My phone came alive. I leaped at it and read the text: What are you doing tonight? I’m having a party. It was Emily.
I texted her back, telling her I’d let her know. Finally, around one o’clock, I decided to go shopping with my dad. A few new shirts couldn’t hurt, and maybe an outfit for a future date. Dad and I were headed to the car when I realized I’d actually forgotten my cell phone after obsessing over it all morning. I had left it on the bathroom sink, hoping to hear from you-know-who while I did my makeup.
I ran back up to the apartment, grabbed my phone, and made my way back to the elevator. When it opened, two gorgeous figures almost bumped into me. It was Archer and Lucien in shorts and sneakers only, topless, with their rippling muscles exposed, making it hard for me to focus on their faces. Archer’s cheeks were pink, and he wiped his face with the t-shirt in his hand, although he wasn’t sweaty.
“Hi…hey,” he said, trying to sidestep to let me in.
“Hey,” was all I could say as I entered the elevator.
Lucien squeezed out past me with a small nod.
“Lucien and I just went for a run,” Archer said, fidgeting with the shirt as he stepped out of the elevator. I tried to stare at his face and not his perfectly ripped chest or his washboard stomach. It was actually quite difficult.
“Oh, really?”
“You headed out?” he asked, concerned.
“With my dad, clothes shopping,” I told him.
Then the elevator doors began to close, threatening to cut off our conversation. I pressed the open button. He was doing the same on the other side.
“I…did you still…” he stammered awkwardly.
“Yes,” I told him. “Let me know.”
“Callie,” he said as the elevator doors began to close again. “You really are cruel.” He winked right before the doors shut. My heart leaped into my throat. I was positive about one thing: I would kiss him by the end of the night if he didn’t kiss me first.
Chapter 9Archer
All it took was Callie’s body crashing into mine, and parts of me that had been dormant for centuries came to life. I could hardly resist her any longer, and the thoughts that went with those feelings were too obscene to let myself think about them for too long. I could hardly keep my hands off her or refrain from kissing her. I was addicted. I was acting…too human. Emotions and hormones clouding every rational thought, acting more on impulses than on logical choices—none of this was me. I was beginning to understand this human trait, these human weaknesses, all over again. It had been ages since I’d felt like a mortal.
I tossed and turned all night, thinking of Callie. In between sleeplessness and thoughts of her, I worked on mortals’ love lives, which frustrated me more because I wanted to work on my own instead, damn it. It had to slow down, but part of me begged to speed it up. I even mentally visited Callie once in the night, just to see her sleep, but she was wide awake, unable to get comfortable. The improper thoughts began again, so I left.
Around seven, I couldn’t take lying in bed any longer, and I called Lucien. Even though the sun was already up, I had woken him. Long ago, he had learned to make the sun rise unconsciously, like breathing. I annoyed him until he agreed to go for a run to burn off my energy.
I ran into Callie and, not expecting to see her, acted like an idiot, which Lucien immediately mocked. Sometimes, I wanted to kill him. That is, if I could; we were quite difficult to kill.
“Shut it,” I told him.
“You’ve got it bad. What are you going to do?”
I shrugged. “I could always ask Grandpa.”
“You think he’d do it again?”
“I’ve been dutiful, and I haven’t asked for anything in a long time.”
“He spoils you, really.” Lucien tried to mask his resentment but failed miserably.
“He’d do the same for you. You’re his son after all, Uncle Phoebus,” I mocked him using the part of his name he hated. Officially, he was Phoebus Apollo and my dad’s half-brother. He was always bitter about how Zeus favored my dad, who was the legitimate son, over him.
“You’d shut your mouth if you had any sense left,” he growled at me.
“What? You are my uncle,” I countered.
“Yeah, you know she could die trying to become immortal. Ambrosia is sometimes too strong for mortal blood,” he said. Drinking ambrosia is the only way for demigods to become immortal. However, it doesn’t always work, and when it fails, it is fatal. The ambrosia simply attempts to bring the immortal recessive gene out, making it dominant to override the demigod’s system, making them stop aging and essentially live forever. My grandfather keeps ambrosia under lock and key. Of course, he was the only one who understood the science behind it, since he tested ambrosia on himself first and created our race.
