Page 17

D ostoevsky once said, “The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.”

Of course, Eros knew better than to take advice from a gambling addict. In fact, one night, the novelist had been so desperate, Eros had actually witnessed him sell off his wife’s dresses just so he could play a few more rounds at the roulette table.

However, these days, he couldn’t help but think that perhaps ol’ Fyodor was actually right about this one thing. And maybe, if he had listened to his old friend, he would have realized what the council had meant when he had to learn to be human.

Not that Eros had suddenly turned into some kind of bleeding-heart softy in the last year since he regained his godhood. No, he was still the same asshole he always was—at least that’s what Apollo said the last time they had been at the same place and time, at a gathering at the Alaska Pack for Artemis’s birthday party, after he made some witty remark challenging Apollo’s manhood. In any case, he was what he was. But, perhaps, with some improvement, or at least, his immortal life was much improved, now that he did, in fact, find some one to live for.

And he couldn’t help but smile to himself as he watched that someone from afar, her hands deep in dirt as she communed with her beloved dinosaur bones.

After a year of being with Psyche, he had only understood a small part of what she did and who she was, but that’s what he loved about her. She was still like a puzzle to him, and to be honest, he enjoyed trying to solve her. Every now and then, he learned something new about her, whether it was a food she detested— bean sprouts, ew —or another new favorite dinosaur—he was sure this one really was called amazonsaurus—and he was certain his love for her grew with each new piece he discovered.

“Done for the day?” he asked as he approached her.

She glanced up at him, nose wrinkling. “You’re sure no one else can see you, right?”

“It’s part of my godly powers, being able to appear only to those I choose. Now.” He bent down to her level. “Are you ready?”

She wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand, leaving a spot of dirt on her cheek. “Yeah, one second, I need to get cleaned up. I’m so dirty and sweaty.”

Reaching out, he brushed the dirt away, and then snapped his fingers. In an instant, she was wearing fresh, clean clothes. Her hair, too, was washed and dried. “There. No need to shower or get dressed.”

She let out a small squeal. “I can’t wait to get my powers so I can do that by myself.”

“ That’s the first thing you’re going to do once you gain your immortal powers? Instant showers?”

“Well, you already told me I can’t travel back in time to the Mesozoic era.”

He chuckled and then kissed her. “Only you, darling, would think of that. But, all in due time, right?”

With Eros being her wolf’s chosen mate, the council agreed that Psyche could receive the golden apple and become immortal. However, Psyche decided she wanted to finish her PhD first before proceeding with her ceremony as once she did partake of the apple, she would have to live in Olympus for a full year without leaving. She only had two more years left in her program, and while he knew that would go by quickly, he nonetheless was counting the days until he and Psyche truly could be together for eternity.

In the meantime, he watched over her when he could, and Aphrodite had placed several protection spells on her, while Hephaestus gave her the latest version of the Olympus smartwatch, which included a panic button that could transport her out of any dangerous situation and track her anywhere on the Upperworld. Still, for the most part, he was never at ease unless he was with her, which is why he transported her every day to and from Denali and back to Vancouver Island, where they lived on pack territory, at her parents’ home.

“Are you ready?” With a snap of his fingers, a blanket appeared in his hands—the very same blanket he had gotten for her the year before for their flying sessions.

The scent of her filled his nostrils as she stepped into the outstretched blanket. He wrapped her up tight, pulling her close. The bond between them pulsed with life as it always did whenever they touched. Despite living for thousands of years, he had never experienced anything quite like it, that metaphysical link between them that proclaimed that they were each other’s chosen mates.

“Are you ready?”

She nodded against his chest. “Yes. Let’s go.”

His wings snapped out and they shot into the sky. Actually, there was no need for them to fly at all, as he could always transport them directly back to Vancouver with his powers. However, after a few weeks of doing that, Psyche had requested if he could at least fly them part of the way. He had asked if she had changed her mind about hating flying. She simply said, “It’s part of my routine now,” and so he obliged her.

Besides, there really was nothing like flying over the clouds with the blue skies above and the most important person in his world in his arms.

“Eroooos!” she screamed as he swooped low, piercing through the low-hanging clouds. He had to do it, of course, and she had told him that it was okay to surprise her once in a while. Besides, if she really was uncomfortable or hated something, he would feel it immediately through their bond.

After a few minutes of flying, he could tell she was starting to feel uncomfortable, not just through the bond but from the way she fidgeted in his arms. In a nanosecond, they were inside their room back in Psyche’s parents’ home on Vancouver Island.

“And how is my passenger princess?” he teased as he placed her on her feet.

“F-fine,” she said as she shook off the blanket.

Eros caught it in time before it fell to the ground, then folded it. “Do you need a few minutes?”

