Don't Read in the Closet volume one (2 page)

Dashiel cleared his
throat. “No thank you, O god of the beer goggles. That last guy you tried to
set me up with was a gargoyle!”

“Hey! Gargoyles need
love too!” Korey pouted.

“Trust me when I say he
wasn’t looking for love.”

And Dashiel didn’t have
the first idea why that disappointed him. The guy really had been incredibly
unattractive—inside and out. He’d been looking for hard and fast, not long and
lasting, but it wasn’t like faith and fidelity were high on anyone’s list of
priorities around here. Dashiel guessed it came with being immortal—promiscuity
and infidelity via boredom was always likely to be on the cards. And lately that
reality had been bothering him more and more.

Unfortunately, the whole
situation was compounded by the fact he was a Cupid. Potential lovers only ever
saw his reputation as a minion of erotic love and the pretty window dressing
he’d been blessed with. They wanted him to show them a good time, but it never
went deeper than that. In short, they never saw him. Granted, it had been a lot
of fun for the first two thousand years or so, but the song was getting old
now. He needed something… more.

“Anyway,” Korey
continued, “That little incident at B’s wasn’t my fault. I never sent that
gargoyle your way.”

“Sure. You do realise
he’s still hounding me though, right?”

Even as he asked, he
knew it was pointless trying to make Korey feel guilty. He’d always denied
sending Crash or Crush or whatever his name was to him anyway. It was just that
Dashiel knew better than to believe him. Then again, he should have known better
than to go looking for more than a quick fuck at one of the parties held at
Bacchus’ Den too.

“You’re too picky,
that’s your problem,” Korey huffed.

“I am not!”

“Yes you are.”

Dashiel bristled. “Maybe
I’m just looking for something a little more meaningful than
wham-bam-thank-you-man and a slap on the ass.”

Shit! Shit! Shit!

Why had he said that? So
much for not telling Korey about his little mid-immortality crisis.

Korey scrunched up his
nose as if he’d just suggested swimming at a sewage treatment plant. “Have you
been licking your own arrow tips or something? Seriously, workplace health and
safety is going to nail your ass if they catch wind of that.”

Dashiel ran his hand
through his hair.

“Oh shit! You’re
serious?”

“Yes! No! I mean… I
don’t know.”

Korey wrapped an arm
around Dashiel’s shoulders. “Oh, honey! Trust me, love you forever isn’t meant
for us.
It’s
way too long a time commitment for most
of the poor saps in the mortal realm, never mind us. You’ll get over it. You’ve
just got to get out there again and grab what you can out of eternity.”

And wasn’t that just the
most depressing thought in the cosmos. “You do realise you’re supposed to
believe in love and happily ever after and all that crap as a Venus, right?”

“Yeah! Yeah! Doesn’t mean
there’s anything wrong with happy for right now though.”

As he spoke, Korey was
giving him that look—the one that was both concerned and calculating. Shit! He
was in for it now. He was going to be inundated with gargoyles and satyrs and
gods only knew what else, he could just see it.

Korey gave his shoulders
a reassuring—at least he assumed it was supposed to feel reassuring—little
squeeze. “Come on, The Pantheon is inducting new Mercuries today and there’s
going to be a huge party afterwards.”

“Great, more little
messenger boys cluttering up the place.”

“Hey now! If we didn’t
have them, who’d carry all the love notes you inspire, gorgeous?”

“Pigeons?”

“Nah! I think they only
do lice these days. They’ve got a better union.” Dashiel snorted in amusement
despite himself. Korey gave his shoulders another squeeze. “Come on, you’ll
enjoy it. I promise.”

Dashiel eyed Korey. He
hadn’t actually said anything about setting him up with anybody at the party.
Maybe if they went, Korey would get distracted with whatever nymph or deity or
miscellaneous immortal creature took his fancy for the night and forget all
about Dashiel’s morose little slip.

“Okay. Lead the way,”
Dashiel sighed in resignation.

