Out of Excuses Aphrodite (The Goddess Chronicles Book 8)

by S. E. Babin

  That was for later when we were watching Sam and Dean killing demons and we were barefoot on the couch drinking wine ogling the man candy. Well...me drinking ambrosia. I knew it was safe for Baby Draco because the Olympians created it.

  Artie could have all the wine she wanted as long as she told me what had transpired between her and the manly man behind her.

  Strong hands gripped me by the shoulder. “Oh thank the gods,” Hades whispered and clutched me to him so hard the breath left my chest.

  “I’m fine,” I croaked, my mouth dry.

  He didn’t loosen his grip. “I will kill my father,” he whispered against my hair.

  “He didn’t do it,” I muttered. I paused for a moment. “Did he?”

  His breath ruffled my hair. “Gabriel,” he said with a growl. “His parting shot to us.” Hades sighed. “I haven’t been able to locate Keto.”

  I stiffened in his arms. “Do you think he’s okay?” I winced as I pulled away from him and stared into his silvery eyes.

  Hades’ mouth was grim.

  A broken sob came from me. I hadn’t seen Keto in a long while and, of course, as soon as I did, I went and did something stupid and got him involved in one of my ridiculous schemes. Except this time he was the one with the most to lose.

  I scrambled off the bed, gasping with pain as my head screamed in outrage. Hades gripped my arm.

  “You just took a death blow,” he said stopping me in my tracks.

  “Excuse me?” I said, turning around to gape at him.

  His lips thinned. “The blow from Gabriel was meant to kill you, Abby.”

  I sank down onto the edge of the mattress. My breath came out in a whoosh. “You saved me,” I said after a moment.

  Hades crossed his arms against his chest. “My magic saved you.” He sank down beside me. “He will pay for this.”

  “He knew you would protect me.” I stroked my fingers down his arm, trying to defuse his anger.

  He shook his head once, sharp. “No. He meant to kill you.” His grasped my fingers. “He meant to kill our child.” His voice trailed off in an anguished whisper. “He will pay for this, Aphrodite. Mark my words.”

  Hades stood and left me sitting on the bed, staring after him and wondering exactly how far Hades would take this. And if any of us would be left standing when it was over.

  Chapter 20

  My chiton was in tatters. I looked like a cartoon character who accidentally caught a grenade. Whatever Gabriel had done to me, I knew I was one lucky goddess to be left standing unscathed.

  Baby Draco was currently doing somersaults in my stomach, seemingly just as angry as I was.

  Hades might be willing to take on God, but I thought I could go about it in a different way. And Keto could probably help me with that.

  If he were still alive.

  First order of business?

  Find Keto.

  I sent a burst of magic over myself, switching out my ruined chiton for a pair of jeans and a white cotton blouse. Seconds later I was out the door, only to be stopped by Artie.

  “No,” she said before I could say anything.

  “No what?” I asked in mock outrage.

  She snorted. “Feed the baby first. Then go on a reckless vigilante mission.”

  “Vigilante?” I asked innocently. “I know not what you speak.”

  She grabbed me by the arm and forced me to turn in the direction of the kitchen. “Hades is super pissed,” she said quietly. “Maybe just pretend to do what we ask for once in your life. Once he thinks you’re cooperating with us, maybe he will calm down. He’s very close to going full on Rambo.”

  I didn’t say that if Hades knew me like I thought he might, he knew I would never be very cooperative. Instead I nodded and allowed her to lead me.

  She pushed open the chrome doors and the smell of pizza hit me full in the face. I stepped over to several boxes full of the breaded goodness and stared at Artie in wonder.

  “If Hera saw this she would be apoplectic.”

  Artie grinned. We both knew Hera was a purist when it came to Olympus. If you lived here, you ate food native to the mountain or what Zeus and Hera provided. No magic was allowed to replicate food anywhere else. Heaven help you if Hera ever caught you eating fried chicken. What no one was brave enough to tell her was that she had no idea what she was missing.

