Curses of Olympus (The Olympus Trilogy #2)

11. Medusa

11

MEDUSA

M edusa stares at the ceiling in her quarters in the Under Temple as she listens to Psyche’s gentle breathing against her chest, not wanting to wake the goddess.

She can hardly believe she is here, gently running her fingers through Psyche’s raven locks as she tries not to think of how close she came to death in the Sea Temple. Yet it is a fate she would gladly walk into again, as long as it would keep Psyche safe, Cadmus, too.

Cadmus . She looks to the large empty space in the bed she shares with Psyche and knows his body should occupy it, and that she loves him, despite all of her best intentions not to. But she also knows that it is his hands that remind her of Poseidon’s.

Thoughts of the Hero make Medusa restless, and she delicately places Psyche’s head on the pillow before silently getting dressed and slipping out into the halls.

The quiet padding of four paws settles in beside her, and she does not even have to look down as she buries her fingers into the dark hair of Cerberus’s fur. As if he can sense her unease, Cerberus has, without fail, found Medusa each time she has wandered the corridors of the Under Temple in the short time she has been here.

They do not walk far before she finds herself stopped in front of a door. It has been days since their ill-fated attempt at relations, but Cadmus was not angry like she expected. His patient and reassuring manner have been unflinching in the face of her rejection. Somehow, his presence is shifting from one Medusa is uncertain around to one she needs, even craves.

She lifts her hand to knock, but then she pauses, knuckles millimeters from his door.

What if he can never touch me? What if Poseidon has fucked me up forever? It isn’t fair to do this to him. To string him along when I may never be strong enough for him.

Will Psyche be able to forgive me when I am the reason we can’t all be together? Or worse, what if one of my serpents acts on their own like they did with the Twins? I can hardly bear the thought of something happening to him simply because he tried to love me.

Bringing her hand down to her side, she deflates, and fights back tears. She is too damaged for Cadmus.

Medusa turns to leave, but the door to Cadmus’s room flies open, startling her.

His hair is wild and his eyes still red from sleep, but his face lights up when he sees her standing there.

“Uh. Hey.” Medusa waves awkwardly, as a blush creeps across her cheeks.

A sleepy smile spreads over his lips. “Hey.”

“I was just…” Medusa trails off, unsure what to even say. Her serpents are silent beneath her hood, and she prays to the Fates that it is a good indication that they do not see him as a threat, despite the way the thump of her heart drums faster in his presence.

“Come in,” he says earnestly. “Please.”

Medusa steps into the dark room behind him. A loud clatter and cursing come from the direction she last saw Cadmus, before the faint glow of a lantern fills the small space.

In a few short steps, Cadmus is across the room, the queen-size bed creaking beneath his broad frame as he sits on the edge.

Medusa remains standing, fidgeting with the hem of her tunic. She yearns to sit beside him, to pull his handsome face in her hands and kiss him deeply. To make up for time stolen from them. All three of them.

They were so close to losing it all, and yet the memory of the Sea Temple rises between them like a wall. Of hands on her body ready to take anything they desired, gifting nothing but pain and misery in their wake. This man that she loves is right here in front of her, but he might as well be a million miles away as Poseidon’s ruin of her endures.

No. Poseidon will not claim this part of me.

Medusa crosses the room to Cadmus, dread and desire twisting together like opposing vines fighting for dominance within.

Standing before him, as he looks up into her eyes, she has never seen Cadmus look this vulnerable. Not even when he was on his deathbed after dragging him from the wreckage. His caramel eyes bore into hers so earnestly as she reaches out, hand shaking, and runs her fingers through his hair. His eyelids flutter closed, and he leans into the touch.

Cadmus raises his hand to caress Medusa’s arm, but he halts when he notices her body go rigid in response. Understanding fills his eyes, and he slides back in the bed to lean against the wall.

“I’ll follow your lead,” Cadmus says softly. “Even if we just sit here and talk.”

Medusa pulls her lower lip between her teeth. She is sick of letting her past steer her; she wants to take control. But what if she pushes too far, too fast, and ruins everything with Cadmus irrevocably?

“Don’t shut me out. Tell me what you’re thinking. You aren’t alone anymore, let me in. Please,” he pleads.

Medusa’s gaze drops to the floor, but she knows he is right. If she wants to work through this, it won’t be by internalizing everything. She loves both Psyche and Cadmus, and wouldn’t it be so nice to not make every decision alone anymore?

“I don’t want to fuck things up any more than I already have.” Tears rim Medusa’s eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. “What if I am too damaged to be worth waiting for?”

A fire burns in Cadmus’s eyes as he responds through gritted teeth, “You are not damaged. Your trauma does not define you.”

Medusa heaves a sob, and Cadmus continues.

“If you never feel safe enough with me to be intimate in that way, I will remain by your side however you will have me. I love you. I love Psyche. My heart has been cleaved in two, and each of you holds half,” he murmurs. “It is done, whether I am in your bed or not.”

Medusa wishes the tears running down her face were hidden by the darkness, but in her peripheral the lantern light glints off the silvery tracks as she climbs into the bed, crawling over to Cadmus.

Picking up one of his hands and then the other, Medusa places them on the bed firmly at his sides, and he gives her a knowing nod. Her heart hammers in her chest as she slowly slides one leg on either side of Cadmus, straddling him.

Medusa cups his face in her hands, leaning in for a kiss. Cadmus groans faintly as she parts his lips with her tongue and deepens the kiss. Medusa’s caress travels along his shoulders, entwining into his hair. As she caresses his biceps, his muscles strain and ripple as he fights the urge to touch her.

Leaning back in his lap, his hard length beneath her has panic creeping into the edges of her mind. The slithering against her neck makes her freeze.

No. Please don’t hurt him.

Sensing the shift in her mood, Cadmus’s body language quickly changes from coiled tension to loose and calm. “Do you want to just lay together and talk for a while?”

Relief floods through her as her heart rate evens, and she nods in response.

He situates himself in the bed and then waits silently as Medusa slides under the blankets and pulls him close to her, snuggling into his arms.

“Are you sure this is okay?” he asks softly.

“Yes.” Medusa pulls him tighter. “Tell me about growing up in Lerna.”

For the first few minutes, Medusa listens intently as Cadmus tells her about his childhood, but with her head against his chest, the low rumble of his voice lulls her to sleep in his arms.

At some point, Medusa barely stirs enough to register Psyche coming into the room and sliding into the bed on her other side. With the two people she loves most securely embracing her, she slips into the deepest sleep she can ever recall.