"So, Brigid knows our location, our plans, and is working on sending various creatures to kill us," Octavian said, one of the first forms of conversation Laoise and him had in the past few days. While nothing new had attacked since the man in the bathroom, they were all significantly more on edge now, with even little Logan sensing something was wrong. He too was as quiet as a mouse, only speaking to his teddy bear.

"Yes, that seems to be the case," Laoise rolled her eyes as she steered the boat, though there was little to pay attention to on the crystal clear river, with them inching closer and closer to the Gulf of Mexico. "Clever, really. Must've taken a lot of thought and contemplation to come up with that."

"I'm just...ugh, never mind," he let out a frustrated breath. "I just want to know how. How does she know?"

As the question slammed into her, her teeth found their place atop her bottom lip, biting down hard enough to draw blood. "I don't know."

"Well, I've been thinking-"

"-that's a first-"

"-shut the hell up, Laoise," Octavian snapped, the venom thick in his tone. Gone was their typical banter, while harsh, at the end of the day playful. This time, his attitude towards her appeared to be that of genuine annoyance, and she found herself shrinking. As though sensing his mistake, he exhaled a breath, flashing her an apologetic stare, before continuing, "I've been thinking, our worry was Ceres getting onto Brigid's side. Brigid may have eyes everywhere, but on the water, in the middle of nowhere? I doubt it. Unless..."

"Unless she already has a God on her side," she finished for him when he trailed off.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be Ceres, either," he pointed out. "She's the tie between Brigid and the Mayans, which is why that bitch-sorry Logan, mean person, is trying to recruit her. But I wouldn't put it past her to get another God or two on her side, for security's sake."

"It could be any of them. Neptune, maybe? Being the God of water and whatever."

A shudder ran down his spine, visible even from the side of her gaze. "I damn well hope not. The last thing we need is her having access to one of the big three."

She nodded in agreement, deciding there was little else to be said.

It was night when their silence was broken again. Logan was sound asleep, while Laoise, as per usual, was struggling to drift off, tossing and turning on her makeshift bed. While she didn't have a way of telling the time, she knew it must've been past midnight when she felt the boat stutter to a stop.

"What's going on?" She murmured as she sat up, eyes searching the darkness for Octavian.

"I don't know," he sighed, slamming his fist against the steering wheel. "It just...stopped."

"Are we out of gas?" Logan's small voice echoed from behind the pair. Against him, he clutched his teddy bear tight to his chest, eyes flickering back and forth.

"We just filled up this afternoon," Octavian said with the shake of his head. "Maybe something got stuck in the engine."

"Maybe..." Laoise pressed her lips together. "Do we just...sit here? Wait for help in the morning? Or what, do we swim to shore?"

"What, are you afraid of getting wet?" he cocked an eyebrow.

"A bit, actually, considering I only have two other changes of clothes," she sighed, glancing over at her bag, before reaching inside and digging around, with her grip eventually settling on her knife.

"What, are you going to stab me?"

"Maybe," she admitted, and when he rolled his eyes, she continued, "No, I figure we may need protection. Who knows what sort of people are on the shore."

"Like the guy in the bathroom?"

She clicked her tongue. "Exactly."

"Laoise," he inhaled a breath, then exhaled.

Her eyebrows lifted. "Hm?"

"I'm sorry that happened."

Something in her jaw shifted, and suddenly, her neck began to ache again, the same spot where that man had tightened his grip on her, constricting her airway. "Not your fault."

"I know that," he scoffed, though his amusement fell flat. "But I was...I was rude, after it."

"You're always rude," Logan pointed out. "To Lee-Lee you are, anyways."

"He has a point," she snorted as she rose to her feet, clenching her blade, but she intentionally avoided meeting Octavian's eye as she instead focused her attention onto Logan. "Can you swim?"

He nodded, and she grinned, tucking her knife into her pocket.

"Then we're swimming to shore."

"That's unsafe!" Octavian too jumped to his feet, ready to protest.

"What do you suggest we do then? Sit here for hours until someone potentially finds us? Waste precious time, and leave ourselves as sitting ducks for Brigid and her fanclub? We've already established they're after us. Do we really want to make it easier for them?"

For a long moment, he was silent.

