“Shall we start?” Mars commanded from a spot behind a computer terminal where the captain of his guard, Xander, worked.
Aerie chose a chair about midway down the conference table. Finn settled next to her, immediately claiming her hand and pulling it to his thigh. Phillip and Anson sat across from them. Gaia pulled a chair close to Zeus.
“Aerie, you may begin,” Mars commanded.
She fidgeted on the hot seat, debating what she knew. “I don’t have much to offer. There have been few instances we can trace back to Pierus’s challenge. In spite of the rampant nature of hate in the world today, everything seems stalled. Not much to report on the hate crime and violence front.” It sucked holding your breath for the other shoe to drop. But without specific occurrences they could track back to Pierus or Hate, she had no choice but to wait. Aerie tapped the end of her pencil on the pad of stationery on the table. “This challenge feels more insidious than the other four. Like Pierus has gotten stealthier than what we’re used to.”
“There have been more sightings of Lykos,” Phillip offered. “I do not like the high profile he’s adopted lately. His stench lingers at most of the locations we’ve been summoned to so Aerie can correct the balance between love and hate.”
Gaia humphed, the sound uncharacteristically ruffled. “There has to be something. Pierus doesn’t drag things out once he gets started. The lousy bastard.”
Laughter spewed out of Aerie before she could stifle it. Gaia swearing! Her sisters were never going to believe it. At Gaia’s scowl, Aerie blanked the smile off her face. “Sorry.”
“Laughing isn’t going to help. We need answers. This must stop.” Gaia laid a protective hand over Zeus’s knee.
Chastened, Aerie sent a non-verbal apology to her mother.
Xander diverted their focus back to what was most important. “There have been only scattered instances of demonstrations out of control. At Aerie’s request we asked Research to look into the divorce rate. They discovered an unnaturally large number of new petitions in the mortal courts. When compared to the rate even as little as two months ago, the number is astounding.”
The clicks of his keyboard were the only noise in the still room for a moment. The monitors recessed in the conference table blinked to life. An instant later, a report populated the view.
Aerie leaned forward and studied the numbers. “Whoa! There’s been a seventy percent increase in people filing for divorce. That’s unheard of.” And terrifying. Was love failing? After all the eons she’d inspired people to the lofty emotion. Now that she might have found it herself—with Finn? Her head and shoulders shook as she pushed the notion away. “With this many marriages failing, the world economy will suffer.”
“Explain, daughter.” Zeus’s shoulders slumped against the high back of his chair and he propped an elbow on the armrest.
“When a couples split up their standard of living almost always changes. In many cases, the change in circumstances is drastic. Supporting two households drains financial resources more rapidly. Once assets are depleted, people must dip into their savings. And when they are gone…” She shrugged. “More people, men and women who have stayed home to raise the children, are forced to go out and find jobs. Mostly what they find are positions in which they are underemployed. Menial tasks, beneath their level of education, which don’t pay a living wage.” Little research had been done, but some estimates put the number at forty percent of women who divorced end up living in impoverished circumstances or homeless.
“When money is tight, frustration and other emotions are often accentuated.” Finn’s scowl reminded Aerie of how she’d thought him an angry man before she’d fallen for him. “The statistics for domestic violence skyrockets among divorced couples.”
Aerie sorted through the data provided in the R and D report. Alarm grew like a mushroom in her chest the further she got into the report. She launched a new search into state and city statistics, focusing specifically on the Bureau of Records from Delphi.
“How is this impacting Aerie’s challenge? I’m not seeing a connection,” Phillip commented.
Aerie gasped. “The Morgans have filed for divorce.”
“That was fast.” Anson’s brows rose, crinkling the skin on his forehead to shar pei level.
She quickly searched for another name, and then another. Her stomach knotted and the area right under her heart burned with sadness. She kept scanning the records. Oh, goddess!
“I know what Pierus is doing.” She flung herself against the back of her chair. Pressing her fingers against her eyes, she battled tears.
Finn put his arm around her shaking shoulders. “Aerie, what’s wrong?” His normally gruff voice was soft, soothing. His hands were gentle as he petted her.
