The morning after falling asleep with Will in Ethan's dungeons, I told Will everything. Once I finished, I did not let him get a word in because what in all the hells was he doing there? I needed an explanation.

"I was worried? Why else would I have gone after you? You left me behind with Thalia and I didn't know what to think. After running for months away from this crazy king, you were suddenly back in his clutches. Without any warning to me. I needed to know what was going on." I couldn't see him in the dark but it didn't matter. It could have been as bright as day for the pain was as evident in his voice as anything else. I wanted to help soothe that pain. But could I? If I told him, would he agree to my plan? Or would he run away and regret everything we ever did together? I felt a pang in my chest at the last thought. "Tell me, Nico. Why is it you left me to come back to him?" He sounded like he was accusing me. Now I was the one who didn't know what to think.

"Will..." I hesitated. What if? I couldn't get the what-ifs out of my brain for a second as I thought about whether or not I should tell him. "I don't think it's best to tell you right now."

"Why not?"

"There are too many things to consider at the moment. And putting the burden on you of what I'm thinking could be too much..."

Will was still holding my hands through the bars and when I said that, he squeezed. "Nothing you say could be too much. Nico, I love you and whatever you say will not drive me away from you. Let me help."

My hands started sweating in Will's. Could I let him? Should I? If I told him, here would be no going back. The words would be out in the open and we would have to deal with what I have been planning and thinking of. Additionally, what I was planning might not come to pass, if I could figure out another way. So would it really be necessary to tell him what I was planning? And with who? Although I guess in the end, whether I told him or not would affect him. He was here after all. And it was all Ethan's fault. But what if it did happen?

So I took a deep breath. Because if it did happen, he might appreciate the fact that he had a head's up. And Ethan's death would not come as a gruesome surprise. And even though it was dark, I closed my eyes and squeezed his hands as if my life depended on it. As I told him and explained what was going on, I only hoped he wouldn't think me a murderer. At least, not yet. When I was done, I kept my eyes closed. I couldn't see but keeping them closed brought a sense of security. It helped me kid myself into thinking that even if his reaction was a bad one, in my head it was okay.

His hand took a firmer grip on mine. "I understand why you are doing this."

My eyes shot open in surprise. It did not sound like he hated me. Yet. "You ━"

"That does not mean I'm okay with it. There has to be another way. Such a gruesome solution doesn't seem right to me."

"I know, I agree. But Will...if it comes down to it. I cannot hesitate. Ethan was ready to come for your life and I cannot allow him the pleasure of peace in the battle he brought to us."

"I━"

Will was interrupted by the clang of the dungeon doors opening an the sudden flash of light before they closed again. Echoing footsteps accompanied by a slinking shadow came closer to us and while I knew there was a very big chance that the person coming toward us was Ethan, I refused to let go of Will's hand. There was no knowing when I would have the luxury of feeling its warmth again. Will squeezed back, and it filled me with assurance. I was glad I was not the only one who did not want to leave him behind. Luckily, when the person finally appeared in front of us, it was one of Ethan's knights. They were not a complete one-up but they were better than Ethan.

He looked straight ahead as he spoke, "The King requests your presence."

"You can let him know I will be there when my business with William is done."

"He requests that you go to him immediately."

"And you can relay my message to him just as you did his. Now be gone."

"King's orders. You must━"

"Well Ethan is not your only king now, is he? I mustn't do anything. You, on the other hand, must do as your King asks."

He was silent as he mulled over his options. Then he bowed. "Your Majesty." And he was on his way.

When we were once again surrounded by darkness and the echo of the metal door closing was long gone, I let out a breath and loosened my hold on Will's hand. Neither of us said anything. I didn't want to leave him here. This was my fault. I had led him here. Why did I let him come with me when I escaped? And when I allowed him to, why did I try to leave on my own? Who could be so stupid? It worked for a while, yes. But I knew Will. I had known he would look for me. Why did I do it? It helped no one and only distracted us from what our main purpose was. Did I do it to see if I was right? To test whether he would really come after me? Or was I only a coward for not wanting to face my feelings?

