by S. E. Babin
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
Out of Chills Aphrodite
A Between the Chronicles Novella
S.E. Babin
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by S.E. Babin
Copyright © 2016 by S.E. Babin
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To Michael J. Fox. It’s been 25 years and I still have a crush on you. Don’t worry. My husband knows.
Introduction
Thanks for hanging out with Abby once again!
If you’d like to be informed of new releases please head over to my website at sebabin.com and sign up for my newsletter. I never spam, but the nerdiness of my awesome newsletter might be too much for you. For that, I apologize.
Chapter 1
The letter arrived at my door, a fancy cream envelope with my formal name scrawled in elegant handwriting across the front of it. I bent down to scoop it up and shivered as a gust of cool mountain wind brushed across my shoulders. The longer I stayed on Earth, the more sensitive I became to things like temperature. The envelope was heavy, the material an expensive linen blend. I wasn’t the most popular gal around anymore after I broke away from Zeus and began working for Hades so I had no idea who this could be from.
I pulled my knitted shawl closer around my shoulders as I straightened and headed back inside. I shut the heavy wooden door behind me and padded on bare feet into my new living room. I couldn’t help but smile as I walked into my brand new house. My last one had been destroyed by some of the Twelve Olympians, but I’d paid them back in spades. Athena was shrunken down to a size where she couldn’t hurt anyone and Hestia was in Artie’s possession in five hundred years of servitude. Zeus had been knocked out of power after recent events so he no longer had any reason to hurt me. Well...he could and I guess he did have reasons, but he’d have Hades on his heels and after the events of a few months ago, I think Zeus would be smart enough to avoid that scenario. Plus he’d been banished from his kingdom for the next year.
I didn’t mind all that too much. The only thing to really bother me was the absence of Hermes. To save myself and the people I loved I was forced to make a deal. Typhon, Zeus’s son and Hermes’ brother, had a thing for me and to enlist his help I had to offer him the opportunity to win my hand. Of course, my timing was appallingly bad as it came right after Hermes had told me he loved me. When he found out he was understandably pissed.
And he’d broken up with me. Story of my life.
So I may have had a brand new house courtesy of Hades and my new gig, but I was single and all of my friends had gone on to do their own things.
Mostly.
A soft brush of wind erupted around me and I came face to face with Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, Geek Extraordinaire, and my very best friend. She had her own business now but stopped in frequently to hang out with me.
She pushed up her thick, black-framed glasses and peered at the invite in my hand. “Ooooh, a party!”
“How do you know? It could be a wedding.”
She shook her head and took the envelope from between my fingers. “Nah. This is Dionysus’ work. I can smell him on it.”
“Gross,” I muttered but didn’t question how she knew.
She slid open the envelope with practiced ease and pulled out a heavy orange colored invitation. “Dionysus requests your attendance at his annual Halloween ball. Costume is mandatory. BYOB unless you’re brave enough to drink what I’m offering.” A delicate shudder slid over her thin shoulders. “No thanks,” she murmured.
“Agreed.” Dionysus’ parties were legend and most of us avoided eating or drinking anything offered by him. He was notorious for spiking everything which led to some interesting Hangoveresque stories afterward. Fortunately, I’d never fallen down that particular rabbit hole, but I’d seen firsthand some of the destruction his parties had wrought.
A slip of vellum fell out from between the thick linen pages of the invitation. I bent down before Artie could and picked it up. It was a note addressed only to me.
Fair Aphrodite, Ariadne and I extend a personal plea to you for your attendance. We haven’t properly thanked you for your help and have high hopes you will grace us with your presence in our new home.
It was signed by Dionysus himself. I frowned. The last note I’d received from him had been a threat. Funny how the times changed.
Artie snickered. “A personal note, eh? You can’t refuse that.”
I wrinkled my nose and cursed. “I have no idea what to wear.”
Artie grinned widely. Her earlier reluctance blew away as she reveled in my predicament. Brilliant violet eyes sparkled with amusement. “The world is our oyster. We’ll figure it out.”
Chapter 2
Two Weeks Later
Artie stopped in her tracks. “No.”
I grinned at myself in the mirror, the unfamiliar beard making my face pull in odd directions. “Yes,” I said, my voice muffled underneath all the brown, glorious hair.
A strangled laugh escaped her. “You’re going to get us killed.”
I shrugged, one bare shoulder moving up and down. I adjusted the one strap of the toga on my other arm and pinned it tightly. “People should lighten up.”
Artie flopped down on my bed and flung her wand into my reading chair a few feet away. She was the perfect Hermione. Long glossy chestnut hair, prissy look. Hogwarts outfit and sensible shoes. “Nailed it,” I said as I studied her.
“Expelliarmus,” she muttered as she waved at me and sighed. “We aren’t people, Abs. We’re gods. Our sense of humor has never been found. We are anomalies, you and I. What we think is funny will likely get us chased out the door.”
