Hearts and Arrows Box Set

by Staci Hart

  Pheme tried to smile, but she looked more like she was sucking on a lemon.

  Pistis’ eyes were big and wet. “Aphrodite, I’m so sorry. I can’t help but see truth everywhere. It’s my curse. I am literally the goddess of gullibility.”

  “I realize that. I’d advise staying away from these two shit talkers or else you’ll end up at the wrong end of a curse.”

  Dita glared at the silent trio for a moment. She had the good sense to hang on to her plate rather than throw it, which she would have preferred had she not been starving. She turned on her heel, and when she exited the room, she found Eris leaning against the wall, inspecting her chipped, black nail polish.

  “Having problems, Dita?”

  “Oh, go fuck yourself, Eris.”

  The goddess of discord smiled. “Good to see you, too,” she called after Dita, who blew through the kitchen, not even caring if Ares was still there.

  She mashed B4, and the elevator closed. When it opened again, she stormed through the entry way of the underworld, calling Perry’s name.

  “Hey,” Perry called as she walked out of her bedroom. “Whoa.” She pointed to a bar stool at a black granite counter. “Sit.”

  Perry walked behind the bar and pulled out a bottle of ambrosia, poured some into a wine glass, then turned it into deep burgundy wine. She slid it across the counter to Dita.

  “What happened?”

  Dita took a huge bite and said with a full mouth, “I need to eat. You’re gonna have to deal with this.” She motioned to the bottom half of her face.

  “Payback for trailing crumbs everywhere I go. It’s fine. Tell me.”

  Dita took a drink and set her glass down on the granite with a clink. “Pheme and Zelos were talking shit about me.”

  Perry leaned on the counter and shrugged. “They talk shit about everyone.”

  “Pheme actually threatened me.” Dita took another bite of her burger.

  “No one ever accused her of being smart. What did they say?”

  Dita swallowed and raised a brow. “That I was fucking Apollo and going to Maenad orgies.”

  Perry rolled her eyes and laughed. “That was the best they could do?”

  “Zelos said I wasn’t woman enough for Ares.”

  Perry’s mouth hung open at that. “Oh no. He did not.”

  “He did,” Dita took a gigantic bite, so big that she struggled to chew it.

  “Well, he and Pheme have to be the biggest gossips in Olympus.”

  “Today sucks,” Dita said around a wad of food.

  “What else?”

  Dita sighed and dropped her half-eaten burger on her plate. She dusted her hands off and slumped, reaching for her wine again. “I don’t know. I just … I mean I do know, but …” She shook her head. “I’m not sleeping, and it’s fucking me up. I think that’s the short of it.” That, and she was obsessively watching Adonis on an enchanted mirror, but there was no way she could tell Perry that.

  “Is there anything I can do?” Perry asked with a furrowed brow. “Maybe I can help.”

  Dita looked into Persephone’s dark eyes. “I don’t know if anyone can help me.”

  Perry moved around the bar and hugged her friend, laying her cheek on the top of Dita’s head. “Time. You can’t fast-forward through it.”

  “I know.” Dita’s throat was tight and burning. “I just want it to be over.”

  “It will be, eventually. Are you ready to talk yet?” Perry pulled away and sat next to her.

  The words stuck in Dita’s throat, so she shook her head.

  “That’s the other part of healing. You know that. I’m here for you, as soon as you’re ready.”

  Dita nodded and took another long drink of her wine.

  “So,” Perry said with levity, “what have you been doing? I saw you get Jon into the station today.”

  Dita set her glass down and spun it on the bar. “Fat lot of good that did. I almost missed it, too. He was walking right by. That would have sucked.”

  “At least he got Rhodes’ name, right?”

  “Yeah, but without Josie, he’s not going to get very far. Josie had nothing on Rhodes until she went to Montana. I can’t imagine Jon would have some magical information source to pull from.” Dita looked down at her food, no longer hungry.

  “No, but he has you.”

  Dita huffed. “Yeah, because I’m doing a bang up job so far.”

  “It’s day three. Give yourself a break.”