“Callie must be part god. I mean, look at her,” I protested, and it wasn’t merely in reference to her appearance. This immortal recessive gene had to explain the powers Callie had over me. “Maybe she’s one of yours,” I joked to Lucien.
“Ha, ha. She’s not. Maybe she’s one of yours,” he shot back.
I gave him a look of disgust. “I’ve only ever had one child.”
He examined me, most likely trying to ferret out a lie. No matter how many times he asked, he still couldn’t believe it. Unlike my mother, I thrived off love. It made me stronger and made me feel complete. Lust never came to me until I was…in love. That meant I had to be in love with Callie. It had happened so fast, I hadn’t recognized it.
“Aroha?” he shot out then.
Quickly, thoughts of love went to disgust. I’d have to sort out my feelings later.
“Technically, she could be your sister.” Lucien was grinning as I unlocked my door.
I couldn’t help but cringe. “You are really enjoying this aren’t you?”
“You have no idea.” He laughed.
When we entered the apartment, I heard a female voice and shuddered. Had Aroha returned already? I was counting on Dad to be more obstinate, hateful, to hold a long grudge. She was going to kill me if Callie wasn’t in love with Vinnie, but I was beyond obeying anyone at this point about Callie. Even Zeus himself couldn’t tear me from her.
Another female voice answered the first, then a third. It wasn’t Aroha, but it was much worse. I looked at Lucien in horror. He grinned smugly and said, “You can’t ignore them forever.” He really enjoyed my misfortunes, the ass.
“Oooo!” a high-pitched squeal greeted me as I walked into the living room, which was brightly lit with the sun shining through the full wall of windows.
“Aglaea, Euphrosyne, Thalia. To what do I owe this pleasure?” I feigned a pleasantly surprised tone as three beauties rushed up to me. They were alike, except one was blonde, one brunette, and one a redhead. I grew nervous at the thought of the past clashing with the present. How could I hide the Charities from Callie? My old life was trying to integrate itself into my new life, and it was too dangerous for Callie to get mixed up in it all.
I glanced behind me and realized Lucien, the snake, was hiding. The only possible place was wedged between the wall and the still wide-open door.
“Oh, we couldn’t stay away from you much longer,” the blonde Thalia said in a blissful tone.
“We needed to see you. You always fill us with delight,” redheaded Euphrosyne protested.
“You don’t need me for that. You always feel ecstatic. It’s your job.” I sighed. “Look, I thought we all agreed to keep our separate ways for the time being.”
“I told you he’d be mad,” Aglaea, the beautiful brunette, scoffed, picking at her vermilion nails.
“I’m not mad. It’s just not good timing.” I tried to be kind. These girls were each a Charis, or together, the Charities, the goddesses of charm, beauty, and happiness, instilling these attributes into humans. The girls had been given to us to be attendants and an entourage of sorts for assistance and companionship. There were a few more in our old retinue, but a fallou
t many years ago broke up the group, and the other three rarely spoke to us, or more likely, they were afraid of my mother and stayed away.
“Oh, Archer, please don’t send us away,” Aglaea whined, trying to wrap her arms around me. I pushed her away gently, which would be almost impossible for a mortal to do since Aglaea was the embodiment of beauty, so strikingly beautiful that she drew most beings in. Grandpa originally wanted me to marry Aglaea, but I could never resign myself to be interested, despite her beauty, nor was she truly interested in me that way.
“Gimme a minute. I need a shower,” I protested. I needed to buy myself time to think of an excuse to send them away.
“I’ll wash you!” Euphrosyne boisterously came over to me. I had to remove her hands from my chest.
“Atlas’s burden, you can’t stay here. There’s hardly room. Aroha will be back soon.” I tried to intimidate them with the thought of Ma. The girls were always afraid to upset her, because she was so tenacious and held long grudges.
