by Gina Ardito
~~~~
Oh, how she wanted to do as Shane asked. But her saner self knew better. She loved him and his family too much to place them in any more danger than she already had. The minute the door closed behind the flurry of activity the ambulance crew brought, she headed to the bedroom and found their overnight bag.
Money or not, she had to leave. Now. Before the Griffins reached the hospital. Packing took seconds. What’d she have? A few changes of clothing, a toothbrush, and a hairbrush—sparse articles to show she’d ever existed in Shane’s life.
Helplessness overwhelmed her. Where would she go? The world was a gaping maw, ready to devour her. But it wouldn’t get Shane. Or Pauline or Tyler. Not if she could help it.
One final stop, in the bedroom shared by the two men who’d captured her heart so cleanly. She needed something to remember them both. However brief her life would now be, she’d carry their memories with her until the bitter end. She stole their pillowcases, Shane’s smelling faintly of aftershave, Tyler’s warm and soft, and stuffed them into her bag. Reaching behind her neck, she opened the clasp to her fludee. After placing a kiss upon the gold medallion, she draped this last link with her mother on Tyler’s pillow. Let the gods watch over this poor innocent now.
With one last look at the suite that had embraced her over the last few days, she opened the door and stepped into the alcove.
When she opened the second door leading outside, Ted stood there, waiting. “Are you ready to go, dearest?”
Never questioning his sudden appearance, she nodded and allowed him to escort her away from the site that had held such joy for such a short time.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Thunder exploded beneath the immortals’ feet, and lightning spears forked the earthen sky.
“By mine eyes, Ares has gone too far,” Zeus roared. “To use an innocent child in so foul a manner?”
His wife, Hera, quirked a silver eyebrow in his direction. “Does this mean you will assist your daughter now?”
“Aye,” he announced, floating into the sweet-scented mauve air. “Yet I shall not go alone. Nemesis, the griffin is your loyal servant. You must accompany me to arm him for the battle to come. It will be your task to see Ares punished for his insolence. Hygeia, Panacea, you two shall see to the child. Do not allow him to suffer needlessly. Demeter and Rhea shall watch over the old woman and guard her from any more of the blackguard’s trickery. All others shall remain here until this drama has played itself out upon the world’s stage.”
Those lucky few chosen to accompany Zeus levitated among the clouds and hovered nearby while good-natured grumbling ensued from the deities ordered to stay behind. A flash of indigo light, six stars twinkled, and the selected gods disappeared from the heavens.
Only Hera chortled in delight as she scanned the disappointed faces around her. “Now, things shall become interesting. Does anyone recall the last time Zeus asked Nemesis to devise a punishment?”
“I do,” Apollo said with a lazy grin. “No one’s seen the continent of Atlantis since.”
“Thus,” Hera summed up, “we can only anticipate with glee what Ares shall face at her hands for his foolishness with Adara and the child.”
~~~~
The ER was a nightmare of “hurry up and wait.” Regardless of their arrival via ambulance, the Griffins still cooled their heels for over an hour before Tyler was finally brought into an examining room. By the time the physician arrived—some youth who looked like he’d just graduated high school a week ago—Tyler’s fever had spiked to 104. Youthful as he was, given the list of symptoms, the Boy Wonder wasted no time in ordering a spinal tap.
Even now, Shane winced at the image of that long steel needle boring into his nephew’s skinny back. Immediately, the doctor had visual results. Cloudy fluid virtually confirmed a positive diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. Still, only the lab could determine for certain, and that meant waiting until sometime the next day. In the meantime, the doctor ordered a regimen of antibiotics and insisted any adults who’d been in close contact with the boy over the last several days dosed as well.
At the moment, Tyler slept in a too-big bed in a private room, quarantined from all other patients. Shane and his mother sat on either side of the boy, wearing sickly green colored gowns and surgical masks for their own protection.
The whoosh of the air hinge on the door preceded the entrance of a nurse, similarly garbed and holding a tray. Shane blinked. He would have sworn she was the same nurse from College Hospital—the one who’d set up Adara’s IV before her transfer. No. Ridiculous. I’m exhausted, running on fumes and hallucinating.
