Intrigue: The Night Muse Trilogy, page 29
Chapter 28: The Introduction
“Ahhhhh, what do we have here, Phobos?” Ares questioned as he strutted into the room.
OMG—He was Delian’s hottie Fraternity President! Now the times at the dance and the GAR building all made sense. He looked like a Greek-god statue come to life. I finally was also able to make out all his features at this close range. He had artfully messy dark hair and light clear blues eyes with the face of pure temptation. It was obvious to me that Olympians were not only at the top of food chain in power but in beauty as well. It took everything I had not to be mesmerized by his magnificence. Whereas Apollo was airborne truth serum, Ares was airborne intoxication. Ares scanned me from my fingertips to toenails. Three things were immediately apparent to me: 1) Ares was a vain as any rock star, 2) He did not know who I was or what I had done yet, and 3) I was going to need to keep my mouth shut and/or grovel as much as possible to make it out of here.
In a clipped tone, Phobos answered “A threat, my lord.” He was clearly still uncertain at the chain of events that lead me here, but he was very certain he wanted to punish me personally for the consequences of those events.
Ares immediately questioned, “How is our firebrand a threat, Phobos?” Ares seemed more amused by me being a threat than he was worried until Phobos explained the details of what had occurred.
Ares growled, “Why didn’t Deimos tell me this when he came and disturbed my evening. He just said that there was an incident.”
Phobos almost cowered at the venom being flung at him by Ares, “We still aren’t sure what happened, or if she is really dead.”
Ares turned to me and slowly ran one fingertip down my cheek, “How resourceful you are, firebrand.” I just returned his direct gaze with confusion and uncertainty in my eyes. “Obviously, not your average human,” he said with a cold smile as my gaze lowered to my feet. “What name goes with such a extraordinary human?” Ares snarled.
My eyes shot up to meet his as an internal debate quickly raged within me. Rafe always warned me that there would be consequences if Ares found out I existed. However, I think that death or bodily harm might be involved if I didn’t fess up. So with an uncertain whisper I groveled, “My name is Calliope.”
The effect of this disclosure was instantaneous. Both Ares's and Phobos’s mouths gaped open and the intense hostility seemed to dissipate from the room.
“I think you have answered our question. I can’t believe you finally found me again, Calliope. How did you end up here, my Muse?” Ares gently questioned.
I became worried over the whole ‘you finally found me again.’ I scrambled for the right response that would have just enough of the truth to be believable, but not enough to have painful consequences. I gave him the same explanation that I had given at the factory.
Ares seemed pleased with my answer, so he continued with his mild interrogation. “How old are you, Calliope?”
“I just turned seventeen,” I responded.
He seemed to ponder this for a few seconds before he remarked, “Ah. Soon, you will come into your powers and reveal whose Muse you are. Zeus has finally rewarded me for the dynasty I built in Detroit. Of course, one of your other lovers is in Detroit as well. Unfortunately, it has been longer for him without a Muse. I suppose I should alert him to your presence. Phobos, are you still with us?”
Phobos still looked startled and just nodded his head. “Go tell Deimos to summon Apollo, I am quite sure he will not want to miss meeting our new Muse. Then stay outside and guard the door,” commanded Ares.
Phobos’ heel snapped together as he performed a curt bow as he answered, “Yes, my lord.”
“Now, what to do with you, my firebrand. I really don’t like to share, and Apollo will assume you are his Muse. But, I have been waiting several lifetimes to get another chance with you, and I shall not waste it!” Ares remarked.
I don’t think he expected an answer, so I just stayed freaked, but silent.
“It still astounds me that you are my lovely and talented Calliope,” Ares marveled. “You look like a Siren not a Muse with your long hair of fire and your hypnotic green eyes. You were created to entice men with your beauty, much like the Sirens of old who guided men to their shores with their lulling song only to destroy them on the rocks,” he remarked with his sultry voice whispering into my ear as he kissed the pulse point on my neck—that must be an immortal thing.
His hands slowly ran up and down my sides as he implored, “Do you feel drawn to me, my Siren? Am I the one whose soul you hold in your core?” His intoxicating gaze and whispered questions rendered me mute.
I couldn’t really focus, especially since Ares was using Rafe’s pet name for me. Ares liked my reaction to him. As his eyes held mine captive, he started to stroke my cheek before he huskily murmured, “Calliope, I have missed you so, I truly regret our separation. I have searched for you across the ages. No matter whose Muse you are this time we will…….”
