P. Hoover - Solstice

Shayne rubs my back but doesn’t answer, and then he tenses up, and I know why. I smell Reese. He’s followed me from the Botanical Haven.

“Look how precious.” Reese’s voice sizzles in the air. Taunting.

Shayne lets go though I desperately want to cling to him. “Go away,” he says.

Reese puts his hand to his chest is mock surprise. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Go away now,” Shayne says. “I don’t want you anywhere near Piper.”

Reese looks at me and catches my eyes, locking them in place. “Piper doesn’t seem to mind.”

As soon as he says it, his smell amplifies. I fight, with every muscle I have, to stay rooted in place. I lean back on the Spanish Oak and pray it will grow limbs and hold me so I don’t go to him. But like it has some power over me, his scent draws me forward.

Shayne turns to me, and I want to die when I see the hurt in his eyes. He’s watching the struggle inside me. I don’t want to be anywhere near Reese; I want to be with Shayne.

I want to be with them both.

Shayne opens his mouth, his beautiful lips pulled back in a snarl around his teeth. “Piper wants you to leave.”

Reese laughs.

“What’s so funny?” Shayne says.

“Everything’s funny, Shayne.”

I hear the bite when Reese says the name.

“What?” Shayne takes a step away from me. A step closer to Reese. And his hands are tightened so hard into fists they’re white.

Reese sneers. “I was just thinking how funny it’ll be when you’re trapped in your own tortures. A suitable end for the ex-Lord of Hell.”

Shayne takes another step toward Reese, and I want to reach out and pull him back. The last thing I want is for the two of them to start fighting. I want to run to Reese, but I also want to grab hold of Shayne and leave this place now. The sooner the better.

But Shayne’s such a freaking guy. He wants the fight. “Stay away from Piper. Go away now, or I won’t wait for permission from the assembly. I’ll set Prometheus free and give you his place. Let the birds eat your liver for a few millennia. We’ll see how you feel then.”

Another wave of Reese’s aroma hits me. I turn my face away, trying to block it, but it’s not like I can stop breathing.

“Such a delicious punishment. Piper might like that.” Reese’s teeth gleam under the smile which forms on his mouth. “Not that your threats matter.”

“Watch and see,” Shayne says.

“The assembly backs me.” Reese flexes his fingers and then relaxes them. “But of course you’d know that if you ever came to any assembly meetings.”

“I have more important things to do,” Shayne says. “Like run the Underworld.”

Reese laughs at this. “Maybe you’re not doing such a great job. I’m sure you’ve heard I’ve been to visit.”

Shayne glares at him in reply.

“It’s true,” Reese says. “But I can tell you want to deny it. I’ll tell you what.”

“What?”

Reese puts a hand to his chest. “I left you just a little sprinkle of proof. Look for it when you get home.”

Shayne takes a step forward, and I’m pretty sure this is it. They’re going to kill each other. “You visit, and you die,” Shayne says.

Reese just gives a wave with his hand and then turns to me. “Did you hear Randy Conner died in the ice storm, Piper?”

Randy is dead because of me. I might as well have wrecked the shuttle. “I heard,” I manage to say.

“Now let’s see, Shayne, where would you put someone like Randy Conner?” Reese puts his finger to his mouth as if he’s considering the question. “The Elysian Fields?” He shakes his head. “No, that’s not what my sources tell me.”

But it has to be. I know in my heart Randy belongs in paradise.

“Shut up, Reese,” Shayne says.

Another wave of Reese’s scent comes to me. I desperately try to push it away and focus on the humidity in the air around me.

“So Randy didn’t make it to paradise.” Reese snaps his fingers. “Asphodel then.”

I glance at Shayne and can tell from his pursed lips that Reese is right. That somehow Shayne didn’t see the good in Randy that I saw. There’s been some oversight. I haven’t been to Asphodel, but I know it’s not paradise.

“Shayne.” I find my voice and manage to get out his name, trying my best to breathe out of my mouth and ignore Reese.

He turns to me, fists still balled. “What?”

“I need to get out of here. Now.” He’s got to hear the struggle in my voice. If I don’t get away from the two of them, I’ll go crazy.

Reese laughs. “I’ll see you soon, Piper, okay?”

“Not okay,” Shayne says. He scowls at Reese, and before I realize what’s happening, he wraps his arms around me, and we start sinking, through the dirt and damp and rock and then into the river of liquid mercury which carries us until we’re there on the bank of the River Acheron. Charon’s just pulling the boat up to the dock when Shayne and I arrive. Charon’s face cracks into a leathery smile which pulls his white eyes almost shut.

But before we walk over to join him, I turn to Shayne. “About Reese—”

Shayne leans over and kisses me, stopping the words, and his kiss erases any desires I felt for Reese.

“It’s okay,” he says once he pulls back. “You don’t have to make any excuses for him.”

I’m not sure how to explain it. It’s like something uncontrollable came over me. “It’s just—”

He shakes his head. “You never have to make excuses for him. He doesn’t play fair.” And his eyes darken. “Which is precisely why I told you to be careful around him. He can’t be trusted. Ever.”

I know he’s right but wish he weren’t. Even though I hate myself for being so weak around Reese, Shayne doesn’t hate me, which is some consolation.

“Why won’t you talk to the assembly of gods about him?” I ask.

The lights from the silver pools shift causing shadows to flicker on Shayne’s face, giving him a more serious look. “Let’s just say some members of the assembly and I are not on the best of terms right now.”

“Why not?” I ask.

“Because we’re not. End of story.”

I gather not to press him any more.

I remember what Reese said about Randy. If he’d been trying to get under my skin, it had worked. “Randy should be in the Elysian Fields,” I say.

Shayne shakes his head. “I judged him. He’s in Asphodel.”

I glance at Charon who’s watching our conversation but not interrupting. “You judged wrong.” I’ve never felt so sure about anything.

Shayne grabs my hand which I’ve balled up into a fist. “How do you know?”

I shrug and try to relax my muscles. “I just know. I talked to him before…” I can’t believe I was probably the last person to talk to Randy Conner.

“Before he died?” Shayne asks.

“Yeah.” I tell Shayne about the ice storm and about how Randy was watching out for his sister, making sure she got home okay. “He just didn’t seem like such an asshole,” I say. “It was like I could see the good in him.” I don’t mention the blue moss I’d seen on him, but I know it’s a sign. I don’t need anyone’s confirmation on that.

Shayne purses his lips, but he doesn’t say he’s going to change it. Instead, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a gold coin which he flips off his thumb. Charon catches it and pockets it without even looking.

“You know you don’t need to pay,” Charon says.

Shayne grins. “Don’t want anyone to say I don’t pay my fare.”

I watch the conversation and attempt to relax. Try to shake away life’s worries. But I worry I’ve killed Randy Conner and Shayne’s doomed him to Hell for eternity.