by C. Gockel
Skye quickly typed in Litochoro, bringing up the town and locating the spot she was in. The photos must have been taken in the height of summer because the pretty seafront looked considerably busier than it was now. Zooming out and scanning the area, Skye searched for any clues as to the whereabouts of the gods’ palace. There were no buildings that looked remotely like the marble monolith Coop had taken her to, but she did find a small road leading away from the town and winding through the surrounding forest. Previous visitors had taken photos of different spots but the majority of them were of trees with varying degrees of sunlight filtering through their leaves or shots of the mountain itself.
Frustrated, she ran a hand through her hair. Maybe she could find the road that led through the trees and follow it in the hope of seeing something. It seemed like a stab in the dark. She frowned. According to the satellite imagery, there was a waterfall called Agios Dionisis, which looked pretty; she could aim for it. The guy who’d grabbed her arm had been babbling about water. What was it he’d said? They have enough water for tea? Whatever it was, it hadn’t made much sense. Then her eyes widened. Coop had quoted Yeats’ description of a waterfall before they’d left for Olympus.
‘“The water and the wild”,’ she whispered softly to herself, springing up.
The waterfall had to be involved; it was too much of a coincidence otherwise. Spurred on, she looked at the map and estimated it would take her little more than a couple of hours to reach it. If it didn’t work out, she’d have more than enough time to get back to the town before dark and get a room again for another night. But it would work out. It had to.
Skye arrived at the waterfall faster than she had thought she would. The winter chill made her move quickly and it was an easy trek to the well-signposted beauty spot. The roar of water, swollen as it was from the previous night’s storm, reached her ears long before she caught sight of the water itself, gushing down into a sharp ravine etched on either side with slate-grey rock.
She peered over the edge. The place seemed deserted. It had been too much to hope that she’d reach the water’s edge and, all of a sudden, the glory of Olympus would reveal itself to her. That didn’t prevent her feeling disappointed, though. Sighing audibly, she picked her way down to the pool at the bottom. After coming all this way, it would be churlish to not see it properly.
Once she reached it, she gasped in awe. The pool was a stunning limpid green colour, and the waterfall was truly astounding. Kneeling down, she trailed her fingers in the water and drank in the peace. Mist was sweeping in down from the high sides of the tree-lined gorge. It was truly magical.
Skye considered her options. She could travel out from the waterfall in concentric circles. Then at least she’d know for certain that the palace was nowhere in the vicinity. She wasn’t leaving until she’d found the damned place and spoken to Coop; she wasn’t about to give up on what felt like her one true shot at happiness without a fight.
She glanced up at the sky. It wouldn’t be long before it started to get dark; considering how close she’d come to dying of hypothermia the night before … it would probably be wise to head back to Litochoro and try again tomorrow.
With that thought in mind, she stood up – and almost jumped a foot in the air when she registered the two figures staring silently at her. How had they clambered down to the pool without making a sound? Skye blinked rapidly several times then took a step towards them.
‘Hello.’
Standing by the water’s edge hand in hand, they stared at her. Neither seemed to be wearing much clothing. The woman was draped in green, but her arms and most of her legs were bare. The man, who was what could only be described as classically beautiful, with alabaster skin, high sculpted cheekbones and dark hair, was wearing an artfully draped scarlet sheet. For a moment, Skye wondered if she’d interrupted a lovers’ interlude; maybe they’d been swimming in the pool when she came along. That was ridiculous though. The temperature had to be close to freezing.
Without a word, the man let go of his girlfriend’s hand and gracefully moved towards the water. The girl panicked, attempting to recapture his palm, but he brushed her off. She looked so hurt at his dismissive action that Skye felt sorry for her. Her boyfriend was clearly an arse.
Trying again, Skye offered the girl a small smile. ‘I’m Skye. Are you from around here?’
The girl blinked slowly. ‘Around here?’
Skye nodded. ‘Yes. I’m actually not here for the waterfall. I was looking for Olympus.’ She laughed slightly nervously. ‘Not the mountain. The, er, the palace.’
