Blood of Zeus: (Blood of Zeus: Book One)

by Meredith Wild

  I’m so confused. So scared.

  Maybe he’ll see me differently once he knows everything. Maybe he’ll feel betrayed by all my secrets. But maybe he’ll keep looking at me the way he does now, like he’d walk through fire for me. Like I’m the piece he’s always been missing, the way he’s been mine.

  I glance down at the street directly below. The sidewalks are littered with debris from the storm last night. People pass by every once in a while. Probably straggling home after a wild Saturday night. None of them loiter too long. That means, thankfully, that none of the paparazzi have figured out Maximus’s whereabouts yet. Maybe the story is already old news and people are forgetting about his involvement with the one Valari who’s tried so hard to be forgettable.

  I close my eyes and rest my forehead against the glass. If only those photos had never been snapped to begin with. Everything would be different. We’d have more time… Time is the one thing I’d pay nearly any price to have more of right now.

  There’s a sharp knock on the door.

  I jolt and slam a hand to my chest, where my heart bangs frantically against my ribs. I glance toward the corner of the studio, where Maximus groans into his pillow. He’s still half asleep. A rush of hope joins the terror in my pulse. Maybe, if I submit swiftly and quietly to Arden, Maximus will slumber right through this. Maybe he’ll only think of me as the flaky student who screwed him and dropped out on him instead of the cruel creature who left him with the male she was really promised to.

  A second knock. Louder. Harsher.

  I jump again but swallow hard and move slowly to the door. On my way, I keep the tears down by telling myself to remember the small details of everything I pass. Books in bookcases, bracketed by natural stone bookends. Between them, framed pictures. One of Maximus and Jesse on the beach. Another of Maximus with Reg from the store and a pretty woman I’ve never met. The striations of blond wood between the darker slats beneath my feet.

  All the little things…that will be the details of my only happy thoughts from now on.

  With a shaky hand, I turn the handle and open the door a fraction.

  It’s… Who is this guy?

  The man greets me with a curious smile, tilting his head to the side as if he expects me to recognize him any second. But I don’t. I’m certain I’d remember him. He’s dressed well, if a little strangely for an early Sunday morning, in a dusty beige suit. His eyes are a deep ocean blue, mesmerizing me from under his straw fedora. His overgrown copper hair is tucked behind his ears, a glimmering contrast to the grays that dominate his trimmed goatee.

  Hope blooms around my racing heart. Maybe he hasn’t come for me. Still, he doesn’t look like someone who’d be in Maximus’s close circle, which, as far as I can tell, is rather small.

  “Well, hello there,” he drawls.

  “Uhhh…hi.”

  “And who might you be?” His voice is textured and deep, but it has a lightness to it too, like he expects to burst into laughter at any moment. The boyish smirk accentuates the lines around his eyes and mouth.

  His entire presence, so full of confidence but contradictions, is beyond disarming. I finally overcome my curiosity to manage an answer.

  “I’m Kara.”

  “Kara.” He lifts an eyebrow before giving me a quick once-over. “Hmm. That’s lovely. You’re very nice.”

  I cross my arms over my chest. He chuckles softly.

  “Don’t worry. It’s just a compliment. My wife keeps me on a tight leash these days. Besides, I came to see Maximus. Is he home?”

  I blink a few times. “Oh.” I open the door wider and let him pass through.

  He saunters in with a casual air about him that makes me wonder if he’s been here before—or several times before.

  I remember that Maximus is still sleeping just as he proves otherwise and sits up in the bed. His hair is mussed and his eyes are tired, but they’re just as striking as ever. I allow myself to enjoy the visual of his chiseled chest above the sheet he knots around his waist before he marches toward us. Except he doesn’t look too thrilled with our sudden company.

  “Who are you, and what are you doing in my apartment?”

  Oh shit.

  My heart beats up my ribs again. If Maximus doesn’t know this man, who is he? He said he wasn’t here for me. I believed him. For some reason, I still do…

  The man tucks his hands into his pockets, making no move to leave. “My, my, my, Maximus Kane. How you’ve grown.”

