The more he thought about it, the more he realized he longed for more such moments. And for the first time since Jessica had stolen his heart in middle school, he felt a warmth in his soul grow—a warmth he thought he’d never find again.
Alex blew out a long puff of air and caught himself longing for a gorgon-filled future, one where this warmth would grow, consume him, let him swim in a sea of bliss till the stars faded and time grew weary of existing.
This wishful high was short lived. Reality smashed his dreams and his heart sank. The daughter of a god would never settle for him. Even if she did, Alex knew she wanted more than a date. She wanted marriage, and even with the ethical questions of dating a client or using her to escape a lonely, shadowy fate aside, could he envision himself with a demigod for a wife? Surely that would be a lot more complicated than any human relationship he’d had, and save for the one with Jessica, none of those had turned out too well.
Alex huffed with frustration and distracted himself with the people that came and went. Some passed by in fancy cars, others in designer shoes. None paid him any heed, and he felt that being stared through, or in some cases being passed through, was an experience in and of itself. Only once did he feel that a living creature might have noticed him, and that was when a German shepherd was taking his master out for a walk. He moved about in circles, taking several sniffs in Alex’s direction. In the end, it turned out the dog had been looking for a place to pee.
An hour passed, and then two. Cars filled the small parking lot and their drivers went inside. No one came out. When the noonday sun broke free of the clouds, Alex was staring at the building, hoping, praying that she didn’t come out happy.
Alex took a deep breath and steadied himself. “This is stupid,” he said to himself. “You like her. Go get her already. It’s not like she’s going to make you get married in Vegas tomorrow.”
His words became action. Alex zipped through the front door of the office, intent on dragging Euryale out one way or another. Even if he folded at the moment of truth and failed to tell her how he felt, at the very least they could spend one more afternoon together. Tomorrow he could find her someone. He worked better under pressure anyway.
The office was quiet inside, and not a soul could be seen. Alex paused near the secretary’s desk and admired a pair of life-like statues that hadn’t been shown on Dr. Martin’s webpage.
“Hello?” Alex called out, wandering through the office. “Anybody home?”
From down the hall, he heard the muffled sounds of someone crying.
Alex came to a stop at Dr. Martin’s door. “Hello? Can I come in?”
The crying turned into sniffing, and then stopped altogether.
Alex sucked in a breath and stepped through the door. Inside the office were more statues, most having similar looks of shock upon their faces, and one looked like a garden gnome in a business suit. On the couch to his left sat Euryale, her head buried in her hands, hat and sunglasses lying at her feet.
“I told you this would happen,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “I told you, and you didn’t listen.”
“You told me what would happen?” he replied, confused. Alex replayed every conversation he could remember that they had had and came up empty.
“This!” She made a sweeping gesture at the room. “I did this to them, and they were only trying to help.”
“You brought them statues?”
“I turned them into statues, you dolt!” she cried. “Haven’t you heard of Medusa?”
Alex took a seat next to her, and his mind wondered about the absurdity of the question. “Of course I have. Who hasn’t? Mean girl. Snakes for hair. Turns people to stone when looked at, and—” He stopped mid-sentence. The confusion on his face was replaced by dread. “Oh. Oh, God. It all makes sense now.”
Euryale laughed and wiped away a tear. “It’s about damn time, Alex.”
But the moment was fleeting, and she soon buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed. Alex sat silent and uncomfortable as her tears ran down her face.
An urge came along and grabbed him. Before he could think, Alex lifted her chin and planted a kiss square on her lips. He brushed her cheek, while a delicate hand, hers, pressed into his chest with a slight tremble. No doubt she too could feel his heart pounding away.
As quickly as it had happened, Alex pulled back and felt his face flush. He was being too forceful, too overbearing, and completely taking advantage of the situation. Not to mention he’d already shown himself to be a failure. A failure who didn’t listen, at that. “Sorry,” he said. “Really, sorry.”
Euryale’s mouth hung slightly open. Her tears had stopped, much to his relief. But her eyes glazed over and her fingers gently traced her lower lip. “No…no…it’s fine. Unexpected, but fine.”
“It was uncalled for,” Alex said, trying to recompose himself and put a rational explanation to it all. “For a second there I was twelve again, and it sort of hit me.”
Euryale didn’t say anything, and Alex desperately sought to fill the awkward void. “And I was getting flustered, and I wanted you to feel better, and it seemed like a good idea.”
“Oh, I see,” she replied, though Alex was certain she didn’t.
His mind looked for an easy out and momentarily turned from the situation at hand and thought about the particulars of what she could do. “Why can’t you hurt me? Or Athena?”
“She’s a goddess, and you’ve already been killed, stupid.” Euryale snapped out of her shock, laughed, and blew her nose into a pillow. “My curse won’t affect either of you in the least.”
“Ah, yes. Hadn’t really thought of that.”
“You want to quit and run away.”
