Aphrodite (16 page)

Chapter XX

I WALKED INTO Tantalus’s suite and found myself in a mirror image of the room I shared with Adonis. After a moment’s hesitation, Persephone followed me inside.

“You’re sweating,” I observed, looking Tantalus over. He wore dark flannel pants and a white shirt. His golden hair looked messy, and sweat glistened on his neck. “Something wrong?”

“Am I?” Tantalus pulled at the neck of his shirt. “Well . . . this room did just get quite a bit hotter.” Persephone made a disgusted sound, and he turned his attention to her. “And who are you?” he asked. “I know I haven’t seen you on board.” He closed the door, using the movement to plant a hand next to her. “How about we get to know each other better?”

I grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the living room, noting that Tantalus’s balcony door stood wide open. “Can you search upstairs?” I asked Persephone. “I’ll question him and get started down here.”

“Deal.” The relief was evident in her voice.

“Question me?” Tantalus asked. “Search? What are—?”

I turned on my charm; surely using my powers once wouldn’t hurt too badly. My stomach clenched, but the pain felt more like a dull throb than the usual knife-to-the-gut variety. “Yeah, we’re searching your room, and you’re going to truthfully answer everything I ask, then forget we were ever here. Oh, and by the way,” I added once Persephone disappeared up the stairs. “You’re welcome.”

“For what?”

I pushed him toward the couch and motioned for him to sit down. “I just saved you from a world of hurt. Don’t flirt with her. She’s not interested.”

He sat down, looking toward the steps, as though hoping to catch another glimpse of Persephone. “Who is she?”

“Not interested. That’s all you need to know.”

Tantalus raised his eyebrows. “If you’re going to ‘question me,’” he emphasized the phrase and gave me a wry look, “I have a feeling I’m going to need caffeine. Want a soda?”

“Sure.” I followed him to the kitchen and took a seat at the bar while Tantalus rummaged through the fridge.

Since Tantalus was in the know, I deviated from the usual questions, taking a more direct route. “Are you trying to kill me or any of the other gods?”

“No.” Tantalus gave me an odd look and poured soda into two glasses. “Rum?”

I declined. He shrugged and turned his back to me, pouring a shot into one of the cups.

“Do you know of anyone who might want to?”

“Nope.” He put the drinks on the bar and sat across from me.

I took a sip. “Are you in possession of any weapons that could kill a god?”

“No!” Tantalus drew back in surprise. “Is there such a thing?”

“Not that you’re going to remember.” I ran him through the rest of the questions and finished my drink.

When I started searching the kitchen, Tantalus stood. “Can I help?”

“Nope.” Standing on my tiptoes, I scanned the top of the cabinets. The boat lurched and I lost my balance, making me stumble back into Tantalus. “Sorry.” I turned to face him as he steadied me.

“Sure thing.” His eyes met mine, then widened in surprise. A broad grin broke out across his face, weakening my knees.

Yeah, okay. He acted arrogant and self-absorbed, but he also looked really hot. What girl wouldn’t react to finding herself in his arms?

Tantalus tilted  my chin up. “If I kiss you, you’re not going to turn me into a plant or anything, are you?”

I laughed. “Well I won’t promise anything, but . . .” I touched my lips to his, keeping the motion light and teasing. “Don’t you think I’m worth the risk?”

“Hell, yeah.” Tantalus yanked me to him, his mouth meeting mine with practiced skill. He was one
good
kisser, and I’d know. I closed my eyes and let all my frustration, anger, and fear from the last two days fuel my kiss. My teeth grazed his bottom lip and he let out a low groan, pressing me against the cabinets as his hands roamed beneath my sweater.

“Hey, Aphrodite?” Persephone called from upstairs.

What the hell was I doing? Breaking away from Tantalus, I struggled to catch my breath. I should be searching the suite, not making out with the incredibly hot . . .

My thoughts trailed off into oblivion as I stared into Tantalus’s gold eyes. I yanked him back to me using the drawstring on his pajama pants. His mouth crushed against mine as he swept the countertop behind me clear. Something clattered to the ground and shattered.

Stop!
I jerked my head, breaking off eye contact with him. “You’re using charm,” I accused, as I scrambled down from the countertop.

