“You’re stunning,” he told me as he pushed a lock of hair back from my temple and tucked it behind my ear. “I’ll have to remember to thank Alexa for that dress.”
His warm breath brushed my ear as he spoke, and he traced his soft fingers along my jaw line and down my throat, until they caressed my exposed collarbone.
I probably looked like a greased pig as I slid out of his embrace. “This hugging thing isn’t working for me.” The skin I felt beneath the cloud as I pushed him away was impossibly soft — definitely not a lion’s coat or feathers. That was a pleasant surprise. Still, it didn’t mean he got to wrap his arms around me like we were a couple. Because prophecy or no prophecy, there was no way me and the harpy spawn were trading kisses.
“Please, Psyche,” he begged, tugging gently at my hands to try to pull me back. “You know I love you, don’t you?”
Pointing my finger at his chest and shaking my head, I told him, “No. No, no. I promised Alexa I’d try to be happy here. But you’ve got to stop saying you love me or I’m seriously going to freak out.”
His body recoiled away from mine. “Everyone wants to be loved.”
“I did. I mean, I do.” I rubbed at the bridge of my nose as I tried to form a coherent sentence. “It’s just, I don’t love you - obviously - and we’d never even met until yesterday, so you can’t possibly love me.”
He sighed and let my hands fall away. “If only you knew.”
Gods, that sounded ominous. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know, but what else could I do but ask. “Try me?”
I knew that look. It was the same thing I’d seen in my father when he’d returned from Delphi. He was being crushed from the inside out and his eyes played out every pain. “I’ve been in love before, but it wasn’t anything like this. That’s how I know I love you.” He dropped my gaze and looked away. “If you want me to stop saying it, I will. But it doesn’t change anything.”
As I resumed picking at my nails, I stewed in silent guilt that his feelings were so one-sided. Of course, I’d always hoped to one day be with someone who loved me. He’d been right on that point. But I figured I’d feel something back. I didn’t even know what love was or felt like. Was this the most I could hope for? And if it was, was I giving him a fair chance?
“Will you tell me about her?” I asked, giving his hand a little squeeze. “The girl you loved.”
The desperation in his eyes was instantly replaced with a look of cold iron. “Why?”
I shrugged. “Maybe I can make some sense of this if I know you better. I mean, know more about who you are instead of what you are.”
A faint glint returned to his eyes. He exhaled, long and slow, before answering. “Her name was Lelah. She took my breath away the first time I saw her.”
Scooting onto the bed, I nested into a stack of pillows and made myself comfortable for his story. At the same time, I mentally slapped myself for feeling any tinge of jealousy. That was definitely not called for.
“I was in Media during a brief exile and she was there.” The bed sank as he sat next to me. “I’d dropped in on some sort of ceremony — to see the differences from Greece, I guess — and she was swaying by the fire. The flames rose almost to the roof of the temple, but she held her hands out to the blaze. Like she wanted to bring the heat closer. And I’ll never forget when she turned those green eyes on me, peeking out from behind that thick, dark hair. I was lost before we even shared a word.”
He looked at me and blinked, but his eyes weren’t focused on me at all. “She was so kind at first, and truly caring. I felt how much she loved me. And when she finally kissed me, it was like lightning surging under my skin. We were almost perfect together.”
And I thought I’d felt a tinge of jealously before? It was full-on blooming now.
“So what happened?”
He chuckled, low and sad. “Call it religious differences.”
I sat up and peered at him. “You were totally in love with a girl and you left her because of her religion?”
“More like she left me.” He must have closed his eyes, because the blue disappeared. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”
Carefully, I reached out and felt for his arm. I recoiled when my fingers first hit that baby-soft skin, but I quickly returned to him. Trying to soothe; to let him know I understood.
“I’m glad you told me,” I whispered. “Really.” I ran my hands down his arms until I clasped his fingers. “And I’m sorry if remembering her hurts.”
He covered my hands in his. “It was worth it.”
My shoulders slumped. Somehow we were back on me. How could I ever compare to his dream girl? Sure, we shared hair and eye color, but the way she’d made him feel — that was something I hadn’t, couldn’t, give him. Was I just a religiously-aligned look alike?
“I want to know about the religion part. Why was that such a big deal?”
“Medians practice Zoroastrianism. Basically, they have one god who’s the beginning and end of everything. When I told her who and what I was, she thought I was crazy. There was no room in her world for our gods.”
“So when you told her you were descended from the gods, she sent you packing?”
“Pretty much.” I heard him swallow. “But I know you believe. Given your relationship with Aphrodite and all.”
A chill rolled through me, making the hairs on the ends of my arms stand on end. “How do you know so much about me? My family barely even knew about Aphrodite’s visits.”