“Nine of the last ten couples who hired Dearly Beloved have petitioned for dissolution. That’s unheard of. My weddings stick. I have a ninety-eight percent success rate.”
Pierus was targeting newly married couples, sowing dissension and doubt. Destroying the matches Aerie had curated in the past year. Once the statistics were made public, and they would be, everyone would adopt the same opinion Finn had espoused the night she’d met him. Mortals would cease believing in the prospect of happily ever after. No more Prince Charming chances. No more glass slippers. The fairy tales Aerie had worked so hard to spin a thousand years ago would have been for naught.
If mortals believed there was no chance for them to find love, they’d grow cold and distant. Bleak.
Dizziness settled on her brain, fogging all rational thought. Aerie shoved her chair back from the table, bent over her knees and drew great heaving breaths in. Finn growled quietly next to her, rubbing between her shoulder blades. Even his touch couldn’t soothe her racing thoughts.
Existing without love was no way to live. When she’d met Finn, she believed him to be a closed off, angry man. Although he remained in control of his temper. What if he hadn’t? What if he’d given in to the anger? Aerie knew he could be violent. Goddess, their first kiss was evidence of that. But he’d pulled back from the ledge before he’d lost all rationality. That could be the immortal in him taking control. But, normal humans wouldn’t possess that filter. How would they react?
“Without love, the world is doomed,” she wailed, her voice muffled against her knees. “Hate will fill every soul, because that’s the nature of mankind. There will be nothing holding people back from acting out their stronger passions. No curb to the desire to lash out.”
Finn grasped her upper arm and jerked her upright. His voice was gruff when he said, “Snap out of it, princess.”
Searching his face, she pulled her arm free. “You don’t understand. Pierus will wipe out all the good love can do. Mortals will be harder to inspire once hate seeps in. Even if I win this challenge, I can’t undo all the negativism he’s been sowing.” Needing to move, she burst from her chair and took up pacing, making a circuit around the table, mumbling to herself.
She jolted as Zeus poked a nudge at her. She ignored his mental instruction to calm down and continued her agitated pacing, listing sideways as he jabbed another thought at her, demanding obedience. Goddess, she hated when he did that. A snarky chuckle rumbled around her chest. The Muse of Love hated. Aerie clenched her fists to help hold back the double-barreled one-finger salute she wanted to send. She continued her frenzied path around the table.
The expression on Zeus’s face told her he knew of her anxiety. Her fear. He gripped the arms of his chair and squinted his eyes at her. Even the powerful stroke of calm he’d sent to her body did nothing to alleviate her stress.
“Aerie, I know you have more faith in yourself than that.” Finn rose and tracked her progress. “Where’s the positive, enthusiastic woman I met two weeks ago?”
She drew to an abrupt halt. She’d been deluded if she thought she could beat Hate. And she’d lied to herself all these years that mortals could be persuaded to love. Not when they were so easy to provoke to animosity. “Lost s
omewhere in a sea of hate.”
Worse, she still didn’t understand what magic she was supposed to inspire Finn to believe. She didn’t have a clue as to the answer to his what if? Dammit, she didn’t even know what his question was.
Agitated to the nth degree, she spun to pace in the opposite direction. She bounced off Zeus, so lost in her despair she hadn’t seen him move.
He gripped her shoulders and steadied her. Holding her still, he pressed his forehead to hers. ”Erato, what troubles you so?”
“I do not know the timetable on this contest. These marriages should not be failing. And so rapidly. I’m going to lose and change into an ugly squawking bird. Father, I don’t want to eat seeds and berries for the rest of my life.”
His chuckle filled her mind. “A very nice picture you paint, my child.”
“I’m being serious. I see no way to win this. I don’t know Finn’s magical question. At the moment, I’m not sure he is the mortal to help me. Good goddess, he isn’t even really mortal. It can’t be him.” Realization washed over her like a tidal wave. She hadn’t considered Finn’s immortality. The terms Pierus put forth demanded she pair with a mortal. She cast a worried glance at Finn.
