Deer in Headlights (Hearts and Arrows 1) (Good god series) (23 page)

“Do not provoke me, Persephone. My patience has been exhausted, and I will no longer hide as if I am ashamed, as if I could not have him. Release Adonis. He does not want you, not as he wants me. And yet, you deny him what he wants, he whom you call your son, although he is not your own. He will never be yours.” Wind spun around her, whipping the tatters of her robes against her legs.

“He is mine, Aphrodite. I did what you could not. The love I gave him you could never understand, being … what you are.”

“What I am? And what am I?” The air rushed faster as her voice rose, echoing against the stone as her hair lashed her face.

“You are nothing but a whore,” Persephone sneered.

Aphrodite screamed as she charged up the steps and slammed into Persephone. They hit the ground and tumbled down the stairs, clawing at each other. Aphrodite rolled her over and pinned Persephone with her thighs, reaching for her neck, her fingers straining as Persephone pushed against her shoulders, holding Aphrodite just out of reach. Her nails were a hair from Persephone’s long neck when she was lifted away, shrieking and thrashing until she realized that she was in Adonis’ arms. She sank into them, sobbing quietly.

Persephone screamed, flailing in Hades’ arms. Her teeth gnashed, and her long hair caught her bleeding lips as she strained against his grip. Hades bent his head down, his face soft as he whispered in her ear.

The room grew dark, and thunder echoed when Zeus marched in, tall in golden armor, his white cloak whipping behind him. He stopped between the goddesses and folded his arms across his chest, assessing the scene with stern eyes. “I loathe coming to this place, and yet, here we are.” He turned to Persephone. “This ends now. Adonis will be freed. He is no longer a child but a man who should be among his own kind, not held prisoner in the underworld.”

She pulled against Hades, her eyes wild with panic. “NO! You cannot, Zeus. He is
mine
, she
gave
him to me. She abandoned him, left him here, and I have cared for him as if he were my own son. Please, please do not take him from me!”
 

Zeus turned his gaze back to Aphrodite, cradled in Adonis’ arms. “It is clear that Adonis loves her, and thus, he is hers.”
 

Persephone’s wail stretched long, fading into soft weeping.

Zeus eyed Adonis, whose face was torn between love for Aphrodite as he held her close and pain as he watched the only mother he had ever known come unraveled in Hades arms. “He cares for you as well, Persephone, perhaps equally. I have a solution.” He looked down his nose at them all. “Adonis will spend a third of his time with Persephone and a third with Aphrodite. As for the final third, he may choose for himself where he shall go. The decision has been made, and the two of you will not speak of it again, or he will be banished from you both.”
 

And with that, he turned from the room and stormed away, leaving misery and elation behind him like fire and ashes.

“I didn’t know if we’d ever be all right, Per.”

“I knew we would be. Don’t cry, please. Not over me. It’s long passed.”

“But sometimes it feels like it was only a moment ago.”

“Prithee, My Lady,” Perry said with a dramatic swoop of her hand, “naught shall keep us apart, not man nor beast nor spoiled man-child.”

Dita laughed. “The Renaissance was so dramatic.”

Perry scooped her into a hug. “I love you.”

“I know. I love you too.”

THE EARLY MORNING SUN beamed in through the window, bathing Kara’s living room in soft light. She was stretched out on her couch, cup of coffee in hand, musing about Lex. Unreal that Lex would find someone she was willing to take a leap of faith for, especially given that, by all appearances at least, he was not to be trusted.

Kara did, however, trust Roe.

He walked into the room smiling, his blond hair shining, with waffles in hand. Toaster waffles, but still. She set her coffee down before reaching for the offered plate.

“Mmm, Eggo. My favorite.”

Roe leaned down and gave her a soft kiss, then sat and pulled her feet into his lap, resting his hands on her legs as she dug in.

The night at the Crow Bar, Lex and Travis left early, since Lex had to work the next morning, or so she said. Kevin and Dean disappeared shortly after, and only she and Roe were left. From there … well, the rest just sort of fell into place.

They’d been carrying on in secret ever since. They’d talked through the whole Lex and Dean situation, but it had taken some convincing to get Roe on board entirely. Even at that point, and even though he was playing along, she couldn’t help but get the feeling that he didn’t quite get it. He recognized that Dean hadn’t been himself, and believed Kara when she explained Travis and Lex’s relationship, but she wasn’t sure he really saw the value in getting them together. It seemed that Roe saw it first and foremost as a potential problem for the band, and only after that came everyone’s feelings on the situation.

Roe, in turn, reassured her Dean was a good guy, aside from his inability to care for any of the women he’d been with, and Kara believed him. She saw Dean resisting Lex every day for Roe’s sake, for the band’s sake, and somehow knew that he was serious about Lex. Roe cared for Dean like Kara did for Lex, which fortified their trust in each other on the matter of their smitten friends.

“You should have seen his face when I asked him to hang out on Saturday, Kara. It was all I could do not to bust out laughing.”

She smiled, having seen Roe try to lie. His face had screwed up like he was having some kind of episode. “Why didn’t he just lie to you?”

“I’m not sure he could lie to me. I mean, we’ve been like brothers since we were kids, and we lived together for years. I know when he’s lying, and he knows I know. I’m pretty sure I know him better than he knows himself.” Roe ran his hands down her calf and over her feet, traced her toes, then trailed his fingers back up her leg, distracting her. She smiled as she set her plate on the coffee table and pulled her feet out of his lap.

