The Return
Page 23
A surprised giggle escaped me. Seth…he could be funny, but I clamped my mouth shut, because I was afraid that if I started laughing, it would become that crazy kind, and then I wouldn’t be able to stop.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to let everything soak in, but my brain felt like an overflowing bathtub. A bit of fear trickled into my blood like a small, icy stream. I cut it off before I slipped into the kind of panic that left people rocking in the corner. I had to be smart about this, because the last thing I wanted was to end up dead. “So, I can’t stay here and my life as I know it is virtually over.”
“Or your life is finally starting,” he suggested. “You could look at it that way.”
I wanted to lean back, but I was already pressed against the headboard. There was nowhere to go. “I need a shower,” I blurted out.
His brows knitted. “You need to shower?”
“Yeah. Yes. I need to shower. It helps clear my head,” I went on, the words coming out in an anxious rush. “And I really need to get my head clear, because this is a lot. So I need to shower. Lots of steam. It helps me think.”
For a moment I thought he was going to tell me no, but then he pulled back and pushed off the bed. Suddenly feeling chilled, I watched him back away from the bed, but I could finally breathe with the space. “There’s a Jacuzzi tub in there.”
I hesitated for a moment, and then I tossed off the covers. Springing from the bed, I headed straight for the bathroom door, my head full of so much I thought it would explode.
“Joe.”
Clenching my hands, I faced him. “Don’t call me Joe, Sethie “Sethie?” A laugh burst from him.
I folded my arms across my chest, ignoring the fact that he really did have a nice laugh even if he wasn’t human. Well, if I believed him, I wasn’t completely human, either. “What?”
His bare chest rose, and I forced my gaze back to his face. “I…” He shook his head. “Nothing. I’ll be waiting. Don’t take forever.”
I stared as he turned to a bag resting on a large chair, and I hoped he had a damn shirt to pull out of it. Turning back to the bathroom bigger than my dorm room, I pulled the door shut behind me and all but collapsed against it.
Closing my eyes, I listened to the absolute silence of the hotel room. If he was moving around out there, he was part ghost. So much information rolled around in my thoughts. Part of me wanted to deny everything, but he…he had to be telling me the truth, and that caused little darts of panic to shoot through me. My body trembled. Demigods. Gods. Apollyon. Titans. Even Pegasus. All of it was real, and I was one of them? And all of this… It felt too real to not be.
I opened my eyes and stared at the huge tub.
I seriously hoped Seth found a shirt.
Chapter 8
WHEN I heard the water come on in the bathroom, I exhaled loudly and then tugged the shirt on over my head. There were no windows in the bathroom for her to make a crazy escape, and while she could be using the quality one-on-one time to convince herself none of this was real, at least she was still in there and not running screaming back to campus.
This conversation had gone better than the last, which was a positive.
Sighing, I zipped up the bag and then moved to the wet bar. Opening the mini-fridge, I grabbed a beer and then walked over to the chair. Popping off the cap, I didn’t even bother trying to summon Apollo. I knew he wouldn’t show.
I took a long drink before I dropped down in the thick cushioned chair I’d parked my ass in when I’d brought Josie to the hotel. I’d sat there for a few hours, watching her sleep like some kind of creep before I’d hopped in the shower to wash away the faint¸ lingering scent of the Underworld. But I did have a valid reason for keeping an eye on her. She had cracked her head pretty good. It had to have been the blood she carried in her veins, even though her abilities were bound, that kept her from needing a trip to the ER.
Tipping the bottle to my lips, I wondered if there’d been situations in the past where she’d walked away from serious accidents or injuries virtually unscathed. Had she ignored them, chalked them up to luck?
Did she also know she slept like the dead?
From the moment I’d laid her down in that bed and tugged the blankets up, she hadn’t moved from where I’d put her. Not once. Didn’t flip onto her side. Roll onto her stomach. Didn’t even twitch.
The constant drum of water ceased in the bathroom. Finally. There had to be enough water in that tub for her to drown herself.
I lowered the bottle to the arm of the chair as I turned my narrowed gaze on the bathroom door. She wouldn’t…
I didn’t know her at all, so I had no idea what she was capable of. The girl had been worried that she was sick like her mother, and maybe she was.
Dammit.
Pushing up from the chair, I set the bottle on the wooden stand and went to the bathroom door. Unease gathered in the pit of my gut, the sensation traveling upward. I reached down, turned the knob, and found it locked. Not a problem. The energy of the fire element rolled down my arm, and heat wrapped around my palm, searing the knob and melting the insides of the lock.
Lock be gone.
Ha.
Mentally preparing myself for anything, I pushed open the door. What I saw I was definitely not prepared for.
