by Lisa Kessler
He shifted his gaze to Alexander. The Guardian was older now, his hair thinning and gray. Deep lines marred his tan skin around his eyes and forehead. In spite of the years, Alexander lifted his chin and squared his shoulders with a keen glint in his eye.
“I raised my grandson on stories of the gods and goddesses. I taught Miko to respect the role of fate and destiny, but he is right in this.” Alexander crossed his arms over his chest. “Love gives our lives meaning. Our stories may never be immortalized in the stars like yours, but Sofia’s life is written in my heart and it will be until it stops beating. So whatever game you’re playing with your father, stop deciding who wins and loses, and learn something from my grandson. Try loving each other instead.”
Alexander walked away next, trailing after Mikolas and leaving Zeus behind with much to think about.
Trinity grinned as she led Mikolas’s grandmother into the lobby. Sofia Leandros definitely carried the spark of Urania in her soul. She exuded light in her smile, her laughter, even in her stubborn attitude. Now Trinity knew where Mikolas got it from.
Sofia stared at the multitude of tiny sparkling lights spiraling around pages of music and hymns to fill the expanse of the high ceiling. Pure joy warmed her features as she grinned and clasped her hands together. “Beautiful. As if the light of inspiration and music floats up to the stars.” She pulled her gaze back to Trinity’s face. “This theater is perfect. Just like the one in my dreams.”
Trinity beamed with a pride she hadn’t expected to feel from Nona’s approval. “You haven’t even seen all of it yet.” She took Nona’s arm, and Agnes followed on her other side. Although she didn’t know the older women well, that connection, the shared experience of discovering the yearning to inspire, bonded her to them. They were muses, regardless of generation.
Callie met them on the stage, and Trinity introduced Mikolas’s grandmother. Callie welcomed them and glanced at Trinity. “Have you asked them yet?”
Trinity shook her head. “You’re our fearless leader. I just brought them to you.”
Callie rolled her eyes but still managed to smile warmly. “Fine.” She looked at Sofia and Agnes. “We were hoping you two might join us onstage at the opening, so all nine muses would be represented.”
Sofia grinned, nodding. “This is why I come from Greece, to help you…to shine light. Urania.”
Trinity looked over at Agnes and held her breath. Cooper’s grandmother was her generation’s Polyhymnia, but she was also shy. Putting her onstage in front of a packed house might be too far outside her comfort zone. Being a muse hadn’t been a gift during Agnes’s lifetime. Her Guardian had never found her, and her husband had never understood the muse inside her. She was a widow now, but she’d buried that part of herself for so long that Trinity wasn’t sure she could truly let Polyhymnia out anymore.
Sofia reached for Agnes’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Sister, let’s help them inspire the world.”
“Sister…” A slow smile curved over Agnes’s lips as the stage lights shone in her watery eyes. “I’ve waited a lifetime for this.”
The older women embraced again, and Trinity slid her arm around Callie’s waist with a knowing look. “Remember how amazing it felt when we finally found each other?”
Callie nodded. “Instant family.”
Once all the muses arrived and were introduced, Callie led the rehearsal. They ran through entrances, music, dances, sing-alongs, and readings. While they worked, Mikolas sat in the back row of the orchestra seats, his dark eyes following Trinity’s every move. One by one, the others joined him. Hunter, Cooper, Nate, Mason, Gavin, Mikolas’s grandfather, and even Reed, filled the row beside Mikolas.
Family. Maybe not by blood, but definitely by destiny.
“Great job today everyone!” Callie said from centerstage. “We’ve got a few more days to shake out the kinks, but it’s going to be great. See you all back here tomorrow.”
Trinity sat at the piano working through some chords while the others said their good-byes and left. She closed her eyes, surrendering to the melody. As her fingers settled on the final chord, she pressed the sustain pedal, sending the music echoing into the ether.
Two heavy hands rested on her shoulders. She tipped her head back and smiled up at Mikolas. “Are we finally alone?”
He bent down, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “My grandparents are waiting in the car.”
“They’re amazing.”
He nodded, taking her hand and helping her up from the piano bench. “They love you already.”
She sobered. “Today was… I don’t have words. Being with those women, seeing you out there with all the guys who have worked so hard to help us make this happen…” She stared at the ceiling. “If this is the end…” She met his eyes with a smile. “What a way to go, right?”
He wrapped her in a warm embrace she wished she could stay in forever. He kissed her hair and then kept his deep voice low, for her ears only, as he said, “I don’t believe our story is ending. I can’t.”
She pulled back enough to see his entire face. “Did Zack tell you something I should know?”
“No.” He pointed to the back row of seats. “But I sat out there for hours today, and it seemed like seconds. All nine muse sisters together on that stage is a magic I never realized existed. You made me believe anything is possible. I think all of us felt it. This place… One of them called a beacon.” He shook his head and met her eyes. “It’s magic here, Trin. Friday is going to be spectacular. If anything could save humanity in the eyes of the God of Time, it’s the nine Muses.”
She buried her face in his chest, clinging to him as a tear slid down her cheek. “You have no idea how much I want you to be right.”
