A Hush of Greek (Out of Olympus Book 4)

by Tina Folsom

Psyche caught Zeus’s gaze. He smiled unexpectedly and motioned to the spot where the three creatures had appeared. “Fairies. The servants of the gods.”

  Speechless, Psyche nodded. With every moment the truth became harder to deny. She was on Mount Olympus, Zeus had kidnapped her, and Eros, her boyfriend, was the god of love.

  She tipped up her chin, trying to be brave. “You haven’t answered my questions.”

  Zeus ran his eyes over her, and the scrutinizing look made her shiver. “No, I haven’t.”

  Two fairies suddenly reappeared, each carrying one glass that was as tall as the fairies themselves. The glasses contained a purple liquid.

  “Ah, our drinks,” Zeus announced and reached for the glasses. The fairies bowed and disappeared.

  He handed her a glass and Psyche took it, but didn’t drink from it. For all she knew it was laced with a drug. And she needed to keep a clear head.

  Zeus took a sip, then nodded to her glass. “If I wanted to poison or drug you, I would have already done so. Drink.”

  She hesitated, but knew he was right. If he had the power to transport her to this place, and to conjure up fairies, he had the power to drug or kill her if he pleased. She brought the glass to her lips and sipped tentatively. The liquid tasted of everything and nothing. She took another sip. No, it tasted of wine. And chocolate. And champagne, and coffee, and lemonade. She frowned. “What the—”

  “It tastes of whatever you want it to taste,” Zeus interrupted.

  “Are you reading my mind?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I’m simply interpreting your facial expressions. Not much magic to that. You carry your emotions on your sleeve.”

  Psyche glared at him. “Well, what am I thinking now?” she ground out, annoyed that he still hadn’t told her why he’d kidnapped her.

  Zeus threw his head back and laughed.

  Psyche slammed her glass onto a table next to a chaise longue so hard some of the ambrosia spilled. “Fine! Don’t answer my questions!” she snapped. “I mean, why would you? I’m just a woman you and your fellow gods played with. I’m assuming Hermes, Triton, and Dionysus are gods, too, and they were all in on the joke. Just feel free to make fun of me. See if I care!”

  Zeus’s expression turned serious. “Ah, but you do care. You care a whole lot.” He pointed to her eyes. “Your tears give you away.”

  “Does it give you pleasure to hurt me?”

  “It’s not you I want to hurt. It’s Eros.” His voice turned cold in an instant. “He wronged me. And now he has to pay for it. And if that means I have to take away his latest toy until he does what I tell him to do, so be it.”

  So she was only a means to an end. “And once he does whatever you want him to do?”

  “Aren’t you curious what I want him to do?”

  Psyche shook her head. She wasn’t going to give Zeus the satisfaction that he had indeed awakened her curiosity. Instead she rephrased her question. “What will happen to me afterwards?”

  Zeus shrugged. “That depends entirely on you.”

  She doubted that. “How so?”

  Zeus moved closer and reached for a lock of her hair, twirling it around his finger. “I’m always happy to offer options,” he drawled and leaned closer.

  Her heart hammered into her throat, and a gasp escaped her.

  He smiled. “I can assure you, no woman has ever left my bed unsatisfied. Neither shall you.”

  Psyche jerked back from him. “How dare you? I’d never sleep with you!”

  “Really?” He smirked. “Not even to get back at Eros for having cheated on you with his ex?”

  “How low do you think I’d—”

  He tsked. “I’m very charming and more powerful than Eros could ever be. Would you really pass up the opportunity to make the god of gods happy and reap untold advantages simply by spending a few hours between the sheets?”

  Her chin dropped at his brazen come-on. “If this is your best attempt at seducing me, then—”

  He was suddenly only inches from her, though she hadn’t seen him move. “Then what?” His voice was different now, tempting, imploring. A tingling sensation crept up her spine.

  “Stop it!” she choked out.

  “Why? Because you feel tempted?” He chuckled near her ear. “Or because you’re angry at Eros and want to hurt him? How about we hurt him together?”

