Electric Idol (Dark Olympus #2)(92)

“No.” Her voice goes quiet. “No, I’m sorry. That was an asshole response.” She steps close and slides her arms around me. It’s criminal how perfectly Psyche fits against me. How am I supposed to move on with my life after knowing there’s a person who’s the other half of my puzzle? Damn it, I’m a mess right now.

She squeezes me. “With clothes or without?”

“Without.”

Psyche laughs a little. “Okay. Come on.” She releases me and walks out of the bathroom, leaving me to trail behind her. I do without hesitation, and as a result, I’m treated to the sight of my wife stripping as she walks toward our bed. She shoots me a look over her shoulder. “You were staring at my ass, weren’t you?”

“Can you blame me? You have an excellent ass.” Big and bitable.

“I know.” She slides between the blankets and scoots over, making room for me.

I strip quickly and join her. The sheets are cool, and Psyche wastes no time plastering herself to me and pressing her nose to my neck. “You keep this place way too cold.”

I settle onto my back with her draped half across my chest. This. This is what I need. I can feel her heartbeat through my ribs, her soft exhales against my skin. A reminder that she’s here, she’s safe, and she’ll stay that way through the night.

She twines her legs around mine and snuggles closer. “Eros?”

“Yeah?” I sift my fingers through her hair, enjoying the weight of it against my palm.

“I meant what I said. I won’t let it get to the point where you have to make that choice—the one between me and your mother. There’s a solution here. I just need time to figure it out.”

I close my eyes, letting the soft weight of her against me lull my racing thoughts to a standstill. “If anyone can find a way through, you can.”

“Just…trust me, okay?”

“I do.” It’s even the truth. We don’t have enough time, enough space, to come up with a better plan than we already have, but all of it hinges on Demeter getting us a meeting with Poseidon. “Sleep now.”

“I will.” She squeezes me tight. “We’ll figure this out together. I promise.”

As sleep rises up and takes me, I almost believe her.





30


Psyche

By the time morning rolls around, I have something resembling a backup plan. It’s not a good plan, and if I tell it to Eros, he might lock me into the panic room and throw away the key. Of all the things I never expected of this marriage, his protectiveness surprises me the most. It’s not just in regard to the current situation with his mother. He’s constantly…taking care of me.

It’s not an act, either.

Eros has what he wants from me, everything he wants. We’re married. We’re having sex. Judging from the way Clio’s story about us broke across multiple gossip sites this morning, we’re successfully convincing Olympus that ours is a love story for the ages. He has absolutely no reason to lie to me, not in word and not in action.

Which means he meant what he said last night. He cares for me. I’m not foolish enough to think that caring translates to love, but it’s more than I could have dreamed. It’s almost enough to give me hope.

First, we have to survive the coming confrontation with Aphrodite.

My phone buzzes on the nightstand, and I angle myself enough to reach it without dislodging Eros where he’s wrapped around me. He’s held me like this all night, clinging as if he thinks I’ll slip out of our bed under the cover of darkness and never return again.

Considering that’s what my sister pulled with Hades when she rode off to save him from the last Zeus, Eros isn’t too far off the mark there. I could tell him he has nothing to worry about on that front; trying to deal with Aphrodite in secret will just backfire a thousandfold. Keeping things below the radar is what got us into this trouble to begin with. It’s time to bring everything out into the open.

I see my sister’s name scrolling over the screen and swipe to answer the call. “Early for you, Persephone.”

“Early, or late.” She sounds a little breathless. “Why is Hades fielding calls from both Mother and Zeus this morning?”

They’re working fast, which doesn’t mean anything good. I had planned to call Persephone this morning and loop her in, but apparently I should have done it last night if I wanted a jump on things. I don’t like that our mother is already up and maneuvering. The call with Poseidon must not have gone well. I sigh. “There’s been a bit of trouble.”

“More trouble than you up and marrying Eros without so much of a word of warning?”

“Persephone, I thought we were past that.”

“It’s been less than a week. We’re not past it.”

I roll my eyes, both frustrated and comforted by her overprotectiveness. Alone in this situation, it’s something normal and expected. “If not Eros, it would have been Zeus.”

She’s silent for a long moment. “Tell me she didn’t. Not again.”

“Mother is single-minded. You know that. She has her heart set on establishing one of us as Hera.”

She curses. “Okay, we’ll deal with that later. Right now, I need to know what’s happened with you, since that seems to be the more immediate issue.”