“Let’s get my grandparents settled at the hotel so I can take you home.” A sexy smile curved his lips, and heat blossomed low in her belly.
“Deal.”
CHAPTER 19
Friday came much too soon. Zack waited under a shady tree at the park, his ivory game board already set up. Americans probably assumed it was checkers with the white and black discs in rows on either side of the black and white squares of the board, but Petteia was thousands of years older.
He stared at the empty chair across the table. He’d replayed this day in his head countless times. If he had it to do all over again, would he have attacked his father when his mother asked him to? Was destiny unavoidable?
He’d learned so much from his own daughters in the eons since. For generations, he’d passed in and out of their lives. Instead of jealousy and petty infighting, these muses taught him about love and respect, things he’d never found on the heights of Olympus. In that time, he’d come to realize something: he wasn’t the hero of the story. Not really. He’d had the might, and the numbers, but was it heroic to punish his father as his mother had pressured him to do? More importantly, did it even matter anymore? Fighting the same battle for control seemed…pointless.
Alexander Leandros’s parting words had haunted Zack for days. Could they learn to love each other instead of deeming one a victor and the other a loser? Truth be told, he wasn’t sure his vengeful father was capable of love. Maybe it was too late for redemption for two forgotten gods in this world of mankind.
Kronos approached the table. Like Zeus, his father wore his mortal disguise. Kevin Elys was tall and slender, and although his hair was silver and wrinkles lined his eyes, the immortal power of the God of Time was present.
He took off his coat and laid it over the back of the chair before taking a seat. “You’re older than I remember, boy.”
“I could say the same to you,” he countered. “I wasn’t certain you would come.”
“Where else would I be? The chance to defeat you is the only reason I came back to this world.” He glanced at the board in front of him. “I must say I expected our rematch to be on a more epic scale.”
“This is the world of man now. I don’t seek to make a spectacle with lightning bolts any
more.”
His father raised a brow. “I find that hard to believe.”
Zack pulled in a slow breath. “I’ve changed over the millennia that have passed. Why punish mortals for our shortcomings?”
His father made his first move, pushing a black disc forward on the board. “If this is humanity’s world, then I really am Kevin Elys.”
“Elys.” Zeus slid his white disc next to Kevin’s. “For the Elysian fields?”
Kevin’s eyes sparked, flashing his immortal power for a moment. “You’re the first person to pick up on that.”
“Most humans don’t remember the story of the Elysian fields, Father.”
“Enough.” Kevin lifted his hand. “I’m sick of hearing you call me father. You lost that right the day you put that poison in my cup.” He moved a second piece next to Zack’s, trapping it between the black pieces. He removed it from the board with a smirk. “This will be my world very soon.”
Zack crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “I only poisoned your cup in order to free my siblings. You held them in your stomach for years over a prophecy that you would be overthrown by one of your children.”
“A true prophecy, as we came to see.” He pointed to the board. “Make your move.”
“You brought it to fruition with your paranoia.” Zack rested his hands on either side of the table. “It didn’t have to be that way.”
“Says you.” He shook his head. “Make your move. I have a brother to avenge.”
Zack stared across the table at his father, and an idea crystalized in his mind. “You loved Iapetus,” he said, thinking out loud.
Kevin raised his gaze to Zack’s face. “He was my brother.”
“But you experienced pain when we felt him vanish from this plane. You miss him. That’s love.” Zack gestured to a couple wandering about the park, oblivious to the fact that their fate was being decided by two old men at a gaming table. “Mortals understand this secret we struggle to comprehend. They cherish those they love because unlike us, time is finite for them.”
“It doesn’t matter. They killed my brother. They’ll pay with their lives.” He broke eye contact, focusing on the board instead. “Go.”
“When my mother finally brought me into your presence for the first time, I wanted your acceptance, your praise, so badly.” Zack didn’t take his turn. Rather, he waited for his father to look at him. “When you made me your cupbearer instead of your son, that rejection festered in me. I could have loved you. Instead, hate grew.”
Kevin leaned back in his chair. “What is this game you’re playing?”
“It’s not a game.” Zack chuckled flatly, allowing a grim smile to curve his lips. “Why must we always have a winner and a loser? What if we learned to love each other instead?”
Kevin didn’t offer a quick comeback. His stare was heavy, shielded, leaving Zack to wonder what was going through his father’s head. But in the silence, Zack realized his words hadn’t been a manipulation or a game. They’d been honest.
Even after the passage of thousands of years, he still ached for his father’s approval.
“Your mother and I wanted children. We envisioned we would fill this world with incredible beings, parts of us.” Stroking his chin, Kevin met Zack’s eyes. “That prophecy poisoned me, my marriage, my family. From the moment I heard it, the only thing that mattered was keeping it from happening. Rhea was so excited when she found out she was expecting our child, but I came to see every pregnancy as a betrayal.”
Zack crossed his arms. “Don’t succumb to it again. This is a new chance for a new world.”
“Even if I wanted that, my path is set.” A muscle ticked in his cheek. “I will see humanity punished for taking my brother’s life, and I will see you and your mother disgraced and degraded for your treachery.” He nudged the board. “Make your move, boy.”