But ruining things once was not enough for me. Oh no, I had to run off to Ethan without letting Will know of my plans. That time knowing for sure that he would come after me. And I still did it. I couldn't even have told him my plan. And now here he was. Locked up in a dungeon. Starved and beaten because of my stupidity and cowardice. I knew that as soon as I left him behind again. My remorse over my actions could very much eat me alive. Will did not deserve this. I regretted everything I had done to push him away but unfortunately, right now I could not let that drag me down, I did not have the time. I would have push past it if I ever wanted to get him out of there and do everything in my power to make it up to him.

It felt like a short eternity as we sat on the cold hard ground of Ethan's dungeon, silent and in deep thought, though I knew it was no longer than a few minutes. Eventually, I had to let go of his hand and make my way to Ethan. I didn't have the heart to say goodbye to Will, no after everything. Somehow, he knew and I was grateful he didn't ask it of me and didn't say anything either. I brought his hand up to my lips and placed a kiss. A promise that I would get him out of here as soon as possible. And then I left the dungeon.

Ethan was waiting in his room. Satisfied like a predator after a kill. He knew what he had done and he was not finished with Will. He had other things in mind and there was no question that he had called me here to discuss just that.

He stood from his chair and walked to his window, "Did you enjoy your gift?"

"What are you planning?"

He shrugged and turned around. "Nothing really. The Duke will be treated accordingly."

"To what?"

He smiled and took two strides to reach me. "It all depends on you, my sweet."

I slapped his hand away as he tried to stroke my cheek, "Try anything and I will --"

His eyes hardened, "And you will what? You have no power here, darling. I hold the dearest person to you in my dungeons. What can you do that will not have repercussions?"

I clenched my jaw and said nothing. He was right.

Satiated with my response, he tried again to stroke my cheek. I let him. There was no other sure way to ensure Will's safety. And that was my number one priority. He had already suffered too much, if indirectly, by my hand.

"We've yet to consummate our marriage."

I immediately jerked back. "No."

I was sure he would keep pushing but a sturdy knock came from the door. Ethan scowled but moved away from me just the same to open the door. Maxwell was on the other side. He stopped for a second, taking in the irritated expression on Ethan's face, then promptly bowed. "I apologize Your Majesties, but the Queen and Princess of Inferos are here."

Ethan kept his voice low to make his displeasure obvious. "Why?"

"They've come to visit Queen Nico."

I did not waste a second in hurrying to Maxwell's side. The further away he could take me from Ethan, the better. "That is quite wonderful news. Let us go to them, Maxwell."

It appeared Ethan wanted to say something, most likely about what an inconvenience it was that my family had shown just as he wanted to take advantage of me. Of course, I would not have let him. He could play on his own. Without me. We had separate rooms for a reason. I most likely had Maxwell to thank for that. I had trouble imagining Ethan giving me a separate room out of the pure goodness of his heart to help me feel more comfortable. Though, considering we were married now, shouldn't that have been his first priority? Either way, whatever trash was about to spill out of his old mouth, Maxwell stopped him.

Maxwell held up a hand, "I'm sorry to stop you Your Majesty, but Queen's Nico's family have waited long enough. If it were me, I would want to see my family as soon as possible. Don't you agree that it has been far too long since they have seen each other?"

Ethan stopped breathing. His face turned red. After a few seconds of the angry silence, he took a deep breath and spoke in the exhale. "Maxwell, you answer to me." Then, did not let Maxwell answer and retreated back into his rooms, slamming the door behind him.

Maxwell and I stood stock still waiting, expecting, for Ethan to come back out and continue to lash out at us but he never came back. Maxwell decided then that we should head downstairs to see my sister and stepmother. Relieved, I think I may skip all the way down to greet them.

As soon as Hazel saw me, she ran to me and hugged me so tight, I thought I saw stars. "Nico, oh gods. I feel like I haven't seen you in years."