Stepping away from Zeus, she fought for each breath. She hadn’t wanted him to be the one. As soon as she grudgingly accepted it could be him, she had resisted telling him. Her instincts had been screaming all along. But she’d ignored her mind because of her heart’s attraction to the gruff cop. Now she and her sisters would pay the price.
She hurried to Finn’s side, hurling herself into his arms. “I don’t think you’re the man to help me. You can’t be. You’re not mortal. I’m supposed to work with a mortal man.”
He rubbed his hands up her back, then back down, the slow progression calming. “Princess, Zeus told me I’m not truly immortal. As I understand it, I have a finite number of years to live, and then I die. That sounds mortal to me.” He eased back and sought her gaze. When she looked at him, he continued. “So you can forget that part. Teaming with me won’t cause you to have to forfeit. What else?”
Between the calming nudges Zeus kept pushing into her brain, and Finn’s capable, warm hands, Aerie’s breathing eased. “We don’t know your what if.”
“Did the other men know theirs at this stage?”
She searched his face as she thought. “I don’t think so.” She spun in his arms, her back to his solid chest. Finn folded his hands over her belly, holding her close. Seeking out Mars, she demanded, “When did the others know their question?” Perhaps if she had more time to figure this out, she could win.
“I do not know.”
“Callie’s keeping a spreadsheet. She might have the answer,” Gaia volunteered.
“I’m meeting her tomorrow. I can ask.” Against her spine, Finn’s heart thumped steadily. The heat of his body lulled her and as anxiety waned, sudden, bone-aching exhaustion leached into her frame. The feeling was similar to what she’d experienced during the riot a few days ago, when she’d depleted her energy blowing calm over the mob.
“Are we done here?” Even her voice was weary.
Mars gave a terse nod. “There does not seem to be much else we can do right now. Aerie is correct when she noted Pierus is being sneakier with this challenge.”
Levitating upward, Zeus skimmed the floor as he glided to Aerie. He cupped her chin, pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You look fatigued, daughter. Take the night off and get some rest.”
“I can’t take the night off. What if something happens?”
“We will assign a backup team to be ready. We will only call in case of dire emergency.”
Goddess knew she could use the rest. She nodded.
Finn tightened his grip and his vibrant cobalt mist surrounded her. Phillip stood and began his departure process.
Holding up one hand, Finn stopped the partisan. “You get the night off, too. I’ll be with Aerie.”
Darting a glance from Aerie to Mars, Phillip’s cheeks twitched. He restrained the smile and dipped his chin. “I’ll take it. But I can be there in a flash if you need. I’ll just be on the other side of Olympus. If you need me, you can contact me or find me with Emma Jordan.” He touched a knuckle to his temple and finished evolving to mist. With a slight bending of air pressure, he vanished.
Anson remained seated as he prepared to move back through the Hollow. “Me, too. I’ll be on standby. As usual. Because my life is as exciting as watching paint dry.” Anson saluted Mars, bowed toward Zeus and Gaia and then disappeared, only his laugh lingering.
“Ready to go?” Finn murmured into her ear, snugging her closer to his hard body. Cobalt fog swirled around them again.
Nodding, she started her transfer. The mingling of her sunny yellow aura with his, the colors complimentary and pleasing to look at, kick started tremors at her core. “Take me home, Finn. I am ready for some downtime. Good night, Father. Mother. Sleep well.”
As they shifted into the Hollow, Aerie felt Finn’s arms, or rather where his arms would be if they were still in corporeal form, tighten around her. He didn’t let go and didn’t speak as they moved through the grayed-out vacuum. But the sensation of his lips moving over her neck was as solid as the feeling of his arms. Desire and pleasure zipped through her body, her mist undulating with each erotic pulse.
Once they arrived back at the kitchen at the carriage house, Finn barely waited until her feet touched the ground before he spun her to face him and crashed a kiss to her lips.
