Sophie smiled. “Like us. The other day I finally remembered talking to you, after my lifetime as Grete.”
Rhea grinned. “Precisely. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was your two voices who awoke me.”
“So all the time we were growing up, you were planning to come find us, when we were ready.”
“I was. But before that, I had plenty to do. I needed to learn about the modern world, which took much more study than I expected. Learning English became important in particular. The souls told me that would be the most useful language to know in the world now. Also, it was what you and Adrian spoke.”
“He was the first you found,” Sophie said.
Rhea nodded. “After harnessing a ghost horse, I went and looked at several of the souls I used to know—you and him and others. I wanted some of the old gods to eat the pomegranate and remember who they were, so I could talk to them, even though I didn’t know of a way to give them immortality. I didn’t want to revive the memories in all of them; not necessarily the ones who became troublesome, causing the rift with the mortals. But the ones who did more good on the whole, certainly you Underworld gods—I wanted your company again. However, when I saw all of you, for a time I almost gave up my idea of the pomegranate. You had your own lives, and why should I disturb them? But Adrian caught my sympathy and for him I made the exception. He couldn’t walk and never would. He was a young handsome man and should have had a full life ahead of him, but was confined to pains in some places and couldn’t feel anything in others. Knowing what he used to be, I thought I would do the one thing for him I could.”
“The pomegranate.”
“It was one of the only things still growing in the Underworld that I knew how to use.” Rhea looked at Sophie, her face troubled. “I didn’t know at the time that it would cause him to remember the immortality seeds. I thought I was only giving him memories, some pretty thoughts. But it turned out there was brilliant, powerful knowledge in those memories. And when we did grow the immortality fruit, neither of us had any idea what trouble it would cause. We didn’t imagine a group like Thanatos existed, or that anyone remembered us at all. I only wanted one of my friends back. And I wanted to improve his life.”
Sophie kicked at the wet grass with her sneaker. “You did. And mine too. I only wish Thanatos didn’t exist.”
“The part of me that used to sacrifice people to the Goddess to help the island of Crete would not mind dragging all its members into this realm, one by one, and letting the lions eat them.” Rhea smirked. “But Adrian and the others remind me that this is not how things should be done.”
Sophie saw the appeal of the idea in a flare of bright hatred against the murderous group. But the god of the Underworld was right: answering murder with murder wasn’t the correct policy. “He does spend a lot of time trying to bring killers to justice. To make the world better.” Sophie heard the pride in her own voice.
“Yes.” Rhea spread her hands at her sides, stroking the moss. “Well, those are the main things I wanted to make you understand. I do not wish to fill the Earth with immortals; I only brought some back out of love. Love—for each other and for life, for Earth herself—is why we wish to exist. Thanatos may think they act from love for humankind too, but they do not. Like all such groups, they’re based in fear. There are certainly dangers in our magic. But we would never be as destructive as those people are.”
Sophie breathed the chilly, fragrant air, and listened to a bird chirp its flute-like notes. “I was starting to understand all that. But I was still afraid. I’m not as scared now. I’m glad you told me.”
“I thought telling you would be wise.” Rhea chuckled. “In case you imagined Adrian was only a strange magical boy trying to seduce you for his own reasons.”
Sophie grinned. “Isn’t he?”
“Well, yes. But he’s more than that.” Rhea rose, and gave Sophie her hand, pulling her up. They walked back along the hillside.
“Since you mention the sacrifices…” Sophie said. “Even when I was a junior priestess, they seemed awful to me. Did they seem that way to you?”
“Of course. They were horrible. They were meant to be. That’s why they’re called sacrifices. Everyone suffered to gain something for the land.” Rhea shrugged. “We thought that was how it worked.”
“How does it work?”
“You mean, is there really a great Goddess controlling it all?” Rhea smiled. “I have no idea. I like to think there is. There are too many secrets and mysteries we still don’t know. Someone must.”
“I can’t imagine who knows, if you don’t. I hope she’s up there.”