I waggled my bushy eyebrows in the mirror and flexed a bicep muscle. “BUT I AM THE KING OF THE GODS,” I intoned, “SCREW WITH ME AND MY WRATH WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOUR HEADS IN THE GLORIOUS MUSIC OF DEATH.”
Artie slapped herself on the forehead. “Dead. Dead. We are so dead.”
I picked up my lightning bolt and winked at her. “Are we ready?”
She sighed and picked herself up. “You go first so I have time to get away once the death magic starts flying.”
Zeus was going to be so pissed. I caught one last glance at myself in the hallway mirror as we exited the house. I was the spitting image of Zeus himself. The lightning bolt was fake, but everything else was real.
That’ll teach people for forcing me to go to a party.
The door opened and Ariadne let out a high-pitched strangled choking noise. “Are you insane?” she hissed as she finagled her way out of the door, her fairy wings spraying glitter everywhere.
I gave her a blank stare. “I did
n’t want to come.”
Ariadne laughed in spite of herself. “I told Dionysus that wouldn’t go over so well.”
“Here I am.”
She studied me for a sec, shook her head and opened the door to let me in. “I would say something like May the gods be with you, but I don’t think they’re going to be much help this evening.”
Artie gave Ariadne a sheepish grin and a shrug. “You know I tried.”
Ariadne rolled her eyes. “I know.”
She led us into a full house. Heated stares, some amused, most appalled, followed us in. My power signature was very different from Zeus’ so even though I looked like him, the majority of people inside knew it was me. Whispers reached my ears.
“She’s insane.”
“That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in four centuries.”
“Zeus is going to kill her.”
“Dead. She’s so dead.”
“Oh my Gods. I need to hang out with that chick.”
Artie ducked her head as she followed behind us. A wide grin spread over my face. This was the best.
She led us to the kitchen and as the double doors flung open, a glass shattered as soon as Dionysus caught wind of my appearance. Rough hands grabbed me by the shoulders. “Change back. Now.”
I shook my head, the beard wisping around my face like a horse’s mane. “Nope.”
“Hermes is here,” Dionysus said in a flat tone.
My heart stuttered and stopped for a moment, then sped up and rolled like a freight train. With great effort, I kept my features calm and composed. “So?”
He let go of me and snorted. “I feel sympathy pains for the man who finally manages to tame you.”
“As do I,” an angry, yet oh so familiar voice came from behind.
I slapped a friendly, blank smile on my face and turned.
Hermes blinked once. Twice. A twitch of a tiny smile appeared on his face before anger flattened his look. “I’ve never been so turned on,” he said, deadpan.
Artie snorted in amusement. She grabbed a drink from one of the trays. “I’m going to get out of here before it gets Riddikulus.”
I rolled my eyes. “The puns! They burn!”
Dionysus patted me on the shoulder in his friendly, fatherly way and took Ariadne by the elbow, leading her out of the kitchen and leaving it just the two of us.
The awkward was strong between us.
I grabbed a drink before I could remember not to and drained it down in one swallow.
One of Hermes’ eyebrows rose. Even in costume, his handsomeness took my breath away. But his brilliant whiskey-colored eyes and tan skin were a little overwhelmed by the outrageous costume he was wearing. Makeup had slightly dulled the golden sheen and given it a pale and pasty glow. Dark gray and black makeup shadowed his eyes and ran down his face. Contouring hollowed out his cheeks giving him a decidedly dead look. His teeth were blackened and blood pooled around his mouth. Torn and bloodied clothes completed the look until I managed to glance at his stomach.
“You’re...pregnant?”
He grinned before he could stop himself. “Ah yes. I’m fully embracing all the gender roles. I just couldn’t bear to wear a wig and cover up all the gloriousness of my lovely golden hair.” He patted the edge of his protruding stomach, carefully avoiding touching the bloody limbs of the fake baby trying to eat its way out of his body.
“Nice,” I said even as I couldn’t control my cringe. A pregnant zombie. Super. Gross.
“Where’s Typhon?” he asked as if the awkwardness wasn’t already bad enough.
Anger sparked the beginnings of a fire in my belly. “I haven’t seen him in a few months.”
“Surprising.”
I grabbed another drink and threw it down.
“That probably isn’t smart,” he said.
He was right but I was past the point of caring. The kitchen door opened and a gorgeous creature came in. Dressed like Medusa, which I found hilarious but refused to acknowledge, was Dike, the “co-worker” I’d so handily ditched after our foray into the Underworld. I was never super excited about working with her anyway but I hadn’t meant to blow her off so effectively before talking to her about it. Hades wanted us to work together, but so far there hadn’t been anything to work on. I liked my own small group, thank you very much.
