Aphrodite rose to her feet and her eyes began to flicker with a golden glow. “I warned you once, Lady Lust. Begone or be goned. The old rules are no longer so strictly enforced,” she warned in a chilling tone. And I noticed that Aphrodite now clutched a pair of ribbons around her fists, looking like boxing tape made of silk. Except they were not tightly wound, allowing the loops to hang loose like she was an unraveling mummy. Stranger still, the ends twitched in a breeze that did not exist. I sensed no magic from her.
Long, black claws suddenly extended from the tips of Lust’s fingers, ripping through her flesh with such force that the woman’s eyes bulged and watered in protest of the Archdemon riding her body. I sucked in a breath at this undeniable proof. It really was Lust, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
“I’m going to peel away your skin and lick you on the inside,” the possessed woman said in Lust’s hungry rasp. It made my skin crawl to see the woman’s obvious terror at her own words. Lust hadn’t partnered with this woman; she had raped her body and her mind.
“I haven’t even had my goddamned coffee yet,” I muttered, reaching for my katana and drawing the blade. I didn’t want to hurt the woman, but Lust would leave me no choice.
Which was the whole point, of course.
3
The possessed woman shrieked like a banshee and tackled Aphrodite.
Or she tried to, anyway.
Aphrodite backhanded her so hard that I felt the crack of bone on bone in my own fingers. The poor woman crashed to the ground, rolled, and then head butted our wooden stump. She twitched for a few moments and I slowly looked up at Aphrodite. “Good lord, woman. She’s possessed. Maybe pull your punches and don’t kill her.”
Aphrodite was inspecting her nails, pursing her lips in displeasure. “I did. Watch,” she said, turning back to her foe.
The woman groaned, rising up on her elbows to support her weight. Her jaw hung loose and to the left, completely detached. I winced to see tears streaming down her cheeks and blood dribbling from her lips, because Lust was still inside those eyes, using the poor girl like a punching bag. I took a step forward, preparing to exorcise the Archdemon from the girl—if such a thing was even possible with an Archdemon.
The girl held up a pale hand, her fingernails split and bleeding from the horrible black claws that looked like mutated thorns. “Step closer and I’ll kill her. I will cast her soul down to the pits of despair where she may burn for eternity. This one lusted after fame and fortune, allowing drugs and sex to consume her from the inside out. She. Is. Mine.”
I paused, narrowing my eyes. “What do you want, Lust? Too cowardly to confront me yourself?”
She snorted. “I have a healthy appreciation of your lust for violence. It gets me off. Just think, I can sit back and hurl dozens of young men and women at you, relishing and delighting as your denied thirst for blood consumes you from the inside out. The longer you persevere against this internal war inside you, the longer I can sit back and pleasure myself. Every fight you win will only break you further, bringing my climaxes to greater heights. Your pain and denial will be my ecstasy,” she said in a dreamy hum. “Denying your own desperate desire to murder because you deceive yourself with the lie that they are helpless victims, even when you know they are their own worst enemies. That the only way to get to me is through them. In pursuing me, I will make you a monster of your own conscience.”
I glared back at her, stepping forward and holding out my hand to tell Ryuu to stand down, because he looked ready, willing, and able to stack up the bodies for me if it would save me from pain. He gave me the briefest of nods, acknowledging my request. For now. I focused on Lust, wondering if she’d been manipulating my wrestling match with Ryuu, rather than Aphrodite’s now seemingly wholesome attempts. If Lust knew me well, she would know that I did not, in fact, want to cross that line with Ryuu until I’d cleared my conscience by speaking with Nate—a man who was apparently scheduled for execution tomorrow night. I took a calming breath, focusing on the matter at hand.
“I do not have a lust for violence, and I definitely do not have a thirst for blood,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “But I do enjoy eviscerating evil nihilists.”