“Few minutes? For what?” She glanced at the clock. “Dinner is still a couple of hours away.”

“Yes, but I have a meeting before then.”

“Oh.” Her expression darkened. “With Bob, right?”

Just as they had agreed, Eros had been helping Bob find Cyncus’s descendants, so that they would all be properly informed about the pyxis and what would happen to them once the magic inside it was released.

Working together, and with the assistance of the small team Eros had put together, they managed to track down the ones who were still in Vale Crossing. It wasn’t too difficult, as they didn’t stray too far from the original geryon stronghold. However, it was the descendants who went out into the Upperworld who had proven tricky to locate. Their blood had been too diluted, which could probably mean they might not grow wings or gain any magic, but it was still a possibility. In any case, they had to be informed, too, lest they suddenly start sprouting feathers or performing magical feats in front of humans, that would indeed, bring about chaos.

“You still don’t like him, do you?”

“He did put me in a coma,” she pointed out. “But then again, he was the reason you came to love me.”

“I have always loved you.” He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “He only made me realize what I would have lost and admit the truth: that you have always been my top priority.” His throat tightened, and fear gripped him once again at what had happened, and what could happen still until she ate the golden apple.

At first, he had been trying to convince her to take it immediately, as he was so damn scared that something would happen to her before she had a chance to be immortal. They had a huge fight about it, but after thinking it through—and of course, speaking to his parents and asking for their advice—he conceded that he had to respect her wishes and did not press her further.

“You can go meet Bob,” she sniffed. “I’ll stay here.”

“Are you sure? There’s someone else coming.”

“Who?”

Taking his phone from his pocket, he tapped on his messaging app and showed her the last message he received. “She’s coming.”

Squinting at the phone, her eyes tracked the words of the message. “Really? She’s coming? Here?”

“Yup.”

She snapped her fingers twice. “Oh, oh, yes, oh please, can I meet her?”

“Of course. Come on, she’ll be here any minute.”

They headed downstairs to the small private meeting room just off the main living area of the house. Just as he expected, Bob was already there, standing by the large doors that led to the balcony, speaking with Perseus.

When he had told Psyche and her parents about their search for Cyncus’s geryon descendants, they suggested they ask for their adopted son’s assistance. Apparently, Perseus was one of the pack’s best trackers. Lucky for him and Bob, Perseus was more than happy to join their little team as he had grown bored of the corporate life. In the last year, his help had been invaluable in finding the Upperworld descendants.

“…so that last clue led me to her and—” Perseus’s green eyes landed on them. “Psyche, you’re here.”

“Yeah, just got back from Denali. Is she here yet?”

“Who?” Perseus asked.

“She agreed to come?” Bob interjected.

“I was just as surprised as you, Bob,” Eros admitted. “But, apparently, she’s intrigued by our quest. She doesn’t come cheap though, you know.”

Bob snorted. “If she’s as good as you say she is, then it’ll be worth it.”

Perseus’s eyebrows knit together. “Just who are we talking about?”

Eros caught Bob’s gaze, who sighed. “Another contractor. A professional tracker, you might say. I hope you don’t mind, Perseus, that I asked Eros to find some help.”

“We were thinking of expanding the team anyway,” Eros added. “To lessen the burden and get the job done faster.”

He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me either way, as long as we find everyone in the bloodline and prevent disaster once you open that pyxis.”

“Good.” A beep sounded from Eros’s phone. “Because she just arrived.”

“Oh.” Psyche inhaled sharply. “I can’t wait.”

A few moments later, the Gialamas’ housekeeper entered the study and led their visitor in—a tall woman dressed in heels and a brown trench coat. Her hair was wrapped in a chic designer scarf while her eyes were obscured by mirrored aviators.

“Lord Eros,” she greeted, the s extending slightly. “Thank you for the invitation.”

“Thank you for accepting it, Medusa.”

“Your name is Medusa?” Psyche burst out. “Like the real gorgon, Medusa? Are you immortal, too?”

She laughed as she drew closer to Psyche. “You’re precious. But no, I’m not the Medusa. My parents just have a weird sense of humor. But ye sss , I am indeed a gorgon.” As if to prove her words, a small snake peeked out from under her scarf, its tongue flicking out playfully.

“So. Cool.” Psyche snapped twice. “I’m so excited to meet a real gorgon. I’m Psyche, Eros’s mate.”

“Can you really do what Eros says you can?” Bob interjected. “Not turning men into stone, but the other thing.”

Her head snapped toward him, his face reflecting off her sunglasses. “If you’re talking about detecting non-mortals, yes.”

“How does it work?” Psyche asked.

