Page 15 of The Shadow Gods

The look Hector gave him could have flayed skin, but he didn't say anything except, “Can you get in the van?” He turned his attention to me, and added, “Please.”

Because I was a reasonable woman, I capitulated. Feeling benevolent and pretty full of myself, I got into the van. Right away, though, I sighed. The inside was still a mess of books, bags, and boxes. The seats were waterlogged and squished beneath my butt.

We spent the rest of the trip stuffing loose items away in the containers and bags that weren't soaked. It took us right up until Achilles had to jump into the driver's seat.

On either side of the ramp, and along the dock, lights flashed on emergency vehicles. As we slowly drove past, it hit me that even if the people coming off the boat were alive, many were injured.

Guilt swamped me. No one would have gotten hurt if we hadn't been on the boat. Then again, how much worse might it have been if we'd gone under the Channel, instead of over it?

It was easy to imagine the Chunnel crashing on top of us, suffocating us beneath tons of concrete and sea water.

I would have nightmares from tonight.

“I've found a place for us to stay in Lille if you can make it that far without falling asleep,” Orestes said to Achilles. He had taken the spot behind the driver's seat and was close enough to Achilles he could see over his shoulder. “What do you think?”

“I think I can manage it,” Achilles replied, sounding put out or insulted.

Or tired.

I was. The catnap I’d taken with Paris hadn't done a thing, and now that adrenaline no longer coursed through my body, I was ready to sleep for the next few days.

It took too long for Orestes's words to sink into my brain and create a mental map of Europe. “Lille? Are we going to Belgium?”

Our navigator shook his head. “We'll travel east through France and then south. Italy.”

Italy made sense. Italy. Greece. Turkey. Macedonia. These were all places with ties to the gods. “So, do you agree with me? We wait to destroy the seal in case we need it?”

“It's risky, Leo.” Paris pushed his long fingers through his hair. With his hair slicked back, the sharp line of his jaw and cheekbones were stark. He held his hands against his head, dropped his chin to his chest, and looked up at me. “What you're suggesting makes sense, especially after what just happened. If that was Poseidon flexing his muscles, dropping a piece of the seal into his domain is a bad idea. But keeping it all together? I don't know. What if we fuck up? And we're fuck-ups.”

“Stop it.” I held up my hand. “You can't think like that. And I don't agree with you at all. Fuck-ups? You ended a war and then made sure more couldn't happen.”

He let his hands fall between his knees, clasping them like he was praying.

They were all so eaten up by guilt, and I didn't know how to get through to them. “Do you think it was my—” My throat closed. I didn't want to say the word and “me” in a sentence. I couldn't. Not yet. So, I put distance between me and my next statement. “Do you think it was Medusa's fault that Poseidon raped her?”

I didn't think it was possible, but Paris went even paler. Pushing forward until our knees touched, he took my hands. “No. Mortals have no control over gods. It could have been some game devised by Athena, and you would never have known it.”

And just like that, he smacked right into my point. I lifted my eyebrows.

He pulled back physically, and I could see the shutdown starting on his face. They were all so hard on themselves and so unwilling to let go of this guilt.

But who was I to judge them? I'd never lost anyone like they had. For crying out loud, it wasn't until I met them that I realized I was even capable of love. I thought it was something that happened to other people. That I was missing whatever it was that could make me worthy of love.

Until them.

“I trust you.” I slid forward, chasing Paris like he'd chased me, and took his hands. “I trust you so much. I'm willing to do whatever you think is right. Smash the seal. Drop it into the ocean. Keep it. Put it back together. Use it as bait. You tell me what to do, and I'll give it a shot. We're in this together.”

As I spoke, Paris's blue eyes widened and that pale skin flushed. I barely had time to take a breath before his lips were on mine.

And holy hell, the man could kiss. If I'd given it any forethought, I'd have wondered if I'd be embarrassed by kissing one man in front of four others. Paris didn't let me think of anything except him.

Everything disappeared. His lips were strong, and he kissed me like he meant it. Like he was going to leave a mark on me. Or bring me back to life.

I didn't want him to stop. When his warm tongue touched my bottom lip, I opened and let him slide inside. He coaxed reactions from me, teasing at first, and then demanding.

He groaned deep in his throat, a hand going to the back of my head to hold me in place while he ravaged me.

When he pulled back, he left me stunned. Eyes closed. Leaning forward. Lips swollen.

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