“No thirst for blood, Count Dracula? Please!” the girl scoffed as the demon forced her to keep talking despite the agony of a fractured jaw. Then she lifted a claw to her throat and, without warning, pierced the thin flesh and began to drag it across. Blood spilled down her neck, and one of Aphrodite’s ribbons snapped out, wrapping around the woman’s wrist to pull it away from causing further harm. The girl moved to use her other hand and another ribbon lashed out from Aphrodite’s hand. The girl strained and snarled, unable to battle the restraints. It made me cringe to see someone so bony and hollowed out struggling with such ferocity, like a caged animal railing at the bars. She looked like she hadn’t eaten in days. Ryuu’s face was set in a grim frown, knowing he was impotent here. He could fight, but the only person to battle was an innocent, malnourished shell of a woman being manipulated like a puppet.
“What do you want, Lust? Leave this woman out of it,” I demanded.
“Where are my brothers?” she hissed. “All this chaos a few days ago, Nephilim slaughtered, Lord Pride and Lord Wrath in the thick of it with the pious Archangels making an appearance, and now the city is as quiet as a tomb. No one knows anything, and no one can find them. You are the common denominator. You were to be my sister-in-law, yet now my brothers are missing. What did you do to them?”
I stared at her, shaking my head at the reminder that Wrath had presumed to be my husband. “Lady, I have no fucking idea what happened to Pride or Wrath.” And…that was actually true. I didn’t know what had happened to Pride or Michael in Purgatory, and I did not know where Wrath or Gabriel had fled. I didn’t know why they had been working together without telling their fellow Sins or Archangels. “I might have a few more pieces to the puzzle because all the fighting happened around me, but I sure as hell don’t have any answers.”
She sneered, obviously not believing me. Her gaze ignored Aphrodite entirely and settled on Ryuu. “Yet here you have the Halo Breaker on a leash, humping your leg on command. The only man capable of killing the highest echelon of angels and demons.”
Aphrodite snorted. “There has been zero humping, of that I can assure you. I’m likely more upset about it than you are. If you want us to treat you with any modicum of respect, stop being a coward. You came to the orgy wearing a meat suit for protection, all while telling us how provocative and promiscuous you are. Take off your clothes and let’s see what you’re working with,” Aphrodite purred. Something about her tone drew my attention away from Lust, and I blinked to see Aphrodite now sauntering closer in a sashaying sway. I missed the part where her silk toga had slipped off and fallen to the ground a few paces back, but she was nailing the rest of her catwalk.
Even Ryuu stared, bug-eyed, and his free hand absently tore at his collar, popping one of the buttons so fast that it shot into the woods like a bullet. I grinned at him, feeling a sense of liberation overcome my anger and fear as I nodded my support. He was appreciating beauty and raw talent, and I found nothing wrong with window shopping. I wouldn’t have even minded the suggestion that we try on a few of the samplings rather just imagining—
I froze, noticing that I was tugging at my own top. I lowered my hand to see a broken button in my palm and that my bra was almost entirely exposed. I hastily re-clasped one of the buttons, having to skip the torn button so that my top was crookedly closed. Better than the alternative. Ryuu had noticed my reaction and it must have snapped him out of Aphrodite’s fog of hornytopia as well. He gave me a flat look, obviously embarrassed that he’d failed as a bodyguard.
I shook my head reassuringly, hiking a thumb behind me at Aphrodite. Then I touched my thumb and forefinger to form a circle that left my remaining fingers standing up in a gesture that meant perfection. He grunted, glanced past my shoulder at Aphrodite, and then gave me a v
ery slight, guilty shrug of agreement. I grinned, turning back to Aphrodite.
A light pink fog surrounded her, glittering at her feet with a hazy glow. Around Lust, a similar bright red fog collided against the Olympian’s, the two forces crashing over each other like silent waves, creating riptides of competing passions. I realized that some of the pink fog had reached out tendrils to me and Ryuu, as if we were a part of Aphrodite’s power, or she was using us in some way, which explained our sudden desire to rip our tops off.
One of Lust’s tendrils of red fog reached out to me like a curious octopus. It touched my shin before I could react, and I gasped when it immediately dissipated as if repelled by me. I stared at the two women, who were glaring at each other from a few paces away, acting as if they couldn’t see their war of fog.
