Page 61 of Claimed

The royal family had been put off with a convenient lie about the timing of the rescue operation—and more lies about the precise nature of the facilities they were infiltrating. Cyril knew the truth, but if the king and queen had received word of the possible conditions Ari had been enduring, it wouldn’t have helped matters. It probably would’ve complicated them, in fact, with Jasen and Catherine’s natural tendency to want to intervene using diplomatic channels.

As to the other victims of that unfortunate holding pen, the mythological beasts that had been restrained with electronic devices, Cyril was pursuing that on this side of the gates to Olympus and Hephaestus was pursuing it on his side. The electronics were devoid of any barcodes or identification, but they would eventually track down where they were made. The smaller-than-ordinary beasts were a more puzzling issue. Was someone breeding monsters for mortal use, somehow? As pets or protection or the gods only knew what else? If so, the monster god Typhon had to be involved, there simply was no other way around it.

Stefan pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to sort all the moving parts.

And then there was the prince himself. Ari was being monitored in his stateroom, with surveillance cameras installed in his sleeping quarters and even the bathroom for thispurpose. Not to invade his privacy, but to ensure he didn’t become disoriented again or harm himself either by accident or misguided design. Stefan grimaced. The crown prince wouldn’t be affronted to learn of the surveillance, merely bemused. But that man in the stateroom wasn’t the crown prince. He might never be.

The final piece of information was the most disquieting. The name Ryker Stavros had to come from somewhere, but Stefan couldn’t for the life of him deduce where. And all attempts to quietly ascertain that answer had so far met a dead end. Had Stavros helped Ari escape the wreckage of his plane? Had he attempted to harm Ari in some way, imprinting on him indelibly?

“Sir. The communications room is ready.”

“Good,” he said. “Miss Clark?”

“Already present. She was waiting for us when we knocked.”

That did finally ease Stefan’s tension, for all that it introduced another round of concerns. Hades’ intercession or not, Nicki would undergo exhaustive tests when they returned to Oûros, but he wasn’t fooling himself into believing that she’d necessarily act on the results. She wasn’t a child, or in his command. He couldn’t force her to take the information they would provide her and care for herself appropriately. He couldn’t force her to stop taking so many risks, to stop pushing herself so relentlessly.

There were so many things he couldn’t do.

Shoving those thoughts out of his mind, he followed Tamas down to the communications room and pushed inside. As Tamas had indicated, Nicki had already arrived. She stood against the far wall, fresh and ready for anything in a tee-shirt and khakis. Her color was good, her eyes bright.

She’d hate that he was even thinking of her in those terms, as if she were an invalid in any way. Too bad. She may not remember anything she’d said in the Underworld, but he did.

She’d told him that she loved him.

Stefan’s heart gave a strange little leap in his chest at that thought, his blood seeming to flush through his body, his nerves crackling with anticipation, but he schooled his features to neutral and gave Nicki no more than a brief nod before turning to Tamas, who stood at the controls. “Patch us through.”

The screens came alive and Cyril Gerou was the first to catch his attention, but multiple screens flickered and Stefan sighed. The king, queen and Prince Kristos were also on the video screen. Their expressions indicated that they were braced for the worst.

“Report,” Cyril said crisply, giving no indication that Stefan had already been in contact with him. Probably wise.

“Our reconnaissance trip proved successful sir, Your Highnesses,” he said, focusing on Cyril and pushing on as all three members of the Andris family surged forward, brimming with questions.

“Ari is alive,” he raised his hand sharply, making the royal family flinch, though it didn’t stop Catherine from bursting into tears. “He appears to be suffering from a severe case of amnesia. He doesn’t know who he is or how he came to be in the airplane. He knows that he crashed, and that he’s some sort of pilot. He believes his name is Ryker Stavros. We have not?—”

“Ryker Stav—you’rejoking.” It was Kristos who spoke, and Stefan flicked his gaze to the screen depicting the young prince. Kristos stared at him wide-eyed, while Jasen turned to his wife and drew her close. “That name—that was a character Ari dreamed up when we were kids, an alter ego or whatever. Ryker Stavros was an international mercenary bounty hunter kind of guy, able to go anywhere, be anyone. We would role play gamesfor hours where he was Ryker and I was an equally capable Drake Quinn or something like that.” He smiled weakly. “Only I wasn’t a pilot. I was a special forces operative.”

“He’s healthy though—he’s healthy?” Catherine turned from Jasen’s embrace and stared into the screen. “He doesn’t have his memory, but we can help him with that. We can help him.”

“He appears healthy, yes.” Stefan nodded. “He’s submitted to a basic medical review aboard ship, but we’ll need a more exhaustive examination when he returns to Oûros.” He paused. “If his return to the capital city is considered advisable immediately, that is. I’m not certain.”

“Why not—” Catherine’s anguished cry was quelled by King Jasen’s snapped response.

“You think it will delay his recovery? It will overwhelm him?”

“There’s simply no way to tell, Your Highness. He believes quite firmly that he was concussed in the crash, but he knows with a certainty his name and his trade. If we suddenly take that out from under him, I’m not sure how he’ll respond.” Stefan grimaced. “Further, I’m not sure we want to manage the press once they learn that the prince has returned, but that he is in any way impaired.”

“He’snotimpaired,” the queen protested hotly. “Don’t even say that. He’s injured—but he will recover.”

“Hemightrecover, Catherine,” Jasen said. His words were stern, but not unkind. They had the result of making the queen go pale. “Ari is alive, and for that we are eternally grateful. He appears to be responding normally otherwise?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Stefan nodded. “He appears in good health and of sound mind, other than his memory. I have no idea if that will change.”

“Agreed. But if we have the prince here on site, the media will learn of it. It could be overwhelming for him, and that won’t be helpful.”

“But how can we—how can he—” the queen’s throat worked as she tried to get hold of herself. “We have to be able to see him,” she whispered. “Surely that can be arranged somehow?”

“Ask Fran—she might know.”

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