Rhoetus had to get the nymph on his side, and then, out of his way. He’d come to the sinister conclusion, after many hours of contemplating the horizon. Ekho had persuaded him to watch after her daughter as much as she’d obligated Minthe to guide him. Once he determined what it was Minthe required from him, he’d be finished with his end. Free from the nagging voice in his ear.

Besides, for what he’d realized he must do, the nymph could be nowhere near him. He wanted her far from Great Meteoron, where his actions wouldn’t cause her any harmful distress.

Minthe pinched her brows together and perused him. “Fine, I’ll guide you, because you know I’m bound to. I have rules, centaur, and one of them is never to bed a male twice. Whatever happened last night, will not happen again.”

Never bed a male twice? He cocked a brow and straightened. Gods, she sounded like him. Any similarity only produced more affinity between them and made everything harder.

“I don’t intend it to.” Such a lie. Truth was, he was desperate for another taste of her, another chance to make her feel the way she’d done to him.

“Aye. Rules are rules.” He nodded once, quirking his lips. “A shame for you I break everyone’s but mine.”

She scoffed, but a slight flush bloomed across her pale cheeks.

He bit his tongue against spewing the flowery compliments which begged to be released. Such nonsense wouldn’t aid either of them. “Where do we start?”

“Well, you can begin by telling me the truth. All of it, King Rhoetus. Commencing with why you actually came here. Because whether you have a sister or not, I don’t believe for a second the story you wove.”

The defiant lift of her chin was too much. Had his tales been so unlikely? If yes, had others mistrusted him, too?

The nymph might not be able to help him with his task, but sharing some of the truth couldn’t hurt. She was a clever thing who might possess knowledge he didn’t.

“Fine. Cyane did come, but only at my beckoning. It was by chance of luck that we learned of King Philaeus’s plans, and the situation granted us the opportunity to make our entrance. She was indeed held prisoner, by our design. I had to ensure her escape, which is also why I was late in rescuing you.”

“Ha. I knew it. You’re still not forgiven for that.”

He snorted and stomped his hoof. “I’ll share more with you, lass, but not here.” Suddenly, he had the suspicion these walls might have more eyes and ears than just those belonging to the portraits depicted on the tapestries.

Sapphire eyes flashing in challenge, she extended her hand. “Lead the way.”

* * *

Finally. Minthe exhaled a breath of relief. The centaur was finally opening up. She’d almost relinquished hope he would.

Together, they descended through the Portal and marched past the gates of Great Meteoron. “Where exactly are you leading me?”

“Well,” he pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced sideways at her, “I have an idea or two, but I’m not sure you’d like my methods.”

A challenge? This was what she’d been waiting for. Minthe set her shoulders. “Try me.”

In an instant, her form was whipped about, her body lashed in a spinning vortex that blurred the view around her. “What are you doing?” she rasped.

“Taking you to Krete.”

Just as suddenly, the whirling stopped. Thankfully, Rhoetus had scooped her into his arms, because certainly she would have landed straight on her bottom. Instead, she rested quite comfortably against his deliciously hard chest, his arms wrapped about her. “What do you mean, Krete?” she croaked. This couldn’t be real. It would take weeks to reach the Isle by ship.

Instead of answering, he framed her chin in his palm and nudged her to face the horizon. Her jaw dropped as she gaped at a vast ocean, sparkling turquoise waves crashing onto a sandy white shore. This unfamiliar stretch of beach greeted her vision, but it couldn’t be Krete. “I don’t understand.”

“Aye, that is why I brought you, remember?”

She twisted in his arms to face him. “Well, then, start sharing.”

“First, let’s get inside before anyone realizes we’re here.” He marched off the beach toward a small hut within the border of the tree line. The simple structure was cozy and well kept. Did Rhoetus venture here often?

“Who would view us that you didn’t wish to?” she queried as Rhoetus set her upon a bench and wrapped a wool blanket about her shoulders.

After shifting into his human form, he paced to the hearth and set about to lighting a fire. “Minotaurs. Minos’s scouts. Who the hell else knows. My kind don’t venture out in the open any more than we must to survive.”

“But, you’re the future King. Why would you be hiding?” Nothing about his tales made sense. How deep were his secrets?

“There’s much about what happened here that seems to have gone unnoticed. I can’t help but wonder why. Is it part of Minos’s plan? Or does the world truly not care?” he grumbled into the young flames. They crackled and sparked, growing stronger as he flamed them.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” She arched a brow, encouraging. “Tell me about your parents. Your childhood.”

