by A. Star
But just as I fell forever in love with Liam's kiss, he pulled away.
I slid my hands to the back of his head and tried to connect us again, but Liam resisted.
"Why are you stoppin'?" I growled out of frustration and unsatisfied arousal.
Liam's eyes twinkled with pleasure at my aggression. "There's an elderly woman gawking at us. I think she might fall right over on the cold, hard ground if we don't stop."
I turned to look at the woman and indeed found her staring like she had caught us making love on the sidewalk. Cars and people had been passing by us the entire time, but we had ignored them. This woman, however, would not be ignored. I acknowledged her with a respectful nod. Pulling her coat tighter around her thick middle, she turned her nose up at us and bustled off. I found myself laughing instead of being offended.
"That was awkward," Liam snickered, his arms still wrapped around me.
"I jus' hope she doesn' know who my family is," I said. "I hope no one did, for tha' matter. My parents wouldn' like it too much if word got around tha' I was standin' out in the streets of Dublin suckin' face with you."
"Sucking face? Sounds like something Victoria would say. Not you."
"How would you know wha' Victoria would say?"
He shrugged. "I'm observant. She's the mouth, you're the talent."
Giggling, I said, "I like tha' observation."
Liam grinned and kissed me again. "I have to go now."
"Okay." I heard the disappointment in my voice, but reminded myself that Liam wasn't forever and that I was doing myself a favor by not letting things proceed any further.
He opened the door for me and I climbed in.
"Until next time, beautiful." He leaned down and brushed his lips over mine. His fingers played with the hem of my skirt.
"Be good, Liam," I playfully scolded him. I slapped at his hand and he drew it back, pretending to be wounded.
"Well, if you insist on abusing me, I definitely think this is where we should part ways."
"Abuse?" I laughed. "I wouldn' give you the pleasure!"
He winked. "You're learning fast, Siobhan Law."
I laughed again. "Goodbye, Liam. Thank you for lunch."
"You're welcome." He leaned in for one more kiss. "See you soon."
"Okay." I didn't ask when soon would be.
I waved one last time, Liam winked at me, the door closed, and Conor pulled away.
I settled back into my seat. "I'm skippin' music theory today, Conor. Take me home."
"O'course, miss."
Silence fell and I gazed out of the window, watching the buildings blur by.
"You like him, miss?" Conor felt free enough to ask me a few minutes later. When it was just the two of us, we usually rode with the partition down so we could talk during the ride home. Conversations were usually pretty candid.
"Liam, you mean?"
"Aye."
"He's charmin', I guess," I replied, biting back a grin. "How do you know him again?"
"I don't really. I don't think anyone does." I frowned at his reply, but left it alone.
I wondered where Liam was staying. Usually Influential families played host to the envoys of the gods, but not this time. Why wasn't Liam staying with us? I felt sort of relieved that he wasn't. How impossible would it have been to resist him with him living in our house?
I realized I was grinning from ear-to-ear. Conor stared at me through the rearview mirror. The moment I saw him, I let the grin drop away. His eyes were anxious, like he was waiting for something unexpected to happen. I didn't think much of it. Immortals were an anxious bunch. I chalked it up to their having dealt personally with the gods. I could only imagine that any and all encounters with gods left you shaken and anxious.
My thoughts drifted back to Liam. He didn't seem nervous. Doing a god's work didn't seem to have shaken him in the least. That only made me like him more. He was different. He was made of tougher stuff than most immortals. He seemed to understand his divine purpose and wasn't afraid to take it on. How could I not like him? How could I not want to spend more time with him and get to know him better? I hated our circumstances, and it was getting harder and harder to accept what I couldn't deny.
Liam and I would never be together.
V. A LOVER'S LIE
"Wha' part of call me tonight did you not understand, you little whore?"
I rolled my eyes at Vicky and pulled her into my room, shutting the door. She immediately kicked off her shoes and flopped down on my gigantic bed. Propping her head up with her hands, she stuck me with a stare.
"Tell me everythin', you slutty vixen."