  I opened the first box and leaned over to inhale the scent of pepperoni, tomatoes and garlic. Baby Draco lost his mind. I absentmindedly patted my stomach. “You have no idea what’s about to hit you, little guy.”

  I tore into the pizza like it was the zombie apocalypse and it was my last meal. Several minutes later Artie was staring at me in horror and I was sitting next to two empty pizza boxes.

  “I was hungry,” I said sheepishly.

  “Uhhhh,” she responded. “I can see that.”

  “I would apologize, but I’m not really sorry.”

  Artie grinned before grabbing her own slice and taking a huge bite out of it. “These are the things that make me miss Earth. Pizza, perfume that doesn’t always smell like flowers, people who aren’t constantly trying to kill you.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed around a mouthful of pizza. “Third one for me. Not having to watch out for potential murder is always a good way to live.”

  We both sighed. It was sad that this was the world we were living in. “Maybe one day, Artie. Maybe one day we will both be able to walk outside and not be nervous.”

  She reached over and squeezed my arm. “It’s like that for me,” she admitted. “Mostly. I was never as much in the public eye as you were. And now,” she waved a hand down her body, “it will be even more so. Whether we like it or not, I’m going to be human.”

  I blinked away tears. “Is it what you want?”

  A soft, sad smile graced her mouth. “Yes.” She shook her head. “No.” Artie sighed. “It’s more like I want to have the things the humans have. The relationships. The home. The complications. The friends. The awkward dating. But I still want to be able to go where I please in the blink of an eye. To be able to defend myself and my friends when necessary. Those things are hard to give up.”

  I swallowed hard. “I will fix this,” I told her.

  Her eyes crinkled at the sides. They never had before. “You can’t,” she said.

  I stared at her. Blue eyes met violet. “I will.”

  Artie looked away and snorted. “All right. It isn’t like you’ve done the impossible before. But do not make this a priority. You have a baby. A new husband.” She gestured at everything around us. “You are a queen now. Things are different.”

  “They don’t have to be,” I said.

  “Oh, Abs. I adore you and your innocent ways.”

  I rolled my eyes and shoved another bite in my mouth. “Shut up.”

  Artie snagged another piece of pizza. “I will be content. It may take some time, but I have a home to go back to in Asheville. I just hope that we can still maintain what we have.”

  I almost choked on my pizza. “Nothing,” I said, with a ferociousness in my voice I’d never heard before, “nothing can ever stop me from being your best friend.”

  I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t sure she believed me. “This is different from any role you’ve ever stepped in to. It will be different,” she admitted. “It has to be.” Artie paused. “You have to be different, because you now have a target on your bag. A big one. And so does Hades.”

  Speak of the literal devil, Hades stepped into the kitchen and eyed us inhaling pizza. “I see you ladies have managed to find the best food in the house.”

  Artie picked up the box and held it out to him. “From Asheville. The best pizza joint in the city.” Hades reached out and snagged himself a slice.

  He stood ramrod straight, tension in every single line of his body. This wasn’t something I could soothe away with words. It wasn’t something I was sure I could soothe away at all. But I could try, and maybe, just maybe,
I could do it without getting us all killed.

  “Any word on Keto?” I asked.

  Hades gave me a short shake of his head. “Nothing. I’ve had people searching the entire grounds and there isn’t a trace.”

  “Is everyone still in the throne room?” Artie asked

  Hades’ silvery eyes glittered. “I asked them nicely to leave.”

  The pizza in my belly turned to stone. “And by asked them, I assume you killed some of them?”

  One of his eyebrows rose and his hand went over his heart. “You wound me, darling. I killed no one.”

  “Maimed?” I asked.

  My husband gave me a wolfish grin.

  I stared. “At least no one died,” I muttered.

  Artie laughed out loud.

