“So you do have feelings for me? Like, other than getting your humanity back?” she asked speculatively.
Lily thought he’d discard her. Well, he had told her she could go on her own way after the eclipse. Of course she thought that. Ariston hadn’t given her any reason not to. “I’ve never wanted anything more than the chance to have a real relationship. I haven’t even attempted it considering my, uh...condition. I’ve felt a connection with you since that first day, even when you thought I was a monster. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew. I knew I’d found something special.”
“Wasn’t that because I’m a nymph?”
Ariston shook his head. “At first I thought so. I even tried to make myself believe as much. I won’t deny I desire you something fierce, but when you ran off that first night, I was less concerned with losing a nymph and more worried about what could happen to you. Truth be told, I felt the connection before suspecting you could be a nymph at all.”
Lily bit her bottom lip. She appeared more confused than before. He rubbed a thumb over her lip, dislodging it from her teeth, smoothing any hurt she may have caused it. She blinked at him in bafflement.
“If you left me, before or after the Satyr Moon, you would break my heart,” he told her.
She arched a brow. “You aren’t just saying that to get in my pants are you?”
“I am dead serious. Don’t do it.”
Lily smirked and pulled his head toward her, kissing him gently. Sighing against his mouth, the tension Ariston had previously sensed in her faded away. She wanted to stay there with him, and he’d not let her down. After he was human, he could be the man she needed him to be. They could even start a family.
Emotion crashed through him, a feeling of hope and undiluted desire seared him with its intensity. Ariston held her against him, shaking with the need to protect her. Gods, she was like the angels Christians worshipped, come down from Heaven to guide him toward the right path.
The sudden beat of hooves hitting wood on the front porch broke the spell between them. Ariston turned his head toward the front of the room, expecting hell to break loose. At first he worried Adonis had arrived to make his move, but then he realized there were four footfalls.
Pegasus.
Thankfully, Pan and Hermes had fixed the door before they’d left, so the horse couldn’t prance right in—unless he kicked it down again, in which Ariston had already informed him would end with an ass kicking. It was like the thing had a sixth sense. Ariston and Lily are touching: must cock block the satyr. Not that Ariston didn’t appreciate the help in keeping him straightened out, but Pegasus seemed to enjoy it too much.
“Sssh. If he doesn’t hear us, maybe he’ll go away,” Ariston whispered.
“What is your deal with Pegasus?”
They watched in silence as Pegasus came into view at the front window, staring at them through the glass. Ariston was pretty sure he was receiving the stink eye from a horse.
“Maybe we should separate before you get bitten again,” Lily suggested, and Ariston decided she found the situation far more amusing than she should.
“I really hate that horse.”
***
Ariston closed the cabin door behind him, mentally steeling himself against the upcoming confrontation. He hated leaving Lily’s side, especially after the moment they shared earlier, but he wanted the encounter with Adonis over with as soon as possible. His future with Lily at stake, he had to hope he could talk some sense into his brother and convince him to leave. Forever if need be. Pegasus would protect her in his absence, could cross dimensions with her to remove her from danger if the situation called for it.
Outside, there was no sign of anyone around, but he knew Adonis lurked. Ariston could practically feel his gaze on him as he entered a thicket of trees, the intent stare of someone observing, biding their time. Lily had described it to him similarly. Like a fool, Ariston had believed nobody knew where he’d made his home, yet as soon as he brought a woman there, visitors wouldn’t stop dropping in unannounced. Even Zeus took stock in what happened at his cabin. Adonis had taken up residence in the surrounding woods. Waiting for a chance to strike?
The sun reached its highest point for the day, and the heat of it bore down on him. Summer weather was both a blessing and a curse in north Georgia, even in the earlier months when spring hadn’t quite faded away. The winters were cold, but the summers fried everyone to a crisp. Humidity made it worse, leaving a sticky sweat layer on his skin. Long hair, when left loose, provided the uncomfortable sensation of a dragon breathing down his neck.
