by Kate Nova
If there was any chance he was going to answer my question, it was quickly forgotten when he leaned in and his lips grazed my cheek. The gentleness caught me off guard and for a minute I wanted to pull away. Hard, emotionless fucking I could handle, but this …this was something very different. Something I wasn’t so sure I was comfortable with. It felt good. Too good.
This couldn’t happen, especially not with a man who tormented me so. Then his mouth found mine, cutting off whatever protest may have lingered on my lips. The hunger of his mouth said so much more than words ever could. I ran my fingers through his hair, wanting to keep him close to me—all mine, forever lost in the dizzying wave of emotion that circled around us.
His mouth was hot and mobile, moving over mine, his possessive tongue meeting mine, speaking without words. He growled against my lips when I momentarily came to my senses and started to pull away. His wordless kiss told me exactly what he wanted to do tonight.
“There you are.”
Liam had made his way over to us and though I was annoyed as hell he’d interrupted such a tender moment with Griffin, one look at the former sea monster in his swimsuit and all was forgiven.
His swimmer’s body was perfectly sculpted and though I’d already admired his chiseled frame during swim class, it was evening now, and he looked even more incredible. The lights scattered around Eric’s backyard made his skin gleam, highlighting the plains of his body. It was all hard muscle. I almost felt guilty for paying him so much attention after just being in Griffin’s arms, but it wasn’t like we were together or anything. I owed him nothing, especially not my loyalty.
“Where’s your date?” Griffin didn’t step away from me like I expected he would. Instead, he lowered his hand to my hip and clutched my dress in a way that said, “stay right there.” Liam shrugged. “Probably off doing shots with Eric. She didn’t want to swim … She didn’t really want to do anything.” His brilliant blue-green eyes made him look harmless, but I knew he was anything but. “Do you guys want to go for a swim? I’m bored stiff.”
Griffin looked at me, clearly leaving the decision in my hands. “What do you think? Feel up to it?”
My instincts should’ve been screaming at me to say no, but strangely they were silent. Why not? I thought. What could possibly happen? I just had to keep my guard up and see how this played out.
“Sure, let’s go.” I let him grab my hand and lead me down to the edge of the pool which was now surprisingly empty.
Liam dove right in, hardly making a splash, and I greedily kept my eyes on his lean, powerful body as he moved beneath the water in strong, smooth strokes. It was glorious to watch as was the sight of Griffin, ripping his shirt off to reveal an equally sexy frame which begged to be admired. His wasn’t as intricately muscled as Liam’s, but he had broad shoulders and the kind of arms that could easily pick me up and carry me away without breaking a sweat … Not to mention the tantalizing V-cut which guided my gaze down to the low-hanging waistline of his dark blue swim shorts. Damn, he was hot.
He tilted his head to the side and his eyes locked with mine. The intensity of his gaze revealed a dark fire, which kept me mesmerized for the few seconds it took before he disappeared into the water. When he emerged, he and Liam looked at me expectantly.
Griffin was the first to speak. “Your turn.”
“We can help you in if you don’t want to dive in,” Liam added. He pursed his lips instead of smiling, his beautiful blue eyes boring into mine as if to dare me.
Well, I was never one to back down from a dare. I slowly peeled my dress off, lifting it above my head then setting it carefully on a nearby chair. My swimsuit was just the standard-issue one from gym class, a bland, purple sports suit, definitely nothing sexy, but it was good enough.
“Is it heated?”
Griffin chuckled. “If you get cold, I’ll warm you up.” Something had changed in his expression—some of that calm coolness left his eyes and was replaced with a burning intensity that was equal parts intoxicating and terrifying. I took a step back, not out of fear, but out of instinct, the same way you’d move if the pitch in a log caught, sending out sparks.
I busied myself with the straps of my bathing suit as my mind raced. I was tired of being so affected by him, by the both of them. I’d gone through too much and I knew far too well what men could do to a woman’s confidence, to her spirit. If anything, I should be more than happy just playing their game so I could get the information I needed then leaving them in my dust. No emotions involved.
Steeling myself, I dove into the frigid water, goosebumps erupting all over my scaly skin. Underwater, I felt free. When I glanced back, sure enough, I saw Griffin’s looming figure following along, his body weaving from side to side, muscles rippling as he cut through the water much faster than I did. He was strikingly handsome, but then again, some of the Earth’s deadliest flowers were the most beautiful of them all. When he stopped beside me, I grabbed his hand playfully and we swam to the shallow end together.
We surfaced and as I felt the cool air hit my shoulders Griffin tugged me close and shared some of his beautiful body heat.
“Told you I’d keep you warm.”
“You did,” I replied. “Liam! Come join us.”
It took the swimmer only a few seconds to make his way over to our side, and there we were, huddled together.
“So,” I said as we paddled around each other, the pool’s blue water blurring our bodies from the chins down. “How are you guys managing this whole human body thing?”
“Fucking miserable,” Liam replied. “Being a human is bad enough, but then they think up all these ways to torture themselves. Rules. Bad food. Tiny classrooms.”
“Schedules,” Griffin added. “Sharing spaces with idiots who know less than you and think they’re the shit. Clothing.”