I flopped down beside her. "There's nothin' to tell. We ate boxties. Well, I ate boxties, and we talked. Tha's it."
She elbowed me. I elbowed her back. "You could never lie worth shit, Marie."
"I mean it, Vicky. Nothin' happened. I mean, Brittain showed up and tried to start a scene, but Liam put an end to tha' pretty quickly."
"Ooh! Tell me more!"
So I did. I told her about the entire interaction. That led to other things, and soon I was spilling everything that I could tell Vicky without incurring the wrath of the gods. Even without those juicy details, she ate up my every word.
"I told you he wanted to shag your brains out!"
I frowned. "Why are you always so crude?" I might not lecture her about it, but that didn't stop me from leading an on-going investigation as to how we ever became friends.
She rolled over and kicked her socked feet up into the air. "Blame it on my impoverished upbringin'."
I rolled my eyes. Vicky's family was far from impoverished. Her mother was a whiskey heiress and my best friend had never wanted for anything in her life. We'd gone to the same exclusive private schools and shopped at all the same boutiques. But Vicky never let me forget that compared to my family, her family were paupers. And it was no secret. The Laws were one of the wealthiest families in Ireland...and in most of Europe. My family and I always laughed at the rumors that our wealth was older than Ireland itself, because we knew that no one would ever believe that that was partially true.
"Did he at least kiss you?"
Remembering, I smiled.
"I hope he used tongue. It's no good without tongue."
"It was sweet. He didn't attack my mouth as though I was some brasser like you."
"Ah, blow me, Marie. You're jus' mad tha' you're already twenty years old and still in possession of your V-card."
"I'm not ashamed to be a virgin."
"You should be. I mean, honestly, Marie, wha' are you waitin' for?"
"A husband, maybe?" I huffed.
"A husband? You don't even have a boyfriend!" Vicky rolled back over onto her stomach. "Take my advice. Get your own flat, decorate it up nice, invite Liam over, and let the fella pop your cherry."
I just looked at her like she was crazy because she was. "I'm not havin' sex with Liam."
"Oh, please. Tha' gorgeous man is gonna have you on your back within the month, you jus' wait and see."
I opened my mouth to protest, but there was a knock at my door.
"Come in," I said, sure it was Emmaline coming to ask if we needed anything. But it wasn't. It was Melissa, my brother's fiancé e.
"Wha' a nice surprise." I got up to greet my future sister-in-law. We kissed each other on the cheek then I offered her a seat. "Wha' brings you over today?"
"I'm having tea with Eileen in a bit to discuss wedding locations, but wanted to stop in to gossip with you first," Melissa replied, her high-cultured accent crisp and clean. Her dark eyes studied me with interest, like she still didn't know quite what to make of me yet, even though we'd known each other for over a year now. I admired her sharp, tailored dress, classic high heels, and smooth, jet black hair which was always pulled back into a tight bun. I sometimes wondered if Garrett had even seen it down.
"Well, you've come jus' in time then," Vicky said. "We're discussin' Marie's date yesterday."
&nb
sp; "You have a boyfriend, Siobhan?" Melissa questioned.
"He's not my boyfriend."
"He kissed her yesterday," Vicky chimed. "There was tongue involved. I'm thinkin' the chap might've gotten a few feels in as well."
"Ooh, you dirty girl," Melissa teased, crossing her long, elegant legs.
I snorted. "One kiss doesn' make us a couple now." I kicked Vicky. "And stop being crude in front of Melissa, you chit."
"Stop being such a virgin, you hag."
"Honestly, how does Rupert even stand you, being as sweet as he is?"
"You think too highly of Rupert, Marie. He loves my dirty mouth. And all the special things I can do with it."
"And you're callin' me the whore?"
"And a slutty vixen."
"Sex is such a delicate thing, isn't it?"
Vicky and I shut up when Melissa spoke. "Wha' was tha'?" I said.
