A Date of Godlike Proportions
A reluctant smile passed my lips despite the tension in my shoulders. Festos was singing Motown in the shower, to kick himself awake.
He was adorable.
No. I didn’t think that word about people . Theo Rockman was not fanciful. Is . Is not fanciful. I’m responsible. Focused. Not the giddy lover type.
Festos launched into his next song, humming some upbeat tune complete with electronica flourishes. Which meant he was doing what exactly to get ready for our date? Dressing? Shaving?
I stared in the direction of his voice for a few moments.
“Magoo,” I said to my best friend Sophie’s unconscious form, “that boy needs to learn priorities.” Now was not the time to be gallivanting off for a night out. Not with Sophie in such a vulnerable state.
“ At least your godling wants to be around you .” I imagined the fond amusement that would be in her voice even as she chastised me. “ I’ll take him if you won’t .”
I propped my legs up on the bed beside her and watched her lying there, pale, her eyes closed. Her voice was only in my head. My gut twisted. My Goddess of Spring wasn’t wired to be this silent — or this still — for this long.
After all the supernatural attacks she’d endured, it was a regular old knife stabbing that had laid her this low. I couldn’t decide if it was ironic, or just the universe’s twisted sense of humor.
I leaned forward and placed a hand on Sophie’s chest. Not that I thought she wasn’t breathing or anything, but she was so deeply submerged in her healing state that perhaps … I jerked my hand away as if my paranoia could infect her.
Of course she was going to wake up. Be fine.
Physically.
But for all her power and strength, my best friend was a giant mass of heart and emotion. What if she’d taken one too many blows? Between the constant attacks from her father, her boyfriend walking away from her, and learning the truth about her mother? About her past? What if something so deep, so essential in this smartass had been broken in a way that all her healing powers couldn’t fix? What if she survived, but her laughter didn’t?
My chest tightened. I should have been there watching out for her. It didn’t matter that there had been no way to predict this. My one job, the very thing I’d given up my Titan powers for was to keep her safe.
If I hadn’t arranged for Persephone’s goddess essence to be transferred into Sophie’s newborn human form, she wouldn’t be lying here now.
I’d sworn to protect her.
Festos moved on to his next song. Singing like he hadn’t a care in the world. Living totally in the moment.
I scowled. I couldn’t imagine a reality where I wasn’t thinking ten steps ahead at all times.
Except, I had lived in the moment, hadn’t I? I’d chosen to stay with Festos that night instead of going back to Hope Park to watch over Sophie.
My heart skipped as Sophie twitched in her slumber. I knew better now. I eased back against the chair that had become permanently attached to my butt in the last little while.
Festos brought the song to its high-pitched conclusion. Hephaestus, God of Fire, Volcanoes, Technology, and the Billboard Top 100 .
I glanced around the guest room in his loft that was now Sophie’s new home, eyeing the closed door warily. Maybe he’d just leave us here. Alone.
The door swung open. Festos poked his head in, and startled at the sight of me still sitting there. “Oh. Uh, right. So the shower’s free if you want it.”
I didn’t want it. I didn’t want to leave Sophie. Didn’t want to make myself go out and have fun when there was too much to deal with. Too much to put into place and overcome if we were going to win against Zeus and Hades come Spring Equinox. Like making sure I was there when she awoke to ask her forgiveness for failing her .
“Festos …”
He edged into the room at my tone and a lick of heat unfurled in my gut.
I could practically feel my eyes flash as
Learning to Kill: Stories