Luckily, Apollo strode in before Ares could finish. He looked fiercely irritated as he surveyed Ares and I, but he quickly guarded his expression before he addressed Ares. “You summoned me to watch you molest a human, or is she a guest? Whatever the case, I think your hospitality is lacking today, brother,” he ground out with indignation for my situation and Ares's possessive manner.
As Ares raised an eyebrow at Apollo and removed his hands from me, I couldn’t believe the transformation from suitor to leader of Detroit in five seconds flat. His haughty demeanor was in full effect when he sneered, “One must be invited to receive a guest’s hospitality. Did you invite our little firebrand here?”
Apollo slowly shook his head as he searched my face. “Did not your personal interrogation reveal who she is and why she chose to visit so unexpectedly or did I interrupt something else?” It was clear he was still irritated with Ares's attitude. He stalked from the door to stand directly beside me.
“Peace, brother. I was merely getting to know Calliope, our new Muse and soul mate. She claims to have been drawn here by forces beyond her understanding. Aglaea has already paid the price for attacking her.”
I gasped then blew out, “Soul mate?” I had to play the part of ignorant victim like my life depended on it.
My outburst drew both men from their pissing contest to focus directly on me.
“Sorry, firebrand, I think I got a little ahead of myself,” Ares said with an amused expression. “Do you know much about Greek mythology?”
I dazedly replied, “I know the origin of my name, so I know what Greek Muses were. Basically, they were like television for the Greek gods. What do Muses have to do with soul mates?”
Ares laughed at my analogy and explained while Apollo avoided my eye contact, “The Twelve Olympian in the Greek Pantheon are immortal. Although we call Mt. Olympus home, Zeus thought it best to scatter his brethren to make us less noticeable to humans and to increase our hunting grounds. In addition, we must live separated from our souls except when Zeus creates a Muse for us. Our souls are intertwined in the Muses body, hence my use of the term soul mate.”
“I am not your soul mate!” I choked out indignantly.
Apollo finally looked at me with annoyance in his eyes as he smoldered, “Not yet, Calliope. But once you mature into womanhood, one of our souls will awaken in you.”
“You are just assuming that I am because of my name and the fact that I showed up here. How do you know for sure you arrogant eyas?”
Ares pondered this for a moment, and then looked at Apollo with a calculating smile before he said, “Both of those factors are telling, but the only true way we can know for sure is a very simple test. Aglaea already paid the price for that test, and you gained two very deadly enemies in her sisters tonight. But you are correct, I did not get to see for myself if that was the correct interpretation of those events.” As he made his proclamation, he headed for the door opened it and commanded Deimos to go retrieve someone named Alectryon.
I grew wary at this ominous turn of events. Apollo stepped in front of me and said, “Brother, is this really necessary when one of your favorites already has departed tonight because of the Muse? Time will tell us soon enough if she is a true Muse. Why must we do something so final?” Apollo reasoned.
Now I was really freaking out! Although it was clear I was important to both of them, it did not seem like this was going to gain me any reprieves, at least from Ares. My free will and me were going to have to book it out of Detroit if Ares was my soul mate. The tension in the room started to ramp up as Apollo and Ares had another stare down.
Much too soon, the door opened again and Phobos escorted in another teenager in chains. This time it was a boy—dirty, unkempt, and in leg and arm manacles. What was with this gothic chain crap? Ares approached me again with Phobos at his side dragging the teenager with him.
“Move aside, brother. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I could always use one of your friends as my test,” Ares stated casually. Apollo still hesitated then slowly stepped to my side.
“I am more sorry than you know, Calliope, that you have to witness this,” Apollo demurred.
I was trying not to shake, but when I saw Ares pull a large ornate knife out of his scabbard, I pleaded, “Please don’t Ares, this won’t be forgiven or forgotten.”
This seemed to make Ares pause with the knife in mid-air, “Don’t worry, firebrand, it will only hurt for a second, and you need to learn that my will is law in Detroit.”
With that he made a one-inch superficial cut on the inside of my upper arm as I thrashed in my chain. A small amount of blood slowly started to ooze out of the cut, which drew the rapt attention of all four immortals.
Ares slowly drew the teenage immortal that he called Alectryon to my open wound and said, “Alectryon, I offer you this treat as the ending to your imprisonment. Take your gift and let us be done with these chains. But, you are only allowed to lick her wound.”
Alectryon looked delighted and not at all concerned at the consequences as his mouth slowly licked the line of blood on my arm. I shuddered as I felt his tongue and teeth scrape my arm. His joyous expression lasted all of five seconds before he realized something was gravely wrong.
