Pandora's Mistake (Fate of Eros #0) (The Fate of Eros Series)

by Black, E. B.

  "I can change all of that." Fake Prometheus stroked her hair. "I can give you everything your heart desires if you'll agree to help me."

  "Never!" Pandora shouted, hoping that she wouldn't wake Epimetheus. Was she shouting in real life or just in her hallucination?

  "Zeus lied to you," fake Prometheus told her. "If you open the jar, your life will change for the better."

  "Stop it!" She became so desperate to make the hallucination go away that she closed her eyes and clawed at her skin. "I'd rather kill myself than do as you say."

  The melodious voice chuckled in her ear. It turned dark and vicious. "We can do this the easy way, where you get what you want once you free me or I can force you to open the jar against your will and face every terror inside it."

  Pandora screamed as a shudder passed through her body. She couldn't control one of her arms. It was reaching for the jar that had now replaced Prometheus again and grasping the lid. Hundreds of beetles crawled out from inside it and over her body. Their tiny legs tickled her skin. She was turning the lid.

  She clawed at her shoulder harder with her other hand, ripping into her skin as violently as she could. She had to regain control of herself. She closed her eyes in order to concentrate.

  It took her a moment to realize that Epimetheus was shouting at her and telling her to shut-up. She opened her eyes and was greeted by pitch blackness. The hallucination was gone and the jar wasn't in her arms anymore, even though she couldn't remember putting it away. She reached under her furs and felt the smooth clay resting under there.

  She touched her side and arms. Maybe the whole thing was a dream, but she could feel the wetness of her blood from where she scratched herself.

  She laid down, her eyes wide. She was desperate for a fire-desperate enough that she might even risk lighting one and getting beaten by Epimetheus.

  "I can help you rescue him." A tiny voice whispered in her ear as she settled herself down over where the jar was buried underneath all the furs.

  She flinched and hummed to herself, blocking out all other noise, even Epimetheus' snoring. After a short while, she drifted back to sleep. Her dreams were filled with nightmares, but the jar didn't speak to her again.

  Chapter 8

  Prometheus woke in the middle of the day. His abdomen was already spasming from the raven pecking his side. His forehead was covered in sweat.

  Before his eyes had adjusted to the light, he felt someone pressing a spoon to his mouth. The liquid that ran down his throat wasn't water-it tasted meaty. Someone had boiled lamb and was feeding him the broth. It sent delicious warmth through his chest and into his belly.

  With all his suffering, he never noticed his empty stomach, but he knew he was hungry. It felt good to eat. He hoped he didn't vomit later. His eyes adjusted and he saw a pot with pieces of lamb inside boiling nearby. There was a fire underneath it.

  Because of the leaves still on the branches, he knew whoever was cooking had cut down the branches hastily. It must have been from a tree already on fire. He supposed that was a loophole that would allow humans to have fire without hurting him.

  He locked gazes with Pandora. An excited shiver ran through him. He shouldn't have been surprised to see her, but he figured that she was the type of woman who would run home and tell Epimetheus about the kiss they shared. Epimetheus would not only beat Prometheus when he found out, but he'd probably ban Pandora from ever seeing him again.

  He looked down at her arms and sucked in his breath. Scratches decorated her skin like a wild animal had ripped into her. He longed to run his fingers down her wounds and kiss them gently, but the chains didn't allow him to move his hands. She caught him staring and crossed her arms to cover it up.

  "Did Epimetheus do this to you?" Prometheus asked.

  Pandora swallowed and looked away. "No."

  "You don't have to lie to me," Prometheus said. "He's my brother. I know how he is."

  Pandora met his eyes. "I'm not saying he's never hit me. This time was just…different."

  "Did you tell him about our kiss?" Prometheus nervously sucked in his breath.

  "No," she whispered.

  "Don't ever tell him. He'll be angry if he finds out." I don't want you to get hurt. He left the words unsaid.

  "I know." Pandora clenched her fists. "He killed a man yesterday."