Smiling back at her, the girl replied. ‘The, er, the palace.’
Heat flooded Skye’s cheeks. Was she being made fun of? She glanced at the man, who seemed to be kneeling down over the water’s edge and staring intently into it. What he was looking at, she had no idea. Feeling like an idiot, she called over to him. ‘Do you know where Olympus is?’
He ignored her. Skye’s chest was getting tight. She looked back at the girl who was watching her with an expression of extraordinary sadness.
‘Olympus is?’ she said softly.
Something in Skye snapped. ‘There’s no need to be bloody rude! Since arriving here, I’ve almost been blown away by a thunderstorm, died from hypothermia, been laughed at by an old woman, attacked by a young man and now you two are treating me like I’m some kind of freak!’ Her voice was rising with every word, bouncing off the ravine walls and echoing around. ‘All I sodding want to do is to find Olympus so I can tell the man I love that I made a mistake and beg him to forgive me.’
The girl looked away. ‘Beg him to forgive me.’
‘Jesus Christ!’ Skye shrieked. ‘What is wrong with you?’
‘You?’
‘Dion,’ said the man.
Skye stared at him. He was still gazing dreamily into the water. She stomped over to him. ‘What did you say?’
He reached up to his hair and twisted a curl round his finger, half smiling. Skye realised he wasn’t smiling at her; he was barely aware of her presence. Instead, he was looking at his own reflection in the water. She almost kicked him.
‘What did you say?’ she said, forcing herself to keep her tone even.
‘Dion,’ the girl whispered.
Skye put her hands on her hips and stared hard from one to the other. Then she pulled out her phone and furiously jabbed ‘Dion’ into it. Almost immediately, several results sprang up. Skye’s mouth dried. Apparently, Dion was an ancient ruined city that had been built at the foot of Mount Olympus to honour Zeus, the King of the Heavens. And it was less than ten minutes’ walk from the top of the waterfall.
Her heart thudding in her chest, she turned on her heel and ran back to the path leading up the ravine’s sides.
‘Thank you!’ she squeezed out.
‘You,’ said the girl.
The man didn’t reply. Skye didn’t care. This had to be it. This had to be Olympus.
Chapter Twenty-Four
As Skye marched along the narrow path leading to Dion, she scanned through various websites on her phone to find out more information about the place. It had been used as a religious sanctuary since the fifth century BC and had an altar to Zeus, and a temple for his daughters, the Muses. Skye could have kicked herself for not taking note of its existence before. She just had to hope that the strange couple at the waterfall weren’t leading her on a wild goose chase.
Everything she was doing was surreal. Having been confronted by Coop’s invisibility had made it easy not to question his existence and that of Olympus and the other gods. The idea that she was now travelling to an ancient temple where she would find Zeus himself was nuts. She couldn’t care less about Zeus, though. All she cared about was finding Coop and persuading him to give her a second chance. She might come across as a stalker; maybe all she’d been to him was nothing more than a one-night stand. But the thought of him made her soul sing so she had to try. He had told her he loved her. That had to be worth someth
ing. Skye tried to ignore that he’d also told her emphatically that he didn’t believe in love. Right now, she didn’t have much choice.
It didn’t take her long to find the site. When she emerged from under the canopy of trees and gazed out across the fallen stones and sweeping grassy walkways, however, she scowled and cursed aloud. There was nothing there except a collection of ancient rubble. Pretty impressive ancient rubble, but rubble nonetheless. Skye yelled aloud in frustration then picked up a small stone and threw it with all her might. Goddamn it all to hell.
‘I think that’s rather uncalled for, don’t you?’ said a male voice from behind her.
Skye turned round slowly. A tired looking man was standing in front of her, his head cocked as he warily watched her hands which were still bunched into tight fists. Loosening her fingers, she forced herself to relax, ignoring the embarrassment she felt at her momentary tantrum.
‘Hi,’ she said awkwardly.
