Page 24 of Blood of Olympus

Mercifully, Caelus fell silent as I followed the stream of consciousness in my mind all the way to its edges, to where I usually felt Velira lingering. Right beside her thick, violet thread, there now lingered a second one — golden and glowing.

My storm-wielder.

This time, I reached out, visualising tangling my fingers in its vibrancy.

Can you hear me now, taser boy?

Caelus’ answering laugh filled me with a joy so bright I wasn’t sure which of us it stemmed from and my eyes flew open to a sight so beautiful it rendered me speechless.

Against the backdrop of a midmorning sky, clear and blue, Caelus’ head was thrown back in a triumphant hoot. His short, white locks danced around his face — creased in happiness — and his elation hummed along the invisible tether between us, matched only by mine.

“This is brilliant!” he yelled, echoing off the peaks of Mount Olympus.

“I’m sure it’ll come in handy more than once,” I agreed with a grin.

He surged forward, our lips crashing together once more.

Indeed it will. Imagine how it will feel to have my mouth between your legs, tasting your desire while you can feel mine through our tethered souls, as I tell you just how sweet you taste on my tongue.

I immediately went limp in his arms, my core throbbing mercilessly at the imagery his words and my mind had conjured.

Curse those five minutes.

Caelus laughed, breaking the kiss, though not before stealing one last, tender peck, and set me back down on questionably shaky legs. He reached for my hand, interlocked our fingers, and entered the dim mountain doorway.

Later, he promised, leading the way down a dusty spiral staircase, his feet always sure of the next step.

“You’ve been here before.”

Caelus grunted. “Mmm. Many times. Most recently, when Athena and I busted Nike out of the very cells we’re heading to now.”

Honestly, if my brows kept rising in surprise, I’d need to implement a training regime to keep them fit enough to do so.

Or people could just stop surprising me.

“So that’s why she’s taken a shine to you,” I teased.

He scoffed. “Please. Athena’s doted on me my entire life — like an adoring aunt.”

Now, it was my turn to scoff. “I don’t think Athena has ever doted on anyone.”

Caelus might have been unable to see in the dark, but I was born from it. So, when he smiled like he knew something I didn’t, I saw — and jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow for keeping secrets.

“Ouch!” he laughed. “While that may have been true for millennia, it’s certainly not the case any longer. She’s besotted. Nike has wrapped her feathers all the way around Athena’s heart — and she’s all the better for it,” he said with a smile.

And though he couldn’t see it, I smiled back.

“Good. She deserves happiness.”

And then that lance of dread skewered my heart once more, shattering the peace of the moment.

I just hope they both get to keep it on the other side of this war.

Caelus’ fingers squeezed around my own and I knew he’d heard me, though I hadn’t consciously sent the thought his way.

“We’re going to make it through this, Nightshade.”

“You should know better than to make promises you can’t keep, Golden.”