by S. E. Babin
I snapped my fingers and produced our employment contract. “This. This is the reason why.”
“And has there never been a single person in the universe involved with their employer?”
I waved the tea box at him. “Stop with all your crazy logic!” I stomped my feet in annoyance. “I never should have turned the glamour on. I should never have used it against anyone, especially not you.” I lowered the box. “You have to believe me. I didn’t mean to do it.”
The only explanation behind his aggressive pursuit was the magic. It had to be.
I watched him warily as a myriad of emotions crossed his face.
“Plus, you have a wife. One I plan to find very, very soon.” The strange man’s words came back to me. Hades could find her if he really wanted to.
So why didn’t he want to?
My words appeared to hit him like a bucket of cold water. “Right,” he muttered more to himself than me. “Right you are then.”
He motioned for the tea and I lobbed it at him like a softball. He caught it with a deft hand and went to work making himself a cup while I stood frozen in my kitchen staring at him like a rabbit studies a wolf.
When he’d finished and I could move my feet again, he asked me to join him at my bar. I sat a few chairs away and studied him.
“Zeus requested I turn over Cupid. I refused at first knowing the reasons behind his captivity. Zeus made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” A sardonic smile crossed his face at the movie reference.
“What offer was that?” I knew full well how Zeus operated. Cupid probably had something he wanted again.
“I know what you’re thinking and it isn’t that. Sometimes my brother can be...magnanimous.”
I snorted. That was definitely not a word I’d associate with Zeus.
“As hard as it is to believe, it’s true.”
“And what happens with her?”
He took a sip of his tea and sighed. “Whatever Clotho did to her seems to have worked. She has no memory of the trauma and no memory of the captivity. For her, it is like it never happened. In fact, as strange as it is to say, it really never happened. Clotho is a powerful being indeed. The other women have also been cleared. They are all back home and have gone back to their lives.”
I waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, I nudged him. “You didn’t answer my question.”
He grinned, white teeth gleaming against his olive skin. “Tomorrow afternoon, she will receive a letter in the mail from a Great-Aunt she wasn’t aware she had with an inheritance in the millions. She will be able to quit her job, move wherever she wants and spend however she wishes without ever having to worry about money ever again.”
I sat back in my chair stunned. “And Cupid?”
His jaw tightened. “Cupid learned a tough and permanent lesson about his particular penchant for abusing women. Say what you will about Zeus. There are some things he will not tolerate.”
I scratched my nose as I sat in thought. “He agreed to let me handle it.”
Hades shook his head. “Your point about Zeus being culpable bothered him more than you could ever know. He felt like he had to make this right. Not for you, not for her, but for himself.” He reached over and patted my hand and even that small gesture sent shivers down my spine. “Your words reached him, Abby. He spent many, many years as an uncaring and power-hungry fool. Perhaps your influence has shaped him more than he would like to admit.”
I frowned. “So Cupid is dead?”
Hades grinned then and his chest rumbled with quiet laughter. “I can’t say what Zeus did to him in the beginning but I know in the end, he received a taste of his own medicine. He shot Cupid in the heart with his own arrow and turned him loose in Medusa’s lair.”
My eyes widened. I’d released my spell on Cupid before turning him over to Clotho because I wasn’t a total monster. Or at least I tried not to be. For Zeus to force Cupid to fall in love with Medusa would have ended him as soon as it began.
Hades nodded as if he read my mind. Which, knowing him, he probably did. “Cupid died loving a monster with the hair of snakes and the cold touch of death.”
“So he stands as a statue in her lair?”
Hades shook his head. “Zeus wouldn’t risk it. He removed the statue, shattered it and scattered it.” He set his teacup down and stood. “Would you like to see him?”
I blinked not quite following him. He grinned and helped me from the chair. He wouldn’t relinquish my hand so I let him hold it for awhile.
It was comforting.
Hades clicked open the latch on my back door and led me outside. My heart pounded faster as I looked around for anything weird.
“Relax,” he whispered and clicked off the deck light. Hades walked over and pulled out a chair for me. I sat down and waited for him to explain what this was all about. When he pulled up a chair beside me, he leaned in and pointed to the sky.
“Look up.”
I did. “Oh my gods,” I breathed. “That is so going to make the news tomorrow.”
Above me glittered a galaxy made of stardust and new stars at least a mile wide. It spanned the entire length of my vision. It glittered brightly in the clear night sky with blues, greens, and shades of silver.
“It’s a shame he got to be pretty,” I said.
Hades choked on a laugh. “There is that. Each of those pieces is a shattered chunk of stone from Cupid’s body. If you look over here-” he pointed over to the right-hand side where a mass of blue and silver dust had formed the hazy shape of an arrow, “all of those stars represent one of his victims. Mortal and immortal.”
He paused and let that sink in for me. I gasped as the implications hit me. “All of his matches have been undone?”
The world would be thrown into chaos.
“Most. Not all.”
“Zeus was angry.” It seemed an inadequate statement.
“Enraged. Furious at both Cupid and himself. He was angrier he’d let it go on for so long, allowed Cupid to abuse his power like that. He felt this was one of the only ways to send a message to others out there.”
