BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

55.

EDEN WOKE UP ALONE.

She heard the shower running, and she sighed. At least Piper didn't leave her alone. It had always been an irrational fear of hers, that Piper would say that she'd lied all this time and that she didn't really like her and that she was fucking stupid for thinking that she would ever like her, because who would ever love the unlovable daughter of Poseidon?

That was a good question, actually. Eden's mom had never loved her. Her caretakers growing up didn't really love her — she was a weapon to them, an experiment. Finding Achilles's body and putting his blood in her because she was the daughter of Poseidon, of course she'd be powerful. Silena had never loved her. So who could ever—

"You're thinking those bad thoughts again, darling," the love child's voice drifted into her ears like music, and Eden looked up at her. She opened her mouth to protest, but suddenly Piper was in front of her, putting a finger against her lips. "You can't lie to me anymore, baby, you know that."

Eden couldn't lie to her, even if she wanted to. Every secret that she had would eventually go to her. She couldn't lie to her, ever.

Piper sat in her lap. "I understand what you're going through," she trailed her finger down Eden's neck, and she shivered. "I think you're going to leave me all the time. Realize that you deserve better than someone like me."

"But you're perfection, Pipes," Eden's hands automatically strayed to her waist, as they usually did. "You're the daughter of Aphrodite. You could have anyone you wanted—"

"I want you," Piper stated, no charmspeak in her voice. "All of you. The good and the ugly. You're my soulmate. Our souls are bonded together. The call of the void binds is together. L'appel du vide, remember?"

Eden let a small smile on her face. Her girlfriend always knew what to say. "L'appel du vide."

Leo docked the ship at a pier in Charleston Harbor, right next to the seawall. Along the shore were tall mansions, palm trees, and wrought-iron fences. Antique cannons pointed at the water.

When Eden and Piper got up on deck, Annabeth was talking to Percy, and Hazel was sharpening her sword. Fire Boy, Perfect Jason, and Frank had probably left already.

"You don't have to go, you know," Kaleidoscope said. "I could tell Annabeth something, and you wouldn't have to go with us."

Eden rolled her eyes. "Gotta watch your back," she said. "Besides, you're my girl. I'd go anywhere with you."

Piper's cheeks turned a satisfying shade of pink as Annabeth said, "okay, ladies. Let's find the ghost of the Battery."

Afterward, Eden wished she'd taken up Kaleidoscope's offer.

Not that she minded hanging out with her. And Eden guessed Hazel and Annabeth were okay, even if the former hated Leo. At first, they had a pretty good time walking along the Battery. According to the signs, the seaside park was called White Point Gardens. The ocean breeze swept away the muggy heat of the summer afternoon, and it was pleasantly cool under the shade of the palmetto trees. Lining the road were old Civil War cannons and bronze statues of historical figures.

Charleston Harbor glittered in the sun. To the north and south, strips of land stretched out like arms enclosing the bay, and sitting in the mouth of the harbor, about a mile out, was an island with a stone fort.

Mostly she breathed in the sea air and walked behind Piper, their hands entwined as she looked around. It would be a perfect date spot, if there weren't third and fourth wheels. Piper pulled Eden along a turn into the gardens.