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Zeus stops and takes his phone out of his pocket. “He just texted me. He says to tell my children to shut up, or he’s making a noise complaint.”
“You own half this neighborhood,” Castor shouts. “What is he going to—”
At that moment Ares arrives to put his hand over Castor’s mouth and drag him away from the door.
“Baby.” Hercules’s voice, low in my ear.
“Yeah?”
“Come upstairs with me.”
20
HERCULES
I askedDaisy to come upstairs because she’s tired.
All the way upstairs, her hand in mine, I’m not sure how it’ll play to tell her she looks exhausted. I’m actually worried she’ll fall asleep into her breakfast if she insists on sitting at the table. Or in the living room. Wherever they’re going to eat once Cook comes over.
We reach the landing, and Daisy’s shoulders sag. She lets go of my hand and pads into her bedroom. At the end of the hall, the door to the main bedroom is open. Hades sits in a chair in his sleep pants and black T-shirt, one hand over his face. Conor rests his head on his knee, and Eleanor crouches on the floor in front of him, his other hand in both of hers.
Daisy wanders around her room, changing out of the pajamas she was wearing and into a tank top and different pants. She comes to get me like I’m the last piece of her outfit. Like I belong directly against her skin.
We get into the bed.
She curls close, pressed so tight to my side that she’s basically on top of me, and gets heavy, like she’s fallen asleep.
Then she pops up, one hand on my chest. “I love you.”
Her hair is a blonde cloud, and her eyes are so dark, and her cheeks are so pink. “I know. Go to sleep.”
Daisy pouts.
“I love you, too.”
She drops her head so fast I put my hand underneath to catch it, then maneuver her into a position that won’t hurt her neck.
Then there’s nothing else to do.
It’s like lying on that soft, soft grass.
Nottotallylike it. My shoulder hurts a little bit. It usually does when I’m alive.
Everything else feels fucking great.
I didn’t know how heavy it was to carry around all that guilt about my mom and Ollie. I’m not a weak-ass prick to begin with, so it would’ve had to be very fucking heavy to be noticeable, but now that it’s gone, I can’t believe how much it weighed.
Thatasshole.Making jokes about fucking my mom.
I’m smiling at nothing for several minutes before it hits me that I haven’t thought of Ollie andsmiledsince he died.
He must’ve known that.
Don’t come back.
It was a real choice to say that to me, his best fucking friend. Seriously.
Thank God it wasn’t you, Herc, you’d never have been able to appreciate it.