“No, quite the opposite,” he said. His eyes met with hers and held their gaze. They were beautiful, sparkling, hopeful, and scared, all at the same time. Most of all, Alex found himself unable to turn away.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Alex took her hands in his and decided to go for broke. Words bubbled out, but they were nowhere near as smooth as he’d envisioned. “You know, when I was outside, I got to thinking that maybe you’d like to spend some time with me instead of trying your luck with some random guy. I mean, I know that part was my idea, but it was a stupid idea, I think.”
Euryale giggled before having to blow her nose into another pillow. “Are you sure you know what you’re getting into?”
“I hope so,” Alex said, trying to contain the nervous energy brewing inside. “But it’s not like I’m proposing or anything.”
“No, you’re not. I’ll let you save that for tomorrow.”
Chapter Eight
Alex and Euryale managed to return to his home without petrifying anyone else. Once there, time passed for Alex far too quickly. Before he knew it, the night had long settled and four movies had played on his TV that neither of them had watched thanks to the endless conversation they were stuck in.
“And that is how you tickle the Charybdis,” she said, leaning back on the couch as she played with a viper.
“Nuts,” said Alex. “I can’t imagine trying that on a ship-eating monster.”
“Best you don’t,” she replied. “Excessive laughter makes him hungry.”
“More so than usual?”
“He’s a big guy. Burns a lot of calories for someone that big to roll with laughter.” The gorgon stretched and glanced toward the kitchen. “I’m a little parched. Can I get something to drink?”
“Of course,” Alex replied. “What’s mine is yours.”
Euryale went hunting for refreshment, and Alex wandered over to his piano and plopped down on the bench. Instinctively, he reached out to play a few runs, but his hands passed through the keys and not a note was played.
“This is so unfair,” Alex muttered. He looked at the bench where he sat at and then back to the piano. Once again, Alex raised his hands above the keys and dropped them down, only
to have them pass through once again. “Now that is bizarre.”
“What is?” Euryale said, coming back with a glass of orange juice.
“I can sit on this bench, but I can’t play a single note.”
“It’s no mystery,” she commented. “It’s always easier to sit on your ass than to do something.”
Alex cracked a half smile, but his heart was too heavy to keep it from fading. “This is worse than being on that slab. At least that’s over and done with. I’ll never play again.”
When Alex tried to play a third time, Euryale sat down beside him and held his hands. “Some things don’t change, Alex,” she said. “No matter how much you want them to.”
Alex slumped and resigned himself to her point, but it didn’t make him feel any better. “The subject can always be changed.”
Euryale placed his hands back in his lap and smiled. “For you, certainly,” she said. Her eyes scanned the room. She took to her feet and went over to an enormous mahogany hutch. She picked up an award plaque, studied it for a moment, and turned to Alex. “What’s a Marine jay-row-toc?”
“That’s JROTC,” he said. “It’s something I did in high school. Kids who want to join the military do it sometimes.”
“You were in the military?”
Alex shook his head. “No. Although JROTC was enjoyable at times, you can’t be a career officer and concert pianist at the same time. I had to pick one or the other.”
“I see,” she replied. “What did you get the plaque for?”
“Best platoon leader in a war game,” he explained. He laughed. “Spanked the tango with minimal losses.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” she said. Euryale put back the award, and her eyes drifted downward to a small, plastic pony that stood on a shelf. Before Alex could protest, she scooped it up and turned it about in her hand. “Oh, now this is far too serious for you, Alex,” she said. “Was it a toy of yours when you were little?”
“No,” Alex replied, his nerves mounting and his voice starting to waver as she gave it a few playful tosses in the air. “Mind putting that back?”
Euryale grinned and began galloping it across the hutch. “Not until you tell me whose it is,” she teased.
“I mean it,” Alex said with more force than he’d intended. “It’s old. The hinges are wearing out.”
Euryale stopped her playing but kept the toy in hand. “Calm down, Alex. I’m not going to hurt it, but I do want to know its history.”
“Would you please put it back?” he said as he rubbed his temples.
Euryale remained motionless, staring and not saying a word, and when Alex could take it no longer, he asked a question he already knew the answer to. “You’re not going to let this drop, are you?”
“No, I’m not,” she said with a smile. Euryale returned the toy to its home as if it were crafted by Apollo himself. “But take this as a token gesture of my goodwill.”
Alex relaxed as best he could. “It belonged to a girl I knew, okay?”
“And?”
“And her name was Jessica.”
“I’d like more than a name, Alex,” Euryale said.
A moment passed and neither moved.
“Gah.” Alex rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “She was my first and only love through school until she moved away. She gave it to me our last day together.”
“She sounds like she was special.”
Alex nodded. “She was.”
“What did your mother think of her?”
Alex shrugged. “Mom died before all of this.”
“Can I ask what happened to her?”
A hint of amusement touched Alex’s face. “You can ask.”
“But you won’t tell,” she finished.
“No. Not tonight, at least.”
“Shall we call it a night, then?” she offered with a stretch and a yawn. “That is, if you would be so kind as to provide me with a place to stay.”
Alex tossed her suggestion over a few times. Perhaps a rest would do him some good and a part of him—a large part—wanted to know what it would be like to wake next to her.
“There’s one thing you should know,” he said as he took to his feet. “And I hope you don’t mind, but there’s only one bed.”
