“Very well. Shields up,” Midas warned, and then his awareness pressed forward, creeping toward her like a snake.
Trivia’s eyes closed, and she pictured a stone wall settling into place between herself and Midas. He pushed against it, and the stone cracked and crumbled. With a grunt, she imagined a brick wall in front of the stone. Piece by piece, sheassembled the wall, layering more and more bricks to keep him out. Midas kept pushing, and the wall trembled.
But it held. He could not get through.
“Very good,” said Midas, and Trivia let out a long breath, her heart racing in her chest. When her eyes opened, the veranda had disappeared, and the black void surrounded her once more.
Despair twisted in her chest. She hadn’t realized how much she loathed the darkness until she had escaped it.
Midas seemed to notice her crestfallen expression. “It’s difficult to concentrate on two things at once. Especially when you’re inexperienced. You’ll get there, Trivia. For now, accept the victory that you were able to access Pandora’s constructandshield your mind against my attack.”
Trivia nodded, but her brow was furrowed. How much longer would this take? If she had no idea how much time was passing, then there was no guarantee she would get out of Pandora’s box in a week, a month, even a year. What if Sol wasn’t there when she returned? What if he’d died? What if he’d moved on with someone else?
What if there was nothing left for her to return to?
“How do you do it?” Her voice sounded hollow.
Midas blinked at her. “Do what?”
“Live on and on, beyond those you love, beyond everything and everyone? How do you leave it all behind?”
Midas’s expression dimmed. His eyes shuttered, and his face hardened into something firm and unyielding. “I told you before—priorities. I could waste away, losing my mind to sorrow and regret. Or… I could move on andlive.When I gave myself the choice, it was easy. I chose survival.”
Trivia shook her head. It wasn’t that simple. She had willingly given herself up to let Sol live. Her will to survive was gone because she had expected to stop living.
But she hadn’t truly died. In a way, this fate was worse than death. She had to live with her decisions and her anguish. She had to accept what could never be.
She had to keep living… even when she didn’t want to.
Midas’s expression softened. “I recognize that look. You want to end it all. But there’s no way to do it.” He sighed. “I wish I could say I’ve never been there, but I have. Many times. You have something I never did, though. Achoice.If you don’t want to return—if you don’t want tolive—then I won’t force you to. We can stop. I can find my own way out of here.”
Trivia met his gaze, her heart feeling so heavy that it dragged her down. She wanted to let it pull her under, to carry her into oblivion. To a place where she didn’t have to think or feel.
She realized Midas was waiting for a response, so she shook her head slowly. All she could think about was Sol’s look of utter devastation when she gave herself over to the darkness.
Even if he wasn’t waiting for her. Even if there was nothing left. Trivia had to at least try. She needed that second chance, if only to prove that she could lead another life. That she could do things right this time.
“I’m just tired,” she said at last. “You’re right. I need a break. But I want to keep going.”
Midas nodded slowly, his eyes full of pity.
The sight made Trivia want to retch. Her anger rekindled, and she turned away from him.
It didn’t matter that this man was her mentor. He was still horrible, and she despised him.
She hated this situation. She hated that she was relying onhim, of all people, to escape. Any other person in existence—except for maybe Apollo—would have been preferable.
But, for now, Midas was her only hope. Her only chance.
And he understood what she was going through.
She hated that, too—how similar they were. She had betrayed everyone; she was no better than Midas.
Trivia’s eyes closed, and she pictured the ocean once more. Not to empty her mind, but to escape. She let her body float away on those waves, imagining her fears and regrets drifting off into a sea of nothingness.
She would try again soon. She would get better and better until she was strong enough to face Pandora and break through her magical construct.
But for now, there was nothing but her and the sea.
