by S. E. Babin
Dionysus patted me on the shoulder in his friendly, fatherly way and took Ariadne by the elbow, leading her out of the kitchen and leaving it just the two of us.
The awkward was strong between us.
I grabbed a drink before I could remember not to and drained it down in one swallow.
One of Hermes’ eyebrows rose. Even in costume, his handsomeness took my breath away. But his brilliant whiskey-colored eyes and tan skin were a little overwhelmed by the outrageous costume he was wearing. Makeup had slightly dulled the golden sheen and given it a pale and pasty glow. Dark gray and black makeup shadowed his eyes and ran down his face. Contouring hollowed out his cheeks giving him a decidedly dead look. His teeth were blackened and blood pooled around his mouth. Torn and bloodied clothes completed the look until I managed to glance at his stomach.
“You’re...pregnant?”
He grinned before he could stop himself. “Ah yes. I’m fully embracing all the gender roles. I just couldn’t bear to wear a wig and cover up all the gloriousness of my lovely golden hair.” He patted the edge of his protruding stomach, carefully avoiding touching the bloody limbs of the fake baby trying to eat its way out of his body.
“Nice,” I said even as I couldn’t control my cringe. A pregnant zombie. Super. Gross.
“Where’s Typhon?” he asked as if the awkwardness wasn’t already bad enough.
Anger sparked the beginnings of a fire in my belly. “I haven’t seen him in a few months.”
“Surprising.”
I grabbed another drink and threw it down.
“That probably isn’t smart,” he said.
He was right but I was past the point of caring. The kitchen door opened and a gorgeous creature came in. Dressed like Medusa, which I found hilarious but refused to acknowledge, was Dike, the “co-worker” I’d so handily ditched after our foray into the Underworld. I was never super excited about working with her anyway but I hadn’t meant to blow her off so effectively before talking to her about it. Hades wanted us to work together, but so far there hadn’t been anything to work on. I liked my own small group, thank you very much.
I watched as one green arm slid possessively around Hermes’ waist, carefully avoiding the freaky ass baby he had protruding out of his stomach. I swallowed once. Twice. Three times. I knew my nostrils flared in jealousy and I knew both Dike and Hermes caught it.
Damn it.
I took one more drink from the tray. “Well, I hope you two have a nice party.”
A wide knowing grin made itself at home on her pretty face.
“Oh, we will.” She turned to Hermes and pressed a slow kiss to his lips. “Won’t we, honey?”
I burst out of the kitchen like my tail was on fire. Magic shimmered on my skin as I took several deep breaths to slow it down. Artie saw me right away and headed over.
“I saw her go in. What happened?”
“He moved on.”
She took my hand and squeezed it. “So sorry.”
I stared at her. “She called him honey.”
Artie scoffed in disgust. “Gross.”
“Right?”
I slammed back my third drink.
“Shit,” Artie said with feeling.
“Game on,” I said. The Zeus’ costume shimmered away. I grew taller. My hair grew longer, darker, and straighter. My skin a touch more pale. My legs a little more slender and a touch more muscular in my calves and thighs. It was the costume to end all costumes.
The costume that caused men all over the world, mortal and immortal, to drop to their knees. My hair pulled itself up into a high braided ponytail that swept down past my waist, the toga disappeared into a sleek leather, barely there bikini complete with chains and a skirt.
Princess Freakin’ Leia and the slave costume. Fuzz crowded around the jealous thoughts rolling through my brain. I shouldn’t have had that third drink. Hell...I shouldn’t have had the first one. This was Dionysus’ party, King of the Spiked Drinks.
Wolf whistles rang out through the room.
“Much better!”
“Good. God.”
“Is that Aphrodite? Geezum Pete’s.”
That’s right, bitches, I thought to myself as I allowed the illusion to roll over my skin. I kept my face the same but boosted my glamour up a few notches. This was who I was.
The Goddess of Love.
