Cursed [malexmale]

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"Denarius, thank god you're okay!"

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I stood in the doorway, watching Denarius's sister throw her arms around him as he sat on the end of the bed in the guest room. Delilah's teary eyes slammed shut and she squeezed so hard Denarius's eyes almost bugged before he squeezed her back, then squirmed to get away from her.

"I'm fine," He assured, then paused to look over at me, "Are you all right? Callias, I'm sorry I didn't-"

"Don't apologize," I told him gently, then turned to Delilah, who sniffed and snuggled under Denarius's arm to wrap her arms around his torso, "I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry I put your brother in danger, Delilah." Delilah smiled at me while squeezing Denarius, ignoring his futile attempts to squirm out of her death grip.

"He probably would've gotten in danger anyway. He's a magnet for disaster," She said with a sniffle, then smiled up at him, "But he's a do-gooder, so what do you expect? Thank you for healing him and making him better, Callias." I gave her a deep bow of respect, then excused myself to give them a private moment. I shut the door and paused to turn and see Menoetius standing on the other side of the hallway, arms folded over his chest, back against the wall. His expression was cold and empty, and sparked further irritation.

"Can't you find something else to do aside from sticking to me?" I demanded in aggravation. Menoetius gave me a droll stare.

"You really don't get what the term bodyguard means, do you?" He returned with a question of his own. One of the many things that aggravated me about this man was his refusal to give me straight answers. According to Ares, another bodyguard was set to arrive later today, but when I asked Menoetius who, his response was do I look like Google Maps to you. Even worse, he later commented that he wasn't sure what Google Maps even was, he'd overheard Hannibal talking to Akin about it. That meant Hades hadn't given Menoetius all the updated knowledge needed to survive in this new world, and something in me was both annoyed and entertained by that little cruelty.

Sighing in frustration, I went down the hallway to the kitchen to fetch a small snack to take out into the garden. For a moment, I thought maybe Menoetius would stay with Denarius, but I could feel that dark sense of foreboding following me down the hallway. I clenched my teeth and struggled to ignore him.

I wasn't sure exactly what made me hate the Titan. The war against the Greeks was unfounded, stupid, and blamed entirely on Atlan's brainwashing. I had long since beaten down the lies Atlan had ingrained in me about the Greeks, but Menoetius was different. Maybe it was the fact that all those years we'd fought on the battlefield, that voice in the back of my mind refused to let me kill him, so he was constantly getting away from me.

Not to mention, his arrogance and those avoiding questions were rather infuriating. I was almost sorry that Apollo would soon have to deal with him.

As well as myself. A wave of bitterness heated me at the thought of Apollo returning to the temple. I wasn't even sure when the god would arrive, certainly after the sun went down at least. At the same time, I was unsure what he was going to do. Beat me? Fuck me? Or would he get drunk and paw at me until I fucked him?

Something about this relationship was rather delightful, the constant guessing and staying on my toes. But I was accustomed to someone more obedient, someone...

Someone like Dexius.

My heart bled and I clenched my teeth so hard it was a miracle they didn't shatter. I forced my thoughts away from the Atlantean Prince, focused on getting through the kitchen to grab an apple from the basket on the counter. I brushed past Menoetius, fighting my hardest to forget he didn't exist.