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Getting to my feet is a slow exercise. Penny shakes her head and follows me as I lumber back to the same small room we were in last time. I sink into the chair and Magda tuts, casting a glance at Penny.
“Would ye like a chair as well, dear?”
Penny flashes her a tight smile. “No thanks. I can stand. I may be pregnant, but I’m still months away from my due date. Actually, if it’s okay with you guys, I’m going to raid the refrigerator. It’s been at least an hour since I’ve eaten.”
She rolls her eyes, turning toward the door. Magda nods, briefly placing a hand on Persephone’s forearm as she heads out of the cramped exam room. Then my mother turns to me, sucking her teeth.
“Well, ye look a mess.” She starts cleaning my wounds from the top down, plying every cut with rubbing alcohol and iodine. “Eros looks worse. I don’t even want to think about how terrible Ares’ wounds are.”
I shrug a shoulder, wincing as she cleans the deep gash above my eye. “They came here looking for me. They’ve known me all their lives. Neither one could’ve expected my reaction to be any different.”
Magda gives me a long look, her eyes narrowing very slightly on my face.
“Well?” she asks.
“Well what?”
“Do ye feel any better now that ye’ve fought with your brothers and showed us all that ye are still the winner?”
I scowl at her. “What do ye mean, still the winner?”
“When ye were young, ye would fight just like that with Eros and Ares. Knock down, drag out, fight until someone cries uncle. What I saw today was no different.”
I snort, glancing at Penny.
“It was life or death. Ares fucking crossed a line when he abducted the woman carrying my baby. And Eros hid you and Diana from me. I don’t see how the situation could have been handled better.”
Magda tsks. “Yesterday, it was fighting over your favorite truck. Today, it was over your girlfriend.”
Gritting my teeth, I push myself to my feet.
“I don’t need this.” I swat her hand away. “I am not interested in being talked down to and made to feel insignificant.”
“Sit down,” Magda says, her tone strict. “I’m certainly not trying to make ye feel less than what ye are. I’m trying to put things into perspective for ye. Ye grew up, graduated to higher stakes, with bigger potential wins and losses. But what I am driving at is that yer brothers are just trying to compete with ye. Ye seem to have entered the next stage of yer life — one where ye find a life partner and build a family. It seems to me that this whole chain of events was just yer brothers reacting to ye meeting and falling in love with Persephone.”
I stiffen. “Who says I’m in love?”
She eyes me to see if I’m serious and then bleats a laugh.
“Absolutely anyone with even a single lick of common sense.”
“Based on what, exactly?”
“I’ve seen how ye act around her. Possessive, growly, protective. She’s carrying yer child. And most importantly, she seems to love ye in return. Even though yer… probably not the easiest man to have those feelings about.”
I glare at Magda. “Ye seem to think ye know an awful lot about us after knowing us for just a handful of days.”
“That’s because it’s obvious to everyone around ye. Especially yer brothers.”
“All right. That’s enough.”
“I don’t know if it is enough. Because yer response makes me think that ye’ve not told her how ye feel.”
I click my tongue. “Act, there you go, tell me how I feel again. See, that’s not really working for me.”
She waves a finger at me, fixing me with her gaze. “I’m going to tell you some hard truths, son. First, ye will have to forgive yer brothers eventually. They were just reacting to ye, following yer lead.”
“Did Eros put ye up to this?” I ask, my hackles rising.