He clutched his throat, looked directly at Ares and pleaded “Why?” before falling over dead.
I tried not to watch any of the proceeding, but it was like not to watch the really bad performers on first round of American Idol. It just cannot be done. I was horrified at the chain of events that I started. Ares on the other hand looked pleased while he said, “Well, I guess we answered your question, firebrand. You are definitely a Muse. Of course, the mystery remains as to whose Muse. There is no simple test for that question. So my brothers and I will have to learn patience—a virtue that we haven’t developed over the years.”
“How did this prove anything!” I yelled at Ares before I could stop myself.
“Sorry, I forgot that you have quite an education ahead of you. Only the Olympian that is your soul mate can drink from you or possess you. Your blood is poison to all other immortals,” Ares stated matter of factly.
“Now time to discuss what to do with you, my firebrand. Do you have any thoughts on the matter Apollo before I make my decision?” Ares asked in a pompous manner.
I didn’t think things could get worse than the whole dead immortal laying at my feet and me in chains, but the ominous statement of Ares had me in my fight or flight mode again.
“Well, I think removing the chains would be a good start. Then, as you mentioned, some sort of tutoring needs to take place for our Muse to fulfill her true purpose,” Apollo calmly stated.
“And I’m sure you want to be her tutor, I imagine?” Ares sneered.
“No, since we cannot truly know whose soul she carries or when it will awaken, then I think we should alternate tutoring sessions, brother. We can place Hermes at her school to protect her. I will teach her history and protocol since that bores you, and you can teach her how to properly defend herself,” Apollo reasoned.
“As usual, brother, you don’t disappoint me. You are the perfect politician and mediator all in one. I would certainly enjoy battling my little firebrand here while leaving you and Hermes with the more mundane tasks,” Ares smarmed as he once again surveyed my body in an all too familiar way.
Apollo also sensed the direction of Ares thoughts as he insisted, “All three of us need to make an Olympians Pledge that none of us will take Calliope’s virtue before we find out whose Muse she is. Only her soul mate has the right to that honor, and if one of us were to compromise her, the conflict that it would create would be of epic proportions, much like Troy.”
I just kept repeating to myself…..I have free will, I have free will, I have free will…….so I wouldn’t start mindlessly screaming at these arrogant and conceited tools!
“Why would we have to make an Olympians Pledge? At the very core of our society is the basic tenet that you do not steal another’s soul mate. I am sure you remember. This is still true today as it was at the beginning of the Trojan War. We need no pledge to bind us to that reality,” Ares stated as he gave a knowing look to Apollo.
“Yes, but as we learned from Troy and elsewhere, rules are easily broken. And it will also allow the other two Olympians the right to destroy the offender without Zeus’ interference,” Apollo explained.
“Fine, if we must. Arrange the ceremony with Hermes for tomorrow. Give me the keys to the chains Phobos, then drag Alec away,” Ares commanded.
“Certainly, my lord,” Phobos handed Ares the ornate key ring, then grabbed poor Alec by the ankles and dragged him out of the room.
Meanwhile, Ares seemed to think the only way to unlock me was to press his whole body against mine while he undid the chains above my head, then slowly run his hands all the way down to my ankles to unlock my feet. A sort of growl erupted from Apollo as Ares released me. As soon as my feet were free, I used one of them to kick Ares away from me. He flew back at least two feet, but immediately sprang back up to face me.
I automatically got into my fighting stance, but Ares seemed more amused than offended. He stated, “I think you have had some training.” I told him I had a black belt in karate and he immediately laughed, “This is going to be much more entertaining than I thought. But of course, you are Calliope, so I should have expected no less. I look forward to seeing you soon, my firebrand. Dream of me tonight.”
To Apollo, he instructed, “Please take our Muse home.”
Then, he kissed the inside of my wrist at my pulse point, and he made his grand departure.
I let out an audible sigh when he was gone, turned to Apollo, and begged, “Please just get me home.”
“As you wish, Calliope, but we will talk on the way.”
“Fine, just get me the flock out of here, Apollo!”
Apollo sensing my complete emotional and physical exhaustion guided me out of the labyrinth without saying a word. In mere minutes, we were at Apollo’s Charger. After insisting that I buckle up, we roared out of the parking lot into the night of the full moon.
“What in the world were you and Admetus thinking tonight? You put us all in grave danger while alerting Ares to your existence!” Apollo growled at me.
