Adonis regarded her warily, tilting his head to the side. “You’re Ariston’s wife. You would deign to touch me despite your distaste of me?”
“Adonis, I’m offering comfort, not sex.” When that didn’t seem to appease him any, Lily tried again, “Aphrodite was...is...a goddess. She’s selfish, and even the two of you wouldn’t be enough to satisfy her. She’d have her fun and disregard you both. It doesn’t excuse her behavior any more than your hurt can excuse what you’ve done to Ariston, or what you considered doing to me. I forgive you.” She beckoned him with her arms, and finally, with a wide-eyed vulnerability making her heart clench, he accepted her embrace.
Lily had seen that look before on the faces of other orphans in the system, had seen it reflected back at her in the mirror on more than one occasion as well. Even though Adonis had had a loving family—a brother who didn’t understand why his twin didn’t return his affection—he’d lived the life of an orphan by his own making. He’d cut himself off from anyone who cared about him, and it had done a number on him.
She whispered kind words into his ear as she hugged him close and rubbed his back, and before long she felt tears tickle her shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her tighter. Had Adonis let himself cry at all since Aphrodite broke his heart? No, he’d used anger and hate to harden him. His pride had been too strong.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled against her shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“I know you are. I know, and I forgive you even if I am horrified you actually contemplated using force on me. Didn’t you consider I could search for my birth family? Find others of my kind? Don’t you think if you’d had good intentions I would’ve helped you as well as I could?”
“Nobody helps without something in it for themselves. I had nothing to offer.”
“Did Dionysus teach you that?”
Adonis stiffened in her arms and Lily knew she was right.
She pulled her head back enough to met Adonis’ gaze and said, “He’s not in control of you. Distance yourself from him and live again.”
Adonis squeezed his eyes shut as though he was in physical pain. He trembled. Lily didn’t think he realized how tightly he gripped her, or that he held her at all.
“I can never fix it,” he said, a sheen of sweat beading across his brow.
“Sure you can. It’s not gonna happen overnight. You have to work past your pride to do it. Ariston loves you. If you work at it, he will forgive you too, eventually.”
Adonis opened his mouth to respond, but the bellow of rage from behind him cut off his thought before it could be vocalized. Lily peered over his shoulder and gaped at the sight of Ariston storming toward them. She couldn’t see his face, but could imagine his shock. What anger and betrayal he felt upon finding his brother in her embrace. Meaning to explain the situation, she leaped to her feet, moving in front of Adonis and intending to placate Ariston.
At least, that had been her initial plan, and it might have worked if Ariston hadn’t taken that moment to charge at his brother, head bowed, horns glinting in the subtle moonlight.
Chapter Eighteen
Ariston groaned as he came to, his face burning from where he’d been clobbered. It took several moments to regain his bearings, to realize he was lying on the floor of his kitchen. What happened?
As soon as he thought it, awareness gripped him. Lily. Ritual. Adonis.
Adonis had knocked him out with his thyrsus. For an item that looked so dumb, it packed a wallop when it was in its actual form. Prodding at his forehead gingerly, he was certain the pinecone pattern at the top had left an indentation in his forehead. Furthermore, he had no idea how long he’d been unconscious. He hoped Melancton had protected her, that his faith in Daphne’s warning had been worth it.
The counter bit into his spine as he knocked into it, attempting to stand, and his horn caught on the horizontal handle to the oven door. He dropped back on his ass and groaned. Trying again, Ariston used the counter to drag himself to his feet, and the room started to spin. He nearly fell back over. He didn’t have time for dizziness. Lily needed him.
Lily. Finally his brain kicked into gear, and he stumbled haphazardly toward the door. He rushed into the darkness outside and prayed she’d not been brutalized while he’d been out cold. Worry drove him as he flung himself around the corner, ready to kick his brother’s teeth in, and skidded to a stop.
