Page 62 of Salt & Blood

She hadn’t meant to sound so harsh or enraged, but the words came out as a snarl. She had no energy left for controlling her voice. It was truly a miracle she could speak at all; every ounce of her body felt like it was being ripped apart.

Just like when Apollo had used his sun magic to tear into her.

No, not her. The goddess before her.

This isn’t me,Pandora told herself.It’s her. Not me. We are not the same. I am different from her.

But their souls were so entwined that Pandora didn’t know what to believe anymore. She had no control. No sense of reality. The past and present melded together until her thoughts were incoherent, and she no longer knew the difference between what she wanted and what the vengeful soul inside her wanted.

Warm hands gripped her arms, and she instinctively flinched away. But it wasn’t Gaia. She knew from the touch alone that it was Sol. Somehow, his large, smooth hands were so familiar to her that she knew without looking up that it was him.

“I can carry you, if you need me to,” he murmured.

Pandora shut her eyes against the roaring in her ears. Distantly, she heard the lapping of ocean waves, which meant that some part of the Elysium enchantment had held, despite the destruction caused by Pandora’s box.

The last time she’d been here by this very portal, Sol had stared at her with hatred in his eyes, pushing her to near death to allow as many people to pass through the portal as possible.

Remembering that powerful loathing and fury from him made her insides tremble for an entirely new reason.

“Why are you helping me?” Pandora whispered, still unable to look up at him. Light shone above her, and it was so similar to Apollo’s magic that it made her stomach roil. She worried if she looked too closely at it, she would vomit all over Sol.

“Because the Gorgon sisters ordered me to,” Sol said, his tone full of amusement.

Pandora shook her head, her skull throbbing. Gods, she couldn’t take this much longer. “No. I mean, why are you being kind to me? You could kick me to the ground and refuse to speak to me, if you wanted. It would be no less than I deserved.”

Sol was silent for a long moment. Pandora groaned from the weight of her memories and the screaming inside her. Her ears started ringing, and she thought for sure she would lose consciousness at any moment.

At long last, Sol said quietly, “I didn’t realize… until I saw…” He broke off and cleared his throat. “When the darkness seized hold of you in that throne room, I saw just how much power she had over you. And I didn’t know… Trivia, I had no idea how bad it was.”

She choked on a dry laugh. “You thought I was lying?”

“Well, yes.”

She winced. She deserved that.

“But everything I saw today showed me you are a prisoner to her memories and her darkness. You did not choose this. And you’re fighting like hell against it.”

Pandora slumped forward, but Sol caught her, cradling her to his chest. “I—I don’t feel like I’m fighting,” she whispered, her body now quivering as a strange chill claimed her. Her skin pebbled, and a cold sweat formed on her brow. “I f-feel weak. I f-feel like I’m losing.”

Sol peeled her sticky, sweaty hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. “Keep fighting, darling. You’re stronger than you think.”

She felt something soft brush against her forehead. For one delusional moment, she thought he might have kissed her there. But before she could decide if it was real or if she’d imagined it, she fell into darkness, succumbing to the pain at last.

Pandora awoke to the sound of crashing waves, this time much clearer than before. They washed over her as if she swam in the ocean itself, letting the soothing salty water flow around her. In her mind and heart, there was nothing but silence. Nothing but the sound of those pulsing waves.

In and out.

In and out.

She exhaled deeply, waiting for the memories and screams to assault her once more. But they did not. Warmth closed in around her, and she sighed with contentment, turning over to press into that comforting heat.

The heat moved.

Pandora’s eyes flew open.

She was lying in a bed surrounded by translucent white drapes. Across from her, a set of open balcony doors revealed the oceanside.

A male grunt from next to her made her sit up so quickly that her head started spinning. Her heart leapt in her throat as she turned to find Sol blinking sleepily up at her, one half of his mouth curved into a satisfied smirk.

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