A raccoon tore across the path ahead of her. She didn’t move a muscle until it was out of sight. That was odd. Almost as if it was being chased... Oh, crap! Could Ariston be closing in on me? Were those hooves thumping in the distance? Panic seized her, fight or flight kicked back in. She would not go back with him!
Lily grimaced as she leaped to her feet, deciding to take a chance in the direction the raccoon had gone, praying rabies did not await her at the end of that venture. The thumping came closer, and Lily’s heart thudded against her breastbone as the hope of imagining it faded. She’d never forget the noise of Ariston’s hooves as they stomped against the dirt. The absurdity of his existence drawing far more attention to that minor detail than she’d have noticed otherwise. Pain shot through her limbs as she ran. Hiding would be her only option until Ariston passed by and she could take a different direction.
How did he find me in the dark? She’d attempted to pass over any patches of grass and cut through bushes as often as possible to hide her footprints, and then when she had to travel over dirt she ran, taking long strides. She’d even doubled back a few times for good measure.
A clump of bushes ahead served as a promising shelter, barring nothing else had already claimed it that had fangs or venom. Leaves scratched her bare arms and legs, and the outdoorsy aroma of plant life engulfed her. Hopefully her heavy breathing wouldn’t give her location away.
Could satyrs scent her out like a dog could? Why hadn’t she paid more attention in school when they went over mythology? Lily had figured, hey, crazy myths aren’t something she would use in the real world and promptly ignored the bulk of them. Somehow that information could have proven more valuable to her survival than algebra? Hindsight.
The pounding hooves neared, harbinger to a shape forming in the shadows. At first a blur of contrast, and then darkness moved against a lighter darkness. Eventually the shape registered to her brain as a white animal. A horse? Were there wild horses in the mountains? Lily supposed it was possible. Next time she was reading the website and brochure on wild life before she went anywhere. She’d been camping many times, but usually with groups of people and never had she encountered more than a few deer. Satyrs, horses, what was next? A centaur or...a horse with wings.
Holy shit. That horse has wings. Like the one at the beginning of all the movies, in that emblem. And there was a man on its back with shortish dark hair tumbling into his eyes, peering out from beneath a Stetson.
Not Ariston after all. Instead of the relief, she was almost...disappointed? For a brief moment, she’d almost been excited to see Ariston there, looking glorious and vengeful as he sought his lost nymph, to rescue her from the wicked blisters.
Dehydration, sister. Get it together.
A winged horse signified some association to Ariston since she was fairly sure it came from the same mythology as satyrs. The question was: should she trust the new guy and possibly being saved, or stay hidden and not involve herself with any more paranormal creatures? While she considered her choices, a tickle brushed down her back. Another followed shortly after. Something moved under her shirt, and not sweat. Before she had the chance to react an insect crawled over the top of her leg. When something stung the hell out of her ankle, she shrieked, tumbling out of the bushes, nearly on her face. The winged horse snorted, and the man peered over the top of its head to get a better view.
“Well, well, well. What have we here, Pegasus? It does rain beautiful women from the sky when you ask for it.”
Pegasus—the Pegasus?—neighed in response.
Lily gawked at them, wiping dirt from her knees as she twisted to sit on her backside, completely dumbfounded. Then fresh bites to her calf and lower back had her slapping her legs and stripping off her shirt. Through her frenzied undressing, Lily noticed Pegasus backing up, and if she wasn’t mistaken, the horse arched an eyebrow it didn’t actually possess.
“Got ants in your pants?” the man asked as he dismounted and glided to her aid. He moved too smoothly to walk or run. He practically floated over the ground, but that was crazy. And where were his shoes? He began brushing ants off her legs and helped her to her feet. “You might want to drop the shorts too.”
“Excuse me?”
The mysterious man winked at her. “To make sure you don’t have any stowaways. The last thing you want is something nipping you on the privates unexpectedly.”
“Good point. Um, can you turn around at least?”