And uncharacteristically drunk at one of the God of Excess’ party.
A hand gently took me by the elbow. “Erm, Abby?”
I turned to see Dionysus giving me a pleading look. “Can you turn that down a notch or so?” He adjusted his collar as I noticed the thin gleam of sweat on his upper lip. “You’re making the crowd a little itchy.”
And by crowd, I assumed he meant Ariadne who was staring serious daggers at me right now.
Crap. “Ah. Sorry.” I adjusted my glamour a little and watched as he shuddered in relief.
“Appreciate it.” A sheepish smile flitted over his lip. “I saw Dike walk into the kitchen.”
A frown touched my brow. “A little warning would have been nice.”
He cleared his throat and leaned in. “Zeus warned me not to tell you.”
Zeus was just the gift that kept on giving, wasn’t he? How had he managed this one when he was supposed to be gone? I loosened myself from his still firm grip and patted his arm. “It’s all right. This is a party. Let’s have some fun, shall we?”
His worried glance followed me as I walked away, Artie silently beside me.
My gaze filtered through the crowd. I knew most of the people there but wasn’t particularly close to any of them. After my gig with Zeus, most of my brethren tended to either avoid me like the plague or stick around for curiosities’ sake.
There.
Beside me, even through the loud and raucous laughter of partygoers, I heard Artie’s sharp inhale of breath. She had the same reaction now as she did when we’d landed in his kingdom.
Hades stood a few feet away from me, breathtakingly handsome.
And dressed as an angel.
Genuine amusement had me snorting as I approached him.
“Hades,” I inclined my head.
He took my hand in his unnaturally warm one and brushed his lips against it. I shivered even though I tried to play it off. His icy silver eyes warmed as he noticed my reaction.
“Love the costume,” I said, unable to keep the smile out of my voice.
He leaned in and brushed the braid away from my shoulder as he whispered in my ear. “Give them what they want, I always say.”
I was not immune to the hotness of Hades even if he was my new boss. I shut my eyes briefly, tried to get my shit together and slapped a smile on my face. “The joke is on them,” I whispered back. Few of us knew Hades’ true identity and I had promised him to take it to my grave.
To see him so blatantly wearing his true identity around oblivious partygoers was both hysterically funny and a little bit terrifying.
Hades wasn’t merely the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. He was the mix of two souls - the God Hades and the Fallen Angel son of the Christian God.
I was standing next to the King of Sin - Lucifer himself.
And he was making it very difficult for me to concentrate. I told myself silently to calm down. I was boozed up and a whole lot lonely, and Hades was very happily married.
I slid my gaze in his direction only to see his intense gaze focused right on me.
Okay. Married. Maybe not happily.
I blew out a breath. He was just an intense kind of guy. That was all.
Artie cleared her throat in a not so subtle nod to be acknowledged. Hades started and turned his attention to her, but he was a little more careful in his attentions. He was well aware of the schoolgirl crush Artie had on him and he was careful not to nurture it.
Although when I thought about it, I didn’t know why. Those two seemed to be perfect for each other. He had an immense library, a hermit’s nature, a brain that far surpassed mi
ne in intellect. He rarely got out -
Wait…
“Why are you here?”
Hades’ eyes crinkled in that certain way where you know you’ve genuinely amused them.
“I was waiting for you to notice.”
“I’m quite observant.”
Both Hades and Artie snorted at that one. “I am,” I grumbled.
“The week before and after Halloween is the time when the veil between our worlds and between Heaven and Hell is the thinnest.” He swallowed hard. Hades lowered his voice and dipped his head to my height. “It is also the time I am required to pay a visit to my father.”
“Cronus?” I asked stupidly.
Artie rolled her eyes.
“Oh,” I said, immediately feeling dumb. “The Other Guy. Gotcha.” I paused. “Do you understand how seriously weird that is?”
“I do.” He dropped the subject and plucked three glasses from a passing dryad. He held one out to me and Artie. “To the two loveliest people here.”