“The same way I know I love you: I feel you.” He tapped my chest just above my heart. “One of my gifts, I suppose.”
My brow creased as I thought, but nothing made sense. “I don’t understand.”
His eyes burned like the blue in the center of a fire. “I’m not talking about physical touch. I’m talking about the feel of your heart, of your soul. Anyone can see you and think you’re beautiful. But I know you’re beautiful because I can feel what you do.”
“So you know what I’m thinking? And feeling?” My whole body felt dirty, like I’d been stripped in front of a crowd. Without warning, my eyes welled with tears and I had to physically struggle to go a second night in a row without losing it in front of him. “I’m sorry,” I said, waving my hands in front of my face like a fan. “That’s just … it’s creepy. I don’t like thinking you can see right through me like that.”
“But don’t you get it?” he asked, leaning in close, “the more I see, the more I love you. How kind you’ve been to Alexa. How strong you’ve been with everything that’s been thrown at you the past couple of days.” He dropped his head into my lap, shaking it slightly from side to side. “You’re amazing. I don’t know what else to say.”
When he put it like that, how could I complain? My hand fell to his head. A thick nest of curls threaded between my fingers. His hair was so invitingly soft, I couldn’t help but play with it.
And the next thing I knew, he was asleep.
Chapter 23 - Psyche
My first thought when I woke up: it’s my birthday and not a single person here is going to know.
Just as I’d thought, Alexa never brought it up, never wished me a happy birthday. Not that I knew when her birthday was or anything. But the void made me ache for my family all the more. This day never would’ve passed unnoticed back at home.
That evening, I sat on the bed and watched the sun set behind the gardens, casting a glow of brilliant oranges and reds across the landscape. Just as he had done the past two nights, Aris’s darkened form flew in through the window. My breath caught in the back of my throat as I gazed at the obviously powerful creature now standing before me.
He didn’t speak right away, then cleared his throat. “Sorry about passing out on you last night. Not exactly how I’d planned things to go.”
I shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. Seriously. You obviously needed the rest. I didn’t mind.”
“Yeah, well, I felt like I did all the talking last night and
I want to know more about you. I already know my past.”
“I thought you already knew everything about me.” I couldn’t help the playful barb; I probably even threw in an eyelash flutter for good measure.
He chuckled and I heard fabric shifting under his personal cloud. “I don’t know nearly enough. So I figured you could tell me everything — over cake.”
I took the package he held out to me. Once I’d untied the string and pulled away the cloth wrapping, I saw an amazing-looking cheesecake.
“Happy birthday to you,” he sang in a low voice.
“How’d you know?” I asked.
“I figured it was something I ought to remember.” He cleared his throat again. “I hope you like cheesecake.”
“Who doesn’t?” I slid onto the stool at my vanity, pulling the cake closer and breaking off a piece to pop into my mouth.
He stopped my hand before I could indulge. “Wait… this game has rules.”
I looked at him with narrowed eyes. Since when does eating cheesecake have rules?
“I want one fact for every bite,” he said. “Talk first, eat second.”
Reluctantly, I backed the cake away from my already-parted lips. If he wanted to make a game out of this information exchange, who was I to complain?
“Fine. That’s easy enough,” I said. “What do you want to know?”
“Let’s start with something easy. Tell me about your family.”
I offered up my family’s names and lineages — the most basic of information really — and popped a bite of cheesecake into my mouth. I smiled like an imp while I chewed.
“Hmmm…” he rumbled, but his eyes looked amused. “That’s not exactly the information I was looking for. Tell me something about them that I don’t know.”
Swallowing the luscious bite, I pondered for a minute. I wanted to tell him something nice about my family, something that described how we were before the fame kicked in. But I was having a hard time seeing past our last week together.
“My mother and father were really worried about me when I left. The hardest thing I’ve ever done is watch my father cry when he said goodbye to me.” I felt a sudden lump in my throat as I relived that painful memory. “Until he came home from Delphi, Father had always seemed so strong. I never even thought he could cry.”
His hand caressed my arm, easing my guilt with the comfort of now as best he could. “They’ll be okay, Psyche. You’re a good daughter to worry about your parents more than you worry for yourself.”
“You give me too much credit. I was worried sick about what was going to happen to me.”
“But their pain hurts you,” he said. “I can feel that.”
“I guess that’s just part of being human.”
He turned my head and gazed into my eyes. “No, Psyche. That’s part of being you. The depth of your heart is what drew me to you. Don’t underestimate yourself.”
Slowly, he guided my head to his shoulder and I didn’t stop him. As I closed my eyes, the fresh smell of his skin, the gentle caress of his fingers against the back of my neck, played with my mind. Could anything bad smell so inviting? Or feel so tender? But more than anything, I let him hold me like this because it was so nice to feel understood.