He stiffened and heaved a long exhale. “King and Queen Hylonome. My father was a descendant of a long line of centaurs, starting with the first who’d parted from our kin on the mainland and sailed to Krete, looking for a new beginning. A home. He was iron-fisted but honorable and fair. My mother was fierce, too, mayhap even more revered than my father.” The gleam of affection sparkled in his eyes. “They raised me to be a King. While other children played, I trained. While they received gifts and frivolities, I received education, knowledge, discipline. Their love was shown to me in these ways.”

Her heart squeezed. So, these were the origins of this complicated male. Why he behaved as he did, owning the world but not partaking of it. Every child should be loved, with more than tutelage. She frowned, comprehending him better even from this small revelation. “What happened? Where are they now?”

“Dead.” He sighed. “They’re all dead. Minos is to blame.”

Wait. Dead? “What do you mean? What happened to them?”

“When I was a lad, a century ago, King Minos came to Krete. He arrived, pretending to be an emissary sent to form relationships between our peoples. Humans and centaurs.” He scoffed. “He wasn’t. For whatever reason, he’d set his sights on the centaur throne and he’d enlisted the aid of the minotaurs in seizing it. I know not how he coerced them, but they’d been eager to be freed from their labyrinths and set upon the surface to ravage our lands and peoples. None were safe. Not nymphs. Not centaurs. Nor any creature that dared to oppose Minos. I never saw my parents die, not like my siblings did. When the alarm bells had sounded, I’d been in my chamber, asleep, and my mother had sent a servant to wake me and usher me to safety. To Mount Ida.”

He drummed his fingers along his thigh, as though the memories made him anxious. “Along the way, I collected those I could, few as they were. Only after I’d observed the fires light the horizon and the rivers flow with blood did I realize the extent of their conquest. Minos spared no one, save those who’d escaped. My bloodsworne brothers and sister, we became a new family, along with a few hundred of our kin.”

“Oh, Rhoetus.” At the pause in his tale, she took the opportunity to kneel beside him and grasp his hand. “I never heard of such suffering. How did we not know?”

He tossed his head. “We believed the rest of the world didn’t care, but after speaking with others on the mainland, I suspect Minos cast a spell over this Isle, so none would learn what happened here.”

“Does he know about you?”

“In truth? I’m not sure.” He squeezed her hand, rested his head against hers, and they settled by the fire. “Minos imprisoned the minotaurs, betraying them. He sent his human followers across the lands, and left none alive to counter him. Mount Ida protects us. It’s where my, ah, where Zeus was born, where his presence remains strong. Minos never dared to search there.”

What had he been about to utter? My what?

As much truth as Rhoetus had revealed, there were pieces missing still.

Secrets she was determined to uncover.

* * *

Berating himself, Rhoetus clamped his mouth. My father? He sneered at his insolent tongue. No one could learn the truth. Not even the nymph.

“What happened next?” Minthe smiled at him, encouraging. Aye, when she looked at him with such eager trust, it was hard not to reveal everything. To rip open his chest and exhibit every inch of his soul.

No matter how dangerous that would prove.

“Next? Well, we retreated to Mount Ida, as I’d mentioned. The five of us. Arctus, Lycus, Demoleon, and Cyane. We made vows to protect each other and sealed them with our blood. Then, Zeus revealed himself before us, and blessed each of us with a gift, power over the elements. A weapon which would one day vanquish Minos, or so Zeus promised. Cyane, with Water. Demoleon, Fire. Lycus commands the Air. Arctus the Earth. I, of course, am Master of the Aether. Together, he declared our abilities will help us conquer Minos.”

“And that is how you transported us.” She bobbed her head in understanding. “Did he clarify how you were supposed conquer Minos?”

“Nay,” Rhoetus shook his head. “Though that would have been most useful, the god only professed that once the timing was right, we should each depart in different directions and find our allies. Those capable of restoring peace to our lands. I had hoped to find aid with my kin in Thessaly, but their King will not even entertain my presence.” He snorted. Cheiron’s absence last eve made him uneasy—and angry.

She shifted in her seat. “How did you know the time was right?”

He tensed again. Another falsehood to mask his identity. Zeus hadn’t disappeared for a century, only to recently show them a sign. Nay, the god had made regular visits with Rhoetus, instructing him in his abilities, discussing the fate of Krete. He’d been almost a father. One day, he’d simply stated, This is what you must do. His siblings had been all too eager to hear news from Rhoetus, so none had questioned the timing. Except this minx. So he shrugged. “Who knows how or why the gods behave as they do.”