I felt the need to defend myself, “I was thinking that the carnage at The Corner, Ares's own personal Coliseum, needs to stop. Your plan would not have stopped Aglaea from using Thrace again, and neither you nor Rafe were willing to trust me with the truth. So I did what had to be done to try to help end the human slaughter.”
Apollo seemed to soften and consider this for a moment before he quietly said, “One Night Muse, no matter how powerful, does not have the ability to take down that atrocity. I have been trying to do it for years and have had no success.”
“Let me guess. You tried reason and logic with Ares. I think that the only thing that Ares truly understands is force. But just brute force will not prevail in this war. We need surprise and good reconnaissance data. I just want to do my part to end those brutal death matches where teenagers are sacrificed like livestock. You have your own power Apollo, yet you don’t use it to change things. So I believe the better question is, what are you thinking?” My little tirade actually managed to exhaust me further, and I took comfort in the fact that I was almost home.
Apollo looked both angry and sad at my tirade, but asked, “Do you actually think you accomplished anything with your palace intrigue tonight—other than revealing yourself to Ares and placing yourself in mortal danger before your soul even awakens?!”
“You mean your soul—which is all you care about—but it’s not a done deal Apollo.”
We arrived at my house. Apollo parked the car on the other side of the street and cut the engine. I didn’t bother reminding him that I was staying at Jazz’s tonight because I needed my own bed more than anything right now. He turned to face me, and his heavy lidded gaze burned into me as he placed his hand on my cheek, and huskily whispered, “I was the one that found you at a rave this summer and realized you were a Muse. And I already feel the pull towards you, Calliope. I can’t stop thinking about you, dreaming about you, needing you. It has only gotten stronger with each passing day.”
His confession muddled my already exhausted brain, so I could not stop him when gently brushed back my hair and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. “You are my soul mate, Calliope. I feel my soul mingling with yours. You were made to complete me, my Muse.”
I hated my reaction to him. I hated that he made me doubt my future with Rafe. And I hated that I could feel a slight pull to him as well. It was involuntary, and it went against my free will, which really pissed me off.
His eyes held mine captive before he announced, “I know your exhausted, my Muse, but you have to promise me something. Swear to me that there will be no more dangerous missions or palace intrigues,” commanded Apollo.
I just shook my head. As usual, I could not lie to him on this matter. “As long as the human death matches continue, I will do everything in my power to stop them and protect the humans I care about.”
Apollo let out a frustrated sigh and said, “If it weren’t so late, we would be having a much longer conversation, and I would get your pledge. But we will address this again. I promise.” With that utterance, he yanked open his door stalked around his car, opened my door, and pulled me out and into his arms in just one motion. He quickly deposited me at my front door and explained, “As much as I would like to tuck you in, I believe it’s in both of our best interests if I just say goodnight to you here, my Muse.” And with a soft kiss on my forehead he was gone.
I know I wasn’t suppose to be home, but I would just make an excuse about not feeling well to my parents tomorrow. As I silently made my way up to my room, I realized I was about to enter a whole new chapter of my life. A much more complicated chapter with much more intrigue. As soon as I got to my room, I flipped my laptop open and started to write.
Epilogue
Excerpt from Journal of Calliope Edonides: October 2007
I just made it back from the Detroit Underworld. My mission both succeeded and failed, Thrace is safe, but Ares now knows I exist. And icing on the cake, he talks like we are soul mates that have finally found each other again. I’m caught between three Greek gods that think I might be their soul mate. Cue music for EPIC pissing contest. Just today, I betrayed my boyfriend, found out I truly am a Muse, and became responsible for the death of two immortals. Frankly, I don’t know which is more disturbing. I am so exhausted. I don’t know if I can trust Apollo, but I will admit I do feel a slight pull towards him. FLOCK!!!!!! My heart belongs to Rafe and with all my free will, I choose him. But, after this week, I’m scared that he is going to be taken from me. I don’t know if I can fight this battle and fight for him at the same time. I think I am going to have to borrow some courage and words from one of my favorite heroines “As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this……… After all... tomorrow is another day.” .”--Scarlett O'Hara, Gone with the Wind
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When I was 12, one of my plane friends and I put pen to paper and created our very first story. Unfortunately, we buried it in a time capsule in my backyard that I have never been able to find again. But I loved creating and going to places that I hadn't gotten to experience in my small town. This is what also attracted to me to my life long passion for reading. I would like to thank all my friends who helped me on this journey: Arwa, Merlayna, Megan, Joy, Rachel, and Nancy as well as my wonderful family.
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nightmuse@email.com