For months, I’d kept secrets from my family, pretended to be a diva for my fans, and done my best to impress Aphrodite with my every word. Now, Aris claimed he already knew me: my flaws and imperfections, my true self, and apparently he wanted me anyway. At least for tonight, I’d enjoy this feeling. No worries about tomorrow, or who Aris really was; no worries about anything.
I was just about to let myself consider falling asleep on him when he broke through our comfortable silence. “You want to get out of here?”
“We can do that?” My head snapped up and I was instantly more awake than I’d felt all day.
“You deserve a better present than cake that makes you sad. But,” he paused and I bit my lip, waiting for him to continue, “you’ve got to trust me.”
Trust Aris in exchange for temporary escape? A blink takes more time than I took to decide. What could he do to me outside the palace that he couldn’t do here? The risk seemed more than worth it.
I smiled — the winning one Aphrodite taught me — and I hoped he melted just a little, if for no other reason than vanity made me want to be the green-eyed girl of his dreams. “Done. Now where to?”
“It’s a surprise.” Stepping in close, he wrapped his thick arms around my waist and I heard his wings unfold. “Hold on.”
As I felt my feet lift off the ground, I had no choice but to cling to his neck. We passed easily through the window and over the garden. Peering over my shoulder, the hedges and fountains blurred into the oblivion of darkness and I clamped my eyes shut. At least when Zepherus swept me off the cliff, we were headed down. The continuous upward spiral coupled with the steady beat of his wings made my head spin.
His arms squeezed tighter. “You hanging in there?” The warmth of his breath against my ear sent a delicious shiver down my spine.
“You could say that.” I managed a half-laugh to prove I wasn’t about to pass out or anything, but I don’t think either of us was fooled.
Just then we passed through a cloud; white beams of moonlight reflected off its surface. Behind us, thousands of stars twinkled in the inky black night. For a second, I could almost believe I was floating, like in a dream, and the blackened form holding me in the sky was just my overactive imagination. But he broke the evening spell as quickly as it’d come over me.
“Get ready, this is the fun part.” We tilted back toward Earth and careened forward. Wind gusted past us, tangling my hair and pushing against his wings with a force I thought might shred his feathers. An involuntary scream escaped before I could silence it and I gripped him even tighter. I swear he chuckled.
With a snap of wings, he slowed our dissent. When we touched down, my toes brushed against smooth, warm rocks and I stumbled as I got my balance on the slick stones. Without the wind clogging my ears, a new sound took over. The crashing of waves hit me at the same time the warm, salty air curled through my lungs.
He’d brought me to the ocean. Did he know that as close as it was, I hadn’t seen it since I was a child? That I’d always dreamed of watching the white caps roll into the beach under a blinding moon?
His arms fell away and I made my way to the waves. The first lick of the water was almost icy and I shrieked — a girlish, carefree laugh. I backed away from the next wave, but steeled myself by the third. As the water swirled around my ankles, the penetrating cold lessened and I walked out another step.
Looking back over my shoulder, I saw a void of darkness resting on the beach. “You coming?” I asked.
“I think I’ll sit this one out. You go ahead.”
Pulling up my dress around my knees, I trod deeper into the water. When the chill gripped the back of my knees, I turned and fled, running up the beach in a sprint. “Never mind,” I panted, collapsing next to him. “That’s way too cold.”
“I’d warm it for you if I could.” His eyes turned to mine and the space between us seemed impossibly narrow. Had I really sat down so close to him?
He might not have control of the waters, but the heat rolling off his body was strong enough to cross the space between us. As I met his eyes, his head dipped forward. My heart stuttered in my chest and my throat seemed to close tight. Was this fear or desire? His nose brushed mine as he leaned dangerously close and I felt his breath tease and tickle my lips.
When his hand slipped around my waist, pulling me a fraction of an inch closer, the spell was broken. It didn’t matter that he’d carried me all the way out here, his touch chilled me. “Thank you for bringing me here,” I said, turning my head and staring back out at the gently crashing waves. His hand slipped away and he sighed, long and low, as he leaned away.
“I’m just glad you trusted me enough to make the trip.”
I tucked my legs into my chest and wrapped u
p in my own arms. Looking back over my shoulder at him, I could tell he was focused on the waves too. Anywhere but on me.
“Listen,” I said, trying for a peace offering, “I still owe you some facts, right?”
His gaze snapped my direction. “A few.”
“Name your topic,” I offered.
Silence. His cloud stretched out and it was evident he was laying back against the pebbles, staring at the moon-bleached clouds. “Me,” he finally said.
“Excuse me?”
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