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He closes the bedroom door behind us. Once again, it strikes me that we haven’t had an opportunity to discuss what we did in the back seat. The intentions we declared with only the darkness aswitness. My body flares with heat at the memory of how deliciously he stretched me. I shiver. “Charon—”
“Not yet, baby.” He catches my wrist and turns me to face him. He’s usually serious, but his expression is almost empty, it’s so stoic right now. “Before we talk about us, we need to talk about him.”
“What do you mean?” My voice squeaks a little.
He studies me. “You wanted closure, but things aren’t closed. Seeing him opened up some shit.”
He’s not wrong, but I kind of hate that he’s speaking the things I can barely admit to myself. I tug on my wrist, and he releases me. “I thought it would be gone.” I wrap my arms around myself. “There was always this connection between us, and I thought what he did would sever it, but it’s still there.” Stronger, even.
“I see.”
Ihatehow empty he sounds. I tighten my grip on myself. “We have a connection too, you know. It’s just different. I meant everything I said both last night and tonight. I love you. I want to be with you if you can accept a damaged heart. I just…I didn’t think I would feel like this if I saw him again.”
“I know.” Charon sighs, and all the tension leaks out of him. “This complicates things.”
“What do you mean?”
For a long moment, I think he won’t answer, but he leans back against the door with another sigh. “I meant what I said before too. The joy of being with you outweighs the potential pain of not having all of you. But now that he’s here? We can’t move on without dealing with him.” He shakes his head slowly. “Maybe we can’t move on withouthim.”
The awful feeling inside me grows thorns that tear into me. Between one blink and the next, I’m back on that dark street, my breath sawing through my lungs, my feet screaming in pain, the fear so overwhelming that I was certain my heart would burst. “I don’t see a future with him.”
“No lies between us, baby.” Charon pushes off the door and crosses to me. He moves slowly, carefully resting his hands on my hips. “You’re still hurt and furious, but all those feelings haven’t gone away.”
“I wish they would,” I whisper. I’m glad Orpheus felt the need to apologize, but that doesn’t change the pain he caused. It doesn’t take it away. “It would be so much easier.”
“Life doesn’t work like that.” Charon’s fingers pulse on my hips as if he can’t quite help himself, but he releases me and steps back. “Give him a chance to make it right.”
I jolt. “Excuse me?”
“If you send him away now, he’ll always be between us.” His blue eyes are so intense, I have to struggle to hold his gaze. “If he’s going to be between us, I’d rather himbebetween us. It’s easier to deal with the man himself than the memory.”
I can’t believe he’s saying this. “We just had sex, and you want my ex to stick around.”
“What I want is you.” He slices a hand through the air. “You, Eurydice. Whatever that means, whoever that includes. If that means he comes too, then so be it.”
“Just like that,” I whisper. “Surely it’s not that simple.”
“It is for me.” He finally lowers his gaze, releasing me. “He wants to pay penance, and you deserve to have penance paid. I don’tgive a fuck what that looks like. Stick a collar around his neck and walk him like a dog if that will make you happy. Fuck him. Sleep with him. Do what you need to do.”
“But—”
He steps into me and catches my chin in a light, firm grip. “But make no mistake, none of that threatensus, baby. We crossed that bridge tonight, and there’s no going back. You and me, we’re endgame.”
8
CHARON
My phone rings while Eurydice is in the shower. I know who it will be even before I pick up—no one calls this late unless it’s business. Sure enough, Hades’s name scrolls across my screen. I glance at the door to the bathroom, refusing to feel guilty that I was fucking his sister-in-law in the back seat of my car a short time ago, and answer, “Yeah?”
“We have a problem.” Hades isn’t one for small talk, and that’s only gotten more pronounced in the last two months since we found out Persephone is pregnant. He never fucked around with security when it came to her or the lower city, but now he’s downright draconian. “I need you at the greenhouse. Take Medusa.”
I raise my brows. Medusa has shifted almost seamlessly from her old career as Athena’s knife-for-hire to working security for Hades, but there are times when her skills have come in handy. Not that Hades orders anyone killed. He doesn’t. But some situations are more dangerous than others, and for him to specifically direct me to bring her means he thinks this will be one of those times. “I’ll go now.”
“Report to me directly with what you find.” He hangs up without another word.
“Thanks, Hades. Appreciate all the information.” I crack my neck and take the time to change into a clean set of clothing. Eurydice is still in the shower. I hesitate outside the door. She’s rattled and right now isn’t the time to press her, but I’m not leaving without letting her know what’s going on.
I step into the bathroom. “Eurydice.”
