“As ever, sister, your counsel has proven most wise. I will leave you now.”
She tipped her head. “Give my regards to Father, if you see him.”
“I will.”
Turning, I was just about to open another tunnel when out stepped my uncle Poseidon from his own. I narrowed my eyes, uneasy to my very core. “Uncle,” I said stoically. I did not ask why in the hell he was following me, because I knew he would deny it, and also because I knew damned well that he was.
He smirked. “Ares, I’d say you were following me, son, though I know you’d deny it. So why bother, eh?”
Bearing down on my front teeth, my nostrils wide and flaring, I did not try to hide the war flame surging through my fingers. “What is this game you play at, Uncle?”
“Me?” He touched his bronze hammered chest plate inscribed with images from the sea. “Why would you accuse me of something so heinous, Nephew? I merely came to visit with my favorite niece for a bit.”
“It’s true, brother. Poseidon sent me notice earlier this morning that he would come calling.”
It was all too simple and easy. I wasn’t merely perceptive in battle, I was perceptive always. Though he bore a charming and all-is-innocent smile, I caught the flicker of his lashes, the subtle tightening of his jawline. Poseidon could not divine the future, but somehow, he’d known I would be here. And he’d waited until I was done to visit with Athena.
I could ask my sister to keep what was spoken between us private, but that would only be giving away my hand and the fact that I knew he was up to something. He would merely suspect that I understood he toyed with me. And no doubt he would wish me to believe it was because of boredom that he did so.
And while that might very well play a part, something about all of this was very, very wrong.
Turning on the charm, I gave him a wide smile. “Of course, Uncle. May your talk with Athena be as enlightening as my own.”
Then without waiting for his reply, I walked away, my head held high and determined that I would fix my household first. And more than that, I would entirely forget the girl with wings as beautiful as an angel’s and a smile warmer than the burn of Apollo’s sun.
Chapter 55
Poseidon
Wearing a guileless smile and with both brows raised, I looked at my incredibly attractive niece. “He always did have your father’s temper, that one. Might I ask, pray tell, what you told him that should put him in such a fiery way? Almost as though your brother was told he could no longer have his favorite treat.”
My niece—who was incidentally my favorite of the gaggle—narrowed her eyes. “I begin to wonder whether Ares had the right of it, Uncle.”
Her voice sounded strained with curiosity.
I laughed, shrugging off her accusations lightly. No matter how wise she fancied herself, I was an old horse and knew exactly how to keep my thoughts my own. The fact that Ares knew I followed him only made the game richer for me. It was true that the gods as long-lived as myself were often found in a type of malaise. Bored and without direction, I’d long since learned to play a game of odds. But I preferred the long game. Seeing Ares sweat was half the fun.
Rolling my wrists, I adjusted my cuffs lightly. “Really, my dear, you flatter me, though I confess I’m not nearly as smart as all that. I quite fear that if I were truly following your brother, I’d give myself away almost immediately. You know how dreadful I am with secrets.” I mock shuddered. Much of the pantheon actually accepted this as truth where I was concerned. Again, long game. I was very good at spilling the beans when I shouldn’t, always careful to make it seem accidental. Being able to keep up the charade meant that I’d been carefully cultivating my image for millennia.
“No, the truth is that sometimes coincidences really do exist. Shocking, I know.” I shrugged and gave her an easy grin.
If I came on too strong, Athena would see right through me. But I was just being my usual charming self. And to further drive the point home, I softened my voice and pointed with my thumb over my shoulder.
“My dear, truly, if you do not believe me, I will leave to prove to you that I’ve come with no ill intent whatsoever. You’re family. I would not play with any of you in that way. You must believe me.”
What a bunch of bloody, perfidious fools my family was, though they did provide me with adequate pastime.
Whether she sent me home was immaterial. I would eventually learn what I needed to learn. There came a point when even the most skeptical person believed you because you appeared to be exactly who you claimed to be. If I left, she would assume that I’d been honest, with no ill intent whatsoever, but if I stayed, it would be her decision entirely. Both options meant she felt in control of the situation.
