Pride Before A Fall (Book 21 in the Godhunter Series)

by Amy Sumida

  The Intare roared in approval, and I nodded my gratitude to Pan, then swept my grateful gaze around the table. It was when you needed them the most, that friends showed their colors. My friends were true blue all the way through; one even had it right in his name.

  Chapter Fourteen

  We went through all of the names on the list and ended up with a much smaller list. Zeus remained at the top of it. Just beneath him, and a possible Zeus accomplice was Himeros. You probably don't remember Himeros; I barely did. He was the son of Aphrodite and Ares, both of whom are dead because of me. I met Himeros only once, at the Battle of Olympus, and it had been a brief introduction. He was about to shoot me with an arrow (after getting very bent out of shape over the fact that I hadn't recognized him) when Nemesis bonked him over the head and knocked him out. I was told that he'd recovered nicely, and his experience only served to enhance the hatred he already bore me. Typical.

  So, we were off to search the Greek territory.

  The Greek portion of the God Realm was quite extensive, but they did have one of the largest pantheons, so it was to be expected. The first time I'd met the Greek gods, I'd done so in an amphitheater. That's how many of them there are. And I hadn't even met them all. Damn Greeks had gods for everything; from the different directions of wind to each finger on a human hand.

  I wonder who the God of the Middle Finger is. Maybe I should ask Pan; I'd bet he knows.

  The process of covering all of that territory would have been grueling, if not for the fact that a few of us had wings and a few of us were Greeks. Azrael, Morpheus, Horus, and I would fly while the others hoofed it–in some cases, literally. We started in the Underworld, Hades's domain, but we weren't going to search it just yet. For now, it would just be our base of operations. It was doubtful that Zeus would hide himself and a baby in Hades's territory. So, we wouldn't bother combing through the massive, monster-filled area unless we had to.

  The rest of the Greek gods lived on islands scattered across Oceanus. Hygieia's hospital was on one of these islands, as was Pan's Neverland, Hermes's Hermopolis, and the famous Mount Olympus, but Zeus had been cast out of Olympus, and I had been told that his daughter, Athena, was Queen of the Mountain now. Athena had been a loyal supporter of her father until she discovered what he and Hera had been up to. She turned on them real fast after that, and evidently, she's become quite a competent leader, if not a ruler per se. I doubted that Athena would agree to hide her estranged father and a kidnapped child, but you never know. So, Mount Olympus would be my first stop.

  The rest of my group split up to search the other islands with the help of Hekate, Horus's fiance. She was the Goddess of the Crossroads (among other things) and could open passageways through the Aether, even within a territory–a unique and invaluable talent. Hekate could get anywhere that was unwarded. Yeah, the wards limited her a bit, that's why Torrent was usually the best choice for chasing gods, but Katie was still pretty amazing. And in the Greek territory, even the wards didn't stop her. Human belief gave her the ability to pass wherever she wished within her pantheon's portion of the God Realm. That belief was contradicted within other territories, which were upheld by different human beliefs, but on her home turf, Hekate was fully-charged and limitless.

  So, Hekate opened the Aether, and the others followed her through it to different locations in the Greek territories. I was relieved that I wasn't one of those traveling with Hekate. I hated walking the Aether. Tracing, sure, but walking it meant that you had to actually see the Aether, and that was never fun. Instead of riding the H-train to Olympus, Morpheus and I just flew. I, in my half-dragon form, and he in his natural one.

  I got undressed first, behind a boulder on the shore of the River Styx. The river had six shores since it circled the Underworld six times. Yes, it still turns out to be only six shores–the strips of land between the water were only wide enough to hold the ends of the connecting bridges, so I only count them as one shore each. I have no idea why Styx swirled around so many times, especially since the ocean, creatively named Oceanus, was already surrounding the Underworld island (sharing the final shore with Styx), but that's Greeks for you. Everything had to be complicated; they were nearly as bad as the Egyptians when it came to afterlife landscapes. And Styx was just one of the many features which made traveling through the Greek territories grueling.