With a chuckle he turned his back to her, “Hey, you too.” He snapped his fingers at Pegasus who looked to him, turned his head back to face her, and then angled his body away. He ruffled his wings against his sides, and Lily swore the horse was irritated. With an inward shrug, she quickly stripped and shook out her clothes before redressing, hurrying to knock the tiny bugs out of her shoes and socks too. Ants. They had a vendetta against her, she was certain.
“So, I know it is none of my business, but how does a girl like you end up covered in ants on a night like this?” the man called over his shoulder.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t know you. Who rides barefoot through the mountains at night, alone? And on a winged horse?” If she played her cards right, didn’t mention satyrs or Ariston, maybe she could determine if the stranger was in league with him.
The man turned to the horse and gasped. “You have wings!” Pegasus stretched his neck toward the man and neighed loudly. Lily didn’t speak horse, but it seemed like a “duh.”
“Keep your tail on.”
Lily’s irritation level was rising fast. “Can you help me find my way to the highway?” It worried her how the strangeness of flying horses and the men who rode them didn’t unhinge her as Ariston had. One satyr, and suddenly impossible creatures in the real world were less shocking. It helped that the man seemed normal, if not a bit peculiar, and well, horses were pretty majestic. She couldn’t help but stare at it with admiration. As a child, she’d always wanted a pony, but hadn’t so much as ridden one before.
“Uh, hello. Tall, dark and handsome man”—Mystery Guy waved a hand down the length of his torso, beckoning for Lily to take in the whole package—”riding in on a white horse.” He gestured at Pegasus. “Seriously, do you need a billboard too? Of course we’re here to help.”
“I have no idea who you are. Are you the one who watched me yesterday, who tossed me the key?”
“Someone tossed you a key and was watching you?” The man appeared in her face instantly; she hadn’t even seen him move. “That is interesting. Means someone else knows you’re here and doesn’t want Ariston to break his curse. Tell me more.” That answered one of her questions. The mysterious man was in league with Ariston. So why am I not upset?
“Whoa, personal space!” She pushed him back, pretending not to notice how rock hard his chest was and avoiding her own confusion. There must have been a rule in ancient Greece that all men had to have amazing muscles if they were to live forever. “You know who I am then, if Ariston sent you, but I have no idea who you are.” How many times did she have to drop a hint for him to enlighten her?
“My apologies.” He placed one arm behind his back and bowed to the waist. “The name is Hermes, at your service. Personal assistant and messenger of Zeus, king of Olympus, and god of many things I won’t bore you with as the list is ever as long as the glorious manhood between my thighs.”
Glorious...manhood... What?
“If you’re a god, why are you bowing? Shouldn’t I bow to you?” Lily asked, taken aback by his proclamation. Hermes was real? And was he hitting on her?
“Don’t mistake politeness as subordination. Hell, Pegasus here is ranked beneath me, and I bow to him on occasion because I respect him.”
“You bow to a horse?”
Pegasus took offense and flicked his tail as he stomped the dirt.
Hermes grinned. “So much you don’t know about your heritage and the gods you derive from. Pegasus is a demigod. He may be a horse, but his father is Posei
don. His mother, Medusa. Don’t even try to figure out how that worked because Poseidon is known for his ‘experimental’ siring. You are better off blindly believing Peg here burst into being the moment Medusa was beheaded. He wasn’t, but the myth is much less disturbing.”
When Lily stared at him blankly, he captured her hand and pulled her toward Pegasus. She barely registered being lifted and placed upon the horse’s back. Throw a feather at her, and she’d fall from the weight of it. Hermes lifted her chaffed wrist and glared at it. The dull sting vanished and the skin healed within an instant. Then the bites from the ants ceased itching, and her feet felt good as new on top of it. Her throat cleared the burning dryness as though she were never dying of thirst.
“How?”
“I can’t heal mortal wounds or anything major, but the small things...yeah, I’m that good.” He shrugged and a light smile toyed with the corners of his mouth. “Apollo taught me some healing magic, way back before he decided to be a douche when he grew up.”
