ENTRAPPED ₂

93

"YOU CAN'T GO."

This was the first thing that Madeleine said to Ethan, once they were properly holed up in her cabin on the Argo II. It was strange, she thought, to be back in the space. Everything was perfectly as she had left it, oddly untouched. She felt like she had been gone for much longer than two weeks.

They sat side by side on her bed, both facing the wall, untouching except for the press of each other's thighs.

Ethan gave her an agonized look. "Madeleine, I have to."

"You don't," she answered.

"Madeleine," Ethan said, his tone impossibly gentle. "I have to."

"How can you trust Circe?" Madeleine asked. She was grasping at straws, and she knew it, but she couldn't let him leave. She needed him.

The ghost of a smile crossed Ethan's face. "She was right about Pasiphae, wasn't she? I don't think she wants to derail me. I think my mother sent her."

"What has Nemesis ever done for you, Ethan? She's made your life miserable."

"Well, yes," Ethan agreed, the humor in his eyes dying almost immediately. "But she saved Nico when I asked, didn't she? I think she's trying to make up for what she's done, in her own twisted way. She took my eye because she knew it would lead me to you. She's been trying to keep me alive."

"Ethan―"

He held up a hand, and she quieted. Gingerly, as though afraid he would hurt her or she would hurt him, Ethan took Madeleine's hand. They sat in silence for a moment, the only sound the pair of them breathing. The walls on the ship were rather thin, but the others had elected to stay outside and eat dessert, probably to give Ethan and Madeleine some space. The only other person on the ship was Nico, who was crashed out in Ethan's cabin. Apparently, he had commandeered it while they were in Tartarus.

As soon as Madeleine thought of Nico, she felt guilty. How could she be so selfish, pleading with Ethan to stay? Nico needed him. Nico had always been closer to Ethan than anyone else. They understood each other in a way that Madeleine had never properly fathomed, but she remembered seeing the pair of them at Geryon's Ranch, months after Bianca had died. She remembered the careful way Nico leaned into Ethan, like he was sure the son of Nemesis would protect him.

And he had. Over and over again, Ethan had stuck his neck out, not just for Madeleine, but for Nico. She remembered quite vividly how Ethan had shouted down Jason and Leo for even questioning the fact that they should rescue Nico.

How could she tell Ethan to stay when Nico needed him? How could she do that? He had already suffered so much, lost so many people, been alone for so long. He barely knew Reyna.

But she needed Ethan, too. He was a taste of home. She had Percy and Annabeth, too, yes; but it wasn't the same, it never would be. Her trust in Ethan was bone-deep. He was the first person she thought of when she woke up and the last person she thought of when she went to sleep.

How could she let him strike off on this quest? But how could she let Reyna and Nico go by themselves?

Ethan squeezed her hand, bringing her back to reality. He was here―he was still here, still okay, still whole. They had survived Tartarus. He was still here.

"Do you remember," he asked quietly, "when I told you that I wished you were less brave?"

Madeleine nodded. It had only been hours ago, but it felt like a lifetime.

"Well, in the same vein," Ethan said, clearing his throat, "I have been wishing quite fervently that I were more brave. That I hadn't run away from camp when I knew you were falling in love with Zoe. That I hadn't let Luke murder James. That I hadn't―" his voice caught, and he didn't continue.