by Kieran Scott
“Quite,” I replied, standing up straight.
The king and queen came to stand before the rest of us. Hera wore her black hair piled atop her head with a gold band crusted with diamonds running through it, her white gown pristine as ever. Zeus’s blond beard was clipped short, his green eyes almost merry, as he paused before me in his classic Roman attire—laced sandals, leather breastplate and all.
My mother, father, Orion, and I bowed. Artemis and Apollo, still on the floor, merely dipped their heads. Somewhere behind the king and queen, Hephaestus groaned.
“Well, Eros. You’ve made quite a mess of things, haven’t you?” the king said.
“Have I? I think things were going well until a moment ago.”
Artemis shoved herself off the ground and advanced on the queen. “You told me I could have him! You told me I would have my revenge!”
The queen raised a dismissive hand, passing it before Artemis’s throat, and Artemis fell silent. Try as she might to shout, nothing emanated from her mouth. She clasped her hands over her neck and tried to choke out a sound, but it was fruitless.
“I tire of your incessant complaining,” Hera said with a sniff.
“Well, I’ll give you this,” the king said, looking down his nose at me. “You’ve done as I asked. You’ve matched your three couples and proven yourself to be dedicated to your calling.”
Hera glanced over her shoulder at Wallace and Darla. Their hands were clasped as they looked toward us, frozen in disbelief.
“An odd pairing, to be sure, but love is often . . . illogical,” she said, glancing at her husband.
Zeus smirked, then gestured at Orion casually.
“Go ahead, Eros. You may now claim your prize.”
I turned to Orion. A smile stretched across his handsome face. We stumbled into each other, our lips meeting messily, hungrily, ecstatically as my hands traveled his arms, his shoulders, his waist, his hair. He was back. My love had been returned to me. It had been so long since I’d touched him—the real him—I couldn’t get enough.
Hephaestus was right all along. Those kisses with the other Orion had been amazing, but this . . . this was the real thing.
In the corner of my vision, Artemis fell to her knees, still clutching her throat as tears poured from her eyes.
“What about your deal with Artemis?” Apollo demanded, shoving himself unsteadily to his feet and advancing on the queen. “What happened to that?”
“The king and I discovered that our desires were in conflict,” the queen said. “I wanted to do away with both of you,” she said, casting a cool eye at me and Artemis. “But he claims that we gods and goddesses need a stronger presence, not a lesser one.”
“My queen acted rashly,” the king put in with a teasing smile. “Losing two young and dedicated goddesses would not only upset the balance of the universe, but it would weaken our power as a whole. Therefore, we’ve decided to let you both live.”
I looked at my father. He barely contained an eye roll. Games. The king and queen loved to play games—with us, with each other, with the mortals of Earth. But at least this time, I had won. My hand was clutched inside Orion’s and made me the victor.
“Where would the two lovebirds like to go?” Zeus asked me and Orion, plucking my leaden arrow from the air and twirling it in one hand. “Would you return to the Mount? Or to your love nest in Maine?”
I grasped Orion’s hand even tighter, about to say yes. That cabin in Maine was where I’d been happier than anywhere else. But then I remembered how restless Orion had grown, being separated from human contact. My gaze traveled over the many familiar faces in the crowd—Peter and Claudia, Katrina and Charlie, and Wallace, Darla, Lauren, Mia, Josh, Gavin, even the awful Veronica. I’d begun to feel at home among these people. I enjoyed getting to know them and understand them. Did I really want to leave them now?
I looked into Orion’s eyes, and he smiled. He knew exactly what I was thinking.
“What if we . . . wanted to stay here?” I asked. “For just a little while longer. I feel like I was just getting good at this.”
“But what of the rest of the world?” Hera asked. “Lake Carmody, New Jersey, is not the only community deserving of your attentions.”
“Of course not, my queen,” I said. “But I do love this new depth of understanding that comes from really knowing the people I’m matching. What if I came home to Mount Olympus a few hours each day to breed love from my earthen window? Would that appease you?”
She tilted her head in acquiescence, her attitude toward me still cool.
“What say you, Orion? Do you like it here?” Zeus asked.
Orion’s jaw dropped slightly, probably unable to believe the king had bothered asking what he wanted. Harmonia and Hephaestus approached our conference from behind the king and queen, holding hands.
“I’ll happily go wherever Eros goes,” Orion said, lifting my hand to kiss it. “As long as there is good hunting nearby.”
Zeus stepped up to me and put out his hands, palm up. I released Orion and allowed the king to hold my hands in his.
“I’m proud of you, Eros. You showed true dedication, true understanding, and true heart in all this. You’ve set an example for everyone else on Mount Olympus to follow,” he added, casting a wry glance at Apollo and Artemis. “But I need you to do me one favor.”
“Anything, Your Highness,” I said.
“Would you promise my wife that you won’t use your growing powers in an attempt to usurp her throne?” he said, turning sideways to see Hera. “She’s become quite paranoid about you girls.”
Hera sniffed and looked to the left, as if this line of conversation offended her. My gaze shifted past her, to where Hephaestus sat, kissing the back of Harmonia’s hand, holding it like he would never let her go.
“Of course I will. On three conditions,” I said.
Zeus raised his eyebrows, intrigued. “Let’s not forget who you’re talking to.”
“I won’t,” I replied. “These are small requests.”
He lifted his chin and drew back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Have at it, then.”
“I want you to return Aphrodite to the Mount where she belongs,” I said. “I want Artemis and Apollo to be banned from Orion’s presence, and I want Hephaestus’s powers to be returned and for him to be welcomed back home with open arms, so that he may be with my sister, Harmonia.”
