Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Eros. Who is alive. Not dead. Alive and breathing and opening his blue, blue eyes to blink at me. “Hermes?”
“How?” I repeat. I don’t know who I’m asking, only that I need to know this isn’t a dream. I’m awake. I know I’m awake. But… “I saw you die.”
“On the contrary.” Demeter sweeps into the room and sinks onto one of two chairs positioned on the other side of the bed. “You saw him shot. You saw him fall. You saw me yell that he was dead.”
I blink at her. Usually, I’m the one who thinks fast on my feet, but it feels like I’m up to my neck in mud that thickens around me with every step. I know Eros was dead…don’t I? I shake my head sharply, jostling my thoughts free. “That was quick thinking on your part. Circe didn’t even question you.” I didn’t question her, either.
“She was distracted by your presence,” Demeter says diplomatically. “My claim about his death might have been the truth if we didn’t get him medical care in time, but fortunately, our family doctor was close and available.”
Psyche takes the other empty seat, the one closest to the head of the bed, and laces her fingers through Eros’s. “If Circe finds out he’s alive, she’ll have him killed just to avoid looking like my mother is undermining her.”
That was a concern an hour ago. With our current plans, Eros being alive will be the least of Circe’s problems in a day or two. I climb unsteadily to my feet and cross to stand next to the bed. “You look like shit.”
Eros’s normally warm, pale skin is bleached of color until he looks almost like a corpse. His chest is a mass of bandages, and there’s an IV hooked up to his free wrist and oxygen tucked under his straight nose. He gives a faint smile. “You should grab a mirror. When’s the last time you slept?”
“Hey.” I lift a finger but stop short of poking him. I don’t want to cause him any pain, even accidentally. He’s been through enough. “You know better than to comment on a woman’s appearance.”
“Guilty.” His smile fades away. “If you need help—”
Psyche tenses and parts her lips, but I speak before she can get a word out. “You can help by staying right where you are and continuing to breathe. No more heroics for you, mister.” My voice has gone all wrong, thick and watery. “Save that for the professionals.”
“Hermes, I am a professional.” He slides a glance at his wife. “Or at least I used to be.”
“Let’s keep it in the past tense.” My throat feels like someone has wrapped their hand around it and is squeezing tighter with each breath. “I’m really glad you’re alive, Eros. The world would be a dimmer place without you in it.”
Psyche bows her head, but not enough to hide the tears in her pretty hazel eyes. Neither one of them will be moving on from this violence anytime soon. It’s the kind of thing that leaves scars, and I’m not talking about the ones he’ll carry on his chest for the rest of his—hopefully long—life.
Eros looks again to his wife and then back to me. “I’m glad I’m alive, too.”
I have to get moving, to start putting things into place before… But all I want to do is stand here and drink in the sight of him. Eros is alive.
Demeter stands and smooths down her dress. “The doctor will be here in an hour to change the bandages. If you need anything before then—”
“I’ve got it, Mom.” Psyche manages a smile, though it wavers around the edges. “But thanks.”
“We’ll be down the hall.” She takes my arm and guides me out of the room. Then she keeps guiding me, tugging me along to a door on the other end of the hallway. “Here.”
“If you’re going to kill me, you could have saved us both a lot of time and done it in the yard.” It’s a pathetic attempt at a joke, but it’s all I have right now.
She gives me a disgusted look. “If I were going to kill you, I wouldn’t leave a speck of evidence in the process. I certainly wouldn’t do it in my family’s home.”
“The infamous pigs,” I murmur.
“Just so.” She opens the door. “Eros was right. You look tired, and tired people make silly mistakes. That’s one thing we can’t afford. Nothing will happen for the next few hours. Circe is still combing the upper city for anyone too foolish to flee, but she already caught Artemis. The trial is in the morning.”
I can’t help looking at the door, of thinking about the couple just down the hallway. “You need to get them out. The countryside isn’t far enough away to protect either of them if she finds out he’s alive.”