Page 25 of Marginally Yours
"Well, one day I came over to his apartment, and he madeus food. He thought I'd have some kind of mythical metabolism, I guess. He put way too much of whatever it was in my food, and I almost died." Her voice is so small at the last words, and I'm considering hunting the motherfucker down and offering him to Apollo.
"I didn't, though, obviously," she mumbles. "Anyway, I guess the friend he got the drugs from was also a nurse, and he came over to help keep me alive. When I woke up, he had me handcuffed to the radiator in his bedroom. He didn't do anything... weird..."Right, except kidnap you."He just didn't want me to disappear once he finished his book. He didn't know that someone would come looking for me once the contract was up..." She trails off, her gaze drifting to Apollo.
"When our sweet girl here," he takes over, still talking directly to Callie. He's barely looked at me since we got here. "Didn't show up after his book had been published, one of the muses went to collect her and found her still chained up like a dog. We couldn't have that, of course. She called me right away, and I dispatched her little...friend."He spits out the last word like it tastes bad, his lip curling in disgust. "Withextremeprejudice."
Well, there goes my assassination plan. By the pleased look on Apollo's face, he's probably in little pieces scattered in every river in the country now.
They both turn their attention to me, obviously waiting for me to bail. Callie's watery eyes drift to the floor, and she lets out a low sigh.
"If you want to go, it's okay. I understand." Her voice shakes, and she rubs the heels of her palms over her eyes. My face contorts with fury, and I pin Apollo with a glare.
"Was that supposed to make me run?" I grit the words out, jaw clenched so tight my molars might break. Callie drops her hands, wide eyes locked on me in shock. "Did you think the actions of a weak piece of shit would make me think any less ofher? That whatever punishment you doled out for his bullshit would scare me? I'm not bargaining for her freedom so I can use her for myself. If I thought for one second that I was capable of being the kind of man who would want her only for what she could do for me, I'd offer myself up to you right now, because I wouldn't deserve to live." His smirk has fallen into a deep scowl.
"I know this might be hard for you to understand, but I want her freedom so she can befree. Even if she uses that freedom to fly away without me. So, give me afairbargain, or we'll figure out another way." Fuck, probably shouldn't have thrown that last part in there. Whatever.
He eyes me for a moment, eyes narrowed and analyzing. I've definitely pissed him off, but I'm hoping he's more impressed by my boldness. It's not lost on me that he could have killed me already and he hasn't.
Callie is still staring, unmoving. I hold out a hand for her, and her gaze drops to it for a moment before lacing her fingers with mine. My shoulders fall with relief at the contact. Both of our palms are clammy, and I can feel sweat dripping down the back of this ridiculous suit. I'm so fucking ready to take her home, take all this shit off, and curl up in bed.
"How sweet," Apollo says, eyes rolling with his words. We both turn to him, awaiting the result of his deliberation. "But the price remains the same. Her immortal life or your mortal one." My nostrils flare, fury flashing across my face. "Ah, ah," he tuts, his face full of amusement. "Before you try something crazy that will definitely get youdismembered," he warns, lifting an accusatory eyebrow at me. "Take the night to think about it.Reallythink about it. Meet me tomorrow with your decision. Same time, same place."
There’s a loud pop and then he’s gone.
“Fuck!” I kick at the bottom of the bench he was sitting on and achieve nothing but hurting my fucking foot, ofcourse. Callie slowly sits down on a bench on the opposite side of the gazebo, staring straight through the spot he disappeared from. I take the seat next to her, pulling her into my arms and tucking her head under my chin. She immediately lets out a strangled sob, and I pull her in tighter.
“Shh, it’s okay,” I whisper, rubbing small, soothing circles on her back. “Fuck him. We’ll find another way." She sniffs, and I press a kiss to the top of her head. "Come on, let’s go home.”
Chapter Seventeen
When we get back to the apartment, the first order of business is to strip out of thousands of dollars’ worth of uncomfortable clothes. Callie offers to magic them back, but I decide to leave them. The decision has absolutely nothing to do with the way I caught her eyeing my ass in the car window on the way to the park, of course.
Once we’re both clad in jersey and fleece, we curl up under the covers. I tuck her into me, cocooning her with her back to my front and my arms wrapped around her. We lay there like that in dark silence for a while, processing everything that happened before we figure out our next move. Finally, I gently pull my arm out from under her and plant a kiss on her temple before heading to the kitchen.
When I return with snacks and coffee for the brainstorming session, she’s already scribbling in a notebook. I set the mugs down on the nightstand and plop down next to her. I peek at the notes she’s written down so far, but they’re impossible to decipher. They look like they’re in anotherlanguage, which I guess makes sense. I run my thumb over her bare knee, and she looks up at me.
“So, is there someone over his head who we can go to? Anyone who can overrule his shitty terms?” She purses her lips and shakes her head. Not an option, then. “Maybe one of the muses can help?”
“No, any of them who would be willing to help wouldn’t be of any use, and anyone with enough power or authority would either turn me in to Apollo to garner favor and a spot on Helicon, or she wouldn’t even understand why I would want to leave in the first place.” She huffs, sliding the pen behind her ear and dropping the notebook on the bed. “The only one above him is Zeus and that’s an even worse idea.”
“Okay, what about a physical approach? Can we kill a god?” She actually laughs at that.
“No, Devon. We cannotkill a god. First of all, because they’re immortal. Second of all, we are a mortal with minimal combat experience and a shitty muse with basic transfiguration powers.”
“Right,” I mumble. “Kidding, obviously.”Mostly kidding, anyway.
“Honestly, I’m not that consequential. He has no reason to give a shit about me.” She shrugs. Her tone is nonchalant, but I can feel the anxiety bubbling just beneath the surface. “Your book isn’t officially published yet, so technically my current contract is still active. I think the best plan of attack is to show up tomorrow, tell him we changed our minds and to forget about it entirely, and then drag out the contract until we figure out a better plan.”
"It's not a bad plan, but I think you're grossly underestimating his ability to be a petty piece of shit," I muse. She huffs, but she knows I'm not wrong. "I saw the way he looked at you. He might not have cared about you before, but now that you're on his radar as something he can't have, he wants tokeep you." My nails dig into my palms at the memory of his slimy gaze dragging over her.
"Yeah, but he's also lazy. If I'm too difficult, he'll give up and find someone else to fuck with." Her wavering voice betrays her, and I know she doesn’t believe her own words.
"Are you willing to bet on that?" I arch an eyebrow at her, and she chews on her bottom lip in lieu of a response.
"Well, I don't have any better ideas," she concedes with a sigh. "He's agod. We can't overpower him. My magic is barely a drop in the ocean compared to his. The best we can do is play meek, prey on his vanity, and tell him we've seen the light and he's absolutely right." She cringes at the thought and lets out a defeated sigh.
I pull her into me, cradling her in my lap. She melts into my grasp, and my chest tightens. There's no way in hell I'd be able to let them take her away. They'd have to kill me first.
Unfortunately, Apollo could, easily. And he would.Happily.