I watched as one green arm slid possessively around Hermes’ waist, carefully avoiding the freaky ass baby he had protruding out of his stomach. I swallowed once. Twice. Three times. I knew my nostrils flared in jealousy and I knew both Dike and Hermes caught it.
Damn it.
I took one more drink from the tray. “Well, I hope you two have a nice party.”
A wide knowing grin made itself at home on her pretty face.
“Oh, we will.” She turned to Hermes and pressed a slow kiss to his lips. “Won’t we, honey?”
I burst out of the kitchen like my tail was on fire. Magic shimmered on my skin as I took several deep breaths to slow it down. Artie saw me right away and headed over.
“I saw her go in. What happened?”
“He moved on.”
She took my hand and squeezed it. “So sorry.”
I stared at her. “She called him honey.”
Artie scoffed in disgust. “Gross.”
“Right?”
I slammed back my third drink.
“Shit,” Artie said with feeling.
“Game on,” I said. The Zeus’ costume shimmered away. I grew taller. My hair grew longer, darker, and straighter. My skin a touch more pale. My legs a little more slender and a touch more muscular in my calves and thighs. It was the costume to end all costumes.
The costume that caused men all over the world, mortal and immortal, to drop to their knees. My hair pulled itself up into a high braided ponytail that swept down past my waist, the toga disappeared into a sleek leather, barely there bikini complete with chains and a skirt.
Princess Freakin’ Leia and the slave costume. Fuzz crowded around the jealous thoughts rolling through my brain. I shouldn’t have had that third drink. Hell...I shouldn’t have had the first one. This was Dionysus’ party, King of the Spiked Drinks.
Wolf whistles rang out through the room.
“Much better!”
“Good. God.”
“Is that Aphrodite? Geezum Pete’s.”
That’s right, bitches, I thought to myself as I allowed the illusion to roll over my skin. I kept my face the same but boosted my glamour up a few notches. This was who I was.
The Goddess of Love.
And uncharacteristically drunk at one of the God of Excess’ party.
A hand gently took me by the elbow. “Erm, Abby?”
I turned to see Dionysus giving me a pleading look. “Can you turn that down a notch or so?” He adjusted his collar as I noticed the thin gleam of sweat on his upper lip. “You’re making the crowd a little itchy.”
And by crowd, I assumed he meant Ariadne who was staring serious daggers at me right now.
Crap. “Ah. Sorry.” I adjusted my glamour a little and watched as he shuddered in relief.
“Appreciate it.” A sheepish smile flitted over his lip. “I saw Dike walk into the kitchen.”
A frown touched my brow. “A little warning would have been nice.”
He cleared his throat and leaned in. “Zeus warned me not to tell you.”
Zeus was just the gift that kept on giving, wasn’t he? How had he managed this one when he was supposed to be gone? I loosened myself from his still firm grip and patted his arm. “It’s all right. This is a party. Let’s have some fun, shall we?”
His worried glance followed me as I walked away, Artie silently beside me.
My gaze filtered through the crowd. I knew most of the people there but wasn’t particularly close to any of them. After my gig with Zeus, most of my brethren tended to either avoid me like the plague or stick around for curiosities’ sake.
There.
Beside me, even through
the loud and raucous laughter of partygoers, I heard Artie’s sharp inhale of breath. She had the same reaction now as she did when we’d landed in his kingdom.
Hades stood a few feet away from me, breathtakingly handsome.
And dressed as an angel.
Genuine amusement had me snorting as I approached him.
“Hades,” I inclined my head.
He took my hand in his unnaturally warm one and brushed his lips against it. I shivered even though I tried to play it off. His icy silver eyes warmed as he noticed my reaction.
“Love the costume,” I said, unable to keep the smile out of my voice.
He leaned in and brushed the braid away from my shoulder as he whispered in my ear. “Give them what they want, I always say.”
I was not immune to the hotness of Hades even if he was my new boss. I shut my eyes briefly, tried to get my shit together and slapped a smile on my face. “The joke is on them,” I whispered back. Few of us knew Hades’ true identity and I had promised him to take it to my grave.
To see him so blatantly wearing his true identity around oblivious partygoers was both hysterically funny and a little bit terrifying.
Hades wasn’t merely the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. He was the mix of two souls - the God Hades and the Fallen Angel son of the Christian God.
I was standing next to the King of Sin - Lucifer himself.
And he was making it very difficult for me to concentrate. I told myself silently to calm down. I was boozed up and a whole lot lonely, and Hades was very happily married.
I slid my gaze in his direction only to see his intense gaze focused right on me.
Okay. Married. Maybe not happily.
I blew out a breath. He was just an intense kind of guy. That was all.
Artie cleared her throat in a not so subtle nod to be acknowledged. Hades started and turned his attention to her, but he was a little more careful in his attentions. He was well aware of the schoolgirl crush Artie had on him and he was careful not to nurture it.
