Maelstrom

Fifteen

[nec spe, nec metu]

"What the hell just happened?" Mark marveled as he and Dale approached Kaden and Tessa, conversing conspiratorially amidst a sea of other campers, darting back and forth.

Tessa met his gaze, and Mark was almost taken aback at how electric her eyes had gone. "The Romans claimed their legionnaires and are moving them to their Midtown base."

"What?" Dale burst, her eyes wide. "That's absurd."

"Tell that to Alex and Kaya," Tessa agreed under her breath. "We should have known."

Kaden shook his head. "They're just acting out of fear, but I expected more from them. For all we know, we'll be on our own, so we need to move."

Tessa looked around, her gaze landing on a point in the distance. "Reese!" She waved her hand in the air, flagging him down.

Mark watched as Reese jogged over to them, the shadows in his wake a stark contrast to his own internal light. His blue eyes seemed troubled. "Hey, guys."

"You saw?" Tessa asked.

Reese nodded grimly. "I did more than just see. Imogen went with them."

"What?" Mark squawked. "Why?"

"She's going to try to slap some sense into Kaya and Alex," Reese ran a hand through his disheveled blond hair. "Although they seem to have made up their minds."

Dale nodded to Kaden. "Well, it's a good thing we've got one other Roman on our side."

Kaden didn't smile, and Mark couldn't blame it. He wasn't sure what he would have done if he had been Kaden in this situation: divided between two parts of himself, two camps, two families that all made up who he was. Kaden was as much a Greek as he was a Roman, and at the end of the day, he'd chosen to stand as a Greek.

Mark had known Kaden a long time, but that fact boosted his respect for the son of Venus just that much more.

"We have a lot to do," Kaden said gruffly, his emerald eyes dark with questions still without answers. He pinned his gaze on Mark. "Have you heard from Adhara?"

The sound of her name sent a pang through Mark's soul, one that clung to each nerve in his body. He shook his head, his muscles suddenly tense. "No."

A shadow seemed to befall the group, and Mark set his jaw. Adhara had told him and Dale not to tell the group about what she was doing unless absolutely necessary, saying that she'd be back in two days.

It had been three. And Adhara had sent no word regarding her whereabouts.

Deep in Mark's heart, he wanted to look for her, he wanted to stop everything and send out a search party while they waged this war on Menoetious. But he knew that he couldn't afford to do that. Adhara was strong, he had to respect that, and if she had gotten into something she couldn't get out of...

Mark sucked in a breath, feeling like ice had constricted his lungs. Well, in that case, Adhara would want them to keep sight of the true mission, to keep things in order and balance against those that created chaos.

So, with a heavy heart, Mark said, "We need to keep moving forward. This is war."

Tessa met Mark's gaze, her turquoise eyes empathetic. He wondered if she had said something similar when he had gone "missing" after their quest. By the way she was looking at him, he supposed she had, and it stung.