Page 59 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

“Whiskey and ambrosia.” He leant back over the arm of the chair and smirked over the top of his glass. The amber liquid made his eyes look brighter. “Be careful though. It’s potent.”

“I’m dead. Not sure alcohol has the same kind of affect on me anymore.”

“But this isn’t just alcohol, love. Ambrosia is the nectar of the gods. It’s what they drink to get merry.”

I snorted and then hiccupped. Hmm, maybe he was right. My mouth started to tingle, and I licked my lips trying to disperse the irritation. He watched as the tip of my tongue darted between my lips and did he just swallow?

“You didn’t answer my question,” I said, taking another sip.

He raised his brow at me, clearly judging me for not listening to his warning about the liquid being potent. He could be as judgy as he wanted. It wasn’t going to stop me finishing this delicious drink. Even if it was starting to make me feel a little dizzy.

“A long time,” he drawled. “The last time I saw the outside people still wore tunics with pins in the shoulders.”

My jaw dropped. “You’ve been in here for two thousand years?”

“Give or take.”

“Wow.” I wanted to ask what he’d done to be punished for so long but that kind of felt like a personal question. But I was curious. It must have been something very bad to warrant such a punishment. He didn’t give me the vibe that he was evil, but then again, a psychopath could appear completely normal if he chose to. “When do you go free?”

He scoffed and took another swallow of his drink. I found it difficult not to get distracted by the bob of his Adam’s apple.

“When Hades says I can.”

“Fucking asshole,” I grumbled. I still wasn’t over the whole invading my mind thing and, even though I managed to throw him out of my mind, I still hundred precent believe it was a cuntish thing to do.

“Not a fan?” he said with a grin.

“Nope. He tried to scare me into submission, so I brought him to his knees.”

“That’s my girl.”

“Am I?”

“Are you what?”

“Your girl?”

He took a breath and cocked his head to one side. “Have you ever just known something to be true, despite not understanding why?”

My magic swirled in my chest again, like it was telling me to agree with him and I thought about the connection I had with the other guys. “Like it’s instinctual?”

He set his empty glass down on the table and leant closer, cupping my face with one of his large hands. “Raevyn. Sweet, precious, Raevyn. I don’t know what I did to deserve this chance with you, but I thank the gods that I have a chance to know you.”

“What’s your name?” I asked, hoping he heard the plea in it.

“I want to tell you, I do. I just…” He swallowed and looked away for a second. “Raevyn, there are things I regret in my past. I made mistakes and it cost me everything. The woman I loved, my family, my freedom.”

I placed my drink down and wrapped his face in my hands. Gods, he really was beautiful. “You can’t tell me that you’re the same person as two millennia ago, that you haven’t changed. You talk about knowing something is true without understanding it, now, I don’t know how I got here, but I know I’m here for a reason. I know you saved me and helped me, for a reason. That isn’t going to change because I know your name.”

A vulnerability swept into his eyes and the embers that had been bright sparks earlier, dimmed. He pulled a ring off his finger, placed it in my palm and wrapped my fingers around it. “Raevyn. Thank you.” He pressed a quick kiss against my lips, hard and fast and full of promise. “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that.”

My lips tingled like they’d been touched by fire. “I—”

A sharp pain sliced behind my sternum and a scream erupted from my throat.

“Raevyn? What is it?” he asked, fear dancing in his eyes.

“I don’t know.” My vision blurred as the pain intensified. “I don’t… understand.”

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