  The shore I undressed upon was the first, the one attached to the Underworld. There was no sense in traversing the multiple bridges over the spooky waters of the Styx if I didn't have to. After I had shifted into my dragon-lady guise, I came out from my cover with my bag of clothes slung over my shoulder. Morpheus smiled widely when he saw me and spread his midnight wings out in approval. His wings held a dream-like reflection of the night sky within them, and stars sparkled at me from their indigo depths.

  “You ready, V?”

  “Yep. Let's go storm Olympus”–I smirked–“again.”

  We launched ourselves up into the Underworld sky... please refer back to my comments about underworlds and their lack of a world above them.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The last time I'd visited Olympus, we'd taken an elevator up to the mountaintop. This time, that wasn't necessary. Morpheus and I flew right to the highest point of the multi-leveled mountain. Our dramatic arrival warranted less excitement with the Olympians than I had expected. We alighted onto the plateau at the peak, where Zeus used to live, without an alarm going off. Zeus's massive palace still stood, the same as it had been when I'd first seen it, but it was Athena who came striding out of it.

  She didn't look all that concerned, or even surprised, to see me.

  I was more surprised to see her. Not her–Athena, but her–Athena's appearance. I figured that she'd be the one to speak with me, I'd already been told that she was running the show (more like a Greek tragedy) now. But the last time we'd met, Athena had been dressed in Atlantean/Greek armor. I'd seen her face, including her stern gray eyes–no doubt inherited from her father–but not the rest of her. I was a little surprised by the modern haircut she boasted–a sleek, black bob. She wore a sharp but casual outfit of beige, tailored trousers, and a cream, silk blouse. Her makeup was immaculate and understated. Athena looked like she ran a Fortune 500 company, not a pantheon of gods.

  “Godhunter.” Athena came forward with her hand extended. She took in my half-dragon form with just the slightest blink. That girl had a damn good poker face.

  “Athena.” I shook her hand. “It's nice to meet you under better circumstances.”

  “Yes, our last encounter was a bit jarring for the both of us,” Athena agreed. “Upon reflection, I'm grateful for your interference within our pantheon's politics. I had no idea that such skulduggery was taking place. Now that I've taken over, things are running much more smoothly. But never mind all of that, Hermes has informed me of your child's disappearance, and I assume that you're here to search for her.”

  “Uh... yes.” I blinked in surprise.

  “Athena is the Goddess of Wisdom,” Morpheus mumbled to me.

  “Oh, right.” I gave a little chuckle. “Then I'm sure that you've worked out that your father is on my list of suspects.”

  “I didn't have to.” She gave me a little smirk. “Hermes told me that as well. I wasn't surprised, though. I would have suspected Zeus too if I were you. In fact, I do suspect him. Now that I truly know my father–the man he truly is–I believe that this is precisely the sort of underhanded move he would make.”

  “I'm glad we're on the same page,” I said. “But I still have to ask; is he here?”

  “He is not,” she said simply. “Nor is he welcome here. Zeus and Hera have left the Greek territories entirely. I have no idea where they are making their home currently–somewhere in the Human Realm most likely. They had very few friends left after the fall.”

  “They had friends before it?” Morpheus asked in honest surprise.

  “I was being generous.” Athena grimaced.

 
“Would you mind if we took a look around anyway?” I asked her, then made a face. “I suddenly feel like I'm on an episode of Law and Order.”

  “Oh, can we be on that one with Ice Cube?” Morpheus asked.

  “Ice-T,” I corrected.

  “No, thanks, I'm not thirsty.” He frowned a little in confusion.

  “No, I mean that the actor is named 'Ice-T,' not 'Ice Cube.' Ice Cube is another rapper-turned-actor,” I explained.

  “What's with rappers using 'Ice' in their names?” Morpheus asked.

  “I don't know,” I huffed, “I'm not party to the name-choosing procedures of rap stars. And I think it's only the two of them anyway.”

  “There's also Vanilla Ice,” Morph said.