“Oh no! After you. I
insist.”

“You just want to stare
at my ass again, don’t you?”

“Duh!” Dashiel shook his
head and chuckled as Korey gave him a little push to get him moving. Korey was
fun and always made him smile. This kind of playfulness helped to remind him
why he liked the god so much. “Nice boots by the way. They definitely say fuck
me. I’m betting you get lucky tonight, big boy.”

And then he’d go and say
something to remind Dashiel why it was a love/hate thing with them.

Dashiel looked down at
the shiny black leather that encased his lower legs from toes to knees—a series
of three silver
buckles and straps holding them firmly
around each calf. His latest acquisition and current pride and joy, they were
seriously kick-ass boots. Still, something had to be said.

“Korey?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Shut-up.”

****

Dashiel took a deep
breath. Then, as ready as he was ever likely to be, stepped into the
semi-circular auditorium of The Pantheon.

As always, the
amphitheatre was noisy and crowded. Gods and goddesses mingled and chattered
like a flock of brightly coloured parrots—seeing and being seen. Or perhaps
scene was more the word he was looking for—many had about as much substance as
the backdrop to a low budget high school musical.

Picking his way down the
glowing white marble steps, Dashiel searched for a relatively quiet spot.
Somewhere they would still be close enough to see what was going on without
being jostled or overwhelmed by the prattle. Fixing on a row about halfway
down, he led the way—steering them through the throng with some difficulty as
various deities tried to waylay them.

Generally speaking,
there was nothing like the prospect of a party to get the inhabitants of
Godshome out en masse and in high spirits. Today was no different, but Dashiel
wasn’t sure he was in the mood right now. With a little effort he could
probably work his way up to a good funk.

“Ooo… looks like
Fredricka and Sebastian are going to be putting on a show,” Korey said beside
him as they settled into their seats.

Dashiel followed Korey’s
gaze to a pair of amorous Venuses locked in a passionate embrace in full view
of The Pantheon.

“I thought Fredricka was
with Sasha.”

“Yeah, that’s what I
mean,” Korey replied with an evil grin. “Sasha’s going to hit the roof when he
finds out about this.”

Dashiel sighed and
looked away. It was all so predictable and monotonous. Different players
engaged in the same games. Parties and pranks. He could dimly remember it being
exciting and fresh, but now it was just lacklustre and uninspiring. Not to
mention rather lonely as he found himself less and less inclined to join in the
‘fun’ with the other gods and goddesses.

Just as he was working
his way up to broody, however, his gaze settled on the group assembled below
about to be inducted into godhood. Dashiel had to work hard to prevent his jaw
dropping open and landing in his lap. Standing in the middle of the open stage
area at the base of the amphitheatre was the most magnificent specimen of male
godhood he’d ever laid eyes on.

Rather short—even for
the often diminutive Mercury—the man nevertheless stood out far and above the
rest of his peers. A lean runner’s body. Spiked black hair that honest to gods
glittered—covered as it was in a liberal amount of silver sparkles that
highlighted bright royal blue tips and shone in the sunlight. Midnight blue
eyes kohl blackened within an inch of their lives. Lips that were so perfectly
pouty he wanted to explore and taste them to see if they were as soft and sweet
as they looked.

“Who is that?”

“Who?” Korey asked
absently—still busy checking out the scene.

“That.” Dashiel nodded
towards the man who held him transfixed.

He couldn’t believe the
sexy as sin godling didn’t have everyone in the whole damn place staring at
him. Not that he was necessarily disappointed none of the vultures seemed to
have spotted him yet.

The god threw back his
head and laughed aloud at something one of his companions said and Dashiel felt
a tight heat flare to life deep in his gut. It raced to his cock, which in turn
began to stir and ache. The unknown godling was—

“You mean Achan?” Korey
asked, finally scanning the new recruits below.

“Achan?”

“Yeah. You know,
Gareth’s little brother.”

