“Best. Day. Ever,” Darling growled, chuckling excitedly as he slammed the door shut behind me and ushered me into the darkened corridor that led deeper into their shop. “Get undressed quickly. I hope you’re hydrated.”
I blinked in confusion. Then I mentally replayed my earlier demand and instantly let out a frustrated groan. I skidded to a halt, slapping away their grabby hands. “No! I’m not here for sex!” I snapped, rounding on them.
Darling eyed my robe—and what he envisioned beneath—with a crestfallen look. “Could have fooled me,” he muttered, pinching the silk fabric with an annoyed sound.
I swatted his hand away. “Focus! Tell me why you made shoes for Legion. Tell me about his pals.”
Dear’s face paled and she shushed me loudly. “We sell to anyone, and we weren’t given much choice.”
Darling looked even more annoyed. “You interrupted us for him—and dressed like that?” he snapped, sounding personally offended. “I’d sell to the Devil himself for the right price,” he said haughtily.
“You are a cruel woman, Callie Penrose,” Dear agreed, playing with my hair fondly. Sadly.
I slapped her hand away. “You two really need to get your priorities straight. This is my city. Of course I’m here for the demon invasion. Not everything is an opening scene for an adult film.”
They stared at me, looking utterly ridiculous. “Well, that was just rude,” Darling grumbled.
Dear cocked her head, the helmet slipping to the side. She muttered an echoing curse from within and tugged it off. She flung it behind her without even a glance. “Do you have any idea what you interrupted?”
“I’d rather not know the details, so how about you tell me about the demons.”
She stared at me suspiciously, even sniffing at the air. “Something is different about you, White Rose…”
Darling assessed my face curiously. Then his eyes widened, and he took a step back, eyeing my silk robe with a wicked grin. He began to slow clap, flicking his head to the side so the hanging tie flipped over his shoulder and out of his face. “I don’t know what the man did to you, but he did it well.”
“Someone had a spectacular morning,” Dear mused with a devilish grin.
“Your aura is literally glowing, child,” Darling agreed. “Brava.”
“Was it that Temple boy, or have you already gotten that out of your system?”
I scowled at the pair of them, realizing they could somehow read the effects of my experience earlier. The unexpected mention of Nate made my face pale—which they took for proof of their accusation, of course. “It was a woman, and it wasn’t sex. She was fixing my chakras.”
Darling rolled her eyes, pinching my silk robe with a leering smile. “Dear used that line on me recently, as well. I had no complaints.”
He smugly polished his knuckles on his sweaty chest. “Any port in a storm. Like that evening in Buenos Aires with the pirates—”
She swatted at him, annoyed. “I want to hear about her lotus blossom, not mine.”
I took a calming breath. “I forgot how much I missed you two,” I said, deadpan.
“You could show us,” Darling suggested. And for some inexplicable reason, he was holding a yellow rubber duckie in his hand—I don’t know how and didn’t want to learn from where. He squeaked it with a mischievous grin. “Best two out of three?”
I stared at the squeaking, yellow bath toy, knowing he meant something inappropriate, but I literally couldn’t think of a single thing to say, let alone imagine any possible bedroom scenario. Best two out of three? What the hell did that mean? If that made me a prude, thank God.
“I’m going to pretend that didn’t happen, and I want you to know that I will never be able to look at a yellow rubber duckie again. Period. Thanks for that.”
“You are welcome,” he said, actually taking it as a compliment.
“I don’t have time for games. I just want answers. Then you two can get back to playing Spartacus.”
“They came, they hid, and one of them came to our shop, threatening to burn the place down if we didn’t fulfill his order,” Dear said, glancing over my shoulder distractedly. “No, we don’t know where they are, and we don’t want to know. Just like we would tell anyone else if they came asking about you,” she said, adamantly. “Now, go.”
I sighed, promising myself that I would come back to burn their shop to the ground if they were lying. I hadn’t risked my dignity standing outside their door like this only to be lied to so they could get their rocks off. “Great. It’s been a pleasure.”
