Page 121 of When Sisters Collide
Through the bond she reached for Apollo and found him curled beside Kaixo, who was fast asleep, Phoebe keeping her usual vigilant watch nearby.
“You don’t have to come with me,” she said, her voice tighter than intended. “I don’t need your help.”
Leukos didn’t flinch. If anything, amusement sparked in his eyes. “I know you don’t. But I wouldn’t mind watching you take Danaos down a notch.”
Despite herself, a faint smile tugged at her lips. Heat crept up her neck, and she turned her face slightly, hoping he wouldn’t notice.
“What about Nik?” she asked. “Will he be all right?”
“He’ll be fine.” Leukos gave her a pointed look. “His presence soothes your sister.”
That surprised her. “He goes to see her?”
Leukos nodded. “Despoina told me he visits every day.”
“Despoina?”
“Nik’s cousin. Danaos, the general you met, is the other. They’re twins.”
She halted, brows raised. “The queen’s soulmate is Nik’s cousin?” That explained the uncanny resemblance. “Interesting. I didn’t realise Nik came from a noble family.”
“His family’s patron god is the Messenger, and his father was a Silver Shield, after all. What, did you think he was some scrappy orphan my family took in out of pity?”
She hadn’t really thought about it. “And Theo?” she asked after a beat. “Is he secretly a noble, too?”
Leukos’ grin widened—and by the Moon, that smile. It hit her like a gust of wind, sudden and disarming. Her heart gave a traitorous flutter.
“He’s a direct descendant of Andromeda,” he said. “Practically royalty in Argos.”
Unable to look him in the eye, Alena resumed walking, the corridor stretching ahead. Their footsteps echoed in the space between them.
After a moment, she spoke again—softer this time. “She was the previous Omega, you know.”
Leukos slowed, brow lifting. “Andromeda?”
She nodded. “The South Wind confirmed it.”
He stopped entirely, turning to face her. Surprise flickered across his features, but it vanished as quickly as it came. The playfulness from moments before gave way to something heavier.
“I see you’ve been busy,” he said at last.
Alena offered a faint, rueful smile. So much was unsaid between them, so much time unaccounted for—but her sister had to come first. “So have you.”
They continued beneath the colonnade, sunlight streaming through the pillars in golden slants, casting broken patterns across the path. To their right, a secluded garden burst with spring blooms, the white wolf bounding ahead, catching Danaos’ scent.
She didn’t know how to bridge the silence without cracking under the weight of everything she hadn’t said.
Leukos was the one to break it. “Are you going to tell me what happened in Dodona?” His tone was quiet but firm. “Where’s San?”
The name landed like a stone in her chest. The memories of the quarry were too fresh, too raw. “We can talk about it later.”
But Leukos stepped in front of her, gentle yet unyielding. “Alena.”
She froze. For a heartbeat, the breath caught in her lungs. Sunlight caught the angles of his face, and she was struck again by his beauty. Longing, frustration, confusion—emotions tangled, sharp and impossible to ignore.
Her heart clenched. She stepped back, putting distance between them.
“Don’t,” she murmured. The air between them thrummed with all the words left unspoken. “Or are you going to tell me how you lost control of your Gift, too?”