  "For doing what?" Prometheus growled, angry that his brother was killing humans even though they had no way to procreate. He had made his brother promise to protect them when he was first locked up.

  "For touching my chest," Pandora whispered.

  As much as Prometheus wanted to stay angry with Epimetheus, he felt himself wishing that man was alive again instead...so Prometheus himself could kill him for touching Pandora.

  Prometheus narrowed his eyes. "You know, it's strange the way you have gotten yourself stuck between Epimetheus and myself. We are both possessive of those we care about and you're taking advantage of it."

  "What do you mean?" Pandora asked.

  "Don't play coy with me." He stared in fascination as she dipped the spoon in the broth again, but this time, she fed herself. Her full lips devoured the spoon in a way that made him hard, even with all the pain he felt. The quick peek of pink tongue as she licked the broth from her mouth made him want to grab her and kiss her.

  "Everything you do," he continued. "From the way you eat to the way you move is dripping with seduction. Zeus knew neither my brother nor I could resist a beautiful human."

  Pandora blushed and stroked her hair with her free hand. "You think I'm desirable?"

  Prometheus narrowed his eyes. "I think you're dangerous. You were probably in on Zeus' plan all along."

  Pandora rolled her eyes and picked up the spoon to feed him more broth. "Just drink your broth and stop making things up."

  Prometheus swallowed a gulp in an exaggerated manner. "The only reason I trust you to feed me is because I can't be poisoned; I'll regenerate."

  Pandora clenched her teeth. "Everyone isn't after you! Sure your punishment was harsh, but what else was Zeus supposed to do when you stole from him? Couldn't you have tried to talk to him instead? Maybe he treated you this way because you were being unreasonable."

  Prometheus glared at her. "Why do you defend a man who hates your kind so much? Zeus wanted to destroy the human race, but I assisted him during the war of the Titans and he agreed to let you live, but he made you weaker..."

  Memories slammed through Prometheus' mind as he told her the story.

  *** *** ***

  Prometheus stared unhappily at the clay he was shaping in his hand. No gold flecks shined at him. Instead, it was filled with silver. The color glowed lifelessly like the moon. He wanted the rich, golden sparkle of the sun, but Zeus thought it was too much. Humans shouldn't be as pretty as gods. It was bad enough that they sparkled at all. They should know their place, beneath the Olympians.

  The Fates had predicted Zeus overthrowing Cronus and that was a big part of the reason he succeeded. Prometheus knew that frightened Zeus. He didn't want humans to be able to tell the future like the Fates could. They'd be able to foresee the destruction of the gods and possibly even cause it, so Prometheus had taken that away from them as well.

  Humans worried about what lay in their future. Before, they were able to see the consequences of their actions, but now they were frightened by the unknown. It was a giant blank slate of possibilities in their heads.

  He had already seen men ganging up on one another to beat each other into bloody masses. They did it for a leg of lamb because no one was certain that there would be food for them tomorrow. They fought for everything that was available today. They felt no security for tomorrow. Prometheus knew he'd have to do something drastic to fix it.

  Two hands covered his eyes. Everything went black as he felt a pair of breasts press against his back.

  "Guess who?" three husky female voices whispered in his ear. Her breath was warm.

  He pulled the feminine h
ands off and turned to face Hecate. He gazed into her eyes and saw love. She was holding a torch. In this form, her body looked athletic and slender. Her eyes glowed with life and stamina. She could go all night and that might be just what he needed. He grabbed her by the hair and crushed her lips against his. Their lips caressed each other as Prometheus moaned with desire.

  The dogs that had been following Hecate and hiding in the shadows growled at the two of them. Hecate snapped her fingers, which they knew was the signal for them to be quiet.

  Soon, Hecate and Prometheus were gasping for breath. Their passion made their hearts pound as if they were running a race.

  Hecate pulled away. Her hair was messy and her lips were swollen. Prometheus devoured her with his eyes. He liked looking at the aftermath of his lust.

  "Wait," Hecate giggled. "I haven't told you the good news."

