Out of Options Aphrodite (The Goddess Chronicles Book 3), page 10
“It is done.” Hades sat back down.
Zeus gave me one long last look. “Do not step foot into my domain again, Aphrodite.”
Hermes stiffened as Zeus turned his attention to him. “If you choose to continue your relationship with the queen, I will strip your powers and force you into the Olympian dungeons.”
I gasped. “Zeus!”
Hermes turned white with rage. “Who I love is none of your concern.”
“It’s every bit of my concern, especially if it involves her.” Zeus crossed his arms, daring Hermes to argue
“I choose Abby.”
“I placed you in that dungeon for a reason!”
The tension in the room ratcheted up. My gaze darted back and forth between father and son, but neither seemed ready to back down.
“Don’t do this,” I implored quietly. Was I talking to my lover or Zeus? I wasn’t sure. One thing I knew for sure, Hermes couldn’t go up against his father and win. Not alone.
How had this gone so terribly wrong? We were here to make sure Zeus was okay and five minutes later, not only had I lost the relationship I was beginning to build with him (or so I thought), I was probably going to lose Hermes as well.
“I will take everything from you, strip you bare, and leave you to die alone,” Zeus said to me.
“You’ve done most of those things already. Does it need to go this far?”
Zeus scoffed in disgust. “You’ve been living amongst the humans for far too long. It always goes this far. We are not weak-willed creatures driven by emotions or small, petty things like love.” He sneered the word “love”, as if it were dirty.
To Hermes, he said, “She has corrupted you. Her gift might be love, but it was never meant to belong to only one person. She will use you and throw you away.”
I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. I was in Hades’ domain and as much as I wanted to smack Zeus down, or at least try to, it could only go bad for me.
“It is not up to us to decide how our lives go. We live through Fate and experience.” Hermes raised a hand and raked it through his hair, causing blonde spikes to stand in disarray.
“You are naive,” Zeus said.
Hermes shrugged. “Maybe so, but if you make me choose between you and Abby, I will choose her.”
I clasped my hands over my heart, and though I knew it wasn’t physically possible, I felt it tear in two. “I cannot ask you to do this, Hermes.”
“You don’t have to.”
Hades was silent for most of the exchange, but spoke in his disused voice. “Zeus, this is a small battle. Do not escalate this into a war with your children.”
“They’ve chosen her over me.” His look was full of poison and I wondered again how I’d so horribly misjudged him.
“They’ve chosen trust and love, Brother. Those are completely different.”
“This is your last chance, Hermes. Choose wisely.”
Zeus stepped past us.
“I choose her,” Hermes said, not a wavering note in his voice.
“Very well,” the King of the Gods said. “You give me no choice.”
The room rumbled beneath us and Zeus gathered his power around him. I stepped closer to Hermes and wrapped my arm around his waist. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“I will return for you. Always,” he said.
“There’s always a choice!” I yelled at Zeus, but he was beyond hearing me. The magic swirled around us. I held my hand over my eyes as the emerald green light grew brighter while trying to hang on to Hermes with everything I had. If Zeus took him away from us, we wouldn’t be able to take down Hestia or Ares. But there was an even more important reason for him to stay.
Me.
A short shout and a massive blast tore me away from Hermes. I crashed into Hades’ throne. A warm hand grasped me by the waist and pulled me into strong arms as my consciousness slipped away, lulled into oblivion by the stone rumbling around me.
11
I came to with the smell of smoke and a tender hand caressing my cheek. My eyes drifted open after a few seconds of struggle and met Hades’ icy blue eyes.
His generous mouth was grim and his eyes concerned. He blew out a short breath when my eyes opened and shifted me gently in his lap.
“Gods, that was a hard hit you took.”
I smiled weakly. “Immortality has its perks.”
Artie snorted from somewhere above us. Her face came into focus and she peered down at me. “Still making jokes, I see.” The smile she bestowed on us didn’t quite reach her eyes.
My thoughts went immediately back to the events of the last few minutes. “Hermes?” I inquired, hoping against all reason he was still here.
Hades’ arms tightened around me. “Gone.”
I shut my eyes and pressed my lips together. I would not cry.
I would not cry.
I spoke after a moment. “How do we get him back?”
Hades chuckled. “How indeed?” He helped me to a sitting position. “You’re the perfect person to enter a partnership with, Aphrodite.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he grinned and waved my unspoken words off. “Obviously, it’s not the time to speak of such things, but later, I hope you’ll join me in discourse. I think you’ll find me reasonable and a valuable partner.”
I studied him, seeing no dishonesty, but I’d just been royally screwed over by Zeus, so I guess I wasn’t the best judge of character. “Perhaps,” I murmured. I was hesitant to trust anyone, but Hades had a reputation for some less than stellar behavior. I’d need time to decide, and he was right, I had bigger things on my plate than worrying about anything else.
“Perhaps is not a no, so there is hope.” Hades stood and helped me up.
I brushed myself off and gasped at the state of the room. We came in with all the respect afforded to him and ended up destroying the entire throne area.
At my expression, Hades’ eyes widened. “You did not do this.”
