Entwined Read Online Free PDF Page B

years.
    Finally, Theron said, “The king wants heirs. It’s the entire reason he’s forcing this marriage on Isadora.”
    “I know.”
    “And you’re okay with that?”
    Was he? It meant sex. With an Argolean. Not a human woman. “I have to be, right?”
    “He won’t let you fight. He’ll take you out of the rotation and keep you in Argolea until she’s with child or an heir is born.”
    Zander hadn’t thought of that. “Okaaaay. Yeah. I guess…that makes sense.”
    “And there’s always the question of your…virility. You’ve taken more than your fair share of beatings over the years.”
    That was Theron’s polite way of saying Zander may have been kicked in the balls one too many times to sire a child. On this, at least, Zander knew he was certain. A sound that was half chuckle, half harrumph came out of him. “I’m fertile. Don’t worry about that.”
    “How do you know—?”
    “Because I’ve worked that particular magic before.”
    Theron’s brows drew together. “You have a child?”
    Had was more accurate. Or, almost had . The ache intensified in his chest. “Not anymore.”
    “ Skata. Zander…”
    Okay, now things were getting way too real for Zander. He rubbed a hand across his lower lip. “Look, they’re waiting for us. Just say yes, Theron.”
    Theron sighed. The battle raging inside him was palpable. He, of any of the Argonauts, would know the sacrifice Zander was making. Because he was the only one who’d found his soul mate. And obviously, just the thought of losing Casey was enough to tear him apart. “You can’t changeyour mind. Once the ceremony is final, that’s it. No one else but her.”
    “I know.”
    “You’re willing to make that commitment to Isadora? Even knowing she’s…still out there?”
    Zander thought about the “she” Theron was referring to. Wondered what the Argonaut would say if he knew that she was right in the next room. Then thought about all the years he’d wished things could be different, that she’d made a different choice, that she’d picked him over her domineering father. Or that he could just get beyond her betrayal and forgive her. But he couldn’t. Every time he looked at Callia, he didn’t see the beauty that she was or the power that she held, he saw what she’d done. And even now, as he remembered, it pierced his chest as fresh and sharp as it had that day.
    “I am,” he said with more conviction than Theron needed. But then, that conviction wasn’t for Theron, was it? It was for him. And what he was about to do.
    “Isadora will never be your soul mate, Zander,” Theron said quietly.
    “That’s why I want to bind myself to her.”
    Theron turned and glanced toward the king’s door, rubbed a hand over his face as if he was exhausted. Blew out a long, long breath. “Okay,” he finally said. “Okay, you have my endorsement. It’s up to the king, but…” He looked back at Zander with a mixture of pity and respect that was oddly reassuring, then placed his large hand on Zander’s shoulder. The Argonaut markings, the ancient Greek text, ran down his forearms to entwine his fingers, just like they did on Zander’s arms, just like they did on the arms of all the Argonauts. “You have my respect. And my gratitude. What you do here, you do for all of us. I won’t forget this. None of us will.”
    The emotion swirling in Zander’s chest was unfamiliar. Not excitement, or even happiness really, because he was neither excited nor happy. No, this was different. It waswarm and encapsulating, and it radiated from the center of his being.
    It was…pride, he finally realized. For the first time in longer than he could remember, he was proud of what he was doing. For someone else. For his people. For their protection and way of life. And it felt good. Damn good, because…it meant he wasn’t numb anymore.
    He was too pansy-assed choked up to say anything, so he only nodded and followed Theron back into the king’s