Page 16 of Midwinter Night's Prince

She would have thought the imposing peak would be taller, though she had to admit Mount Olympus was quite beautiful.

"What am I doing here?" she whispered to the wind.

Herewas as good as anywhere else, she supposed. It wasn't likely that she'd find any answers, anything that could help her, but at least the weather wasn't nearly as cold in Greece as it was in most of Europe in late October.

She didn't always keep track of dates, but she'd flown in from Vancouver over the last couple of days—purposely taking the long way in, with several layovers. It wasOctober twenty-eighth. Chloe's birthday was in a few days—on Halloween. No doubt the Hill was going to throw one hell of a party. A pang of anger and nostalgia pierced her, but she brushed it aside.

"Fancy a bit of hiking, Velvet?"

The kitten's meow was downright pathetic. That would be a no. She couldn't blame him. They'd left her hostel in the middle of the night because she'd been restless after her discovery about the dagger. And her theory. She didn't have enough evidence to take it as gospel. Besides, pretending it was only a guess was comforting, despite how right it felt to think of Seth as a son of Olympus.

He was the image of a Greek hero—a golden Hercules, ready to slay lions and walk into hell.

"Maybe we should make camp first. Sleep a little."

Now Velvet purred under her coat. She chuckled. "You understand every single thing I say, don't you?" she asked, smiling at the kitten, whose head popped out right between her breasts.

"Camp it is."

She hadn't slept much on the plane.

Blair had bought hiking equipment in Athens, following the instruction of a website advising on local treks. She'd picked up the lightest of tents, digging deep into her savings. It was strapped underneath her backpack.

She got all the pieces laid out neatly on the grass and stared at them in dismay, before redirecting her attention to the how-to guide. Two hours later, she was exhausted and had three pegs leftover she couldn't place at all, but the lime green tent looked more or less stable. Velvet merrily hopped inside and stretched as she unrolled her sleeping bag. It only fit after she set aside her beautiful, comfortable, expensive boots.

Seth was going to pay for this.Literally.

"Let's get something to eat."

She set some dry food out for Velvet and handed him a strip of chicken before pulling out an energy bar. She had some vacuum-packed sausages and soup ready to heat up, but she wasn't about to make a fire tonight.

Blair laid down on her hard makeshift bed and closed her eyes. She was still restless and stressed, though being here helped a little. She was running toward something, as opposed to running away, for the first time in months.

Suddenly, all apprehension faded into the background, becoming entirely irrelevant.

Sleep.

All that mattered right now was falling asleep.

And so, she did.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Blair should have guessed that Seth would reach out to her tonight. She may be on his ancestral turf, so to speak. That was bound to ruffle his feathers.

"Nice to see you, too."

He'd pulled her into the same room he'd brought her to weeks ago—a dream of his old house on Night Hill. His version was more detailed than hers; each painting, each sculpture was delicate and true to life. His mind was dangerously sharp.

Seth thoroughly ignored her. "There's a portal to Atlantis in the Greek isles. You might as well have come knocking at Aveka's door!"

"Good thing I'm not anywhere near the sea, then."

He growled low, striding toward her. A strand of golden hair fell to his eye and he didn't bother to set it right, too focused on intimidating her.

That might have worked if he was in front of her, but this was just a dream. Blair couldn't smell his scent, or feel the heat of his body, almost flush against hers.

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