Once Ariston hiked a good distance from the cabin, putting it out of earshot and sight, he raised his arms and turned in a circle, shouting, “I know you’re here, Adonis. Show yourself.”
The only response was the agitated chittering of a squirrel in one of the trees nearby, perturbed to have been inconvenienced by Ariston’s hollering.
“Adonis!”
“No need to screech, brother.” The reply came from behind him, in the direction of his cabin. The direction of Lily. That fact chilled him.
How did he to protect her if the threat could so easily come between them? Had slipped his thyrsus in the form of a key through his bedroom window. Had probably even been inside of his home uninvited.
Ariston balled his hands into fists as he turned to stare into the face of his brother for the first time in over a thousand years. He saw himself, kind of—his brother’s blond hair was maybe three inches shorter than his own, but otherwise no visible differences. No new scars to create imperfection, the same blue eyes. He wore a pair of black jeans cut off at his knees, dirty from outdoor wear, and a T-shirt with what appeared to be a rock band’s logo Ariston wasn’t familiar with. He had a green backpack on with a canteen hanging from one strap and wore a dingy pair of black hiking boots. At first glance, anyone would assume he was a college kid on a camping trip.
Ariston’s heart wrenched. He’d told himself thinking of Lily’s safety would make him strong. Adonis was his brother, his twin. They’d shared a womb, a childhood, and then a curse. Yet they’d lived two separate lives, refusing to seek the other out. Was it really a goddess who had shoved a wall between them, or had they done it to themselves? It was a question he’d contemplated often. One which lingered in his mind at the sight of his younger sibling of mere minutes.
The so-called paragon of masculine perfection sneered at him without a shred of remorse. So it had come to this. They were to bicker like adolescents. Though everything had changed since they saw each other last, all remained the same.
“I’m here. What do you want?” Adonis crossed his arms. “I’m busy, so make it quick.”
Ariston took a step toward him. Adonis retreated a step back, wiping the sweat from his brow. “I don’t want a hug or anything. You can stay right there. Far away, like you’re good at.”
“Like I’m good at? I asked you to come with us that night at Kithairon. You stayed with Dionysus.”
“Dionysus understood me. He knew what it was like to be rejected by a goddess.”
Ariston blinked, at a complete loss for words. The only goddess to reject Dionysus was Hera, when she ordered the human woman pregnant with Zeus’ bastard murdered. Zeus had spared Dionysus, leaving him for the nymphs to raise. Ariston had grown up knowing that tale as everyone else had in their time. It was an entirely contrived notion that Adonis shared the same betrayal. Aphrodite hadn’t wanted Adonis dead; she’d wanted a matching set to play with and discarded him the moment she’d not had her way.
“Would you listen to yourself? Making excuses for gods. They don’t care about us. We are nothing more than entertainment to them. I’m your brother—your flesh and blood. You should’ve been on my side. I refused to give myself to your lover, and you were angry with me instead of her for even suggesting it.”
His brother’s voice was barely above a whisper, “She was going to make me immortal. We were to be together for eternity.”
> “And how does immortality feel, you ungrateful asshole? Maybe you should’ve been more careful what you wished for instead of dragging me down with you.”
“Enough!” Adonis rubbed his temples and made an angry noise in the back of his throat. Then he stormed toward Ariston and grabbed the collar of his shirt, shaking him. “Where is the syrinx? Tell me where it is, and I’ll leave.”
He pushed Adonis away, and then shoved him again for good measure. “That’s what all of this is about? The whole elaborate ruse with a nymph? I don’t have the fucking thing, and if I knew where it was, I still wouldn’t tell you. The last thing the world needs is an idiot like you destroying it because you can’t handle the power it contains, and you would use it for selfish means.”
“So that’s how you think of me?” Adonis shoved him back, baring his teeth. His glamour slipped and Adonis kicked away the ruined shoes, split at the seams from where the hooves were too wide for them.
Ariston rolled his eyes. He wasn’t dropping his own human form so he could butt heads with Adonis. He fought too hard to keep his humanity to abandon it on a whim. “As long as you continue not taking responsibility for your own shit, then, yes, that is how I think of you.”
