Page 21 of The Shadow Gods

As much as I dreamed that eternal torture would end, I hadn't expected it to. And I hadn't expected it to so abruptly. It had left me off-balance.

“Did you ask her what specifically she saw?” Paris asked.

“We didn’t get that far,” I said. Instead of doing what I should have and gotten down to the specifics, I’d let myself get distracted and kissed her. I wasn't sorry for doing it, but it had been the wrong time for it.

As if he could read my mind, Paris grinned. “So that was, what? Getting specifics?”

“Gods,Paris,” I retorted. “I was kissing her. For fuck's sake! I know. I should have been helping her, and instead, I kissed her.”

Flipping his hair out of his face, he leaned back on the bed. “From the glazed look in her eyes, I think you did. And stop beating yourself up. You move at snail speed, Orestes. It was about time you did something about your feelings. Between you and Hector—”

“Me and Hector, what?” I asked when he left off right there. “You've got something to say about moving slowly? You? How many years did you hibernate in that cottage, Prince Paris? And before that—”

Paris sat up. His face went pale and his blue eyes blazed at me. “Enough.”

Therewas that holier-than-thou tone that belonged to a prince. He sat straight, looking down his nose at me.

“You don't have any room for judgment,” I countered. While I liked a Paris who had a lighter side, I didn't want to be the butt of his jokes.

We stared at each other, the silence getting heavier until the bathroom door opened. Leo stood there, fresh-faced and dressed simply in jeans and a sweater. Her hair was still damp, but she'd pulled part of it back in a clip.

Pausing, she narrowed her eyes at us. “Did something happen?”

Paris shook his head. “No. Orestes was telling me that you saw something.”

Rather than answer right away, she came over to the bed. Her boots were at the end, so she sat and pulled them onto her feet. “I think—”

Someone pounded on the door hard enough that it rattled on the hinges. It could only be one person. Opening it, I found Hector glaring at me. “What's taking you so long?”

“I'm ready.” Leo flung a bag over her shoulder but kept her eyes on the ground as she passed by me and Hector.

“Hey,” Hector touched her shoulder. “What's wrong?”

“I'll tell you in the car,” she said. “I'm sorry I made you wait.”

She kept walking, ignoring all of us, even though Hector called out, “It's fine. Leo. It's...” He trailed off. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” I answered. Except for arguing with Paris and him barging in here like a bull. And Leo having some kind of vision or hallucination. “A lot,” I amended. “But Leo's right. Let's get going. We can talk on the way.”

Leo

Pollux, Hector, and Achilles were exhausted. When we got to the van, Pollux and Achilles were leaning against it, not talking. Both had dark circles under their eyes but had showered and changed at some point. I didn't even bother to look around me and take in the sights.

“You two,” I called and pointed to the van, “get in and take a nap.” I glanced behind me. Hector was hot on my heels and looked about as lively as his friends. “You too. Orestes will be the navigator. I'll drive.”

Achilles snorted.

“You're not laughing at the idea of me driving, are you?” I asked. That came out a little too sharp. “I've driven in Europe.”

Achilles opened his mouth to argue but reconsidered it. “You're right. You drive. You have a license, right?”

I rolled my eyes at him. Of course, I did. Not only that, but I'd learned how to drive on a bumper-to-bumper interstate full of angry commuters heading to New York. I could handle this pretty, French-city driving.

And it was pretty. Lille was a border town, sitting right near Belgium in the northeast of France. The buildings ranged from modern to Medieval, and the historian in me wished for a little more time to explore. I'd never stayed in France for very long, though I'd given a couple of lectures in Paris.

Holding out the keys, Achilles waited for me to approach him. “Sorry I got testy,” I said as I took them from his hand.

He leaned down to press his lips against mine. “I'm the one who's testy. I'm jealous I didn't get to sleep next to you last night, and now I'm going to sleep for hours and miss out on time again.”

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