by Lisa Oliver
He refused to verbalize the second reason – a fear that stopped him from leaving the suite and seeking company out of spite. Artemas remembered a visit from a frustrated Poseidon, a week after his father had been claimed by Claude. Sei, with his typical god-like arrogance didn’t believe he could be claimed, so after a night of amazing sex, which Sei was keen to share details of with him, left his mate before the poor wolf was even awake.
Keen to carry on with his promiscuous ways, Sei went on a hookup rampage, only to be let down by his most important appendage at crucial moments. Furious at being forced into a mating he was adamant he didn’t need or want, Sei even went to the Fates to plead his case, only to have them laugh him out of their domain. While both Claude and Poseidon were settled down and happily raising their twins now, what Artemas took from the situation was that it did not pay to piss off the Fates.
“And there’s no guarantee now I’ve met my mate, that my appendage will work for anyone else either.” For the first time in thousands of years, Artemas didn’t know what to do.
Keep it. Read it… the musings of an old man. Artemas was intrigued. Spending time in the library to avoid other people wasn’t the only reason he liked it there. Artemas thirsted for knowledge – a desire inherited from Thoth. To be the first to read and understand words that had been hidden for more millennium than Artemas dared to consider would be incredible. Unbelievable. Orgasmic. What the…? I did not think of orgasm in relation to a book, surely not. Sick of his musings, his rantings, and the unsettled feeling that just would not leave him, Artemas disappeared back to the sanctuary of the library. How long it remained a sanctuary was open to debate.
Chapter Five
As one of the originals, Silvanus had the ability to find any of the gods, anywhere, if he put his mind to it. He was surprised, however, when he translocated to a large club, in a place called Tulsa, not to find his mark playing among the mix of wolves and humans all intent on having adult fun. After sitting quietly in his grove for three days, planning his next move, Silvanus realized what he needed was information and who better to confront than the father of his promise.
The domesticity he found when he translocated to the private apartments was also a huge surprise. Poseidon, ancient Greek god of the sea, storms, earthquakes, and surprisingly horses, was on his knees in front of a cute toddler, pleading with her.
“Athena, please. Tell Daddy where you put Papa’s ring. I know you took them and hid them. They’re special and I need them back.”
The little girl, undoubtedly Sei’s child, folded her arms, her pout mimicking her father’s. “You promised you would give them to Papa weeks ago. You made me keep a secret. I found it out. I should tell Papa on you.”
“Now, come on baby girl, don’t be like that,” Poseidon tilted his head looking sideways at his daughter. “I told you why it has to be a secret. It’s a surprise. Papa loves surprises. You don’t want to spoil it for him, do you?”
Silvanus put his hand over his mouth to hide his grin.
“It won’t be a surprise if you don’t give it to him.” Athena stamped her foot. “You told me you were going to give him the ring and there would be a big party, and I could be a flower girl, and you haven’t done the main bit. You’re making me keep secrets. Tell him, man hiding in the corner, no secrets allowed, especially in families.”
Hidden powers, how adorable. Silvanus had no idea how the little girl knew he was in the room, but now he’d been called out for it, he materialized fully.
“Sei, it’s been a very long time.” Silvanus inclined his head slightly at the gob-smacked Poseidon, and then smiled at Athena. “You’re a very clever young lady, picking me out of the shadows.”
“You smell of trees and grass and all things woodlands.” Athena ran over, wrapping her small arms around his knees and hugging him tightly. “You’re older than Poppa or Daddy. I didn’t know it was possible for anyone to be that old.”
“Athena!” Poseidon jumped to his feet, an appalled look on his face. “What have I told you about respecting your elders, especially a god? Silvanus, please….”
“It’s fine. You’re raising a clever daughter who speaks her mind.” Reaching down, Silvanus picked her up one handed, settling her on the crook of his arm. “What else can you sense about me, little one?”
“Hmm.” Athena put her finger on her chin and frowned. “You’ve not been around people much lately, because you smell of jasmine and another flower, but no one else. You’re a little bit sad. Are you pining for someone?”