‘Hey.’ He brushed past her and began walking down one of the paths which led to the centre of the ruins and what appeared to be a large open area. Skye thought briefly of the man who’d grabbed her arm in Litochoro that morning and that she was now in the middle of nowhere with a strange man who could potentially be a serial killer. Then she rolled her eyes. She couldn’t treat every stranger as if they were dangerous; besides, this guy couldn’t have looked less interested in her if he’d tried.
‘Excuse me?’ Her voice was more of a squeak than a yell.
Either he didn’t hear her or didn’t care. Determined not to let the opportunity slide by her, she caught up to him and tried again. ‘Excuse me,’ she repeated, this time more loudly.
He turned towards her, his expression showing that he was trying to be polite but desperately wished she would go away and leave him alone. Skye realised there was something strangely familiar about him, as if she’d met him in another life. He certainly looked as if he’d seen better days. Heavy bags lay under his eyes and his clothes and hair were rumpled and unkempt.
‘What can I help you with?’
Skye answered him with a question. ‘Where are you going?’
His face closed up. ‘None of your business.’ He turned again to go.
A ripple of something akin to excitement ran through her. There was nowhere else to go here other than the collection of old stones and half-forgotten ruins. If that was all he was interested in, why would he try to hide it? There was more to this guy than met the eye.
Skye took a deep breath. ‘You’re going to Olympus, aren’t you?’
He gestured at the air in front of him. ‘As you see.’
Her stomach dropped. ‘Where…?’ She licked her lips. ‘Where is it?’
‘Apparently all you have to do is believe.’ He smiled sadly. ‘I’m sorry, I have to go.’
‘I believe,’ she whispered to his back. ‘I’ve been there before.’
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, there was a ripple in the air, some kind of vague shimmer like you see on hot days. This had nothing to do with the weather, however. When Skye blinked and peered more closely, the shimmer solidified and hardened into the familiar outline of Olympus, with its towering marble walls and gigantic wrought gates. Her knees buckled and she stumbled. It was here, after all. Had her belief been stronger when she was with Coop himself? Was that why she was only seeing the palace now? She thought of the last words he’d said to her: ‘Doubting Skye’. She shook herself. It didn’t matter. She was here now. In a matter of moments she could be facing Coop again.
Running forward until she was just behind the man, she felt her heart thudding painfully in her chest. He stopped at the gates and spoke to the guard, seemingly unfazed by the armour and the dark shadows which represented his eyes.
‘Oz,’ the man said. ‘My name is Oz.’
Skye suddenly realised where she’d seen him before. He was the lead singer of Orpheus, the band that had played at Nemesis the evening she’d met Apollo for the first time. What was he doing here?
‘Purpose of business?’ the guard asked robotically, in a voice that sent shivers down Skye’s spine.
‘I’m here to petition Hades,’ Oz answered, his voice laden with pain.
‘Hades isn’t here.’ The guard took a step forward, but the singer stood his ground.
‘Then let me see another god. I don’t care which one.’ He shook himself slightly. ‘No, I do care which one. Let me see Hera.’
Skye watched as the guard bowed his head and stepped aside. ‘Access granted.’
She grinned. At least entering Olympus on her own was going to be fairly easy. As soon as Oz had passed through the gates, she stepped forward.
‘Name?’
‘Skye,’ she said firmly. ‘Skye Sawyer.’
The dark holes in the guard’s helmet where his eyes were supposed to be bored into her. She had to force herself not to take a step back.
‘Purpose of business?’
Here goes. ‘I’m here to see Coop. Cupid,’ adding helpfully, ‘the God of Love.’
The guard stood still. Skye tried to smile.
‘Let me in please,’ she said in a small voice.
‘Access denied.’
Skye gaped at him. ‘What?’
He didn’t answer.
‘No!’ she shouted. ‘You can’t do that! You let him in. Why won’t you let me in?’
The guard still didn’t answer. Enraged, Skye sidestepped left, leapt through the open space next to him and began running. Unfortunately, she’d barely gone three steps when she was dragged backwards and thrown back out.
