Page 15 of Sweet Obsession

A honeymoon he returned from as a widower.

“She was mistreated greatly by Olympus,” I say, my mind still in the past. “Not just by Zeus.”

“You sound almost like you agree with her.”

“Do I?” Damn it. I’ve let myself be too honest again—and with someone who I can ill afford to be open with. I clear my throat. “You may think dealing with Circe is a fool’s errand, but Hera tends to get what she wants. She might surprise you.” I dearly hope she does. There are so many innocents in this city, and even more are spread through the countryside. So many lives under the protection of the Thirteen, and we’re failing them. We have been for a long time, but it’s never been clearer than in the moment when the barrier came down and instead of taking decisive steps to protect the city, we’re still engaged in political manipulations and powerplays.

“Maybe.” Icarus shrugs and sets his fork carefully on his plate. “Maybe not. I suppose it won’t matter to me overmuch anyway, since I’m going to be dead.”

I blink. “What do you mean?”

He gives me a long look. The fake charm pulling at the edges of his mouth fades away and he becomes uncharacteristically serious. Did I think he was beautiful before? He’s so much more so now, when he’s not pasting a mask on his noble features.

“You have to kill me.” He says it almost gently, as if breaking bad news. “As long as I’m alive, I’m a threat to the security of the city. What remains of it, at least. I’m not a fan of being tortured, but Polyphemus had the right idea. You need whatever information I have, and then you need to dispose of me. It’s the smartest move.”

No matter how many times I replay his words, they don’t change. “Are you seriously suggesting that I torture and then murder you?” That can’t be right. Itcan’tbe.

“Like I said, I’m not exactly advocating for that kind of violence. But I’m not a fool. This only ends one way, and it’s not with me riding off happily into the sunset, whole and alive.” He looks away. “Which, frankly, is a damn shame. It will break Ariadne’s heart when I don’t meet her next year. She’s strong, though. She’ll get over it. It might take a while, but I’m sure the Minotaur will be there to comfort her through her grief…and I’ll be too dead to worry about it either way.”

9

Icarus

I needed the food, but what I didn’t need was the confusion this meal brought. Poseidon isn’t playing a game like I originally thought. Some of the other Thirteen I’ve met have been almost smarmy. Power does weird things to people, particularly the Olympians. But apparently not Poseidon.

At least he’s talking to me. It’s very hard to seduce someone who flees the room the moment you enter.

“No one’s going to murder you, Icarus.” He says it intensely, forcefully. As if he can will it into being true. “You’re under my protection now.”

“So that means I can leave?” I say, testing exactly how far his so-called protection extends. From the way his expression shuts down, that’s a no. It’s nothing more than I expected. I just wanted to see if he’d admit as much. I shrug, the very picture of nonchalance. “Like I said, it’s fine. I knew what would happen when I decided to stay behind so Ariadne could get away. I accepted it.”

Poseidon plants his large hands on the countertop and glares at his plate of food as if it’s insulted his mother. “It was a very brave thing you did.”

I stare. Did he justcomplimentme? Surely I’m hearing things. “I took you captive, threatened to murder you, and then when that didn’t go to plan, almost drowned us both.” It wasn’t brave. It was reckless and desperate and more than a little fatalistic.

I honestly didn’t think they’d let me leave the docks alive once they pulled me out of the water. My sister has spent her life enduring the same gilded captivity that I have, but it hasn’t broken her. She still has hope, and joy, and plans for the future. She deserves to be happy. My life is a small price to pay to ensure she has a real chance to make it happen.

But going on and on about how I’m sure to die obviously won’t garner the sympathy I was aiming for. Time to try a different tack. I stand, doing my best to cover up my wince as the movement sends a jolt of agony through my chest. Poseidon is watching me closely, but he doesn’t leap forward to stop me from moving, so I must do a good job of masking my pain. Perfect. It’s hellishly hard to seduce someone who thinks you’re about to fall unconscious at any moment. That sort of thing puts a damper on the mood.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know…on one condition.”

Poseidon doesn’t move as I circle the island and come to stop in front of him. I’ve been close to him before now, but it feels different in this moment. Charged. That adorable flush is back in his cheeks, drawing my attention to the smattering of freckles over the bridge of his nose. I’ve never been one to enjoy beards, but his close-cropped beard looks good on him. It smells good, too; obviously he takes care of it.

And then there are his shoulders, stretching the fabric of his shirt damn near to bursting. Some people wear too-small clothes toshow off their bodies, but on him it feels almost like…neglect. Like maybe he yanked on the first shirt he found and it just happened to be a tiny bit too small. It pulls tight across his muscular chest and even tighter across his round stomach.

It…makes my mouth water.

“Icarus?”

Right. I’m staring. From the tension in his thick muscles, I can tell he’s considering putting some distance between us. I make the big guy nervous, and it delights me to no end.

He takes what I can only assume is an attempt at a fortifying breath. “What’s your condition?”

“I’m very scared, you see. I went to bed alone and woke up being carved to pieces.” It takes effort to put a quiver into my voice…but not as much of an effort as I would like. The truth is that Polyphemus scared the shit out of me. I have no tolerance for torture, it seems. Not for enacting it and not for receiving it.

Another way my father was right about me.

I shove the thought away and focus on the man before me. “If you mean to give me your protection, I want it twenty-four seven. I want to be by your side every hour of every day.”

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