“Yeah, clothing.” Biting his lip in thought, Liam came to some sort of decision, then climbed out of the pool and peeled off his swim trunks.
I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t help myself. His ass was tight muscle, just like the rest of him and the cock that bounced out of his shorts was more than impressive.
“Those swim trunks were just too damn restrictive,” he said before diving back into the pool.
Griffin, too, climbed out and tugged his shorts off. Again, I tried to be polite and avert my eyes, but my curiosity took over. He was as chiseled as a Greek god, too, with thighs that looked like they could crush a skull and a thick, meaty cock.
The squeals of surprise and fake shock rose up around the patio and someone cranked up the music a little louder. A few other people stripped off their own swimsuits. I wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of these students. They wanted to have a sexy, smutty party, but basic decency dictated they all had to pretend to be resistant when clothes started flying off.
I turned back to my companions, who were both watching me with amusement in their eyes. Amusement … and the same question.
“Uh, no,” I said. “I don’t think so. My swimsuit is staying on.”
“Come on,” Griffin said, reaching across to lightly and playfully punch my shoulder. “I was just kidding about stealing your clothes.”
“No way.” I pressed my thighs together under the water, trying to relieve some of the ache I felt after seeing these two guys naked.
“Suit yourself.” Liam leaned back, ignoring the splashes as more naked students joined us in the water. “Having to wear clothing is absolutely the worst part of being in a human body. What’s wrong with just going around as yourself? Why are they so offended by flesh?”
“Clothes aren’t as annoying as these useless limbs.” Griffin held up his arm as if it wasn’t a thickly corded, statuesque dream of an arm and let it fall into the water like it was a noodle. “How do they manage to do anything in these weak bodies?”
“And they can only hold their breath in the water for one or two minutes, tops,” Liam said with an eye roll.
“And no wings.” Gr
iffin melodramatically frowned, lifting one hand to stroke his back. “I miss my wings.”
Both glanced up at me, but all I could do was shrug. “Come on, now. Being human isn’t that bad.”
Liam tilted his head back like he’d just figured something out. “That’s right, you’ve always only been human.”
“Not only.” Annoyance jolted through me. “You don’t have to say it like that. I’m more than human now.” Now that I’d been cursed, I finished silently in my head.
Now, I was arguably sub-human. But they were right—I’d never know what it was to be a true monster.
My heart, as much as Athena had tried to change it when she cursed me, was human through and through.
Human fears, human desires.
Human urges.
“That means you’ve never known what it’s like to fly,” Griffin said thoughtfully and narrowed his eyes, the wheels in his head spinning. When he looked back up at me, he was smiling. “I’ve got an idea.”
“I’m not taking off my swimsuit.” I leveled him with my eyes, but he shook his head and laughed as he pulled himself from the water.
“No, I’ve got something else in mind,” he said, holding out his hand. “Come on.”
And like a stupid, weak half-human, I took it.
Chapter 18
Liam
She took it.
Like a stupid, weak human, she took it.
When Griffin told me about his plan, I thought for sure it would be impossible to get Medusa to trust us enough to climb up on Eric’s roof. But here she was, her mouth twisted into a thoughtful little pucker, stepping onto the ledge.
“I’ll bet she’ll do anything if we just pay her some attention,” Griffin had said. We both knew what kind of attention he’d been referring to and from the way she’d been staring at him, he’d clearly done his job.
I saw the way he’d kissed the Gorgon, teasing her with his touch. I probably should’ve been disgusted at the sight of it, but part of me was envious. If we were going to push her until she dropped out of school, the least we could do was have a little fun with her first and her body in her swimsuit was absolutely ridiculous.
Every inch, every curve designed specifically to drive men wild—
But I wasn’t a man. I was a monster.
And I couldn’t let my dick take over when we had a job to do.
Orcus couldn’t have been any clearer. Get the Gorgon out of here.
If I could manage it, perhaps I’d try to steal a kiss from Medusa before we got rid of her—but for now, I focused on the task at hand and set myself near the edge of the roof, waiting for the right moment.
“Wow,” Medusa breathed. “What a horrible view.”
She was right. The rooftop didn’t offer any kind of panoramic scene of the rest of the town, but peered right down into the campus itself, a view we’d all seen far too much of. And we hadn’t even been here that long.
Her hair whipped around her face and she wore an expression I couldn’t quite read. Confusion? Regret? Or maybe just outright sadness?
“Haven’t we all seen enough of it?” she murmured to herself.
Yes, she was absolutely right. We monsters weren’t made for school. To put us through this test was a bit sadistic on Zeus’s part. To make us worry about grades and professors and the stupid inane social expectations of college students … If this was what mortality was like, I’d had a taste and it was more than enough.
“The school year will go by fast enough,” Griffin reassured us. “And then it’ll be over.”
And then this whole thing would just be a memory, a weird experiment we did one time to earn our spots on Mount Olympus.
And Medusa, she’d be gone forever.
It was kind of a shame, I guessed. A waste of someone who could’ve been supremely sexy. She was definitely smart; I had to give her that. She was smarter than all of us.
But in the end, we would win. We had to.