Lily studied her flawless wrist again. “What were you the god of again?”
“Awesome.”
“There is no such thing as a god of awesome.”
“The Greeks had gods for everything. Including awesome.” Hermes grinned wide and it didn’t waver. He hitched a thumb toward his chest. “And I am he.”
“Whatever.” She couldn’t refrain from smiling back.
“Seriously though, I had a great many roles. Multitasking’s got nothing on me. Maybe I’ll tell you about it one day, but tonight I have a different immortal to discuss.” At Lily’s narrowed eyes, he held his hands up to placate her. “I know you aren’t keen on the whole Satyr Moon thing, or Ariston, but he’s a pretty good guy. He’s my son’s best friend among the satyrs.” And there it was. He’d been sent to collect her and to try to sell her on the idea of staying with Ariston.
“Who’s your son?” Lily was almost afraid to ask since a god could father a winged horse, what else could there be?
“Pan.”
“Oh.” Ariston had briefly told her about Pan. A nature god, who Dionysus attempted to curse for taking the nymph Syrinx’s virginity—one that had backfired. He’d been heartbroken when Syrinx died and created a magical set of panpipes he’d named after her. Lily rolled her eyes as she recalled the story, but if Hermes was real... “Dear God, everything Ariston told me is true, isn’t it?”
“I’ll fill you in on the way back.” He mounted the horse behind her, holding on to her waist. Hermes didn’t feel her up, and it would have been the perfect opportunity if he’d had intentions to do so. Lily decided being in Hermes’ company was strangely comforting, even if irritating. “This time we fly.”
“Pardon?” All the good humor she’d momentarily harbored slipped away. She never agreed to flying. She’d never ridden a horse, and flying on one didn’t hold the same appeal. Bewildered, she quickly grasped Pegasus’ mane with both hands and held on tight.
Pegasus didn’t need any further encouragement to expand his wings, and he glided through the trees with powerful flaps of his wings. Up and up he went, until clouds embraced and boxed them in on all sides. The air was cold at the high altitude and Lily shivered. Hermes wrapped his arm around her, drawing her into his warmth.
“Relax. Estimated arrival time is fifteen minutes.”
“Hermes, I think I just found out I’m afraid of heights.” The ground came into view below and her stomach knotted. She thought she might faint.
“Brush it off, nymph. Only mundane humans fear such nonsense.”
“Oh, sorry for offending you with my humanity.”
He scoffed. “Now that I have you here, let’s talk about Ariston. He’s never had to work for a woman’s admiration before, so he has no idea what he is doing. I’ve taken the liberty of mocking him for his idiotic attempts thus far. You’re welcome.”
“If I promise to give him a chance, can we land the flying horse now?”
“Nope. We have a lot to talk about, you and I, and I want to make sure you listen to every word. Let me tell you the tragic tale of Ariston and his twin brother, Adonis. Brothers torn apart by the greed and debauchery of Olympian gods and cursed to live eternity with nothing but contempt between them.”
She gulped and closed her eyes tight to avoid looking down as Hermes droned on.
Chapter Seven
By the time Pegasus landed in front of Ariston’s cabin, Hermes had dumped so much information on her that her head neared exploding. She really hoped he wouldn’t quiz her later. Lily hadn’t even known the legendary Adonis had a brother, and that tidbit messed with her. Ariston was his twin? As in, Ariston was identical to the man whose name was used to describe the perfect male body?
Yup. Can totally see it.
Not only that, but Ariston’s brother had gone to the dark side of satyrdom as a Boeotian where Ariston was Arcadian. Hermes’ recollection of Ariston’s past with his brother bothered her. It built Ariston up as wonderful but made Adonis sound like a brat. While she couldn’t say for certain it was wrong, Lily also knew there were three sides to every story. And since she’d not met a Boeotian, how did she know for certain they were dangerous? Ariston abducted her, which made Arcadians seem pretty bad in her opinion thus far. She figured Hermes could be biased because his son was Arcadian.