  “Okay three, but Vanilla Ice isn't much of a rap star or an actor.” I grimaced. “He has a home remodeling show now, and before that, he was on a bunch of reality competition shows.”

  “It's still confusing,” Morpheus muttered.

  “Fascinating,” Athena said dryly. “If you're done discussing human sitcoms, you're welcome to look around.”

  “Law and Order is a crime-drama.” Morpheus stuck his tongue out at Athena, and she cracked a little grin.

  “Thank you.” I reached forward and shook Athena's hand again. “I appreciate your help.”

  “I'm sorry that you're going through this, Godhunter,” Athena said sincerely. “No mother should lose their child so soon.”

  “Or ever,” I added.

  “Just so,” she agreed. “Though we gods tend to outlive our children more often than humans do, simply because we're immortal. Once we reach maturity, the chances of our children dying become comparable to that of ourselves.”

  “Unsettling but true,” I muttered.

  “Well, you have an excellent assistant in Hermes,” Athena noted. “I'm told that the Thunderbirds are already scouring the skies, Poseidon and his people are searching the seas, the Froekn are prowling the land, and the Nagas are slithering below it. You've got all the levels covered.”

  “I actually didn't know that.” I blinked, then chuckled. “Hermes works fast.”

  “Well, after what happened with Angelia, it's to be expected.” Athena sighed.

  “Yes, Hermes told me that she was kidnapped.”

  “Indeed,” Athena said grimly, then shared a look with Morpheus. “It was a bit more traumatic than he makes it sound, but yes, that is the gist of it.”

  “But Angelia lived, right?” I looked from Morpheus to Athena.

  “Yeah, she survived,” Morpheus murmured. “But it was an ordeal. Not my story to tell, Vervain, so stop looking at me like that. Just know that Hermes has a reason to hate child abductors, even more than a normal person should.”

  “Oh, Jesus,” I whispered.

  “No, it wasn't him,” Athena protested. “I'm told that he also loves children. The humans even wrote a song about it once.”

  It took me a second to process what she meant.

  “No, I was making an exclamation of my horror,” I explained, “not an accusation.”

  “Oh, I see.” Athena worked through that while Morpheus chuckled. “You really shouldn't abuse another god's name like that. It's rather bad form.”

  “You're right,” I said immediately. “I'll work on that. Human sayings are hard to give up.”

  “Good,” she said briskly. “Well, it was pleasant to see you this time, if not a pleasure per se.”

  “You, as well,” I agreed.

  “May speed and luck be with you.” Athena waved a hand at me casually, but a little glimmer of magic trailed from it.

  “Thank you, Athena,” I said with genuine gratitude. “We can use all the help we can get.”

  “I will begin my own search for Zeus. If I discover anything, I will alert you post haste,” Athena offered. “Until then, please feel free to search Olympus. There are a lot of gods living here, but none are loyal to Zeus, and I'm certain that they'll be eager to assist you.”

  “Again, my thanks.”

  “It's the least that I can do.” Athena turned, started heading back to the palace, then stopped and looked over her shoulder at us. “Are you coming? I assume that you'll want to search my home first?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The Greeks kept tidy homes. They were generally bright, airy, and clean. A little on the Spartan side, though. This made them particularly easy to search. We made it through Athena's palace in no time, then flew down to the lower levels of Olympus. I shifted back to human after the flight down, slipping into my clothes behind a wall. I was glad that I'd brought them. It was best to start with an approachable appearance and then work up to dangerous if needs be.

  It was just as Athena had surmised; Zeus had no allies on the mountain. All of the Greeks present were willing to allow me to search their homes and gladly answered all of my questions. Although some were easier to question than others.

  We had made our way through the central portion of the mountaintop village and were circling outward along the pristine stone streets when we came to a mansion made of creamy pink stone. It was a subtle pink, more of a blush, but still, after I noticed the color, I hadn't expected a bunch of men to be living there.

  “The Erotes,” Morpheus said as we climbed the steps to the golden front door. “We definitely need to speak with them.”

  “Why's that?”

  “Himeros is one of them,” Morph explained.

