Page 42 of Inked Athena

She glares at me. “You suck, you know that?”

A laugh escapes before I can stop it. I wade in after her, biting back a curse as the freezing water climbs up my legs. My balls try to crawl back inside my body, but Nova’s standing there vibrating with enough rage to keep herself warm.

“Want me to show you how it’s done?”

“No,” she says. “I’m not interested in more games.”

Sighing, I step a little closer and place my hand on her stomach. She freezes, her eyes darting to mine.

“Yes, I play games—but only because I have to. That doesn’t mean I take them lightly. Just because I strategize doesn’t mean I don’t understand the stakes.”

She takes a deep breath that I feel against my palm, then looks across the loch to a derelict rowboat that’s been rotting in the weeds since before I bought this place.

She nods toward it. “Mr. Morris said that boat’s been floating there for a decade. No one’s paid it the slightest bit of attention.”

“I’ll buy a new one, if you want.”

“I don’t want a new one. I wantthatone.” Her jaw sets. “I want to fix it up. Especially if...” She swallows. “If we’ll be here for a while.”

I nod, wishing I could give her a timeline. Wishing, more than anything, that I could give her absolutely everything she wants.

But all I can do for now is keep her here and keep her safe.

A shiver wracks her body. “I suppose I might as well find a project, then.”

It doesn’t sound like we’re talking about the boat anymore.

“You can try,” I tell her. “I know it’s in your nature to want to heal what’s broken. But not everything can be fixed.”

Her eyes meet mine for half a heartbeat before skittering away. “I have to try.”

The need to protect her wars with pride in her stubborn strength. I understand why she has to do this—why she needs to believe she can salvage something from this mess I’ve dragged her into.

But I’m as worried about her succeeding as I am about her failing.

Because the truth is, I am who I am. Son of a monster, brother to a snake, heir to an empire built on blood and bone.

And as fierce and determined as Nova is, trying to fix me might be the thing that finally breaks her.

The moon watches from above as we stand in the freezing loch, her body trembling against my palm, both of us knowing this isn’t just about a broken boat anymore.

Some things are meant to stay fractured. Some men are meant to stay damned.

And sometimes, love isn’t enough to save us.

16

NOVA

The rain falls like God decided Scotland needed a new loch.

For days, I’ve watched it through the window. Droplets captured against the glass scurry down like prisoners trying to break free. Can’t get in, can’t get away, can’t go anywhere but down.

Very fucking relatable.

My thoughts are doing the same. It’s not grief I’m feeling, not truly. Or at least, not solely. Maybe there’s something called grief tangled up in the knot of emotions taking up residence inside my chest. I lost my family, after all. The man who birthed me. The brothers who were supposed to love me.

But there’s more than that, too. There’s anger, and confusion, and despair, and fuck knows what else. I’d need more dictionaries than this castle’s library can handle to puzzle it all out.

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