Artemis rolled her eyes and made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat as if she couldn't believe Kat would ask such a trivial question. "Because I felt like it."
"You felt like it? Good grief, matisera , have you any idea how disconcerting it is to be underwater when the boat that's supplying you your air comes floating down past you?"
She scoffed. "Why are you so angry? It's not like you can die. Get a grab."
"Grip."
"Whatever." Artemis turned on her with green eyes blazing. "I don't care what it takes or who has to die.
Preserve that seal, Katra. I heard Apollymi calling to you and to that other bitch. I know she was guiding her toward the seal. Box my elbow. Apollymi knew what she was doing. She won't rest until she's free and I'm dead."
"You can relax. I'm not going to allow Apollymi to be free."
"No? Then act like it. Remember at the end of the day which of us has protected you. Shielded you.
Nurtured you. You're nothing but a tool to Apollymi."
"And what am I to you, matisera ? Am I not your tool?"
Artemis's face flushed with color caused by her anger. "You know what you are to me. Now go and do as you're told. Keep that human from Atlantis."
Kat ground her teeth at the order. "When will you learn to trust me?"
"Trust you?" Artemis asked in an aghast tone. "You went behind my back to Kalosis and then bound yourself to my most mortal enemy. Why should I ever trust you again?"
That ignited Kat's own temper. Why did Artemis always bring up something that had happened thousands, and it was thousands , of years ago? "You know why I had to see Apollymi."
It didn't placate Artemis in the least. "After all I have done for you, sacrificed for you, you slapped me in my face. If it were anyone other than you, I'd have killed you for what you've done."
"Then kill me."
Artemis hissed at her, "Don't tempt me, Katra. Ever."
"And don't push me, matisera . I know the source of your powers and you know the depth of mine. If we ever go to war, who do you think would win?"
Artemis curled her lip. "You are your father's child. Impudent. Surly. Argumentative and spiteful."
Kat laughed at that. "Strange, I would have sworn it was my mother you're describing."
Artemis's hair flew around her as her face mottled with rage. Her incisors grew to fangs as she spat at Kat. The air around Artemis sizzled with power an instant before she raised her hands and shot a bolt at Kat.
But it didn't hit her.
Before it came near, Kat flashed herself back to the boat.
" Heed me, Katra," Artemis growled in Kat's mind. " I am not one to be trifled with."
Katra rolled her eyes at the angry voice. "My loyalty to you is above reproach, matisera . One day, I hope you will know that."
"I will know it only when you help me kill Apollymi. Until that day, I will always have my doubts."
"I can never hurt her."
"Then I can never fully trust you. So long as your loyalty is split between us, you are as great a threat to me as she is."
"Do you honestly believe that?"
"Believe it? I know it. And that is why your boat is lying on the seafloor. Next time you go near that seal, I will make sure that you pay for it with flesh and bone. And the humans will pay with their lives."
That was a beautiful thought. "Love you, too, matisera . Thanks."
"Kat?"
She jerked as she heard Tory's voice. "Um, yeah?"
"Are you okay in there? I heard you talking to someone."
Kat flushed the toilet before she opened the door. "Just thinking out loud."
By Tory's face Kat could tell the girl didn't believe her. "You were speaking in ancient Greek."
"Just practicing. You never know when it could come in handy."
"True. We might one day clone Aristophanes and need an interpreter."
"Yeah." Kat stepped past her and headed back to the topside. As she ascended the ladder, a whisper went through her.
"I will be free, Katra. Neither you nor Artemis can keep me bound here forever."
Kat could actually feel Apollymi's breath on her neck. Feel the touch of her hand. " We both know why you can't leave Kalosis."
" And we both know why I must..."
Kat had no sooner stepped on the upper deck than she met Solin, who gave her an amused stare.
"I really hate voices in my head, don't you, Kat?"
She forced her features to remain blank. "I have no idea what you mean."
"Of course not."
As he moved away, she stopped him. "For the record, I'm not on their side."
He arched a brow at her. "Whose side?"
"Anyone's. My loyalty is to myself."
"Why are you telling me this?"
She smiled. "Because we are similar creatures. I have my own agenda here and I know you do, too."
"And what is your agenda?"
"To survive this expedition."
He laughed in the back of his throat. "That's something easier said than done, isn't it?"
"It's beginning to appear that way." Kat looked over to where Arik sat with Geary. They were leaning toward each other, and even though they weren't touching, there was no missing the electricity between them. How Kat wished to feel that way toward a man, but she wasn't that type of creature. Every woman she'd ever known had been ruined by a man.
She would never be so stupid.
"What about you, Solin? What do you want out of this?"
He gave her a harsh stare. "Mine is simple. I only want revenge."
"On who?"
"Everyone."
Before she could ask him to elaborate or at the very least to narrow his choice down from the few billion people on earth and in other realms, he drifted out of her reach. "Nice talking to you, too," she said under her breath. She was getting really tired of gods drifting away from her.
But that was no matter.
She was stressed enough walking the tightrope between Apollymi and Artemis.
Geary laughed at something Arik said. He was smiling as he looked up and caught Kat's gaze. She cocked her head at the way the two of them were acting as she felt the attraction between them. She understood the physical, but what surprised her was what she felt from Arik.
He thought he lusted for Geary, which he did. But there was more to his feelings than that. As a Skotos, he was used to taking his emotions from others. What he didn't realize was that his newfound emotions came from his feelings for Geary. They weren't Geary's feelings. They were his own. The giddiness and joy he experienced right now wouldn't be there if Geary were somewhere else.
And in that moment, Kat understood why Solin was helping him. Solin wanted Arik to know these feelings so that when they were gone and Geary was no longer here Arik would mourn her. It was cruel beyond belief.
Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
Arik had wanted emotions and now he would experience the full array of them. May the gods have mercy on him.
Sympathetic pain sliced through her, but it was mitigated by the fact that none of this was her business.
Arik had chosen this path.
And he would be doomed by it.