“So everyone knows?” It seemed unlike him not to cover this up.
Hades shrugged. “Everyone in Olympus at least. There are some people treading on thin ice.”
“This was an incredible thing to do,” I mused. “And quite the message to send.”
“To keep people from flipping out too much, Zeus plans to make this display in the sky a once in a decade event. Long enough for humans to get used to the idea of it and look forward to it coming around, but short enough for the immortals to get a jarring reminder of where they could wind up if they don’t get their act straight.”
It was brilliant. And it had been awhile since Zeus scattered someone to the stars. Never had it been this pretty, though. Perhaps Zeus had a touch of the poet inside him as well. I still wasn’t ready to forgive him for his past actions, but this had given me some food for thought.
Hades was a much better boss, though. As long as he kept the lines between us professional.
I took a deep breath and made a silent promise to myself to try to not ramble. “You understand why we shouldn’t have…” I paused and cringed as I couldn’t find the right word to describe what he wanted us to have.
“Relations?” It was dark outside but I could still see his teeth gleaming as he smiled.
“Yes.” I sighed. I was so lame.
“Of course I do. And I fear I must apologize to you as well. I should never have approached you in such a manner or made you feel pressure to do something you didn’t want to do.”
My brow furrowed. Did he not think I was attracted to him? Should I even clarify that? “It must have been the last remnants of magic,” I said instead. “I don’t blame you for your actions.”
Hades stiffened beside me. “Of course it was,” he said after a moment. “How silly of me to forget.”
I stared at him in suspicion. He didn’t sound convinced, did he? �
�Do you think it was something else?” My heart picked up speed. “Oh gods, do you think Cupid -”
“Abby. Stop. No. Of course it was the remnants of your glamour. Nothing else.” He stood abruptly and left me sitting there. “I must return to the Underworld. I will visit soon. Persephone must be found. She must reclaim her seat upon the throne.” He shoved his hands in the pocket of his jacket making him look dejected. I couldn’t see him very well in the starlight but he looked almost...sad.
“And soon,” he said in finality. “Once that has happened, we will reexamine your contract. I suspect your deal with Typhon will soon come to bear which could affect your ability to work for me.”
I groaned. “Thanks for reminding me.”
A deep chuckle split the air. “Farewell, lovely Abby.”
Hades disappeared like a thief in the night leaving me a little unnerved and with a whole lot of questions left unanswered.
Chapter 9
I shut the back door behind me with a soft snick and I padded back into the living room feeling completely discombobulated. On one hand, Hades’ actions made him a much better boss than Zeus had ever been, but the major sticking point of our unfortunate attraction niggled at me. Or my unfortunate attraction, I had to admit. Hades never admitted anything and appeared ready to jump at any explanation for our weird makeout session.
Except the only explanation revolved around me and my stupid uncontrollable magic. Didn’t it? I shook my head and wandered into the living room only to stop abruptly at the sight that greeted me. Artie sat curled up on the couch staring slack-jawed at the man sitting across from her.
I didn’t recognize him, but the power signature waving off of him was so strong it made me sway on my feet. I took one more cautious step into the room. “Errr, can I help you?”
He was handsome in a woodsy, lumberjack way, sporting a massive white beard and bushy white eyebrows. But danger lurked beneath the surface of his stormy gray eyes. Other things too. A kind of wild violence both exhilarating and terrifying. I had no idea who he was but danger sparked across my nerves. I would have to be careful around him.
“Aphrodite?” His voice boomed, deep and low inside of my living room.
“Depends on who’s asking,” I said, not trying to be smart but ready to run if he was looking for me for the wrong reasons. These days any strange visitors showing up in my living room either brought bad news or tried to kill me. Not necessarily in that order.
Staring at the knowing gleam in his eyes this man knew exactly who I was. The question was, who the heck was he? I sighed and plopped down into the chair opposite him. He hadn’t hit me with any magic yet, but the night was still young.
Longest. Halloween. Ever.
The man grinned, his white teeth mostly concealed under the sheer bushiness of his massive beard. But I could see his cheeks push up and his eyes crinkle at the corner. It was like the Brawny paper towel guy in the flesh. Maybe a little older but he had the same theme going on. Missing the flannel shirt, though. I wondered if I should mention that to him.
Probably not.
“Can I help you?”
He leaned forward in a casual way and rested his crossed hands on his knees. The look he gave me was probing and searching and it made me feel exposed and vulnerable.
“You know my son.”
I knew a lot of sons. “You’re going to have to elaborate.”
“Hades. You’ve been working for him for a little while now.”
I almost swallowed my tongue because there was no freaking way. No. Freaking. Way. This couldn’t be who I thought it was.
Could it?
“Oh yes,” he said in a quiet, deadly tone. “I’m exactly who you think I am.”
Artie turned wild, helpless eyes to me.
God or...the Christian God. Not Zeus. Or Cronus. Or...I rubbed my palms against my eyelids.
“Well,” I croaked out, “what a pleasant surprise. May I offer you some tea?”
