I glanced at the other councillors, most of whom still loitered near the doors and bickered. Dio stood with them, but he caught my eye and tilted his head as if to ask me if I needed some backup. I smiled subtly in reassurance and refocused on Castor who smirked as if he knew just how little I wanted to be alone with him.
“Of course,” I answered, and he gestured in invitation for me to walk with him. We passed by the other council members and strolled into the hall outside the chamber. Ares took up his usual post right behind me, walking next to Castor’sskiáwhose name I still had not yet learned.
“Stamos is a foolish old man,” Castor declared once we had put some distance between us and the chamber.
“Um…” I struggled for a response, startled by such an unapologetic statement.
“It was very astute of you to note such a distressing escalationof behaviour from the Fuath. It is perhaps one of the few times that your… ignorance of our world will prove useful. You are free of the biases that some of us are clearly suffering from,” he muttered.
“You don’t think it was a coincidence they targeted the biggest port between Erétria and Árgos,” I acknowledged, ignoring his subtle insult about me being ignorant.
“Not for a moment,” he reassured me, casting a glance over his shoulder as if to ensure we were not watched or followed. “And I do believe there is… something sinister happening in Erétria. My spies are reporting less and less every week, and what they do report is troubling.”
He hesitated again, and I glanced up at him in concern to see his brows were furrowed deeply.
“There has been an increase in missing persons and mortalities, and none of it is being properly recorded by the Administrative Offices. Or if it is, then the reports are not making it here to Kórinthos. I have been waiting for Stamos or Dio to bring up concerns about it, but it seems that they are unaware,” revealed Castor.
“Why would you not bring this to our attention as soon as it came to yours?” I demanded suspiciously.
Castor was quiet for a moment while he appeared to consider his response. After an excruciatingly long wait, he finally drew in a resigned breath.
“I have known for some time now that I cannot trust the people in that room. And I will admit that you were my first suspect,” he revealed without a hint of remorse. “Witches have been known to abduct fey and griffins for dark rituals so they may steal our power.”
I glowered at him in exasperation but quickly decided to let it go. There was no point in arguing with him.
“Then why are you telling me now?”
“I have been watching you,” he insisted, reminding me of his disappointment in me for not expecting him to spy on me fromthe start. “I am convinced of your genuine desire to help both the Imítheos and the Ktínos.”
I scoffed at him and shook my head. “My mate is also genuinely determined to help the Imítheos and the Ktínos. But you have not found him worthy of yoursecrets.”
Castor tilted his head at the scathing inflection in my voice, obviously picking up on my suspicion. “You think that I am trying to use your naivety to manipulate you,” he guessed with an approving nod. “Do not ever lose that skepticism. It will keep you alive here in Kórinthos.”
“Why are you not bringing this to Riordan?” I insisted, determined to ignore his infuriating gift for insulting and complimenting me at the same time.
“The king is a fair and astute leader, but I have always known he was not made with enough patience for politics. Just one of many reasons I was skeptical of his kingship,” Castor admitted smugly. “Butyouare,” he added with such utter confidence that all I could do was stare at him. “You both have your strengths that are opposite to one another. It will make the two of you a rather fearsome team once you have honed your individual roles in this administration. I understand now that he chose you to complement his weaknesses rather than his strengths.”
I did not bother to hide my shock, which only seemed to amuse him further.
“Sending Dio back to Erétria to manage the defensive efforts is a good start, but it will not be enough. Not if we are dealing with something more complicated than an incursion of the Fuath.”
Once more, my mind wandered back to the night when Riordan’s power was thwarted in the Silver Moor, and he was unable to attack the Fuath. He could sense a powerful air magic on the creatures, which meant that it was almost certainly another griffin, or several, acting against him.
“I do notknowthat the missing and murdered fey are related to these attacks,” Castor continued. “But it would seem thatsomeone in our midst may be covering up those deaths, which means that you cannot trustanyone.”
Chapter two
WRATH OF THE WILD HUNT
Orion
“Has it occurred to you yet that you might have handled that all rather… poorly?” I asked myskiá.
“Do not mock me, Orion, I am not in the mood for it,” Riordan retorted sharply without looking back.
“Clearly,” I muttered.
He threw a foul expression at me over his shoulder from between his fluttering wings. Our booted feet barely touched the steps as we glided around the wide stairwell that spiralled down into the prison beneath Ergastiri.