"Fine. You're right. Grab everything you can, then, doesn't matter if it gets wet. We go to shore, and find some other boat to swipe. But...be careful," his eyes flickered to Logan as he spoke. "Rivers are dangerous business. You stay right next to me as we swim, okay?"

"Okay," Logan agreed, tucking his teddy bear into his pants. When Octavian raised his eyebrows, he explained without being prompted, "Teddy can't swim, so he has to come with me this way."

"Of course," Octavian nodded, perfectly serious, before moving to swing the backpack that carried their tent over his shoulder. "Now...let's swim."

*

The water was devastatingly cold, despite the blistering heat the days had been providing. Octavian nearly shouted from alarm as the water sunk into his skin, absorbing into every inch of his flesh. Suddenly, he regretted not stripping down before entering the river, as he knew his newly soaked clothes would keep him chilled for hours. While he'd considered it, something about Laoise seeing him in nothing but his boxers had him squirming.

Of course, she had no such problem, and Octavian had to avert his eyes as she stripped into her underthings, tucking her clothes into the waterproof backpack.

"Is everyone okay?" He called out, a few feet in front of his companions. When they both gave their affirmations, he said, "Logan, stay by me, yeah?"

To confirm the boy's safety, he found his hands reaching behind him, grabbing around until he could feel Logan, their hands meeting. Laoise, he would've reached for her too, but she could handle herself. Logan was the wildcard, the child, the boy who needed the most protection.

The shore wasn't too far away from them, but even so, rivers were impossible to navigate. The stillness was an illusion, the depths of which were horrifying to explore.

He held on tight to the boy, afraid that if his grip loosened even the slightest amount, Logan would disappear under the seemingly gentle current. It was difficult, navigating speed while assuring himself that Logan remained, but in the end, it only took minutes to reach the sandy ground of the beach.

Logan was coughing, having evidentially swallowed up some water, relaxing on his back against the sand with the waves still touching his toes, when Octavian reverted his attention back to the water, eyes scanning for Laoise. She was right behind them, wasn't she? The darkness of the night, illuminated only by the light of the boat and the moon and stars in the sky made it damn near impossible to see, but even so, nothing stood out to him.

"Laoise..." he breathed as panic seized in his chest, before shouting her name. "Laoise? Laoise?!"

Nothing. A stillness in the air should have been comforting, the quiet he always craved, but now, he would've given anything he'd ever owned, anything he'd ever loved, in exchange for her to say his name back to him.

"Where is she?" Logan too must have sensed the panic, rising onto his elbows. "Octavian, where is Lee-Lee?"

"Laoise?!" He cried out again, his voice breaking as he did.

The nothingness sent him haywire. The reality of the situation, the knowledge that if she had gone under, there was no way of getting her back out, was lost on him. Logan needing him, not leaving the boy alone, was a foreign concept, when all he could focus on was the girl he loved and loathed so intimately was gone.

Octavian didn't realize he was rushing back into the water until he was knee deep in it, sloshing through the waves in an attempt to find her. He dived in, searching the blackness with his hands, feeling for her everywhere he could find. A hand, a leg, a lock of hair, anything he could get his grip on. The coldness of the water had been an inconvenience at first, but now, all he could imagine was Laoise submerged in it, caught in a current, cold and afraid and running out of air.

A stabbing feeling ran through his heart.

No, no, she could not be gone, she couldn't, she wouldn't, she couldn't have left him, not when-

Only when he knew for certain his oxygen was out did he emerge back to the surface.

The only thing that stopped him from diving back under was Logan, screaming his name. "Octavian, look!"

Following Logan's outstretched hand, his eyes settled upon a figure emerging from the water. Laoise, he nearly cried out with relief, until he realized it was not, in fact, Laoise. Instead, it was a male, tall and lean and mighty, though with their back turned to him, he couldn't make out who it was.

In his arms rested a body, limp and unmoving.

Octavian wasted no time as he swam back to the shore, staggering to his feet the moment he could and rushing over, as the figure laid the body down.

Laoise, her eyes shut, her freckles now as white as the stars in the sky.

She wasn't breathing.