“These are the antibiotics Dr. Penza ordered for you,” she whispered, moving two tiny paper cups from the tray to the counter near the sink. “I understand there’s another adult who didn’t come with you this evening?”
“Yes,” Mom replied in the same low tone. “My son’s girlfriend is staying at our hotel.”
Her son’s girlfriend? Ordinarily, Shane would dispute that title with her, but now was not the time. Too many other concerns required his attention at the moment. Like how could this nurse look so much like the one in New York? He settled for a quirked eyebrow in Mom’s direction, but she merely smiled in that all-knowing way she always did.
The nurse held a slip of paper out toward Shane. “Dr. Penza wrote a prescription for you. Each of you must take one of these pills every day for two weeks. The ones in the cups will satisfy you two for now, but you should fill this in the hospital pharmacy tonight. They’re open ‘til midnight. This way, your girlfriend can take her first dose as well. It’s important you don’t skip any of the pills. You got it?”
Taking the prescription form from her hand, Shane nodded. Once the nurse had left the room again, he turned to his mother. “I should get this filled and check on Adara. Will you be okay here until I get back?”
Mom’s overburdened shoulders rose up and down in a tired shrug. “I’ll manage. Go. Bring her back here with you, Shane. We’re a family now—all of us together. Adara shouldn’t be in that big hotel suite alone. She willingly put herself in harm’s way to keep Tyler safe. We need to keep her safe, too.”
One hand on the back of her chair, he bent and kissed his mother’s forehead. “Okay, Mom. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
~~~~
The door closed behind her with a loud click, and Adara’s shattered heart could take no more. Regardless of where she went or what she did with the rest of her life, half of her would always remain here.
A river of tears flowed into her eyes. Unbearable pain nearly forced her to her knees, but she locked her joints and fought the overwhelming urge to fall to the floor and weep. One last look at the suite’s entrance, and her hand reached out to touch the cold wood, every pore memorizing the texture and grain. Perhaps, a sliver might work its way beneath her skin to become a permanent reminder of the joy she’d known so briefly. No such luck. With a deep breath for fortitude, she turned around again to face Ted.
In the time it took her to swerve her gaze from the door to the hallway, the Prehistoric Palace’s accoutrements had melted. In their place stood a dozen marble columns at least thirty feet high, mosaic tiled walls with arched doorways, and a dark wood-beamed ceiling. Lording over this splendor was a magnificent granite statue of a beautiful nude woman seated upon an enormous throne. Curious, Adara studied the woman’s carved features, noting a strong resemblance to the man named Ted who stood by her side.
Surrounding the statue was what appeared to be an altar and shrine of pristine white marble. Hammered gold bowls circled the statue’s sandaled feet, holding multi-colored flower petals, crushed to release their fragrant oils into the air. Flickering candles, lining the altar, cast dappled firelight over the woman’s naked, pouting, stone breasts and perfectly flat belly.
“Where are we?”
“In my home, dearest,” Ted replied. “Welcome to Cyprus.”
“Somehow,” a malevolent voice w
hispered from behind the statue, “I knew you’d bring her here.” A shadowy form emerged and took the shape of a large, hulking brute of a man.
“Ares!” Ted exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you and your beloved, of course. We have unfinished business among us.”
The man stepped nearer the candlelight, and Adara gasped when his vile features registered on her dazed memory.
“Cherry!”
~~~~
Gone. He knew it the moment he swung open the door. Adara was gone. A slab of concrete couldn’t hit him harder than her sudden absence. All the blood left his head, pooling at his feet before draining into the tile floor, leaving him numb and empty. Breathing became impossible, the simple task of inhale and exhale lost in the rhythm of his brain repeating the mantra: “She’s gone, she’s gone, she’s gone…”
Hoping to find a clue to her whereabouts, he searched the suite with tired but determined eyes. Adara’s belongings were gone and the garment bag, as well. All traces of her very existence lost forever. In the master bedroom, he discovered the two bare pillows, lying stark and naked in the middle of the huge bed. And Adara’s medallion draped on Tyler’s barren pillow. Oh, Christ. She never would have left her medallion behind. Would she? Had Cherry’s goons found them?