  I feel the shift on the air as Maximus’s alarm twists into confusion. It takes over his face, freezing his bold features. “Excuse me?”

  “You…don’t remember me?”

  “Should I?”

  The man shakes his head again, some of his good humor fading. Already, I pick up on the disappointment he’s fighting to hide.

  “My dear brother must have tinkered with your memories.” He blows out a tense breath through his nose. “Of course he did. It doesn’t matter.” He waves his hand gracefully. “Not right now, at least. We can resolve that, given a little time.”

  But Maximus isn’t reassured. “You need to leave,” he growls.

  The man ignores him. Blatantly. He takes off his hat and walks toward the window I’d occupied moments ago. “Aren’t you curious about who I am?”

  “If you think we know each other, you must be a lunatic off the street, because I’ve never seen you before in my life. This is your last chance. Get the hell out, or I’ll remove you myself.”

  The man laughs at that, shooting his deep-blue gaze back to Maximus. “I don’t think so.”

  Maximus flares his nostrils at the challenge. I can sense he’s ready to snap into action seconds before he does, crossing the distance to this strange visitor. The man doesn’t recoil. His expression doesn’t change. He barely moves except to raise his hand when Maximus is a mere inch away.

  I scream when Maximus is launched backward so hard and fast that the couch he lands on is also sent several feet back. He’s breathing hard now. When he looks over to me, we share a silent exchange. What the hell just happened?

  “How did you…”

  Maximus’s voice is barely a whisper, but the man hears it.

  “Because I’m a god. That’s how.”

  Maximus grips the couch cushion and leans forward. His gaze is flared. His chest is still heaving.

  The stranger drops into a leather chair, crosses his legs, and rests his chin on his fist. “We have a bit in common, you and I. Incomparable strength. The ability to miraculously heal.” A soft smile returns. “And calling forth the weather with our passions, it would seem.”

  “The weather.”

  The man rubs his fingers together absently. Tiny bursts of electricity snap from them. He seems oblivious to the anomaly, his attention instead pulled to the storm-battered trees lining the front of the apartment complex.

  “That was quite the storm you whipped up last night, my boy. Thank goodness. Otherwise I might have never found you.” His gaze lands on me next. “Must have been quite a night.”

  I bite my lip, which does nothing to stop the flush creeping up my cheeks. He has no idea…

  “Who. Are. You?” Maximus grits it out, straightening himself to standing once more.

  The man twirls his hat on his knee. “Well, you could call me Dad. But seeing as you have no memory of me, maybe we can start with Zeus. Though the people around here look at me a little strangely when I introduce myself that way. How about Z? That has a modern ring to it.” His smile broadens. “Yeah. I think I like the sound of that.”

  Maximus pales. Fists and unfists his hands anxiously. Shakes his head but says nothing. He simply stares at the man in stunned silence. I’m not even sure he realizes what’s happening. The total truth that he’s just been hit with. That this stranger isn’t a stranger at all. Moreover, that he’s not only Maximus’s father. He’s precisely who he proclaims to be.

  And I believe him. With every molecule of my being, I belie
ve him—not just because I have the most accurate bullshit detector in the room. Because, more importantly, it explains everything. Everything I was too lovestruck and scared to piece together before.

  Maximus is the son of Zeus.

  Zeus.

  The king of gods. Walking among men. In Los Angeles.

  And right now, sitting in Maximus Kane’s living room.

  “Holy shit,” I mumble.

  Maximus shoots me an exasperated look. “You believe this horseshit?”

  One second into my own stunned silence, and I’m convinced he knows I do.

  “Maximus—”

  “Kara! Oh, come on!”

  “It makes sense.”

  I take a step closer, sensing Z doesn’t intend to do us any harm unless he’s attacked. In which case, he can obviously hold his own.