“No way!” Dashiel’s jaw
literally did drop open this time before he managed to catch himself and school
his features into something a little less
smacked-in-the-back-of-the-head-with-a-blunt-object.

“Yeah! Kind of cute now
he’s all grown up, huh? I can’t believe you haven’t noticed before.”

“I’ve been… busy,”
Dashiel said, too preoccupied with drinking the other god—Achan—in to pay much attention
to Korey’s needling.

Korey snorted. “You’ve
been in a coma.”

Dashiel could only nod
dumbly.

Of course he remembered
Achan. And the little godling had always been cute, but in a kid brother kind
of way. Growing up, Achan had been the sweet, rather shy sidekick—forever
tagging along as Dashiel and Gareth got up to mischief. But those days were
long, long gone. And this Achan was anything but kid brother cute. He was—

Trumpets sounded all
around the amphitheatre, announcing the beginning of the ceremony. Ruling gods
and goddesses of all the houses, with Mercury’s leader heading the procession
filed into the space. But the pomp and ceremony passed in a blur for Dashiel as
he remained spellbound, watching Achan’s every move.

Finally, the moment
arrived for the blessing and each of the newly-made Mercury Heralds received
their gifts—tiny wings sprouting from their heels and the buzz of divine energy
granting them their legendary speed. Then their leader—a rather pompous little man
with thin lips and sharp features—stepped forward to retrieve the Chalice of
Eternal Ambrosia and finalise the deification process. But, as he opened the
doors to its sanctuary above the altar, it became obvious that something was
horribly wrong.

The Chalice had
vanished.

Gasps of disbelief and
fear filled the space, bouncing off the marble and rippling out to fill every
corner of The Pantheon. Without the life and power of Ambrosia they would all
slowly fade from existence—starved of their immortal essence.

But before panic could
truly take hold, Achan appeared in a blinding flash of light—newly granted
wings on his heels fluttering wildly as he hovered above the crowd of new
Mercury Heralds holding the Chalice aloft. Laughing as the gasps of horror turned
to amazement and awe, Achan flew over his brethren, sprinkling them liberally
with Ambrosia. The liquid rained down over them in a golden storm—anointing
them all in a shower of eternal life and divine power.

Finally, regal as any of
the gods and goddesses that had ever assembled in the Divine Amphitheatre,
Achan returned the Chalice to its rightful place in the Sanctuary and bowed
before the leaders as if he’d just preformed a great service at their behest.

As the crowd continued
to exclaim and chatter, Dashiel stared at the now glowing Achan. He was covered
from head to toe in the golden radiance of Ambrosia. But it was more the
expression of triumph on his beautiful face that truly made Achan shine. He was
captivating—a golden being of light and joy.

Then Achan turned his
head and looked straight at Dashiel. The smile on the younger god’s face made
Dashiel’s heart flip flop wildly in his chest. Their eyes seemed to meet and
hold for an eternity across the distance—drawing Dashiel in with every drumming
beat of his heart. But the moment was shattered when the newly anointed
Mercuries swarmed in to hoist Achan high above their heads.

Dashiel continued to
follow Achan as he was carried out of the arena like a conquering hero—he
simply couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“Where is the graduation
party being held?” Dashiel finally managed, watching his new, laughing
obsession being taken away.

“Bacchus’, of course,”
Korey replied.

Not even that could
deter him. Dashiel had to follow. He needed to meet this new Achan. Needed to
know the god that had him completely enthralled.

****

Dashiel scanned the
room, unsurprised to find the party in full swing by the time they reached
Bacchus’ Den. While the formal deification ceremony had finished less than
twenty minutes ago, many had obviously started celebrating long before the
formal proceedings had started.

All around the room,
gods and goddesses, monsters and creatures of legend engaged in excess.
Sex, drugs, alcohol—all were
freely available at every turn.
And it appeared to have been going on for quite some time judging by the state
of many of the revellers.