An icy fist gripped his heart, and each breath became a struggle. But no. There was no sign of a struggle anywhere in the suite. Even the medallion lay perfectly framed on the pillow, a gift of farewell.
He stumbled back into the living area, his brain a jumble of fears and questions. Where the hell did she go? And how long ago? How did she expect to survive? She had no money since he still carried the wallet, no means of transportation, no one whom she could trust to assist her.
Pha. The name popped into his head and wriggled around his conscience. It had to be that damned Pha. From the get-go that guy hovered over Adara, popping up like an ugly zit on Prom Night. But how did he know what had happened to Tyler? Because Shane sure as hell didn’t believe it mere coincidence that Pha showed up at the exact moment the family left for the hospital.
No, Pha knew Adara was alone. That’s why he came. What had he said back in New York? “I have a psychic connection to Adara. Whither she goes, so goest I.”
Yeah, well, so goest I, too.
Who the hell was this guy? What kind of name was Tedior Pha anyway? It couldn’t be a real name. Was it a code? Did it hold some hidden meaning? In his mind, he played with various possibilities, but all too quickly, he gave up. Concern for Adara took center stage now.
Dammit, Adara, why didn’t you stay put like I asked you to?
“She left immediately after the medicos took you and your family away,” a booming voice said from behind him.
Whirling in surprise, Shane found himself face to face with a human sequoia. Taller than he, the giant easily topped six-and-a-half-feet. Thick, silver hair pegged him as much older than Shane, but his golden complexion was unlined, firm, and ageless. The eyes, however, sharp and thickly lashed, struck a chord of familiarity in Shane’s memory.
“Who the hell are you?”
The titanic man didn’t answer. He merely stepped back into the kitchen area to reveal a classically beautiful woman standing behind him. She, too, reflected a timeless quality. Rich auburn hair piled in a coronet upon her regal head. High cheekbones framed wondrous apple green eyes and a long slender nose. Her swan-like neck bobbed once as she nodded in Shane’s direction, a gesture of greeting and acceptance, but not deference.
Confused, Shane could do little but stare in open-mouthed awe. These strangers looked like statues carved by artisans in an ancient era. Both wore toga-style white robes, trimmed in what looked like ribbons of pure, solid gold.
I’m dreaming. Have to be. This whole thing is just one bizarre nightmare. Soon I’ll wake up, Tyler will be fine, and Adara will still be here with us. I just have to wake up.
Come on, Shane. You can do it. Wakey-wakey.
Hoping to speed the process along, he blinked—once, twice, three times—but the vision before him never changed.
“Adara needs you, Shane Griffin,” the man announced in deep timbre. “She is in grave danger.”
Questions surrounded him, flying from his brain to his lips with the rapid-fire speed of a machine gun. “Who are you people? Where’s Adara? How did you get here? What’s going on?”
“I am Zeus,” the man replied.
Shane failed to see the humor. “Zeus, huh? As in the ancient Greek god?”
The man’s mouth turned upward, and amusement glinted in his fathomless eyes. “Not ‘as in.’ I am the Greek god. And I am not now, nor have I ever been, ancient. My companion is Nemesis, goddess of divine retribution and your former mistress.”
Uh-huh. And I’m Elvis. Pleased to meet ya, baby.
Zeus’s eyes narrowed while thunder rumbled in the air, shaking the knick-knacks on the shelf above his head with a clinking sound. “This is no jest, Shane Griffin. I am Zeus, king of the gods, and more importantly, I am Adara’s father.”
“You?” Outrage replaced disbelief. Outrage for the loneliness Adara had borne all those years. Outrage at the scars this bastard had left on her heart. “You’re Adara’s father? So, where the hell have you been the last twenty years?”
Zeus gave a mirthless laugh. “Foolish mortal, I have 831,667 children. Do you think it easy for me to keep track of them all?”
