18
Ihaven’t told August that whatever power Daedalus infused into the leg he crafted for me died with him, but it did. It’s gone.
It didn’t immediately disappear when I killed its keeper. The power that wrapped around my leg when I donned the prosthesis that morning remained until I removed it at the pool to swim.
When we finished and were ready to leave, I put the leg back on and recognized the loss.
The prosthesis is perfect. Beautiful. I’m still grateful beyond measure. It still fits my thigh, and it’s way more comfortable and worlds better than the one I’ve been using for the last year. But the spark that made it feel like it was part of me – is gone.
I thought some little piece of his power had survived the gods’ wrath, but I was wrong. They snuffed it all.
There’s a knock at August’s front door. He’s in the shower and didn’t mention he was expecting visitors… I take a butter knife from one of the lunch trays and hold it beside my thigh. I doubt Torsten would knock to gain entry, but you never know.
When I crack the door open, Taeniset waves, dressed for the feast in a golden gown that drapes beautifully over her figure.
“Taeniset,” I greet.
Her shoulders are back, cheeks are pink, and the kohl rimming her eyes is winged and dark as night. Through her hair, a glowing strand of gold wends among the dark strands. Part of Ariadne’s gold thread. “You can call me Tae. Akira did.”
I nod my thanks as unease coils in my stomach. “Are you here for August?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m here for you.”
“You took the string from the maze,” I say appreciatively, opening the door to allow her inside.
“It was still tied to Koda’s wrist when we left the trial behind.” She shrugs. “It’s too pretty to go to waste.” She notices the butter knife and fights a smile. “Do you always wield so fierce a blade when you greet guests?”
I apologize and let her in. “One of my recent visitors taught me that it’s wise to be wary.”
“I walked home with Elias this evening. His oikos is a few farther down from mine. I knew Torsten attacked you, but Elias mentioned what else he did to your house and your clothes. Niall confided in him. Did you know they were such gossips?”
I laugh. “I did not.”
“Anyway, that’s why I’m here.” She hands me a canvas bag. “These are Akira’s from before she was championed. She was about your size.”
“Thanks.” I want to tell her that I know how hard it must’ve been for her to go through her friend’s things, to smell her scent. But commiserating over death seems wrong.
I smelled Carina’s perfume oil for months. Even when we shut her door, it would waft into the hallway sometimes.
She pushes past me and enters the room, looking around, her attention drawn to the bathing room where August is singing. She gives a throaty laugh and in a low tone asks, “So… you and Aymes?”
“Friends, allies, and now roommates – courtesy of Torsten.”
She grins. “What a hardship it must be for you.”
I suppress a smile.
“Did you know each other before you were invited here?” She crosses the room to study August’s mosaic.
“I only knew Niall. Not August.”
She rolls her eyes. “Everyone knows your unfortunate history with Niall. You and Aymes just seem to have a connection.”
“I know.” I move to the bed and dump the contents of the bag out to find something suitable to wear tonight.
“Want my advice?” She walks over and plucks a heavily beaded gown from the rest, holding it up so I can admire the intricate structure and patterns on it.
“Why that one?”
She shrugs. “It’s the prettiest. There’s no point in saving it for a later that might never come.”
Right.
She extends the dress to me and I take it. If it fits, I’ll wear it. She strides across the room, heels clicking against the floor. “See you at the temple.”
When Tae opens the door, golden light catches on her gown and in it, revealing Isis’s artful handiwork.
Despite the goddess’s objections, if Thoth is at the feast, I’m going to ask him to champion me.
I hold the gown up and wince at how narrow it seems at the hip. Akira was taller than me and a little slimmer, but maybe I can make this work. It is too beautiful to waste.
The shower shuts off, but I should have a few minutes.
I slip off my bra and underwear and dive into the gown.
The satin glides across my skin. The beaded straps catch on my shoulders.
I swipe my damp hair out of the way and shimmy the skirt over my hips and into place.
The material gives more than I thought it would.
I reach back to zip it. And the zipper gets caught.
Some of the fabric probably got pulled into the channel. I just… need to… free it… I twist and tug, but no matter what I do, it won’t budge. It’s stuck.
I mutter a curse.
“Calla-” August stops mid-sentence and one step into the room.
I twirl to face him, my heart pounding. His hands are frozen on a button pushed halfway through the buttonhole on his pale shirt.
His blue eyes drift down my dress. “Were you talking to someone?”
“Tae –Taeniset – she heard about my destroyed wardrobe and brought some of Akira’s clothes for me.”
He wets his lips, gaze lowering again. “That was nice of her.”
I flash a smile. “It was.”
“You almost ready?” He finally remembers his button.
I wince. “My zipper’s stuck. Can you help?”
He walks over. “I can try.”
I turn, baring my back to him. The tips of his shoes graze my discarded underwear. I inwardly curse as my cheeks catch fire.
“I heard the shower water stop and was trying to hurry and get dressed before you came out.” I glance up at him, my mouth going dry at the smoldering look he gives me.
“Seems like you undressed, given that your bra and panties are on the floor.”
I look to the sky, wishing the roof would detach and swallow me whole.
He kneels behind me.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re so short, I can’t see what’s caught,” he says, lips curving at their corners. I hear his knee softly hit the tile.
I twist to glower at him. My body tenses when his knuckle grazes the small of my back. I know he can see the goosebumps prickling my skin.
Another brush of a touch before I feel him tug the end of a strand of my hair. “Watch your hair.”
Right.
I gather it over one shoulder.
He pinches the gown at the bottom of the zipper while tugging the metal upward. “Some of the material’s stuck in the channel…” He wiggles the blasted thing back and forth, but it won’t give. He uses his fingernail to try to pry the fabric out. It doesn’t budge.
This is useless. “Don’t worry about it. I have other options.” I start toward the bed.
His hands catch my hips, stopping me. “I’m not ready to give up just yet.” He draws me backward, then goes back to work.
I press my eyes closed. It’s just a caught zipper. He’s just a friend trying to fix it. It’s nothing. It shouldn’t be so hard to breathe. But August’s breath fans my back. His knuckles graze my bare skin, and even though it doesn’t mean anything, it feels good.
I thought… I didn’t think a man would ever touch me again. Even to do something as mundane as freeing my zipper.
“I got it!” he declares, then drags it up my spine. August stands and clasps the top of the gown to smooth the zipper’s path.
I can’t look at him when I thank him. Don’t want him to know how pathetic I am.
“The sun’s setting.” He reaches around me for something.
When he draws back, I finally garner the courage to face him, dousing all the need and want that surfaced. This is August. He is a friend. An ally. He’s famous. Women all over the realms want him. He would never in a thousand years want me like that.
I find him dangling the golden laurel from his finger, a dare in his eyes.
I take it and settle it onto my head.
August’s eyes soften as he pushes my hair back on one side. “You look exquisite.”
Not pretty. Or lovely. Or even beautiful. Exquisite. The word clangs like a gong through my chest.
We flinch as the ram’s horn blasts from the temple, calling us to dinner.