  Chapter 21

  A few hours later and after gorging myself on a ridiculous amount of pepperoni pizza, I donned a dark robe, being careful to conceal my hair, and headed out to see if I could find Keto. It was very possible he was no longer here, but I wasn’t sure where he could go especially after the stunt we’d pulled today. The other part of me wondered if he was okay. God knew what he had done. I wasn’t sure how he knew, but I would get to the bottom of it if it were one of the last things I did.

  I crept carefully through the quiet halls. One of Hades’ last order of business was to remove the majority of Hermes’ (and formerly Zeus’) people. We weren’t sure who we could trust anymore. So right now, the castle was eerily empty. Atlas had disappeared once again, just like he always did, and Artie had slipped away sometime briefly after we decimated the pizza. I hadn’t seen Hermes either. I could only assume he was gathering his things and preparing to get the heck out of here. Hera was also nowhere to be found. Knowing her, she could be staging a coup, but for some reason I genuinely didn’t think she wanted to be here any longer.

  She, like all of us, had a lot on her plate right now.

  I went through the kitchens first because there was a secret door in the back that led down to a grotto and a series of smaller rooms. Zeus was famous for hiding things down here until word got out that was what he was doing. They’d been vacant for years now. I tapped lightly three times on the door and whispered the spell to open them.

  With barely a hiss, the stone door clicked open and I crept inside. The sound of dripping water caught my attention, but I couldn’t hear anything over it. The door shut behind me, trapping me inside. That was the bad thing about the grotto. You could get in, but getting it out required a lot of searching around. There was a door, but it was never in the same place. Zeus was tricky like that and the magic he used to fuel it didn’t seem to be from his own personal stores because the spell was still firmly intact. I would worry about it later. I’d eaten enough food to fuel my body for a week, but Draco was a drain on my energy. Even though I didn’t have to eat, it was fun and it did provide strength. Strength that would be necessary over the next few weeks and months as we prepared for what could be a full scale war, and I popped out a magical kid.

  My new mantra was “My life is joyous, my life is joyous,” even when it wasn’t. If I said it often enough, it would happen, right? I sighed softly. I had joyous things and joyous people, but the events around my life weren’t exactly moments to treasure. Like now as cold water soaked through my boots as I treaded in Zeus’ semi-secret watery lair.

  “Keto?” I called out tentatively. My voice echoed through the chamber.

  No response.

  I crept quietly through the area, opening each door and peeking inside. I didn’t have to step in because the rooms were just that tiny. A small bed, a trunk and a water basin were the only things that could fit in there. I went through all of them, just to make sure, even though I couldn’t sense him in here.

  My shoulders slumped as I stood there. Now I was going to have to search for the door that never stood in one place. “Crap,” I muttered as I stared at the ceiling. Nothing but stone greeted me.

  I started at one side of the wall and carefully crept my fingers along the cold stone searching for something, anything out of place. An hour later I was sitting in the middle of an elevated area of the floor wanting to scream my lungs out. I knew it was here, but unfortunately Zeus wasn’t around to make this easier on me.

  I laid my head on my knees. “Think, Abby. Think.”

  “It’s been awhile since you’ve done that, eh?”

  I jerked my head up at the voice only for the blood to freeze in my veins when I saw who stood there.

  A wolf in the skin of maiden leaned against one of the pillars. A personification of beauty and grace, her black hair tumbled down to her waist and her ruby lips were curved in a rueful smile.

  “Well,” she said and picked up her hand to casually study her nails, “don’t you think you were overdue for this visit?”

  She was dressed in the formal Olympian wear, a long toga that fell to her feet. Upon her head she wore a crown of rose and thorns.

  “Nemesis,” I greeted, my mouth dry with fear.

  She inclined her head and took a few steps toward me. “Aphrodite.”

  I couldn’t help it. The sigh that came from me was long and loud. “I didn’t want it,” I announced. “Nor did I take it by force.”

  Nemesis made her way over to me and sat beside me. “I am aware of this. But you didn’t say no, did you?”