Adonis was wrapped in an embrace with Lily. Standing between her thighs. His brother hadn’t even unclothed himself before flinging himself against her. It wasn’t even the fact he prevented Ariston from lifting his curse that hurt the most, but that he wasn’t sure if Lily hadn’t been able to tell the difference or if she simply hadn’t cared. Gods, he’d married her, and she’d allow his twin to touch her in his place. She was holding him and not struggling to escape.
Melancton was nowhere to be found. So much for trusting a Boeotian. He’d been played a fool by the lot of them. A growl startled him in its ferocity until he realized it had come from him. The couple broke apart when they sought the source of the noise and realized they’d been caught. Lily hopped down from the rock and shielded Adonis with her body. She would protect Adonis? She would dare?
Doubt had an uncanny method of preying on paranoia within the psyche like a parasite and laying fears bare at the worst possible moment. Ariston feared the two of them had plotted this the whole time, that the reason she’d been reluctant to wed him was because she loved Adonis instead. Adonis hadn’t had any trouble seeing her, and he’d waited until the last second to make his presence known to stop the ritual. He’d insinuated there’d been something between them, but Ariston thought it had been bluster. Was it a ruse Melancton and Adonis employed to search for the syrinx and then leave together, Adonis human and...
The outline of the satyr horns above his brother’s head gave him pause. Ariston glanced at the sky; the Satyr Moon had passed and his brother remained as much a satyr as he did himself. Melancton wasn’t there though. Had she and Melancton... oh, gods. How could he think such things, suspect such treachery from Lily?
She wouldn’t do this to me.
I’m so confused.
His bruised forehead throbbed for good measure.
Struggling to think rationally, Ariston found it was difficult to reason with himself when she stood there protecting Adonis. Ariston was the one who’d been hit in the face, he should be the one Lily wanted to protect. And Melancton had disappeared entirely, but why? What had transpired? Ariston could feel his heart shattering. He’d given it so freely to her. Had hoped.
Oh, had he hoped.
Adonis had gotten his wish. He’d wanted Ariston to know his pain, his loss of love due to his own twin. He’d pay for it dearly. For the first time since he’d left Greece, Ariston let the satyr reign. He bowed his head, and charged, planning to crush his brother’s ribs with a blow from his horns.
“No!” Lily screamed, splaying her arms out, careening into his path. He nearly collided with her, stopping scant moments before he rammed her in the chest. When she’d outstretched her arms, the blanket had dropped, but she didn’t bend to collect it. Instead, she held his gaze.
“Move out of the way, Lily.” Ariston snarled.
“Not until you calm down.”
“Why’d you do it?”
Lily frowned. “Do what?”
Ariston stamped a hoof like a bull about to charge, preparing to shove Lily aside to attack Adonis. He didn’t want to hurt her, despite her intentions toward him. “I don’t know what conspiracy you’re playing here, but I’m going to kick his ass regardless, and then hunt Melancton after. Move aside or I will move you.”
He was certain Lily’s jaw would have fallen off her face and splintered at her feet had it not been connected. Behind her, Adonis took a step in their direction, poised to interject, but Lily spoke first.
“Excuse me? You think I set this whole thing up? I’m not a whore, Ariston. Regardless what nymphs must have been like back
in ancient Greece. I stayed here against my better judgment because Hermes, Pan, Kat and hell, even Pegasus, believed you were a great guy. But you know what? I see now you’re no better than any other man ever because you’re as asshole-y as the rest of them.”
Ariston narrowed his eyes into dangerous slits. “Where is Melancton? What happened to him? Answer me, damn it!”
Lily looked as if Ariston had struck her. “He disappeared into the woods after you went inside. You both left me alone out here with your unstable brother.” She grimaced and turned back to Adonis, “No offense.”
“You wish him no offense? I found you embracing him. How do you think that makes me feel?” Ariston bellowed.
She whirled on him. “You’re a paranoid, condescending, jealous jackass!” She ripped the gold band from her ring finger and flung it in his face. The ring struck him in the same spot Adonis had torn his skin open with a horn a few days earlier. It stung like a bullet had pierced his cheek, but it merely slapped him and fell to the ground. To make matters worse, the rain returned with a vengeance, and icy droplets hit him with a force that felt like knives abrading his skin.
