by S. E. Babin
So what was he even doing there? Everyone knew he probably didn’t need the money. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy to do things for attention. I sat up a little straighter and winced as my wings caught on the bottom of the table and rocked our drinks. “Sorry,” I muttered.
I untangled myself, grabbed my drink and downed it in one gulp.
“No,” Artie said.
“Yes.” I was going to save Typhon from himself.
“Stop getting involved.”
“It’s possible in a few months time I’m going to be married to this dumb lunkhead. Someone needs to keep him alive.”
One perfect little eyebrow rose at me making me think about what I’d just said to her.
If Typhon was taken out of the picture, I would be free. Free to choose. Free to stay single. Free to try and get Hermes back.
If it were the old me, I would have sat back and enjoyed the show.
My mouth twisted in annoyance at myself. Why couldn’t I take the easy way out anymore?
Artie patted me on the shoulder in sympathy. “If it’s any consolation, I like this Abby better.”
I grumbled under my breath, turned on my glamour, and strode up to the stage.
Annoyance flickered in my veins. I’d just told myself I wouldn’t do this anymore, yet here I was, glamour turned on like high beams while on Earth, practically a target for Zeus or Hermes to come and strike me down. I needed to be quick.
The path of people flowed away from me, the once hushed whispers now silent in awe.
My hair flowed free and full down my back. My feet bare, my legs an inch longer, a shade tanner, a little more toned. The wings disappeared leaving me only clad in the gauzy gown I’d dressed in. I turned it up a little more and willed Typhon to focus on me. His gaze slowly turned to mine. His eyes narrowed for an instant before they clouded over and went slack.
Good.
It was nice to know my powers worked on someone like him. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I stepped onto the stage, the club now quiet. People moved away from me like water.
In front of Typhon, I reached up and curled my fingers around the back of his curly hair.
“You want to come with me,” I whispered.
“I do. I want to come with you,” he whispered back.
“Good.” I clasped him around his waist.
His arms reached around to gather me into a hug. I startled and gazed up at him not expecting him to touch me. A devilish twinkle began in his eyes.
Oh. Crap.
“Gotcha.”
The world fell away.
“You can’t just keep transporting me places. It would be nice if you just asked me for once.”
“That would be entirely too easy, darling,” Typhon said. His lean body sprawled across the couch, one foot resting on the floor, the other leg stretched across it. He’d morphed back into his human guise which I was grateful for. I liked regular Typhon more than scary monster Typhon.
“Artie is going to worry about me.”
He waved a carefree hand at me. “She knows you’re here with me.”
Of course she did. “How did you even know I was there?”
Typhon shrugged a powerful shoulder. “I didn’t. I was there having fun but I noticed you as soon as you walked in. Then I decided to mess with you a little bit.”
I flung myself down in the recliner and sighed. “We were flinging enough power to attract the attention of any immortals twenty miles away.”
“It was fun, though.”
I couldn’t help my snort of amusement. “You’re incorrigible.”
“And handsome.”
I sat up abruptly. “What about everyone in the club? They just saw us disappear!”
Typhon chest rumbled in amusement. “Relax. The club is in stasis. It’s fine. Just chill with me here for a few minutes and I’ll take us right back to where we were. No worries.”
“Stasis?” I repeated dumbly. “You froze everyone?”
Typhon’s gaze slid to mine. It was heated with amusement and something else, something a little wicked. “Just for a moment. I’ve wanted to talk to you and since you so conveniently dropped into my lap -”
“I didn’t drop anywhere,” I grumbled.
“Oh yes, you were only planning to kidnap me and make me behave.” Typhon sighed dramatically. “Sometimes you are zero fun.”
“Maybe I should have just duct taped your mouth shut,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Duct tape is so much more fun when kidnapping is involved.”
I rolled my eyes and sat back in the comfortable chair. When I saw the cloud of glitter poof from my body I shot Typhon an evil grin and rubbed my back, arms, and legs all over the chair sending an enormous amount of glitter and body dust swirling around me.
But his grin widened and mine began to falter.
“Where are we?” I demanded.
“One of Zeus’ secret studies.” If possible, his grin grew even larger.
I blanched. Zeus was angry enough at me and here I was ruining his secret furniture.
Typhon waggled his eyebrows at me. “Go ahead. You know you want to.”
