Chapter 33

Lauren stood in the afternoon sun which had finally broken through the clouds again, a smile fixed on her face as she stared at Dimitri making a call on his satellite phone. Though they were back in town and cell coverage was unexpectedly boosted by the recent storm’s low cloud coverage, he’d insisted on using the sat phone to make this call. From the animated way he used his arms to punctuate his words, she couldn’t tell if the conversation was going well or not. With Dimitri, animation was a part of the equation.

They hadn’t spoken after making love—not about anything real or challenging. Not about his status or hers. They had to—she knew they did. But for this moment, set off from the world of reality, words like “demigod” and “stormbringer” and “what the hell just happened” tumbled away from her to dance on the still churning waves of the Aegean. They would have time to work all that out...later.

She shifted her gaze to her own phone. To her surprise, she’d had no incoming texts or calls in the day or so since she’d checked last, but then again, only her sister had the phone number, and the two of them weren’t close, not yet. Maddie was barely fourteen, and while their relationship was good, life was simply too different for them both to fully connect. Even her own friends, Nicki, Emmaline, and Fran seemed a million miles away instead of merely a short boat ride to the mainland.

Lauren typed out a quick text to Maddie, then stole another look at Dimitri. He continued to gesture wildly, and it was impossible to tell if he was happy or peeved. Turning away, she keyed in another number.

Nicki picked up on the first ring. “Girl! What is going on—Stefan the powerful demigod of obnoxiousness, won’t tell me anything. We were getting worried!”

Lauren smiled, warmed more than she would have imagined by Nicki’s voice. Of all the girls, she hadn’t expected to get along with Nicki so much on this trip. She was Emmaline’s friend more so than Lauren’s, the two of them having roomed together in college while Lauren had shared a dorm room with Fran. Nicki had always been so outsized and bold, despite her small frame...and Lauren had always thought it was that small frame that had made her so obnoxiously “extreme-sports girl.”

Until she’d seen the bottle of meds Nicki had waved at her so casually this past week and realized the deeper truth. Such a simple thing, but it had changed everything.

Nicki wasn’t sick, not really. But her big heart that beat so fiercely as she pounded up mountains and down trails was threatened by a disease she refused to acknowledge beyond a precautionary regimen of beta blockers. Her brother and father had both been diagnosed with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that could stop the woman in her tracks at any moment...or never strike at all. Testing was required to know for sure if she was going to develop the disease, and even that wasn’t foolproof.

So Nicki had decided not to be tested. And instead to go after life as if it could be swept away from her at any moment.

As a result, Lauren didn’t look at Nicki any more as some sort of daredevil. She looked at her as a kind of miracle. Or an idiot. Or a ticking time bomb, take your pick. Either way, she was who she was, and Lauren was glad to count her as a friend.

“So what has Stefan said, actually?” Lauren asked. “He told you I was still with Dimitri, right? We had a storm hit—did you guys get it too?”

“Storm? Not hardly,” Nicki said, surprising her. “It’s been blue skies and beautiful forever. But Stefan totally said you were with Dimitri, and then tried to give us some bullshit about you needing a holiday from your parents, which we both know is not true. He’s figured out that I know what he is, that we all know what he is, and I think he’s pissed.”

She sounded far too happy about that. “He knows that Emmaline told us, right?” Lauren asked.

“Oh, yeah. Seriously, how else would we know? But he keeps acting like he doesn’t have to dish all the details on everything. Have you talked to Dimitri about it?”

“Actually—no. I haven’t.”

Nicki sighed. “I mean, I guess it’s none of our business. I totally get that we all have secrets, but most secrets aren’t this amazing. Anyway—what he is telling us is total bullshit. You’re not avoiding your parents. It’s that creeper Henry, right? He’s your supposed chosen one? Gross. He’s a million years too old for you.”

Lauren laughed in spite of herself at Nicki’s barrage of words, her gaze drifting along the rain-slicked streets. “He’s not that old.”

“Oh, please. He’s pushing forty. That’s old when you’re twenty-three. I checked.” Nicki didn’t let her respond to that. “You know, he seemed super pissed when he couldn’t find you the other night, and then he got super...not pissed. It was weird.”

Lauren’s brows went up. “What do you mean?” she asked. Though she knew the answer. Nicki supplied it for her anyway.

“Like, all this was a game to him, and you’d simply surprised him with an unexpected move. He seemed, I don’t know, delighted. Almost giddy.” She could almost hear Nicki shrug. “Like I said, creeper. I’m glad he split.”

That made her hand spasm on the phone. “He split? I thought he was part of the search party or whatever.”

“Jeez, do they tell you nothing? That’s why you’re coming home, I thought. Henry took off last night, back aboard his floating glitter palace, and sailed off into the sunset. Your parents are still freaking out, but creeper man apparently doesn’t give a damn about finding you one way or another.”

Lauren’s throat closed up. She was glad now for time passing quickly. She needed to get back into the open, back into a place where she would be seen, tracked, surrounded by her security people. If Henry had decamped, that didn’t mean he’d given up on her, far from it. That meant he was planning something else. Something new.

Probably something bad.

