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Instead, I turn back toward the lower city. Forher. Puttingherneeds first for once.
I grit my teeth and keep going, staggering step after step. My world narrows down to putting one foot in front of the other. The knives beneath my soles turn into a fiery furnace that feels like it’s melting flesh from bone. The burning of my skin morphs into a thousand pinpricks of agony, as if I’m being swarmed by a cloud of invisible insects.
For her. You’re doing this for her, you pathetic monster. What are a few moments of pain compared to what she’s suffered as a result of your actions? You say you care about her, that you want her to be happy and free? Prove it.
The voice in my head almost sounds like Charon, but it drives me harder, faster forward. I could weep with relief when I see theother arch if I had the strength for it. I don’t. Instead, I just keep working my way, one shambling step after another, toward it.
Just when I think I can’t handle it anymore, that the pain will actually kill me, or at least send me to my knees to suffer until someone comes along to put me out of my misery, I step through the arch.
Everything stops.
The sudden lack of torment hurts almost as much as the pain itself. I stagger forward. “Fuck. Oh fuck.” Every breath is sweet bliss. I carefully shake out my arms and legs, testing to see if I’m really okay. Again, I look behind me, certain I left a bloody path along the stones of the bridge. Again, I see nothing.
I seem none the worse for wear, but that doesn’t stop a shudder from working through my body. I don’t understand how the boundaries work—not the one around Olympus, and not the one between the upper city and lower city. I don’t know if I believe in magic, but it’s hard to argue with it when I’m still feeling the phantom bites on my skin. I shudder again and rub my arms, willing away the memory of what I just experienced.
There’s nothing to do but look around. I didn’t have much of a plan when I set out from my apartment earlier, and now I realize how foolhardy it was to come down here.
I don’t even have my phone. I’m lucky I remembered to grab my keys and lock my door behind me.
It’s the middle of the night. It’s not as if I can just ask around until someone tells me where to find Eurydice. Besides, I already know where to find her. Hades and Persephone’s house. She’s been mostly living with them for the last year.
Hades isn’t Zeus, who marks his presence in his territory with a giant-ass skyscraper that can be seen from every corner of the city. Even so, surely it won’t be that hard to find his home. I don’t relish facing down him and his wife…mostly his wife…but it’s a necessary step to get the closure both Eurydice and I need.
For me to apologize. To verbalize all the ways I’ve failed her and acknowledge that I can never properly make it right. To give her the closure she needs to be able to finally move on and be happy.
With Charon.
I pick a direction at random and start walking. Maybe I’ll just wander around until businesses start opening up and go from there. If I see someone before then, I’ll ask them. As far as plans go, it leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s the best I have.
I almost don’t pay attention to the parked car as I approach. It’s a black sedan that looks identical to the ones the Thirteen and legacy families use to travel around, which means it’s nondescript but high-end. That gives me pause enough to slow down. I see the fogged windows and grimace. “Not my business,” I mutter and start to pick up my pace.
Then I hear the moan.
I would know that moan in my sleep. High and breathy and with just a hint of desperation that says she’s close to coming.Eurydice.
Impossible.
Even as I think it, I approach the car. This is a mistake.I’mmistaken, and I’m about to make an ass out of myself playing Peeping Tom. But I don’t stop. Not until I’m right next to the car.
The lone streetlight overhead gives off barely enough light to see through the fogged windows to the bodies moving within. Even withthe slight distortion, I recognize them. Eurydice is on Charon’s lap, her back to his chest, riding him with her legs spread wide. He kisses her neck and has one hand cupping her pussy, stroking her clit in the exact motion that will get her off, while the other plays with her tits.
He’s got a big cock. It’s a strange thing to notice, but even from here, I can see the way he spreads her. It makes my stomach flip and my skin go tight. Jealousy. Anger. Even desire. It’s all there, but I can barely feel those emotions.
Not when the pit of loss opens beneath me, sucking them down, sweeping away everything. I really am a fool. I hadn’t realized I’d started to hope, even as I told myself not to.
That hope is gone now.
Eurydice comes, making that sound I know so damn well. Charon grabs her hips, holding her firm as he drives up into her, chasing his own orgasm. I need to stop watching. They haven’t noticed I’m here, too wrapped up in each other to realize they’re no longer alone. But I don’t move away.
Apparently she didn’t need me to make the journey here, after all. She’s moved on with him on her own strength, and even as it feels like someone is dicing my heart to pieces, I experience…relief. My shitty actions didn’t ruin her chance at happiness. How arrogant that I thought they could in the first place.
I’m still standing there, staring like a fool, when Eurydice looks up and screams. Things happen quickly after that. A blink and the car door flies open. Another blink and a naked Charon has me pinned to the car with a gun pressed under my chin.
We really are nearly the same height.
The thought is so absurd, I almost laugh.
Charon’s eyes go wide. “Orpheus?”
