Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
It’s a token of how fucked my head is right now that I don’t even question if that’s a good idea or not. “You’re right. I’ll call him.” Now it’s my turn to pause. “You really like her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.” She gives a choked laugh. “And don’t you dare hide and wait for him to show up. Call him and then go, like, hug her or something.”
She might punch me in the face if I try, but at least then she won’t be crying. The thought of her crying is like someone shoved a piece of glass into my chest, and it grinds against my heart with each beat. I don’t fucking get it, not when a week ago I was ready to kill her myself.
I don’t want her to cry.
“Come by tomorrow. She’ll probably be happy to see you, especially if we fuck this up.” I hang up without waiting for Pandora’s response. She might agree, or she might argue just to argue because I’m the one who made the suggestion.
I call Adonis next, barely waiting for him to answer to cut in, “Someone tried to kill Aphrodite today and she’s kind of fucked up and I think she’s freaking out.” I’m speaking too fast, but it was one thing to patch her up in the immediate aftermath of the attack. It’s totally another to deal with the emotional fallout now. I’m shit at comfort. I punch shit and kill things. I don’t hug and cuddle and know the right words to say when someone just survived an attempted murder for the first time. “She needs you. We need you.”
A pause. When he speaks, he’s totally in control. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” His voice goes low and cold. “Because after we take care of Eris, you’re going to explain to me why you knew this happened and didn’t say a single fucking word until now.” He hangs up, which is just as well. I don’t have an answer for that. After last night, reminding him that we’re not actually on the same side feels like a lie.
If anything, I’m more conflicted than ever. It doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. I have my path. I’ve never strayed. I have no reason to, not when Minos has given me everything I need.
Except…
No. No use thinking about that now. Adonis will take less than twenty minutes to get here, and if Aphrodite’s still crying in the shower and I’m standing out here, wringing my hands, it will be a fight I’m not sure I can win.
A fight I don’t deserve to win.
Even knowing that, it takes me a solid two minutes to dredge up the momentum to carry me back into the bathroom. Aphrodite hasn’t shifted. Steam hangs heavy in the air, making my shirt stick to my chest after only a few seconds. I stop in the opening to the shower. “Eris?”
She moves slowly, as if she’s an old woman instead of in the prime of her life, turning just her head to look at me. “I’m not up for dinner.” She sounds remarkably normal, which is somehow worse. “Maybe another time.”
The urge to flee rises again, but this time I muscle past it. I don’t know what to say or what will get that awful lost look off her face, but I can’t leave her like this.
I don’t know what this pull to make her feel better means. I’ve never felt anything like it, even with Pandora. It’s different and it’s uncomfortable, and I want to carve it out of me before I’m past the point of no return. I don’t even try.
It’s too damn late for that, anyway.
Without thinking too hard about it, I start stripping. She closes her eyes and rests her head back on her knees. I shuck off my pants and step into the shower. There are no fewer than four showerheads going. I step beneath them and have to grit my teeth to keep a muttered curse from erupting. The water is scalding.
After a brief internal debate, I awkwardly slide down to the floor and lean against the wall next to her, stretching my legs out. Pandora would have the right words to tell Aphrodite it will all be okay. Adonis would know exactly what she needs to hear.
I’m not good with words. I’m sure as fuck not good with comfort.
But death is something I’ve become intimately familiar with.
I lean my head back against the tile. “The first time is the worst.”
Aphrodite slowly looks at me. Her skin has gone pink from the heat of the water, but she still looks too pale. “What?”
“The first time someone tries to kill you.” I inhale deeply, letting the steam warm me from the inside out. “It’s never fun. You don’t get used to it. But the shock lasts less each time.”