Page 86 of Deathless
Jasper ran his fingers along the edges and found a hidden slide. A panel shifted. The lock clicked.
"Good!" Mila bounced once. "Now, the next part."
I leaned against the doorframe while Jasper solved a puzzle and his daughter coached him through it. The first time he'd played with her. The first time she'd shown him something she was proud of. And it happened in Zeus's house, with Zeus's gifts, under Zeus's roof.
The box opened. Inside sat a small wooden horse, hand-carved.
"Patéras made it," Mila said. "He said every princess needs a horse for when the dragon's sleeping."
Jasper held the horse like it might break. "It's beautiful."
"You can hold it if you want." She scooted closer to him on the bed. "Patéras says I have to be careful with my things because they're mine and nobody can take them away if I protect them."
"That's true," Jasper said quietly.
She picked up another box from her nightstand. "This one's harder. Do you want to try?"
"Yeah."
They bent over the second puzzle together. Mila explained the trick, and Jasper listened, and the tension in his shoulders loosened the longer she talked. She laughed when he got stuck. She showed him where he'd missed a step. She clapped when he finally got it open, and Jasper smiled at her. A real smile, the kind I'd only ever seen him give me, the kind that cracked open the armor and showed the man underneath.
Dios. If I'd loved him before, this finished me.
Zeus appeared in the doorway beside me. "She's brilliant, isn't she?"
"Yeah," I said.
"I've taught her everything I know. Strategy, tactics, how to read people, how to protect herself." He paused. "But also this."He gestured at the room. "How to have things that are hers. How to build something worth keeping."
"You're grooming her," I said quietly.
"I'm raising her." Zeus kept his voice low enough that Mila wouldn't hear. "I failed with Achilles. I broke Jasper. I won't repeat those mistakes."
He stepped into the room. "Mila, sweetheart. I think your daddy's getting tired. Would you like to help me show him and Diego their room?"
Mila looked at Jasper, then at the puzzle boxes between them. "Can we keep these?"
"They're yours," Zeus said. "They'll be here when you get back."
She slid off the bed. "You'll be right down the hall," she said to Jasper. "If you need anything."
"Thank you," Jasper managed.
She hugged me again before we left. Then she went to Jasper, hesitated, and hugged him too. He stood frozen for half a second before he wrapped his arms around her. He closed his eyes. Every muscle in his body locked against the thing trying to break loose in his chest.
I looked away. Some things weren't mine to watch, even when I wanted to carry them for him.
She pulled back and went to Zeus, taking his hand. "Goodnight, Patéras."
"Goodnight, little one."
We followed Zeus down the hallway. Two guards fell into step from a side corridor.
The guest room looked like more suburban staging: one bed with a quilt, nightstands on either side, a bathroom with fresh towels. All of it built to make you forget where you were.
The door locked from the outside.
Zeus paused in the doorway. "My physician will see you shortly. I suggest you rest."