  With all her strength, she shoved him back and held her arms out so he wouldn’t approach again. Something about Zeus’s words had suddenly cleared the fog in her mind. “Eros doesn’t care about me, or he wouldn’t have slept with his ex.” She took another breath. “So it wouldn’t hurt Eros if I slept with you. The only person it would hurt is me! And I’m not sleeping with a stranger just to get even. So touch me again, and I’ll kick you in the balls.”

  With raised eyebrows he stared at her for a long moment. “A woman with principles, I see. What a shame. Though, as a woman, you are of course allowed to change your mind. In the meantime, I’ll need to keep you under lock and key. We can’t have Eros waltzing in here and teleporting you back. That would defeat the purpose.” He grinned.

  Before Psyche could protest or say anything else, Zeus grabbed her.

  “No!” she screamed, but it was too late.

  36

  Eros stared at the fairy hovering a few feet away from him, while he paced Triton’s apartment. “Are you sure?”

  The tiny creature nodded. “Yes, oh mighty god Eros. The fairy dust leaves a clear trail to it.”

  He made an impatient hand movement. “Let’s dispense with all that mighty this and mighty that. You may leave.” As the fairy vanished, Eros turned to his friends. “That complicates things.”

  Hermes raised an eyebrow. “I’d say!”

  “I had no idea there was a secret chamber under Zeus’s all-seeing eye,” Dio threw in.

  Eros cursed, and Hermes put a hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t either, but it makes sense. If nobody knows of its existence, then nobody knows how to get inside. It must mean that you can’t just teleport in and break her out. That’s probably where he’s hidden all the other women he kidnapped over the centuries and kept until he was tired of them.”

  “Fuck!” Eros shoved a hand through his hair, while his mind spun, trying to find a way to get Psyche back. “Think, guys! How do we get in there? How do we open that damn eye so we can get Psyche out?” There had to be a way.

  “I’m afraid certain things aren’t within our powers,” Dio said. “That’s why we keep on having to kowtow to Zeus. Maybe his brothers can help.”

  Eros shook his head. “Hades won’t get involved. He’s not leaving his lair.” He glanced at Triton, who shook his head at the question Eros hadn’t even asked.

  “If we send my father to Olympus to help us, Zeus will smell a rat. He’ll know Poseidon is doing our bidding. He won’t let him get close enough to even get a chance at opening the eye—that is if he even could, which is questionable. The eye might only respond to Zeus’s will.”

  “Then who else is gonna help us?” Eros asked.

  There was silence in the room for a few moments, which was suddenly disturbed by a ringing cell phone. With an apologetic look, Hermes pulled his phone from his pants pocket and answered it.

  “Hey, baby, what’s up?” He listened for a few seconds, then said, “I’m sorry, but Eros needs me right now. Can’t you ask Hera to babysit for a couple of hours?”

  At the mention of Hera’s name, Eros shot Hermes a look. “That’s it! She’s almost as powerful as Zeus. And he’ll never suspect her, because he knows she doesn’t like me. So why would she help me?”

  Hermes squinted. “What?”

  But Eros didn’t answer and instead reached for Hermes’ phone and held it to his ear. “Penny?”

  “Eros?” Penny asked, sounding confused.

  “Listen, at the dinner at your house, when Hera showed up and you and Psyche were in the kitchen, what was Hera’s attitude toward Psyche?”r />
  “Attitude?”

  “Yes, was she hostile toward her?”

  “Oh! No, not at all. In fact, I think Hera was quite taken with her, particularly when she overheard Psyche say how beautiful Hera was. You know Hera: when another woman pays her a compliment she immediately develops a soft spot for her.”

  “Thanks, Penny. That’s what I wanted to hear.” He disconnected the phone and tossed it back at Hermes, who caught it.

  “Hey, I was talking to my wife.”

  “Call her back later,” Eros said. “But first, we need to talk to Hera. We need her help.”

  Triton scratched his head. “Didn’t you just say something along the lines of, ‘why would Hera help me when she doesn’t even like me’?”

