Page 78 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Underworld

Charon’s fingers gripped a coin.

He had reached into his chest and pried one free. Metallic liquid oozed over his fit and down his arm. It seeped from his chest to drip from rib to rib, bone to bone, the trail interrupted with his pained, heaving breaths.

“What have you done?” I howled.

With a sad smile, Charon flipped the coin towards me. It was warm in my palm, slick to the touch with his blood.

I hated it.

Clapping from the shore interrupted the moment. Hermes and Dionysus had rejoined us. The former smiled wide with glee, the latter persisted in his bored perusal from earlier.

Charon scrambled to cover himself again with his chlamys; his vulnerable state only made Hermes laugh harder.

“Moira, you’ve outdone yourself. I thought I’d be collecting your corpse, but here you are! You did it!”

He focused on Charon with a smug look. “I thought nothing could shake you. I’ve spent decades trying to crack that impossible shell, but you’ve never wavered. If I had known all it took was a pretty little thief, I’d have had you broken centuries ago.”

“All of this… was just to what? Elicit a reaction?” Rage coursed through my body as I stared down the god.

Dionysus had the good sense to take a step backward. Mortal I may be, but I was still a force to be reckoned with, and mortalshadchallenged the gods before.

Hermes, immune to my rage, smiled. “Of course it was.”

“You kidnapped me… You threatened my life… You forced me to steal fromhim… just so you could disturb his peace?”

He shrugged. “I was bored.”

I growled, scrambling to launch myself over the boat. I was ready to fight a god, no matter the consequences, but warm, strong arms wrapped around me and held me back.

“Moira, please. Don’t push him. He’s the only way you can leave.” Charon spoke quietly against my cheek so that only we could hear.

“No. He’s the reason you’re hurt. He uprooted my life like it was nothing. He can’t take a piece of your heart, Charon. He can’t win in his absurd ploy.”

He pressed a kiss to my neck, just above his bite. “I willingly gave the obol to you. It’s yours. Use it to get home, to survive.”

Hermes cocked his head as he took us in, an unwelcome presence in our intimacy.

“Oh, this is delightful. I see you did more than steal, Little Thief. You’ve bedded the psychopomp.”

“Don’tcall me that.”

I never wanted anyone but Charon to call me that from here on. It had become his endearment and his alone. It felt soiled and wrong from Hermes’ lips.

The godtsked. “Touchy.” He shrugged, then extended his hand to me. “A deal is a deal. Let’s go.”

Charon’s arms slipped from around me, leaving me exposed and cold.

“No.”

Hermes furrowed his brow. “You’re always saying that. It’s very rude. What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“No. I’m staying.”

Charon grabbed my shoulders and spun me to face him. “You cannot stay.”

“I’ll find a way.” I was incredibly skilled at finding a way to survive. And stubbornly ignoring the countless times Charon and Hermes had told me I would die here if I remained.

“I exist between mortality and the eternal,” Charon said. “The place has honed me into a being specifically designed to thrive here. I am tied to the waters, anchored between life and death.Ican survive here. You will not.”

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