“Hmm.” She twined her fingers with his. Did she accept the tales he’d woven? He’d never had to share such details with anyone. Everyone in his company already knew, and none wished to relive those events.

“What are you pondering, lass?”

“Thessaly. Why don’t you tell Cheiron’s sons what you’ve told me? I know those centaurs. They would come to your aid.”

“Would they?” He snorted. “As I’ve since learned, they have their own wars to fight. My ancestors were right to leave them behind. We’re not alike, despite our shared blood. Perchance, Krete’s war is one we can’t ever win.”

“Don’t say that.” She hopped onto her knees, facing him. “You have to believe you can win this. That you can free your people. This here,” she swept her hand about, “this isn’t any way to live. You owe your people more, Rhoetus.”

He frowned at her passionate speech. One time, he’d clung to such faith, too. A century of hiding had worn him down. A hundred blasted years of surviving in dank caves had drained the memory of warm hearths from his mind. He barely recalled the comfortable home he’d grown up in. Until he’d stayed at Great Meteoron. Those centaurs had never known hardship or torment. Could such peace truly be his again?

“What if I don’t know how to give it to them?” He rubbed his hands together, weak, though the blood of an omnipotent god ran through him.

“Well,” she murmured, leaning in close, “lucky for you, that’s what I do best.”

His cock jolted, lust pounding through him. If not for the lack of bonding signs, he’d have sworn such intensity could only come from a mate. Yet, she wasn’t his. Mayhap this was a blessing. The best thing for him to do would be to wed a centauress, from one of the old blood lines, to make their lineage strong once more.

Until he met that female, the nymph before him was looking awfully delectable. “How exactly would that work? What ideas do you have?” He bobbed one brow, towing it down to the thickness between his legs which wouldn’t be denied.

“I told you, never twice.”

“Aye, but if we’re counting, that was but no more than half. Incomplete.”

She pursed her lips seductively. “Are you suggesting a way to remedy my calculations?”

“Oh, lass, I’m doing more than suggesting.” He swept forward and seized the back of her head, dragging her sweet lips onto his.

* * *

A moan escaped her. Minthe didn’t deny the centaur’s passionate kiss. Not this time, at least. Clearly, the magnetism between them wouldn’t be dismissed. Besides, this shared pleasure helped her earn his confidence. She doubted a male like Rhoetus had ever spoken of these tales to anyone else before. That made her treasure his trust even more.

Eager to continue where they’d stopped, she clambered onto his lap, tugging at his breeches while kissing him fiercely.

He wrenched his mouth off hers. “What are you doing, love?”

“Can’t you tell?” She curved her lips at him.

“Aye, but I let you make the rules last time. That’s not going to happen again.”

“It’s not?”

“Nay, Asteri. This time, I’m going to ensure you leave my bed a very satisfied nymph.”

His rumbling purr vibrated through her, down to her toes that curled. “I don’t… I’ve never let…” Her confessions stuck in her throat. To guard her heart and keep control, she’d never allowed a male to make love to her. She’d only ever been the one in command.

“Never?” He cocked one incredulous brow.

She gave her head a swift shake. “You’re not the only one who fears trust.”

“Whyever not?”

He’d explained so much to her, but sharing her past was never part of these bargains. She guided others. Not the other way around. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, aye, it does.” He snared her wrists and rolled her to the ground, her back to the wooden floors and his weight pinning her. Those intense eyes peered straight into her soul. Oh, gods, she longed to open to him.

She seized in one tremulous breath. “Ekho isn’t my birth mother. She’s the one who rescued me after my own mother abandoned me.”

“Why would your mother do such a thing?”

“Because my father broke her heart and she never recovered. She stayed in this realm only long enough to give birth to me. After, she couldn’t bear to remain in a world filled with painful memories. She retreated, as my kind can, to a place where she feels nothing.”

“What of your father? He permitted this?”

“Who knows?” She shrugged. “I’ve never sought him out, nor have I ever wished to. He was human, and long since passed now. There was no true love between them, not reciprocated, at least.”

He angled his head solemnly. “You guard your heart with your rules and keep yourself safe from the same fate.”

“Yes.”

“Yet, you have a family with Ekho, do you not?”

“Of course. I love my mother. Not when she persuades me, but…” She managed a small smile.

He chuckled, his chest rumbling against her. “What does she think of your rules?”

“She hates them.” Minthe scrunched her nose.

His brows pinched together, as if something pained him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just…” He tossed his head. “It saddens me that you’re as broken as I am.”