22 Ariadne

22

Ariadne

I thought Asterion was overly optimistic when he pulled out that giant box of condoms, but even though we don't use them, he proves my doubts to be unfounded over the next few hours. We come together again and again, in every position imaginable, with questing hands and writhing bodies. There's a hint of desperation to it, but neither of us comments on it. We have today, and part of me mourns the fact that even now a deadline looms over us.

The sun sinks below the horizon, bathing the room in shadows. As much as I want to go for another round, I don't think I can survive it. It's just as well; our reprieve is over now. "Asterion…"

"Yeah, I know." He brings my hand to his mouth and presses a kiss to my knuckles. "This won't be the last time we spend the day in bed, sweetheart. We have the rest of our lives ahead of us, and I plan to take advantage of it every chance we get."

I don't understand how he can be so relentlessly confident. I'm not sure of anything anymore. It feels like everywhere I turn, enemies are popping up to shove me into a corner I can't possibly fight my way out of. The stakes have never been higher, and all I want to do is enjoy this time with the man that I…love.

Why is it such a revelation every time I admit it? It feels like I've loved him for years—longer even. But it's something we've never said aloud to each other. Not with words, though one could argue that our actions more than support that truth between us. I stare into his brutal, scarred face, and my throat closes before I can speak those three little words. It feels too much like throwing out a last-ditch promise on the eve of a battle I doubt we'll both survive. I didn't think I was superstitious, but apparently I am.

Instead, I say, "Can I tell you a secret?"

Asterion rolls onto his side and props his head in his hand. "I want all your secrets."

"I had the blueprints days ago. I just wasn't ready for this to end."

He strokes a thumb along my cheekbone. "I don't know how many times I have to say it before you believe me, sweetheart. This thing between us is never going to end. You and I were written in the stars."

I choke out a laugh. "I don't think anybody else believes that except you."

"You believe it."

His confidence and arrogance might be aggravating in the extreme sometimes, but I can't deny the comfort in them. Even when doubt makes the ground beneath my feet shaky, I can rely on Asterion to always point to my true north. To a future where the two of us are free.

"Sometimes I feel doubt." I lean into his touch. "But you believe enough for both of us."

"I'll keep doing it."

My smile falls away. "The odds aren't in our favor. We have my father on one side, Hera and the Olympians on the other. I don't see how we can thread the needle without something terrible happening."

Asterion pulls me close and wraps his arms around me. When he hold me like this, it's hard not to believe. I suppose that's the point, or maybe he just likes holding me as much as I like being held. His words rumble through his chest against my cheek. "Only for a little while longer. The timeline for the barrier coming down is quicker than we assumed."

I almost ask him how he knows that, but ultimately it doesn't matter. "And then what?"

"You know the answer to that. We can talk in circles as long as you need for you to feel better about it, but the facts haven't changed. We're getting the fuck out of here. Circe and the rest of them can fight their war without us. We've both sacrificed enough for other people, don't you think?"

I shift up to press a light kiss to his lips. "I think we both know by now that the world isn't fair."

"Where do you want to go first?"

The question startles me, but it probably shouldn't. I'm still so focused on the here and now and all the challenges between us and anything resembling freedom. But Asterion is right, in his own way. There's nothing we can do right this second to affect the barrier or Dodona Tower or any of the threats rising against us. And maybe there's a part of me that just wants to sink into the fantasy that everything really will work out.

"You've had to sit through more than a few of my prospective destinations. Which of them would you like to see first?"

His laugh rumbles against me. "Now you're just trying to get out of choosing. Fine, sweetheart. I'll play."

He strokes a hand down my spine and back up again. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this casual touching between us. It's not something we have to hide right now, and I want to melt right into him.

He considers for several minutes. I like that he's taking this question seriously. He gives me hope, even if it's undeserved. Finally, he says, "Nowhere cold. I'm fucking tired of winter. It will take some convincing to get me to go to Antarctica."

I laugh softly. "Don't you want to see the penguins?"

"There are penguins in places that won't freeze my balls off." Asterion traces abstract patterns against my skin. "You've talked about Rio and Carnaval enough times that I know it by heart. It's one of the places both you and your brother want to experience. Maybe we'll start there."

"Carnaval isn't for months yet. It's in February." I'm mostly poking at him to keep this conversation going. To keep dreaming before reality comes crashing back down around us.

"Always so difficult. Maybe we go to Canada, to the West Coast, and start driving south. We'll take our time and see some shit and circle around to Rio in time for February. How does that sound?"

My heart feels too big for my chest. I want that. I want that so fucking desperately that it makes me shake. I don't just want to visit places; I want to experience them fully. The picture he paints is exactly that. A wandering life with no true responsibilities, where we go where we want and drift as we need. The world is such a big place, and I want to see all of it.

I swallow past the lump in my throat. "That sounds good, Asterion. Really, really good."

"Then consider it done. As soon as we get our papers, that's our plan."

"Just like that?"

He brushes my hair back from my face. "Yeah, sweetheart. Just like that. No reason to complicate shit unnecessarily." He kisses me. "Stay until morning."

It's almost an order, but there's a lilt at the end of the last word that edges into the territory of question. He didn't have to ask, but I love that he did. "It is sunset."

"Then stay a little longer."

"Okay," I whisper. "I'll stay as long as I can." Until we have to go back to the real world and face the fact that we are only two people in a fight against titans. It will take a miracle for us to get out alive. But Asterion believes we can make it happen…so I will believe, too.

And in my moments of doubt, he'll have to believe enough for both of us.