Page 90 of Red Flag, Green Light

Mars fixes a scowl that I morefeelthanseeon me, so I nestle closer to him. Reluctant, he mutters, “Am I ever going to get you to stop calling him by his government name?”

“I love names with syllables. They’re just so much better than names with…well…syllable, don’t you think?”

“Ceres?”

“Mm, two whole syllables in my name. Love it. Anyway. What were you saying, single-syllable boy?”

Pinching my cheeks, Mars shakes my head a bit and glowers at me. “Do you have any limitations, at all? Is nothing about me sacred? What if I’ve spent my entire life comparing myself to my brother and you keep pouring salt in the wound of my complex? You could be deeply, psychologically hurting me.”

I flutter my lashes. “It’s so pretty, the song of your heart as it shatters.”

“Am I to take that as ano, nothing is sacred?”

“Nothing at all.” Except this. This moment. This is sacred.

Mars scoops me into a puddle of warmth against his chest and whispers into my hair, “Cruel goddess.”

“According to the myths, I amnurturingandprotecting. And I absolutely didn’t cause a famine that one time my daughter had a fling in the Underworld. That would be stupid. I mean, seriously, famineskillpeople. Why would I send more subjects to the guy who took my baby girl?” I free a nefarious giggle. “Unless of course, I was always pro kidnapping and a big fan of shipping Pluto and Proserpina and wanted her to have more pathetic mortals to lord over.”

Mars squeezes me. “Evil mastermind.”

“Benevolent and supportive mother, thank you very much.”

His breaths quiet, going steady.

“Mars?”

Drowsy, he says, “Hm?”

“Are you falling asleep on me?”

“No,” he murmurs. “I’m notonyou. That would be…” He yawns. “…so inappropriate.”

“Villain.”

His muscles tense, dragging me in fractionally closer. Closer, closer, closer.

I ask, “Are we tempting the fate of the critically-acclaimed, massively-popular only-one-trampoline trope?”

He snuffs a tiny laugh. “Scandalous.”

Scandalous indeed. I’ll have to tell Rouge about this before it gets oversaturated. Only one bed? Tired. Only one tent? Used. Only one trampoline? Fresh, new, cool, and…

Magical.

Listening to Mars’s heartbeat, I let my eyes close. “I like your name. Mars is my favorite planet because it matches my hair. I like the way you look, too. Your eyes are the most beautiful shade of green, and your smile makes anything seem possible. Being around you is gentle. I’ve never met anyone as thoughtful as you. Your kindness is an anomaly. Your honesty is refreshing. Your chaos feeds my very soul. You’re insane, Mars. Utterly insane. But—” I breathe a curse through the fabric of his clothes, straight into his skin. “—I love it.”

His lips settle hard against the crown of my head. “Marry me, Ceres.”

I tsk. “This is why you don’t get compliments, Mars. Look how irresponsible you are with them.”

My back hits the trampoline, and uranium eyes glitter down at me, dark strands of hair framing pale skin. Blankets waterfall off Mars’s shoulders while the moon lights him in white.

I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life.

“Marry me,” he repeats, as though he knows I’m entranced and doesn’t care one bit so long as I sayyes.

“Make me,” I say.

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