Artie preened. I clinked my glass against his and took another sip, finally tasting the drink for the first time. Hades’ presence was so intense and so all-consuming it was hard to think about anything - or anyone - else. For the past few minutes, Hermes hadn’t even crossed my mind. Unusual that. I’d been thinking about him nonstop for the past few months.
I held my glass up to the light, curious now. A pale pink liquid shimmered in the crystal flute. Gold flecks caught my eye as I groaned quietly to myself.
Ambrosia.
I needed an intervention.
Hades caught my look and chuckled. “It is not only ambrosia, fair one. Dionysus has sourced some of the rarest materials I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m drunk, aren’t I?” I already knew the answer to that question.
“Quite. But you aren’t only intoxicated, Aphrodite.”
The hand holding my drink close to my lips stalled. I stared at him curiously. “What else am I?”
A wide, super sexy grin slid over Hades’ face. “In a few minutes, you’re going to be quite high on Mescaline.”
I rolled my eyes and lifted the glass to take a drink of the cool, sweet liquid. “Nice try. Immortals are immune to human drugs.”
The grin never faltered.
“We are,” I protested loudly.
The grin widened. My sense of superiority faded.
“Aren’t we?”
“Normally,” Hades agreed.
The glass lay empty in my hand. Artie moved closer.
“Oooh, science. How does it work?” She didn’t seem to be concerned even in the slightest.
“Artemis!”
“What?” She slid me an amused look. “Haven’t you ever wanted to let it all go?”
I opened my mouth to speak but then shut it. She was right.
“Ambrosia in the right amount will do that for me.”
Hades laughed out loud. “Says the woman who has never been truly high.”
I wanted to argue with him because technically I had been intoxicated out of my wits and that’s what got me into the entire mess with Zeus. But...after everything was said and done, it wasn’t entirely true. Eris had altered the ambrosia I’d drank so it was quadruple the power it normally was.
“This is chemical. Not magical. I still don’t know how it would affect me.”
Artie waved a hand. “If you shut up, he’s going to tell us!”
I pressed my lips together but shoved Artie in the side with my elbow. She grunted but her attention stayed rapt on Hades.
“There’s a cactus grown only in the Himalayan Mountains prized for its medicinal properties. It is quite legal to harvest and use for such purposes, but there’s another purpose for it.”
Artie perked up. She was a trivia buff. “Spiritual ceremonies. Like the Native Americans?”
Hades nodded in approval. “Quite. But, when the cactus is harvested, there’s a thriving black market for another drug.”
“Mescaline?” I added. Because that wasn’t too big of a surprise and I wanted to hurry this story along. He was beginning to get a little bit blurry and I was trying to mentally convince myself it was psychosomatic. I was faking myself out. That was all.
One dark eyebrow rose. “Indeed. But the seeds of the cactus are separated and some go on to become normal mescaline.” He paused.
I rolled my eyes at the dramatics.
“And the other parts travel to Tibetan Monks.”
I snorted. “Mescaline with magical Buddhist powers?”
He leaned in and gave me a wicked glance. “Shush your pretty mouth, Abby, or I shall shush it for you. I am trying to tell a story.”
I bit my lip. That was a little bit threatening but also dead sexy. I did what any girl would have done in my place.
I kept talking.
“There’s no such thing as magical mescaline.” My words were beginning to slur and Hades’ features were beginning to slide into something akin to a Picasso painting. Blurring one moment and snapping back into crystal clear handsome clarity the next.
He placed a finger over my lips.
I bit the tip of it gently.
His eyes went molten.
Artie cleared her throat. “Abs?” she asked in concern.
I watched as Hades swallowed hard and continued. “The Tibetans take the seeds and no one is entirely sure what happens, but it’s believed they are prayed over for forty days and forty nights and when such time is up, their very chemistry is altered. When the seeds are ground and processed, it’s no longer only chemistry. It’s divinity.”
