Make Me Whole (29 page)

“I—”

“Let me finish. I can’t marry someone who doesn’t trust me, who’s only asking me because he thinks it’ll give him another tie to me; make it harder for me to leave.” Galen flung his hand back toward the statues. “Who’s only asking because he wants to be the one to break the curse because he thinks it’ll bring back his family.”

Nick couldn’t look at him anymore, look at those eyes so full of hurt beneath the anger. He glanced at the fourth statue, still incomplete, and felt it all falling away. How could Galen read him so well?

“No. Look at me, not the damn statues.” Nick’s gaze snapped back to Galen at the sound of those hard, furious words. “Which do you want, me or breaking the curse? Who are you really asking for? If you’re going to be with me you have to accept me with all my shortcomings, just as I’ll have to live with your insecurities until you get past them. This isn’t about the legend, it’s about us. And if your focus can’t be on us, I’m not going to be a part of this. Remember when you said you wouldn’t take anything less than me giving our relationship a real try, not a halfhearted one? Well, that’s where I am now. Don’t ask for a commitment that you aren’t willing to give in return.”

“No, don’t. I’m sorry. I fucked it up.” Nick turned his back on the Collection and reached to take Galen’s hand. Galen drew back, shoving his hands in his pockets, and the rejection cut deeper than Nick wanted to admit. He followed Galen into the hallway, trying to find the words that would keep Galen from leaving. The look on Galen’s face reminded him too much of the night that Galen had walked away. He couldn’t let that happen again.

Galen was right. Nick had let panic and anger get in the way. He’d blasted Galen for being afraid when he’d left him the first time, reacting out of fear, and now Nick wasn’t acting any different. He wanted Galen to have faith in him, but he wasn’t showing any of that faith in return.

“You loving me, I believe it. I believe you.”

Nick felt himself steady as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Galen wouldn’t lie about something so important, so it had to be true. Maybe the first step in getting his heart to have the same faith would be to acknowledge it. Galen stopped, turned around to search Nick’s face, and the smile that crossed Galen’s face made Nick’s heart skip a beat.

“Okay,” Galen murmured. He took in a deep breath, and the tension uncoiled from his body. He reached out and took Nick’s hand. “I think that’s a good start. I’m not saying I’ll never consider marriage, but if I do, I need it to be for the right reasons.”

“Then I’ll shelve that question for another day.” Nick drew Galen closer, touched his forehead to Galen’s. “I’m sorry about grilling you over what you were doing today and worrying over why you didn’t call. I need to trust you, trust in us. That’s my own problem, not yours.”

“Let’s go to my place. We can talk there.”

L
YKON
studied the swirling dark clouds over his head with a wary eye as the wind picked up again. The boat shuddered, rocking in the rough sea, spray lashing over the side. The cold water smacked him hard, forcing the breath from his lungs as he held onto the wooden rail. He barely noticed the splinters driving into his palms and fingers as he searched for the shore with increasing desperation.

He’d been trying to find Dexios for months without any sign to give him hope. Too much time had passed with no word from him despite Lykon’s messages to his home village, more than enough time for regret to sink in past his fears. He’d started to miss Dexios before the dust had settled on the road from his passing. As the time stretched longer, Lykon had gone from being hurt to being angry before his anger faded to sorrow. He’d injured Dexios far more than he’d let himself acknowledge, and the last expression in his lover’s eyes haunted him still.

The waves rose higher, so the little boat seemed to be climbing each crest before plunging down the other side again. The fishermen screamed orders at each other over the wind, and Lykon tried to help, doing whatever task they demanded of him. He and Dexios had dreamed of owning such a boat and plying the waters around the island they were headed to. It was far away from either of their villages and the last place that Lykon could think of to search.

He’d find Dexios and figure out a way to close this rift that he’d caused. They’d build a home by the sea. Dexios loved to watch the play of water on the shore. Lykon would spend the rest of his life proving to Dexios that he wouldn’t be ruled by his fears anymore. He only had to find his elusive lover first.