My grin stretched wider, and with a humble-sounding sigh, I took her delicate hand in mine and grazed her soft knuckles with a kiss. “Good day, my dear. Maybe we’ll take tea another time.”
Then with an elegant bow, I turned to go.
“Uncle, wait!” she cried just as I opened the travel tunnel. My spine stiffened, as though feigning surprise. A smirk flitted briefly past my lips, but by the time I’d turned, I was as composed as ever. “Dear?”
She shook her head and looked somewhat contrite. “Ares’s skepticism has a way of infecting one’s soul. Of course you may join me for afternoon tea. I would be glad for the company.”
Giving her a deep bow of acquiescence, I murmured, “As you wish. Though should you need me to leave, you only need to ask.”
She sniffed and gave me a teeny smile. Athena wasn’t as demonstrative as some, so for her, this was like winning a prize.
“I know, Uncle. Of course you would. I’m sorry that Ares made me doubt you for a moment.”
“No offense taken.” I nodded, keeping my face perfectly composed as I glanced around her isle of barely clothed women. Feeling a fiery stirring in my loins, I quickly cleared my throat and glanced away. “Working hard, training all these… war fillies, have you?” I said, my voice smooth and calm, though inside, I sneered at Athena’s obvious love of bloodlust. She might like to claim she was more mature than her brother, but they were both gauche. Wars could be fought and won with but a simple word spoken in the right ear. I’d won several often enough by employing just such a tactic.
She rolled her wrist. “True, and don’t think I’m not aware that you do not approve.”
I shrugged. “I’ve no wish to deny it. War is a messy business indeed.”
“More of the lover, not the fighter, Uncle. This I know.”
A corner of my lip twitched. “Yes, well. I do believe you offered me tea, and I am quite parched.”
“Of course. Would this space do? Or would you prefer us to find someplace more private?”
I was easy to please, or so I’d led them to believe. “Here is fine, dear. No need to put yourself out for me. I do hope you’ve made some of those delicious honey-and-pistachio cakes again.”
She snorted. “Do you question my ability as hostess?” She arched a regal brow.
I firmly checked my initial rush of annoyance. Such a superior bitch, Athena was. Always had been. It would be fun to set her down a peg. “Never, my dearest one.”
A twinkle entered her cerulean eyes. Then with a clap of her hands, a perfectly set table appeared before us in the very same meadow where her warriors trained.
After taking a seat, I crossed my legs and began doling out the tea and cakes. Athena could set an immaculate table when she had a mind to. Truth was, it wasn’t much of a hardship to visit with her.
If I loved anyone, it would probably be her. Though I wasn’t entirely certain that I did actually love her, I simply didn’t despise her as I did the others.
We sipped tea and tasted our cakes in silence for a while. Me moaning with delight with each bite of that addictive honey-and-pistachio cake she would always have her cook serve me whenever I visited. This was one of the rare times in life when I didn’t feign enjoyment. Land food was
so different from the fare I was used to beneath the sea.
Once I noticed her fidgeting and no longer taking such large bites of her midday meal, I spoke up. “What is the matter, my dear? You’re quivering like an excited monkey over there. What’s got you so jittery today?”
She looked up at me as if surprised. It wasn’t that Athena projected her emotions much at all. She was about as buttoned-up as they came in the pantheon. But I was exemplary at reading the telltale signs of emotions. It was that ability that kept me so close to Zeus’s side—and why I’d become his trusted advisor through the years. I almost always knew what he was thinking before he even realized he was thinking it.
She sighed. “I’m… I’m not sure I should share, Uncle.”
I lifted a brow. “Oh? Well, by all means, then. Secrets sometimes should remain our own. Safer that way.” I reached for the still-scalding pot of tea. “More tea?”
She blinked. The easiest way to draw out secrets from others was to pretend a complete lack of curiosity in them. Not that I didn’t wish to know. Obviously I did. Long game.