"Cupid," Octavian whipped towards the man who had dragged his daughter out of the shore. For a man whose daughter was losing her life in front of him, he was oddly content, simply observing the frame of Laoise with a stone cold expression. Hatred surged in him, though it did not override the panic. "Cupid, is she okay? Can you save her?"

"You can," was the answer he gave Octavian, and for the first time, he noticed a flicker of emotion spread across the God's face. A wince, as though perhaps, just maybe, his daughter wasn't nothing to him. "I cannot interfere any more with your quest, but...I was able to alter her state of being."

"Alter...what?"

"Only true love's kiss can wake her."

He blinked, so startled he nearly laughed at the words. Instead, what came out was some sort of mixture of a cough and a sob. "What?"

"You heard me."

"That's so...cliche," he let out a shaky breath, eyes flickering between Laoise and Cupid, her horrible, disgusting bastard of a father who he would strange if he could.

"I'm the God of love and lust, what did you expect?" he shrugged, head tilted to the side. "You're wasting time, Octavian. She'll die soon, unless you kiss her."

"But I don't love-"

"There's no use lying to me, boy," Cupid snapped, his patience evidentially waining. "I can see you, your heart, your desires. I know what you crave. Who you crave."

The God was right. There would be no good to come from arguing, Octavian realized with a jolt to his stomach. Laoise was dying, and if this was the only way to prevent it, to admit not only to the world, but to himself, the truth of his devotion to her, he would.

Because a life without Laoise would be like a day without the sun, or a night without the stars. Useless. What good would anything be without her banter, without her spirit, without her? It was far past time he accepted it, that without Laoise Campbell, his world would stop spinning.

His knees met the sand as he fell over on his way towards her, but he paid no mind to the pain that shot up his legs, focusing his attention on scrambling to her.

His heart ached from the speed in which it was pounding - the desire to kiss her was not something new to him. In fact, he'd had the urge for years, and the dreams of it for even longer, but never like this. Never in a life and death situation, never when she was unconscious, unable to reciprocate it. To simply love her wasn't enough, Octavian craved that love in return like a drowning man craved air, despite him being fully aware he would never get it. He didn't deserve it, not from anyone, and especially not from Laoise.

She was in front of him now, too pale and too quiet and too still.

Brushing her wild red hair out of her face, he took a deep breath, gathering every bit of courage he possessed. He said nothing, though every inch of him willed to apologize to her in advance.

Then, his lips grazed hers. Not so much as a second went by before he retracted himself from her, and it was not a second too soon either, as she instantly began coughing.

Laoise's eyes shot open, her mouth following suit as her lungs projected all the water she must have consumed while beneath the waves.

"Lee-Lee!" Logan screamed, rushing over to the pair, but he wasn't quick enough to embrace her. Octavian's arms were around her first, holding her tight as she hacked herself hoarse. She didn't seem to mind it, or if she did, she didn't show it. Instead, she leaned into his grip, shaking under his touch as her coughs finally died down.

"What...what happened?" She managed to croak, eyes flickering between the two boys.

"You..." was all Octavian could say, as tears began to brim in his eyes, and his breath caught in his throat. The realization hit him like a punch in the gut as he held her still, refusing to let go in case she dared brave the river again. Oh Gods, oh Gods, he'd almost lost her.

"You went underwater, but Cupid saved you," Logan explained matter-of-factly, joining the embrace with his own tiny arms, wrapping them around the two.

"My dad was here?" She frowned, glancing around. Octavian did the same, but Cupid was nowhere to be found, likely vanishing into thin air the moment Octavian kissed her.

That fucking bastard.

When no one said anything, Laoise's gaze returned to his, eyes flickering between his own and his arms, which still held her tight against him. When she opened her mouth, he fully expected her to demand he let her go, but instead, she let out a gentle laugh.

"What's so funny?" Octavian frowned.

Another laugh. "I'm just surprised. After everything, that dickhead actually saved me. Twice, now."

"Octavian saved you too, not just Cupid," Logan, who had just released himself from the group hug, pointed out, and both heads pivoted towards him.

"What do you mean?"

"Logan-" Octavian began, but his warning fell upon deaf ears.

"True love's kiss," the boy explained with a shrug. "That's what Cupid said, anyways. That's what really saved you."