  “Then yes, we absolutely need to have a conversation with these”–I looked again at the blushing stone, and then at the filigree work on the golden door before me–“men.”

  “They're not gay if that's what you're thinking.” Morpheus's lips were twitching.

  “I wasn't,” I huffed as I knocked. “Just because you live in a pink house, it doesn't make you gay. John Mellencamp sang about pink houses, and he definitely isn't gay. In fact, pink used to be considered a male color ...”

  My words trailed away when a sex god answered the door.

  No, really, this guy introduced himself as Eros, God of Love and Sex. And he lived up to his name; weep-worthy features, chocolate-brown hair, and a body to make women sigh and salivate. My own love and sex magic sat up and said hello to his, and Eros's stunning green eyes widened in glee. He snatched up my hand, held it to his chest, and used it to pull me into an embrace.

  “There you are,” he purred as he stared into my eyes like a lover. “I've missed you, darling.”

  “Uh”–I cleared my throat–“I'm sorry; do I know you?”

  “Not me precisely, but yes.” Eros threaded his fingers through my hair. “Our magic knows each other. You're my female counterpart, and we've been separated for far too long. My power has been pouting, waiting impatiently for you to return to us.”

  “Your power is pouting?” I scowled as I tried to extract myself from his embrace. “That sounds like a personal problem... and other P words.”

  “Definitely,” Eros agreed. “You've arrived just in the nick of time.”

  Eros had roaming hands and a strong grip. It wasn't easy to pull away from him, but I finally managed it. When he reached for me again, I held up a finger and shifted it into a talon. His eyes widened, focused on the sharp point.

  “I get it,” I said. “You're happy to see me. But I'm taken, numerous times over, and I'm not interested in adding another lover to my list. So, back off Mr. Erogenous. I'm only here to search for my daughter.”

  “Yes, we heard of the princess's disappearance,” Eros went serious. “I'm deeply sorry to hear of it. But alas, my love, we only come into contact with each other during the most traumatic of times, and I cannot allow you to leave Olympus again without making our connection known to you.”

  “Okay, it's known to me, thanks for that,” I said dryly.

  Morpheus barely contained his laughter.

  I glared at Morph. “Did you know about this?”

  “No,” Morpheus denied. “Had I known, I would have brought you here first.”
<
br />   “Shut up, Morph,” I snapped.

  “I know of your situation–the lioness magic and all of that.” Eros reclaimed my hand and slid it around his arm. He began to lead me into his palace. “Do not fret over my place in your life. I will be content with occasional visits... hopefully conjugal visits.”

  “What?” I tried to pull away, but it was like I was working against myself. My magic wanted to stay put. “You can't have a conjugal visit without being married. And I'm not coming back here to see you, anyway.”

  “No, of course not,” Eros scoffed. “I meant that I would visit you. I am nothing if not accommodating. As far as marriage goes; our magic is already wedded.”

  “We are not wedded,” I growled.

  “Oh, but we are,” he insisted. “I was the only one of Aphrodite's lovers whom Hephaestus consented to... because I was technically her true husband. He had to put up with me.”

  “Fascinating, but Aphrodite's magic is different now.”

  “Yes, I know this too,” Eros's voice went soft and sincere. “I'm deeply grateful to you. I struggled against Aphrodite's tainted magic for centuries, desperately trying to keep my power pure. Now, you have filtered it into yourself and transformed it into what it was meant to be.”

  “How do you know what I've done with her magic?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “I was with you, sweetheart.” His fingertips grazed my cheek and sent ripples of rapture through me. “When Aphrodite's magic entered you, a piece of my magic went with it. I felt every shiver of triumph, every quiver of ecstasy along with you. Did you not feel me there?”

  I gaped at him as I remembered the rush of lust that had filled my body after Love's butterflies had settled inside me. It had turned into a sexual experience that culminated in one of the best orgasms of my life. I had never considered the possibility that I'd had an invisible partner in that experience, but looking back now, I did remember a very masculine energy pulling me over the edge into ecstasy.