Page 179 of A Touch of Chaos

“Yeah, but I still don’t like to be punched.”

There was silence for a moment. “If you are a god, then promises are binding, right?”

Dionysus narrowed his eyes, suspicious. “Yes.”

“Then can you promise me all you intend is to keep me safe?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation.

She seemed to relax a little. “And if I wish to leave, will you promise to let me?”

“No,” said Dionysus.

What little headway they had made was gone.

“What about ‘you aren’t safe and there is a bounty on your head’ don’t you understand?”

“I understand it all perfectly well,” she said. “I havelivedit. I have also been held against my will. The freedom to come and go as I please is important to me.”

Dionysus swallowed hard. “Fine,” he said. “But will you promise me something?”

She stared.

“I won’t stop you if you want to leave,” he said. “I promise. Just…tell me when you do.”

She was quiet for a moment, and finally, she nodded. She didn’t speak the words, but he imagined that after being betrayed so often, promising anything was more trust than she could offer, and he didn’t blame her.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” he said, gazing into the darkness. It was nearly impossible to see, but Dionysus thought he could make out a line of trees. “Let’s build a fire or something. I hate being wet.”

“You’re not going to teleport?”

“Can’t,” he said. Picking a spot in the middle of the beach, he dug a small hole where he grew a few vines, letting them wither into nothing but dried remains.

“What do you mean you can’t teleport?” Medusa asked.

“For someone who didn’t want my help, you sure sound judgmental,” he said, sparking a fire with a shock of energy that came from the palm of his hand.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want your help. I wanted you to promise me you meant it,” she said.

Dionysus sighed. “I can’t teleport because I have tried,” he said and sat. “Which must mean we are still in Poseidon’s territory. As much as I hate that, the only thing we can do now is wait for daylight.”

Dionysus sat with his legs crossed, staring into the fire. It took Medusa a few seconds, but she finally sat opposite him.

“So who are you?” Medusa asked.

He glanced at her but returned his gaze to the fire. “My name is Dionysus,” he said.

“Dionysus,” she repeated.

“I’m sure you would have preferred an Olympian rescuer,” he said. “Unfortunately, they are all busy trying to kill a sociopath.”

“I didn’t say that,” she said. “I just asked your name.”

“Oh,” he said and then fell quiet.

“How much do you know about me?” she asked.

“Enough,” he said. “I have been looking for you for a while.”

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