Forsaken Deity

Chapter 11

Thea lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling as she listened to Hermes move about the apartment. A new ice pack was placed on her forehead and Hermes had rubbed some more cream into the area which had hurt like hell. Hopefully it would work as well as it had for her ribs. He hadn't said a word to her since they'd returned and she didn't know what to do.

The rational part of her brain had slowly took back control and she winced, remembering what she had said. How could she be so stupid to mention what Lissandre had done? Coming from her mouth it probably felt like she was digging at old wounds.

Hermes walked in from the balcony and moved into the kitchen. Thea sat up, trying to figure out how to apologise. She wanted to ignore what had happened but she felt she needed to apologise. The pain in her forehead had numbed from the ice and only hurt when she thought about it. Standing up, she made her way over to the kitchen, still trying to figure out what to say.

She hadn't taken two steps when Hermes intercepted her at the foot of the couch and pushed her back onto it. "Rest. We're heading off soon and you'll need your strength."

She grabbed his arm as he went to leave. "I'm fine, Hermes. I'm so sorry -"

"I know," he said shortly. "It meant nothing between you and Josh - you've mentioned it ten times now."

"No - I mean that is true, but I want to apologise about Lissandre and Aphrodite and what they did -"

"Shut up, Thea."

Again, her brain didn't hear the danger in his voice. "I didn't mean to bring it up. I mean I dreamed about it last night and I felt so awful -"

She squeaked as Hermes grabbed her shoulders and pinned her to the couch, kneeling above her. "You're right; it was awful. You can't imagine what it felt like to see Elpis in some monster's arms, knowing what type of man he was and yet she looked at him like he was her world. I still felt like she was my world and there was nothing I could do because of you and that bitch, Aphrodite!"

Thea felt fear crawl up her spine. His grip on her shoulders was painful but she didn't say a word. He was reliving something Lissandre had caused and saying she wasn't Lissandre wouldn't help.

"Hermes -"

"No. You don't get to mention what happened, ever. Just hearing you speak about it, with her voice, makes me so angry I want to strike something."

Thea flinched but he didn't notice and kept going. "So here's the deal: we are going to stop talking about this and never mention it again. We're going to pretend that you never brought it up and if we do, I might be able to handle looking at you again. I'm here to bloody protect you and I can't do that if I can't stand to look at you. Agreed?"

Too nervous to speak, Thea nodded. Hermes pushed off the couch and her shoulders throbbed. Standing up quickly, she walked around the opposite end of the couch from Hermes and made it to her room, rushing into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

Covering her mouth, she tried to stop the tears threatening to fall. She had no right to cry; it was her fault for bringing it up. Her brain had tried to warn her but she ignored it, listening to her heart instead. She was starting to pick up on a pattern. It was about time she stopped listening to her heart and started listening to her brain.

The anger on Hermes' face had frightened her. She'd seen him angry before but never had it been directed at her and she didn't like it. The pain in his eyes told her something else too; he still loved Elpis, the girl who now had a name. The cruel prank had been played so long ago now, and his emotions were still so raw. It said how much he had loved her - still loved her- and it hurt Thea more than she thought it would.