  I choked out a strangled laugh. Of all the ways for things to get worse, the goddess of retribution showing up was not one I expected. Nemesis was quiet, beautiful and lethal. She wasn’t a killer, but when she showed up, you could usually expect things to go very, very wrong for you. Showing up only when she felt there was a wrong to be righted, few could escape her wrath. Not even I, one of the Twelve, would be able to.

  “If you could see inside my heart, you would know the reasons why I did it.”

  Nemesis tossed a raven lock of hair over her shoulder. “Spare me the waxing poetic about the selfless love you possess for your friends. I’m here because you need help.” She offered me the smile of a wolf who knows her prey is cornered. “And I need a favor.”

  Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly, was the only thing I could think.

  Wariness was evident in every line of my body. “What kind of favor?”

  “You have something I want.”

  I quickly ran through the things I might have had and came up empty handed. “I’m not sure I do.”

  “Let me clarify. You have someone I want.”

  I blinked. “I’m not sure I follow. I don’t have anyone.”

  Her bright white teeth gleamed in the dim light of the grotto. “I beg to differ. Atlas is currently bound to you, is he not?”

  Crap. Crap. Double crap.

  “Yes,” I admitted, though I hurriedly told her about the bargain I had to free him.

  “Did you tell him when?” she asked.

  My heart sank to my feet. This was the reason I hated dealing with immortals.

  “No specific dates,” I said and sighed.

  “Good,” her smile was vicious. “Then here’s what I propose.” She leaned over, speaking in earnest tones and with every word she uttered, my bones chilled a little more.

  Chapter 22

  I told Nemesis no. I couldn’t surrender someone I was beginning to consider a friend to someone like her.

  But three hours later, I wondered if Nemesis had done something to alter the room. For the life of me, I could not find my way out. Even using my magic had yielded no clues.

  I stood in stillness for probably the tenth time, shutting out the sound of the water dripping and the chill in the air from all of the stone. I let my magic reach out to creep through the rock looking for anything out of place...anything that had a hint of magic.

  Nothing.

  I cursed under my breath, hoping that Hades might come to find me soon only to realize he probably didn’t realize this place was here. My thoughts drifted back to Nemesis and her offer.

  Whatever Atlas had don
e to her had enraged her to the point of being unreasonable. One thing I knew about Nemesis was her patience. She was akin to a spider waiting patiently on her web and striking when the time was right. For her to approach me and ask for my assistance seemed completely out of character for her.

  Atlas wasn’t an easy guy to read, especially because he was like a wraith. There one minute and gone the next. He stepped in when he needed to assist but was gone in the very next moment.

  So I guess, after experience, I had to ask what exactly was he hiding?

  “Nemesis,” I said after another fruitless hour.

  She appeared almost instantly which told me my suspicions were true.

  “I’m willing to negotiate terms.”

  Her grin made me very, very nervous for Atlas.

  I made it out what felt like hours later. I was physically and mentally exhausted. I’d done my best for Atlas, and there was still some wiggle room, but he was going to have a difficult time dealing with her soon. I’d have to sit down with him and tell him about the events that had transpired.

  But first...I still needed to find Keto.

  Or food. Maybe food first. Then Keto.

  Pregnancy shifted your priorities.

  I crept into the kitchen and raided the leftover pizza. There wasn’t a sound to be heard in the palace. It was odd because in the past, even the middle of the night was bustling.

  The times, they were a changing.

  I was in the middle of my third piece of pizza when the doors opened. Hermes walked in wearing a pair of navy blue sweatpants and an old t-shirt. Even though he was no longer in charge, he still looked like hell.

  “‘I figured I’d find you here,” he said.

  I held up my slice. “Priorities,” I muttered.

  He shook his head and came over to stand beside me. I offered him a bite, begrudgingly, but he declined.

  Smart man.

  “I’m leaving first thing in the morning. I figured it would be best if it was before sunrise. I wanted to find you before then and say my goodbyes.”