“Only if you don’t mind sleeping with snakes.”
Chapter Nine
Alex woke. Euryale, still asleep, had her head resting on his chest and one arm thrown across his torso. Though the warmth of her body against his satiated a longstanding hunger of his lonely soul, the fact that her hair quietly slithered about his neck and shoulders gave him the willies.
“Euryale?” he said, gently reaching for her head as he argued with himself on how best to wake her. He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and let himself savor the moment. “Are you awake?” he eventually asked, opening his eyes.
“Awake?” she replied. Euryale lifted her head off his chest and gazed deep into his eyes. It was not fierce, but intense. And patient. Then she returned to her official snuggled position, running one of her hands up the side of his face and through his hair. “I am awake, Alex. The important question is whether or not you are awake.”
“Erm, yes,” Alex stammered. He wasn’t sure what to make of the gorgon who’d attached herself to him, or if he really wanted her to move. A glance down to the lower portion of his spiritual body showed that part of him really didn’t want her to move. The libido, it seemed, truly knew no bounds, but somehow ravishing her didn’t seem appropriate. Or wise. With a little luck, Euryale wouldn’t notice or take offense. “What do you want to do today?”
Euryale patted his head and sighed. “I’m content to stay here a while. Are you?”
Alex adjusted his position. Apparently, not having a body didn’t mean the soul was free from all forms of stiffness—memories from life, perhaps. “Does this mean we’re becoming a couple?”
“I hope we’re more than that,” she said. “At the very least, for the sake of your liver.” Euryale paused as one of her two red vipers tasted his nose. “But I tease. Will you give me your heart? You certainly can have mine.”
Alex balked at giving a reply. This was going far beyond anything he was familiar with, and Euryale was quick to pick up on it. “You can’t love me?” she asked.
“Sure, one day, right?” Alex said. He grimaced and quickly added to his reply. “Sorry, that sounded a lot worse than I intended. What I meant was, I’ve only known you a short while. I like you a lot, but love seems like a strong word, no?”
“Love is a strong word,” Euryale replied. “But we choose to love whomever we want, do we not?”
“I don’t know. Love always seemed like a feeling that you just knew was there when it was—like being hot or cold or happy or sad. Can you really choose it?” Alex’s admission surprised him as much as it appeared to surprise Euryale.
The gorgon slipped out of bed. There was a hint of fire in her eyes. “Would you rather have Jessica?”
Alex shook his head as he took to his feet, but even before his reply passed his lips, he wasn’t sure of his sincerity. “No. That was a long time ago. Anyway, I’m sure she’s moved on.”
“If you’d rather be with her, I understand. I’ll find someone else, but tell me now.”
“No. She’s not here. You are, and that’s what matters.”
Euryale narrowed her eyes. Her features seemed harsher, nails longer, and teeth sharper—a trick of the lights, Alex told himself. “Promise me that’s true, and I’ll believe you. Know this, however, nothing makes me angrier than being lied to.”
Alex, mind still reeling at how fast this morning was moving, sucked in a breath. “If part of me is stuck on her, I’d rather it not be,” he said softly. “I liked you from the moment I met you, and I’ll give you my best, whatever that’s worth. That’s all I can do. The rest will come with time.”
Euryale pulled him close and kissed him,
softly at first, but the pressure increased with the intensity of a volcano about to pop its top. Eventually she let him go and said, “That’s all I’ll ever ask, and that’s what you’ll always get from me. Everything will be wonderful. You’ll see.”
“Good.” Alex laughed. “Aren’t you worried I’m only courting you out of necessity?”
“If you are, you should be more worried than I,” she replied with a grin. “I know Father hinted at what he’d do to anyone who broke his little girl’s heart.”
“That’s the last thing I want to do,” he said.
Before Euryale could say anything else, the doorbell rang and Alex jumped. “Someone’s at the door,” she said, looking over his shoulder.
“Who on earth would that be?”
“Perhaps it’s Athena.”
Alex’s brow furrowed. “Why would she ring the bell?”
“Why not?” Euryale countered with liveliness in her voice. “It’s the polite thing to do in your culture, is it not? Shall we see who is calling?”
The doorbell rang again.
“Let’s not. Maybe they’ll go away.”
“Alex, that’s not very nice of you,” Euryale said, releasing her grip about his neck. She straightened her robes and grabbed her sunglasses and floppy hat. “I’ll answer it myself if I must.”
“You didn’t even want to be seen the other day, and now you’re going to entertain guests? In a house that shouldn’t even be occupied, I might add.”
“My heart soars. What can I say?” she replied as she headed downstairs.
Alex, unable to think, say, or offer any sort of protest, followed. By the time he reached the bottom of the staircase, the doorbell had sounded a third time.
“Well, speak of the Fates,” Euryale said, opening the door. “We were just talking about you.”
On the other side stood Athena, dressed in a leather cuirass and holding both spear and helm in hand. She wiped the sweat away from her forehead and gave an indifferent wave to Euryale. “Good morning, Alex,” she said as she stepped through the doorway. “I trust things with you are well?”
The Gorgon Bride Page 6
