Page 94 of Crown of Olympus
“He’s not asleep — he’s dead!” the other shot back.
I raised a brow at Athena just as my mother raced forward, propriety be damned. The moment her champagne-coloured head disappeared, we darted up the staircase and back into the hallway where we first started.
I didn’t dare breathe until I heard Hera’s furious scream.
“We need to keep going,” I urged. We had a short window of time to flee, just enough to get clear of the mountain before she finished tearing through the cells.
Athena led the way up six more flights of stairs and into the crisp mountain air.
It was well past midnight. Aetherion glistened softly before us, the Parthenon holding vigil to our left.
An idea struck me — the gateway.
But I didn’t get a chance to voice it. The goddess of wisdom was already bolting in that very direction, beckoning us over urgently.
I didn’t release Nike until we were safely inside the atrium, standing before the marble arch. Athena pressed her palm to the pillar, revealing a dark room through the portal, mere feet away.
“Thank you, Caelus. I owe you a great debt,” the goddess said softly.
“No, you don’t. I can’t even begin to apologise for what my mother has done?—”
“Yes. Your mother — not you, child. Her misdeeds are not yours to claim or repay. And Iwillbe claiming justice for Nike?—”
“Or I’ll do it myself,” the goddess interjected.
“Go. Before they catch you. Stay safe, Nike. Stay hidden,” I warned.
The pair wasted no time, disappearing into the portal. I hoped it would be the last time I saw Nike, at least for the foreseeable future — at least until the real killer had been captured.
Closing my eyes, I pressed my palm to the cold stone and thought of home.
When I opened them, my body jerked back a step, because through the archway I had a clear view of a captivatingly beautiful, stunningly naked woman in a bathtub. Her long ebony locks hung over its rim. She had eyes only for the small purple dragon coiled up on the edge beside her.
I watched for too long, long enough to see her drift off to sleep in that tub. Still, I watched — rooted in place — my cock pitching a tent beneath my linen chiton.
I knew I shouldn’t — but I also knew she could neither see, nor hear me. I slid my right hand beneath the flowing fabric, breath catching as I stroked the warm, soft skin of my shaft.
I imagined kissing the tattooed skin at her collarbone; imagined sucking the warm, tender skin of her breast into my mouth. I fantasised about licking the wet slit between her thighs and tasting her pleasure on my tongue.
I came hard with a guttural roar, just as the goddess clutched her chest, eyes darting wildly. My release spilled all over the marble tiles.
Her name was on my lips. Her phantom taste lingered on my tongue.
Once again, I touched the pillar. This time my bedchamber appeared in the gateway, and I fled the scene of the crime. I threw myself roughly onto the bed, my body still alight with hunger for the woman I could never have. And then I began pumping anew.
It was absolutely going to be a long night.
CHAPTER 29
Nyssa
I ran— up and up and up. I ran away from that room, from the sisters, from my fate, my choice, and that stormy-eyed god. I ran until I remembered I was not limited to how far my legs could carry me.
Shadows whipped out from my palms, and I hurled myself into their void before a doorway could even finish forming.
Home.
I materialised in the newly renovated bathroom, fully repaired after the destruction caused by Charon and Velira. Pale pink tiles gleamed on the emerald green walls — an ode to my mother’s colourful interior design choices.
