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Chapter 19
Elyse
When I fluttered my eyes open, the room I was in seemed gray. My chest was so fucking sore. I moaned.
“Elyse!” Heracles cried out as he rushed to my bed, his eyes glistening. Fear seemed to have blanched his cheeks.
I turned my head and blinked at him.
“Where am I?” I stared around the room with white walls and high ceilings.
“In my room.”
I blinked a few more times. “Earth.”
Heracles nodded. “You’re still alive. Barely, but I knew you’d get through this.” He sunk onto the bed a little. “We nearly lost you.” He took my hand and squeezed, and I sensed the quiver in his touch, the agony he must have gone through waiting for me to wake up.
I closed my eyes again. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” I wasn’t sure if I was referring to my injures or the chaos that still reigned. Maybe both.
“It is,” he replied. I wasn’t sure if he knew which question he was answering, either, but the way he smiled told me he’d agree to anything right then to just have me back.
“Why does it seem like the only thing I get closer to is Death itself? Why isn’t anything working?”
His grip squeezed my hand. I was surprised it didn’t hurt when everything else ached.
“It’s going to be okay, Elyse,” he added. “It’s going to work out in the end.” He nodded to himself as if he had his own set of thoughts on the topic.
“It doesn’t feel like it.” My throat stung when I swallowed.
Heracles nodded. “I know. But it will. Give it time.”
I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, the light in the room was different and Heracles was gone. Had I fallen asleep again? How much time had passed?
“Elyse?” Ares asked, coming into view. “Oh my gods. How are you feeling?”
“Like death warmed up,” I said.
Poseidon appeared, too. “You’re alive.”
I nodded. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing. But I vaguely remembered a conversation with my dad. And I remembered this was my choice. Time would tell if it had been the right one, but for now, I enjoyed the company of two of my gods by my side.
“Where’s Heracles?” I asked.
“He had business to attend to,” Poseidon explained.
Mount Olympus must have called again. Heracles was there all the time these days.
“And Hades?” I wasn’t sure why I’d asked. I didn’t think he’d be here. He never cared.
Ares and Poseidon exchanged glances that I didn’t miss.
“What?” I asked.
“Don’t talk to me about him.” The answer flared in Ares’s eyes, along with the pain, and he walked away.
I looked at Poseidon, who sighed. “What happened?” I asked.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about, Elyse.”