  “Ugh. I feel nasty. Seriously nasty,” Dita said as she sank even further into her chair.

  “You know what I was wondering? What happened with the note Jon left Josie?”

  Dita frowned. “I don’t know. Why? I hadn’t really thought about it.”

  “I mean, how many things could have happened to it?”

  Dita considered it for a second. “It was early in the morning, and he left it on her doorstep. Neither Josie nor Anne saw it or knew about it. Would someone really have walked by and picked it up or done something with it? There’s no kind of accident that makes sense.”

  “Right? That’s what I was thinking. Do you think any of the gods had anything to do with it?”

  They sat in silence for a moment, but then they met each other’s eyes and said at the same time, “Hera.”

  “That bitch,” Perry said under her breath.

  “I mean, who else? Just how much do you want to bet she was hoping to get Tori and Jon back together so they could be the perfect little family? Gods, I fucking hate her. No one else would do something that blatantly cruel.”

  “Well, okay, maybe there’s some other reason, or it was someone else. Devil’s advocate, and all that.”

  “Maybe, but probably not.”

  Perry eyed her.

  Dita put her hands up in surrender. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to go hunt her down or anything. What’s done is done, and she can’t interfere at this point. Artemis certainly wouldn’t work with her. It’s just fucked up.”

  “So basically like everything Hera does.”

  “Pretty much.” Dita stood. “I should get going.”

  “You sure? I can hang for a while. Hades is working.”

  The thought was appealing, but the mirror called to her. She felt like Gollum, but she just didn’t have it in her to fight the urge. She smiled at her friend. “I’m okay. Take your time decompressing from me.”

  Perry laughed. “Okay. I’m here.”

  “I know,” Dita said and hugged her friend before leaving the underworld.

  Her anticipation grew in the few minutes it took to get to her apartment, and when she held the mirror in her hands, she felt the switch flip again, and she sat down absently on the couch, breathless as she watched Adonis, the anxiety about what she’d missed snaking through her like poison.

  Day 4

  THE SUNLIGHT SHONE THROUGH THE ring of trees where Eleni stood. Her boots were planted firmly in the spring grass as she nocked an arrow, took aim, and fired at one of the targets on a tripod. She hit the bullseye and bowed at Artemis with a challenging smile.

  Artemis rolled her eyes as she nocked an arrow of her own, drew, then loosed in almost one motion. Her arrow split Eleni’s down the middle.

  “Really, Eleni. Will you ever learn that you cannot beat me?”

  “Let us up the stakes. A game of Mirror Mirror,” she said, sounding sure of herself.

  “If you insist.”

  Eleni ran with her bow drawn, did an aerial, and fired midair. Her arrow hit its mark, dead center.

  Artemis followed suit, splitting Eleni’s arrow again. The Nephelai pouted, and her wings snapped behind her impatiently.

  “My turn.” Artemis put her back to the target and ran for a tree in front of her. She took three paces up the tree and flipped, loosing an arrow midair again. It hit home.

  Eleni sighed with narrow eyes and put her back to the target as Artemis had. She ran for the tree, then up the tree, and fired as she flipped. It hit just le
ft of center. The nymph’s cheeks sparkled, flaming pink and hot as she cursed. “New game. To the trees.” Her wings beat hard as she flew to a branch with a scowl.

  Artemis was amused as she climbed into the trees. They nodded to each other from separate lofts, then took off running. They flew through the treetops, across branches to jump into neighboring trees with bows drawn. Eleni would loose an arrow to mark a target, and Artemis would fire her own before Eleni’s next arrow flew.

  She hit every one.

  Eleni screeched in frustration, then smiled wickedly when she saw an Onocentaur chewing cud under a tree. She shot the ugly thing in the ass, and he bleated and ran. Artemis couldn’t help but laugh as she hit the target, and the half-donkey, half-man ran a little faster on his squatty legs.

  Artemis leaped for a branch, using it to catapult her forward into a mossy clearing.

  Eleni landed next to her, panting with a smile stretched across her face. “Losing is not so bitter when I can end the game by shooting Risto in the ass.”