“Always.” Tantalus shrugged. “I can’t exactly turn it off. I gotta say”—he slid a hand down my arm, trying to pull me back to him—“it’s nice knowing that was all you.” At my puzzled look, he tilted his head, gold hair falling into his eyes. “Well, you’re immune, right? I couldn’t possibly charm a god.”

Footsteps thudded over my head. “Aphrodite?”

“Rain check?” Tantalus suggested, releasing his hold on my arm.

I stared at him, reeling in shock. He had charm? So, he was a son of Zeus. Three of Zeus’s demigods on one ship? What were the odds? How many kids did Zeus have? And if Tantalus always used charm, how come I hadn’t sensed him using any before?

How come I couldn’t sense him using charm now?

And how could he have charmed
me
? No one could charm me, except maybe Persephone. But if my powers were fading, maybe all the rules were changing. I needed to test my immunity, but in order to do so, I needed someone who knew what they were doing.

“Hey.” Persephone rounded the corner into the kitchen. “You okay?”

“I’m done in here.” I moved away from Tantalus. “Did you need help with something?”

Chapter XXI

THE REST OF THE search went by in a blur. I couldn’t keep my mind on the task at hand. Not even when we searched the shops. It was pretty bad when even designer clothes couldn’t hold my attention.

“So now what?” Ares asked, when Persephone and I joined the rest of the group huddled on the top deck at the very front of the ship. From here, we’d be able to see anyone coming, and the constant wind made a shield unnecessary for blocking sound. The ocean still looked black as pitch, but the horizon showed signs of dawn approaching. We’d already dismissed the Muses, Graces, and minor deities, instructing them to don glamours and blend in with the passengers, keeping their eyes open for trouble, so our group consisted of just us seven. Artemis, Persephone, and I claimed the window ledges while Ares, Hades, Poseidon, and Athena stood.

“I can’t believe we didn’t find anything,” Artemis grumbled from the ledge next to mine. The three windows were set so deep into the wall overlooking the miniature golf course that they made pretty good benches, despite the inward slant.

“That’s good, right?” Persephone sat tucked into the ledge on my other side. Not that I could see her very well around Hades, who leaned on the wall between us. “It means there were no more weapons.”

“Maybe.” Athena raised her voice to be heard over the air rushing around us. She leaned against the white rails of the ship, an entire person-length away from Poseidon and Ares. “But on this whole ship, someone should have known something. We didn’t even pick up any stray power signatures. Whoever is behind this might have found a way to circumvent our shields.”

“Either way, they know we’re on to them.” Poseidon’s gaze focused on the sea.

“Pretty sure that cat was out of the bag
before
they attacked us with Olympian Steele.” I wondered if I should broach the topic of my missing powers and the possible loss of my immunity. They couldn’t count on me right now, and allowing them to think otherwise would be a bad idea. But before I could speak up, Persephone leaned around Hades, extending a hand. “Where to?”

I blinked at her hand, unsure what she wanted from me. “What?”

“You’re done here,” Poseidon said before Persephone could clarify. “You can go home. I don’t need you anymore. They know I’m on to them. I no longer have reason to be subtle.”

“You were going for subtle and you sent
her?”
Ares shook his head and flashed me a grin. “No offense, Aphrodite, but you stand out.”

I accepted the compliment with a shrug, turning my attention back to Persephone. “I’d like to stick around.” I leaned against the cool glass of the window. “I’ve already established a rapport with the demigods. I think they’ll tell me if something—”

“You charmed an entire room full of people into protecting us, nearly broke the charm affecting the attacking passengers, then charmed a ship’s worth of passengers into staying in their rooms while we searched,” Poseidon said, sounding impressed despite himself. “I think it’s safe to assume you’re no longer under cover. No one is going to assume you can be charmed into forgetting anything.”

“Which means they’ll be focused on her. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” Artemis said. “I could keep an eye out, see if anyone is watching her too closely.”

“You guys do
see
her, right?” Ares waved an arm at me. “
Everyone
is going to watch too closely. Every head in every room turns when she walks by. That’s what Zeus was going for when he made her.”

“This is bigger than some missing demigods. Zeus said something was coming, something bigger and
armed.
I, for one, don’t want to be caught off guard.” Artemis looked at me. “Do you mind? Being our diversion?”

“Uh . . .” I needed to tell them. If I could be charmed, I was completely vulnerable. But could I risk them sending me away? Adonis and the other demigods were in danger. He wasn’t wrong in his estimation of their importance—or lack of—to most gods. I glanced at Poseidon for guidance, but he pointedly ignored me, scowling down at the waves.