“How should I know? But if you have such trouble maintaining your parental responsibilities, maybe a god of your stature should learn to keep his pecker inside his robes.”
Behind an upraised hand, the woman named Nemesis snorted, a rather ungoddesslike way to stifle a laugh.
Zeus’s attention swerved to her, and he frowned. “You find the griffin’s comments amusing, Nemesis?”
She lowered her hand, revealing a broad and glittery smile, like tinsel on a Christmas tree. “Aye. I like him. Even when he was my minion, the griffin always had a winning way. It pleases me to see he hasn’t changed.”
“He never pleased me.”
“Another reason he pleases me so much.”
Shane’s gaze veered from one to the other with impatience. “Look, I don’t know who you two really are, or how you came to be here, but if you know something about Adara’s whereabouts, you’d better be prepared to tell me. Now. Her life could be on the line.”
“All in good time, Shane Griffin,” Nemesis said. “There are things you must know before seeing Adara again. And there are things I wish to know before I reveal such information to you.”
Shane sighed. With no other choice except shooting the two of them to put them out of his misery, he’d have to play along for now. “Fine. What do you want to know?”
“I will ask you my question when I am ready and not a moment earlier. However, you must vow to answer honestly. Will you answer with all the truth in your heart, Shane Griffin?”
“I’ll be as honest as I can.”
“Fair enough. Let us begin then. Have you ever heard the story of Adonis and Aphrodite?”
Shane snorted. Like those old myths from eighth grade history class made such a deep impression on him. That was ages ago, and even then he found the legends stupid and a little too over the top for his tastes. Except maybe the stories of Hercules. Still, if it would lead him to Adara, he’d tell them as much as he could remember. “Aphrodite was the goddess of love, right?”
“Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty,” Zeus corrected with a snarl. “Among other things.”
“Right. And Adonis was the most handsome man ever born. Or something like that.”
“Yes, Shane Griffin.” Nemesis smiled. “Something like that. Though, personally, I never thought much of the man. Still, this is not my story. One afternoon, while playing with her son, Eros, Aphrodite accidentally pierced her breast with one of the winged boy’s love arrows. She was instantly smitten with Adonis, the first man she saw. But she was not the only one.
“Persephone, goddess of the Underworld, also loved Adonis, and the two fought bitterly over him. It was left to Zeus to solve their dilemma.”
She cast angry eyes at the king of gods, and he looked away, but not before Shane caught the flush of shame in his rough-hewn cheeks.
“I handled it poorly, I admit it,” Zeus murmured. “I ordered Adonis to spend one third of the year with Persephone, one third with Aphrodite, and the last third with whomever he wished. Adonis chose to spend that last third with Aphrodite. Persephone never forgave Aphrodite for her good fortune.”
“‘Tis ancient history now,” Nemesis said. “The rest of the tale might have ended there but for the jealousy of Ares, god of war. Ares was Aphrodite’s lover for many millennia, and he could not bear to lose her affection to a mere mortal. Thus, he sent a wild boar to gore Adonis during a hunt, killing him. Heartbroken, Aphrodite flew to the Underworld to beg Persephone for Adonis’s return. While Persephone could not reverse his death, she did agree to send Adonis back to earth and allow Aphrodite to win her lover’s heart again when he reached the age of thirty. Still stinging from those months without Adonis, she did not tell Aphrodite that, in this next life, Adonis would be reborn a female.”
Shane held up a hand. “What the hell does this have to do with anything? I mean, it would make a great soap opera plot, but—”
“Be patient, Shane Griffin,” Nemesis interjected. “All will be revealed to you in time. Recently, Adonis, in his new form, reached the age of thirty, and Aphrodite reappeared in his life, as promised.”
In that moment, it all became crystal clear for Shane. Still, he didn’t want to believe it. It couldn’t be. Impossible. Things like this just didn’t happen in the real world. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me that Adara Berros is actually Adonis reborn?”
Nemesis nodded. “And Tedior Pha—”
“Is an anagram for Aphrodite,” Shane finished then slapped his forehead. “Jesus, what an idiot I am. How could I not see it?”