“Guard this one closely, Sei, she sees more than she knows.” Placing his forefinger in the middle of Athena’s forehead, Silvanus blessed the child in his own way.
“Oh, that feels tingly and nice,” Athena wiggled in his arms. “Can you do that to my brother Tony too? He’s my twin. We do most things together.”
“I’m glad to see you’re being honest about the most things, sweetheart,” Poseidon came over, retrieving his daughter. “You need to go find those rings. Tell Uncle Duke, or Uncle Ryan to go with you. And tell Papa, I’ll be in the office with a friend, okay?”
“You can tell him yourself.” Athena pressed her fingers into her head and then Sei’s. “No secrets, remember.” Poseidon set her down on the floor, and she went running out of the room.
“She’s going to be a real handful growing up,” Silvanus said softly. “She’ll break a lot of hearts.”
“Fortunately, she has a quiet brother who takes after his Papa, whom she adores. Hopefully, he will curb some of her intense ideas as they get older.” Flicking back his long blond hair, Poseidon stared him in the eyes, something Silvanus allowed because… well, it was Poseidon he was talking to and they’d been friends a very long time.
“Where have you been, Silva?” It’d been decades since Silvanus had heard that name from anyone. “I’ve been worried about you. No one had seen you, no one had heard from you, and then with that wretched book coming up at auction…. Damn it all, Zeus and I thought you’d ceased to exist.”
“There was a time, not that long ago, when ceasing to exist was all I wished for.” Silvanus was happy to share the truth with his friend. He had nothing to hide. “Life, the world, it was a difficult time for me. The past fifty years, so many changes, and none of them good. Pollution spreading so fast, my beloved trees felled by the millions. I couldn’t take it. I retreated from everybody and yes, I got so lonely, my heart was so sad, I prayed to the Fates to find a way to take me out of the fabric. That was then, this is now.”
“I wish you’d come and talked to me then, not that I’m not thrilled to see you now. You seem in good health, more resolved. What changed?” Sei reached out, stroking down his arm as though reassuring himself Silvanus was real.
“The Fates made me a promise – a mate of my own,” Silvanus rested his hand on top of Sei’s and squeezed it lightly, “and that’s why I need your help. Your son Artemas is hurting – heart hurting, and I need to know why. Please.”
“Artemas is your promise from the Fates?” Sei shook his fist at the ceiling, a huge scowl on his beautiful features. “That is so like them, offering a promise on one hand and giving you an impossible task at the same time. Of all the gods looking for a mate, Artemas is the one who hides from the idea. Of all my sons, Artemas is the one least likely to accept a mate. Lasse, Nereus – they were actively looking.”
“And successful too, from what I hear, granddad.” Silvanus grinned at the look of horror on Sei’s face, ignoring how his words about Artemas cut to his core. “Go on, admit it, you love the idea of being a grandparent, especially now you have new twins of your own.”
“Lasse’s mate Jason delivered a healthy girl, yes,” Sei admitted, “and if you want to be pedantic about it, I presume that makes me that child’s grandfather, although when age becomes nothing but a meaningless number, family titles don’t mean much either. Nereus hasn’t had children yet, thank goodness, and with his mates it’s not likely to happen. Baby…
well, the less said about Baby the better.”
“Things are not well with your offspring from Himeros?” Silvanus had been around when Baby was born, worried that the lack of affection shown to him by his carrier could influence the way the young man viewed relationships.
“He’s staying with Himeros at the moment.” Striding over to a large, well-equipped bar, Poseidon reached over the counter, pulling out an old bottle and setting it on the bar. “Come and drink with me, my friend. I fear, I worry Baby might be a lost cause.”
“Baby will come back to you.” Silvanus joined his friend. Poseidon always had good taste in alcohol. “You couldn’t help the way you were back then, and Himeros didn’t help the situation either. But that’s the way of children – they leave, they come back, backwards and forwards, just like your beloved tides. You have to be patient.”