Nicki said something else, and Lauren’s attention flicked back to the phone. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said, when specifically are you coming home? Tonight yet? Tomorrow? I think the queen wants to have another party. Because, you know, we’re staying in a freaking castle with the gatekeepers of the flippin’ Greek gods, and that’s what one does.”

“Tonight,” Lauren said. “I’m pretty sure it’s all going to happen tonight.” Her eyes strayed to Dimitri. He’d finished his phone call and had turned back to her, his grin so wide she thought it would take up her whole world. “I’ve gotta go, Nicki,” she said, feeling her heart lighten at last. “See you guys soon?”

“You better! I’m sure they’ll be killing the fatted calf in anticipation of your triumphant return. Only, please, for the love, don’t make me wear another ball gown.”

Lauren was still laughing as she clicked off the phone, and Dimitri bounded up to her. Before she could ask him what had happened, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the sidewalk café she’d been loitering next to. “Food!” he shouted. “We’re celebrating.” The server closest to the door laughed and gestured to one of the tables. Dimitri was electric with energy as they sat.

“So it was good news?” Lauren said, drinking in the image of him. He seemed so completely relaxed and unfeigned around her. Back at the villa, they’d lain together for a half hour as the rain finally died down, dozing in the bed before getting up to shower and head into town. Except for the big human-demigod conversation they both were carefully avoiding, everything felt completely natural with Dimitri, like they’d been dating for years. Now, the sight of him filled with genuine joy and excitement was a balm to her nerves. A balm she hadn’t realized she needed so much.

“It was good news,” Dimitri said, grinning. “They believe me and want us back on the mainland immediately, of course, so they can inspect the watch themselves. I’m happy to oblige them. There’s no boat on the island now that is secure, however, so we’ll wait until we can have one outfitted and sent over. Should be later tonight.”

Lauren glanced out to the water. The sun was beginning to drop through the still heavy clouds already, so that cut down their time on the island to—what, mere hours? She forced herself not to think about that. “And then what?” she asked. “Will they track down the fisherman?”

“Already underway. He’ll be picked up at his next port and questioned. Most likely, he didn’t pull the watch off Ari’s wrist himself. He wouldn’t be so bold with showing it off otherwise. I expect he bought it off some beachcomber, but if there is any lead—anything at all to indicate what happened to Ari...” He spread his hands, his good mood dimming somewhat. “Well. That would be a blessing for the family. For me.”

“You’ll find something.” Lauren reached out and grasped Dimitri’s hand. That too seemed natural, as did the roughness of his palm as he closed his other hand around hers. He pulled her close and kissed her, laughing again as they were interrupted by the server bringing hummus and bread and olives.

They had eaten about half the meal before Dimitri leaned back, and she tensed as his gaze moved over her. He was about to shift tactics, she was certain.

She was right.

“So tell me, what will you do when we return? Stefan said Henry has left, probably to plot another day. How will you stop him completely?”

Lauren sighed “I think he’ll eventually stop himself,” she said, staring at the glass in her hand to avoid looking at him directly. “He’s, above all, a seriously proud man. Though I’m sure the story was controlled, the idea of me fleeing the scene to avoid him probably has leaked out in the communities he actually cares about. Eventually, he’ll start feeling like the rejected suitor if he keeps after me without success, and that won’t sit well with him. Better for him to go on to other conquests and decide if he still wants me.” She glanced up again. “If he does, well, I’ll deal with that then.”

Even as she spoke the words, she was surprised at how sane they sounded. How smart, even. Henry Smithson could arguably have any woman in the world. They were probably lining up for him. He was also, as Nicki so helpfully pointed out, pushing forty. If he truly was ready to settle down, chasing her around the globe had to be getting a little boring, or galling, or both.

Dimitri seemed to agree. “I can understand him not wanting to let you go,” he said, with so much bold declaration to the words that it caught her off guard. “But you’re right. Eventually, a man wants to draw in his nets and return to port, and not fish all day. I haven’t asked Stefan about the media spin. We will determine that and see if what you suspect is true.” He grinned at her, rolling his glass in his hand. “And then what? Say this man marries another, no longer worries about you. What will you do? You have the whole world at your feet.”

Lauren laughed. “I’ll work,” she said, waving off Dimitri’s startled scowl. “Hey, I enjoy working, and I haven’t been able to focus recently as much as I have needed to do.”

“Work!” he scoffed. “There will always be work to do. You should live.” He slapped the table. “What do you do for fun? Besides playing drinking games in countries where you should know better. You go dancing, yes? Meet with friends?”

Lauren smiled ruefully. For as long as she could remember, her social life had been carefully monitored to ensure maximum visibility with minimal effort. And always—always, with a tight crowd of friends and hangers-on. To keep her insulated, protected. Protected from Henry. What would it be like to not have that as a concern anymore? “I go out with friends all the time,” she said, hedging.

“What else? What do you do that you enjoy?” Dimitri was grinning at her, disarming her further.

“I have charity work, and social engagements, and?—”

“Those are with other people. Say it is you, on your own, and you have the whole world to yourself. What would you do? Where would you go? To Paris? London?” He gestured with his glass. “There must be somewhere.”

“What are you hounding me for?” She laughed. “Someplace like this, I guess. But with Wi-Fi. Someplace beautiful and near the sea. That’s where I would go.”