by S. L. Stacy
Dr. Mars tilts his head to the side, his forehead creased as though he’s deep in thought. “Yes, I’m pretty sure that’s the gist of the story,” he decides with a smile and a wink. “I may have left out a detail or two, like the serpent telling Eve that eating the forbidden fruit would open her eyes and make her as wise as God. Again, it’s a story of rebellion—of doing what you’re not supposed to do—and a story about lust. In this case, Eve’s lust for knowledge, to know what her God knows.
“The Greek myth also shares this theme of insatiable curiosity and temptation. I’m sure you’re already sick of hearing me prattle on, so I’ll let Pat tell this one. Pat?” Dr. Mars says. He nods at Apate, and she gets up hesitantly, turning to face the auditorium again. Her smug grin is gone. Instead, her incisors dig into her lower lip as her feline green eyes dart from face to face. She balls her hands into fists at her sides.
Clearing her throat, Apate says, “I guess the Greek story really begins with Prometheus, an immortal who loved humans and sometimes served as a mediator between them and his fellow gods. In one instance, he was asked to divide up a sacrificial bull between men—and at this point, they were all men,” she adds with an eye roll, “—and the gods. Prometheus tricked the gods into taking a bag of the bull’s bones while the men got the best cut of meat. Zeus was…pretty pissed. He punished them by withholding the gift of fire, but Prometheus stole fire from Mount Olympus and smuggled it to Earth.
“At this point, Zeus was livid. He tortured Prometheus and cursed him and his descendants. To punish mankind, he had an evil, irresistible gift in mind. He had his son, the craftsman Hephaestus, create the first woman in the image of the goddesses. The Olympians gave Pandora many gifts—everything from beautiful clothes and jewelry to grace, charm and feminine wiles. As a final gift, the gods gave her…” The word catches in Apate’s throat, and she has to clear it again. She shuts her eyes for a moment and takes a deep, calming breath. Reopening them, she continues, “They gave her a jar to take to mankind. Inside the jar, the goddess Nyx had locked away the spirits of evil: deceit, suffering, doom, old age, strife, retribution, blame and violent death.
“You can see where this is going. It’s always a woman’s fault.” Apate recovers her nerve and scowls, giving another roll of her eyes. The snide remark makes me like her for a full two seconds. “Pandora arrived on Earth, her curiosity over the contents of the jar growing and growing until she couldn’t take it anymore and opened it. The spirits escaped, bringing evil, pain and suffering to humankind.” Apate straightens her shoulders, looking pleased with herself. “The end.”
“Thanks again, Pat,” Dr. Mars tells her, and she slips back into her seat. “I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase ‘Pandora’s box’ before. When you ‘open Pandora’s box,’ you do something that seems insignificant, but turns out to have severe and far-reaching consequences.
“Well, that’s enough of story time. Let’s talk about this paper that’s due next week.”
At the end of class, I rush out of the door without so much as a glance at Dr. Mars or Apate, letting the crowd of students filling up the hall absorb me. Up ahead, I glimpse black and gold plaid as a familiar tall, slender figure walks against the current of students. Her glossy brown hair ripples around her face when her hazel eyes flicker to my face. She quickly turns on her heel and starts walking away.
“Anna. Anna!” I shout, stopping in the middle of the hall. I hear a few annoyed grumbles as people skirt around me.
Anna jumps and whirls back around. “Siobhan. Hey!” she calls out, closing the gap between us in a few long strides. “I didn’t see you there!”
“Right,” I mutter. “Going to class?”
“No, actually I was on my way to…see Eric,” she falters, pointing down the hall at the room I just ran out of. “Never mind.” She whips past me and walks up to the double doors, catching one just before it swings completely shut.
“Don’t go in there!” I hiss, coming up beside her. “Let’s go somewhere and talk. Hear me out.” Anna opens her mouth to protest
“That was mean!” Apate’s voice shrieks from inside the auditorium. Anna and I freeze.
Eric’s responding chuckle is cool, amused. “But well-deserved.”