  “Your strength,” I murmur, taking Maximus’s hand. “Your mental stamina… Hell, your stature.” And all the other little things that should have tipped me off, had they been slightly more believable in the moment. Most of all… “This explains us. The connection. The fact that we both felt it, not just me.”

  Maximus’s shock melts into a grimace of frustration. He steps back from me, stabbing both hands through his hair. “Why would this nutcase have anything to do with us?”

  The corners of Z’s lips curve up. “Oh, this is precious.” He lobs an amused half grin in my direction. “Don’t tell me he doesn’t know.”

  I’m the one breathing hard now. Does he know? Of course he knows. He’s fucking Zeus. And if I didn’t believe it before, I worry he’s about to prove it. Shit. He really is about to prove it.

  Maximus pins me with another taut look. “What don’t I know?”

  “Maximus.” I manage to stammer that much, but tears clog my throat and blur my vision. “I—”

  I what? Was going to tell him? I can’t lie to him. Not now, when he’s dealing with the fact that his own parents did the same for twenty-seven years.

  “Kara? What don’t I know?”

  Z beats me to the truth, filling the moment with an exaggerated sigh. “My dear boy, I’m afraid you’ve just been to bed with a demon.” His gaze lingers on me. “Never had the pleasure, actually.”

  Maximus takes a step toward him and points threateningly. “You’d be wise to keep your eyes and hands off her.”

  Z raises his hands in mock surrender. “Come now. I wouldn’t dream of it. Demons aren’t really my type. If you think humans are complicated…”

  Maximus turns, facing me down now. “Kara.” Something in his eyes softens, like maybe he’s silently begging me to tell him his father is fantastically wrong. That this is all crazy talk. Oh, how I wish I could tell him that.

  Instead, I swallow over the painful knot in my throat, cast my stare down to my bare feet, and rationalize that there’d never be a good time to tell him. This situation has been so fucked up. So royally wrong—but beautifully right—from the very start.

  “He’s telling you the truth. He’s telling you what I should have a long time ago.”

  Several tense seconds pass. I almost wish Arden would show up now and save me from what Maximus’s expression might hold. If I could just skip all the judgment and pain and hurt I’ve imagined passing between us when this moment finally came…

  But when I do look up, he’s a canvas of bewilderment. Just as beautiful and vulnerable as he’d been hours ago, making passionate love to me. His eyes are wide and stunned. His lips part to accommodate the harsh breaths he’s taking in.

  “A demon.”

  “Yeah.” My voice is thick with tears. “Mostly.”

  “All right.”

  I gulp hard, wondering why the ball of shock doesn’t rip my windpipe open. “All…right?”

  “Well, what does that mean exactly?”

  Z sinks his cheek onto his hand again, rapt and waiting like he’s dropped in just in time for story time at the public library.

  “What you read in my grandfather’s screenplay… Well, it was true. Partly true, anyway. He didn’t mate with my grandmother as a price for his freedom. He’d already escaped hell, and she was his punishment for getting away with it. She was sent to seduce him. She became pregnant with my mother before he suspected who she truly was.”

  “And who was she?”

  I close my eyes briefly. “A succubus. A demon sent in the female form.”

  “His punishment was breeding with a demon. Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Part of it…” My voice trails off as we get closer to the darkest part of this truth.

  His jaw tightens. “What else?”

  “When he found out about the pregnancy, he chose to stay. He wouldn’t abandon his family, even if that meant eventually living in near exile from the rest of us. Even if that meant sticking around, knowing an incubus would eventually come for my mother.” My lower lip trembles. “And for me.”

  His color is back to a warm, healthy flush. His muscles are coiled tight like he’s ready to fight. I can hardly see the blue in his eyes for how blown out his pupils have become.

  “No.”

  Everything’s tied up around that one word. His disbelief. My rebellion. The inevitable consequences of both.

  Z’s countenance has turned into a cringe that nearly matches my own. “Well, damn. That’s not good.”

  Max whips his glare to him. “Why are you still here?”

