Selene
Iexpected pain.
There is always pain.
But curiously, I feel nothing as my eyes open. Warmth envelops me, the soft blankets tucked around my body acting as a cocoon.
“Selene?” The soft voice sounds familiar, and yet not. “Can you hear me?”
I turn. A pair of scarlet eyes meet mine. Solomon raises his eyebrows. “Welcome back.”
His voice is back.
My body flinches away as he reaches for the blanket.
“I stitched your wound.” His voice is steady, but he stops. “And then pulled the stitches out, when the skin threatened to heal over it. You heal incredibly fast, but I still need to check. May I?”
Movement shifts over my stomach, and I glance down. Leo is sprawled over me, his face turned in my direction and little snores coming from his mouth.
“He was determined to watch over you.” Amusement—or it might be, if it wasn’t for the tension in his voice. “To repay the favor.”
“He owes me nothing.” But my hand raises, runs through his hair. “He was very brave.”
“As were you.” Sol folds his arms. “Your wound, Selene.”
I try to look down at my chest, peeling the blanket away. My eyes blur as I attempt to focus on the dark red line that splits my chest area in two, but he’s right. It doesn’t look like a recent injury. “How long was I asleep?”
“Less than two hours.” Sol’s brows dip, as if in confusion. “As I said. You heal quickly.”
Except I don’t. And yet the scar looks as though it was received weeks ago.
Question upon question, and nobody here can answer them. Swallowing, I tug the blanket back up and look around.
Across from me is another small bed, pressed to the wall. Riordan’s chest rises and falls.
“He took the edge of the wraith’s wing to his chest.” Sol picks up strips of linen from the bed beside me, rolling them up. “A less severe injury than yours, though slower to heal. But it shouldn’t hinder him. He’ll be up and about when he wakes up.”
I cannot answer the question in his voice. “Where’s Callan?”
He found us.
Sol doesn’t say anything. The blankets fall away as I sit up. Leo jerks awake, bleary-eyed with his hair stuck up in tufts. A piece of linen is stuck to his cheek. “I’m awake!”
I stare at Sol. Perhaps I’m learning him a little better. Because I would say he looks angry. Jaw clenched, shoulders turned in. I would, if it wasn’t for the brightness in his eyes. “Where is he?”
Sol’s shoulders bow forward. His eyes flick to Leo. “On deck. We’re getting close to Asteria. You woke at the right time.”
He doesn’t say anything else but crosses to Rio. His hand clasps his shoulder. Rio wakes in much the same way as Leo, his hair in similar disarray as he jerks upright and hisses. “Es?”
“Upstairs. Can you walk?”
Rio swings his legs out of the bed with a drawn-out groan. “At least she can’t tell me I haven’t seen a wraith anymore. Scars are sexy, right?”
Sol sighs. “Do you evenrealizehow much you missed while you were out?”
Leo scrambles over to the bed, and Rio huffs as he climbs up, winding his arms around Rio’s neck. “I fell off the ship!”
Rio’s mouth opens. Closes again. “What? What do you mean, youfell offthe ship?”
