Jesus. Her pulse throbbed in her ears. “I’m coming in there.” She turned the handle. It didn’t budge. “If you break it, you pay for it, so stop before I can’t afford clothes for either of us.”

Total silence, then the door flew open. He stood there, his hair in disarray, his chest heaving. Sophie glanced behind him. He’d shattered both big glass panels to the shower. There wasn’t any blood on him, so maybe he’d kicked them. The chrome towel rack caught her eye amid the wreckage. He’d ripped the bar from the wall and bent it. How freaking strong was he?

“Holy shit.” Sophie snapped her mouth shut. She wanted to be angry at Piers for going all caveman on the hotel bathroom, but he looked so devastated. Beyond devastated—wrecked. His eyes glistened, and her heart broke for him without even knowing what happened. She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him.

Piers stood there for the longest time, stiff and unmoving. Finally, he gripped her back and ducked his head into her neck, holding on as though she were his lifeline. “It’s all my fault,” he whispered.

She tried to comfort him, smoothing her hands through his hair. She kissed his temple, his forehead. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. Just tell me what happened.”

“There’s nothing to figure out. I made a huge mistake, and now I’m paying for it. I’m here forever. In exile.”

The dull monotone of his voice scared her. His will to live seemed to have blinked off faster than a bum string of Christmas lights. At the same time, here forever didn’t sound that awful to her. It was too selfish to say aloud, but she didn’t want to lose him, even if it meant he couldn’t go back to his family.

“And you suddenly remembered?” She pulled back enough to look at him. “What just happened?”

“It was your colossus of Eleutheria. Libertas.” The Roman equivalent didn’t roll off his tongue as easily. “It all came roaring back. Athena said I wouldn’t remember at first—that something would trigger my memory when the time was right.” His voice turned rough. “That time is now, I guess.”

“Athena said?” Sophie was getting good at suspending disbelief, but…Athena? “Well, that’s good, right? We need her.”