They walked in silence a minute, then Rhea remarked, “The Underworld has lost a lot of its magic plants since the old days. It needs an expert like Persephone. Especially a modern Persephone who knows her fruits and vegetables.”
Sophie smiled. “I don’t feel like an expert.”
“Considering you didn’t know anything about the Underworld a month ago, you’re learning quite fast.”
Rhea took Sophie back into the living world. The row of tall trees by the library bounced back into place. The quiet roar of campus swirled around them.
Rhea lingered with her hands on Sophie’s arms. “You have a lot of memories yet to sort out, and meanwhile I know you have your studies. I’ll let you return to them. I hope to see you again soon.”
“Thank you. I hope to see you too.”
With a motherly smile, Rhea drew Sophie forward and kissed her forehead, then let her go. “Goodbye for now.”
“Goodbye.” While Sophie crossed the street, she noticed a middle-aged man sitting on a bench near a bus stop. He had a stocky build, and thinning black hair streaked with gray. His smartphone rested on his lap, and he glanced from its screen to Rhea. For a moment Sophie smiled, thinking Rhea’s beauty had attracted the man’s attention. Then a chill flashed through her. Stepping onto the curb, just a few yards from the man, she glanced back in time to see Rhea move behind a tree trunk and vanish. Sophie looked at the man to see if he’d noticed. His watchful gaze moved straight to Sophie’s eyes. He tucked his phone into his pocket and rose from the bench.
Sophie rushed away, suddenly sure this was someone in Thanatos. She veered aside and jogged up the steps of the nearest building. Inside, her damp sneakers squeaked on the marble floors. A glance over her shoulder confirmed the man was following, ascending the stairs. She darted down a side hallway and made two more turns inside the building, tugging her pepper spray out of the side pocket of her backpack as she moved.
She found a different door that led outside, and burst out. She looked around swiftly. The man was nowhere in sight. Through a steady rain, she ran all the way back to the dorm, pepper spray in hand.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
MAYBE I SHOULD TELL ADRIAN about the guy, Sophie thought that night. But telling him would mean removing her mouth from his, and skewering his romantic mood with a spear of stress. Which didn’t seem necessary, especially since she had no proof the man had been following her at all. He could have been a random professor, who happened to be returning to his office inside that building. Until a more concrete threat emerged, she opted not to worry Adrian.
She had meant to study with him in the Airstream that evening, and talk about Rhea’s visit. Which she had, for a little while. Then she’d gotten up to fetch a binder, and on her way back to the table she had paused to look at the spreadsheet of murder victims’ names and details on his screen, which he began explaining to her. While he spoke, she straightened the hood of his sweatshirt against his shoulder blades, then laid her palm on the back of his neck. Adrian’s words began to falter. As soon as she began stroking his skin, enjoying the warmth, he dropped the spreadsheet explanation entirely and pulled her down onto his lap, engulfing her in a kiss. And there she had stayed.
They hadn’t gotten a lot of studying or talking done since then, but Sophie finally decided to broach a semi-serious topic—not regarding the man who
may or may not have been in Thanatos, but on a subject more important to her mind lately.
“So how do we handle this?” she asked, still planted on his lap, their arms folded around each other.
“Handle what?” Adrian sounded cautious, though hopeful excitement kindled in his eyes.
“Seeing each other. Or—hanging out. Whatever we’re calling it,” she amended. However, from the look of sweet surprise that brightened his face, he didn’t mind the phrase “seeing each other.”
“Oh. Um, as we have been, I’d say. Lie to most people. Meet in safe places only. Until you…decide.”
“Either to join you or go our separate ways,” she clarified gently, but there was no way to make that statement sound exactly gentle, she realized.
He lowered his gaze and nodded, his hands resting motionless on her waist. “Though, going on like this could last us a while. No rush, really. You’ll want to take your time, a decision like that.”
“It doesn’t bother you? Us being…you know, close, affectionate, when I haven’t chosen on the immortality deal?”