“Let us stay until then. We’ll play high school too,” Thalia suggested.
Lucien, who watched smugly from his hiding spot, ignored my imploring stare. He was such an ass sometimes.
“Lucien, don’t be so shy. Come greet our guests,” I said. “More importantly, close the door so we’re not overheard.”
Lucien pushed the door, slamming it closed with little effort, as he gave me a death-stare and a smirk that promised he’d retaliate someday. The girls attacked him with hugs, squeals, and kisses.
“I’m getting a shower. Have fun,” I taunted Lucien. Then I hurried into my bathroom, shutting out the noise, and locked the door for good measure. I took a long shower to digest the fact I had to deal with part of our love entourage.
When I came back, Lucien had ironed everything out. They were to be my visiting cousins. Lucien would take them around the city while I was with Callie, and we’d all meet up at Emily’s party. I was nervous they’d scare Callie away with their silly and overbearing natures or, worse, expose us for what we were. They weren’t as conditioned to mortalling as we were.
We caught up. They wanted to know a lot about Callie and me, since I never seriously dated. I played it off as just a mortal fling, and thankfully, Lucien didn’t object. He knew me well enough that he could tell I was serious about her. I felt protective of Callie, that the girls were prying for info to give Zeus. I shifted subjects by asking about the rest of the family, and we were bombarded by useless gossip from Fiji. Only once did they mention Ma being there—they left the day she arrived. That timing was strange, like the Charities had been sent to babysit me. When Lucien started asking about his estranged sons, I escaped to the bathroom.
There was a knock at the front door. I hesitated, hoping Lucien would answer the door, but I heard the knock repeated. I washed and dried my hands at immortal speed and came out.
“I was just looking for Archer,” I heard a familiar voice say.
“He’s indisposed,” Euphrosyne insinuated, giggling.
“Am not!” I scolded. I’d almost shouted out the Charis’s name in fear Callie would take that comment the wrong way. I had to watch myself before I became the one who would expose my own immortality.
Euphrosyne turned, glaring at me, twirling her red tresses as she sauntered away from the door.
“Callie.” I went to the door. The old and new collided, but Callie still seemed ignorant to who these silly girls were. Her ignorance would be the only thing that could save her from my kind.
“Lucien, big boy, let me in!” Thalia shouted, banging on Ma’s bathroom door.
The water was running, so Lucien must’ve escaped to shower once he’d heard about his kids. I hoped it wasn’t bad news. Thalia tried the doorknob, probably trying to get a glimpse of him in the shower. Knowing Lucien, he’d welcome her in. I slipped out and closed the door behind me, embarrassed. I didn’t want Callie to be involved with this side of my life. The Charities were the most ridiculous girls in existence, despite all their charms. Callie’s eyes were calculating, judgmental, and hurt. It was obvious where her mind was wandering. She was instantly jumping on the jealousy bandwagon.
“Sorry about that,” I told her. “I was in the bathroom.” Gods, I was embarrassed admitting that to her. “My cousins are visiting, and they’re a bit…strange,” I said for lack of a better word.
“She’s your cousin?” Callie asked, her brow raised, insinuating she didn’t believe me.
“Yes. I must prepare you. There are three of them, and they’re the biggest pains ever.” I tried to joke with her, but Callie didn’t even smile. Instead, she crossed her arms in dissatisfaction. She didn’t believe me. And she shouldn’t because it was a lie. I wasn’t at all related to them. The Charities were the daughters of Eurynome, a Titan-descended sea nymph, and a mortal man, and the triplets had been made immortal by Zeus later. But they might as well have been my cousins because that was the kind of love I had for them.
“Callie.” I took her hand and forced it out of her defensive stance.
She didn’t object but was still hesitant.
“Callie, they came into town unannounced, and poor Lucien’s going to take them sightseeing so our day isn’t ruined, but would you object to meeting up with them at Emily’s party?”