“I say the same thing about Lex.” She crawled to Roe, climbed onto his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He leaned in and nuzzled her ear.
 

“Well, then it’s a good thing they have us to play Cupid for them,” he said as he ran his nose down her neck.

She closed her eyes and sighed as goosebumps broke out up and down her arms. He shifted and laid her down on the couch, his lips millimeters from her own when a knock tapped at the door.

Kara sat up fast, and Roe hit the ground with a thump.

“Uh, who is it?”

“It’s Lex. Are you okay? Did you just fall?”

Her eyes flew wide, and she motioned for Roe to move. “I’m fine! Hang on!” She pointed to her bedroom. “Go,” she whispered, and he nodded and trotted into the other room. Her eyes scanned the room for any signs of him, and she spotted his shoes next to the couch. She grabbed them, ran to her bedroom door, and chucked them in.

“Ouch! What the fuck, Kara,” he hissed.

“Shit! I’m sorry. Sorry!” she hissed back.

“Kara? Any day now.”

“Coming!” Kara closed the door but for a crack and hoped to god that Lex didn’t want to borrow any shoes.

She pulled open the door, and Lex blew in.
 

“I’m sorry, I know it’s early, but I’m kind of freaking out.” Lex stopped in the middle of the room and looked around like something smelled. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. What’s the matter? Are you okay?”

Her suspicion melted when she remembered why she was there. “Yes, I’m fine. I mean, no, not really, but maybe this isn’t as big of a deal as I think it is? Or maybe I’m just being stupid about the whole thing, I don’t know.”

“Okay, slow down. You’re unglued. I would offer you coffee, but I’m pretty sure you do not need caffeine right now.”

Lex dropped her bag next to the couch and sat down. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, just break it down for me.”

She took a deep breath. “I’m just freaking out about Dean. It’s happening tomorrow, like, in twenty-four hours. I know I had a plan, just friends, right? Well, what if I can’t do that? Or what if we run into Travis? Or what if you run into him? Because I’m supposed to be with you.”

“I think Travis and Roe are spending the day together tomorrow.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Oh, I just heard them talking at practice about it,” she said flippantly, then sat down next to Lex. “I can hang at home tomorrow, if it would make you feel better. I wanted to re-watch Game of Thrones anyway.”

“The books are better.”

“Don’t be that girl, book snob. Anyway I don’t have three months to read the seven thousand pages required to get through that epicness, so I’ll just watch. Anyway, don’t change the subject. What are you scared of?”

“Everything?”

“Ok, give me the bullet points.”

Lex took a deep breath and verbally exploded. “I’m afraid I’ll like Dean. I’m afraid that I won’t. I don’t want to lie to Travis, but I know it’s the only way to do this. I’m afraid of getting hurt, and I’m afraid of being alone, and I swear to god if tomorrow doesn’t get here fast, I’m going to have a fucking nervous breakdown.” She blew out a breath.

“Feel better?”

“A little.”

Kara put an arm around her friend. “Lex, it’s going to be okay. You hear me? By tomorrow night, you’ll know what’s next.”

“How can I even sleep in the same bed as Travis tonight? Last night, I thought the sheets were going to catch on fire, or that I was going to get sucked into the bed like Johnny Depp in Nightmare on Elm Street. The guilt is too much. I’m going to break.”

“Well, you could tell him the truth now.”

“I cannot tell him I’m going on a date with Dean. Are you mental?”

“You could just tell him you want to break up.”

“Yeah, and then when he finds out why?”

“What’s worse? Break up with him now and lie to him about why, or break up with him later and go on a date with someone behind his back?”

“Honestly? I don’t even know if I can lie to him about why, not as worked up as I am about this date. I’m so jumpy. I mean, look at me.” She motioned to herself.

“Do you really think you’re going to be more chill after the date?”

“I have no idea. This whole thing is a mess.” Lex dropped her head to her hands. “I just … it’s complicated. I don’t want to lie if I don’t have to. I don’t want to tell him it’s not working out, and then show up to practice dating Dean. If I’m going to be with him, Travis needs to know the truth, but I won’t know for sure until after tomorrow.”

“That is reasonable.” Kara gave her a squeeze. “Stay here tonight. Tell Trav that we’re going out. We’ll watch Sixteen Candles and pick out your outfit for tomorrow.”

“You had me at Jake Ryan. Okay, let’s do it. I’ll go home and get my stuff and come back this afternoon, yeah?”

“Sounds good. Now, get out.”

Lex giggled. “God, you act like you’re hiding a boy in here or something.”

“No, I just really need to poop. Now, seriously, go.”
 

The friends embraced in the doorway before Kara shoved her out and threw the chain on the door. When she turned around, Roe was standing behind her looking worried. She jumped out of her skin.
 

“Jesus, Roe!” She whacked him on the chest.

“Sorry, sorry.” He threw his hands up in surrender. “Is she okay?”

“She’s taking her neurosis next level, but yeah, she’ll be ok. Do you get it now? She’s nuts about him. Like, literally, he’s driving her crazy.”

“Yeah, I’m beginning to understand,” he said with a laugh.

“Well, the bad news is that we’re off for tonight.”

He picked her up, and she squealed. “Better make the most of right now, then.”