Page 44 of Dark Restraint

Asterion pulls me close and wraps his arms around me. When he hold me like this, it’s hard not to believe. I suppose that’s the point, or maybe he just likes holding me as much as I like being held. His words rumble through his chest against my cheek. “Only for a little while longer. The timeline for the barrier coming down is quicker than we assumed.”

I almost ask him how he knows that, but ultimately it doesn’t matter. “And then what?”

“You know the answer to that. We can talk in circles as long as you need for you to feel better about it, but the facts haven’t changed. We’re getting the fuck out of here. Circe and the rest of them can fight their war without us. We’ve both sacrificed enough for other people, don’t you think?”

I shift up to press a light kiss to his lips. “I think we both know by now that the world isn’t fair.”

“Where do you want to go first?”

The question startles me, but it probably shouldn’t. I’m still so focused on the here and now and all the challenges between us and anything resembling freedom. But Asterion is right, in his own way. There’s nothing we can do right this second to affect the barrier or Dodona Tower or any of the threats rising against us. And maybe there’s a part of me that just wants to sink into the fantasy that everything really will work out.

“You’ve had to sit through more than a few of my prospective destinations. Which of them would you like to see first?”

His laugh rumbles against me. “Now you’re just trying to get out of choosing. Fine, sweetheart. I’ll play.”

He strokes a hand down my spine and back up again. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this casual touching between us. It’s not something we have to hide right now, and I want to melt right into him.

He considers for several minutes. I like that he’s taking this question seriously. He gives me hope, even if it’s undeserved. Finally, he says, “Nowhere cold. I’m fucking tired of winter. It will take some convincing to get me to go to Antarctica.”

I laugh softly. “Don’t you want to see the penguins?”

“There are penguins in places that won’t freeze my balls off.” Asterion traces abstract patterns against my skin. “You’ve talked about Rio and Carnaval enough times that I know it by heart. It’s one of the places both you and your brother want to experience. Maybe we’ll start there.”

“Carnaval isn’t for months yet. It’s in February.” I’m mostly poking at him to keep this conversation going. To keep dreaming before reality comes crashing back down around us.

“Always so difficult. Maybe we go to Canada, to the West Coast, and start driving south. We’ll take our time and see some shit and circle around to Rio in time for February. How does that sound?”

My heart feels too big for my chest. I want that. I want that so fucking desperately that it makes me shake. I don’t just want to visit places; I want to experience them fully. The picture he paints is exactly that. A wandering life with no true responsibilities, where we go where we want and drift as we need. The world is such a big place, and I want to see all of it.

I swallow past the lump in my throat. “That sounds good, Asterion. Really, really good.”

“Then consider it done. As soon as we get our papers, that’s our plan.”

“Just like that?”

He brushes my hair back from my face. “Yeah, sweetheart. Just like that. No reason to complicate shit unnecessarily.” He kisses me. “Stay until morning.”

It’s almost an order, but there’s a lilt at the end of the last word that edges into the territory of question. He didn’t have to ask, but I love that he did. “It is sunset.”

“Then stay a little longer.”

“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll stay as long as I can.” Until we have to go back to the real world and face the fact that we are only two people in a fight against titans. It will take a miracle for us to get out alive. But Asterion believes we can make it happen…so I will believe, too.

And in my moments of doubt, he’ll have to believe enough for both of us.

23

The Minotaur

As difficult as it is to let Ariadne leave my sight, I don’t want her around for the next steps. I’ve got to get my hands dirty again. No matter who’s calling the shots, that’s one outcome I can’t seem to escape. Violence comes naturally to me.

Aeacus meet me at the same apartment as last time. The place is still dingy and dirty enough that I know they’re not letting anyone else in here to clean, and none of his people are doing the job. He looks like shit, too. I know what it’s like when Minos is riding your ass and you actually care about what he thinks. Theseus used to get the same hunted expression.

I don’t miss the guy, but there’s a part of me that doesn’t really know what to do without my ever-present competitor. We were never going to be friends—Minos made sure of that—but there’s something about him being the only other person in the world who has the same shared experiences as me that built an intimacy I never asked for.

He’s better off. Or at least he thinks he is. I mean to feel the same.

Aeacus drags a hand over his face. “About fucking time.”

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