“Callie Penrose might take issue with killing this poor child, but I do not,” Aphrodite said in a soft, gentle, soothing tone that made Lust visibly cringe and pull back. “I know what your victim has done to herself, and despite all your manipulations and attempts at tainting her, I sense a flicker of love in her heart. She has a daughter, Lust. And I can see that no matter what you do to her, or encourage her to do to herself…” Aphrodite said, almost in a whisper, as she advanced another step, “that you will never, ever smother that love a mother has for a child. You will beat your head against a wall in your efforts, but I can assure you her last thoughts before death will not be guilt. They will be memories of her watching, from a distance, a beautiful little girl being raised by two loving godparents. That the mother loved her daughter enough to give the child away in a last-ditch, desperate attempt to shield the young girl from her own mother’s demons. You already lost, Lust. You simply do not know it yet.”
Lust snarled, straining against the ribbons. Dozens of ephemeral red tentacles suddenly erupted out of the fog blanketing the ground and hammered into the poor woman. I gasped in horror.
Then I stared, dumbfounded, as the tendrils faded away, pushed back by a tiny orb of pink light over the mother’s heart. The red fog hissed and steamed and I swore I heard distant screams as the pink light grew brighter and stronger, pushing against Lust’s vices with Aphrodite’s love. Even the red fog on the ground faded and retreated, being devoured by the pink light and fog of genuine love. Within moments, no red fog remained and I heard a distant, almost imagined scream of outrage.
Our demons are coming for you, Callie Penrose. They will rip you and your people to shreds, turn them against each other, filling the streets with hate until you deliver us Pride and Wrath’s whereabouts. The rest of the Seven will tear you apart from the inside out, saving the physical pain until after your soul has been thoroughly tortured and shredded to ribbons…
Then she was simply gone. “Bye, Felicia,” I muttered. “You’re a real peach.”
The girl smiled crookedly, and my own heart broke to see that her whole face brightened up like the sky when the sun comes out from behind a cloud. A real smile, not one planted there by Lust. The mother let out a shuddering wheeze and then her head dropped to her chest as she collapsed to the ground.
Aphrodite let out a weary breath and the ribbons restraining the girl came unbound of their own accord, whipping about wildly. I stared at the woman, concerned. “Did you kill her?” I asked, softly.
Aphrodite shook her head. “No. She is stronger than she looked,” she said, smiling down at the woman. “A mother’s love is one of the strongest powers in creation. It is why Lust had to work so hard to turn her, which is part of the fun, in her opinion.” She crouched down and cupped the girl’s cheek. The woman suddenly convulsed, let out a whimper, and then her body totally slackened as she began to breathe deeper with a sleepy smile on her gaunt cheeks.
“Did you just heal her?” Ryuu asked, sheathing his blade.
Aphrodite snorted, glancing at me from over her shoulder. “Bad news, Callie. Ryuu doesn’t recognize a female orgasm. This does not bode well.”
My cheeks burned bright red and Ryuu began stammering an incoherent rebuttal that made Aphrodite smile even wider. Ryuu finally gave up, muttering unhappily under his breath, something about being outnumbered and facing a rigged jury. Aphrodite leaned close to the mother and brushed her hair back. The mother still wore a smile and her skin seemed to grow even brighter, giving her hollow cheeks an almost rosy glow. Healthier. The goddess of sex kissed her on the forehead. Ryuu and I both gasped as the woman simply disappeared.
Aphrodite rose to her feet and turned to face us, her every movement visibly captivating and entrancing. “I know some excellent healers who can give her the care she deserves. Maybe she will even be able to see her daughter one day. The one she dreams about every single night,” she added, with an empathetic and incredibly raw smile on her face that made my heart break.
I remembered my last conversation with the Olympian. She wanted nothing more than to free her husband’s daughter—the girl he loved more than anything in the world. And Aphrodite’s sole goal in life was to grant him that wish. To save his daughter.
Pandora.
