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“It’s really a shame you and Achilles are none of my business. You’re very handsome, and I’m feeling a special kind of reckless.” She steps close. Not quite enough to touch, but it’s a near thing. Helen stares up into my face. “Want to get into some trouble with me, Patroclus? You can tell Achilles about it later in…extreme…detail.”
I can see how that would go all too clearly. If she were anyone else, if this were any other situation, Achilles would get off on that. Usually, the situation is reversed. He’ll have some fun and tell me about it while he’s fucking me or I’m going down on him, though he always peppers me with questions when someone catches my eye enough to pursue a single night of fun. It’s been a long time since I indulged, and in different circumstances, he’d be delighted by my uncharacteristic impulsiveness.
This, though?
This feels too much like a betrayal for reasons I don’t particularly want to look into. I finally shake my head. “No. Under other circumstances, but…” I hate the disappointment that shades her features, hate it so much I catch her hand and lift it, turning to press a kiss to her wrist. “I’m sorry.”
“Your loss.” But she makes no move to put more distance between us or break our contact.
The moment spins out, as fine as gossamer and filled with possibility. Saying no is the right thing to do. I’m already reacting too strongly to Helen without a physical component involved. I have many strengths, but sex can occasionally muddy the waters, dull my normally sharp mind. I can’t afford for that to happen now, when Achilles is poised to take everything he’s worked and sacrificed so much for. I certainly can’t do so with this woman, who is in direct opposition to that goal.
If Achilles wins, he’ll marry her.
The thought brings a flare of heat so intense, I lean toward Helen without intending to. We’d planned for the marriage to be in name only, but…what if it wasn’t?
She tilts her head back and licks her lips, her gaze on my mouth. “Patroclus.”
Gods, the way this woman says my name, low and breathy with a hint of question that makes me want to pull her close and kiss her until the only thing she can level that impressive focus on is me.
What the fuck is happening to me?
A horn honks, jarring us out of the moment. Helen takes a large step back and pulls her hand out of my grasp. “Another time, maybe.” Her grin goes downright wicked. “I changed my mind. Don’t keep this between us. I’m sure Achilles will be thrilled to know he’s going to face me in all three trials.”
If her competence is half as strong as her arrogance, she might actually have a shot. I stand there and watch her climb into the back seat of her ride. The taillights disappear quickly down the street, turning back toward the city center.
There’s no doubt about it.
This situation just got even more complicated.
5
Achilles
I wake up the moment Patroclus slips into bed. He’s trying to be quiet, but as stealthy as he is, I’ve never been that heavy of a sleeper. Not as a child, and sure as fuck not when I became a soldier. I roll over and hook an arm around his waist, pulling him to me, his back to my chest. I bury my face in the nape of his neck. He smells like summer night…and perfume.
I open my eyes. It’s still dark. The clock reads 3:00 a.m. “You’re back early.”
“Yeah.” He’s so tense, he’s like a block of concrete. Something happened. Something he doesn’t want to talk about.
Yeah, that’s not going to work for me. “Patroclus.” I press him down onto the mattress and prop my head on my hand. “Talk.”
I can’t see his expression clearly in the shadows, but I don’t have to. I know this man as well as I know myself. I can practically feel the guilt coming off him in waves, even if it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. Nothing he could have done tonight should spawn guilt. That’s not how we work.
Finally, he drags in a breath. “Helen Kasios put her name forward as a champion.”
“What?”
“Yeah.”
I shake my head. “What the fuck is she thinking? She’s going to get hurt, and that will piss off Zeus and Aphrodite and make things more difficult for the new Ares.” For me.
“I used to know her.”
That shocks me enough that I sit up. “What are you talking about? You don’t know Helen Kasios.”
“I used to.” He says it like a confession. “We went to school together when we were kids, before my family moved away from the city center. We were…friends.”
He’s never once mentioned her in all the time I’ve known him. I know I should see that as proof that she’s no one to him, but all I can focus on is that there are parts of Patroclus that I don’t recognize. I scrub my hand over my face. “So you knew Helen Kasios once upon a time and she put her name forward as a champion.” That’s not enough to spawn this guilty reaction in him. “What else happened?”
