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“This had better be the gods themselves come to…” He stopped.

“Aster.”

I went very still.

“Apologies for the interruption,” came Aster’s voice, dry as ever and entirely unrepentant. “Truly. I can see I’ve caught you at a deeply inconvenient moment, my lord.” A pause, and I could hear the smirk in it. “Robe’s a good look on you, by the way. Very regal.”

“Aster,” Atlas warned.

“Your brother is awake. He’s waiting in your office. Says he needs to speak with you, and judging by his face, it isn’t the sort of thing that keeps until the afternoon.” Aster’s tone shifted then, the humor bleeding out of it. “And while we’re at it, there are things you and I need to discuss. Everything that happened on the other side of that Rift, once through it, getting here. All of it. You asked for the full account, and I’m ready to give it to you.”

My stomach dropped straight through the enormous bed and kept going.

All of it.

The Labyrinth. The Badlands. The Gorgon King. The bargain I had struck in a circle of stone with a god of oaths as witness, the one I still hadn’t found the courage to confess. After everything that had passed between Atlas and me last night, after the things he had said about beings like Theron and what they took as payment… the thought of him learning the truth from anyone but me sent ice flooding through my veins.

Not yet.

Please, not like this.

“Tell my brother I’ll come to him shortly,” Atlas said. “And we can both hear of it. All of it, Aster. I want to know everything.”

“You’ll have it.”

“Wait for me here. I won’t be long.” Atlas closed the door.

I held my breath as Atlas turned back into the room, schooling my features into something I hoped resembled drowsy contentment rather than rising panic. He crossed to me, leaned down to brush a kiss against my temple, and murmured a promise that he would be quick. Then, to my enormous relief, he turned and disappeared into the bathing room.

A moment later, I heard the water begin to run.

I moved.

Tossing the covers back, I snatched the nearest sheet and wrapped it tight around myself, quick to haul the trailing length up into my arms so I wouldn’t repeat my earlier disgrace and break my neck before I could commit this particular act of espionage. Then I crept to the door, quiet but quick, my heart hammering, and eased it open just enough to slip my head into the corridor.

Aster hadn’t gone far.

He leaned against the wall a few feet away, arms folded across his broad chest, and when he saw me, his brow rose slowly towards his hairline.

“Well,” he drawled. “This looks dignified.”

“Aster,” I hissed, glancing frantically down the empty corridor before fixing him with the most desperate look I owned. “Please. When you tell him everything, I need you to leave out the deal. The bargain I made with Theron. Please don’t tell him about that.”

The amusement faded from his face.

“Alex…”

“You heard him last night, how angry he got, and trust me, he only got angrier when he heard his name. You don’t know what nearly happened, the things he said, how he reacted just from learning Theron helped us.” The words tumbled out in a frantic whisper. “If he finds out I made a vow to the Gorgon King, an actual binding vow, sealed before Horkos, after the night, we’ve just…” I broke off, heat flooding my face. “He’ll be furious. Worse than furious. Please, Aster. Just give me a little time. Let me be the one to tell him.”

For a long moment Aster just looked at me, and there was no teasing left in him now. Only that steady, unsettling perceptiveness he hid so well behind all the smirks and the swagger.

“I won’t lie to him,” he whispered. “Not to his face. He’s my king and my oldest friend, and I’ve already kept too much from him for one lifetime.” He pushed away from the wall, lowering his voice further. “But I won’t volunteer it either. So, I’ll give you that much.”

Relief nearly buckled my knees.

“Thank you, I appr…”

“I’m not finished.” His expression hardened, gentle but immovable. “This is a kindness, little human, not a promise. A secret like that doesn’t keep, not in a place like this, and certainly not from a man like him. He will find out. The only choice you get is whether it comes from your mouth or from someone else’s.” He held my gaze. “Tell him and soon. Before he hears it some other way, and the wound is twice as deep. Because I won’t carry it for you. Not for long.”