Page 66 of Blood of Olympus

He sat silently beside me, mirroring my elbows on knees and stared out at the water, saying nothing at all for several long minutes.

“This place reminds me of the Styx,” he said finally. “Just as dark, just as still.”

I tried to see what he saw, but I wasn’t as familiar with the Underworld’s River as he was.

I wasn’t as familiar with death as he was.

“You know, don’t you?” he asked softly.

My gaze flicked to his profile. Hair that was once blonde and almost as light as mine; a jaw that was just as sharp and angular; eyes that were barely a shade bluer than my own.

Yes, I knew.

I just wish I’d known sooner.

“Nyssa told me her suspicions — and I found that I believe them too, yes.”

He laughed humourlessly. “Of course she figured it out.”

“She’s right, isn’t she?”

His eyes snapped to mine. “You’ll soon realise that she’s right most of the time. It’s annoying, actually.” This time his chuckle was genuine. “But how in Tartarus did we not work it out sooner? It’s like looking in a mirror.”

“A shorter, slimmer mirror, yes,” I jested.

He scoffed even while a dimple appeared in his cheek. “Okay, big guy.”

I snorted an unexpected laugh, my mind rushing back to the moment he’d first said those words to me. The night I’d first given in to my unrelenting desire — no, love — for Nyssa.

It had always been love between us, whether she remembered it or not.

It was never going to be anything else.

“Why did your mother have to make her forget, Char?” I whispered.

I couldn’t bear to see the sadness shaping his face, couldn’t bear to meet it head on.

“My mother was duty-bound to protect her — an oath sworn to Persephone herself. She’d never let anything as simple as death stand between her and her word to her dearest friend.”

“Death has been anything but simple,” I scoffed.

His mouth twitched in a minute smile. “True enough for you and I. And even for Nyss. Regardless, my mother swore to protect her as best she could. And the looks you two were beginning to share… the obsession that Nyssa was beginning to feel for you… Zeus and Hades would never have let it stand. For each to stake any claim over the other’s dominion would have ended in tragedy — for at least one of you.”

“You’re saying that our fathers would have had us killed.”

It wasn’t a question.

“I’m saying that Zeus had already attempted to murder her once before. A misstep caused him to retreat, but make no mistake: if he had caught wind of even the potential of the two of you together, that mistake would not have held him back a second time. And as for Hades… well, he might not have killed you for fear of hurting his daughter, but you would not have lived very comfortably either.”

I frowned. “So Hades would have been more merciful than my father.”

“Infinitely.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” I met his gaze once more. “You’re lucky to have never experienced his particular brand of parenting.”

Charon winced, eyeing my scars. “Believe me, I know. And for that, I am truly sorry.”

“Sorry?” I jerked back. “Whatever are you sorry for?”