  “Actually, you should be grateful I am.” The older man rises with a sigh. “I might be the only one who can get you out of this mess. And believe me, this is a mess.” He lifts his brows high and checks his watch. “Looks like I arrived just in time. Or perhaps a touch late.” He casts his gaze to me. “Does your family know?”

  I shake my head. “No. I mean, I don’t think so.”

  “But they will soon.” Z states it as the fact it is.

  “Yes.” I dip a shaky nod. “He’s already here.”

  “Who’s here?” Maximus asks.

  “Arden. He’s the incubus. He was sent for me.”

  His gaze is raging cobalt. “You knew about this?”

  “I didn’t know why he was here until last night.” I can’t help being defensive about it.

  “Over my dead body will I let him have you.” He growls the promise like it’s truth etched in stone.

  “It’s too late for that anyway,” Z chimes in. “If you’ve been together, then she’s already defied the edict of Hades himself.” With a soft but annoying cluck of his tongue, the king of the gods glances down at the sheet slung low over his son’s hips. “Breeding out her humanity is a moot point. This kind of rebellion is cause for punishment of the worst kind. They’ll be booking her a ticket to the underworld the moment they catch wind of this.”

  Maximus paces to the door and pivots. He drags his hand over his mouth. “This is insane.”

  “I get it,” Z says. “Trust me. I do. You should hear about some of the crazy shit I’ve gotten myself into over the years.” He follows Maximus to the door, placing his hat back on his head. “We should grab a beer. I could tell you some stories—”

  “I don’t care about your stories or your crackpot theories about my parentage, all right?”

  Z answers with a contemplative purse of his lips. Then, “Listen, I’m nothing if not an eternal romantic.”

  I resist the urge to roll my eyes. If half the stories are true, womanizer is the better word.

  “This whole situation with your little devil…” He gestures toward me. “Let me make some calls. I might be able to get this sorted out.”

  Maximus laughs roughly. “Who the hell are you going to call? The god of the underworld?”

  “Hades and I are in fact on speaking terms at the moment, which isn’t always the case. I can’t say the same for my other brother.” His smile is tight then. “But we can talk that through another time.”

  Maximus reaches for the door and swings it open. “Out.”

  “Maximus.” I rush to him, ignit
ed by a surge of desperate—and probably dangerous—anticipation. Still, I latch on to his arm, clutching as deeply as his clenched muscles will allow. “Wait,” I plead. “Please, just wait.”

  “Wait for what? I think we’ve both entertained enough of this, don’t you?”

  “Let him help.” Fresh tears burn at the back of my eyes. But this time, they’re made of hope. My last hope. “Please. What can it hurt?”

  A valid question. What can it hurt—because by now, I’m probably screwed in a thousand and one ways.

  “I can protect you, Kara,” he says more softly, like Z isn’t watching the whole thing.

  “I know you can, but…” I look to Z. “Do you really think you can change their minds?”

  He shrugs. “Even if I can, everything has a price.”

  My heart falls. “What kind of price?”

  “Theirs.” For the first time, the lines etched across Z’s face have hardened. “And mine, of course. You know how this works. I’m not going to stick my neck out to save a demon unless I get something in return.”

  Maximus’s pissed-off glare returns full force. “How noble of you.”

  “Take the favor or turn it down, son. This is your grail to lose, not mine. If no one stands in the way, your beloved will be tossed into the flames of eternal torment faster than you can imagine. You can doubt me if you’d like. But before you do, take one look into her eyes and tell me if you think she does.”

  I tighten my grasp on his arm and press my forehead to his shoulder. A silent plea for his understanding.

  “If I choose to believe you…and if I say yes…what do you want?” Maximus’s voice holds enough resignation to give me another surge of renewed hope.

  “I’ve been looking for you for nearly a decade, Maximus. I’d like a chance to get to know my son. Nancy robbed me of your childhood. In doing so, she robbed you of the opportunity to know yourself. To know your purpose. Your gifts. I just want a chance to make that right.”

  The tension rippling off Maximus would be palpable even if I wasn’t so wired into him.