  “She might not want to help me, but she likes Psyche. She’ll help her.” He was convinced of it. “Let’s get her down here and explain the situation to her.” Eros lifted his head toward heaven and called out. “Hera, oh mother goddess—”

  “Or we could just call her cell. I think she prefers that,” Dio said dryly and pulled out his cell phone. “I’ve got her on speed dial.”

  Eros rolled his eyes. “Fine, do it your way.”

  “Hera,” Dio was already saying into his phone, “Psyche needs your help. Can you meet me at Triton’s?”

  Dio had barely finished the last word, when Hera appeared in the middle of Triton’s living room, dressed in a simple, long, white, one-shouldered tunic.

  She glanced briefly at Eros and his three friends and said, “Oh goodie, my four favorite people. So I guess mentioning Psyche was just a ruse to get me here.”

  Eros took a step toward her. “No, it wasn’t. Your husband kidnapped her. And I need to get her back.”

  She didn’t appear surprised. After all, Zeus was known for kidnapping maidens whenever it pleased him. “I assume you know where he’s holding her?”

  Eros nodded.

  “Then what’s stopping you from teleporting there and snatching her back?”

  “He’s keeping her in a secret chamber below his all-seeing eye.”

  Hera arched an eyebrow. “So that’s where he’s been keeping his tarts all these years! That devious, no-good, rotten—”

  “Hera,” Eros interrupted, “as much as I agree with you, time is of the essence. We need to know how to open the eye and get into the chamber to free Psyche. You’re my only hope.”

  Hera hesitated.

  “Please,” Eros begged. “I love her.”

  Slowly a smile started forming on Hera’s lips. “Oh my. A mortal has brought you to your knees at last. So much so that you would beg me to help you. Never thought I’d live to see that.”

  She pointedly looked down at the floor, and Eros had no choice but to comply with her implied command. He dropped to his knees and bowed his head. “I beg you. Help me free her.”

  “I hope you know what you’re asking of me,” she said.

  Eros rose slowly. “Can you do it?”

  Hera nodded. “You have to trick the all-seeing eye into believing it’s Zeus who wills it to open. Once it’s open, getting into the chamber beneath only takes a leap of faith.”

  “How will you open it?” Dionysus asked curiously.

  “It takes something that belongs to Zeus to trick it,” she said.

  Hermes shrugged. “Like what?”

  “His semen.”

  “Ewwww!” Eros let out in disgust.

  Hera looked straight at him. “Imagine how I feel.”

  37

  Hiding in a closet in Zeus’s study while listening to Hera seduce her husband in the chamber next to it, wasn’t exactly the most pleasant thing Eros had ever done. But for the sake of Psyche’s safety, he suffered through the moans and grunts coming from the room next door. It felt like an eternity before the closet door finally opened and Hera appeared in front of him, her hair disheveled, her tunic torn. Involuntarily he arched an eyebrow.

  Hera’s face was flushed, and, judging by the satisfied glow that surrounded her, she wasn’t too unhappy about what she’d had to do.

  When she caught his look, she narrowed her eyes. “You still owe me. Don’t forget that.”

  “I’m forever in your debt.” Eros stepped out of the closet.

  “Hurry, we only have a few minutes before he’s alert enough to know I’m gone.” She rushed to the mirror-like disk in the floor and crouched down.

  Eros was close behind her, and watched as she rubbed her palm over the rim of the large disk. The mirrored surface changed, suddenly revealing the earth below. Hera rose.

  “It’s open. That’s all I can do,” she said. “Now it’s up to you.”

  Eros looked down into the eye. “I can’t see a chamber.”

  “That’s why it takes a leap of faith. Do you love her?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then jump.”

  He met Hera’s gaze, and their eyes locked for an instant. He didn’t know what to expect once he jumped, but he had to take that risk. Psyche was worth it.

  Eros stepped into the middle of the eye and fell. To his surprise, a second later he landed smoothly on both feet. Around him was only glass. A glass floor and glass walls, a room entirely suspended in the clouds.

  Eros spun around, his eyes already searching the modern abode. There were lush rugs, a comfortable sofa and chairs, small tables, a bed. Off to the side was a door into another room, though this room was encased with frosted glass for privacy. A bathroom most likely. But he didn’t give it a second look, because there, on the bed, was the one woman he wanted more than anything.