“So we’re ingesting a piece of God?” Artie asked.
I swayed gently back and forth. “How many drinks have you had?” I asked.
She snorted. “Three.”
I pointed my thumb at her and said to Hades. “She seems fine?”
“Are you asking or telling me?” he asked.
Artie’s eyes rolled back in her head as she slid bonelessly to the ground.
“Oh shit,” I said with feeling and began to laugh hysterically.
“And so it begins,” sighed Hades.
Hades slung Artie over his shoulder like she weighed no more than a bird and moved gracefully through the no longer calm crowd. Whatever magical dope Dionysus had sourced was beginning to take hold of the crowd with alarming alacrity. I followed behind him, or at least I tried to, as he shoved his way through the masses. When he finally found a bedroom, he kicked open the door unceremoniously. I tumbled in after him.
Hermes had Dike shoved up against the wall, his hand under her shirt and his mouth on her neck.
A sound of disgust came from Hades as he turned around, my friend still in his arms. He threw a heated glare back at Hermes and took me by the arm.
Tears welled. Rage welled. My emotions swelled to tsunami levels. I wanted to claw her eyes out. I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to rail at both of them.
But I didn’t.
Hermes stepped away from her and straightened, wearing a sheepish look. His hair stood up on all ends and it reminded me of the times we’d spent together and woken up beside each other. It wasn’t often, but it was enough and it meant enough to me that I didn’t immediately jump into bed with someone else.
“I hope you two find happiness together,” I said after a tense moment and allowed myself to be led out of the door by Hades.
He slammed the door with a force that rattled the walls. “I’m sorry, Abby.”
I willed the tears not to fall. I smiled falsely. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s everything.”
Moments later we found an empty room and laid my friend down. Hades straightened her Hermione costume and wiggled the wand out of her hand and laid it beside her. I have no idea how she’d managed to hold on to it being out cold like she was.
I wobbled over to her and stroked her hair away from her face. I pulled a blanket over her.
“I’ll place a magical seal on the door. She should be safe in here.”
“Why a lock? No one would harm Zeus’ daughter.”
“It’s not for her safety. It’s for everyone else’s.”
Even my fuzzy brain could hear how ominous that sounded. “What do you mean by that?”
He chuckled. “Mescaline affects people differently. Some people pass out at first. But not for long. When they wake up...well -”
“Well what?” I demanded.
“Let me just say that Dionysus’ parties are legendary for a reason.”
I frowned as I stared at my friend. “Artie isn’t like that.”
“She’s on a drug laced with divinity.”
“But we are divinity.”
He pulled on my arm. “Darling, your kind is not the only divinity.”
“Will she be safe?”
“Few can make it through my magic.”
I’m not sure why but I wasn’t exactly comforted by that.
Chapter 3
The door glowed with a shimmering white light, but as I looked around none of the other party goers seemed to notice anything amiss. I tugged on Hades’ arm.
“Do they not see it?” I asked, really I slurred, but I was trying to be cool and I was also still firmly holding on to my disbelief about magical mescaline.
“See what?” he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
I waved at the door. “The magic. The...light.”
His gaze sharpened in interest as he stared at me. “No. No, they can’t.”
Mescaline high me wasn’t very sharp. “Why not?”
He took my arm and steered me through the crowd. “Because no one should be able to see my magic unless I allow them to.”
That statement bounced around in my head like a game of pinball. “But...everyone saw your magic when you were trying to save your kingdom.”
His grip tightened on my arm as he noticed me slowing down. “I allowed them to.”
I stopped in the middle of the room, surrounded by the press of bodies and the tingling of magic in the air around us. “What are you trying to say?”
Hades released my arm and stepped into my personal space. Way, way into my personal space. The people around me fell away as I looked into his darkened gaze. One arm wrapped around my bare waist as he pulled me closer.
“Dance with me,” he whispered, “And pretend nothing is wrong. Or curious. Or out of place.”