69

69

Come Bearing Gifts

The soft knock at my door doesn’t exactly wake me up. After the party, Boone said he wanted to explore Olympus and Hades left with the other gods and goddesses, so Zai and I walked home with his mother together. She, by the way, is a sweet but definitely timid woman.

I’ve only had time to change into pajamas and brush my teeth. The party lasted well into the night, and the stars still blanket an inky sky outside my window in pinpricks of light—so many we don’t need the moon to illuminate the lands here.

Frowning, I open my door.

Boone stands there, leaning against the frame, one ankle crossed over the other, and in his hand, presented to me like a gift, is the Helm of Darkness.

“Holy shit!” I grab him by the arm and yank him into my room, looking both ways down the hall and almost expecting an irate Dex to be barreling after Boone. He’s not. The hall is empty, and I close the door before whirling on him. “What in the hellfires are you thinking?”

Boone’s self-satisfied smile fades, turning to something like accusation aimed directly at me. “I’m thinking I’m a fucking thief, Lyra. What about you?”

I stand firm, crossing my arms over my thin pajama top, not completely unaware that I’m not wearing a bra right now. “What about me?”

He steps closer. “Your skills may be rusty, but the second that dickhead Dex tipped his hand that he’s gunning for you, you should have taken this.” He holds up the helm. “And you know it. That’s just the way the world works, even here.”

He tosses the helm on my bed.

“I’m not going to play like that.” I lift my chin.

“Dex can survive without the helm.” His hands curl into fists. “You might not, given the way he can use it to get close to you. You’ll be dead before you realize.”

“I already have more tools than the others,” I say. “Hades has been punished once for it. I’m not taking away someone else’s just because I don’t like them.”

“Don’t like them?” Boone is practically yelling. “He wants to kill you, Lyra.”

My mouth drops open, and I know I’m staring, but the way he’s yelling…

Boone must catch my confusion, because he calms a little, eyeing me. “What?”

“You sound like you care.”

“I do.”

I give my head a hard shake. “That’s not possible.”

Tension steals through his shoulders, and he glances away. “I don’t care like that—”

Oh hells. “No,” I rush to stop him from saying one more word. “I mean care enough to worry about me like this. Zeus cursed me the day I was born. I’m unlovable. I can’t be loved or cared about.”

Boone goes thief-still, his gaze taking me in like he’s never seen me before. “Is that true?”

I shrug.

“Unlovable,” he murmurs more to himself, like he’s trying to wrap his head around the meaning. “That really…sucks.”

He surprises a laugh out of me. “Yeah. It really does.”

“Who else knows?”

“Felix. Hades. My parents.” So-called. “That’s it.”

Boone’s brows draw down. “That can’t be right.”

“I assure you it is.”

He still shakes his head. “I’ve always admired you.”

He has?

“You’re smart, and you see things others don’t—like, every detail. It’s what makes you such a good clerk.”

Boone thinks I’m a good clerk. A bubble of surprised happiness expands in my chest, but I pop it. “Admiration isn’t caring.”

“Sure it is,” he insists. “I’ve even wanted to partner with you on a few scores.”

I rear back. “The hells you say.”

He grins. “I mean it. But you’ve always put this wall around yourself with a giant ‘stay the fuck away’ sign at the gate. You kept all the pledges at arm’s length, so no one has had a chance to get to know you. To be your friend.”

Did I do that? I don’t think so. “The curse—”

Boone leans down—he really is very tall—so that we’re eye to eye and I can see the sincerity in his. “I may not be in love with you, Lyra, and maybe the curse did that. But I’d like to be your friend.”

Oh.

“Really?” I whisper.

His smile is slow and sweet and doesn’t contain an ounce of pity. “Really.”

I’m not sure I believe this. Maybe he feels this way because we’re in Olympus. Maybe this place lessens the effects of curses. I don’t know. Look at how Zai wanted to ally with me. Or at how Meike isn’t any different with me than she is with anyone else. And I’m definitely not invisible here. Although that could be because of Hades. He doesn’t exactly blend in.

Whatever the reason, the part of me that has been craving a friend since I understood that I couldn’t have any, the part that I’ve silenced and ignored and stuffed deep down, feels this. It’s light, like I could float away.

“Okay,” I say. “Friends.”

Boone’s smile widens, turning cocky. “Good. Now, about Dex…”

I roll my eyes, giving him a shove. “We’re returning the helm.”