Josie was in the bathtub, not drowning herself, which was a good thing. Bad thing was being in the bathtub meant she was completely naked. Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. Okay. Definitely not a bad thing.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to let everything soak in, but my brain felt like an overflowing bathtub. A bit of fear trickled into my blood like a small, icy stream. I cut it off before I slipped into the kind of panic that left people rocking in the corner. I had to be smart about this, because the last thing I wanted was to end up dead. “So, I can’t stay here and my life as I know it is virtually over.”
“Or your life is finally starting,” he suggested. “You could look at it that way.”
I wanted to lean back, but I was already pressed against the headboard. There was nowhere to go. “I need a shower,” I blurted out.
His brows knitted. “You need to shower?”
“Yeah. Yes. I need to shower. It helps clear my head,” I went on, the words coming out in an anxious rush. “And I really need to get my head clear, because this is a lot. So I need to shower. Lots of steam. It helps me think.”
For a moment I thought he was going to tell me no, but then he pulled back and pushed off the bed. Suddenly feeling chilled, I watched him back away from the bed, but I could finally breathe with the space. “There’s a Jacuzzi tub in there.”
I hesitated for a moment, and then I tossed off the covers. Springing from the bed, I headed straight for the bathroom door, my head full of so much I thought it would explode.
“Joe.”
Clenching my hands, I faced him. “Don’t call me Joe, Sethie “Sethie?” A laugh burst from him.
I folded my arms across my chest, ignoring the fact that he really did have a nice laugh even if he wasn’t human. Well, if I believed him, I wasn’t completely human, either. “What?”
His bare chest rose, and I forced my gaze back to his face. “I…” He shook his head. “Nothing. I’ll be waiting. Don’t take forever.”
I stared as he turned to a bag resting on a large chair, and I hoped he had a damn shirt to pull out of it. Turning back to the bathroom bigger than my dorm room, I pulled the door shut behind me and all but collapsed against it.
Closing my eyes, I listened to the absolute silence of the hotel room. If he was moving around out there, he was part ghost. So much information rolled around in my thoughts. Part of me wanted to deny everything, but he…he had to be telling me the truth, and that caused little darts of panic to shoot through me. My body trembled. Demigods. Gods. Apollyon. Titans. Even Pegasus. All of it was real, and I was one of them? And all of this… It felt too real to not be.
I opened my eyes and stared at the huge tub.
I seriously hoped Seth found a shirt.
Chapter 8
WHEN I heard the water come on in the bathroom, I exhaled loudly and then tugged the shirt on over my head. There were no windows in the bathroom for her to make a crazy escape, and while she could be using the quality one-on-one time to convince herself none of this was real, at least she was still in there and not running screaming back to campus.
This conversation had gone better than the last, which was a positive.
Sighing, I zipped up the bag and then moved to the wet bar. Opening the mini-fridge, I grabbed a beer and then walked over to the chair. Popping off the cap, I didn’t even bother trying to summon Apollo. I knew he wouldn’t show.
I took a long drink before I dropped down in the thick cushioned chair I’d parked my ass in when I’d brought Josie to the hotel. I’d sat there for a few hours, watching her sleep like some kind of creep before I’d hopped in the shower to wash away the faint¸ lingering scent of the Underworld. But I did have a valid reason for keeping an eye on her. She had cracked her head pretty good. It had to have been the blood she carried in her veins, even though her abilities were bound, that kept her from needing a trip to the ER.
Tipping the bottle to my lips, I wondered if there’d been situations in the past where she’d walked away from serious accidents or injuries virtually unscathed. Had she ignored them, chalked them up to luck?
Did she also know she slept like the dead?
From the moment I’d laid her down in that bed and tugged the blankets up, she hadn’t moved from where I’d put her. Not once. Didn’t flip onto her side. Roll onto her stomach. Didn’t even twitch.
The constant drum of water ceased in the bathroom. Finally. There had to be enough water in that tub for her to drown herself.
I lowered the bottle to the arm of the chair as I turned my narrowed gaze on the bathroom door. She wouldn’t…
I didn’t know her at all, so I had no idea what she was capable of. The girl had been worried that she was sick like her mother, and maybe she was.
Dammit.
Pushing up from the chair, I set the bottle on the wooden stand and went to the bathroom door. Unease gathered in the pit of my gut, the sensation traveling upward. I reached down, turned the knob, and found it locked. Not a problem. The energy of the fire element rolled down my arm, and heat wrapped around my palm, searing the knob and melting the insides of the lock.
Lock be gone.
Ha.
Mentally preparing myself for anything, I pushed open the door. What I saw I was definitely not prepared for.
Josie was in the bathtub, not drowning herself, which was a good thing. Bad thing was being in the bathtub meant she was completely naked. Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. Okay. Definitely not a bad thing.