  “Psyche!”

  She jerked up from the bed, fully dressed, the skin around her eyes red. He ran to her. “I’m here now, gorgeous, I’m here.”

  Psyche shrieked and scrambled back on the bed. “How could you?”

  “Psyche, please, I’ll explain later. We have to get out of here.” He reached for her, but she struggled against him.

  “You cheated on me!”

  Eros locked his arms around her and pressed her to his chest. “I didn’t. It was all Zeus’s doing. Please, I’ll explain everything. I’ll answer all your questions, but we have to leave now, before Zeus realizes that I’m breaking you out.”

  Psyche lifted her head and stared at him. “I can’t bear to hear another lie.”

  Eros stroked his fingers over her cheek. “I won’t lie to you ever again.”

  Slowly she nodded.

  Eros lifted his head and reached up with one arm while holding Psyche firmly with the other. “Hera! Get us out of here.”

  From the glass ceiling a hand reached down into the room. Eros took hold of it and felt himself and Psyche being lifted in the air. A split second later, he and his precious cargo landed in Zeus’s study.

  Hera nervously looked over her shoulder. “Leave! Now! He’s waking.”

  “Thank you,” he said to Hera, before wrapping both arms around Psyche and teleporting them away.

  ~ ~ ~

  Slightly disoriented from being whirled through space—because that’s exactly how it felt—Psyche held onto Eros’s shoulders to steady herself. However, it wasn’t necessary: they had already landed in Eros’s living room back in Charleston, where the sun was just setting. She felt solid ground underneath her feet again and released a relieved breath.

  Her ordeal was over, and though it had lasted only a few hours, those hours had felt like the longest in her entire life.

  Easing herself out of Eros’s arms, which he seemed to allow only reluctantly, Psyche put a hand to her temple, trying to stave off a sudden feeling of vertigo.

  “You’ll get used to it I’m told. Sophia, Ari, and Penny quite enjoy teleporting these days,” Eros said.

  “Getting used to it would imply that I’m going to let you teleport me again, which I’m not!” she said, her throat tightening. “I’m not going anywhere else with you until I hear the truth. You lied to me about everything. About who you are, about our relationship, about ev
erything. About the other women—”

  Eros took her hand, stopping her. “No. There were no other women. I told you the truth when I told you that we were exclusive from the moment I met you. Nothing has changed since then. I haven’t touched or even thought about touching another woman.”

  “Then explain the naked woman in your bed! She didn’t just get there by herself!”

  Eros moved his head from side to side. “No, she had help with that. Zeus put her there to drive a wedge between you and me. And then he must have arranged it somehow for you to show up at home so you would find her.”

  “He came to my shop. He showed me a photo.”

  “Well, that explains it. I had no idea that she was there. I saw her the moment you saw her. Believe me.”

  Relief traveled through her, but she had more questions, and there was no time like the present. “Why would Zeus do that?”

  “To force my hand,” Eros said cryptically.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “By making you doubt my commitment to our relationship and then kidnapping you, he knew I would do anything to get you back before he could turn you against me and… and…” Eros cast her a cautious look.

  “And what?”

  Eros chest heaved when he finally asked, “Did he touch you?”

  Psyche froze.

  Eros’s jaw stiffened visibly, and he clenched his fists. “I’m going to rip him into a million pieces!”

  “He didn’t.”

  Eros ran his eyes over her, as if trying to physically see whether or not Zeus had touched her.

  “He tried to seduce me, telling me how much more powerful he was than you. And how much better in bed.”

  A growl ripped from Eros’s throat. “That fucking—”

  Psyche put her hand on his forearm, cutting him off. “He’s a pompous ass, and even if he were the last man in this world, I wouldn’t let him touch me. He’d have to force me.”

  She’d barely finished her sentence when Eros pulled her against him and hugged her tightly. She allowed it for a moment, then pushed back. “You haven’t told me everything yet.”

  Eros took a step back and nodded. “You’re right. But we don’t have much time. Zeus won’t give up. And I need to know you’re with me. So ask me what you need to know and I’ll tell you.”