Words failed me. I struggled to speak for nearly a minute.
I thought a god like him would want to remain where he felt the most comfortable—where he had power and influence. He’d practically be nobody here. I thought for sure he’d demand I go back with him after we killed Hera. I didn’t expect him to say he’d stay. I didn’t expect he’d put what I wanted first when it wouldn’t take much to force my hand again.
“Stay here…” I trailed. “With me.”
“Yes,” he said as finitely as he had his previous statement.
“But the others…”
He leaned all the way down, his mouth hovering close to mine. “You care for them. I can see how deeply without reading your mind, V. Your happiness supersedes any feelings I might have about it. Whatever you desire I’ll give you. It’s a small price to pay.”
He went from “I don’t share” to “It’s a party, let’s invite everyone” a little too fast for my taste. I stared at him like I would any manipulative piece of shit, only I had full access to this one’s thoughts and emotions.
As if reading that thought in my head—which maybe he had—he kissed me hard enough to seal his promise. Normally it wasn’t this easy to read him, but it was as if he wanted me to see everything in his head. As if he’d opened his mind up deliberately.
He genuinely wanted me happy, and it didn’t matter what it took to achieve it. Aram never wanted to be the reason I was hurt again. The emotion was so powerful it affected my own. I became as confident as he was. I no longer wanted to fight him on it. Instead, I became resolved to what it meant.
“This is going to be such a headache to explain,” I mumbled petulantly, putting distance between me and the god, who, as of this auspicious moment, was the newest member of my already huge roster of plowable hotties.
I’d never sleep again.
“You might find it less of an issue than you imagined. I’ve beenvery dedicatedto that particular task for the last three weeks.” His unfaltering confidence in everything he said was both inside my head and his face-splitting grin.
“Three weeks?!”
Fuck, I’d been out a long time. No wonder Jo said they’d been trouble. A supernatural monster like me unconscious for that long probably made them think I’d never wake up.
Aram ran his hand over my head—something he’d done enough times to make it a habit at this point. “I suppose I must permit you to reunite with them. It’d be rather un-Yoda-like of me not to.”
I burst out into giggles, blindsided by the comment, and he beamed with pride. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be very Jedi Master of you.”
“Come, little mate. Let me show you how amenable your group of companions are after I fought Hera by their side and healed you when no one else could. I think you might find that even the possessive tattooed one is docile in my presence.”
That’d be a sight to see, even if I didn’t believe it for a goddamn second.
“You better not have coerced them into it,” I said with a distrustful glance.
His laughter was as unexpected as mine had been. “I’m the world’s most dangerous predator, V. Everything about me invites you in. As if I would need any of that…”
I gawked openly at him. “Did you just quoteTwilightto me, you oversized Fae menace?”
The plot dropping continues…
With a wink, he led me to the door. “I’ve been alive long enough to know how to coax a proud bastard or two. It’s no challenge when it’s done in my feisty mate’s name. And I respect how protective they are of you. They proved strong and capable in the fight with Hera, and for that, I am grateful.”
“Why does that worry me more?” I sassed.
He chuckled again and brushed his long hair back.
We entered the living room, and I was immediately surrounded by everyone. True to his word, Aram wasn’t met with glares and death threats. Even Cash gave him a nod of greeting. Whatever happened over the last three weeks, it’dconvinced everyone Aram was on my side, because none of them seemed bothered to see his arm around my waist.
After a long talk with the group, it was evident that everything led back to Hera. Phillip begrudgingly confirmed it with Sloan. Guess he’d been rather anxious to leave me for any amount of time while I was unconscious, but follow-up was necessary to ensure there weren’t any other villains waiting in the wings to strike.
Jo was pretty upset she’d missed the signs she argued had been “in her face,” but I tried to remind her that she had no reason to believe her mother was alive.
They’d found the portal Phillip and Sloan took to get into the realm destroyed, along with everything else around it. The entire estate had been burned to the ground, nothing but the foundation and rubble to prove it’d been there. Hera had likely gone back to cover her tracks because Aram would’ve been able to use the portal to find her, he quickly explained.
Two hours passed as we discussed how to tackle the Organization and finish what we started. They could continue to operate without Lux. He wasn’t the only mouth piece running the operation, but it did appear he was the only one connected with Hera.