“How much time do we have?” Ares asked, crossing his arms.

“I’m not sure exactly.” I wiped at the salty beads of water coating my face from the damp sea breeze. “If the patterns hold, the demigods will go missing somewhere between midnight and six a.m.”

Ares glanced down at his watch. “It’s already seven.”

Artemis sputtered with laughter but I just stared at him, waiting for him to catch on.

He closed his eyes. “You meant next midnight . . . Yeah, I gotcha.”

“And this is why we don’t bother waiting on your input,” Poseidon muttered, his navy eyes churning in time to the waves. “So, we need to—”

“Let it happen,” Athena suggested.

“What?” Hades jerked forward in surprise.

Athena’s grey eyes went flat, and her face took on that passive patient look I’d only ever seen in her expression when she grew super annoyed at having her advice questioned. “We need to know more about what is being done to the demigods, who is using them, and where these weapons are coming from. The surest way to do that is—”

“Use them as bait?” I didn’t like the sound of that any more than I liked the idea of me being a diversion. But I wasn’t surprised.

“No.
Be
the bait,” Athena explained. “There are four demigods. Let’s replace them. When they take them, they get us.”

Huh, who would have thought Adonis and the goddess of wisdom would be on the same page, idea-wise?

“What do we do with the real demigods?” Persephone asked.

“Hide them in the Underworld until this is over,” Athena suggested. Demigods were the only living beings who could go to and from the Underworld uninvited.

“Adonis and Elise can’t be charmed,” I added. “They might not go for it.”

“I think we can leave Adonis.” Athena mused. “If we do all get taken, it might be good to have a real demigod on hand who can do the talking.”

“You mean the lying.” If Persephone tried to mask the disapproval in her voice, she failed.

“Precisely.” Athena touched her hair as though checking to make sure the wind hadn’t damaged her severe style. As if a bun that tight could be dislodged by anything less than a tornado. I made a mental note to give her some tips later. Practical beauty was a thing. “Adonis has proven he can hold his own and is trustworthy. Those of us with charm will need to replace the demigods, and one of us will have to replace this assistant woman. From what I’ve observed, she’s close enough to notice minor changes in Narcissus’s behavior. As for the rest of us, we can use glamours to blend in with the passengers.”

I looked up. There was no way I could keep up a glamour. “I—”

“Oh, not you,” Athena clarified, smoothing her taupe power suit. “You’ve already been seen on this ship. It would be suspicious if you vanished. I think Artemis has the right idea. Let’s let whoever’s behind this waste their time watching you. With any luck, they’ll never see us coming.”

“I could replace Elise.” Artemis’s dark eyes were narrowed in thought. “The height difference is going to be a pain. What is she, five-seven, five-eight?”

“Wait, we can glamour height?” Persephone sounded so excited that we all paused to look at her.

“The further we are from our original form, the more power a glamour takes to maintain,” I explained. “Height is a big one, because it impacts your entire skeletal structure. It wouldn’t be practical day to day.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll replace Tantalus,” Ares said, getting us back on track with a wicked grin.

“This isn’t a good idea,” Poseidon objected.

“Do you have a better plan?” Persephone asked him.

“Yeah. Sink the boat. Get the weapons safely out of human hands. If whatever is behind all of this survives drowning, then we’ll have learned more about the nature of it. If not, you and Hades can sort it all out in Tartarus.”

Persephone stared at him for so long that Poseidon shifted, and rubbed the back of his neck. She turned, not saying a word to him. “Athena, your idea sounds wonderful. Ares, Artemis, thank you for volunteering.” She looked to me. “I’ll check in as much as I can, but for now—” She cast Poseidon a stony look. “If you
dare
—”

“You’re not queen of this realm,” Poseidon reminded her. “This ship is scheduled to reach your realm in two days—”

“Tomorrow,” I corrected. “Well, like in an hour.”

Poseidon shook his head. “At a private island, small enough to shield. But this ship will make port at Nassau in two days and that is an island too large to monitor every inch of. Right now, we have whatever is responsible for the missing demigods and these weapons trapped on a boat. I’m not letting it escape from my realm. Two days, and this ship stops moving. In the meantime, I can play Narcissus. I don’t think he’s one of Zeus’s. Have you ever seen him use charm?”