“You’re not better than me.” Adonis grabbed the sides of his own head, like he feared it would crack in two and screamed, “I’m in history books! And where were you? Painted by an artist here or there, nameless for all intents and purposes.”
Even in his anger, Ariston was astounded. Adonis had totally lost his shit. “History books? More like mythology books. And the myths aren’t even close to the truth. They are a fairy tale you never lived. Aphrodite didn’t mourn for you, she laughed.”
He was ready when Adonis lowered his head and charged. Ariston feinted to the right, and then moved left to allow his brother to rush past him. He turned, to counter the next attack, and caught a pointed horn to the cheek. The Boeotian horns were long, sharp, dangerous weapons. Even if Ariston had dropped his glamour, the horns of an Arcadian were blunt at the tips, and the curl made them useless anyway. They were the types of horns used to lock against an opponent in a battle of strength and will, or to bludgeon a foe unaware. He wasn’t an animal and wouldn’t behave as such. Ariston hissed from the pain the gouge invoked and kneed Adonis in the gut. He could feel the blood dripping off his cheek.
Adonis doubled over with a grunt, but he raised his head and chuckled. “Such a pity to ruin your face, but at least we no longer look the same.”
“It will heal, but I can promise you won’t if you come near Lily again. How can you even see her in the first place? She didn’t recall meeting anyone who looked like me before.”
Adonis smiled and stood at his full height. “You keep the syrinx secret, and I keep that secret. That’s the deal.”
“I don’t know where it is.”
“And I don’t know how I could possibly see a nymph unless she revealed herself to me. But when was that, and how? We have magic too. Ways to hide and ways to make others forget. Remember that.”
Ariston gritted his teeth at what was implied. “If you’ve bedded her, why don’t you let her be? You couldn’t possibly use her for the ritual if that was the case.”
He grinned, but it wasn’t a happy smile. “One more thing before I go.” He pulled his backpack off one shoulder and rummaged inside. “A gift.”
Ariston sucked in a breath. It was the stone he’d taken from their home in Greece. He’d painstakingly preserved it and kept it in his safe. Adonis had been in Ariston’s house without him being any wiser, and Ariston had been too preoccupied with Lily to notice anything missing. Before he could question what his brother meant to do, Adonis hurled the stone at a tree. The fragile rock fractured into dust upon impact. It was too old to withstand force, and more than likely Adonis had enhanced his strength with the thyrsus.
Ariston’s legs buckled and he found himself on his hands and knees. It’d been an inanimate object, but something he’d had to ground him to his human life. It served as a memory of his family, of his childhood. And it was gone. Pulverized by the one other person who should have appreciated the stone for what it was.
“Mourning a rock, but no remorse for your twin.”
“Why are you constantly finding new ways to hurt me? Do you hate me that much?”
“I loathe you. Your righteous attitude, your ability to win that nymph over in a handful of days no matter how screwed up the situation is. I don’t understand why it comes so easy for you. I resent it to the marrow of my bones.”
Ariston stole a glimpse at his brother. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the result of his destruction. In that moment, Adonis resembled Melancton more than Ariston. No real emotion proved discernible in his features, but for his eyes. His eyes stared ahead as though unseeing, but seeing too much. His brother, for all his complaints and indignities, suffered. Really suffered. Though Ariston knew Adonis would be too proud to ever admit it.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t handle the stress of fighting with him when Adonis couldn’t admit how he really felt. As long as he hid behind his pride, he was unreachable. Adonis had taken it too far, and Ariston couldn’t have Lily caught in the middle of it.
“You hate me because I never took it upon myself to be more than what I was. Life isn’t about fame, Adonis. It is about living. I’m sorry you could never see that.”
As though Ariston hadn’t spoken at all, Adonis turned his back on him, stomping off in the direction opposite of the cabin, hopefully for good.
“Go home. I never want to see your face again,” Ariston mumbled, wishing he never had cause to utter those words.