“You’re a terrible influence.” But I stood up anyway and, with an evil smile, I gathered magic into my hands. With one hand I quickly installed a tarp and attached it to all four corners of the ceiling. With the other, I loaded it chock full of glitter and heart confetti.
The cover would fall as soon as Zeus walked into the room covering him with enough sparkles to choke off the drainage pipes of New York City. He was going to be furious with me.
Typhon nodded in approval. “Simple, yet dramatic. Good job.”
I pretended to polish my nails against my shoulder. “Thank you, kind sir.”
The amusement fell from his face in an instant. “Now, I want to talk to you about the games.”
I closed my eyes and thunked my head against the back of the chair. “Do we have to?” I didn’t want to think about them. At all.
“You promised.”
“I know I did,” I grumbled.
“The time has come to pay your due.”
I cracked one eye open at him.
He sat there, so handsome and serious. “You really want this, don’t you?”
Surprise flickered across his face. “Of course I do. Why else would I agree to such a harebrained scheme?”
“Because that’s what we do?” It was. Immortals grew bored so they did outrageous things to keep themselves entertained.
Hurt skittered across his gaze before he schooled his face back into blankness. “It’s not what I do. I’d like to win your hand fair and square.”
Fair and square to him, not to me though. To me, fair would be choosing. So I put all of my cards on the table. “Hermes will not show up. He was furious when he found out.”
There was no surprise there. Had Typhon known?
He leaned forward. “You underestimate your pull, fair goddess. He will show up and…” he paused and a pained expression crossed his face, “if he doesn’t I think we should be prepared for other surprises.”
I tilted my head in inquiry. “Such as?” God’s words came rushing back to me.
Impossible. And not only impossible, I was a fool for even letting Hades cross my mind during this conversation. Foolish, foolish girl.
A hint of a smile crossed his generous mouth. “I think we both know what I mean. Nothing involving you is mundane. Three months, Aphrodite. That is the time you have left. In ninety days you shall meet me at a place of your choosing, with fair rules of play. You may choose an additional champion, if you will, to release you from your contract should he win.” His gaze met mine, heated and fiery. “But I don’t plan to let him win.”
A chill ran down my spine. Three months was nothing. A blink of the eye for an immortal.
“Six months,” I countered.
He shook his head, slow and measured. “Four months. And not a single day more.”
“Sold,�
� I said before he could take the offer away. One hundred and twenty days to figure this out. I could do this.
I could. Couldn’t I?
This was turning out to be the worst Halloween ever.
Moments later I was sitting in the exact same spot in the bar where I’d started and Typhon was nowhere to be found.
“That pain in the ass,” I muttered to myself.
Artie reached over and patted me on the knee. “I have no idea how he managed to do that, but I need to learn his Jedi tricks.”
There was no hint he’d even been here. Every contestant was there except for Typhon. No one questioned a single thing. I could do a lot of things. Erasing time wasn’t really one of them. I was more a master of illusion and glamour but I could freeze a scene. Typhon was on an entirely different level.
I motioned a random waitress over and ordered us couple more drinks.
“Uh oh,” Artie said. “That bad?”
We couldn’t get drunk on much, but it seemed like a multiple drink kind of evening.
“Typhon gave me four months,” I said and I knew I didn’t have to explain further.
“Dude,” she breathed. “That’s nothing.”
“It was three months. I bargained for six.”
“And settled for four.”
I rubbed my hand over my face. “He knew how desperate I was.”
“You’d think that would hurt his feelings.” Artie took a sip of her new drink as our waitress materialized much faster than I expected her to.
I tipped her a couple of bucks and reached for my straw. “He’s nothing if not persistent.”
A thoughtful look stole across her face. “Have you come up with the rules yet?”
I shook my head, feeling morose.
Artie nudged me with her shoulder. “This is why you have me.”
Curious, I stopped inhaling my vodka and stared at her.
She tilted her head expectantly. I shrugged.
“I give up. Why?”
“Because I’m smart! We’ll rule him all the way out of the games.”
“He specified they have to be fair,” I said.
Her violet eyes glittered as the heat of the game was upon her. “Oh, they will be. They will be.”
I shied away from her a bit. “You’re a little bit scary.”
Artie tipped her drink over to mine and clinked it. “You’re going to come out of this A-okay, friend. I promise you.”
