Page 37 of Curses & Keys (Curses & Gods #1)

HAWTHORNE

“ N o heroics. Get in and get out,” Jamison orders. His eyes locked on Phaedra as she packs her supplies.

I place a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll protect her with my life.

Although I doubt she’ll need it.” When he turns to me with a question in his eyes, I remind him.

“She’s been around for thousands of years.

By herself. Goddess, I can’t imagine the things she’s had to face on her own.

I’m just happy she’s starting to trust us. Let us be there for her.”

“I don’t like having to separate,” he admits in a gruff tone. “The council. Gods. Humans. We’re all caught up in something that feels beyond our control.”

“We all feel that way,” I assure him. “Gatlin’s been pacing like a wild animal for the last half hour.

” We both look at where he’s standing behind Phaedra with a scowl on his face.

“Mathias keeps giving her updates on weather conditions, helping her check off the items on her list and pack. All while he updates the temple schematics.”

“He’s been hard to read,” Jamison lets slip. “Change is his worst enemy. The last time, it upended his life and brought him here. For a while, I wasn’t sure if he’d accept her into our group, but he’s slowly coming around to the idea.”

I snort. “Have you not seen him watching everything around her? He’s suspicious but intrigued.”

Jamison’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “I didn’t notice.”

“That’s because you’ve been busy trying to figure out how to keep us all safe from the council and humans,” I gently remind him.

“Take a step back. Do what you do best. Find these bastards and the traitor. We’ll have your back.

” I turn around. “And don’t worry. I’ll take out anyone who comes close to her. ”

The thought of someone hurting her sparks a white-hot rage in me.

I might shun the royal titles I carry, but the power I hold can’t be ignored.

I tamp it down, knowing she needs me in a different capacity, but the thought makes me double-check the weapons I’m taking with us.

Magic has its place, but I’d be a fool if I relied solely on it.

Gatlin comes over, wearing his usual scowl, and leans in close. “You know I hate this. Whatever you do, don’t take your eyes off her for a second. The gods are capricious assholes. I don’t know what they want with her, but I’m sure it isn’t good.”

My lips twitch with the need to smile at this uncharacteristic show of concern, but I don’t want to discourage him from opening up in the future. “I won’t.”

Mathias comes over and hands me a laptop and a bag.

“I uploaded the society’s holographic image of the temple onto the laptop and marked every symbol they captured.

It should help. You can cross them off after you’ve checked each one.

Although they might have missed some, so don’t rely solely on the data. ” His dark eyes slide over to her.

I hold up the bag. “And this?”

“Snacks,” he tells me.

I clap them on the back. “I’ve got her. You two be careful and watch your backs. Jamison’s too.” I look over at Phaedra, who’s striding this way.

Long legs encased in sleek dark pants paired with a fitted black long-sleeve shirt and tactical vest, dark hair in a tight braid, and weapons strapped to her legs and chest is a sight to behold.

I take a deep breath. I’ve never seen anything so damn sexy in my life. And I’ve been around a very long time.

“Ready to go?” I ask, my voice husky despite my best efforts.

“Everything’s loaded, and Charlie’s filing a false flight plan,” she replies in a slightly breathless voice that tells me she isn’t immune to me either. “Excuse me for a second. I have to do one thing.”

She strides over to Jamison. “Be careful. Don’t underestimate them. Humans are clever and tenacious, especially when they believe in their cause.” She tilts her head back and licks her lips. “Now, kiss me goodbye. Make it good. I need something to hold on to.”

I’ll kiss her. I mentally tell Jamison, who can’t hear me. Next to me, Mathias freezes, and Gatlin shuffles restlessly.

Jamison darts a glance at the three of us, who are clearly watching them. He shakes his head and tries to pull her to the side.

She jerks her hand out of his. “If you can’t kiss me in front of them, don’t bother kissing me at all in the future.” Her voice is full of uncertainty and hurt. “I don’t play games, Jamison. I thought… It doesn’t matter. It’s clear I misread things.” She looks at me. “Let’s go.”

Anger and determination slide across Jamison’s face.

He grabs her wrist and pulls her into his body.

His mouth descends on hers. Passion explodes between the two of them.

Her arms wrap tightly around him as she presses her body into his.

His hand palms her dark curls while his other hand grips her waist.

A flare of jealousy sparks inside me. I’ve never seen him so free with his emotions. He’s usually calm and collected. Even when his father is raging at full volume. But with her… he can’t contain himself.

Neither can Mathias nor Gatlin. She affects all of us in some way. Maybe she’s a siren after all, luring us in with her brains and beauty.

The kiss ends, and for a long second, the two stare at each other, chests heaving, then she pivots and returns to where I’m standing. I almost groan at the sight of her swollen pink lips. My body tightens, but I force a smile.

“After you,” I say, motioning to the steps on the jet.

She smiles from the seat across from me, but I can tell she’s somewhere else. Her fingers glide lightly across her lips as if she can feel his lips on hers. I know I should leave her to her thoughts, but we’re not alone very often, and I can’t help myself.

“Have you ever been to Hephaestus’ temple?” I ask, desperate to know more about this enigmatic woman. Of course, I fall back on the obvious connection between us.