  Artemis laughed as they made their way to sit on the cushioned ground. The light shifted as the trees swayed, and Eleni uncorked her water bladder to take a long drink before handing it to Artemis. She leaned back on her elbows.

  “Well played with Aphrodite and the mirror. She has been mostly absent from the competition.”

  “Thankfully so.”

  “Although she is still making plays. She is quite good.”

  Artemis took a drink with Aphrodite lurking in the shadows of her mind. “This game is not easy, and I am not entirely comfortable with the subject matter, but the players are divided, which is all I can hope for at this stage.”

  “Perhaps, but it would seem that Josie cares for him, even though she resists the impulse.”

  “Her head will win that war. She cannot trust him with her heart. There is no natural way past that, and if he continues to push her, she will continue to push back. I see a storm coming for the two of them.” Artemis handed the water bladder back.

  Eleni took it with a downtrodden frown.

  “Whose side are you on, nymph?” Artemis was almost serious.

  Eleni rolled her eyes. “Yours, of course, but that does not mean I have to be happy.”

  Artemis let it go and turned her face up to the rustling trees again. “Well, find consolation. I have a plan to occupy Josie that should keep her away from Jon.”

  “Oh?” Eleni’s black eyebrow rose.

  “There hasn’t been near enough of a hunt yet. I plan on introducing evidence in Rhodes’ case. Irrefutable evidence. He will either be apprehended, or he will run. If he runs, Josie will chase him. Either way, she will be distracted. My hope is that I can run the clock down.”

  Eleni took a drink in an attempt to mask her discomfort. “If Josie chases Rhodes, she could be put in danger.”

  Artemis shrugged. “She can take care of herself. I have faith that she will be successful.”

  Eleni didn’t look convinced. “Are you not concerned that she is too close to the case?”

  “She can manage it,” Artemis said in such a tone that it closed the subject.

  The Nephelai eyed her. “You are very brash this competition.”

  Artemis stiffened just a little. “I am no different than any other competition.”

  “You are.” Eleni smiled and shook her head. “I believe your player is too close to you.”

  “That’s absurd.” Artemis sat back.

  “It is not. You’ve not had a competition with Aphrodite where your player has so much in common with you,” Eleni rambled on with her face animated as if she’d just discovered a clue. “Not the last one … nor the one before. I cannot recall a single one who had so many likenesses to you.”

  “You are ridiculous.” She adjusted her robes.

  Eleni’s eyes were big and bright. “You deny it, which confirms that it is truth,” she said with a grin and sat up to tick off points on her fingers. “Josie lost her partner. She’s lonesome—”

  Artemis grew more and more uncomfortable. “I am not lonesome. How could I be lonesome when I’m always surrounded by twits like you, dearest?”

  Eleni rolled her eyes and continued. “She hunts. She is solitary and jaded. She runs on instinct.” She looked pleased with herself as she leaned back again. “The factor that you never take into account is human nature.”

  “She will not go back to him.” Artemis stood, her fists balled as she glared down at the glittery nymph, who smiled back unapologetically. “She won’t. Am I alone in this game? Have I no one to trust, no one who believes in me? Who believes in my decisions as I do? You most of all I would expect could see my perspective and appreciate it, but instead you push and poke and prod me. You and Apollo want to prove that your way is best, but I want none of it. I will make my choices, and damn the rest of you.”

  Eleni’s smile had fallen long before she reached for Artemis’ hand. “Please, my friend. I am sorry, for I did not mean to upset you. I know I am overly familiar with you at times, though I also know that you enjoy our small battles. I am always on your side, but I am also your advisor. Would you have so much respect for me if I blindly agreed to all things?”

  Artemis’ lips were flat, but she softened at Eleni’s tone and the pleading and truth in her eyes. “No, I would not,” she said. “Of late, I am at odds with everyone. I feel my back press against the wall, but I am there all alone.”

  “You are never alone, Artemis. We all stand with you.”

  “But the constant combat exhausts me.” She turned and whistled, and her unicorn, Calix, trotted out from the underbrush. “We will meet back at camp.”