I shook my head. “But every other demigod on the ship can. And I’ve heard some things that indicate there’s a good chance he can too.”

“Just in case, I’ll be Narcissus’s assistant,” Athena said, bringing us back to the focus of the conversation. “I can charm if necessary. We’ll make the exchange after the shoot today. That gives us time to observe their mannerisms.”

“Does everyone have a phone?” Persephone asked. “We might need to reach each other without waiting around for a dreamscape.”

“I’ve got one,” Ares said.

“Me too,” Artemis chimed in.

Athena, Poseidon, and I said nothing.

“Be back soon.” Persephone vanished.

After we’d worked out a few more of the logistics, she reappeared with a handful of smart phones, secure in their boxes. “The guy at the store swore they were fully charged and ready to go.”

The store? What time zone did she teleport to?

“I programmed all of our numbers into the phones, so all you’ll have to do is charge it every now and then and keep it on. Don’t hesitate to text me with any questions. Uh . . . do you all know how to text?” She handed a silver phone to Athena, who scoffed.

“We might not be as young as you, dear, but I can assure you, cell phones are not beyond our comprehension.”

Persephone looked doubtful, but handed Poseidon a black phone without argument, then handed me a gold one. “I should have picked up some cases,” she worried.

“We can shield them,” I reminded her. “Thanks, though.” I pocketed the phone.

After nailing down a few last-minute details, everyone was ready to move on to their assigned tasks.

“Ares,” I called, running after him before he could get too far away. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Of course.” He followed me across the deck, out of sight of the golf course. We stopped walking when we reached a glass wall looking down to the next deck. “Is everything with Poseidon—?”

“Handled. But now I need a favor.” When his expression went guarded, I laughed. “I just need to test something. Can you turn on your charm?”

I hated to ask
him
, but Persephone was too strong—her charm might have worked on me even if my powers weren’t fading. I didn’t trust Athena with my weakness, and I didn’t know Artemis that well.

“Maybe. What do I get for this favor?” he teased.

I gave him a playful shove.

“Ouch.” Ares laughed. “Not the payment I was hoping for. But yeah, sure.” He waited a beat. “Happy?”

I frowned. “I can’t feel anything. Charm me.”

“Really?” Ares gave me a mischievous grin and met my eyes. “Yeah, okay. Take off your top.”

Gods, this sweater felt itchy. I reached for the bottom of my sweater and his eyes widened, mischief shifting to alarm. “Stop.” He grabbed my hands. “That wasn’t supposed to work.”

What wasn’t supposed to work? I looked down at his hands wrapped around mine at the bottom of my sweater. “Ares, seriously?” I jerked my hands free and shoved him. “
That’s
where your mind goes?”

“Of
course
that’s where my mind went.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I stopped you,” he reminded me. “I wouldn’t—I didn’t—”

“Are you blushing?” The tips of his ears, just visible through his mop of curly hair, were bright red.

“That’s not a line I would—” he continued babbling. “Not with you. Not with anyone, but definitely not with—Are you—” He paused. “Are you laughing at me?”

I stopped trying to hold back and burst out laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. I clutched my stomach, trying to suck in air between giggles. He laughed for a moment, despite himself.

His laughter trailed off when he realized I wasn’t stopping.

“I’m sorry,” I gasped, still giggling, gripped by the sheer absurdity of my situation. “It’s not this funny, I just—I just—” I couldn’t stop. I’d made the frickin’ god of war, battle, and bloodshed blush.
I
could be charmed. There was a distinct possibility I was dying. I’d been attacked and harassed and insulted and become a model, and—

I could be charmed.

And I was probably dying.

My laughter was no longer audible, though my shoulders shook with my hysterical gasps.

Ares hesitated. “Aphrodite . . .” He draped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him in an awkward embrace.

Despite myself, I leaned into him, clinging to his cold jacket. Once my laughter stopped and shifted into deep, shuddering breaths, he pulled away. “How come I can charm you?”

I hesitated for all of a second. But I was in way over my head, and I needed an opinion on this from someone who wouldn’t benefit from my death as much as Poseidon. Shivering at the cold, morning wind biting through my sweater, I filled him in on
everything
that had happened since I boarded the ship, and Poseidon’s theory. When I got to my encounter with Tantalus, Ares clenched his jaw, but didn’t comment. “Do you think Poseidon’s right about me having an expiration date?” I asked, after I finished the whole story.