Lily knew far more about the curse than she really wanted to; like it had to be broken during an eclipse because the curse occurred during one. Hermes was certain the ritual had to be outside to pay homage to the way the curse was fashioned, but he hadn’t sounded completely sure. Apollo had been the one to hide the nymphs from the satyrs after informing them only nymphs could reverse the curse, which Lily thought was stone cold of him to do.
The satyr appearance seemed less intimidating since Hermes confirmed they weren’t composed of goat parts. Ariston had said as much, but of course a goatman would say that. However, just because Ariston was technically human, didn’t mean he didn’t still pose a very real threat. If he didn’t have sex over a certain length of time, he would become as animalistic as he appeared, taking what he found where he found it. Hermes assured her Ariston’s humanity had always shone the brightest among the Satyroi, and she wouldn’t be in danger. I beg to differ.
He’d also said Ariston’s ineptitude since she met him was attributed to his lack of experience in wooing women traditionally, and Hermes didn’t think Lily should judge him since he hadn’t known any better. Dude flashed his junk at her and handcuffed her to the bed. In her opinion, she wondered why she wasn’t utterly traumatized. For life.
Nevertheless, knowing the truth and being saddled with the fact she could save Ariston from a curse weighed heavily on her shoulders. Lily didn’t want anyone’s fate depending on her. It was all a nice fantasy, saving a man’s humanity through sex—kind of like an erotic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale—but the reality of it seemed so crude. If there was anything else she could do, well...aside from death, she’d be more forthcoming.
She didn’t feel comfortable using sex as an emotionless act because it was required. Ariston was attractive, sure. Lily didn’t doubt her ability to desire him, but it wouldn’t feel natural. It would feel like a transaction, and Donovan’s accusations about her sex drive made her horribly self-conscious about naughty stuff when she hadn’t been before. Maybe she wasn’t a succubus, but she did enjoy sex. Furthermore, she refused to let it define her, to allow Donovan’s words to hold any truth, which didn’t seem like an option when bumping uglies with a satyr became her apparent purpose in life.
Hermes asked her to stay with Ariston and get to know him. Despite the man’s temper, Ariston was supposed to be a really nice, caring guy. Lily didn’t want to go back—at least, not that she’d ever admit—but Hermes deserved a wingman-of-the-century award. He’d really talked Ariston up to her. There must be something decent about the Arcadian for an actual deity to help him out. She grinned, more confident after having a crash course in Satyr History 101. She wouldn’
t be floundering about anymore. At least, not as much.
Opening her eyes, which she’d squeezed shut during the descent from the sky, she caught a quick glimpse of the cabin before Hermes hopped off Pegasus’ back. He never touched the ground but floated above it, giving her an exaggerated salute. “I’m off to inform my son I found Ariston. Send Pegasus if you need me.” A moment later, only a slight brush of air as soft as a summer breeze wafted through her hair—which had come loose and wild in the wind—revealed his departure. So it’s like this then, Hermes. Leave me at Ariston’s door like a scrap of meat being tossed into the lion’s den.
Lily leaned over with the intention of dismounting Pegasus, but she hadn’t realized how high off the ground she’d have to drop. The cabin door slammed open, jerking her attention away from her task. Despite everything, the sight of that satyr stole her breath. Ariston hesitated in the threshold, the light behind him creating a halo effect to his blond hair—the horns eerily contrasting the holy imagery. Words hung unspoken in the air between them, and he studied her with a wary expression. Was he afraid she’d bolt if he made a sudden move? She followed his lead and stared back. A long week lay ahead of them if the awkwardness remained.
Pegasus snorted and sat on his backside without warning, sending Lily to topple backward with her arms flailing. Never had she felt more like a cartoon character than when she careened head first off a winged horse. Well, he’s half a god. He’s not an ordinary horse. She’d landed on her ass, yet again. Could she be any less graceful? Walking could prove dangerous, let alone riding a horse or even ducking into bushes. Some nymph she was. Nature kept attacking her.
The Cursed Satyroi: Volume One Collection Page 36