  Eleni nodded with sad eyes locked on Artemis, who hopped onto Calix’s back. She gave Eleni a last look before flying into the woods, her mind blurring with the trees that slipped past.

  It was evening, and Dita’s eyes burned as she watched Adonis in the mirror from where she lay swathed in her bedding. He sat next to a campfire, leaning against a tree as he ate, the firelight flickering shadows against the hard angles of his nose and jaw. She sighed, but the breath shuddered in her chest.

  She was exhausted to the point of a breakdown, and was fully aware that her binge had gotten out of control. At one point, she put the mirror down and tried to sleep, but it was impossible. She wasn’t sure if she’d lasted more than a few minutes before she flung off the covers and retrieved it, bringing it back to bed with her. There was no limiting herself. It was always five more minutes, one more hour, and her far-fetched hope was that she would somehow get it out of her system, but she was like a junkie. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to stop.

  The elevator pinged from the foyer, and Dita jumped.

  “Dita?” Perry called as she walked through the entry. “Ready to cash in that raincheck for our date with the 80’s?”

  Dita scrambled with the mirror, shoving it haphazardly under her quilt.

  “Uh, hey, I’m in here,” she called from the bedroom.

  Perry walked through the doorway and raised an eyebrow when she saw Dita. “You look like shit.”

  “Thanks, ass.” She sat up in bed and ran her fingers through her hair to pull it into a bun.

  Perry climbed onto the end of the bed and sat lotus. “So, what’s on deck for our viewing pleasure? Thanks for giving me a little time, by the way.”

  “Oh, it’s fine. Really.” Even she could hear the tightness in her voice, so when Perry narrowed her eyes, Dita knew the jig was up.

  “You’re acting funny.”

  Dita made a face, agitated, wishing Perry would just go away. “What? I’m just tired.”

  “Liar. Spill.”

  Dita huffed. “Gods, you’re so bossy. You said you needed some time alone, so I’ve been here, also alone. What do you want from me?”

  “I want you to tell me what’s the matter with you. And don’t tell me you’re just tired, because that gets the bullshit stamp.”

  “Nothing.”

&nbs
p; “You can’t lie to me, Aphrodite.”

  “You sometimes sound like your mother, Persephone.”

  Perry’s mouth hung open. “Are you seriously not going to tell me?”

  “No.” Dita folded her arms across her chest. “You can’t make me.”

  “Is that a challenge?” There was mischief in Perry’s voice as she pounced her friend.

  Dita squealed as Perry sat on top of her and tickled her. “Stop! Oh my gods, stop! Get OFF of me!”

  “No! Tell me!” But that was the moment when Perry’s hand hit the mirror, hidden under the blanket. “What is that?” she asked, curiously.

  Dita’s hands flew to the spot over the mirror. “Nothing.”

  “You are such a liar. Give it to me.” Perry pulled at the quilt.

  “NO.” Dita tugged back with the fabric clenched in her fists.

  “GIVE IT.” Perry ripped the blanket back, and both goddesses froze.“Dita, tell me what that is,” Perry whispered with her eyes on the mirror.

  “Nothing.” Dita said softly.

  “Stop fucking saying that.” Perry picked up the mirror and turned it over in her hands, her eyes wide when they met Dita’s. “Where did you get this?”

  The room was still and silent, but the tension crackled like lightning between them. “I’ve had it for eons, since you kept Adonis from me. I had given it to Echo, but she brought it back to me.”

  “What does it do?”

  Dita chewed her lip. There was no getting around it. “It can see into Elysium.”

  “No, Aphrodite.” The words were a warning, and Dita panicked.

  “Yes, it’s fine!” she said as she sat up fast and reached for the mirror, but Perry twisted away. Dita kept talking, frantically trying to convince her. “I’ll just watch him on occasion. I’ll limit myself. I know I can. But this way at least I can still see him, remember him.”

  There was no comfort in Perry’s words, only accusation. “You have thousands of years of memories with him. You don’t need this to remember anything but your pain.” She held up the mirror, and Adonis appeared in the glass.