He lifted his eyes again to hers. “That’ll never bother me. Any time I can have with you is…” His eye contact faltered, in shyness it seemed, and he looked out the dark window. “I’ve been obvious enough, haven’t I? You do realize I want you—not just your company, or your friendship, or to have you as an ally. It’s the same totally-smitten kind of thing it’s been in every other lifetime so far. You know that, right?”
Sophie felt she could easily have jumped to the top of the highest tree around, even without being immortal. “I was getting that impression. And I’m, uh, feeling pretty smitten myself.”
He smiled, moved a lock of her hair out of her face, and cupped her cheek in his hand. “Good.”
A new relationship, she thought giddily, and at the same time a very old one; and this time one that was complicated, dangerous, and impossible to explain to most of the world. But all she could feel at the moment was complete bliss, and the utmost gratitude for whatever fate had landed her here, on Adrian’s lap in a trailer in the spirit world. She kissed his lips for a long moment, to seal the pact, then snuggled close to him in a hug, feeling his arms slide tight around her.
The intimate scent and contours of his body were too delicious to resist. She decided it was time to apply a few tips Aphrodite had given Persephone, in her latest memories. She nosed aside a stray curl below his earlobe, and pressed kisses to his neck in a slow trail downward to his shoulder. His hands flexed against her spine, and he tilted his head in encouragement. His pulse tapped fast in a vein in his throat, tangible to her lips as she drew aside the collar of his sweatshirt and kissed his collarbone and his warm shoulder.
Soon she was breathing fast, and so was he—evidently being immortal didn’t make you immune to that symptom—and the evening was slipping by in ever more pashing and tight embracing and no studying at all.
Finally she looked at the clock and said in half-despair, half-amusement, “I have to finish my paper.”
“Sorry.” He grimaced, looking guilty but irresistible with his distracted eyes and kiss-moistened mouth. “It’s late. Should you—do you—”
“I should probably go back.”
He nodded, diplomatically.
Getting safely back to the dorm without letting the situation skid out of control deserved bonus points, she thought as she dropped into her bed well after midnight, after finally finishing her paper. A few more days, at least, should pass before certain anatomy got groped or clothing got unfastened. But knowing he wanted her, and being free to show she felt the same, was the stuff of pure happiness.
Her dreams wandered through a few more awkward but interesting lessons with Adonis and Aphrodite, and she allowed the memories’ pace to meander so she could benefit from the goddess’s wisdom. Ideally she could attempt another of those tips next time she and Adrian “studied.”
Veering out of her afternoon class the next day, answering a text from Adrian suggesting exactly that, she bumped into someone.
“Sorry,” she said, looking up, then stopped. “Jacob.”
“Hey.” He stood with hands in his coat pockets, looking sheepish and depressed. His eyes were dull and his jaw blotchy, as if he’d been hasty in shaving this morning.
“What are you doing here?”
He squinted down the street, as students flowed around them. “I…just wanted to see you. I knew you’d say no if I asked to come up, so…ah, I probably shouldn’t have come. But I did, so, can we have coffee or something?”
“Look…”
“As friends.” He gazed at her, his eyes softening, becoming so familiar it weakened her defenses. “Please? You’re not going to make me drive straight back to Eugene, right?”
Ashamed to have been in the middle of arranging another date, she slid her phone into her pocket. “I guess I have an hour.”
They sat with mugs of coffee in a sandwich shop, and caught up on the news of each other’s family members and friends. (Sophie left Adrian out of her account, of course.) But she was only halfway through her coffee before Jacob heaved a sigh, sent a puppy-eyed look at her, and asked, “Can’t we try again?”
She rotated the mug on the table, her appetite vanishing. “I told you. I don’t think so.”
“We’re good together. I know we’ve had fights sometimes, but everyone does. I’m sorry about all the times I annoyed you. I’ll do better. Can’t we clear the slate and start over?”
Immediately Adrian’s voice filled her head, somber and sweet: We don’t know of any other way to clear the slate. You’re stuck with these memories.
