The Plot Thickens, Part II
I sidestep and even kick him in the ass as he rushes by. “I can do this all day. Are you going to keep running by, or hit me? This isn’t tag. Of course, to play you would have to touch me first.”
I sidestep and even kick him in the ass as he rushes by. “I can do this all day. Are you going to keep running by, or hit me? This isn’t tag. Of course, to play you would have to touch me first.”
“Oh, I have something for you,” he says, letting me go. Eros reaches into a bag beside him, pulling out a small golden baby blanket.
I feel a hint of joy tickling the corners of my mouth and spin wildly through the sunflowers. Honoring the light that connects us all, I salute the sun with a simple series of twelve yoga postures and their mantras.
“I’m doing something different for my family,” I murmur, coming to my mother’s side, kissing her forehead. “I will always love you, Miteras, but I won’t make your choices, your mistakes. Things will be different for me, for Clio.”
The morning light has completely illuminated both my bedroom and the master bath. For the first time in a very long time, I do not loathe the morning for being so… well, morning.
“A cucumber?” Hedone asks. I cover my flaming face with my hands. Really, Eros?
“It’s, uh, representation, for uh, male genitalia.”
Goddess, please don’t let her be here to curse me. I didn’t want to lose my humanity again. I wouldn’t survive.
My chest tightened at the very thought of her. My hands immediately loosened their grip on the winged creature. This thing in front of me missed her too. “Yeah, sorry little guy. I can’t help you. She’s gone.”
“Looking for this?” a male voice said from my chair. My sword was being held out to the side by an arm covered in black leather. “Rather careless of the God of War to leave his sword casually lying around, isn’t it?”
Clio nodded, taking the seat opposite me. I could barely look her in the eye; it was only a few hours ago we were playing that ridiculous game. I absentmindedly rubbed my lips on my sleeve.
Home is not as I remember, but then again, what is these days? Greece, as strange and beautiful as before, in entirely new ways, of course, had changed in the way we all had. So much and not at all.
They are the afraid, the lost, the forsaken, and the forgotten. I never forget, though. I know them all…
He took another drink of his whiskey and watched me. His eyes rarely left me, as if he was trying to memorize me or was staring at a painting.
turned back, facing Erebus, an ache forming once more in my chest. This wasn’t the same feeling I had carried all those years with the hatred for my father. No, this one felt different. It was longing for something, I now realized, I wanted more than revenge.
I’m a fool for thinking I can come here and what—admit my feelings to her? I must be crazy.