Seventeen
He’d known Aerie had stress about her ability to win this challenge, about his role as the man to help her save the world. Her tension during the meeting at Olympus had reached def-con five. She’d trembled in his arms as she’d voiced her doubts, her body quaking and shuddering like a heavy Muay Thai bag being struck repeatedly.
As soon as they landed in her kitchen, he sought to reassure her the best way he knew.
He possessed her mouth, driving his tongue deep into the sweet wet warmth. She didn’t deny him; in fact, she hollowed out her cheeks and sucked hard, her fingers clutched on his shoulders.
Finn backed her against the refrigerator and slapped his body against hers. The plush softness of her breasts pillowed his chest, and sent a bolt of lust to his dick. He was hard and ready for her.
Angling his head, he eased back on his assault on her mouth to nip and lick his way down her neck. He bit hard on the tendon near her collarbone, his lips curving as she drew a sharp breath. When he soothed the sting with his tongue, her breath sighed back out.
He jutted his hips against her belly. “Jesus, princess. Do you feel what you do to me? I was hard for the last fifteen minutes in that boardroom.”
“Finn,” she breathed, her fingertips digging into muscles above his hips.
He wrapped his hand lightly around the base of her neck, her pulse beating a tattoo against his fingertips. “I have never wanted a woman so much in my lifetime. You were made for me.”
“I believe you were made for me.” Aerie slid one hand to his ass and cupped it, squeezing and drawing him closer.
Jesus, if he could have crawled inside her he would have. Wrapping around her in the Hollow, their mist forms mingling had been like incredibly sensuous foreplay. His shaft was as stout as a tree limb, and twice as hard, straining against his zipper.
He grabbed the hem of Aerie’s skirt and dragged it up, bunching the fabric around her waist. Revealing tiny yellow panties. Her bare mound was pink and swollen beneath the lace. Finn licked his lips and caressed her folds through the lacy crotch, the steamy heat of her dampening his fingertip.
He growled, the sound low and demanding. “Already wet for me.” Holding her in place with his torso hard against hers, he tangled his hands in the lace at each side of her hips. With very little effort, he ripped the garment and pulled it free. The material barely had time to hit the kitchen floor before he pushed two fingers inside her, driving as deep as he could. Her juices creamed on his hand
, making his dick pulse and jump, like his goddamn shaft was ready for its turn.
“Fuck me, princess. You are…” He couldn’t finish, or he would finish. And when that happened he wanted to be buried deep inside. He bit her neck like a freaking vampire, the salty sweet tang of her skin blooming on his tongue, in his mouth.
She rocked with each stroke, moaning as he added a third digit and thumbed her clit. Her hands were wild on his back, stroking, digging her fingernails deep, pulling and trying to twist him so he could give her more.
With deft motions, she grabbed his waistband, undoing his buckle, popping the button, and then lowering the zipper. She reached inside his briefs and grabbed his shaft. He groaned at the warmth of her hand circling him. With her other hand, she worked the pants over his hips, the cool air on his ass at odds with the scorching touch of her fingers. She cupped his balls, squeezed then massaged. Every muscle tightened and flexed, his ass straining to close the last iota of space between them. She drew her fingertips along the bulging vein on the underside, swept it over the crown, then down the opposite side. Back up to the tip, where she played her finger around the engorged head, and bit his shoulder hard.
“Jesus, Aerie,” he mumbled against her breast. Sucking the taut nub between his teeth, he tongued her through the fabric, pulling sharply on her nipple. Her squeaky cry told him it hurt, but her sighing moan was proof she liked it.
Jerking his hand from her pussy, he pushed away from her. Spun her to face the stainless-steel door of the fridge and pressed hard against her, his cock slipping between her thighs. He grasped her hips and lifted, angling her to receive him.
“Ready, princess? I’m coming for you.” He slammed into her from behind.
She cried out, curling one fist around the refrigerator handle, and reaching the other behind her to grasp his ass, urging him to go deeper.
Pulling almost all the way out, he paused, teasing her with just the tip, then crashed back into her. He grabbed one breast, sliding his other hand down over her mound. He flicked her clit and thrust like an animal again and again.
Hate Page 16