“No. Alfred would have been a pleasure,” Darling said, squeaking the rubber duckie again.
I rolled my eyes. Alfred? He’d named the creepy thing? What had he meant by best two out of three? I squashed the thought, stubbornly. I didn’t need to know. Alfred was the gateway sex toy.
I was about to turn away when another question came to mind. “Why is Phix so scared of you.”
They froze as if I’d stabbed them in the hearts. “She was scared? Of us?” Darling asked, softly.
Dear looked heartbroken. “That…doesn’t make any sense. We adore Phix. I would risk my life for her.”
And for the first time, she sounded entirely truthful. In fact, she looked downright devastated.
I nodded uneasily, realizing that I should have kept the question to myself, but knowing it was too late to take it back. “She was hurt during the siege on Kansas City before I took over the Sanguine Council. I suggested taking her to you and she freaked out. I’ve never seen her so scared before.”
Silence stretched between us. “Did she put you up to this?” Darling finally asked, smiling strangely—as if he had caught me in a prank.
I shook my head, unable to pick up anything but genuine confusion on their faces. There was no middleman to have given me wrong information because Phix had said it directly to me.
So…
What could have made the Sphinx fear Darling and Dear…if it hadn’t been them who incited the fear?
Ironically, I faced a riddle—not from the Sphinx, but affecting the Sphinx. As if I didn’t already have enough crap to deal with. At least I knew she was currently safe at the training camp with Death and Grimm.
“I’m not asking this on her behalf. She’d probably gut me for bringing it up, but I want to know what’s really going on here. And why you left Kansas City before the barrier went up—when I heard it was impossible for you to do so.”
They shared a long look, discussing their answer internally. “Who told you this? About us being trapped here.” Darling’s voice was no longer playful. In fact, it was downright chilling.
“I heard it from someone else. Anubis told a friend of mine who told me.”
Darling abruptly burst out laughing, his aura of danger evaporating like smoke. “Oh, you’re speaking about when we ran into the Temple boy in his lover’s bar,” he said dismissively. “Misunderstanding. Don’t worry yourself over Anubis. He won’t matter much longer.”
I stared at him, my mouth hanging open, and feeling quite puzzled—detached, even—as if I were having an out of body experience. Darling took a step back from me, shooting a wary look at his wife.
Dear looked concerned. I watched her lips move, silently repeating Darling’s statement—as if trying to decipher the cause behind my reaction. “You look pale, White Rose. Would you care for some water?”
I shook my head, numbly. I did need water, according to Aala’s post chakra surgery recommendations, but I wasn’t about to put anything from Darling and Dear in my mouth.
In any way, shape, form, or clever implication, thank you very much.
“The Temple boy’s lover?” I asked softly. I’d heard about her—a Valkyrie named Kára. I’d even drunk Gateway’d to her bar in St. Louis one night, but I hadn’t summed up the courage to actually enter, realizing that it would have only made me look crazy.
But…it wasn’t jealousy that made me feel like an abstract observer to the cu
rrent moment.
It was that I did not feel any jealousy. I did not feel anything at all.
I’d heard Darling’s words, told myself that I was supposed to be jealous, and…
I had felt a strange popping sensation in my shoulder blades, of all things—tension, sloughing away.
And I realized that Darling had said something else about Temple. He’d asked if I had gotten that out of my system already, or something along those lines. He’d said it with casual certainty—like he already knew the future.
He was licking his lips anxiously. “Slip of the tongue. You know how I like that, right, Callie?” he asked with a nervous laugh that cut short too soon. Darling didn’t mess up dirty one-liners. Ever. Whatever he saw in my face or heard in my tone…I’d scared the living shit out of him.
I slowly shook my head. “No. It was not. What did you mean by it, Darling?” I asked, calmly, taking a step closer and staring him in the eyes. “And that other thing about getting him out of my system?”
He looked as if he’d seen a ghost, unable to respond. Dear looked suddenly anxious, reaching out to rub my upper arm affectionately. “He didn’t mean anything, Callie. Just teasing you like usual. But speaking of the Temple boy, how was he in bed?” She asked—again, sounding too forced.