I hugged her back just as tight because seeing my dear sister after everything was like a refreshing breath after being stuck in the dungeon for an entire night explaining to your lover why you abandoned him to get married to a crazy man like Ethan. Yes, hugging my sister was very much like that. She was one sane thing in the sea of crazy that was my life since...since I met Will. It was the first time I had come to that realization and yet, I didn't regret it. I loved Will. I loved him more than I thought I could ever love anyone and even though what we were going through right now was much less than ideal, I could not and would not regret it. Not if it meant I never would have met him.

"Hazel, how have you been?" When I pulled back from our hug, I realized her eyes were full of tears.

"I can't believe you married him. What about - ?"

I knew who she was talking about, and I was surprised she knew how much he meant to me. "How - ?"

"How could I not know? His territory in Caelum went crazy for the first month, wondering why their Duke had disappeared without a word. It wasn't very hard to put two and two together, especially not after Reyna returned to Inferos half-dead."

"What? What happened to Reyna?" I had assumed that she had made it back to Inferos after the party safe and sound. What exactly had happened after Will and I left?

Persephone spoke up "She arrived in Inferos two weeks after you ran away. She was in very bad shape and yet the first thing she did when she arrived was run to your father and demand why he had betrothed you to Ethan."

"I was pissed when he first told you, too y'know."

I spun around, I had no idea when Reyna had made it back there but when I saw her, I smiled the biggest smile I had for weeks. She smirked when she saw me smile. "Missed me that much?"

Under normal circumstances, I would have dropped the smile and told her to fuck off but now, I didn't care. These were not normal circumstances. "Of course."

Her smirk turned into a full smile and she reached out to hug me. Oh, how I needed a hug from my best friend. If she had been with me all along then maybe it wouldn't have been as bad. Maybe if she had been able to stay back with Will when I decided to come back with Ethan, she would have figured out a way to stop him from coming after me. But there was no use dwelling on it now. I was just glad she was here now and I was in a position to stop Ethan from further messing with Will.

But she almost wasn't, I remembered, something happened when everyone woke up at the party.

I pulled back and held her at arm's length, looking over her to make sure there were no injuries. There didn't seem to be but most likely they had healed over. "What happened, Reyna?"

Her face lost all mirth and her lips tightened in a line. "I will tell you once his slave leaves us." Her eyes moved to Maxwell standing in the doorway.

"Maxwell, allow us some privacy please." He didn't look bothered at my request, only bowed and walked away without a goodbye. He knew if I needed him, I would call for him.

Reyna was pleased not to have anyone related to Ethan in any way away from us but she didn't loosen up, in fact, it seemed that with Maxwell out of the room, she became increasingly cautious. Like she expected someone to come out at any moment and take her, or anyone else present, away. Nevertheless, she took a seat, sitting straight as a rod, her hand on her sword at her hip, ready to take it out should she need it. She waited a couple more seconds to ensure that Maxwell had indeed walked as far away from them as he possibly could. She started talking once I took a seat as well.

After hearing what she had to say, I could not say I was surprised. Ever since meeting Ethan, I expected the worst. The fact that he had tortured Reyna, while a thorn in my heart, was pretty much what I had come to expect from Ethan. However, I could say I was furious at what he had done to my dearest friend. It was not hard to see that Reyna was as well if not more. After all, it had been done to her, not me. She finished her retelling after explaining what Hazel had meant when she told me about knowing about Will and me.

It was at this moment that I knew how I would rid myself of Ethan forever. 

A/N

Hello. Its been a while. There is no excuse. Just been busy. Had the WORST writer's block. Still, do, just kind of kept writing anyway so if it seems like a mess it's because of that. And yet you guys have been so nice ｡ﾟ(ﾟ∩'﹏'∩ﾟ)ﾟ｡ I love you guys thanks for sticking around for so long. I was planning on posting this like last month or earlier this month, if you follow my Instagram you might have seen me mention it but I really hated how I left the chapter so I had to rewrite it. I still kind of hate it but I couldn't make you guys wait anymore. I'll try to force myself to write another chapter by Christmas or New Years but no promises. I'm kind of a mess. Thanks you guys. 

If I don't write anything else soon I hope you guys have awesome holidays ad a great new years

Yours in demigodishness and all that, I