Lykon searched the horizon again, straining to see any sign of the rocky shoreline that Dexios had often described to him as they lay together at night, wrapped up in each other’s arms. He had to be there. Lykon could sense the place calling to him, a whisper on the wind, a murmur in Dexios’s voice.

A terrified scream jerked his attention away from his thoughts, and Lykon twisted around to see a huge wave bearing down on the boat. He stood frozen, Dexios’s name roaring in his mind, as he faced an enemy he could not fight. The boat lurched, timbers cracked, and Lykon shouted as they tumbled down toward the dark, seething waters. There seemed to be a face on the waves, angry and vengeful, its maw opening to swallow him whole.

Dexios. I am sorry. I tried to make it right.

As the waters sank over his head, Lykon felt a hand grab his hair before he blacked out.

L
YKON
awoke to the sound of Dexios calling his name. For a moment, he thought he sensed his lover’s strong arms about him, and he smiled, turning to reach for him, only to have his arms find nothing but air. He opened his eyes and found himself lying on a stretch of lonely coast. Sand clung to his wet, shivering body, and the remains of his garments clung to him in tatters.

“Lykon.”

He lurched to his feet as he heard his name again. “Dexios! Dexios, I am here.”

He searched wildly for any sign of his lover and thought he saw a figure in the distance. He stumbled toward it, calling out Dexios’s name with no response. Dread grew in his heart as he drew closer. The figure had Dexios’s stance and breadth of his shoulders, but it was too still.

Lykon sank to his knees, his stomach churning as he gaped at the man. His back was to him as he faced the sea, and the sunlight glinted off his armor, surrounding him in a halo of light. Lykon stared, the light hurting his eyes as he silently willed Dexios to move.

He seemed frozen in midact, as if some Gorgon had gotten a hold of him. “No, no, Dexios.”

“Lykon.”

The whisper of his name had Lykon back on his feet, running toward Dexios. He stumbled to a halt in front of him, his eyes stinging as he stared at the statue of his lover. It was perfect in every detail, the strong line of his jaw, the tender fierceness of his brow, his empty arms circled as if to enfold Lykon in his embrace.

Lykon reached out a hesitant hand and wept as he wrapped his fingers around the cold, hard arm. “What happened?” There had to be some way he could free Dexios from this curse.

“You broke a pledge sworn in my name.”

Lykon closed his eyes at the sound of the woman’s voice behind him. He leaned closer and rested his head against Dexios’s shoulder while the ache inside of him threatened to drown him as the waves had not. “Why punish him, Cythera? The sin was mine. Lay your curse on me instead.”

“You both failed, and therefore you both carry the cost. You are punished as much as he, perhaps more. He merely waits for you with the utter faith that one day he will look upon you again and hold you in his arms. He will be waiting for a long time before you both redeem yourselves. He asked for the time to wait for you, so I granted it, and in return he promised he would be patient. Perhaps he will remember that vow.”

Lykon looked at Dexios’s face, the desire and love captured there as he waited with parted lips to kiss him. At least he was not afraid or in pain. Lykon touched Dexios’s jaw, then turned to face the goddess, sinking to his knees. “Set him free. I beg of you.”

“You have the power within you to set him free yourself.” Hope stole the air from his lungs only to have it dashed away again when Cythera smiled. There was no mercy in her expression. “Though not in this lifetime.”

She waved her hand, and three new objects shimmered on the sand, solidifying into more statues of Dexios. “Lykon, make me whole. Please.” The whisper seemed to come from all of them at once, and Lykon stumbled from one to another, trying to rouse them.

“What must I do?” Lykon knelt beside the final statue, where Dexios lay in repose with such a familiar expression of sleepy, loving contentment that Lykon wanted to weep. Again Dexios’s arms were empty as he held onto air, and the wrongness of it screamed out at him. Lykon should be within that circle. “If you will not free him, let me join him. Let us be statues together. Let them be made whole.”