  Prometheus wrapped his arms around her waist. He didn't want to talk. He wanted to play. He pressed his erection against her and waggled his eyebrows.

  She pushed him by the chest. "Hold on! You can at least wait to listen to what I have to say."

  He pulled her closer and kissed up her neck. "No, I can't."

  Hecate chuckled, allowing him to pleasure her for a moment before putting some distance between them. She paced in front of him.

  "When we first betrayed Cronus, I felt horrible about it." She swallowed roughly. "To see his belly ripped open so violently, by his son of all people! The look on his face was unlike any I've ever seen. He trusted us and we snuck Zeus inside his palace anyway.

  "Worse are his screams in Tartarus. He curses us daily for what we've done. He's become an animal; I don't even recognize him anymore. He tears at gods and humans alike with the claws that are his nails, trying to devour them. He sees the face of his children in all of them!

  "But while I was thinking of helping him escape, I was talking to Hades. Hades said I was the perfect goddess to guard the Underworld. When I shapeshift, I can make eyes appear in the back of my head if I want to. I'm strong and I'm loyal; he could tell I was thinking of helping Cronus escape. But he wants me on his side instead. The Olympians believe in me, which is more than I can say for Cronus. They think I am powerful enough to make sure no one goes in or out of the Underworld without Hades' permission. Cronus never trusted me with anything."

  Prometheus shrugged, wishing they weren't talking about this. "Cronus wasn't so bad. You've just forgotten how much freedom he gave us. Zeus locked him in Tartarus and it has driven him insane, but that's not his fault."

  Hecate's eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead. "Are you kidding me? He was eating his children!"

  The spirit dogs burst into feverish barking in response to her passion.

  "But maybe they deserved it." His body shook as rage filled him. "I mean, look at how selfish they are. They interfere with all our decisions. They've taken so much from the humans, when they promised me that they wouldn't. We held up our side of the bargain, but they broke the deal."

  Hecate crossed her arms. "Who cares?"

  "I do!" Prometheus shouted. "He made a promise to me and now he's taken fire away from the humans. They shiver in cold every day. They eat raw meat. They're barbaric and miserable."

  Prometheus had created humans to be works of art. They were made to entertain and befriend the gods. Zeus had reduced them to animals.

  Hecate narrowed her eyes at him. "That's what this all comes down to? The humans? You can't even be happy for me, can you?"

  Prometheus sighed. "It's why I betrayed Cronus in the first place. I was trying to protect everyone."

  "Then let's start over. We tried our best to save humanity, but their fate is out of our hands." Hecate grabbed him by both hands and squeezed them. "We have an eternity together. We can create other creatures. We could even raise a family and have children."

  "Children?" His eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Are you insane?"

  Hecate shrugged. "I don't see how it's so different."

  Prometheus crossed his arms. "So are you saying, if Zeus wanted to steal our children's powers and let them suffer, you'd allow it? Because it's all the same thing to you? He did it to humans and those are my children, so he might as well do it to everything I create?"

  "I never said that!" Hecate yelled.

  "Then you need to understand why I can't allow this either! These humans came from me. They are a part of me!"

  Hecate's lips thinned tightly. "That's all you talk about-these humans and what they mean to you. I was the one who followed you when you decided to betray everything I knew and loved. I turned against my sisters and brothers. I betrayed my family and I did it all just so you'd love me. But it's like you don't care about me at all. All you care about are the humans."

  "Maybe you're right," Prometheus growled and walked away before she could respond.

  *** *** ***

  Prometheus was angry. He knew he would eventually forgive Hecate for the argument they had, but in the meantime he needed to cool off. He decided to visit the village and talk to some of the men. Not that they would understand why he was so upset. They were happy to be ordered around by a goddess as long as that goddess slept with them later. Still, they were nice company.

  They didn't understand morals or laws, but he would teach it to them. They'd find ways to be strong, even though they were scared. He'd give them structure and a way of life. Things would get better.

  He was on a mission. Every time Zeus ruined part of humanity, he would make it better.