"Sex," Melissa repeated, her brow creased as though thinking about something unpleasant. "It's such a delicate thing. It can be passionate and beautiful, an innocent pleasure like none other. But it can also be violent and painful, leaving you scarred forever." Her eyes flickered with pain, but then it was gone and she was smiling again. "But don't let me ruin your fun with my sad musing." She stood and smoothed her dress. "Eileen is waiting for me. But I'm excited to hear more about you and your new beau, Siobhan." She winked.
"He's not my new beau. He's not anythin'." If Vicky hadn't been there, I would have told Melissa about Liam being an immortal and being on a mission for some god. She would have understood right away why there could never be anything between us.
Melissa let herself out and Vicky started going through my things. I brushed out my hair at my vanity. I studied my reflection in the mirror, remembering Liam's comment about never wearing my braid again. I had to admit, I did look more mature and less like a little girl with it down. I gathered my hair in one hand and cinched it off at shoulder length. I could tell I would look even more mature with it cut. The thought was terrifying. I let it go and quickly braided it up again. By the time I was done, Vicky was standing behind me, waving Liam's handkerchief in the air.
"Now wha's this all abou'?"
I tried to snatch it from her, but she was too fast. "Give it back, you chit!"
She jumped onto my bed and waved it around some more. "Aw, he gave you his hanky! How sweet!"
She squealed when I tackled her and snatched the handkerchief out of her hand. I checked to see if my idiot best friend had ruined it in any way and only then noticed Liam's initials embroidered into the corner of it. L.A. How had I missed that the day before? Finding no rips or loose threads, I stuffed it into the pocket of the trousers I was wearing. "I had foam on my lip and Liam was nice enough to lend me his hanky," I explained.
Vicky teased me about my "beer-stache" and we gossiped and giggled over other events that had taken place during the past week.
"Abou' Melissa," Vicky said after our chatter had died down. She looked serious now. "Do you think somethin' real bad happened to her to make her say wha' she did?"
I shrugged, not wanting to think about what Melissa's earlier statement might have meant. "I don't think so. I'm sure Garrett would have said somethin' to me abou' it."
"Yeah, you're probably right."
I knew neither one of us believed that. I was positive Garrett would have never told me anything personal about Melissa's past if he knew. It would have been embarrassing to her and Garrett was very protective of Melissa's reputation. And his own.
"Are you stayin' for lunch?" I asked, getting up. "Meara cured and baked a ham yesterday. I'm sure she wouldn' mind slicin' up some for sandwiches."
"Is there cider to go with it? I'll stay if there's cider."
"You know there is."
"Then count me in. In fact, I'll go hunt down the ol' wan and meet you downstairs, yeah?" She was out the door before I even had a chance to respond.
Before joining her, I pulled Liam's hanky out of my pocket, folded it up and set it on my oak desk to return to him the next weekend. I knew he'd given it to me to remember him by, but that was just it. I didn't want to remember him. I wouldn't be that cruel to myself. I made up my mind and that was that.
After lunch was over and Vicky was gone, I practiced my violin, then spent the next several hours in the library reading. Around dinner time, I returned to my room to change. I was surprised to find Garrett there, standing at my large bay window with his back to me. He seemed to be focused very hard on something outside, but his entire stance changed the moment I entered my room.
"Wha' are you doing in here?" I asked, setting down the book I'd brought up from the library.
"Melissa told me abou' your little date," Garrett replied, not even turning around to look at me. He held up Liam's handkerchief and my eyes flew to the now empty spot on my desk where I'd left it. "Wha's his name?" He repeated himself when I didn't answer right away. "The immortal, Marie. Wha's his name?"
"Wha' are you doing with tha'?" I snapped. "Give it to me now."
My brother ignored me. "The immortal. Tell me his name."
I didn't like his tone but I answered him anyway. "Liam."
"Liam?" He finally turned to face me. "As in, Liam Argyros?"
I frowned. "Aye, tha's him." I walked a bit closer. "You know him, don't you?"
"Everyone knows of Liam Argyros, Marie. Except you, apparently. I knew somethin' wasn' right the moment Da said tha' you were going to take the lead on this."