Zeus’s eyes narrowed, and he nodded. “Done.”
“What? Really?” Hephaestus raised his head, his whole face brightening with joy. Harmonia laughed, a musical, tinkling sound that lightened the entire room.
“I’d quit while you’re ahead if I were you,” my father said gruffly.
Hephaestus’s mouth snapped shut, and he had the intelligence to look unnerved. I couldn’t imagine how my new family was going to work with my mother’s former husband now in love with her daughter, but they would figure it out somehow. Hopefully there would be no tossed lightning bolts or sojourns to Etna involved.
“Come now, my brethren. I tire of this place,” Zeus said, crooking an arm. “Let us go home. Good luck to you, Eros.”
He took Hera’s hand and together, the king and queen whirled out along with Artemis and Apollo, who barely had time to screech his indignation before he was gone. My mother enveloped me in her perfumed arms, holding me tight to her chest.
“Thank you, Eros,” she said, her eyes shining as she looked me over. “The king is right. You’ve done us proud.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
She reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear. “I’ll see you soon?”
“Before you know it,” I replied.
With a smile, she touched her lips to my forehead, then stepped back and whirled away, kicking up a tornado of glitter and streamers as she went. When the debris finally floated to
the floor again, Hephaestus was wheeling toward me with Harmonia at his side.
“Nice work, True,” he said with a mischievous glint in his eye. He extended one hand. “I’m going to miss being your sidekick.”
I clasped his fingers with my own. “Well, you could always stay. . . .”
He let me go and reached for my sister’s hand. “Not a chance.”
We laughed, and then they both blew me a kiss and were gone. Orion drew me into his arms.
“So what now?” he asked.
Suddenly the music started up again, and the people around us flinched to life. My eyes widened, and I quickly kicked my bow beneath the long tablecloth on the snack table next to us. Ms. Austin looked around, baffled, as if she couldn’t remember crossing the room, then shrugged and went back to her post by the door. Everyone else started to dance and eat and laugh and talk like nothing had happened. Clearly Zeus had altered their reality so that none of them recalled a thing.
“Okay, this is weird,” Orion said, taking my hand.
“When the king says he’s going to take care of something, he takes care of it,” I said.
Orion laughed. “It is so good to see you.”
“It is so good to be seen,” I replied.
Then I reached back and unclasped his arrow from around my neck. He bowed his head slightly so I could reclasp it around his. He closed his eyes and sighed, savoring the feeling of the cool silver against his chest.
“I’ve missed this. I’ve missed us,” he said, holding my hand. “It was like I knew there was a hole inside me, but I didn’t know why, and now it’s gone.”
“You’ll never have to miss me again, I promise.”
I leaned in to kiss him, and the moment our lips met, a hand came down on his shoulder. I darted back, ever on the defensive, but it was just Peter, with Claudia at his heels, their new crowns glinting under the strobe lights. Charlie and Katrina stood beside them along with Wallace and Darla, who were flushed with the early stages of romantic bliss. All of them looked so beautiful and shimmering and happy, holding hands, arms around each other, smiling and beaming with love. And I’d done that. I’d helped them find each other.
“Are you two gonna stand there the whole night looking serious, or are you going to get out here and dance?” Charlie asked.
Orion laughed and lifted his shoulders at me. “I’m gonna say . . . dance?”
“We’ve never done that before,” I remarked.
“Then let’s go already,” Darla said, rolling her eyes.
I held Orion’s hand as we moved to the center of the floor. Orion held me against him as we began to dance.
“So, True Olympia,” he said with a smirk. “You’ve completed your mission. How does it feel?”
“It feels good,” I answered.
Orion twirled me around, and even though I was surrounded by happy couples, my eyes fell on plenty of forlorn faces, lonely hearts, souls just longing to be appreciated. I looked up at my love and smiled.
“But there’s lots more work to be done.”
About the Author
Photo credit Sona Viola
Kieran Scott is the author of the He's So/She's So Trilogy, including She's So Dead to Us, He's So Not Worth It, and This Is So Not Happening, as well as the True Love series, which includes Only Everything and Complete Nothing. She also wrote the New York Times bestselling Private series and the Shadowlands trilogy under the pen name Kate Brian for Alloy Entertainment. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons. Follow Kieran on Twitter at @kieranscott.
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Also by Kieran Scott
She’s So Dead to Us
He’s So Not Worth It
This Is So Not Happening
Only Everything: A True Love Novel
Complete Nothing: A True Love Novel
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2015 by Kieran Viola
Cover photograph copyright © 2015 by Michael Frost
Hand lettering and illustration by Bobby Haiqalsyah
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Also available in a paperback edition
Jacket design by Chloë Foglia
Interior design by Hilary Zarycky
The text for this book is set in Granjon.
First hardcover edition February 2015
The Library of Congress has cataloged the paperback edition as follows:
Scott, Kieran, 1974–
Something True / Kieran Scott. — First paperback edition.
pages cm. — (A true love novel ; [3])
Summary: Eros, the Goddess of Love, in her guise as True, a modern-day New Jersey high school student, tries to match a third couple, the last one required for her to be reunited with her own true love, Orion, and return to Olympus.
ISBN 978-1-4424-7724-7 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-1-4424-7723-0 (pbk.) —
ISBN 978-1-4424-7725-4 (eBook)
1. Eros (Greek deity)—Juvenile fiction.
[1. Eros (Greek deity)—Fiction. 2. Goddesses, Greek—Fiction.
3. Mythology, Greek—Fiction. 4. Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. 5. Love—Fiction. 6. High schools—Fiction. 7. Schools—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.S42643Som 2015
[Fic]—dc23
2014012392