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“Then you can stay, too. It’ll be a tight fit, but I think we can all do it.” Hector grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair, indicating the conversation was finished.
But I wasn’t decided. I didn’t stay at people’s houses. Not even as a child. I wasn’t invited to sleepovers, or birthday slumber parties. In college, my roommate moved out after a month. It had hurt my feelings, because like a lot of college kids, I thought we’d end up best friends, but I was too awkward to make friends easily. It took me months to be comfortable with people, and Ihatedlarge groups.
My roommate probably thought I had more in common with a grandma than a first year college student. I got it.
So even though this was an offer of a bed and a bathroom, it was a bigger deal than that to me. I had a really hard time relaxing around other people.
“Tight fit…” Achilles muttered under his breath, distracting me from my jaunt down the depressing friendship failures of my past. What was with him? How did he swing from one personality to another? He went from serious, bossy—asshole, frankly—to a dude who made the same jokes a teenage boy would.
“There’s room enough.” Hector stared hard at Achilles. “You’re not coming.”
One side of his lips lifted, but as Hector finished, he frowned. “Where am I supposed to stay?”
“It’s not my concern.” Gazing at me, he held out a hand. “Can I take your bag?”
Distracted by his verbal slap to Achilles, it took me a minute to realize that he was waiting for me to give him my bag. “I’ve got it.” I was a little sensitive after leaving it on the train.
Was I doing this?
Pollux and Orestes stood as well, their gazes trained on me. Waiting. “You’ll be safe.” Pollux’s low voice traveled over the table. “Nothing will happen to you.”While you’re with us.He didn’t say the words, but they popped into my head anyway.
Okay.
Okay.
* * *
Half an hour later, I was sitting on the bed in a room with low eaves, a soft bed, and the sound of the wind shrieking over the moors.
The moors!
The drive here had been quite uncomfortable, as Pollux, Paris, Orestes, and I had packed into Hector’s truck. It was larger than most of the cars people around here drove, but it wasn’t big enough for men Pollux’s size. Or Orestes for that matter. Squished between Orestes and Pollux in the backseat, I hadn’t seen much beyond their shoulders.
We’d left Achilles at the pub. Hector said he’d find his own way, but I felt a little guilty. A little. Like—press your fingers together and then barely open them—that much. But it was cold, and windy.
“Don’t worry about him,” Pollux told me. Then he’d shocked the hell out of me by putting his arm around my shoulders, guiding me toward Hector’s truck. “He’s resourceful.”
Achilles had muttered something, but the wind swept the sound away. Pollux caught it though, and merely snorted.
My hair was wet from the shower I’d taken, and my whole body was chilled. There were no outlets in the room, no place to charge my phone. It was an old house though, so it wasn’t some dastardly plan to not allow me to charge my phone. Luckily, I’d come prepared with an external battery, so I plugged my nearly dead phone in that way.
Wi-fi, however, was password protected, and as for cell service?Ha!
Oh, god.This bed was a dream. In moments, the only thing I was aware of was the wind battering the cottage and the clean smell of the sheets. But there was no way I’d be able to fall asleep. Not after everything I’d been through today.
I shut my eyes, breathed deep, and tried to relax each part of my body.
“What are we going to do?” It was Pollux. The wind had died down, just as he spoke, so it sounded as if he was speaking directly below where I slept.
Whatever the other person said was cut off as the cottage shook with the force of the wind.
I listened hard. Do what about who? About me? It had to be about me. I considered flinging off my blanket, creeping onto the stairs to listen, but it was so warm under the covers.
That seemed to be the end of the conversation. Maybe they realized their voice carried, or that I was curious enough to eavesdrop without hesitation. Either way, there were no more voices drifting through the cottage. Soon, my eyelids were drooping, and I didn’t care about anything except falling into dreamless sleep.
If only I’d been that lucky.
The stone floor was cold beneath my skin. My body was frozen, but my mind was aware. Too aware. I tried to fight, to push and to free myself, but bonds stronger than me held me in place. I called out—cried,begged—to be saved. And then, like a miracle, my savior appeared.