“Oh, no, that’s fine. If you need to hang out with your cousins…”
“No, I need to hang out with you,” I said. This made her finally smile. “I was just about to call you. Is everything all right?”
“Yes. I…” She turned red. “Never mind.”
“No, what?”
Callie stared down at her feet. “The moment’s gone.”
“What moment?” Why was she being so vague, toying with me? What had my idiotic fellow immortals ruined?
“Oh, Archer?” The door popped open a crack.
I withheld my urge to groan.
“Can we meet her?” Aglaea asked.
“Lucien says she’s your girlfriend.” Thalia pulled the door open to further inspect Callie. I guess she’d successfully gotten into the bathroom to annoy Lucien.
I peered at Callie, embarrassed as all Hades, and then to the girls, while Euphrosyne reappeared as well. “Callie, these are my cousins...” What names could I call them without Callie recognizing them from the myths her father had programmed into her brain? I hoped Lucien had warned them.
“Thalia.” She nodded to Callie.
My heart skipped a beat. It was a common enough name, but the others… I shot the other two a significant act-human glare, but they were staring at Callie.
“Belle,” Aglaea said.
“Ada,” Euphrosyne added.
Of course, symbolic names, like my own. We gods were suckers for irony.
“Girls, this is Callie, my girlfriend.” The last words were said with pleasure. After all, I hadn’t said it first, technically, so she wasn’t bound to me. Callie’s hand tightened on mine.
“Aww!” The girls giggled happily with doe eyes, treating us like a bunch of cute bumbling puppies to fuss over.
“Nice to meet you,” Callie squeezed out uncomfortably.
“She’s so pretty,” Euphrosyne said to Aglaea, and the latter was smug as if she were the one responsible for bestowing Callie with so much beauty. It must have been her because Ma sure hadn’t.
“And seems so sweet,” Thalia added.
“Can you stop talking about her like she isn’t here?” I was mortified. They had no clue how to act normal in front of mortals. I led her away from my apartment, away from the annoying and immature Charities, whom I always tried to get as far away from as I could. “I told you they’re pains.” I pulled her closer as we walked, draping my arm around her shoulder.
“They’re lively creatures.” She was exactly right. “So, you’re my boyfriend?” Callie asked, smiling.
“Well, if you’re my girlfriend, that’s usually how it works, right?”
“You’re a snake.” She laughed at how craftily I’d as
ked her out without actually asking. I’d have to thank Lucien for his big mouth later.
“What moment was lost?” I remembered.
Callie glanced over her shoulder to see if we were alone or if my “cousins” were still watching. We turned the corner, and she stopped, pushing me gently against the wall and leaning her body against mine. Indeed, she was torturously cruel. I was unsure if I could resist her for much longer, especially if she wanted to be this close. Callie hesitated a moment, then went on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around my neck, and pulled me down toward her. Then she kissed me. I froze, unsure if I could kiss her back yet. Then she kissed me again, harder, and pulled away to gaze at me. Surely, that qualified as a first kiss, and if it didn’t, I didn’t care anymore.
“Now that that’s out of the way,” she whispered.
It felt like someone had snapped the chains of restraint I had imprisoned myself in. I pulled her to me and kissed her with a pent-up passion. I kissed her again and again, not wanting—unable—to stop.
The elevator signaled its approach with a bing, so I tore my lips away from hers, realizing someone would interrupt us in just a moment. I held her hand and led her down the hall, unable to take my eyes off her. She was beauty itself, more beautiful to me than Aglaea. I was no longer in danger of falling in love, but instead, I was done for. What I hadn’t wanted to admit earlier was coming back: I loved her. I had no idea what the future would hold for her or for me, but I never wanted to let go of her soft, warm hand or break my gaze from her dark mahogany eyes.
Once we were in her apartment, I pulled her to me again and kissed her, compensating for each urge and wish to do so since I had first beheld her.
“My dad,” she breathed between kisses.
“Sorry,” I told her, kissing her forehead and letting her go.
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