‘Access denied.’
‘Fuck you!’
She threw herself at the guard and began pummelling his chest with her fists. ‘Let me past!’
‘Access denied.’
‘Why? Did Coop tell you not to let me in?’
‘Access denied.’
‘Give me a reason, damn you!’
‘Access denied.’
She tried to get past him again but this time he was ready for her, and she barely put a toe inside the gates before she was picked up by her collar and tossed back out. Landing with a painful thud, tears of frustration pricked at her eyelids. Coop really didn’t want to see her. It had been over the moment she’d walked into his bedroom; she’d just been too stupid to see it.
‘Skye? Is that you?’
Scrambling to her feet at the familiar voice, Skye felt rage filling every pore. If Hermes hadn’t sought out Emma and told her about Coop, then Skye would probably never have returned early to Greece. This was all his fault.
She launched herself at Hermes and slapped him across the face. It was the first time in her life that she’d ever hit anyone and it was surprisingly satisfying to see the shock reflected in his eyes.
‘You prick!’ she shouted. ‘Why did you have to get involved?’
He took a step back and held up his hands to shield his face. ‘Whoa! What are you talking about? I only did what Coop asked me to.’
Time froze around her as Hermes’ words sank in.
‘He…’ The sick feeling in her stomach intensified but she managed to find her voice. ‘He asked you to do this?’
Hermes nodded earnestly, his eyes scanning her face. ‘We didn’t know where you went, Skye. I’ve been searching all over for you. I don’t think Coop ever dreamed you’d come here.’
All the pieces were starting to fit into place. The hard knot of pain which had been in her chest since Coop had flown out of the window intensified. Of course he didn’t think she’d come here, Skye thought dully. Because turning up at the gates of Olympus would cause problems for him when he clearly considered her as nothing more than an irritant. Despite all his fine words and what she’d assumed were heartfelt kisses, she was nothing to him. He’d sent his best friend to Emma. He and Hermes had probably cooked up the whole thing as a way to get rid of her without Coop having to dump her personally. Tell the silly human girl not to go and see him and manipulate her f
riend to encourage her to do just the opposite…
It had all been a game to him, just like the stupid thing he had going on with Apollo. Another ‘lesson’ to prove that true love didn’t really exist. Skye felt as if she was going to vomit all over Hermes’ shiny wingtips. How could she have been so stupid? The whole invisibility thing had probably been a ruse as well.
Apparently oblivious to her soul-destroying epiphany, Hermes grinned at her. ‘I need to tell him you’re here. You have no idea how he’ll react when he finds out.’
Skye thought that she had a pretty clear understanding about how Coop would feel about her sudden appearance. ‘Great,’ she answered flatly. ‘You go do that.’
Hermes threw his hands up in the air. ‘Don’t be daft! You can come in with me and show him yourself.’
‘They won’t let me in.’
Hermes looked momentarily nonplussed. ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘That kind of makes sense. Never mind. I’ll go and find Coop and bring him out here.’
Skye clenched her teeth. No doubt this was so that Coop could humiliate her completely. Look at what reality is like, she imagined him taunting while the other gods and the stupid fuckwit of a guard looked on. How could I love you? You’re just a pathetic human who can’t even come into Olympus without my say-so. She let out a small moan of despair.
Hermes looked alarmed. ‘Are you alright?’
She lifted up her head and looked him directly in the eyes. ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘I can’t wait to see Coop. I’ll stay right here while you go and get him.’
‘Fabulous! Just hang on, this won’t take long.’ He moved past her and walked through the enormous gates, the guard not even registering his entry.
Skye watched as he was swallowed up by the marble interior. She was damned if she was going to wait around here for Coop to treat her like she was a speck of dirt marring the perfection of his snowy white wings. Screw that. But she wasn’t going to let him get away with this scot-free, either. If he thought he could humiliate her, she’d find a way to humiliate him right back. She had truly believed he was her one shot at happiness; right now the only thing preventing the pain in her heart from consuming her was the rage she felt at his casual manipulation.
