The Return (Titan 1)

“Do you want to touch?”

Eyes darting up to his face in surprise, I felt my body burn red-hot. “E-excuse me?”

His lips curved up and his bicep tensed as he tossed the towel across the room. He stood at the side of the bed, arms at his sides, completely comfortable with how much flesh he was showing off. Then again, I’d walk around naked if I were a dude and had a body like that, so…

“You were staring at me for so long, I was asking if you wanted to touch,” he repeated, and my face started flaming.

“I don’t want to touch. And I wasn’t staring.”

The half-grin spread. “You weren’t?”

I shook my head. “No, I wasn’t. I was just…lost in thought.” Blowing a strand of hair out of my face, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. “And it’s rude to point out if someone is staring at you.”

He arched a brow as he folded his arms across his chest. Yikes! More interesting muscle movement. “Isn’t it more rude to be staring at someone?”

I could see a nipple peeking out from where his arms were folded. Who knew a nipple on a guy could be so…attractive? The skin was flat, dusky, and the nip—

“I think you’re wrong,” he replied dryly. “And you’re staring. Again.”

Crap! I was. I forced my gaze to the forest-green comforter. “I was not staring. I dazed off again. I have a habit of dazing off. So don’t flatter yourself.”

“I’m totally flattered.”

I huffed.

“So, let me guess. You like shiny things?”

“What?” I looked at him again, but this time I kept my gaze on his face. “Shiny things?”

He was fully grinning now. “Yeah, shiny things. Like ADD. Your dad has a mad case of it.”

“My dad…” I trailed off as the last couple of hours rushed to the surface. “Oh my God!” Here I was, sitting here and staring at this guy, arguing about shiny things when my entire world had imploded with crazy.

Seth moved closer to the bed. “Are you going to freak out and run again? If so, I’d like to put some shoes on.”

Ignoring him, I pressed the heel of my palm against my forehead as I stared at the comforter again. My head spun like I’d drunk half a bottle of tequila in less than an hour. My stomach roiled and I swallowed down the sudden rise of nausea. I remembered being outside the library and the odd way Jesse had looked as Seth had sent him off. I remembered every insane thing Seth had said, and I remembered running to my dorm, to Erin… and holy crap, what had she turned into? A giant bat?

Start small. That’s what I told myself as my heart rate picked up. I needed to start with the small stuff. “Where am I?”

“You’re in my hotel room. We’re about a mile off campus.” He paused. “You’re safe here.”

Safe from what? Oh yes, flying creatures, Titans, and guys with creepy, all-black eyes. “Did I…pass out?” That was kind of embarrassing.

He nodded. “You hit your head. Kind of got in the way of a wing. I know it’s a lot to deal with,” he continued, his voice low, as if any loud noise would send me scurrying into a panic. “Everything you thought you knew about the world is wrong and blah, blah, but we really don’t have time for another freak out. Like I said, you’re safe, but just for now. That thing back there—it was a shade, a soul that escaped Tartarus along with the Titans. They’re dangerous in spirit form and they can also ride mortal bodies. It wasn’t the only one here, but that’s beside the point. It knows you’re here, so that means they know you’re here.”

Lowering my hand, I looked at him sharply. “Wow.”

One shoulder rose. “It’s the truth.”

My gaze dipped, and I pursed my lips. “Can you put on a shirt?”

A small grin formed. “No.”

Frustration rose, mixing with confusion, as my head sought to catch up with everything. Denials formed on the tip of my tongue, but as I looked away, I shook my head slowly.

“Do you think none of this is real?” he asked, and the bed dipped as he sat beside me. I hadn’t even heard him move. “You’re awake. And you’re holding a conversation with me again.” He reached out, trailing his fingers over my forearm. “And you feel that, right? It’s real.”

I sucked in an unsteady breath. Yeah, I felt the wave of tingles that traveled to the tips of my fingers. “My mom is sick,” I blurted out, and he pulled his hand away as he tilted his head to the side. Damp strands clung to his cheek. My fingers tightened on the edge of the green comforter. “She has a mental illness— schizophrenia. And there were times when she’d have episodes that lasted days and she would hallucinate people and locations. And schizophrenia—it can be hereditary.”

His golden gaze swept over my face, intense and strange. “And you think that is what this is? That you have this sickness?”

A moment passed as embarrassment scaled my cheeks. Developing the illness was one of my greatest fears, because I knew firsthand how hard it was to deal with. “I don’t know what to believe.” My head felt woolly, my throat dry. I remembered hitting a wall. “Maybe it’s a concussion and—”

“You don’t have a concussion. We checked you over.”

We. A cold air swept through my chest as the events in my room replayed in my mind. “Erin. Oh my God. What…what is she?”

Seth placed one hand on the bed next to my legs as he raised the other, shoving his fingers through his damp hair. “She’s a furie. They usually go after those who’ve escaped judgment, and the gods use them as a warning system. Your friend can get pretty vicious, as you saw. Furies are no joke. They aren’t a big fan of me.”

A furie. My friend and roommate was a furie. A laugh escaped me and it quickly faded as an empty feeling opened up in my chest. “Is she really my friend?”

His brows rose. “I’d say so. She’s rather protective of you. You should’ve seen her when I took you. Not fun.”

I didn’t say anything, because I doubted he’d understand, but everything Erin had told me had to have been a lie if she was some kind of furie. I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. “Where is she?”

“There was a bit of a mess to clean up, and she’s gathering up your stuff, but that’s not really important right now.” He shifted closer and our gazes met. “I’m going to try this again, okay?”