Keto, who had remained mostly silent, stepped up beside Artie. “Abby has a certain presence that causes things to be destroyed.”
He was kidding, mostly, but his words stung a bit. Artie glared at him.
Keto bit his lip and sent me an apologetic glance.
“He’s right, though. Sorry, my lord.”
“Please, call me Hades. It is no worry. This is the least destructive Zeus has ever been in my domain, so perhaps your influence is…calming on him.”
Artie choked on her laughter.
“I’d hate to see him get riled up,” I said.
“You get used to his temper tantrums after a while,” Hades said as he motioned us to follow him farther into his domain.
I shook as much dust out of my hair as I could and followed as he led. The throne room opened up into yet another gray corridor, but as quickly as we were in it, we were out and standing in a surprisingly ordinary kitchen. Well, ordinary for the gods. For mortals, it would be the Food Network kitchens on methamphetamine.
Hades, my dark, swarthy, Viking-esque savior, appeared to be a foodie.
I swept through the kitchen oohing and aahing over everything until I walked up to the brand new, shiny chrome Viking Tuscany range. I wanted to swoon, weep, laugh, and scream with jealousy. It was amazeballs.
I turned wide eyes to him, and whispered, “Can I move in?”
Something like sadness flickered over his face. “This domain could use the touch of a woman, but my mother-in-law might not like the presence of another beautiful goddess, even if she were only interested in me for my shiny new range.”
I laughed nervously and wondered again where the hell Persephone was and if their image of a happy marriage were true or a carefully cultivated lie.
“Well,” I offered lightly, “maybe I could make a few meals for everyone in my short stay here.”
His face brightened. “I would love that, Queen. Until then, please sit down and allow me to offer proper hospitality to my guests.”
We settled ourselves in the stools situated around the kitchen island and watched in awe as Hades bustled comfortably around the kitchen, pulling assorted items from his fridge and cabinets.
“Is this a dream?” Artie whispered to me.
“If it is, it’s one I never, ever want to wake up from.” I was trying my best not to think about Hermes and the dozens of scenarios that could play out. He was Zeus’ favorite son, the Messenger of the Gods. Surely, Zeus wouldn’t harm him. I was banking on that. Zeus had plenty of emotion, most of it was just…jealousy or anger. He and Hera were perfect for each other. And also terrible for each other.
Zeus was often brash and misguided and made decisions based on little information. I hoped this was one time where he would change his mind once he realized the ramifications of what he’d done.
I was being overly optimistic.
I watched as Hades split open a pack of Spanish Serrano ham and arranged it neatly on a platter he’d pulled from the cabinet. After that came a hard parmesan Romano blend cheese and salty Kalamata olives with fig jam.
My stomach growled.
Keto chuckled under his breath and earned an elbow from Artie.
“Eat, friends. While you are here in my domain, you are under my protection.”
I reached out to take one of the pieces of succulent ham when Hades took my hand.
I jerked in surprise.
He squeezed. “I apologize. I merely wanted to say this before you start. Do not underestimate the son of Zeus. We sometimes forget Hermes is also one of the trickster gods, prone to outwitting and generally annoying the rest of us.” He softened his words with a smile. “He has had thousands of years to grow up with Zeus. If anyone knows his weak spots, it is his son. Do not worry, Queen.”
His words soothed the terrified piece of my heart that wondered if it would ever see him again. I gave him a wobbly smile and changed the subject.
“Why do you call me queen?”
He dropped my hand in surprise.
Keto sucked in a sharp breath. “Hades, please do not—”
Hades silenced him with a dirty look and cursed under his breath. “You people. I swear to the gods. You’ve been here for less than an hour and it’s glaringly obvious to me most of you continually underestimate her.” He turned to me. “No one has told you?”
I shook my head, worrying my bottom lip. Now I wasn’t sure I was supposed to know.
He scratched his beard, and realizing what he’d done, walked to the sink and washed his hands. I watched as he methodically scraped under his fingernails and washed up to his elbows.
Hades appeared to be a germ freak. Strange, considering we couldn’t catch diseases, but also good to know. I filed that tidbit away for the future.
When he finally shut the sink off, he dried his hands thoroughly with a cheery kitchen towel. “There is a prophecy about you, Queen Aphrodite. One no one seems to think will come to pass, but that’s the funny thing about prophecies, isn’t it? The gods always dismiss them or go out of our way to deter them, but in the end, they always come to pass. Maybe not in the way or shape we expected, but in one way or another, it happens. For better or worse.” He hooked the towel onto one of his lower cabinets and reached over to snag a piece of cheese.
He chewed thoughtfully as he gathered his next words.
“My brother gets pissy every time someone refers to you as Queen.”
I giggled. I knew that. Poseidon was like a prickly porcupine. “The circumstances of my birth cannot be helped. For a long while, I thought that was why people were calling me Queen, but Zeus seemed to infer there were other reasons.”
Hades mouth twisted. “My brother is always good at dangling tiny tidbits of information out there and leaving one to hang.”
He snagged another piece of cheese and popped it into his mouth. A true gentleman, he finished eating before he spoke, even though it made me want to scream. The anticipation was killing me. I’d been wanting to find out why the queen nonsense had been happening for so long and it was about to drop into my lap, thanks to a loquacious and possibly lonely god.
