Eris (The Lost Goddesses #4)

Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

E nzo came back to himself with the rocking of the car. He was lying in the back seat, still clinging to the palladium.

"Eris? Where are we? What happened?" he murmured.

His head was still full of visions of ashen skies. He could feel the weight of the stones of the labyrinth as they came down on top of him.

"I'm getting you the fuck away from that mountain is what I am doing," Eris said, her features in shadows.

"How late is it?"

"Past midnight. You were out for hours this time. I was going to try and get us a room at a hotel in Heraklion for the night. You need to rest," she said, not taking her eyes off the road.

Enzo let go of the palladium and sat up slowly. His head was pounding twice as badly as before. "No. Take me back to the boat. We can't stay here, not even for the night."

Eris made an unhappy sound. "Why, Enzo? You have already been throwing up. I don't think getting back on the boat will be good for you."

"Because she won't stop, Eris!" Enzo said, clutching his head. "All I can hear is her weeping and the cries of the dying. Feel the stones crushing me."

"Okay, just breathe," Eris replied, her voice going soft. "I'll get you there, and maybe when we are off the land, it will calm itself."

Enzo rubbed at his face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. She's just eating my brain away right now. I can't get my mind in the right order, and I have all these memories . I don't know what to do."

Eris reached her hand back to touch this leg. "Just rest for now. Let me take care of it. It's going to be okay."

Enzo lay back on his side and kissed her hand before she moved it back to the steering wheel.

When Enzo woke again, he was in Eris's arms, being carried like his weight was nothing. She had him slung over one shoulder and was making her way across the gangplank and back aboard.

"Don't take me downstairs. Just put me on the deck mattresses. I need the fresh air," he said, and she changed direction. "The view is good right now."

"Sick as a dog and still has the energy to stare at my ass. Unbelievable." Eris set him down on the mattress, and Enzo pulled her to him. He needed to feel her body against his, the warm, soft aliveness of her. She smelled so good, and when her arms came around him for a moment, everything felt okay.

"Do you want to tell me what happened up there?" she whispered and kissed the soft skin under his ear.

Enzo's grip on her tightened, and he swallowed down the tears building in the back of his throat. "Can we take the boat out first? We need to get to Antandros, in Turkey. That's the next place."

Eris cupped his cheeks with her hands, her dark eyes studying his face. Whatever she saw there seemed to be enough to convince her because she nodded.

"I'll take us out but only if you go and get something to eat and drink. You need something in your stomach," Eris said, and her eyes narrowed. "Agreed?"

Enzo nodded. "Agreed."

As soon as they undocked, Enzo felt the pressure in his head lessen. He did as promised and went below deck. The palladium was back in his cabin, and he tried not to look at it as he grabbed fresh clothing.

He brushed his teeth and showered off the dirt on his hands and body that he couldn't remember getting. He had been dreaming of dancing. Had he actually performed the steps of the labyrinth? His muscles were sore and wrung out.

He needed to talk to Eris and find out what he had done under the palladium's influence. He missed Bianca. She would have been better suited mentally and spiritually for this journey. She would have known what do to when an ancient and pissed-off goddess decided to live in her head.

Feeling steadier after his shower, Enzo put together some sandwiches for both himself and Eris. He took a beer from the fridge and drained it before grabbing two more. Eris was handling the boat like an expert. The harbor was already behind them, and nothing but dark sea and moonlight ahead. It took him a few moments to spot the shadows of her power were wrapped around the mast and sails. The silent crew that was helping to do the things she couldn't.

"I brought you some dinner too," he said, placing the small tray on the deck mattresses. "Come and have a picnic with me."

Eris put on the autopilot and took the beer he offered her. "You ready to start talking, Enzo Enea Silviano, or am I going to have to bend you over my knee?"

Enzo gave her a thoughtful smile. "Can I have both?"

"Don't make me laugh when I'm so worried about you," Eris said, her lips twitching.

"I'm feeling a lot better now that I'm not on Crete. It was too much. I'm going to sound totally crazy when I tell you what I saw," Enzo replied.

Eris placed a hand on his arm. "I think we are past that. Besides, you didn't see you doing a cult ritual dance that there is no way you could possibly know the steps to."

"So I did dance," Enzo murmured. "Fuck. Okay, well don't say I didn't warn you."

As they ate, Enzo told Eris everything he could remember from the visions the palladium had shown him. How he had felt the fear of the dancer as they moved as an offering to the gods to stop their assault on the island and the feeling of the earth shaking and bringing the labyrinth down on top of them.

When Enzo got to his vision of the goddess, his hands began to shake. Eris put an arm around him, her grip growing tighter and tighter as he spoke about Atana Potinija, Enesidaon, and the Thunder Bringer.

"I think he put the memories of who she truly is into the palladium. All that emotion, the grief and anger, it was all trapped into the tree," Enzo said hoarsely.

Eris let out a long breath. "This makes so much sense. Hermes, Thoth, and I have been debating about Athena and her origins. She and Zeus both might have thought her memories being taken would be a kindness, but they were wrong. Those kinds of things fester, and the Fates knew it. They told me that it's not only my curse that needs to be broken. Athena gave her power and loyalty to Zeus. Now that he is dead, she must be so lost and confused without him to anchor her in the purpose that he gave her."

Enzo didn't like the shock that spread across Eris's face. "What? What is it?"

"I just suddenly realized that maybe my curse wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to me. Athena—Atana—relinquished everything to Zeus because she wanted to save her people. At least I know who I am, and what I have done. She doesn't."

Enzo kissed her and tucked her head under his chin. "We will break both of your curses."

"I will thank you for it," Eris said, holding him tighter. "But Athena might not be so happy about it."