God snorted in amusement and leaned back in his chair. “Please relax. I am not here on any official sort of business. Not really.”
Easy for him to say. I was at the point where I didn’t know if I’d ever relax again. And here I thought I had a break when I switched from Zeus to Hades.
“So no tea, then?”
One decisive shake of his head sent his majestic hair fluttering against his massive shoulders. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
“I do know your son,” I said after I stifled the hysterical giggle welling up inside me.
“Quite. He seems....taken with you.” He paused before finishing his sentence.
I tilted my head in curiosity and wondered where he was going with this. The only thing I could think of was our impromptu makeout session but then that morphed into well how did he find out about that? And then that devolved into Abby you’re an idiot. You’re sitting in the presence of an omniscient being, one who obviously has more power in his little finger than you do in your entire body and you’re wondering how he managed to find out about your little smoochy smooch?
A frozen smile appeared on my face while my brain struggled to form the proper words. How did he feel about premarital shenanigans?
I scratched my nose and wished a hole would appear in the ground and swallow me up.
I finally went for honesty. “I don’t think that’s quite the case. I helped him out with an...issue and he hired me for some future work.”
He gave me a patient smile that told me he knew I was lying through my pretty little teeth.
“You know who I am, Aphrodite. I don’t think you should waste my time lying to me.” His words were gentle. His tone was not.
I was screwed.
“Fine.” I blew out a breath. “I got angry at a party and turned my glamour on full blast and it affected...everyone.” I paused and turned my gaze to his curious one. “Including Hades.”
“Ah, I see.” And the problem was I knew he could see. Right through to my confused little heart and my muddled thoughts.
“You are aware he is otherwise married?”
I laughed helplessly. “I apologize for affecting your son’s judgment. It was never my intention.” I swallowed hard. “It will never happen again.”
He scratched the side of his face and studied me. With a simple wave of his finger, magic swelled in the air. Artemis disappeared from the room.
I stiffened in my chair. A trickle of alarm began to beat its way through my veins.
He raised a hand. “Fear not. She is fine. I just wanted this opportunity to speak with you. Privately.” He stood.
I tensed in my chair. “You could have just asked her to leave.”
God shrugged. “It was more fun this way.”
I eyeballed him. What was this guy’s deal?
“Have you ever meet Persephone?” he asked, his tone mild and completely unconcerned with the disappearance of my friend.
“A few times.” I’d met a lot of people during my day but getting to know Persephone on a personal basis had always eluded me. Of course, it was hard not to hear rumblings about those two, but when I did hear something it was always something positive. I thought they were in love. Now I wasn’t quite so sure.
“She does not suffer amnesia like my son told you.” He walked around my kitchen examining things as if he were in a foreign country and had no idea what a pot was. Perhaps he didn’t. Was God even married?
I blinked in surprise. “Is Hades aware?” He shouldn’t have been telling me these things. He should be telling his son.
“Hades is more aware than you give him credit for.”
Which told me absolutely nothing except something I already knew.
“I’m not sure why you’re here.” I was ready to go soak in the tub for about a week. I wanted everyone gone.
He put down the fork he’d been studying in great detail and turned to me. “You have had a strange life, Aphrodite. At first vain and needy. Vicious and cruel.”
I ma
de a noise of dismay. Who wanted their past regurgitated by a stranger in their kitchen? Not this girl.
He smiled at me. “Then something happened. You turned the corner a bit. You became more sensitive to the plight of others. Less inclined to participate in cruelty. Yet still so very, very vain.”
I glared at him. “Thanks.” My tone was clipped and dry.
He chuckled. “I haven’t finished. And then you fall into a trap set by the immortals themselves and you come back to the world you so disdain. Why is that?” He picked up a rose quartz salt shaker Clotho had given me and studied it. “Why have you not used the spell Zeus gave you?” His stormy gaze met mine. “Why are you still immortal, precious Abby and not walking among the humans?”
I swallowed hard. My heart beat like hummingbird wings in my chest. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He crushed the quartz in his hand much to my dismay and the pieces of pink mixed with the tiny grains of sea salt fell into a pile on my counter. He picked some of the mixture up and held it in his palm. “This is life. These grains of rock and crystal. These tiny particles represent moments and time. And every single day, they fall away from you.” He tipped his palm slightly, allowing several grains to slip out of his hand and tink almost silently to the counter top. “And yet, you hold immortality so all the grains of rock and crystal mean less and less to you each day. Because you know you have more. You always know you will live forever.” He let the rest of the mix fall. “Is this why you hesitate? Is this why you won’t take that step? Are you afraid of the world, Aphrodite? Of what humanity will do to you?”
“I - I’m not sure how to answer that.” I sat up straighter in my chair. “Nor am I sure how it is any of your concern.”
He stepped out of my kitchen, sat down beside me and positioned his body so he faced me. I longed to inch away from him. “My son is not immortal.”
I scoffed. “Of course he is.”
“No. He is something more.”
“More how?” I asked, genuinely curious. And why had he changed the subject away from Persephone?
“He is a product of me. A product of divinity. He is built from the skies and the land, from misdeeds and heroics. He will never be just immortal.”
