Once Eryx was gone, Pia settled into her seat with her hands folded neatly in her lap.
“Do you know who I am?”sheasked, no lead-up and no pretense.
I pressed my lips together, clutching at the quilt secured around me. “Yes, you’re Her?—”
She lifted a hand with a sudden hush, cutting me off from saying her name aloud.
“I should clarify. Do you know who I am tohim?” She tilted her head slightly toward the empty doorway where Eryx had been moments ago.
Shaking my head, sheseemed to softenher expressionbya fraction, either out of pity or rare kindness.
“I am the woman who broke his faith in matters of the heart, in all things related to love’s desires.” She paused as a rueful smile graced her lips, an unexpected moment of genuine emotion slipping through the control she exuded over everything else she did.
“Even those of us bestowed with the responsibility of guarding the sanctity of marriage, it seems even the Fates find ways to humble us all.”
There was a profound sense of regret in how she spoke, but it also carried the conviction of a woman who had grown from learned experiences.
When the requested bottle of wine and two glasses arrived, they were not delivered by Eryx, but by his butler instead. Our eyes met briefly, but professionalism won out as he was quick to avert them to the task he had been charged with.
“Ms. Argos,” he nodded in respectful greeting at Piaas he filled each glass with fragrant red wine. The glistening shades of crimson spoke to the superior vintage.
As he turned to leave, Icouldn’thelp but call out to him despite his obvious avoidance. “Niceseeingyou again, Mr. Peterson! Be sure to enjoy those strawberries in two-to-three days foroptimumfreshness!”
His steps slowed, the onlyindicationhe hadheardme. But instead of outwardly acknowledging it, he merely picked up his pace twice as fast on his way out of the room. The door clicked shut behind him.
Pia snorted. My eyes snapped right back to her in surprise. For a woman who embodied elegance, it was a jarring sound.
She leaned over and retrieved both wine glasses, extending one to me close enough that I could reach through the bars for it. It took some careful maneuvering, but I guided my wine glass into the cage with me.
“Jamie has a larger sweet tooth than a honey-drunk bear. Those strawberries never stood a chance of ever making it to the fridge.” She smirked into her glass as she took the first measured sip.
Taking my own taste of the wine, the complex flavorsdidn’thesitate to coat my tongue. Notes of dark chocolate and black cherries were predominant, yet still soft enough to allow a quieter hint of tobacco leaves toemerge.
I smiled to myself, unexpectedly enjoying the offering.
“It has a really nice taste,” I said as Ilooked over at Pia, whose posture had subtly relaxed. Instead of a woman of prestige and power, she now appeared like the type of girlfriend you have mimosas with for a brunch that bleeds into an all-day affair.
She swirled the contents of her glass with delicate movements, seeming to peer into something in its depths only visible to her. “It’s from one of the last trips Eryx and I took together before we split,” she said with clear fondness for whatever memories were playing out inside her head.
Clearing her throat, she looked up at me and gestured with her glass. “No need to stand on my account, make yourself comfortable.”
Using one hand to keep the blanket mostly cloaked around me and clutching my drink in the other, I lowered myself onto the floor with care and settled into a crisscrossed position.
“He’s not as complicated a man as he pretends to be, you know,” Pia began withevidenthesitation. “I may be who he blames for his scarred heart, but he was hurt long before I came along. Being charged with sowing discord often comes at its own cost. One that even the strongest gods are susceptible to.”
I listened intently as Pia laid out what she knew of the man whom I had only seen as my captor, not as the broken-down and tired god he was.
She regaled me with stories of Eryx’s upbringing by the goddess of night, his infamous stunt involving anapple that began a war, and how his very nature kept him shunned by many of our kind.
“And that excuses this?” I looked at Pia with knitted brows of disbelief as I gestured with mynearly emptywine glass at the metal bars that surrounded me.
She shook her head and gave an apologetic smile. “No, of course not. And as much as I wish I could intervene in thisparticular predicamentof yours, there are… consequences beyond just you and me that come into consideration.”
Setting her glass down on the tray, she laced her fingers together over top of her knee, leaning forward slightly. “However, I want you to listen to me carefully, Charlee. Even discord can be molded into something beautiful if given the right artist to shape it. Desire comes in many forms, and sometimes we are all too blind to what it is wetruly wantbeyond the layers of lies we prefer to tell ourselves.”
Her words sank into me, speakinga truthIhadn’tconsidered. Eryx’s heartdidn’tlack desire for a match; it just needed the right guidance towards one that could beat in time with its imperfect chaos.
CHAPTER TEN
