Page 48 of The Shadow Gods

We ambled down the street past other tourists. I scanned ahead, expecting to see Hector and Paris, but didn't. They were probably waiting by one of the side streets.

As we walked, the groups of tourists trickled away, and even the traffic got lighter. Maybe it was that time of day, theriposo, when everyone went home, cooked lunch, and ate with their families. Pollux and I were in our own little bubble, alone in the beautiful city.

“I keep thinking,” he began, “what might have happened if I kept you to myself. If I hadn't told the others about you or what you'd found.”

He squeezed my hand, and I glanced down at his light-brown skin against my pale, freckled hand. His fingers were long and strong, and I loved the way he surrounded me, both with his size and strength.

“What do you mean?” I asked, peeling my eyes from his hands to his face. The sun hit him, making his green eyes even greener as his pupils shrank to pinpricks. He hadn't shaved, and there was gold in his dark beard.

“It was because of me that Achilles and Orestes came after you. In Oxford.”

All of that seemed so far away. “I'm not sorry I met you.”

He shook his head, like I missed the point. I started to ask for an explanation, but the street opened up to a wide piazza surrounding a fountain.

“Come on,” he said, pulling me toward the water.

“Wait,” I said, taking his other hand. “I don't understand. What do you mean? Do you feel bad about Achilles coming after me on the train? Honestly, Pollux, I'd forgotten about it. I know it's crazy, but it feels like a lifetime ago.”

He dropped one hand, pushed it through his hair, and spun away. “No. That's not it. I just—we've had no time together, and I can't help wondering what it would have been like if I had kept you a secret. Just for me. So there was just this.” He gestured between us. “Then, I realize that Athena would have found you. And me. All of this would happen eventually, and it's the way it should be. The way I want it to be. But for a little while at least, I wouldn't have had to share you."

“Oh.”Ohh.Oh, shit. “Pollux.” I reached for his hand to apologize, or explain, but the sun glinted off the water in the fountain and I paused.

It was so quiet and still. Everything and everyone seemed to drift away. Pollux might have been speaking or holding my hand or telling me he wanted nothing to do with me, but all I could see was the water and the light.

There was something about it...

Slowly, I took one step, and then another. “Do you see...” I trailed off.

The water glittered like diamonds. I tugged Pollux's hand, pulling him toward the fountain. It was beautiful. Goosebumps rippled from my neck along my shoulders and down my arms, raising the hair.

I was almost there.

It wasn't until I stood in front of the marble statute of a man, trident in hand, and read the inscription that I put all the pieces together.Fontana di Nettuno.Fountain of Neptune.

Stupid. Stupid.

I'd made a joke about it, how we didn't have to worry about the Roman gods…Neptune. But Neptune had a Greek name too.

Poseidon.

Shit.

I stared at the marble god, hands raised in front of him as if holding back the waves. We never should have stopped.

I forgot about Pollux and Hector and Paris as I took in the arrogant smirk and lifted chin. Around me, the sounds of the city disappeared. But it wasn't the natural quiet that descended a lull in traffic. Not even the water made a sound as it dripped from the trident. I watched the droplets, tracing their path from one pointed end, down and down, to the pool. It should have splashed, and I should have heard it, but the only thing I could make out was the pounding of my pulse whooshing in my ears.

“Kneel.”

My body processed the voice before my mind did. Every muscle froze at the same time.

Then the fear hit.No.I stared at the marble statue. It was in my head. The only thing in this square was the fountain and a marble likeness of Poseidon.

“Leo.” In the distance, someone said my name, but I was underwater, and the voice of this monster was clear as crystal.

“Did you not hear me? Kneel.” A figure rose from the fountain, water sluicing off muscled shoulders and heavily veined hands and arms. It took a moment for his features to form. Harsh mouth, bright blue eyes that, just for second, reminded me of Hector's. Except, even at his most distant, Hector's eyes were never cruel.

To any objective observer, Poseidon was more beautiful than any human who ever existed. But I knew him, and his entire being repulsed me.

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