“Hear me out.” Boone holds up a hand. “Dex sees you as his strongest competition with a dangerous god as your patron. His sister is dying of cancer, which I’m guessing he’ll ask to be healed if he wins.”

I blink. “Wh—what?” Is that right? “How do you know that?”

He gives me a look.

Right.

“In his mind, you are the person between him and saving his family,” Boone says. “Sure, he wants to help his people, but even more, winning means he gets to give his sister and nephew everything.” He points to the ground. “Luxury, longevity, blessings…you name it.”

Instead of riling me up, his words deflate me like pricking a balloon with a needle and listening to the whistle as the air slowly leaks out. I picture Rafe and the way he looks at his uncle. “In other words…” I say quietly, my chin sticking back out. “He has an honorable goal that he’ll do anything to reach.”

Boone stares at me a long moment before spinning on his heel to stalk across the room, then spins back, hands going to his lean hips. “Fine. I’ll return the helm. I know better than to argue with you when your chin does that jutty thing.”

I almost tuck it back in, but this is important. “Good.”

His eyes spark with mischief, and I find myself confused. What just happened?

“Let’s at least take this baby for a spin first. The gods are meeting to discuss something important. We should listen in.”

This is typical Boone. Jump right in with both feet, no planning, just the absolute confidence that it will swing his way every time.

I know he catches the doubt dragging at me when he tilts his head, gaze intent on mine. “You know you want to, Lyra-Loo-Hoo.”

I roll my eyes. “I hate that nickname.”

“I know.” He chuckles. “I started it so you’d have one.”

Just like I thought.

“But then I realized that it makes you adorably irritated and usually lets me pull a couple of your strings.”

I snort. “I doubt that.” But I cross to the helm and pick it up. Brass and formed with a nose plate dividing two slots for the eyes, it’s surprisingly heavy. “But this time I’ll give it to you. Let’s go listen in. Maybe we’ll learn something useful.”

Boone takes the helm from my hands and slips it over his head. Immediately, he disappears. I reach out and encounter a solid, muscled stomach covered by a shirt, and the instant I touch him, I disappear, too.

I yank my fingers back, and I rematerialize. “Wow. That’s handy.”

“Makes this tougher, though.” His voice comes from close. Really close.

“What?” I ask.

There’s a heartbeat before his lips press against mine. The kiss is sweet and chaste. I jerk back on a squeak of shock, and his low chuckle sounds, still close.

“Jeez, Boone,” I grumble. “What was that for?”

“I just…wanted you to have that. As a thank-you for loving me.” His voice has gone serious now, and I wish I could see his face. “Even if it’s just between friends.”

Before Hades named me his champion, that qualification would have hurt. Instead, all I feel is…affection. Like Boone gave me something precious.

I smile at where I think his face is. “I knew I was right to have a crush. You’re just a solid guy, aren’t you?”

“Shhh… I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on.”

There’s a small silence, and then he suddenly appears again, helm in his hands, brown eyes darkly intent. “One other thing, before we go. Do you know what they’re saying about you and Hades all over Olympus? That you’re lovers.”

That word takes on an edge.

I swallow down a groan. If the gods could have seen what Hades and I were doing just this morning, they’d know for sure that I’m not opposed to that idea. And the moment when I walked into Boone’s cabin and thought it was Hades has been nagging at me all night. The thing is, feelings for Boone aside, future or not, I want the god of death. Even if it’s just for a quick, mutually satisfying tussle, I’ll take that memory with me after.

“So what?”

“The gods are all already opposed to Hades as King of the Gods. So are the mortals, for that matter. You’re giving them even more reason to hate you.” He sighs when I don’t say anything. “Is there any truth to it?”

My eyes narrow. “None of your business.”

“So there is.” He tucks the helm under one arm. “Now that we’re officially friends, you should know that I’m not just going to sit idly by and watch you end up with the god of death. There’s no future with him, Lyra.”

“I know that.”

He tips my chin up with a gentle finger, so I have no choice but to look him in the eyes. “Maybe more than anyone else in the world, I understand your background, your past, who you are, and what you’ve had to overcome. What you’ll go back to after the Crucible is over.”

Where is he going with this?

“I’m just saying, now that you have a friend, maybe it will be easier. You have a future to look forward to in the Overworld.”

A future to look forward to. I had plans. But maybe not alone anymore.

He searches my gaze. “Just think about it, okay?” The helm goes back on, and he disappears from sight. “Let’s go.”

He grabs my hand—his large and warm and curling around mine protectively—and I’m gone, too.