Page 60 of Lovesick Titan

All limbs and flailing surprise, Danny accepted the items while struggling to right it all and keep from dropping anything.

“This can go away quietly, Grant,” Shan said, his face a stone mask and voice stiff. “But you get caught again, ifhegets caught again, I can’t brush this under the rug a second time.” A touch of sympathy, of something so much deeper than the frustration Danny was used to from the captain, broke into his expression. “You love him? Zeus loves Prometheus? You think he’s worth that?”

A day that could have ended with Danny in cuffs had turned out unexpectedly brighter and ended better than he could have guessed. Not because of his own efforts—in fact, he might have made things worse if Shan hadn’t been so understanding—but because of Mal.

“He is. Better than me most days. Other people just don’t get to see that. I know this is asking a lot of you, sir. I won’t ask again. I won’t ask for anything else. Just…let Zeus worry about Prometheus.”

Shan shook his head, but the crease in his brow betrayed a fondness that Danny didn’t think was his imagination. “Just make sure you both bring in Ludgate.”

The smile dropped from Danny’s face, and he clutched the items in his arms all the more tightly. “You have my word, Captain. We will.”

R

This could be good, Hades told himself. This could be better.

Having Zeus and Prometheus built back up only to tumble to the ground that much harder would make their downfall all the sweeter. Itdidn’t matter if they had Shan swayed, if Zeus was safe from prison, and if Prometheus’s neighborhood was back off the radar. They thought they could thwart him, but they forgot too easily.

Hades wasn’t only in the mirrors they paid attention to. Keeping him out of Zeus’s hideout, out of his home—no, no, that didn’t deter him. Hades could be anywhere. He could be everywhere. So when the moment was right, with the right mirror, and after the right amount of time to think they might be free of him, that was when he’d make his move.

R

Danny destroyed both photographs but kept the comms. Mal deserved to get them back this time, along with the goggles he’d yet to return. With his burner phone safely tucked away, he used his real phone to let everyone know that the danger had passed.

Andre was ecstatic, Lynn calm but encouraging, and Stella and John agreed that while a celebration didn’t seem appropriate, family dinner was a must—Andre and Lynn included.

“How about this weekend, kiddo?”

The levity in John’s voice made Danny smile as he talked with him, walking down the streets of Olympus City at a casual pace. He stopped at an intersection to wait for the blinking walk sign. “I’d like that, Dad. How about Saturday? But don’t forget I have a supervillain to worry about.” Crossing the street finally, Danny nodded to the people he passed.

“I thought there were two supervillains you were worrying about,” John said, a hint of leading in his tone that wasn’t at all subtle.

Even if Danny hoped Mal might give him another chance, he didn’t expect it. Keeping Danny out of jail just meant Mal forgave him enough not to hate him or wish him ill. “He saved me, Dad. In so many ways. I just want to see him again. To thank him. To make sure things between us end better than they were before, even if we never…” Danny paused and took a breath as he looked down the street at Mal’s building quickly approaching.

“Just do me one favor, Danny,” John said.

“Anything, Dad.”

“Don’t forget how much you’re worth. Whoever you love, whoever you want to spend your life with someday…”

Danny’s cheeks flushed at the thought.

“…make sure that person recognizes how lucky they are to have you.”

The heat spread to Danny’s eyes, making them sting with the threat of tears, but he held them back. Not today. Today was a better day. “I will, Dad. I love you.”

“Love you too, kiddo. See you soon.”

After he hung up, Danny came to a stop outside Mal’s apartment building and stared at the third floor windows wondering if he was doing the right thing. But he didn’t want to wait. He didn’t want to run. He wanted to start fresh and do things better the second time around. If Mal wanted nothing more to do with him, then that was okay too.

R

IA case closed. However things went down, looks like Zeus is off the hook.

Mal looked down at his phone, unable to stop the twitch of a smile that caught his mouth as he read Priestly’s message. Although he’d been the one to start this mess, feeling justified at the time, he was glad to have it behind him now.

There was still Ludgate. Whatever remaining rage Mal might feel for how these past few weeks had gone, he would channel it into facing down that cruel bastard as soon as they found him.

Good work, Hart. I owe you.

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