“I’m still paying for that?”
“You double-crossed me—”
“And I’ve more than made up for it! I think you owe me now.”
“You want something, Apate? Out with it.” The sound of Dr. Mars’s thunderous voice reverberates through my chest. I look up and down the hall, but it’s emptied out.
“You know what I want,” Apate insists in a quieter tone, the words quivering slightly. “Don’t make me beg. I’ve done everything you’ve asked me to. Please. Let Dolos go.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I’ll do anything you say. I promise. Just let my brother go. He’s suffering. Just please let him—” The sound of metal slicing through wood chokes off the rest of Apate’s plea.
“What part of you are mine don’t you understand?” Dr. Mars growls. His words are punctuated by the soft, shuddering sobs of Apate biting back tears. “Until I decide your services are no longer required, you, are, mine.”
Apate gives a sharp cry of pain. “I am not yours or anybody else’s. I look out for myself and my brother. Screw you.” Boot heels smack the floor inside, growing louder as they approach the door. Anna releases the handle in panic, and the door closes with a loud click. We stumble away from it and take off for the nearest exit.
Chapter 2
Anna and I burst out into the crisp late morning air.
“You see?” I gasp. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” Gesturing back to the door we just came out of, I enumerate, “He’s violent. Unpredictable. Crazy. You need to stay away from him.”
Hunched over with her hands on her knees, Anna pants, “Oh, like you stayed away from Jasper when everyone told you to?”
“That was different.”
Anna straightens up and crosses her arms. Her eyes narrow to snake-like slits. “Please, enlighten me.”
“It’s more complicated,” I insist, using my hands to smooth back rebel strands of my blonde hair. “Jasper and I have history. You’ve known Eric for barely two weeks—”
“Actually, it’s been a few months. Time passes differently on Eric’s world.”
“Oh. Wow,” I exclaim, shaking my head in bewilderment. “Still, Jasper and I were married.”
“Wait, what? You got married—”
“It was pointless to run away, you know,” a familiar, haughty voice interjects. Anna and I turn to see Apate prowling toward us, the corner of her wine red mouth twitching in amusement. “We knew you were eavesdropping,” she adds.
“With your spidey sense,” I grumble.
Apate giggles, stopping a few feet away from us, but still not far enough away to diffuse the smell of iron and roses rolling off of her. “Psycho, I saw your rocker boyfriend the other night.”
It takes me a second to realize she’s talking to me. “‘Siobhan’ is fine,” I tell her.
“He’s really cute,” she continues as if she hasn’t heard me. “Too bad you couldn’t make things work.”
“Your hand,” Anna blurts, stifling a gag with her own hand. Apate cradles her left hand in her right. The red gash running across it is healing swiftly, but looks like it might have once cut straight through to the other side. I gulp and divert my gaze away from the wound, meeting Apate’s flashing yellowish green eyes.
“It’s just a scratch. Besides, he knows I don’t mind a little pain.” Apate doubles over, shaking with laughter. Anna and I exchange disturbed looks.
When I look back up, Apate has vanished, her laughter fading out on an autumn breeze.
Anna blinks at the spot Apate once occupied.
“Do you think Eric is sleeping with her?” she asks me.
“I think that’s the least of our worries.” I turn to squarely face her. “I have
a break before my next class. Let’s go get some coffee or something and talk.” Anna shrugs and nods reluctantly.
We walk over to the library, get our beverages at the café and sit down at a two-person table by the window. Anna pries the lid off her cup of Earl Grey tea to vent the steam, then digs around for something in her purse. Her hand emerges clutching an amber bottle with an eye dropper cap. She unscrews it and meticulously squeezes two drops of clear liquid into her tea. When she notices me watching her, she thrusts the bottle toward me.
“No…thanks. I take my coffee ambrosia-free,” I tell her. I blow on my coffee and kick back a careful sip.
“Suit yourself. I need it.” She drops the bottle back into her purse. My horror must show on my face, because then she clarifies, “Eric says I need a few more treatments to finish my transition.”
