Page 68 of The Shadow Gods

She shrugged. “I wish you'd had a happy life,” she said. Peering over her shoulder, she met my eyes and then stared at her hands. “I wish Astyanax had lived, and you'd been king, and there had been no war.

“But I'm so glad I met you, Hector. I don't mean to sound like an awful person. I lo—I love you. I'm glad you're alive.” She peered at me again. “I'm glad you're alive.” Lifting her eyebrows, she dared me to argue with her.

There was no argument. The past was the past, and whatever it had been, we were together here and now. I couldn't give her the words back, and I hoped she forgave me for that.

“You're the best part of this existence,” I whispered, wrapping one arm around her neck to drag her to me. I kissed the top of her head and held her in place, hoping she understood everything I couldn't say.

Leo

Hector held onto me for a long time and I let him. It made me so mad that he embraced the idea he shouldn't exist.

But that wasn't the worst part. His easy acceptance that he shouldn't be alive scared me. If he felt like he didn't belong here, would he fight to stay?

The gods were coming for us. Even if Athena and Poseidon were the only gods who escaped, they had powers we couldn't fathom. Poseidon had somehow known where we were. He'd appeared out of a fountain in Italy, and if I'd been crossing a stream in Vermont, he'd have found me there. They'd created this world, and they could bend the laws we accepted as ironclad.

Like death.

For them, there was always a reset button. In this game, there were infinite lives, and if one of their favorite players died, they just respawned. That's how Achilles, Pollux, Paris, Orestes, Hector, and I were here.

A soft knock on the bathroom door made Hector draw back from me.

“Hey.” Paris opened the door. “Are you okay?”

He stared at me, then flicked his gaze toward his brother. I waited, hoping Hector would answer, but he didn't. Instead, he pretended Paris's question was only about me. “She seems to be doing better.”

Over his shoulder, Paris and I locked eyes. He frowned. “Hector...”

“Meet you out there.” He kissed me gently and left before Paris could finish his sentence.

Watching as Hector closed the door behind him, Paris blew out a frustrated breath. “He's so bloody pigheaded.”

Yeah, but he'd revealed a lot. I understood needing to hide and regroup for a bit. Paris's blue eyes traveled over my face. “You're okay?”

“I was sick.” I wanted to forget about it. “I feel totally fine now.” It was the truth. My stomach had settled, and the only thing making me feel a little off was that Hector and I hadn't really resolved anything. A sense of doom pressed onto me, but I didn't want to share our conversation with Paris. It had been private, and Hector had trusted me to keep it that way.

Paris studied me. “You're still pale.”

I turned to examine my reflection. He was right. My color was weird—less white and more green and gray.Yuck.“I'm probably tired.”

Nodding, he pushed my hair behind my ears and swept my bangs out of my face. “We should go to bed.”

Remembering my earlier hopes, my body flushed. Eyes wide, Paris shook his head, but a small smile lifted his lips. “Not tonight. If you think you're doing anything other than sleeping, you've lost your mind.”

“I'm not too tired.” I sounded like a whiny child who wanted to stay up later than her bedtime, and of course, I undid every word by yawning hugely.

Features softening, Paris took me in his arms. “Leo, I might like sharing you, but there's no way the first time I explore your body, I'm rushing through it.All good things come to those who wait,”he quoted.

I frowned. That was bullshit. “I prefer,carpe diem.”

Paris threw his head back and laughed, long blond hair coming loose to graze his jaw. Leaning down, he kissed me. “That might work if I was Roman,” he replied against my lips.

“How about English?” I asked, and added, “Seize the day?” But then, just to drive the point home, I repeated it in Greek, holding his gaze as I pronounced every word with my best accent.

He kissed me again, a little longer. His tongue swept into my mouth, tangling with mine for a second. He withdrew too quickly. “Another night. I promise.”

When I frowned, he kissed me once more. “I've been dreaming about this. And in all those dreams, I took my time.” He punctuated the last three words with hard kisses.

When he put it that way, it was pointless to argue. I didn't give in gracefully, though. “Fine.”

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