I didn't know what Garrett was getting at, but I didn't like it.
"Do you have somethin' against Liam?"
He snorted. "Where do I begin?"
"Dammit, Garrett. Wha' are you not tellin' me?"
My brother was silent so long I almost walked out of my own room.
"L.A. doesn' stand for Liam Argyros," he finally said, waving the handkerchief. "He's not an immortal celeste."
"O' course Liam's an immortal celeste," I replied. "I know an immortal when I see one. And even our parents said so, remember?"
"They never confirmed or denied anythin'. I blame this all on them." Garrett rubbed at his temples and I waited impatiently for him to say whatever it was he had to so I could kick him out already.
"L.A. does not stand for Liam Argyros, little sister. Tha's jus' his alias. It stands for Lord Apollo. Your new boyfriend isn' an immortal celeste. He's the bloody god of the Sun."
VI. A LOVER'S TRUTH
I guessed it was a good thing that I wasn't going to be taking over our family after my father. If I couldn't tell the difference between a common immortal and a god, then I had no business handling our family's affairs.
I had learned in my childhood that the gods used mortal aliases when they walked the Earth, but not once had I ever suspected Liam—or the persona of Liam—was one. I was livid at my parents for letting me think Liam was an immortal and I'd ranted at them for a good hour, in which time they never said a word nor apologized. Besides the obvious fact that they weren't actually sorry for lying to me, I never even wondered why they kept so silent. It never crossed my mind that maybe there was another reason for that.
It was no surprise now why Liam had laughed at me when I had bragged about knowing so much about the gods. He was one. In fact, he was one of the twelve most powerful Greek gods and that cheesed me off even more.
And then I thought, there was a reason why I hadn't been able to recognize Liam as a deity. He simply hadn't wanted me to. Gods could tame or unleash their divine essence at will, revealing as little or as much of themselves as they wanted. Liam had held back, way back, and I'd been none the wiser. I felt like an absolute idiot and was ashamed to call myself an Influential.
Garrett warned me to stay away from the deity now that I knew who he really was. It will end badly, he'd said. I didn't know what he meant by that exactly, but I assured him it wouldn't be hard to stay away. I had every intention of telling Liam—Apollo—to shove it when I saw him next.
I ignor
ed the Olympian when he slid into his seat next to me at strings rehearsal the next afternoon. Deity or not, he was a liar and I wanted nothing more to do with him.
"Hello, Siobhan," he said, his deep accented voice sending unwanted shivers coursing through me. He was handsome in all black as usual, but his beauty was tainted with his lies. I never acknowledged him and just continued to rosin my bow.
"You look beautiful today. But you look beautiful every day."
Still, I ignored him. I went about tuning my instrument and when I still hadn't spoken to him after several minutes, he chuckled. "The future foretold."
The Greek accent was gone.
I glanced at him and before my very eyes, his face transformed. Every beautiful angle sharpened, his lips and nose were perfected, and his eyes. Oh, his eyes. They hadn't truly been blue before. Now they were blue, and they were more dazzling than all the priceless jewels in the world.
I sensed him drop the mortal glamour and let a bit of his true power slither through. Goodness. No wonder he had hidden it. It was...potent, to say the least. He would have given himself away to me in a heartbeat had he let this power blast at full force when we'd met.
"Your brother found my handkerchief and told you who I was." His voice was deeper now, with a hint of something ancient and frightening humming beneath it.
Digging through the pocket of my coat, I whipped out his handkerchief and tossed it in his direction. "Aye, Garrett told me abou' your alias," I snapped, unable to remain silent a moment longer despite of how in awe I was of the transformation I'd just witnessed. I still couldn't believe I was the only one in our family who wasn't familiar with the name Liam Argyros. I felt like such a dunce.
Apollo laughed at me as he watched the hanky float to the floor. Even his laughter was more beautiful. "You swore to your parents that you would be nice to me."
How did he know that? Had my father told him? "Well, I guess tha' makes both of us bloody liars, doesn' it?"