“I have.” Zack slid all his pieces off the board. This wasn’t a game. Not anymore. “I’m far from perfect, just like you, but I’m willing to forget the past and look to a new future with my father.”
Kevin’s laughter was cold as he shook his head. “Then you’re a fool.”
“Perhaps. But before you mete out your punishment, come with me to Les Neuf Soeurs for its opening. Let your granddaughters show you the beauty of humanity. Their lives are short, but they have worth.”
“So I have won.” Kevin wiped his markers off the board. “And when I go to the theater with you, you and your mother will face me.”
“We never finished the game. No winner and no loser.” He tugged on the brim of his purple hat. “And we will embrace you at the theater, if you allow it.”
His father laughed again, but there was no joy in his eyes. “Your mother will never embrace me.”
“Not as long as you seek to hurt her, but maybe if you remembered how to love her she would. The prophecy is long dead. Forgotten as a myth. Let’s leave it there.”
Kevin stood, his movements stiff. “I’m finished talking.”
Zack nodded, picked up the board, and stopped beside his father. “Then let’s move forward.”
“I’ve agreed to nothing.”
“We walk away together without a winner or loser.” Zack moved down the path with his father at his side and his immortal heart pounding in his ears. “That’s enough for me.”
CHAPTER 20
Trinity stood centerstage, alone in the heat of the spotlight. She was frozen in time but not by Kronos. She glanced toward the wings. Mikolas smiled at her, his strength and love bathing her as much as the lights were.
She took a bow and sat on the piano bench. The audience applauded offered their energy to the moment as she placed her hands on the keys. The first chord rang out, echoing through the space like a bolt of lightning. Inspiration poured from her fingers, the piano strings converting it into a living thing, a force of nature, something magical.
She leaned into the mic, adding her voice to the song. This one she’d written for her sisters, for their struggles and their commitment, their devotion to inspiring humanity to love instead of hate, to help others instead of judge them, to create and be brave enough to share it with the world.
All her worries vanished into the melody. Anything was possible. Humanity was worth the fight. Life was messy, full of pain and pleasure…. And love… Gods, love was worth every heartbreak, every loss. She knew that now.
As Trinity played, her sisters began to join her onstage, singing the chorus along with her. Clio and Lia entered from stage left, and Mel and Callie from stage right. Then Tera came dancing up the center aisle of the theater, and right behind her, Sofia and Agnes walked down the aisle hand in hand.
The spotlight followed them toward the stage, casting long shadows across the audience. The muses began to clap to beat of the music, and finally Erica entered with a cordless microphone, completing the sisterhood, all nine muses together inspiring mankind again after millennia apart.
She stood in the crook of the piano and faced the full house. “Please join us. Move, dance, clap, sing—the world needs our magic. You all have a story to tell, a history to write however you choose. Your ideas will move us all into the future, a better future. We can make that happen. The world is what we make it, and it’s worth fighting for.”
Trinity and Mikolas hadn’t shared the consequences of tonight’s opening with anyone. Erica had no idea of the literal truth in her opening welcome. But Trinity wondered if immortals had witnessed Erica’s speech.
With the spotlight on her, Trinity couldn’t see the audience, couldn’t see if Zeus and Kronos were in attendance, and suddenly, she realized she didn’t give a shit.
Gods be damned.
They weren’t going to ruin this moment or this alchemy of inspiration they were manifesting tonight. This was humanity’s moment.
Trinity’s vision wavered, blurred by tears as Erica turned around to face her. She came over and nudged her over on the piano bench, keeping the mic away from her mouth. “I
t’s been too long since music and lyrics were together.”
Trinity laid her head on her best friend’s shoulder. “You always make me better.”
“Right back atcha, Sister.”
Trinity smiled as a tear slipped down her cheek. Erica brought the mic back up, placing it right between them as she took over the high notes on the keyboard with her right hand, while Trinity carried the chords. They harmonized their voices into the mic, sending the song into the air. Then an amazing thing happened: the back doors of the theater opened, and women of all ages, races, and backgrounds walked down the aisles toward the stage. The spotlight moved away from Trinity to the women entering the theater.
Trinity’s chest clenched. They were muses. All of them. She had no idea how she knew, but she had. Instantly.
They united their voices, the song taking on its own life, unable to be contained by the walls of the theater. Erica gestured for them to come onstage. Trinity kept playing, but movement in the far-left corner of the audience caught her eye—Zeus and Kronos. And on the other side…Rhea.
Trinity didn’t understand what was happening. Was this it? Was the world about to end?
She stopped playing, but the singing went on. Trinity jogged offstage into the wings and embraced Mikolas. “They’re out there.” He tensed, starting to turn, but she didn’t let him go. “Wait. I want you with me. Please.”
He stared into her eyes and finally nodded. “Okay.”
She took his hand, bringing him out to the piano. The singing faded as she reached for the mic. “Thanks for being here tonight. It’s been so much more than we ever expected, but there are some unsung heroes among us, and without them, this theater wouldn’t be standing.” She peered around the wings and out into the house for the Guardians. “Come on, you guys. Get up here.”