If we failed, Orcus’s plans would be ruined and so would our lives.
“So …” Medusa said curiously. “What did you bring me up here for?”
Griffin grinned. “I thought you might like to see what it’s like to be a real monster.” One second, he was just a regular college student; the next, his great, wide, griffin’s wings spread out behind his back. Eagle’s wings, majestic in the moonlight.
Medusa’s eyes widened as she took in the sight of him.
“What do you think?” he said, flapping his wings in the night air. “Do you want to join me?”
Part of me was supremely resentful. I’d had the chance to shift back into my monstrous form in the pool her first week of school, before the water was too crowded with other students, and it felt amazing. Like coming home. This human flesh suit was so constraining, so weak. I knew Griffin was probably loving this.
“What do you mean?” Medusa peered over the edge of the roof again, judging the distance.
“I mean, I’ll fly you around.” Griffin was very careful to maintain a neutral, excited tone, like he genuinely wanted to fly this Gorgon up into the air and let her feel the breeze on her face.
He’d almost convinced her—I could see by the look in her eyes that she was at least intrigued.
“I’ll hold you tight,” Griffin added, his grin sharpening at the edges. “I won’t let you fall.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes, but apparently, Medusa didn’t notice.
Her eyes rose to the sky for a moment before she looked at Griffin thoughtfully.
“Trust me.”
She shook her head and stepped back from the ledge. “Not a chance. Seriously, you must think I’m really stupid.”
Griffin didn’t hesitate. He swooped down and grabbed her, one arm around her shoulders, the other under her legs, holding her close. He pumped his powerful wings, lifting them both up off the roof.
“Let me down! I mean it, Griffin!”
“You can trust me,” Griffin replied. “Look at the view!”
Medusa glanced down at the space between her feet and the ground and her face lit up.
My heart pounded in my chest. The way her smile grew and her eyes brightened, overjoyed at being airborne … If it wasn’t the Gorgon, it might have been charming. I might have enjoyed seeing her so happy.
Griffin’s wings took her higher.
“See what you’re missing out on?” He swooped down and turned a circle, taking her away from the roof and into the open air. “The gods should have made you a proper monster when they cursed you.”
Something flashed across her face, so quickly I almost missed it. I instantly thought of the things she’d been cursed with. The scaly, snake-like body. Hair that twisted and moved with her moods. The ability to turn men into stone with mere eye contact—or was that really a curse? Seemed to me it might be a blessing in some situations, to know that all it took was someone ogling at you to destroy them.
But the thousands of years, alone in a sea cave … It was almost enough to make me feel sorry for her.
Almost.
Griffin brought her back down near the roof. His own feet landed on the ledge, but he kept her body hanging over the steep drop-off.
I took a step forward. This was the moment we’d planned for. This was the moment when it would all start getting real.
“What the hell?” Medusa twisted in Griffin’s arms, trying to touch her toes safely to the roof, but Griffin didn’t let her down. He kept her in his arms and his face hardened.
“Griffin—” she gasped as realization sank in and she started kicking.
He swiveled her around, so he was holding her under the arms, like she was nothing more than a little doll.
“Listen, Gorgon,” he growled. “We told you to leave this school.”
I leaned over his shoulder, glaring at her myself, but the sight of her kicking her legs so helplessly over the three-story drop, a drop that would surely kill her, made a lump form in my throat.
“Griffin, put me down!” Med
usa shrieked. “Please!” Her hands clawed at his forearms, but he didn’t even flinch.
“We told you what would happen if you didn’t leave,” Griffin went on. “But you didn’t listen.”
“I’ll turn you to stone, you bastard!” Medusa glanced up at the sky in desperation, but it was pitch black. All moon, no sun. Her one weapon was useless here. She was completely and utterly helpless.
“You wouldn’t listen. Dammit, Medusa, why won’t you listen?” Griffin shook his head.
For a moment, I wondered if he’d have the nerve to go through with it. I wondered if he was getting soft, weak like the human he was pretending to be.
“Griffin,” Medusa choked out, barely able to breathe. “Please …don’t do this.” She glared at both of us with such hatred in her eyes, it was almost paralyzing—an echo of the death that awaited those who dared to glance at her face. My gut twisted at her words. An uneasy feeling rippled through my body.
“I don’t know how else to make you understand,” Griffin growled. He moved her out further and she screamed as her feet scraped the side of the building, unable to find ground.
Her pleas for help disappeared with the wind, the sounds of the party off in the distance, drowning her out. Griffin glanced over at me, a light frown tugging down the corners of his mouth.
Something inside of me tightened. Medusa had spent thousands of years inside that sea cave, surviving—and this was how her life would end? There was something so wrong about it.
And we all knew how she’d ended up cursed to begin with. We all knew that Poseidon and his men had attacked her temple, burning it down to ash, and then Athena had punished her for it. The whole thing was extremely unfair. How had it never bothered me this much before?
“We’ll let you go,” Griffin said, “but you have to leave. You have to pack your things and be gone by tomorrow morning. I don’t care where you go, but you have to leave. Or else—”
“Or else what?”
I saw the tears welling in her eyes. My stomach lurched.