The curious part was that Pandora wasn’t necessarily a prisoner. She worked for Nate Temple, willingly and happily. But Hephaestus, Pandora’s father, was a prisoner of Zeus, apparently. Zeus’ repeated threat to harm Pandora if Hephaestus ever disobeyed the Father of the Olympians was stronger than any chains, so Hephaestus remained a prisoner to keep his daughter safe.
I stared at Aphrodite, thinking very deep thoughts on the topic of preconceived perceptions and actions. Aphrodite…had impressed me.
She frowned at our shirts, suddenly looking annoyed. Then she planted her fists on her hips, flaunting her nudity. “That’s all you could manage? I thought for sure my fog would get you two topless, at least. Here I am at a birthday party, and I’m the only person dressed in the appropriate attire. It is considerably rude of you, I’ll have you know,” she said. Before I could respond, Aphrodite snapped her fingers and her silk toga whipped through the air and hit her shoulder, where it immediately slithered over her oiled flesh like a snake, draping the goddess’ hatefully perfect curves until she was once again moderately covered. She Mary Poppins’ed her own skimpy nightgown. The goddess of love was apparently stronger than the Archdemon of lust—which was actually a relief, all things considered.
Knowing what I did now, I wondered if Lust was also based on an actual demon’s name, like when I had discovered that Pride was actually Lucifer. Was he a one-off or the norm? Was Satan lurking around somewhere or was he kind of like God, keeping as far away from the sandbox as possible, preferring to watch his kids play from afar.
Aphrodite walked up to our blanket and returned to her earlier position. “Now, where were we?” she asked, patting the blanket. “I won’t bite.” Then she grinned wickedly. “Unless you ask very nicely.”
4
I stared at her, struggling to process her words. I knew she had a flair for the dramatic, but I also knew there was a calm, collected, mostly sane and empathetic individual beneath her facade. Her every waking moment was devoted to saving the daughter of the man she loved.
Pandora was the closest way to get her back into Hephaestus’ good graces.
“Tell us what the hell you meant about Nate and the Omega War,” I said, joining her on the blanket. “Were you talking about the Seven Sins?”
She let out a tired sigh and leaned back against the stump. “No. I was not. That complicates the situation even further, I’m afraid. Are you quite certain that you don’t wish to let out some aggression with a wholesome, old-fashioned ménage à trois?” she asked, sounding hopeful. I shook my head firmly and Ryuu averted his eyes as he began furiously polishing his sword.
Not that sword.
Aphrodite pouted, picked up the whole wedge of cheese, and then began gnawing on it, which made the hair on the back of my arms jump right up. She was…eating her feelings. Aphrodite was having a nervous breakdown and trying to hide it behind stuffing her face. She was concealing her pani
c attack by taunting us with a panty attack.
“What did you mean when you said the Omega War is over?” I repeated. “It was kind of a big deal,” I said, sarcastically. “It’s in the name and everything. What could possibly be worse than the end?”
Aphrodite was quiet for a few moments, her gaze distant. “One of the Masters winning before all the players for the Omega War were even on the board,” she said between chews. She finally let out a sigh, leaning her head back against the log. And in that simple pose…
Okay. I had to hand it to her. Aphrodite was banging, as the kids called it. Her throat and slender neck looked as if it had been preserved in olive oil, giving her skin a natural, permanent, silky glow. Each vein and tendon and muscle were clearly visible and begging to be kissed, caressed, tickled, or bitten.
Her silk toga did little to hide her perfect cleavage, and her long, delicate fingers actually made me want to nibble them and play kissing games. Her long legs were crossed, and her calves drew the eye like iron to a lodestone.
And this was the reaction she was having on me, a heterosexual woman. Despite how reserved Ryuu typically was, I could sense that his pulse was about twice as fast as normal. Just being in her presence was affecting his heart rate, despite what his mind told him. My own heart skipped a beat at the realization and I barely stopped myself from frowning. How did I know Ryuu’s pulse? What the hell was that all about? But as I looked at his neck, I could tell he was at a steady seventy beats per minute, much faster than his usual resting heart rate.
Trinity: Feathers and Fire Book 9 Page 2