“When Zeus, Poseidon, and I fought our father for control of the kingdoms, Zeus was able to wrest the heavens from us, the largest and most prominent territory. Our father, though, was a planner and suspected we were going to betray him.”
He picked up a piece of ham. If he ate it as slowly as he ate the cheese, I was going to scream. But he didn’t. With a faraway look in his eyes, he continued. “Much like our father had betrayed his own. We were our father’s sons in every way, including name.
He approached the Fates to assist him with his problem. They don’t usually get involved other than to scream prophecy at everyone, but in this, they saw a way to further their own agenda.” He chuckled. “The little minxy feminists.”
Artie laughed out loud and even I couldn’t help myself. I was properly terrified of them, but Hades seemed amused by their antics. Perhaps not much terrified you if you lived in the Underworld.
“They saw their chance to insert a woman into power.” His icy gaze turned to me. “A woman of great beauty, poise, and wisdom.”
I looked around the room. “Ummm, you certainly can’t be talking about me. I only have one of those nailed.”
Keto sighed in annoyance. Hades frowned.
“You have all the traits, and then some. Again, stop underestimating yourself. As I was saying.” He looked at all of us with an expression that told us to stop interrupting him. I made a zipping motion and Artie clapped her hands over her mouth.
Hades leaned against the counter. “Few people know this, and while I understand why it’s not common knowledge, it directly affects you. All of us have a prophecy—myself, Zeus, and Poseidon. It is the price we paid for betraying our father. If we ruled with hatred, malice, and spite, our powers would slowly diminish. Not all at once and not enough to be noticeable for many thousands of years, but eventually, we would be as powerless as the nymphs or dryads. We would be kings in name only.”
I gasped in shock.
“As it isn’t in our nature to be kind and benevolent, all of us struggled to rule in a just way, and over the years, my father’s prophecy began to ring true. First with Zeus, then with Poseidon, and finally with me.”
Keto pushed away from the island and stood. “You should not tell her such things.”
Hades sighed. “I am old. Ancient, even. If my story cannot be told by me, with no lies or political undertones, then I’d rather it not be told at all.” Disapproval colored his voice. “You might act as her guardian, but you speak half-truths to her. There is raw power running through her veins, unused and untapped, and there are those who will use her to get to it. Do you think by letting her run around ignorant you are protecting her or doing her any favors?”
“Burn,” Artie whispered under her breath.
Keto flushed a deep, angry red, but didn’t argue with Hades. The Lord of the Underworld raised one eyebrow and nodded. “Exactly. May I continue?”
We stayed silent.
“The Fate hand-picked three female goddesses to step into our roles if we ever lost our powers completely.” Hades pointed to me. “Aphrodite, you are one of them.”
“Who are the other two?” I asked.
Hades’ lips thinned. “We know not. The only reason we know about you is because of an incident involving one of the Fates and an unfortunate ambrosia event.”
Artie snickered. “Abby is an expert in those.”
“Shut it, woman,” I said.
“It is said that you will rule the seas when Poseidon falls.”
I dropped the piece of cheese I was holding. “Excuse me?”
“If the rumors swirling around my brother are true, you are poised to become Queen of the Seas far sooner than you would probably like.”
“Well, crap.” I muttered.
“Indeed,” said Hades.
“So, Poseidon is losing his powers. No wonder he’d been so quiet lately.” I hadn’t heard from him the last time I visited the Aegean Sea and I found that to be abnormal behavior. Normally, he always showed up to antagonize me at least a little bit.
“He is not a kind man,” said Hades.
Keto cleared his throat.
“I misspoke. None of us are kind. Some of us are less worse,” he amended.
From what I could tell about Hades so far, he seemed a whole lot less worse than most of the other gods and goddesses I’ve met.
Artie pinned me with her sparkling violet eyes. She was having a eureka moment. I could tell. “If all this is true—”
“It is,” Hades interrupted.
“Then we have a prime suspect.” Artie pushed away from the table and stood next to Keto, even though she didn’t pay him a lick of attention. She held up a finger. “Motive.” She held up another. “Opportunity.” And then another. “And revenge.”
“All the necessary ingredients to try to take over a kingdom.” But something was bothering me. “How does Hestia come into play with this?”
Artie’s eyes brightened. “She hates Zeus. She hates us. Hestia doesn’t believe the Twelve are necessary. Poseidon has likely promised her power.”
“What about Ares?” I asked.
“As loath as I am to admit it, Zeus had to have been pushing his buttons the entire time. He admitted as much today.”
I wasn’t so ready to let Ares off the hook, though. I’d keep him on the backburner for now, but I would get my revenge and it would be one for the record books. “He has to have someone else under his wing, someone who can act as a sentinel while he still rules from the sea.”
There had been zero sightings of Poseidon over the last couple years. If anyone had seen him on land, it would have been buzzworthy. He was the most anti-social of the gods, and even though he didn’t have to live or stay in the sea, he chose to.
“Athena. I think our instincts are right. My dirty sister has to be involved in this somehow.”