With Artie by my side, I began to experience the first stirrings of something I hadn’t felt in awhile - hope.
Epilogue
I zapped away my gauzy gown and put on a tank top and a pair of old flannel pajamas. The rest of my glamour fell away and I collapsed into bed face first. Normally I enjoyed Halloween, but this one had been a serious doozy. I recounted the day in my head and groaned as I skimmed past the embarrassing parts.
Forcing my boss to make out with me hadn’t been one of my prouder moments.
I blew out a frustrated breath. I’d already apologized to him and we’d already talked it out. So why did I feel like this wasn’t the end? Tack that on to the visit with his father and I knew deep down in my old bones, this story wasn’t done.
It was only just beginning.
But, for all the negative, there had been some positives. Cupid was gone, never to hurt anyone else again. Artie was safe and sound, back in her own home and ready to take the world by storm as Asheville’s newest pet detective. I got a kick out of that every time I thought about it. Who knew there would be a need for that sort of thing? Turned out Artie already had her first case and she was making close to more money than I was taking in!
Zeus was still...Zeus, and Hermes didn’t even want to look at me. I’d alienated lots of people since I’d gotten mixed back up in the going ons of Olympus.
I’d also saved a lot of people too, for all the gratitude it got me.
“I can hear your brain working all the way over in my shop.”
The voice rang out through the pitch dark of my room. I squeaked and sat up abruptly pulling the covers all the way up to my chin.
Amused laughter rang through the room as a small flicker of light cast the room in a dim glow.
“Clotho,” I breathed. “You scared the crap out of me.”
Her chestnut hair gleamed the color of fire in the dim light. “It’s Halloween. Everyone should be scared at least once.”
I threw myself back down onto my pillow and stared up at the ceiling. “I feel like I’m scared all the time.”
As much as I hated admitting it, it was true.
Clotho remained silent but I could hear her skirts rustling as she came around to the side of the bed. “Move over,” she commanded.
I froze in place. “Is this a slumber party?” I asked after a moment.
“Get a grip. I have sisters. You’re lucky I’m not naked and talking to you about boyfriends.”
“Eww,” But I shoved over.
Magic touched my skin gently as Clotho clothed herself in a high-necked, ankle length nightgown.
“Good Gods, woman,” I said as I stared at her. “I’m taking you shopping tomorrow.”
She climbed in beside me and tugged for more covers. “Good.”
We were silent for a few minutes, our breathing the only noise in the room. I stared at the ceiling and watched as Clotho’s magical light cast flickering shadows above.
“Tremendous happenings are on the horizons for you, Aphrodite.”
I groaned. “Please don’t get all silvery and windy.”
Clotho answered that with a swift kick to my knee. “I’m trying to help you as much as I can.”
I turned onto my side and stared at her profile. She lay on her back, young in appearance, ancient in reality. “I know,” I murmured.
“You have some very powerful people interested in you.”
I hadn’t told her about God. She most likely knew about it. “I don’t want them to be.”
She reached over and ruffled my hair. “We have no choice in matters like this. What is important is staying true to yourself. Follow your heart, even if it leads you down the path you never thought you’d take.”
My breath stilled as her words hit me. “You’re speaking of the games, aren’t you?”
“You must trust those you are afraid of and love those who need it most. The time for doubt is long past. Trust in yourself. Your magic. Your heart.”
I sighed, long and hard. “You make being cryptic an art form, Clotho.”
“Sleep child. I’ll make you pancakes in the morning.”
My eyes began to drift closed at her words. “You spelled me, you little minx,” I slurred out, just before drifting off.
Her amused chuckle was the last thing I heard before I drifted off to sleep and dreamed of dragons, knights and a handsome silvery-eyed god who had no place in my dreams of Camelot.
But he was there anyway.
Freud would have had a field day with me were he still alive.
Also by S.E. Babin
Out of Practice Aphrodite
Out of Sorts Aphrodite
Out of Options Aphrodite
Out of Chills Aphrodite - Novella
Out of Eggnog Aphrodite - Novella
Out of Cake Aphrodite
The Fairytale League Series
The Hunt for Snow
Snow’s Lament
Flame & Snow - Coming soon!
The Time Wardens
Wilde Omens
Wilde Storm
are-buttons">share