“I’ve been a shit dad.” Poseidon stared into his glass. “Artemas raised himself when Thoth’s wife wouldn’t have him in the house. Artemas then raised Lasse and Nereus when they came along centuries later, and the three of them raised Baby when Himeros delivered him and disappeared. I fear none of them have the skills necessary to make a mating work. Fuck, I didn’t believe in fated mates until Claude claimed me as his, and I couldn’t get my dick to work for anyone else.”
“Your mating would explain Himeros’s bad mood. He’s always hoped you’d elevate him to someone special in your life.” Silvanus wasn’t keen on the three companions of Aphrodite as Poseidon was aware. They’d always been flighty trouble makers in his opinion. “You’re happy now, though, surely. The Fates wouldn’t have blessed you with more offspring unless they believed you’d settled down.”
“Claude is my world.” Sei looked up meeting Silvanus’s eyes. “I would give up the seas for him. If the only way I could be with him was to be mortal, I would give up all that I am, just for one of his smiles. As for the twins, I adore them, even if I did bitch and moan during the nine months carrying them.”
“It was you who was pregnant, and I missed it?” Silvanus shook his head as he chuckled. “That is taking the Fates interference to a whole new level.”
“It was a character building experience.” Poseidon tightened his lips. “If you listen to my mate tell it, he’ll tell you it was an experience for both of us, but believe me, he’s being kind. But now, raising Athena and Tony, shit, my friend, I mucked up so badly with my other sons. I can see that now.”
“It was a different time,” Silvanus said gently. “You were a different person. We all were back then. Didn’t you just say Lasse and Nereus are both happily settled now with mates of their own?”
Poseidon nodded. “The Fates have been busy. Thanatos has a mate too, his son Sebastian, Abraxas, and even Thor would you believe. Thor is currently pregnant, and he’s worse than an old woman the way he goes on about it. His sweet Orin must have the patience of the saints.”
Silvanus smiled, the warmth in his heart increasing. The Fates hadn’t forgotten any of them, hadn’t written them off as useless nobodies. Instead, they were strengthening the immortal lines in the fabric with mates to give the gods purpose. “One can only hope, that Thor’s wee one doesn’t learn how to throw lightening bolts until he understands what the word ‘no’ means. I haven’t seen Thor in decades. I must make a point of sending them my congratulations on his mating and the new arrival.”
“He still has about four months to go. You have plenty of time.” Sei took a drink and then put down his glass. “But I’m being unfair, burdening you with my problems when you came to see me about something specific. Artemas? I still can’t believe it. Are you sure you can’t petition to the Fates…?”
“Like you did?” Silvanus shook his head. “I was at my lowest ebb when the Fates granted me a visit. Our Eternal Mother has been crying for years. The beautiful world we crafted, so balanced in every way, is in a shambles. The laws against interfering meant my hands were tied. I begged the Fates to strip me from the fabric, but they claimed it was impossible.”
“You’re as old as time itself. Stripping your thread would leave huge holes in the tapestry, stretching back to the time it was first formed.” Poseidon looked horrified – all gods, regardless of who believed in them, knew how important the stability of the fabric of life was.
“So, the Fates informed me. That’s when they told me about mates, and how those of us who’d held their course, who had followed the rules, would be granted an eternal companion. Artemas is my promise, my gift from the Fates. I can not and will not forsake him, which is why I need your help. Tell me what I’m up against here, help me understand his plight, so I can soothe him.”
Letting out a long sigh, Poseidon grabbed his glass and the bottle of booze. “My mate is currently down in the club, overseeing things there. We won’t be disturbed. Come and take a seat. It’s a long story, and it ain’t pretty.”
Chapter Six
Perched high in the hills on the outskirts of Sydney Australia, Artemas sat on the edge of his porch, his legs swinging free, thinking about everything and nothing at all. Unlike his brothers, who preferred to set up their home bases in Greece or Italy, Artemas chose the other side of the world where urban development was slower, the air was cleaner, and he was less likely to run into any people. Particularly people he knew. Nosey gods like Poseidon for example who had no concept of personal space, or conversational boundaries.