Adonis glanced over his shoulder and halted. “Then you better remove the mirrors from your walls. Because damned if either of us can see one without the other.”
Chapter Twelve
Lily stood at the window, waiting for Ariston to return. He’d been gone for hours. Pegasus wouldn’t let her out of the house to search for him, and it grated her nerves. She could throw a punch if she needed to. Plus, she could make it rain on people. That would distract someone long enough for her to run away. True, it hadn’t worked really well when she’d tried escaping Ariston, but with a little practice...
Who was she kidding? In a fight against gods and satyrs, Lily would have her ass handed to her.
With each passing hour, her thoughts became wilder. What if Ariston walked into a trap? What if he was dead? She told herself it was crazy to worry so much when a few days ago she wanted nothing more than to escape. Though he was frustrating and irritable, he charmed her. That cocky smile of his made her all flustered even when she wanted to dislike him.
Kat had been right; Lily was falling for him—she’d crashed already, and if she wasn’t mistaken, the flames of desire would soon consume her whole. There were so many reasons why getting involved with Ariston was doomed, but should the ritual actually work, the possibilities were endless. Dare she allow herself to dream of what could happen after Friday?
She scowled, catching sight of her reflection in the glass. Every single time she had her hopes up about anything, it all went to hell. Donovan? Sleezebag. Awesome freelance job? A scam—though she’d captured some amazing images before the crap with Donovan went down, so not a total waste. Being voted most likely to succeed in high school? A God damned jinx was what that was.
Ariston?
A sigh escaped her, and she leaned her forehead against the chilled glass. Ariston was everything she wanted and everything she shouldn’t. Wasn’t that just the icing on top of the clusterfuckery cake?
Motion outside had her heart pounding against her ribcage. Ariston was alive! He looked terrible, ragged. His face and shirt were covered in blood and he stared at the ground with each step. Each painstakingly slow step. Lily flung herself at the door, practically ripping it off its hinges. Pegasus backed away, allowing her to pass and flaring his wings out in a, “Nah, man. It’s cool.” gesture. Smart move.
Ariston
glanced up at the commotion, a strange expression on his face as she rushed toward him. He appeared...mystified? Lily gave it little thought. She grabbed his chin and turned his face, looking for a mark. She saw dried blood, but no wound. She ripped at his shirt collar, checking his chest and shoulder under where the blood had coated the material.
“Are you hurt? Where? Where!” Then another thought passed over her, of Kat’s warning. “I need you to show me your horns.”
“Whoa,” Ariston said cautiously, seizing her hands and easing her away from him. “Calm yourself. I’m fine.” He extracted his panpipes from the holster and played out a tune. His glamour faded and the curled ram horns revealed themselves. “It’s me. I healed. I waited to return until the wound was gone so you wouldn’t freak out.”
“You are covered in blood, and you expected me not to freak out? You were gone for hours. I thought you’d died! Don’t scare me like that. Ever!” Lily breathed heavily; her adrenaline was pumped. She was ready to do some damage.
Ariston’s eyes dilated, and if she’d not seen it happen before when he became aroused, she wouldn’t have noticed.
“You worried about me?”
“Duh.”
“You cared if I lived or died.”
Is he dense? Did he not comprehend her feelings that morning or what? Lily launched herself at him, no longer afraid of injury, but needing contact. To feel him against her. To have physical reassurance that he was all right.
She pressed her lips against his, not caring if they were bruised by the force she used. Ariston’s arms surrounded her, lifting her from the ground as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He was hers, and he’d come home. Safe.
A whinny broke the silence, loud as a bullhorn from beside them. Startled, they broke apart, Lily nearly falling since she’d not had her feet planted on the ground. Pegasus snorted and wedged himself between them, where he stayed, using his wings to push them farther apart. Ariston gave the horse a scowl that promised retaliation. Lily wanted to throttle him herself, but he was doing his job as chaperone. Things could have easily spiraled out of control.
The Cursed Satyroi: Volume One Collection Page 44