“And being a demigoddess is something you want.” For people with Olympian ancestry—people like me and Anna—taking ambrosia switches on our Olympian genes. With enhanced healing abilities and a vastly improved life expectancy, we’re more resilient than the average human, although we’ll never be quite as all-powerful as the Olympians themselves.
“Yes. Of course.” The black surface of her tea churns like a whirlpool as she viciously stirs it before taking a long drink. We lapse into silence for a few minutes. The sounds of conversation and laughter from the other tables echo around the café.
“Everyone’s talking about…well, you know,” Anna finally says. “About how Genie died. At your sorority’s formal.”
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at.” Although from the way she worded the remark, I think I have a pretty good idea.
“I know how Greek parties can get.”
“That’s interesting, because I’m pretty sure you’ve never been to one.”
“I went to a frat party once!” Anna cries defensively. “Back in freshman year. There were girls dancing half-naked on the tables. The brothers were serving drinks—God knows what they were putting in them.”
“This wasn’t some random fraternity party, Anna,” I snap. “This was our blind date formal—an organized event with a vendor and wristbands and rules. There was a flash flood. Genie’s death was an—was an accident.” My voice cracks on the last word. The small sip of coffee I had burns in my throat, threatening to come back up.
Genie and the other members of Jasper’s fledgling army—including Sam from Sigma Iota, and one of our own sisters, Liz—crashed our Find Your Sister a Mister dance at the Riverfront Bar and Grill. As a Nereid or water nymph, Genie had the power to control water, creating a tidal wave that destroyed the restaurant.
I shiver at the memory of Genie’s body lying on the wet grass. Sleek scales covered her face, chest and stomach, and, instead of legs, she had a long, eel-like tail with forked fins at the end. Her eyes were closed, her body so still and lifeless. Later, I found out she hadn’t fully transitioned into a demigoddess; if she had taken enough ambrosia, she would have survived. Instead, she ended up sacrificing her life.
So Genie’s death wasn’t exactly an accident—but it wasn’t our fault, either. Even so, guilt gnaws at my insides.
“I didn’t mean it wasn’t an accident.” Anna sighs deeply. “I’m offending you.”
“Yeah, you kinda are. I don’t care what other people are saying. What happened wasn’t our fault, and there was nothing we could have done to save her. If she hadn’t—”
“Oh, so it’s her fault? You’re really going to blame the dead girl for her own death?”
“I didn’t mean…” My words turn into a grunt of frustration. “Look, I can explain what happened at the dance. I can tell you everything. But you can’t tell anyone. Swear to me you won’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t.”
“Swear,” I insist.
Anna puts her right hand over her heart. “I swear on Jimmy’s life I won’t tell anyone.”
Leaning back in her seat, Anna takes periodic sips of her tea as I recount everything I found out and everything that happened while she was away. When I finish, she silently stares at her hands in her lap, processing.
“So you and Jasper are Psyche and Eros—like in the story he told us—and you were married in your past life,” she summarizes. “He claimed he had returned for you, but really he came here to brainwash a bunch of fraternity and sorority members to join an army to overthrow Zeus and Hera back on Olympus.” I nod. “His mother, Aphrodite, posed as your house mother and used you to lure Jasper to the sorority house. Your sisters are Nike’s guardians of the walls between our worlds and forced Jasper to return to Olympus.”
I nod again. “And…”
Anna regards me quizzically. “And?”
“You’re forgetting the part about Eric being the god of war and basically behind the whole plot to overthrow Zeus. He’s the enemy,” I continue over her irritated sigh. “You heard him threaten Apate. He’s using her. He was using his own son.”
“I feel for you that Jasper’s gone. I do. But, like you just told me, he did some pretty bad shit while he was here, too.”
“Only because Eric—”
“What, because Eric made him? He didn’t make Jasper do anything he wasn’t capable of or willing to do,” Anna points out. “You’re loving this, having someone to blame other than Jasper. Everything is black and white for you except where he’s concerned.”