Lily shook her head, like she couldn’t believe what she’d witnessed, and stomped past him. She stopped, turned back around, completely obvious to her own nudity. “Congratulations! You don’t have to lack hooves to behave like a domineering human man.”
Adonis appeared as though he wished to sink into the ground when she whirled on him. “And you! I stand by everything I said before, but this is twice I’ve had to suffer the indignity of being accused of fucking every man who moves because of your actions. I know I forgave you. I just can’t—” She sobbed. “I can’t deal with this satyr shit anymore. You two deserve each other.”
She took seven steps away and tugged at her hair as hail joined the rain, ambushing them with painful blows from above. “Someone needs to turn this stupid damn rain off.” She shook her fist at the sky. “Stop storming on me!” The rain didn’t listen, and a ball of ice clipped her bare shoulder, drawing blood. “Son of a bitch!”
Ariston started to go to her but refrained, afraid she’d claw out his eyes if he tried. When she noticed Ariston and Adonis gawking at her, she scowled. “I’m going home. Back to normalcy. I want an annulment!”
Lily ran off then, arms covering her head protectively, but he couldn’t even appreciate the sight of her running naked in the rain. He’d misjudged the entire situation, had jumped to the wrong conclusions, and in his blind rage, he’d hurt her. Unlike his other mishaps, Ariston doubted the damage could be repaired. He’d finally made the wrong move that cost him the one thing he wanted: her. While he hadn’t outright accused her of sleeping with both her brother and Melancton, he’d made it clear he thought she had. The trust between them had been severed.
Adonis cleared his throat and Ariston spun around, shocked he’d stayed and not crept away when he’d had the opportunity. “I’ve never slept with her,” Adonis said. “I wore a disguise at Bach Industries. She had to turn some paperwork in to human resources, and I took the shift that day so she’d reveal herself to me per Dionysus’ orders. I’m...sorry. That I let you believe otherwise.” He hesitated, and stared at the ground. “And for everything else.”
Ariston rushed at his brother, but Adonis didn’t budge. He didn’t even cower. And when Ariston landed the first punch, the only movement was Adonis’ head whipping to the side from the blow.
“Why?” Ariston yelled, not entirely sure why he bothered asking. Adonis had done so much to harm him in both past and present. “What did you hope to gain?”
He didn’t respond, so Ariston punched him again. “She’s my wife! Did you plan to rape her? Is that what Dionysus has turned you into?”
Adonis wiped the blood from his broken nose and faced Ariston with no sign of fighting back. “I couldn’t. Even though he’d suggested it, I couldn’t. Even before she spoke to me tonight, I knew I would never be able to harm her. I’ve done many terrible things, Ariston. Most of them to you, but I have never hurt a woman, and I never will.”
Ariston punched him in the stomach, slightly satisfied by how Adonis doubled over and fought to regain his breath. “She hates me now.” He tampered down the urge not to kick his brother while he was down. “You let me believe...” Ariston’s legs failed him, and he slumped to the ground, the force of his fall reverberating through his bones. His head continued to spin from Adonis’ attack in the cabin, and he wondered if he had a concussion. “You let me doubt her. You planted the seed. Oh, gods, what I accused her of.” And Melancton had been nowhere to be seen, gone, allowing the seed to take root. Why didn’t he stay with her? Why didn’t he help!
The rain slackened and the hail stopped, freakishly abrupt in its occurrence. A small blessing in a night of misery.
His hand sought his heart, rubbing the skin there. Ariston wanted to claw it out of his chest. He’d lost his brother a long time ago, but it still hurt. Losing Lily, it was too much.
Adonis wheezed and attempted to stand. When he finally regained his full height he couldn’t meet Ariston’s gaze. “I wanted you to feel my pain, and now that you have, I...”
“You what,” Ariston bellowed. “Don’t you dare apologize to me.”
