. You will lose, I guarantee it. Give me the Orb now and I’ll let you and those who dwell within your realm live.”

Silence echoed through the clearing.

“You’ve been given your answer,” Lachesis said, a smug grin across her face as she extended her arm and closed her fingers into a fist. “Go back to the light once and for all!”

She threw her hand forward, opened her fist, and whatever power had gathered there shot toward Zeus. In a poof of smoke and flames, he disappeared into nothingness.

“Whoa,” someone whispered.

“Holy shit,” another said.

As Lachesis turned to face her, Maelea caught sight of the rest of the Argonauts—Demetrius, Cerek, Phineus—and Nick emerging from the trees at her back, holy shit looks on their faces at the scene they’d just witnessed.

“This is the reason Orpheus’s soul was given a second chance, child,” Lachesis said, drawing Maelea’s attention her way. “So that he could find you, and so that you could fulfill your destiny.” The Fate lifted both hands in front of her and pulled them back as if drawing on two invisible ropes. “I release you from both the light and darkness. Your life is your own. You will remain ageless—I can’t change that—but when you choose to move to the Isles of the Blessed, so it will be.”

Maelea gasped as her links to both the Underworld and Olympus were pulled right out of her body. Her legs sagged, and she would have slumped to the ground, but Gryphon was right there to catch her, his arms sliding around her waist, his body pressing up tight against her back to support her all over again.

Lachesis looked his way and smiled. “Take care of her, Guardian.”

“I will,” Gryphon answered, glancing at Maelea, a smile on his lips and a sparkle in his eye that banished whatever lingering fear remained.

Lachesis’s smile faded, and she moved back, looked over the rest of the group. “The race to find the last remaining elements will intensify. And revenge now burns hot in the gods’ veins. You’ve won the battle, but not the war, my friends. Every moment the remaining elements are hidden, Krónos plots his freedom. Find them, guardians, and end this war once and for all.”

The Fate faded into nothing. And around her, whispered “No way that just happened” and “Holy skata , did you see that?” comments echoed. But she couldn’t focus on any of them, because all she could see was Gryphon looking down at her with all the love and longing she’d searched for her whole life.

“You gave up Olympus.”

She turned in his arms, rested her hands against his strong, familiar chest. “I knew it wouldn’t be half what I’d dreamed without you.”

“ Sotiria ,” he whispered, framing her face with his hands. “You give up too much for me.”

She gripped his forearms, and her skin warmed at the contact. “Haven’t you figured out by now, Guardian, I would give up anything for you?”

His eyes softened, and as he lowered his lips to hers, kissing her so gently, so thoroughly, she knew the sacrifice she’d made wasn’t a sacrifice at all.

“I will make you happy,” he whispered against her lips. “I promise.”

Someone chuckled. From somewhere close Titus muttered, “Way to go, Gryph.” Then to the rest of the group, “Another one bites the dust.”

A thwack echoed through the clearing, followed by Skyla’s voice saying, “Leave them alone. I think it’s sweet.”

But Maelea didn’t care what Gryphon’s kin thought. All she cared about was spending her life with the man she’d feared and hated and loved and lost. With the man she’d never lose again.

She pulled back from his mouth. “What about your Council? They won’t let me—”

“Don’t worry about them,” Theron said nearby. “We’ll handle the Council. I think it’s the least we can do, after what you did for us.”

Gryphon looked to Theron, smiled his thanks, then glanced back down at her, this time with eyes she knew she would lose herself in forever. “Anything else you need?”

“Just you,” she whispered. “You’re all I ever need.”

“Ditto, sotiria .” His lips curled higher as he leaned down to kiss her again. And as his arms tightened around her waist, she couldn’t tell where he stopped and she began.