Flicking her wrist, she shook her head. “No, I’m done. I thank you.”
“Sure.” I poured myself some more before taking a tiny sip. Athena had some of the best tea groves on her estate and often proudly boasted of the tea’s medicinal and delicious properties. Sipping this tea was almost like taking a bite of the sweetest, juiciest peach at the very peak of ripeness. Giving a satisfied sigh, I stretched out my legs. “Really is such a lovely day. I was thinking of taking my hippocampus for a long swim lat—”
A tiny mewling growl spilled off her tongue. “It’s Ares. Blast, I can’t believe I’m speaking with you about this. But I need a confidant, and you’re one of the few in all of Olympus that I trust for advice.”
“Oh.” Inside I trembled with delicious glee, but outwardly I looked no more interested than if she’d told me the sun was green and not yellow. “What has that naughty boy done to you now? I’ll drown his ass if he dares hurt you, Niece. You know you’ve always been my favorite.”
Laughing lightly, the sound painfully beautiful even to my own jaded ears, she reached across the table and lightly squeezed my hand. “You are most ridiculous, Uncle. I do not deserve your kindness, and yet I am glad to know I have it.”
For one second, I felt a stirring of guilt stab like needles through my lower belly. But the emotion rarely lasted longer than it took me to take my next breath. My lips stretching into a wide and easy grin, I tipped my head as though in grateful acknowledgment. “Tell me then, female, who I love more than any daughter of my own, what has that boy done to you?”
Huffing, she shook her head. “Only you would dare call that hothead a boy.” Her words sounded fond, and I knew I could not afford to talk badly of him to her. For all that she was bothered by him, she did care for her brother a great deal.
“You know I care for Ares too, Athena. But what affects you affects me. I can see this, whatever it is, weighs heavily on your mind.”
She shifted in her seat, her eyes glittering with obvious shards of worry. Clearly she was battling with her conscience, which only made my anticipation grow.
I knew Ares was up to something. He’d been acting strange lately. What with his almost passive acceptance of Aphrodite’s betrayal, his mind was clearly engaged elsewhere, and my own spies whispered of his comings and goings to a small, insignificant island with not a whiff of war upon its horizon.
Not to mention what the Fates had spoken over me several months ago. Seemed to me that soon our paths would cross whether we wished them to or not.
I grabbed Athena’s hand and squeezed her cold fingertips. “Athena, dear, perhaps seek out the counsel of the Fates. They always bring me much clarity during times of great distress.”
Her shoulders sagged, and she gave me a grateful smile. “You’re too sweet, Uncle. It’s nothing dire as you seem to be imagining. It’s only that, well…” She plucked at the tea linen upon the table with nervous fingers, glancing down worriedly one final time before squaring her shoulders and holding my gaze directly. “I’ve a quandary. You know who I am, what I can do. I can sense untruths, and Ares… he is, well, there is no other word for it. He lied to me. And it makes me uneasy.”
I cocked my head, my pulse racing like thundering hooves in my ears. “Truly. About what?”
She sighed and slipped her hand out of mine, sitting back against her seat and scowling at her practicing warriors, seeing not them but something else entirely. “That’s just it. I’m not really sure.” She looked at me, her lips tight and thinned to near nonexistence. “But he does, he lies to me. He is covering up something that makes me exceedingly uneasy, mostly because I think whatever it is might not bode well for him or me when the dust settles.”
“Really?” I sounded shocked because this time, I actually was. Of all the scenarios I’d imagined, I’d not thought Ares would ever betray Athena’s confidence. He was a straight arrow, boring as hell and always worried about doing the “right thing.” Blah. I really could not begin to imagine where his sense of right and wrong had come from, considering the only thing Zeus, Hera, or I knew about morals was the definition.
Rolling her eyes, she began to chew on the tip of her fingernail. I realized two things. One, whatever Ares had done or was about to do was bigger than I’d imagined, and two, it sincerely bothered Athena. I was surprised to feel a niggling of irritation about it—on her behalf.
