Page 52 of Souls of Steel
August jumped at the chance to take the topic in the different direction. “Do you think he was involved with the terrorists in some way?”
“Sphinx said that if I hadn’t been there, she would’ve been stolen. I thought she was referring to the extremists who hijacked her using Gaia’s Gift, but maybe that wasn’t it. There could have been another person in the area with the ability to activate her and steal her. Maybe it was Jared.”
“Can you ask her?” Pollux suggested. “She might know more.”
Selene grimaced, but nodded. “I’ll try. I’ve been using our link a lot since this morning, but it’s still our best option.”
I sat down next to her and took her hand. “Lean on me, Selene,” I whispered. “You might not have to face tachyon fire now, but you can share whatever burdens you have with us.”
I half-expected her to refuse. The bond between a chimera and a tamer was sacred and few people were allowed to ever be involved in it. In that sense, our version of the Grand Chimera Unit had been an anomaly. Our mechas were all friendly with each other, in their own way, and encouraged our intimate relationship. Scylla and Charybdis went even further than that.
Sphinx was a little different, though, a new variable who hadn’t been completely included in the equation yet. Our earlier attempt to use her power—and that of the other chimeras—had worked, but it could’ve just been a one-off.
Selene hesitated, obviously not knowing what to do. August, Pollux, and Knox helped her decide. “You’re the one who made this decision, beautiful,” Knox pointed out. “We’re stronger together than apart, remember?”
“Right,” Selene agreed. “Sorry. I’m still having some trouble.”
We sandwiched her between our bodies, keeping our touches platonic and the contact reassuring instead of sensual. Selene closed her eyes and relaxed. I felt the moment when her mind connected to the consciousness of the Sphinx. She shuddered and grabbed my hand, although she didn’t seem to realize she was touching me at all.
We waited as she spoke with her chimera. I was tempted to approach Typhon for a conversation too, but in the end, I decided against it. I was tired and upset, and Typhon’s idea of comfort would likely not help me right now. As much as I cared about my friend, he did have a tendency to make emotional issues worse than they already were.
It took a good couple of minutes for Selene to return to us. “Sphinx says she hasn’t identified the people threatening her, but there was definitely a power there, at the plaza, who could have claimed her. So maybe that does have something to do with Jared.”
“If that’s the case, there’s very little we can do to figure out what he meant. I doubt his cousin will tell us, assuming he even knows anything about it. And the surviving terrorists are already dead.”
Selene let out a heavy sigh. “Gaia help me, this is so frustrating.”
Pollux reached for Selene’s hand and squeezed it. “We’re not going to solve this one overnight. Let it go for now. We’ll figure out what he meant another day. For the moment, you need to rest. You used some pretty strenuous tachyon manipulation and we have the third stage of the competition to worry about.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Selene answered. She didn’t sound convinced, and all of a sudden, the air between us started to crackle with renewed tension.
The silence stretched out, suffocating, unbearable, a burden that was quickly becoming impossible to carry. Although he was also having trouble, Knox managed to force himself to say something. “Is this where we apologize for lying to you?” he asked.
Selene’s lips twisted in a small, bitter smile. “You don’t need to apologize. I told you I understand. I just want to know where we go from here.” She extracted her hand from Pollux’s grip, but didn’t pull away from us, not completely. “I’m not going to leave. I won’t give up on the academy, or on Sphinx. I’ve already made my decision and nothing you say or do can change my mind. So… Where does that leave us? Do you or do you not want me?”
A few hours before, I’d watched Selene take a tachyon blast head on without flinching. I knew she was brave—too brave for her own good. And yet, there was something in those words that took me aback.
I remembered the earlier incident with Penelope and realized Selene expected us to reject her. She didn’t want us to, but she didn’t blame us for it either. “Not everything is about what we want,” I replied. “And maybe that’s a good thing. I don’t know anymore.”
“Selene, it’s true that we never wanted you here,” Pollux admitted. “It’s much too dangerous for you. You’ve seen what the academy does to people. Jared was killed for nothing, and he wasn’t even a target like you are. We won’t apologize for wanting to keep you safe.”
“Like I said, I don’t expect you to. That’s not really an answer to what I asked.”
“It is, in a way,” August offered. “What doyouwant? Leaving aside your decision to stay at the academy, do you still trust us enough to be in a relationship with us?”
Selene paused, considering our words. She seemed torn, and I could empathize.
If nothing else, this conversation had made it clear that we still didn’t know one another that well. The sexual attraction was there and we’d already started to build a real, emotional connection. Even so, the secrets we had weighed heavily on all of us.
A part of me wanted to share them with her. In my heart, I knew she was strong enough to carry the burden. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but deem that selfish. I was the one who’d dragged Selene into this mess. If I hadn’t slept with her, my father wouldn’t have taken such a hostile approach.
Maybe taking things further was a bad idea.
“I’ll think about it,” Selene finally said. “This isn’t the best time to talk about our love life anyway. Let’s focus on surviving the tournament and deal with the rest of it after.”
That sounded like a great plan. Nothing good could come of making rushed decisions, especially in such delicate circumstances.
“It’s not really a rushed decision,”Typhon hissed as I returned to my own bed.“You’re just lying to yourself and to your broodmate.”
