Page 58 of The Brothers Bane

Pan interjects before Chrysaor can reply, his voice steady as always. “I’ll keep an eye on him.” He gives me a firm nod that doesn’t quite mask the concern in his eyes. “Make sure he’s focused before things get underway.”

“Fine.” My reply is curt as I turn back to surveying the room.

But inside, my thoughts churn with unease. Cerberus’ instability is a liability we can ill afford right now—and it’s one more thing reminding me of how Nemea’s absence has unbalanced us all, even if she is still letting them in.

It’s not just Cerberus feeling the strain of divided loyalties; we all are. But we don’t have the luxury of time or space to deal with it now—we have a job to do.

25

Nemea

My sanctuary feels different when I arrive, and it takes a moment to realize it’s the light. Normally the place is brightly lit as if it’s midday. The gilded tinge to everything now feels more like sunset, even though there’s no more actual sun here than there was in Tartarus.

Erebus materializes almost instantly. He’s in his true shape, his monstrous features oddly comforting thanks to their utter honesty. He regards me in silence with his opaque black gaze while I make my way to the pavilion with the bed and sit.

My belly churns with anxiety, and I simply reach out a hand for him while mentally reaching for Typhon too.

Erebus is only a few feet away, but dissipates into a shadow before reconstituting in front of me, on his knees. He takes my hands and peers up at me, a question arching his brows.

“You are troubled. What can I do?”

“When Ty gets here, the two of you can make me forget.”

He frowns and looks like he wants to argue, but at that moment, Typhon strides forward from his door, asking, “Forget what?”

I take a breath, fully prepared to tell him—if anyone would understand, he would. But I close my mouth and shake my head.

“I can’t tell you or you’ll try to talk me out of it. Please don’t ask me again, okay?”

The brothers exchange a look, and then they both nod. Their acquiescence eases some of my anxiety, and I stand and go to Typhon. He seems a little taller and broader-shouldered than he did earlier in the day, but he’s still wearing the same outfit Campe clothed him in for our trek down the Las Vegas strip. I rest my hands on his chest, sliding them across the solid expanse.

“You changed your shape.”

His pale cheeks tinge with pink, and he gives a slight smirk. “I asked the Furies for feedback on the form I chose before. They suggested I try something just a little more imposing. It isn’t too much, is it?”

“Too much is pretty much how I roll with you guys,” I say with a grin, sliding my hands up and hooking them at the back of his neck. His flush deepens and he drops his gaze. I cock my head. “What is it?”

“I also wanted to try something else. Something Chrysaor showed me the last time we spoke. After how you pleasured me in the caverns, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I decided to, ah… ornament myself.”

I release his neck and step back. “Color me intrigued. Can you show me?”

He clears his throat and nods, then rests his hands at his waistband. “If you don’t like it, I can change it. I did it to please you, after all.”

I make a circular motion with my hand, feeling a little déjà-vu, though Chrysaor wasn’t half as shy about dropping his pants in front of me.

Typhon doesn’t unfasten his jeans, though. Instead he sheds his jacket and peels his shirt off over his head, revealing his cut torso and the small barbells piercing each of his nipples. To add to the effect, one of his arms is also now inked from shoulder to wrist. I bite my lip, nodding my approval while my mouth waters and my pussy aches to see all of him.

He unfastens his jeans and bends over, obscuring my view for an interminable moment while he removes them before standing again.

His cock is a glorious, thick, serpentine length hanging between his thighs, and he wasn’t lying. It practically sparkles with all the steel. He’s chosen a Jacob’s Ladder piercing that extends all the way up his length, and from his tip protrudes a ring that I’m positive is attached to a sounding rod.

“You really enjoyed what I did to you, didn’t you?”

He swallows, the reverence in his gaze palpable. “No one has given me pleasure like you did. Of your own free will, and only with my desires in mind. I will never forget it. I did this mostly to give you pleasure, but hoped you’d be willing to do the same to me in this form.”

“I’ll do whatever you want me to do, Ty. Come here.”

He strides close, stopping when he looms over me. I peer up at him, heart pounding at the dark beauty he possesses. So similar to his brothers, and yet so different. So much more raw than either Vesh or Erebus.

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