Five days. Five long hot days he’d lingered in his home. Australia was in the middle of a heat wave, something that was unheard of under the sea. Wearing just a pair of shorts for modesty’s sake, and to stop the hot sun burning his ass, Artemas’s pale skin had tanned quickly. Without the need to wear his glasses, he felt more natural and freer than he had in a long time.
Every day went roughly the same. At first light he ran, his only accompaniment the calls of the brightly colored parrots native to the land. A brief breakfast was followed by mindless television watching, something that often stretched until late afternoon when Artemas went swimming in the local water hole he was fortunate to have on his land. He might have made a few adjustments to it, but not enough to raise the ire of his father. As in all aspects of his life, Artemas preferred to keep everything low key. Evenings meant another meal and when the stars started to appear in the night sky, Artemas would wander out to his porch, lie back and take in the wonder of the universe.
The one thing he didn’t do was touch Silvanus’s book that had pride of place in the middle of his coffee table. Oh, the book still glowed every time he was near it, but Artemas steeled himself against touching it, determined to stay focused on mindless pursuits. His initial desire to read and learn more about the elusive Silvanus was like a nagging itch that wouldn’t go away, yet Artemas was afraid. One meeting with Silvanus and Artemas knew he’d lose his finely honed control if he let the man get any closer. Reading about him, learning his thoughts… it would be a recipe for disaster. It was easier to torture himself with thoughts of what might have been, than take up the promise Silvanus offered – someone who would care for him.
“Time for a swim.” Artemas hopped up, refusing to give his thoughts any more room in his brain than necessary. “Swim, eat, maybe I’ll go out tonight.” A nearby parrot’s call sounded suspiciously like laughter, causing him to scowl. “I might,” he yelled.
The birds didn’t care, they never did. A long, long, time ago Artemas wished he could change into an animal or bird like both of his fathers could, but he soon learned wishing for things that couldn’t happen was a waste of valuable brain power. Besides, he had his Mer form. Feeling the water running over his tail would soothe his jagged nerves.
And the water did exactly that, for all of five minutes. “Poseidon,” Artemas sighed as he felt his father’s presence, “what are you doing here? This is my spot and you’re a long way from home.”
“You weren’t the only one needing the soothing caress from the water.” Poseidon flicked his tail, causing Artemas to jump as cold water met the ho
t skin on his torso. His father was leaning against the water hole edge, not a care in the world, but Artemas knew this wasn’t a casual visit.
“Say what you have to say, and then leave me in peace. I got the book you asked me to retrieve for you. Now, I’m taking a holiday.” Artemas closed his eyes. Poseidon’s larger and more powerful shifted form had the knack of making him feel inadequate.
“Ah yes, that book.” Poseidon’s voice was deceivingly casual. “You didn’t think to let me know you’d met Silvanus at the auction?”
Damn that man, running to daddy, which simply confirms my suspicions. “I didn’t meet him at the auction, he stalked me when I left.”
“And?”
“And nothing.” Artemas refused to open his eyes just to catch a glimpse of Poseidon’s knowing stare. “We met. He said I could borrow the book and he’d collect it when he was ready.” Bingo – my way out of this. “I can understand you worrying about it. From memory the two of you are very good friends. The book is on my coffee table. Help yourself. You can give it back to him seeing as you’re bound to see him before I do.”
“Artemas! I never pegged you for a coward.”
I can’t believe he used that word to describe me. “I am not a coward.” Artemas surged up, yelling just as loudly as his father. Keeping his balance through the swish of his tail he said scathingly. “I simply have no wish to see a man who smugly informs me he can go to any realm he pleases, and will see me when he damn well feels like it. I’m a grown man. I do what I want when I want, and I see who I please when I damn well please. It does not please me to see him now, or at any time in the foreseeable future.”