There was no question whose voice she’d rather hear, who she’d rather share a table and a life with.
She looked directly at Jacob. “I’m sorry too. I really am. But no. It’s impossible.”
This time he didn’t put up much of a fight. Evidently he could see she meant it. Within five minutes, they dumped their mugs in the bin for dirty tableware, and left the restaurant. The sun was setting, and thick clouds darkened the city. Streetlights gleamed between trees; cars and bikes traveled with their lights on.
Sophie walked Jacob to his car, since it was only parked a block away.
He unlocked it, and gazed at her. “If you ever change your mind…well, I’ll be here.”
I won’t, she thought. But she answered with a nod, and said, “Drive safely.”
She watched him drive away, then checked her texts. Another had arrived from Adrian. Sweet. See you at 7 then. We’ll make sure you get your homework done. ;)
Raindrops began pattering around Sophie. She moved beneath the awning of the nearest restaurant, and entered a reply: It’s ok if we take a few breaks from homework. ;) So um, weird: Jacob just visited. Hasn’t given up. I sent him back to Eugene just now.
Ah, he responded. Well it can’t be easy, losing a treasure like you. Whole thing wasn’t too awkward, I hope?
A bit, she wrote. Mainly I just wanted to be with you instead.
Aw, you’re the best. I’ve missed you all day.
She smiled, re-reading his words, feeling warm all over despite the cold wind and the rainy darkness. Thanks. See you soon. I better get dinner now.
His See you arrived as she walked out into the rain; she glanced quickly at it, then tucked the phone deep into her pocket to protect it from the wet. She turned onto a campus sidewalk that ran under a row of trees, and hurried toward her dorm’s dining hall.
Halfway along the street, a shadow leaped up next to her. Startled, she skittered aside, but the man seized her and dragged her off the sidewalk. Panic flashed hot through her; she kicked and yelped. A clammy, rough hand covered her mouth.
“Give me your phone,” he growled into her ear.
She tried to scream, but the sound was trapped in her throat. She kicked again, hitting the man’s shins, but not hard enough to make him let go, and somehow he had her arms pinned and her body tilted off balance. He twisted her forearm
to the point of wrenching pain, and repeated, “Give me your phone.”
“Mm-hmm,” she whimpered, as if acquiescing.
Carefully drawing one arm free, she slid it into her coat pocket. And pulled out the pepper spray instead, firing a hissing stream of it over her shoulder, straight into his eyes.
He screamed, began coughing, and let go to claw at his face. The cloud of chemicals stung Sophie’s eyes and nose too, and she stumbled away, tears streaming from her burning eyes, coughs overtaking her throat. It was torture—she could only imagine what the man felt like, having the stuff right in his eyes. But the bastard deserved it. Time to call 911 and get him locked up.
She had her phone in hand and the digits dialed. But as the dispatcher answered, a car screeched to a stop next to the sidewalk, and a man in dark clothes reached out from the passenger side, grabbed her assailant, and hauled him into the vehicle. The door slammed and the car took off. Sophie, coughing, eyes blurry, squinted after it to get a license plate or at least a make, but couldn’t see anything clearly enough.
It wasn’t Jacob’s car, and neither guy was Jacob. That much she could say with certainty, though she loathed that the thought entered her mind.
“Hello? Do you need help?” the dispatcher asked on the phone.
“I was just attacked,” she rasped out. “On the street. He got away.”
“What’s your location? Someone will come as soon as possible.”
A few instructions and answers later, a police car and ambulance arrived with lights flashing. A medic sat Sophie down on the tailgate of the ambulance and helped her rinse the pepper spray out of her eyes, and gave her water to drink. One male and one female police officer took down her report.
“Did you get a good look at him?” the woman asked.
“No, not at all. He was a little bigger than me, definitely stronger, but I couldn’t see much.”
“Did you recognize his voice? Could it be anyone you know?”
Persephone's Orchard (The Chrysomelia Stories) Page 24