“I thought it would bring me peace, but it doesn’t. I’ve wasted my entire life on vengeance that held no relief. I hurt you both. I’m sorry, even if you don’t want to believe it.” Adonis’ voice broke. “I am.”
Ariston glanced at his brother and truly looked at him then. In the pale light, his eyes were hollow, like he’d not slept or eaten in days. His skin seemed clammy, and his hands shook violently.
“What’s happened to you, Adonis?”
“I’ve become an absolute disgrace.” His brother squeezed his eyes shut and bent over, clutching his head.
“No. Well, yes. That wasn’t what I meant. Why are you acting strange? Are you sick?”
“The wine.” Melancton stepped out of the shadows. “Dionysus used it to control him, and his hatred amplified it. Adonis is in withdrawal.” Melancton’s horns appeared almost polished in the moonlight.
“Where were you?” Ariston gritted out through bared teeth as he forced himself back to his feet. “Where the fuck were you when I was knocked out and then led to believe my wife had betrayed me? You actually let him approach her?” He pointed at Adonis and shook his head, disbelieving. “How could you?”
“You are angry, and it is understandable. Alas, I could not interfere. Not unless it became critical I do so.”
“What does that even mean? It wasn’t critical enough to protect a woman from harm?”
“I stayed near, ready to act.” He raised his hand and revealed a bow and a single arrow. They melded into each other and transformed back into a thyrsus.
“To kill me or him?” Ariston nodded at his brother.
“Whoever endangered the nymph. Adonis had a choice to make. He was at a precarious crossroads, but he came through. He needed to decide for himself what path he was on. If he chose the wrong path, I would have interfered. You, however, should consider your words more carefully. I had half a mind to stick an arrow into you when you humiliated Lily. I only have eyes for one nymph, Ariston. I would die before I dishonored her for something as petty as breaking a curse I can no longer break.”
Ariston blinked. So Daphne and Melancton had been together in the past. But it didn’t make his delayed appearance any better. “If you’d come out of hiding when I showed up, I wouldn’t have doubted. Why didn’t you show yourself?”
Melancton held his thyrsus against his side, lightly tapping the bulbous end against his knee. “You should not need physical evidence to decide what’s in your heart. You love the nymph, I know you do. But you doubt as strongly as you love. I’ve seen it.”
“Who are you, my psychiatrist?”
Melancton ambled closer. “No. Think about my words before you speak to her in private. If you harbor doubt, your love will fail. Speak from you
r heart, not your mind.”
Ariston scoffed. “What would you know about it?” His Daphne was trapped in Olympus with Apollo.
Melancton dropped his gaze. “Doubt is a knife; it cuts and it kills. The scars it leaves are reminders not to make the same mistakes. Leave a wound untreated and the infection sets in. Once it does, well...” He shook his head sadly. “The longer you wait to mend a wound, the less time you have to make it right before it is too late.”
“Excuse me,” Adonis interjected. “Can we return to the wine comment? What do you mean by Dionysus used wine and hatred to control me?” Adonis wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered.
Melancton took a deep breath, and switched subjects. “You may have noticed Dionysus is not all together himself anymore. Maybe it is the immortality, maybe a by-product of the curse finally catching up to him, I do not know, not for certain. He attempts to be charming, desirable, but he has a terrible rage within him. Humans see us and call us demons, but Dionysus... He is a demon. Not literally, no. Yet he has been finding himself drawn to hatred, horror, and bloodshed more often of late.”
“That isn’t really news. Dionysus has always had a penchant for mayhem,” Ariston said. “I heard about the maenads.” Dionysus had intended to make female companions to the Satyroi so the Boeotians would have their own lovers to spite Apollo and the nymphs. They’d turned into raving lunatics who had to be put down to end their reign of terror.
Melancton shook his head. “I rejoice daily to have been absent from Dionysus’ circle during the maenads’ brief existence.” The emotionless tone he’d said it in almost made Ariston snort.
The Cursed Satyroi: Volume One Collection Page 51