Free Destiny Bewitched by Leia Shaw Page B

eyes glazed over with sadness. Poor, lonely man. She
wanted to reach out and comfort him, but she’d never been good at
that sort of thing. Between taking care of Nikki and trying to
become a decent witch, boys had been the last thing on her mind.
She’d had only two boyfriends – neither of which had lasted long. A
twinge of hurt tightened her chest. She’d given one her virginity
only to be dumped as soon as things had gotten a little rough.
    “And Gaia? How does she
fit in?”
    He snapped out of his
daze and took a deep breath. “I’m hoping if she sees what I’ve done
for her daughters, she’ll put in a good word for me to Ares.”
    And Samantha was
ruining his only chance in almost two hundred years. The blood
drained from her face. She didn’t often indulge in the feeling of
guilt. No one else around her cared enough to feel bad for what
they did, why should she? And now she understood why so many
ignored it. She swallowed the lump in the back of her throat. Guilt
tasted like shit.
    “Listen,” she said,
folding her fidgety hands. “I can try to contact Gaia for you but I
can’t promise she’ll hear me.”
    Geo’s brows descended.
“What do you mean?”
    “Well, it’s not like a
cell phone. I can’t just dial her up and expect her to answer.”
    He stared at her dumbly
and she realized he probably had no idea what a cell phone was.
    “But you’re one of her
daughters,” he persisted. “Certainly she hears your prayers?”
    You’d be surprised . “Yes. Of
course,” she lied. “I just…I can’t make any guarantees, that’s all.
But I’ll do my best.” And she would.
    He smiled and it broke
her heart. “That’s all I’m asking.”
    Well, if the Underworld
Games didn’t kill her, Geo probably would. Maybe he’d have mercy on
her and let Nikki go. After all, it wasn’t Nikki who’d misled
him.
    Geo picked his hunting
knife up off the ground and gave her a grim look. “Come here.”
    Her throat constricted.
Could he hear her thoughts? Did he know she was lying to him?
    He cracked a smile.
“Why do you look so worried? I just want to feed you.”
    She exhaled a relieved
breath. Maybe she’d steal that knife before he found out about her
non-existent relationship with Gaia. Of course that still left him
with the giant sword that could slice her in two with one swipe.
Maybe she’d use the classic distract and run technique. That had
gotten her out of a jam or two in the past.
    Geo reached over the
fire to cut off pieces of the meat. His muscles glowed ominously in
the firelight. No, she’d never outrun him. Perhaps she could bribe
the dog-beast to take her side.
    “We’ll save the bone
for Erebus,” he said.
    Damn it!
    “What’s the matter?” He
arched a brow. “Not hungry?”
    Oh right. He was
carving the... pretend it’s turkey ...and she was rather hungry.
“Um, nothing. I’m coming.” She scooted across the wooden floor to
sit beside him.
    He took a piece between
his fingers. “It’s a little juicy. Here. Open.”
    He was going to hand
feed her? Her stomach grumbled. Oh, what the hell! She opened her mouth and
he slid a slice of meat in. If that had been a chocolate strawberry
instead of a chunk of unidentifiable Underworld animal, she’d call
this a date gone right. To her surprise, it wasn’t terrible
tasting. A little like chicken.
    Three more bites then
she looked up through their ghetto skylight. Stars sparkled above
them. Just a few but…
    “Hey. That almost looks
like –”
    “It is.” Geo put down
his knife and sat cross-legged beside her. She was hyperaware of
their thighs touching. “That’s your sky. Once in a while the veil
is thin enough to see it.”
    “Huh.” She smiled,
gazing up at the familiar sight. “It reminds me of home.”
***
    Me too.
    And he couldn’t believe
he’d told her about home. Well, some of it. The parts he wasn’t as
proud of he’d left out. Like his nickname, The Bastard of War. And
that his father chose the