“Jasper’s different—”
“Oh, right, how could I forget—”
“There’s something else I should tell you,” I blurt, cutting Anna off. Her mouth snaps closed, and she raises her eyebrows. “It happened the day we were at Starbucks. I haven’t told anyone yet. I got all of the memories back from my past life.”
Anna’s forehead crinkles as she leans further into the table. “How?” she whispers.
“Taking ambrosia makes us stronger. The memories were always there, hidden away. Maybe the ambrosia repaired my synapses or something. Anyway, I remember Psyche’s life—my life—with Eros. And he was different. He was kind and loving. He didn’t lie or manipulate me. I remember being in love with him.
“I know it doesn’t matter now. I’ll never see him again. It just makes me wonder if I could have done something to save him. He’s always had a bit of a dark streak—he is Eric’s son. But there’s more light in him than darkness. At least there used to be.”
“I’m sorry. That must be really hard,” Anna says, absent-mindedly tracing the rim of her cup with a long finger. “And I’m sorry about what I said about your sorority. I didn’t know Genie and the others had attacked your dance. I’m glad you told me all of this. I don’t want it to be like before—I want us to tell each other everything.”
“Anna, I’m just afraid we’re going to wind up on different sides.” With you on the wrong side, I want to add, but I bite back the words.
Anna lets out another exasperated huff of air. “It won’t even matter if—” she starts to say, then squeezes her lips shut. Her hazel eyes widen in panic.
“If what?” I probe. “Come on. What happened to telling each other everything?”
Smiling ironically, Anna finishes, “If the prophecy’s true.”
“Oh, so there’s a prophecy now. You know, I think I finally have this all figured out,” I announce, wagging my pointer finger in the air. “I’ve watched too many syndicated sci-fi shows and supernatural teen dramas on The CW, and I’ve gone insane. I’m actually sitting in an asylum somewhere, thinking this is all real. Like in this one episode of Buffy where—”
Anna cuts me off with a wave of her hand. “I don’t care.”
“You don’t care about Buffy? I’m really starting to question the basis of our friendship,” I warn her playfully. Anna wrinkles her nose at me. “So, what’s the prophecy?”
“I’m not really sure. Eric’s trip wasn’t just for…pleasure,” she explains. “He went back to consult a seer. The last time they spoke, she had given him an answer he didn’t like, and he wanted to know if
she still saw the same future. I didn’t know all of this at first. He’d go out sometimes—said he had some business to take care of. One night I followed him. I heard him ask the seer if her vision had changed. She said ‘no,’ and then he…” Anna shivers at the memory. “I think he killed her. I never heard the exact words of the prophecy, but it’s something about him failing.”
“That’s, um, good to know,” I mumble. I pick up my cup, but it’s empty except for a brown ring staining the sides. “So, you said you were gone for several months. What else did you do while you were on Olympus?”
Anna raises her eyebrows suggestively. I simply nod in understanding.
“It’s really beautiful there,” Anna recalls. “You’ve never seen anything like it. Well, I guess you remember now. This just…” She looks out the window. Even though sunlight glints off the glass—it’s a notably clear, cloudless day in Shadesburg—from Anna’s frown, you’d think she was looking at a field of corpses. “This just can’t compare. I miss it.”
“You can always go back when Eric sweeps in with his army to take over the throne,” I assure her. Her eyes shift to glare at me.
“I love him. I know you think I’m crazy, but I love him. He’s never lied to me—not really. Okay, so he didn’t tell me the Greeks worshipped him as the god of war,” she admits. “But he warned me he feeds off of chaos, bloodshed, and destruction and not to try to change him because I won’t be able to.
“And to be honest, I wouldn’t want to change him. I’ve never met anyone like him. He’s sexy as hell. He’s intelligent, ambitious, spontaneous—and the sex. Oh, my God. The sex.” Her eyes roll so far into the back of her head that for a moment I think she might faint. “He makes me feel like I’m more than just this silly sheltered girl from Laurel who wants to be a music teacher.”
