“That’s not it.” She shakes her head, still looking furious. “You aren’t what I expected, and it’s got my head all screwed up. Forgive the fuck out of me if I’m not as easily inclined to murder as you are.”
I push to my feet. I don’t crowd her, though. No matter how much I want to. “Yes, Aurora. Paint yourself as the helpless damsel instead of the ruthless hunter. Others might believe that lie, but it doesn’t work on me.”
“I am not a ruthless hunter.”
“Lies.” Gods, this hurts. I didn’t expect it to hurt so much. “You spent ten days fucking me, letting me hold you, talking with me, coaxing me to let you in. All the while, you were thinking of ways to kill me.” I shake my head. “You’ve accomplished your goal.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You might not have wielded a literal blade, but you’ve broken my fucking heart.” I turn away. “Get out. Sara will take you back to the Underworld.”
“Wait.”
But I can’t wait. I have to get her out of here before I crumple. I glance over my shoulder. Aurora looks lost, and every instinct I have demands I go to her. I make myself hold her gaze for a long moment. “Do not, under any circumstances, tell anyone outside the Underworld what you had planned. My people rarely disobey me, but they are protective in the extreme. They will kill you to keep me safe.”
She stares. “Why protect me? After all this, shouldn’t you want to tie up the loose end I represent?”
Yes, that’s exactly what I should do. Hades might not believe me if Aurora died of an accident, but unless he could prove I was directly responsible, there wouldn’t be a damn thing he could do. Maybe Aurora held herself back this time, but there’s nothing to say she won’t try to come for me in the future.
I can’t do it.
Even if it’s a logistical mistake, I can’t stand the thought of the world without her in it.
“Goodbye, Aurora. I truly am sorry for the pain I’ve caused you.” I turn around and walk away.26AuroraI don’t know how it happens. One moment, I’m watching myself drop a bomb on the careful happiness Malone and I have created. The next, I’m being ushered into the back of a car by Sara. It happened so fast.
I didn’t expect it to hurt this much.
I didn’t expect to care.
To…fall for Malone.
It was never supposed to be real. I press my hands to my chest as if that can hold in my tears. The wetness leaking out of my eyes almost makes me laugh. It took Malone beating me and fucking me into oblivion to allow me to grieve for my mother, but she breaks up with me and I’m in danger of sobbing like a lost child. Except you can’t break up with someone you never dated. The last two weeks wasn’t dating, wasn’t a relationship, it was an assignation.
Somehow we both forgot that.
Another blink and we’re idling at the curb outside the Underworld. I look out the window, and the horrible feeling in my chest gets worse when I see Allecto step through the doors. She stalks to the car and yanks open the door. “Are you okay?”
“She’s fine,” Sara says from the front seat. “Now get out of my car.” Gone are the easy grins and amusement. They sound like they want nothing more than to rip my head off my shoulders with their bare hands.
I can’t even blame them. I did something I thought impossible. I hurt Malone. As I take Allecto’s hand and let her haul me out of the car and hustle me into the building, all I see is the stricken look on Malone’s face before she turned and walked away from me. I hurt her.
I should be happy. It’s what I wanted, after all. If I couldn’t end her life, at least I dealt her a wound that will take time to recover from. I should be fucking elated.
All I feel is empty.
Allecto doesn’t speak until we’re in the elevator. “Tell me the truth.” Her voice is low and fierce. “I convinced Hades that there was nothing to worry about. Did she hurt you?”
Yes, of course she hurt me. A thousand delicate cuts over the course of eleven days. Pain and pleasure. Pleasure and pain. She delivered both in abundance, and I welcomed it with open arms. I stare at my reflection in the doors. I look as lost as I feel. “No.” I swallow hard. “I hurt her.”
Allecto inhales like she’s about to start demanding more details and then hesitates. “Ah. I see.”
“I told her the truth.” I sound like I’m reading the weather report. This is wrong, wrong, wrong.
The doors open, and Allecto steps out, but she grabs my arm before I can take another step. “Hades wants to see you, but if you go in there with that look on your face, he’s going to go tearing into Malone’s territory and start some shit that we can’t take back. So I’m going to need you to get your shit together.”