Two months later…

“I am never giving you access to my suitcase again.”

“Why? You look nice.”

“I look a hooker, Hermes. The clothes I had packed were fine.”

Hermes walked over and pulled the towel covering her body away from her. She was wearing a black bikini with blue shorts. The sun was nice on her skin but she was too busy glaring at Hermes and trying to cover herself to notice. “There’s no one around, Peaches, and I’ve seen you naked many times. Last night even.”

“I feel uncomfortable though,” she complained.

“Don’t care,” he grinned. “I like to have a nice view.”

Groaning, she grabbed the towel back from him and laid it down on the sand, lying on top of it. Crossing her arms, she closed her eyes and felt Hermes lie next to her, his hand coming up to rest on her stomach. She placed her own hand over his, entwining her fingers with his.

Since she had come back from the dead two months ago, Hermes had barely left her side. She wasn’t complaining; she loved spending alone time with him and since Cronos was back in his cage, the Gods had left them alone. They had caught up with Apollo once; he’d burned down his house, adamant he could no longer live there, and rebuilt on the opposite side of his field. Some of the nymphs helping him move his belongings were having a hard time with his constant flirting and Thea pitied them. Artemis had disappeared into Gaia’s forest and had yet to reappear. Thea prayed she didn’t go nuts and kill all the animals in there. Zeus hadn’t bothered her yet, but she had a feeling he was just biding his time until Hera stopped breathing down his neck.

Once Thea had explained what Gaia had done for her, Hermes had helped her give Josh a proper farewell. Shae and Josh weighed on her mind, their lives lost because of her. Hermes tried to tell her it wasn’t her fault but she couldn’t help but feel blame. She had wanted to see him in the Underworld but Hades had advised against it. He promised her that Josh would be given the same choice as Shae and he would keep her updated on his decision. For now, though, he felt it was best if Josh was given time to adjust and come to terms with his death. Seeing Thea might halt his acceptance and Hades didn’t want that to happen. Thea had reluctantly agreed to keep away and Hermes tried to keep her distracted. His fingers moved over the same place on her stomach, where Cronos had stabbed her, and she felt his fingers trace the faint scar.

Gaia had done as she said, gifting her with immortality, but she hadn’t been able to remove the wound altogether. For the rest of her life, she would be stuck with a reminder of her sacrifice. Even now, the thought of eternity scared her, but knowing that Hermes would be there eased that fear. She’d been terrified to tell him at first in case it wasn’t what he wanted and Gaia had been lying, but she hadn’t even been able to finish her explanation before Hermes had scooped her up in his arms, delighted that she would always be by his side. He had then thanked Gaia for the gift she had given them both.

“What do you want to do today?” Hermes asked.

“I don’t know. I’m happy to stay here. Work on my tan.” She rolled over to face him. His hair hung in his eyes and she brushed it aside. He caught her fingers as she moved away and kissed their tips. “What about you? What do you want to do?”

“I was thinking we could meet Apollo in Vegas.”

“Vegas? But this is our Caribbean holiday. Why would you want to go to –?” Realisation dawned and she frowned. “What trouble has he gotten into?”

Hermes chuckled. “I’m not sure how much you want to know but I’ll just say that Apollo has a weakness for call girls and the last time he was in Vegas, it didn’t end well…”

Sighing, she sat up. “Is this what it’s going to be like from now on? Taking care of Apollo?”

“Of course. He’s a big child — you should know that by now.”

Standing up, she grabbed the towel and shook the sand out before folding it back up. “So much for my tan. We only go for one night and then we come back tomorrow. Deal?”

Hermes stood up and kissed her lightly. “Deal, Peaches.”

She packed her towel away and hid their belongings from the elements, grabbing some proper clothes and putting them on. They were in the Caribbean and Hermes had found an uninhabited beach for them to stay on. The last five days had been magical; no people, no problems, no Gods wanting them for anything – until now.

“We need to find Apollo a girl.”

Hermes hugged her from behind and she smiled. “Can you imagine a girl out there who could put up with him?”

Hermes walked backwards and she let him drag her, frowning as she tried to think of a type of girl who would stay with him. “There has to be someone out there…”

“Well, whoever they are, I feel sorry for them already,” Hermes murmured, kissing her shoulder. Turning her around he grabbed her hand so they could leave but she stopped him. “What?”

“I’m not properly dressed for Vegas!”

“We’ll stop by your apartment and grab a dress or something then.”

He tried to grab her hand again but she shook her head. “Can we fly instead?”

He grinned. “Sure, love. I’ll race you.”

He started hovering in the air and Thea floated up after him, happy Gaia had let her keep this one element. “I don’t know the way though.”

“Then I guess I’m going to win. Oh, did I mention whoever wins gets sex?”

“So either way, you win.” She rolled her eyes.

He grinned. “It’s a good prize, right?”

She grabbed his arms as they rose higher in the sky and his hands rested on her waist. “Here’s the deal, Hermes: if you win, that’s what you get. If I win…” She leaned closer and whispered in his ear, and his eyes widened before pointing to his left.

“Home is that way. I’ll give you a head start.”

She grinned. “Are you sure? It should be a fair game –“

“Screw fair — there’s no way I’m letting you lose now,” he muttered, practically carrying her through the air as he picked up speed. “You’ve won already. Now hurry up, or I’ll start before we get there.”

Thea laughed, kissing him, and picked up her speed. Her life still wasn’t perfect — she didn’t know if it ever would be — but being with Hermes, it came pretty close.

And as long as she had him —and the Gods she called her friends — she knew her life was perfect enough.

Fin

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 Final Author and Thank you Note

Before I get too emotional, my first thank you goes to Caoimhe aka Keevz, aka Bad Cop, aka AuRevoirSimone. This woman has been through this story with me from beginning to end, helping me fight characters who didn’t want to listen, laughing at all my grammar errors (including over use of some words :-P), crying through their hardships – I would never have survived this story without her. Because of Keevz, my grammar has improved since I first started writing this story and that is one thing I am most grateful for, because she has helped me to improve as a writer when I feared I never would.

If I could, I would reach through the screen and hug you and give you more than just this measly thank you. You are a wonderful person Keevz and I am so fortunate to have a friend like you, who can put up with all my nagging!

I would also like to thank all the wonderful Ladies and Lads of my little COA. If you ever read this story, you know who you all are and you all inspire me with my writing each and every day. Keep being awesome! <3

Of course my next big thank you goes out to you! My wonderful readers! I have truly been blown away by the amount of love you have given Thea and Hermes and they have been so lucky to have readers such as yourselves supporting their journey. I still cannot believe how far this story has come and I could never have done it without all of you and for that – THANK YOU <3

As you all know, I will be posting FD in the Watty’s, it would mean a lot if you could all continue to support Thea and Hermes ^_^ I don’t expect to win but it should be an interesting experience! I should also mention – there won’t be a sequel to this story. It was a one off so I hope it ended well ^_^

My next story as many of you know is called, ‘Haven’, a werewolf story. I am also working on The Faery Veil but it still won’t be posted until early next year at this stage. I might see some of you over on Haven’s comment section soon, if so, thanks for following me on the next crazy story!

That’s it! I can’t believe it is all over! I am going to have my emotional moment now, lol. Farewell! <3