I slowly lowered my gaze to look down at her hand touching my arm. She yanked it back with a startled sound. I opened my mouth to answer her pointless question with the truth.
“Leave us,” a calm, authoritative, woman’s voice purred from behind me.
I spun to see a figure saunter out of the shadows at the end of the hall. She moved with a confident sway to her hips—a motion that would have looked forced and unnatural from anyone other than her. She was breathlessly stunning with long dark hair, and she wore a purple silk robe that looked more suitable for pleasure than decency—the kind that had only been designed to barely cover the lingerie worn beneath.
“Listen, lady. Go back in the other room and wait. They will join you in just a moment, and I’ll make sure to tell them to give you a nice tip.”
The woman smirked wryly. “Oh, he already…tipped me.”
I felt my cheeks heat up at her smoky tone, and inflamed further by her suggestive comment. She made no move to leave. “Well, the first part still stands. Go wait in the other room. We’re busy,” I said.
“Is that so?” she asked, looking as if she was struggling not to burst out laughing. “I like to get busy.”
I arched an eyebrow at her complete lack of shame. “Have some dignity, woman—”
“I am Aphrodite, child,” she interrupted smoothly. “And I heard you mention a very important name.” Her eyes seemed to glisten with golden light for a fraction of a second. “Nate Temple.”
24
I froze upon hearing his name, suddenly seeing her in a very different light. It’s also when I noticed that Darling and Dear were quiet. They watched the goddess of sex in complete, adoring silence. Aphrodite had bewitched them. That was why they’d looked so frantic when they answered the door. They were strung out.
The weirdest part was that I didn’t think it had anything to do with her powers. Because Darling and Dear were mysteriously powerful in their own right. They might also be gods. Perhaps they were just overjoyed to finally play with someone who qualified to perform on their level in the Sexual Olympics.
I studied the goddess warily. I could feel the alluring pull of her aura, so soft but unrelenting, like an underwater current. A whisper of freshly baked brownies in the air. I fought it, pursing my lips defiantly. Aphrodite assessed me with a growing smile, nodding appreciatively.
“Leave us,” she told Darling and Dear in a firm tone. “We will pick back up where we left off with Alfred once I am finished with Miss Penrose. Best three out of five, this time,” she added in a competitive growl.
The yellow rubber duckie squeaked twice in response. My grim glare shattered, and I burst out laughing. Some twisted part of me really wanted to discover Alfred’s purpose. I heard a door open and close from somewhere down the hallway, and then it was just me and Aphrodite.
She clasped her hands before her, smiling politely. We stood that way for almost a minute before I began to grow curious. If she had meant me harm, she would have tried by now. She also could have mocked me, taunted me, shown me disdain, or threatened me. Instead, she looked…well, slightly nervous, actually.
Hesitant. And I could tell it wasn’t an act. The commanding air she’d shown Darling and Dear was gone.
“How do you know my name?” I asked.
“Everyone knows your name,” she said simply. “The White Rose. Dracula. And your long white hair is rather distinguishable—and quite fetching,” she added with a grin. “Reputation is a powerful thing.”
I grunted, letting my anger fade. “Reputations can do more harm than help.” I wouldn’t be cruel or rude, but I would be on my toes. I could be clever without being confrontational.
She nodded her agreement, and then motioned for me to follow her through a door into one of the shop’s many sitting rooms. She went in first, so I followed. I entered to find two loveseats facing a crackling fireplace. A leather ottoman filled the space between them, doubling as a coffee table. She stood behind the far loveseat, as if to reassure me that a barrier stood between us. By the look on her face, she might have been more nervous of me than the other way around.
“Do you trust me?” she asked, dry washing her hands in a nervous gesture. It wasn’t feigned.
I considered the question. “I met you two minutes ago. I know you like competitive games involving kinky rubber ducks.” I glanced at her robe, ignoring her sudden grin. “And you like the color purple. You may or may not enjoy threesomes,” I said, indicating Darling and Dear’s departure. “That’s all I know about you, lady,” I said, choosing my words very carefully.
