BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

58.

EDEN AND PIPER took charge of cleaning the lower deck, which had been thrown into chaos during the monster attack. Reorganizing sickbay and battening down the storage area took them most of the day, but Eden didn't mind. For one thing, she got to spend time with Piper.

Which was the only reason. Even though they hung out a lot, because Piper is Eden's girl and they literally share a room.

As they were fixing up the stables, Eden's mind ran to the talk she'd had with her brother. At least she'd gotten her thoughts out, but at what cost? Now he'd probably try to get closer to her, because that was just his personality.

God, Eden hated him. So much.

So much resentment piled up over the years. Eden was glad that that was out, because then her resentment would be turned toward the gods. Fuck them.

Kaleidoscope swept the hay into piles. Eden fixed a broken door on one of the stables. The glass floor hatch glowed from the ocean below — a green expanse of light and shadow that seemed to go down forever. Eden had been in water too much lately. She hated the parts that tied her to her father.

Parents were overrated. Who needed them?

While Eden was finishing up the door, she noticed Piper staring at her. Her expression got sourer as she finished, putting her stupid hammer down.

"Do you really think I look that bad?" Eden asked. "I understand, not having slept all night like the olden days, but seriously, babe."

Piper rolled her eyes, but she smiled, and Eden silently cheered for herself. "You always look good, darling. And you know it."

Eden let herself laugh, coming over to take her hands. "It's going to work out for us," she promised. "You said so yourself."

"Yeah," Kaleidoscope agreed. "Except I was just saying that to make Annabeth feel better. And not about us."

"Well, everything you say goes back to us eventually, you know that." Eden grinned. She just couldn't stop smiling around her girlfriend. "So, what're you thinking about? Since you weren't thinking about me, which is a shame. I am a great thing to think about."

"All my thoughts come back to you, always," Piper sighed. "It's just that . . . it's the way Aphrodite talked about you. About me and you. About Annabeth and Hazel, even. How we're just stories to her, words she can edit as she pleases. How you were — are — just her plaything, and—"

"Pipes, look," Eden squeezed her hands, trying to be as comforting as possible. "Whatever shit she did in the past, whatever she's doing now to me, that doesn't matter. You know my first, my second, my third, they don't matter. She made my feelings what they were with them. But with you, you will be my last. My last girlfriend. The last person I kiss. My last love. And even if we will be a story, in the future, we will be written as heroes, as the women that defied history, that defied the gods, because of our love. Because with you, nothing is fake. My adoration for you isn't fake. My love for you isn't fake, Kaleidoscope. Because of the call of the void, we will be bonded together, for eternity. And I would die right now, if it meant that I would always be with you."

Tears prickled in the corners of Piper's eyes. "Eden . . ."

She leaned in to kiss her just as the ship's bell rang for dinner above them.

Piper groaned. "We'd better get up there. We don't want Coach Hedge tying bells around our necks."

Eden pinned her to the wall. "You're forgetting that I'm his favorite," she smirked. "And that I can't stay away from you."

* * *

The next morning Eden woke to a different ship's horn — a blast so loud it literally shook Piper out of bed. Eden nearly laughed at her, but held it in.