Her smile deepens. “When the temple was completed, I attended the first Hephaestei festival there. Everything was so new and polished.” She pauses for a second. “Returning to those sites and seeing them with crumbling stone and dust, it reminds me of how much time has passed. It’s bittersweet.”

“Because that was your home?” I ask, pushing her a little more. Prior to this, she had only ever admitted living there for a time. Will she let me in?

She stares at me for a minute, then a challenging glint appears in her eyes. “Tell me about Langit. Your family. Your life.”

Disappointed but not surprised, I almost grimace at the turn in conversation, but I can’t expect her to share if I’m not willing to do so. “Langit is a lot like this world. Full of water and plants and magic, but there are only elves in my world. It’s quiet. Peaceful.”

“Jamison mentioned you were royalty?” she asks, turning her whole body toward me. “What was that like?”

“My brother is king,” I hesitantly admit. I hate talking about my royal status. “I was only a prince.”

“Mmm. I was only a princess,” she interjects with a devilish glint. “It was exceedingly boring. Always having to be proper. To scale back my emotions. To pretend I couldn’t read or write or converse with the dignitaries who visited my father. Maybe it was different for you.”

A princess of Ancient Greece. I heard her tell Mathias on the plane that she lost her sister.

I’m tempted to grab his laptop and start searching for every king with two daughters during that time.

It would take a while. Ancient Greece existed for centuries.

But I curb the need to delve into her life without her knowledge. I want her to tell me.

Her words catch me by surprise, though. “I didn’t mind being a prince.

Although most of the time I stayed at our southern palace and did as I pleased.

” I think about how simple my life was in Langit.

Beautiful. Easy. “My days were spent wandering through the country or working on agricultural initiatives for the crown.” Time has only sharpened my memories of my homeland.

“You don’t have to talk about it,” she says in a gentle tone, as if she can hear the homesickness that never goes away. “I can tell you miss it.”

“I want to,” I insist. “When I arrived here, the fight with the gods for the right to live was my main focus. Once the dust settled and the treaty was in place, I had little to do and nothing to combat the overwhelming loneliness. I missed my family. My heart was frozen with grief. I didn’t know what to do with myself.

Elves from Langit wanted to establish a kingdom here, so they pushed for me to take the crown, but I didn’t want it. ”

That’s a decision I don’t regret. “If you’d have asked me yesterday whether I’d like to return to Langit, I would have said yes.

” Her mouth turns down, and I reach across to take her hand.

“It would have been an automatic response, though. I’m not the same person who came through the portal thousands of years ago.

I never thought about it until this moment, but having seen this world, dived into its well of knowledge, felt the magic that fuels it, met all the races…

I’m not sure I would ever permanently return. ”

Her blue eyes widen. “I completely understand. Life shifts and molds us along the way. If my life had followed its original path, there would have been nothing remarkable about it. I would have lived and died. And that’s sad.” She squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry, though. That you can’t go home.”

The thought of her living and passing without me ever knowing her shakes me to the core.

“It would be nice to visit, but this has become my home. Over the years, I found friends and interests, but it wasn’t until Jamison recruited me that I found family again.

He doesn’t mind having a ‘nerd’ on his team who’s more interested in plants than saving the world. ”

“Nerds are sexy,” she says with a sassy wink. “And technically, he has two on his team. You and Mathias.”

True. “Speaking of Mathias, he sent us a schematic of the temple with all of the symbols marked on it.” I flip open the laptop on the table in front of me and motion for her to take a look. “There are a lot more than I thought.”

She switches to the seat beside me, and I point to the screen.

Red circles indicate all of the areas in the temple that include the anvil and hammer with the same dimensions as the one on her hand.

The delicious, sweet scent of her teases my senses, and when she stares up at me, all I can think about is replacing the taste and feel of Jamison with my lips.

Her blue eyes widen, but I quickly look away before I do something stupid.

She turns and points to the screen. “The schematics don’t include the outside.

There could be more than this shows.” She taps her finger on the table as she thinks.

“We should start low. We can get through all the ones at my height or below pretty quickly. Then, we can think of how to get to the harder to reach ones, like those on the ceiling.”

“Magic,” I remind her. “I can easily use the wind to lift you up.”

Her bright blue eyes twinkle against her olive skin. “Ooh, it’s nice to have a partner with skills.”

Remembering her speech to the society, I can’t help but wonder. “In all these years, you never found someone to share this life with? To help you remove the curses of the world?”

She stiffens. “I haven’t been entirely alone. There’s been the occasional fling.” Her voice is full of hurt and a hint of something I can’t quite pinpoint. “Look. I chose this path, and I knew what it meant.”

She tries to get up, and I grab her hand. “I didn’t mean to offend you. Truly. I can’t help but see this incredibly vibrant and intelligent woman, and I don’t understand…” I stop. Any way I say it is going to sound bad, and that’s not the way I intend it.

“Maybe I haven’t wanted to be caught,” she murmurs, moving back to the seat across from me. “Or maybe I didn’t find anyone who was worth it. I’m going to take a short nap. Wake me when we get there.” She pulls a blanket from the seat next to her and turns her head away from me.

Frustrated, I take a deep breath and remind myself that she shared quite a bit tonight.

It takes time to break down walls. In the meantime, I’m going to put together a plan to tackle each quadrant in the temple.

She’s right. It’s exciting to share this with someone who understands this world.

I want to make sure everything goes smoothly.