Chewing my lips, I took a sniff until the emotion cleared. “Tell me, daughter of my heart, what it is you imagine your hard-headed brother has done.”
Her jaw muscle clenching and unclenching, she shrugged. “I do not know. But he mentioned a girl, one bound to a goddess by a vow, and for some reason, I sensed immediately this girl must have bound herself to me. It could be the only reason for his caginess in telling me anymore about it. And the mere fact that he should try to keep something like that from me leads me to suspect that whatever this is is very bad. Very bad indeed. What if I am forced into doing something I do not wish to do? Against my own brother? He will despise me, and I fear I might even despise myself for it.”
I shook my head. “Consequences are a result of actions taken. If Ares does wrong, he knows what will come of this, Athena. It is why, I suspect, he goes to such lengths to conceal his involvement in these matters. But who is this girl?” I couldn’t help that a little of my excitement creeped out. It’d been some time since Ares’s eye had looked at anyone but Aphrodite.
She gave me a long look, and I picked up my tea, taking a steadying sip. Something about all of this was affecting my normal state of aplomb more than usual. And with her keen eye, I would have to be exceedingly cautious to hide the true reasons for my curiosity. But in truth, something about this situation was triggering to me as well, and not simply because I cared for the twit Athena—which, damn my black soul, I did—but because it felt strangely pertinent to my own life. Though how, I wasn’t quite sure yet.
“I’ve no idea, but if I search my followers’ hearts, I sense a disturbance on one of my islands.” She shrugged, and her look was one of irritation. “But I could be wrong.”
“You should investigate. Send one of your spies, perhaps?”
That was not at all what I wanted her to do, but again, long game.
She shook her head. “I’ve got too much to do at present, and my spies are needed elsewhere. But I would like it if someone did maybe follow my brother and reported back to me what was found.”
I grinned slowly. “Are you asking me, dear Athena?”
Her smirk matched my own. She truly thought herself such a clever little girl. It was enough to make me scoff at times. Neither my progeny nor my family had ever learned to master the game quite as I had.
“Would you be a dear, Uncle? There would be more honey-and-pistachio cakes in your future if you did.”
Taking the last bite of said cake, I chewed slowly before swallowing. “How could I resist such
a tempting offer? Of course, I’ve nothing on my schedule. I shall be discreet and learn what I can. I will report back as soon as I do learn something. Only, make sure to double the cakes. You know how dearly I love them.”
Her laughter brightened the sky and made me feel a prickling of joy that I’d brought it out of her.
“Of course.”
I stood and gave her a crisp bow.
“Be well, Uncle. I hope to see you soon.”
“As soon as may be, my dear.”
With one final kiss upon her knuckle, I took my leave. All was going exactly as planned. Now I only had to discover what in the devil my dull nephew was up to.
Chapter 56
Ares
Aphrodite and I weren’t in a good place. Hadn’t been for a while now. I didn’t want to have the conversation with her that I was currently planning, but I also knew that it was time.
She’d already spoken to me once before of her unhappiness in our arrangement, and I watched as she’d paraded male after male and female after female into her bed night after night, as though she manically sought something she couldn’t possibly understand.
Deep down, I was fairly certain I understood it. I’d been actively shutting my eyes to the truth, but there came a point in life when denial was no longer an option, because she could no longer feign happiness. And above all else, Aphrodite’s happiness had always been paramount to me.
Dressing in street fashion of the early 1980s in the Americas, I adjusted my ridiculous-looking collar in the mirror. I’d once taken Aphrodite on a date to this era, and she’d fallen wildly in love with its music, food, and fashions. I knew that a part of me was trying to remind her subconsciously of the good times we’d had together. We’d had more than a few.
I’d even returned to the era this afternoon and picked up not only the clothing but also a few cassettes, a tape player, and a bag of burgers, fries, and two pops.
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