Page 148 of Loving the Tormentor

"You could’ve left her to become an Aphrodite and truly pay for what she did, but you ran after her, and you caught her."

"It wasn't me choosing between Sophie or Nyx," I say defensively.

"I know."

"I couldn't control it."

"Iknow." He stands up. "I have to go. I'll keep you in touch if Chris hears anything about what your dad has planned for you. In the meantime, I'd suggest you stay here. Now that the Circle knows, the word is out to the public that you're Hermes. You have a few hundred enemies on campus. Plus, staying here is a good opportunity to iron things out with Nyx."

I start twisting the signet ring around my finger again. "Awesome."

He's about to exit when he stops. "What's the plan now? Still taking them down?"

I graze my top teeth with the tip of my tongue. "I'm working on it. Adjusting the initial plan. But just know that from the beginning, it protected my friends."

"Even though you posted about us?"

"Even though I posted about you," I confirm.

I open the door to the music room slowly. I blacked it out completely so Nyx has no idea what time of the day it is. Or even how many days she's been here.

She squints, putting an arm in front of her. The only time she came out in the last forty-eight hours was to shower. She's stopped trying to talk to me when I walk in because I've used my dick to keep her quiet the last few times she tried.

She's started to get used to the collar around her neck. The one that holds the lotus flower pendant showing she's a Hera. I could’ve used a normal necklace, but I wanted her to feel the golden chain every second of the day. I wanted her to feel the betrayal every time she swallows.

Because I feel the betrayal every time I take a breath.

"You need to shower," I say coldly.

I take her by the hand to help her up, and we walk silently to the bathroom. She's not wearing anything anymore. Every time I came back to the room, I ripped a piece of clothing. I took her like a fucking maniac because I needed to let the anger out. And every step I take in a crazy direction, she follows with lustful insanity.

We're just as fucked up as the other. There's no winning here.

She walks into the shower silently, her eyes cast downward, and she winces when the hot water touches her skin. That's when her state truly hits me. She's got bruises around her wristsfrom how tightly I've been holding her down, a bite mark on the back of her shoulder and her neck.

My hand automatically goes to adjust the water temperature, unable tonot care.

She starts putting shampoo into her thick brown hair. It's mine. It doesn't smell like the sun and the beach. It feels like I'm losing another part of her. In the end, I lose the will to stay away and take off all my clothes.

When I join her, I put her back to my chest and wrap my arms around her waist. I can feel her heart racing, and a sob shakes her.

"Loving you has truly put me through everything," I rasp under the shower spray. "Even self-hatred."

I feel her cry some more, but she doesn't try to apologize. I don't want to hear it. We're doomed; apologies won't change anything.

When she turns around, her delicate fingers caress the tattoo of the eyes I have just below my sternum on the right.

"Those are her eyes, aren’t they? Sophie's."

She flinches when I wrap my hand around her wrist.

"What gave you the right," I say in a wavering voice, "to make me choose between you and her?"

She trembles, tilting her head back so her wide bloodshot eyes are looking right into mine.

"That was never my intention, Achilles. I was trying my best to survive in your world." She's clearly trying to hold back more tears. "I would never want to put her at risk. I would rather have died in that forest, believe me."

I take a step back the second she tries to put her arms around me. "I can't."