Page 66 of Invoking Ruin

“You told them no, that you didn’t want to go. You must have.” It bothers me, the way hope niggles its way under my ribs, flutters in my chest. Hope will never do anything but let me down. I press on anyway. “Then, after you told them no, you ran to my side and saved me from getting dragged into Tartarus by my loving mother. Why did you do it?”

He stares off somewhere above me. “Because they didn’t deserve to imprison you. I’m the one you kidnapped. I’m the one you harmed. Rightfully, it should be me.”

I let out a snort. And they call me dramatic. “Yes, Dionysus, you’ve had such a hard time, poor thing. Believe me when I say you’re the one I harmed the least.”

“I know you had other victims.” His eyes zero in on me again. “Like Lethe. Her forearm is scarred, now, did you know?”

The barb finds its mark. I flinch, and his eyes flash with triumph.

“It was an accident.” I shake my head. It doesn’t matter if I meant to hurt my sister or not, only that I did. Dionysus and I are in agreement on that.

“How could it have possibly been an accident?” he asks in his low, calm voice.

“She tried to take the knife from me, so we fought, and I cut her a little bit. I never meant to hurt her. I just wanted her help.”

“Help with what, exactly?”

It’s not like me to trap myself with words. I’m the manipulator, not the one who gets manipulated. Only, I’ve been falling into plenty of different traps, this week, and Dionysus has always tied me up into knots.

“I wanted her help making sure this day didn’t come.”

He snarls, letting me go entirely. “Was that all for the sake of my happiness, too?”

Nothing I say now will make him believe I’m not the enemy. I shake my head. “Either way, I tried to take care of you. You can show some gratitude, or blame me for everything that happened. It’s your choice.”

“You talk of choice like I ever had one to begin with.” His voice is a growl, one I would enjoy under any other circumstances. Now, my shoulders sag. The battle is lost.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe I stole his choice by keeping him from Olympus, from his viper’s nest of siblings. But I still did the right thing. If I hadn’t, I would have never seen him again.

We’d both be miserable.

“If you want to go home so bad, then do it,” I taunt. “I won’t stop you. Take Pegasus and leave.”

He doesn’t move. The impasse between us grows. Dionysus wants me to beg, to be sorry, but I’m not. I never will be.

And he doesn’t want to leave anymore than I want him to go.

Whatever else, the game here between us is far more interesting than anything that awaits him back home.

“See if they’ll even let you out of Olympus, now that they’ve pulled back from the world.” I want him to react, to snap just like he had in bed a short time ago. I want him to fuck me, to hurt me. To feel something. Because he’s a bull, and I cannot help but wave the red flag. “All the Olympians have to rule is each other. Sounds like a fun time.”

“I could turn you in.” His voice is low, unsure.

“You could,” I agree. “But you won’t, or you would have already.”

I pull away, the strands of my hair sliding free of his open fist. He doesn’t stop me, only stares, his eyes wide, lost.

I hate seeing him upset, but I’m not going to comfort him. He doesn’t want that from me.

“Where are you going?” he asks as I reach the end of the pavilion.

“To wash again. You made a mess of me.”

His laugh follows me, wry and derisive. “And what do you think you’ve done to me, Atê?”

I really don’t know, but I also don’t think I’m the one to answer the question.

It’s his job now.

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