Nicole Bailey

he pretends
that he is safe for me to love,
that his hands are gentle,
that his fingerprints won’t be
seared into the notches of my spine

knows this, he does.
And he still asks me to love him,
to face the flame.
Find me in the ashes.”

“Some of us enjoy sex.”

“Are you seriously going to tell me you don’t even know the gender of who you slept with last night?”

You know why it all blurs together? Because it means nothing. Because it doesn’t satisfy you. You can drink and party and sleep around all you want, and it will always leave you feeling empty inside. What you need is a real connection and a real purpose in your life.”

If only I could be so lucky

“You’re a god, Apollo. It’s what you were born for.”

Which is why he’d never do it. He will threaten not you but those that you love.” He swallowed. “Learn from my mistakes, and do his bidding before you live an eternity with regrets.”

I liked walking but not towards Olympus.

He turned, backhanding me. My jaw cracked, blood blooming in my mouth, which flooded with the tangy bite of copper.
“You may speak”—he gritted through his teeth—“when I give you permission and not before. Do you understand me?”