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)
We find Eris exactly where I left her, which snaps my priorities back into place. Theseus can figure his shit out on his own tonight. She has to take precedence.
“This isn’t necessary.” She doesn’t lift her head. “I’m fine. Or I’ll be fine tomorrow.”
I don’t doubt it. Eris is a Kasios first, and after growing up seeing the things she did, she’s developed nerves of steel. It’s a token of how bad it was today that she’s this shaken up. I take her shoulders and wait for her to look at me. “Then be fine tomorrow, Eris. Tonight, you don’t have to be.”
Her lower lip quivers, just a little. “Why did you come here at all? Why are you being so nice to me? I know you’re too good a person to wish me dead, but I’ve prioritized the city over you again and again. I broke your fucking heart, Adonis. Don’t lie and say I didn’t.”
It’s true. But my pain is less important than hers right now. Tomorrow, we can go back to awkwardly staring at each other across the chasm of the hard decisions that brought us to this place.
I said I’m here for her tonight, and I meant it.
“Eris.” I love you. I don’t say it. Everyone in this room knows it for truth, but the tiny sliver of pride I have left won’t let me speak the words. Not again. “For once in your life, don’t argue with me.”
Her lips curve in a sad smile. “I guess that’s the least I can do.”
When I rushed over here, I wasn’t thinking about how much it would hurt to be in her presence. Theseus leaning on the bathroom counter just out of reach doesn’t make things feel less complicated. He hasn’t bothered to get dressed yet, and I will not think about the fact I licked my way down his thick chest last night.
Instead, I focus on Eris. Words aren’t going to make her feel better right now, and telling her everything is going to be okay feels too much like a lie.
We have enough lies between us.
Her skin is mostly dry by this point, but I grab a second towel and twist her hair up into it. I can feel Theseus watching us closely, but he’s not my problem right now. Eris is terrifyingly passive as I work lotion into her skin. It’s not something she often had the patience to let me do in the past, but it’s a small act I’ve always enjoyed.
At least until I get to her legs and start taking off the wet bandages. There are easily a dozen cuts on each leg, ranging from little more than a scratch to one on her left thigh that I’m a little worried might need stitches.
I finally glance at Theseus. “First aid kit is under that sink behind you.”
He’s got a strange look on his face, and for the life of me I can’t tell if he’s studying us like enemies or like he wants to memorize exactly what I’m doing so he can replicate it in the future. For all that I’m drawn to this man, a moth to his flame, I don’t fully understand him. He’s harsh and driven and violent, but there’s a raw emotional center there that he works hard to keep locked up. I only get glimpses, but it’s enough to make me wonder what kind of man he’d be if given the freedom to make his own choices instead of playing the part of marauder for his foster father.
He pulls out the kit and sets it on the counter between us. Eris sighs. “That’s not—”
“It’s necessary.”
Theseus crosses his big arms over his chest. “You said you would get these looked at. You didn’t. Those are the bandages I put on there.”
It’s hard to tell with her head ducked, but I think Eris flushes. “There wasn’t time, and you did a fine job.”
I’m not sure what to think about that. Saving her life is one thing, but taking care of her afterward? He hates her—or at least he says he does—but if you hate someone, you don’t spend a prolonged time bandaging their wounds. You don’t check up on them later that night. You don’t call in reinforcements when you’re in over your head.
But what am I going to do, accuse Theseus of having feelings for his wife?
I want to accuse him of exactly that.
Desperate to escape the conflicting feelings inside me, I gently touch Eris’s knee. “These were caused by glass?”
It’s Theseus who answers. “The glass divider thing in the lobby shattered.”
Again, the anger that he kept this knowledge from me for hours rises, and again I shove it down. “Let’s get these bandaged.” That, at least, I can do. The action calms the worst of my whirling thoughts, if not my emotions. I never would have considered myself naive, and yet I can’t help thinking, It wasn’t supposed to be like this.