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I struggle to my feet again, ignoring the hand that Eros offers. Ares is already getting up and dusting himself off.
“Fuck ye both,” he mutters. “I’m done with ye.”
He turns around and lumbers off in a random direction. Wiping away the blood from my eye again, I heave a sigh.
Eros winces and touches his jaw tenderly. “I think one of ye actually might have dislocated my jaw.”
Shaking my head at him, I slowly start heading toward the town’s center. Eros trails behind me, griping about how he’s hurt and why he originally came here.
“Ma called and said that ye wanted to talk,” he moans.
“Will ye shut up?”
“I knew it was too good to be true,” he continues on, as if I hadn’t spoken. “Should’ve followed my gut instinct.”
Eventually the clinic comes into view. Hurrying along, only now thinking that I’d left Penny unprotected, I jog the last fifty meters.
Busting into the clinic, I steel myself for something bad to have happened. I don’t know what, exactly. Only that I need to be ready.
But when I step in the door, I find Penny sitting on a stool and giggling. By her feet Diana kneels, pressing her ear to Penny’s stomach.
“Hello?” she says. “This is your Aunt Di…”
Eros shoulders me out of the way, entering the room. Penny looks up at me, her face falling when she sees the state of me.
“Hades!” she protests.
“I’m all right,” I say.
“So am I, not that anyone asked,” says Eros, his tone hurt.
Magda comes bustling out of the back hallway, holding a box of clean towels. She walks up to the two of us and holds it out.
“Here.”
I exchange a glance with Eros before picking up a towel and quickly rubbing it over my face. Magda looks at the two of us and then nods to herself.
She motions to Eros. “Right then. That head laceration looks nasty. Let’s get ye cleaned up first.”
I fold my towel over and glare at Eros as he heads to the back hallway, led by Magda. Dabbing at the cut over my eye, I wince. Penny hurries over to me, looking me over.
“Sit down, for chrissake.”
She draws up a chair and I ease into it, groaning very softly. I cast a glance over at Diana, who smiles sunnily and waves at me.
“Hello! Big fan. Ma’s told me all about you. Also I think I’m in love with your girlfriend.”
I can’t think of a single appropriate response, so I just mutter wordlessly.
“Look at me,” Penny says, taking the towel from me. “That cut will probably need stitches.”
Diana bounces to her feet. “I’ll go let Ma know that she should set up a suture tray for you.”
Penny touches a gash in my right forearm, and I suck in a breath. “Oooh.”
“Yeah. If it’s this bad right now, just think of the inflammation. You are going to feel so horrible for the next few days.”
Magda peeks out of the back room and beckons to me. “I’m ready for you now.”
