annais min was the god among mortals, the death that came along with life. now more than ever, she knew the cost of her existence, of what hades had done when he chose to pursue her mother. everything came down to her and the four other min girls, t...
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CHAPTER TEN: TEARS OF GOLD
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TWO DAYS HAD passed since Annais, Jason and Nico returned from their stand-down with Cupid. Despite Annais and Jason's acceptance of Nico, he was more distant than ever, sticking to Hazel and Hea like glue whenever they were around. Annais tried not to let it get to her. She tried to understand. She had never been outed in front of her loved ones before. She didn't know how it felt.
The same night that they returned, she confronted Jason about what Cupid said to him. About the doubt, despite having everything within reach. As they laid in his bed, Jason's arm around her waist, his hands hot beneath the shirt she'd taken from him, she turned to him and just said it.
"Can't sleep?" Jason asked, his breath warm on the side of her neck.
"Just thinking."
"About?"
Annais hesitated, but only for a second. "Something Cupid said... about your doubt... have you had second thoughts about us?"
Jason let out a sigh. He had known she would ask. Quickly, before things could spiral, he pressed a firm kiss to her mouth, whispering, "Not anymore."
"But you did."
"Before..." Before. Annais tensed, but Jason refused to release her. He wouldn't let this turn into a fight. Not now. "After Tartarus, and it was never about how much I love you, Annais. Just... if it should've hurt that much. Does that make sense?"
It did. As quickly as it came, the tension boiled down, replaced by a sense of exhaustion as she tucked her head beneath his chin, teeth against skin as she whispered back, "Yeah. That makes sense."
Everyone else noticed that something was off, but no one was quite willing to approach them. Hea tried, but Annais evaded her, thinking of Nico's defeated face every time she so much as shut her eyes.
"Something's wrong," Hea insisted. "You're keeping something from me -- us."
"Just leave it be, Hea." But her sister wouldn't let up. She huffed and stomped her foot, opened her mouth to protest. Annais hung her head, pinched the bridge of her nose until crescent moons scarred her skin. "Hea, please. Fucking drop it."
It was safe to say things were awkward then. The air always seemed to thrum with unspoken tension, like a live wire over water, like a moth to a flame. Annais couldn't escape it anywhere but in the confines of Jason's cabin, where it was just the two of them. Here, she could let it go. Here, she could stop thinking.
That was when the snow storm came.
And even the safe harbour that was Jason Grace couldn't hold back the cold.
"It's the sceptre," Nico said as the demigods gathered on board to watch ice form on the rails. It was raining, the breeze cold against Annais' exposed skin, a blizzard in the making. The sight of the grey sky and the snow white clouds seemed familiar to her, but in a haze of exhaustion, she worried her mind was playing tricks and choosing to look for patterns. "It has to be."