  When he entered the town, though, he noticed a commotion in the middle of all the tents. He didn't know what could be worse than all the things that had already happened, but people were screaming like it was horrific. He charged over.

  People moved out of the way to let him through. A man was lying still in the middle of everyone, facedown. People were poking him with sticks and he wasn't moving. He was so slender that he was barely skin and bones.

  Prometheus yanked the sticks out of their hands. He had cuts and holes from being poked so much. "What are you doing? Leave this man alone! Isn't it bad enough that you must go hungry? Don't further Zeus' torture of humanity by picking on one another."

  Several people backed out of the way. He'd never harmed a human, but they respected him.

  He walked up to the man. "Do you need help getting up?" He tried to grab the man's hand. His palm was cold and stiff.

  Prometheus' forehead wrinkled. It couldn't be, could it?

  He flipped the man over. It was Ronius; his eyes were open, but he was unresponsive. His pupils were glazed over and he wasn't breathing. Prometheus shook him, but he didn't move.

  "What's wrong with him?" one of the men asked.

  But Prometheus' words were trapped in his throat. This man was dead. He had heard that it was possible for a creature to cease to exist, but he hadn't created humans to be this way.

  He saw parts of animals scattered around and the head of a deer on a skewer. It had infected the animals as well. In the past, humans didn't need to kill the deer they ate. They just ripped off a leg and it immediately grew back.

  He heard chuckling ahead of him and saw a large shadow in the shape of a man, hiding and watching. Prometheus threw the body of Ronius to the side, not caring as rage filled his body.

  He didn't know how he knew, but he knew. Whatever that creature was, it was why Ronius was dead. And he was going to destroy it.

  He lunged forward, his eyes flashing and his mouth foaming with bloodlust. The creature squealed in terror as Prometheus ripped him apart, limb from limb. He stood, satisfied over the bloody mess, until the muscles twitched and it started regenerating.

  He grabbed it by the neck and held the creature down. It bit into his arm until he was gushing blood. He pressed against his chest, until he noticed there was no heartbeat. He thought this man was immortal at first, but he wasn't even alive. He was undead. He bit into Prometheus' neck and more blood gushed from him. He could feel himself growing li
ghtheaded.

  "You can't kill Thanatos!" the creature's deep voice threatened.

  So his name was Thanatos, was it? Prometheus' body painfully regenerated as he continued to wrestle Thanatos. His limbs sewed themselves back together as he came up with a plan.

  He'd breathe life in this creature just as he had breathed life into the humans. He'd make it alive. Its power must come from the fact that it was dead and he would take his power away. Then he would hide it in a pit of hell. One that Cronus hadn't told Zeus or Hades about. Only Prometheus knew about it because he had created it as a place to hide if the other gods grew out of control. He'd trap Thanatos there. Cronus was too insane for anyone to get the information from him.

  *** *** ***

  With the blood of Thanatos still dripping from his body, he entered Mount Olympus. It had been a difficult battle and he was still regenerating from it, but he felt high on adrenaline. He didn't want to bathe. He didn't want to rest. He had to fix everything before it was too late, no matter the consequences. He'd make Zeus keep his promises, whether he wanted to or not!

  He knew the gods were asleep. Taking care of Thanatos had taken so long that he knew Zeus was resting his head. He entered inside on tiptoe and stuck to the shadows. No one would question his presence inside Mount Olympus, but they might be frightened by all the blood.

  In the center of the main room was a flickering light. It cast dancing shadows across all the white walls.

  Prometheus walked closer to it. The beautiful flames that flickered inside the fireplace were brighter and more enchanting than any he had seen before.

  This was where Zeus had trapped all the flames in the world. He wanted to keep them for himself, so he could be special and powerful. He said the sun was enough to keep humans alive, but they were dying because of him.

  Zeus had been intent on destroying Prometheus' creation all along. He wasn't that different from his father, but Prometheus wasn't going to put up with it.

  They would die faster than he could create them if he didn't do something.