“One day perhaps. Not today. Dexios will no longer be alone, now that you are here to care for him while he waits.” The goddess touched Dexios’s bronzed hair with a fond look in her eyes. “His love sings. Can you not hear him calling to you? You have broken your vow, and I will not free him so you can hurt him again with your empty promises or to have him give up the fight so easily. You will be reborn, and when you are you will have the chance to free him. Fail and the statues will remain uncompleted in that lifetime, and you will have to wait again. Only when all four stand complete will the curse be lifted. You both must be steadfast. Look to the statues, they will be your omens.”

“You came back.” Dexios’s voice shivered in the air and Lykon wept.

“I was such a fool.” Lykon clung to him, hoping this was just a nightmare and that Dexios’s limbs would unfreeze to take Lykon into his arms again. “Forgive me.”

“There will be challenges of your commitment to each other.”

Lykon’s head jerked up at that silky tone and the threat implicit in it. “Challenges?”

“Of course, one has to betray another to see if the faith will be kept.” A slender hand fisted in his hair, and Lykon’s heart slammed against his ribs as her lips twisted. “Yes, I think you will be the instrument of betrayal.”

“Wait!” Lykon reached out to the goddess as she faded. “Tell me more. What must I do in this lifetime?”

“Care for him, see that he comes to no harm while he waits for you. That is all you can do for Dexios now.”

“Wait! Please wait!” Lykon shouted as the goddess disappeared, but she did not return. Desperate, he looked up and down the beach, searching for another living soul. Storms often lashed this area of the coast. He had to find shelter or make it. He had to keep Dexios safe until he could find a way to make it right.

“Lykon.” The whisper hung in the air.

“I am here.” Lykon kissed the cold brow. “I will not forsake you again. I am here.”

G
ALEN
laid his head against Nick’s chest and listened to the rapid beat of his heart while Galen’s own breathing calmed. They tangled their limbs together, as Nick slid his hand down Galen’s sweaty, slick back. “I have been dying to do that all day,” Nick rumbled.

Galen smiled and turned his head to kiss Nick’s chest. His body had that pleasant ache from the aftermath of intense sex instead of the not-so-pleasant ache of blue balls. “So was I, whenever I was given a moment to think.” And every one of those quiet moments had been filled with Nick: naked Nick, Nick telling him he loved him, the sometimes wary look in his eyes, and the way he would always put on music for Amy and Rory so they could dance. All of those little things had filled up the emptiness inside of Galen.

“So what was it that kept you running around all day?”

Galen was relieved to hear curiosity in Nick’s voice instead of suspicion and jealousy. He couldn’t handle that all the time. Either Nick trusted him or he didn’t, but they wouldn’t get very far without trust.

“The opening gala is in a month. I can’t believe how quickly it’s looming closer. And Suzane’s in a tizzy getting it all together since she missed so much time. Since she’s naturally contrary, she keeps demanding my opinion just so she can argue with it. Today she was hell-bent on finalizing the catering, and she decided we needed a little music, so we had it out over that.”

Nick chuckled and squeezed Galen’s shoulders. “I like her. I’m glad she’s doing better.”

“Me too.” Galen trailed his fingers down Nick’s chest, exploring and thinking of teasing him into a second round. “We had the security lights installed in the exhibit room. That’s when I noticed the second statue. I was getting ready to text you. When I saw Dexios and Lykon together, it startled me so much I dropped the cell and it broke. I think the installation guy thought I’d lost my mind.”

Nick laughed again and captured Galen’s fingers before giving the tips a gentle nip. “I can only imagine the scene you made.”

“I wanted to send you a picture, and I couldn’t ask him to borrow his phone, not when the picture was R-rated. So I waited until Knox got in. You’ve met him, remember? He hangs out at the workshop and helps us around the museum part time. Suzane wants to hire him in a more permanent capacity. Though, I suppose I probably shouldn’t have used his either, not if he’s a potential employee. You’re the HR manager, what do you say?”

“Definitely not, some people would say using an employee’s phone to send R-rated pictures could be considered grounds for harassment.”

“Hmmm, well, I’ll apologize to him tomorrow.” Galen rolled onto his stomach, crossed his arms over Nick’s chest and smiled at him. “There was nothing at all underhanded about me using his phone. It was a freaky turn of events.”