She was still stifling her laughter, obviously wanting to maintain a serious, more formal tone. “Is that all you know about me—Aphrodite?” she asked meaningfully, holding her arms wide to show off her body.
I considered the question for about a minute. “That is all I know about you.”
She studied me thoughtfully, looking intrigued. “How interesting. Explain.”
I shrugged. “Any story I might have heard about the goddess, Aphrodite, is just conjecture and fable. I don’t know any of that to be true. What I know is what I have seen, firsthand.”
I had heard many stories about Aphrodite, and I knew how detrimental it was to rely on rumors or stories written by other people. But one thing I had read about Aphrodite was that she wasn’t just the Goddess of Sex—she was the Goddess of Love.
Real love.
She valued family, affection, and all facets of love—not just the minimum-wage three minutes of sexual bliss she was so often celebrated for. And Aala had told me love was powerful healing magic.
Aphrodite regarded me with an amused smile, propping her chin between her thumb and the knuckles of her index finger. “Clever, clever. The question still stands. Do you trust me?”
I hesitated, recalling Aala’s parting comment about trust. “I don’t distrust you.” She arched an eyebrow and gave me a flat look. I decided to take Aala’s advice and see where it led me. I took a deep breath and finally nodded, not bothering to hide my own smile. “Yes.”
Aphrodite lowered her hand and beamed happily. “Thank you.” Her eyes seemed to glint with golden light again, but only for a moment. She gestured at the ottoman.
I looked down to see she was pointing at a box with a purple ribbon. “What is this?” I asked warily.
“A gift.”
I stared down at it. I was trying to trust her. I really was. But how did she have a gift for me when I’d only decided to come here in the last half-hour? Secondly, why did she want to give me a gift at all?
“Open it,” she murmured, encouragingly.
I tugged at the ribbon and lifted off the lid of the white box, feeling a twinge of e
xcitement to receive a gift from the goddess of sex. Unless it was Alfred 2.0. Then I was leaving. Period. I’d take Alfred with me, but only to see what all the fuss was about.
Aphrodite had taken a seat in the chair and had lit a clove cigarette. She gestured at the box, leaving a trail of dark blue smoke, seeming impatiently eager for me to see the contents.
I slowly turned back to see a folded set of white clothes inside the box. I pulled them out and shook them. I gasped as they unfurled to reveal a white outfit that was almost identical to my shredded ninja garb, but these felt much lighter. Almost like lace. I quickly checked to make sure they weren’t lace—a lingerie version of my ninja gear. But they weren’t. The fabric was thick and tough, but it also felt slightly elastic—it simply had no weight. I dragged a fingernail across it and grunted. It felt as tough as metal.
“More resilient and even stain-proof. It’s almost as strong as Kevlar, but as light as the faintest of lace because they were woven from moonbeams and starlight. If they become damaged, leave them out at night during a full moon and they will be repaired by morning. Given your new residence at Castle Dracula, I thought this an appropriate design requirement” she said with a wink. Aphrodite’s voice hung in the room as thick as the pungent smoke. “Put them on. I’m certain they will fit—perfectly.”
I dropped them on the ottoman and quickly slid out of my boots. Then I unclipped my weapons belt and untied the sash around my robe. Without a flicker of hesitation, I let my robe fall to the ground. I’d spent enough time in the nude this morning to make me a pro. Or maybe Aphrodite’s very presence served to lower inhibitions. Either way, I began tugging on the pants she had gifted me, and grinned as they slipped on as light as silk and just as easily. But once donned, they suddenly seemed to constrict, hugging me like yoga pants. As I stretched out my leg, I noticed they didn’t constrain me at all, seeming to stretch with my movement. I flung on the coat, noticing the same qualities, and hurriedly buttoned it up. I twisted and tested my movements, somehow feeling like I was still naked.
Anghellic: Feathers and Fire Book 8 Page 14