Medusa paused, sliding a finger down her jaw. “It’s difficult to explain, really, but I’ll try. When I meet someone, I just get this feeling. It’s like, let’s say, a Geiger counter, but instead of radioactivity, I can detect how far away someone is from being a mortal, if that makes sense? A pure mortal, for example, would rank as a zero. But you, Psyche, as a shifter, you rank about a four or five on my scale, as would any creature without any active magic.” She turned to Bob. “But you, hmm…are a three.”

“J-just a three?” Bob sputtered.

“That’s actually pretty high for someone with mixed blood. A one or two means very diluted. Lord Eros is a ten.”

“As I should be,” he joked, though, no one in the room laughed.

“So, you can help us detect if someone we meet is like Bob?” Perseus asked.

“Yes, I can—” She paused, her entire body going still. “Oh.”

Psyche cocked her head to the side. “Oh?”

“Hmm.” Her head bobbed up and down, as if assessing Perseus. “An eight. No, a nine.”

“Nine?” Psyche’s nose twitched. “What’s a nine?”

“Demigod,” Medusa stated. “And…oh my, quite a powerful one. Which one of your parents was a god? Do you know who he or she is?”

The atmosphere shifted all of a sudden, as a dark look crossed Perseus’s face. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of something.” Turning on his heel, he strode out of the meeting room, the door slamming behind him.

“Did I say something wrong?” Medusa asked, sounding confused.

Eros’s gut told him something wasn’t quite right here. He had worked with Perseus for a year now, but he had not said he was a demigod. But now that he thought about it, the first time they met that weekend of Leo’s birthday, he knew there was something different about him. “Psyche, you said Perseus was adopted, right?”

“Yeah. But we don’t know who his father is, only that he abandoned his mom even before he was born.”

“That track sss ,” Medusa hissed.

Psyche continued. “She and my mom were best friends and were pregnant at the same time. Theo and him were actually born a few days apart, but his mom died right after giving birth to him, which is why my parents adopted him.”

“Does he know who his dad is, perhaps?” Eros asked. Perseus’s reaction was quite extreme, which made him think that he either was shocked by the news or…he knew exactly who his father was.

“I don’t…think so?” Psyche said. “We’re not exactly close, you know. I mean, he’s my older brother, I grew up with him around, but we don’t share deep personal secrets.”

“Would you be able to tell who it was, Medusa?”

She tsked. “No, I’m afraid I can’t give you an exact name, but from his level, it has to be a very high-ranking one.”

“Hmm.” Eros couldn’t think of who could have been Perseus’s father right now, though he had an inkling. And if he was right, he would have to contact his parents. But that was a problem for another day. “In any case, Medusa, if you’re interested in the job, I’d love to offer it to you.”

“For what you’re paying me, I can hardly resist.” Her lips curved into a smile. “And besides, I like a challenge. I’ve been so bored lately.”

“Great. Welcome on board. We can start early Monday morning and we’ll brief you on what we have so far.”

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Psyche said.

Eros placed an arm around her. “She really is excited to meet you. She’s also been bugging me to bring her to Vale Crossing, but I said not until after she eats the golden apple.”

“I think it’s so cool you’re a gorgon. Can I ask you what it’s like? Have you turned anyone to stone?”

Eros expected Medusa to be offended by Psyche’s blunt question, but to his surprise, the gorgon simply grinned at his mate. “Only if you tell me all about dinosaurs. I heard you’re a paleontologist?”

“Yes,” Psyche said. “Paleoichnology, to be exact. With a focus on paleoclimatology.”

“The study of trace fossils and past climates. Sounds riveting.” Medusa actually sounded genuinely interested. “Um, so, will your brother be joining us for dinner?”

Psyche shrugged. “I guess? He doesn’t miss dinner when he’s here. So, were you named after the Medusa?”

“Let me get some pre-dinner cocktails for us,” Eros suggested as he walked toward the fully stocked bar cart in the corner. As he took their orders and made the drinks, he couldn’t help but smile as he felt Psyche’s excitement and enthusiasm through their bond as she and Medusa talked. He once thought that, despite reigning over the realm of love, he would never find it himself. He had been too scared and broken and began his life unwanted and maltreated by someone who was supposed to teach him what it was to be a man.

Yet, somehow, despite all that, Psyche’s wolf, and more important, Psyche herself, had chosen him, and not just because he was a god. And even if he hadn’t regained his immortality, he would have been happy the rest of his short life, as long as he was with her.

After making Bob and Medusa their drinks, he went back to the cart and made Psyche’s favorite—a classic Manhattan. She was still animatedly talking to Medusa, and she seemingly didn’t even notice his presence as he stood by her, glass in hand. But he didn’t mind at all, as through their bond, she would always know that he was by her side.

The End.

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