Prophecy of the Most Beautiful (46 page)

After changing clothes, they had traveled via
Whip
to the Oyster of Paphia, a beautiful, white marble palace situated high above the city on a plateau of clouds. They walked through the towering marble colonnade surrounding it and gazed down on the lovely city below. The view was like the one she had seen in her dream. She could see from there, the landmarks of Paris––the
Eiffel Tower
, the glass pyramid of the
Louvre
Museum in the
Cour Napoléon
, and the
Rue de Palle
where the
Arc de Triomphe
found its home. At once, she could feel why the goddess would choose such a city as Paris to reside above. The passion Paris emitted was like a toxin, seeping into her skin and saturating her blood, turning it hot and steamy.

Strafford grabbed her wrist. She looked down and realized that she had been inching her hand underneath his shirt.

Embarrassment times infinity.

She gaped up at him and he let her wrist go, but didn't push her hand away. His wolfish smile spoke volumes:
You can keep going if you want to.

She snatched her hand back and fell behind a few steps. Strafford's feral eyes followed, but he didn't halt her hasty retreat.
Run while you still can
, his body read. Knowing she got the memo, he turned back forward.

She lasted all of a minute, then sighed and caught back up with him. Taking her hand, he smiled down at her and her heart fluttered like it had wings.

"Do you think my Lady would mind much if I killed her right now?"

They stopped walking. Strafford's arm reached out for her and he pulled her behind him. Startled, she peeked from around him, and froze up like an ice cube. Under the grand archway of the main entrance to the castle, stood the two remaining Graces.

Their glares were like daggers right to the heart.

"Your temper tantrums are always such entertainment for me, Joy," Cupid snapped, "But hear this, if you lay one finger on the Oracle, I'll end you myself. You accepted a duel and you were defeated, fair and square. Underestimation of the weak often proves deadly. Now, the goddess is ready to see us?"

It looked as though Joy had to force herself to pull her eyes off of Chloe. "Yes, my lord," She replied through tight lips.

"Good. Now go on ahead and attend to her. I may be a lover, not a fighter, but I
will
end you if I have to. Don't push me. My mother wouldn’t like it if
another
one of you came up dead."

Though it looked like it pained them to do so, the two Graces bowed and said respectfully, "Yes, my lord." They disappeared in flashes of light, but not before shooting Chloe more livid stares.

"It's okay, Pythia," Cupid said, "They won't hurt you. They enjoy being alive too much."

He led the group through the great entrance and down a long corridor built with pillared arches that they walked under one after the other. Roses were everywhere. Growing out of the walls, wrapped around pillars, hanging from the arches. The jeweled sconces and chandeliers were only accents in the midst of the roses and the live doves were like ornaments perched in random places and flying overhead.

The sitting room of Aphrodite was at the very end of the corridor, hidden behind two floor-to-ceiling gold doors. Cupid waved his hand, the doors opened and they entered. It was the same room Chloe had seen in her dream, with its marble floors and endless vases of roses. The two seething Graces were glaring from the back of the parlor near the wall of windows that looked out over Paris, and even the white persian cat was present. It was lounging on a chaise and yawned when they entered, already bored with their company.

Right next to it, sat the mesmerizing beauty of Chloe's first nighttime reveries dressed in a form-fitting white mini-dress, her long legs crossed, her even longer black hair draped across the arm of her young attendant.

Aphrodite
.

Cupid left them standing awkward and stiff at the entrance and forced the cat off of the chaise beside his mother to claim it for himself. "Beat it, Rose," he said. Rose the cat seemed content to leave only because she wanted the more coveted spot on Aphrodite's lap. Even when Rose pounced on her, the goddess's pure golden eyes never left them and it wasn't until after she had taken several sips from a crystal chalice rimmed in gold, that she even spoke.

"Ambrosia is
such
an aphrodisiac," The goddess purred, setting her chalice on a tray her attendant held out for her. Her voice was like silk ribbons, smooth and fine, but regal still. "I can hardly make do without it. Not that the goddess of Love
needs
an aphrodisiac." She smiled and its perfection nearly sent Chloe into shock. She felt sorry for the poor boys with her. They were smitten, even Strafford.

"Come, Roman," Aphrodite beckoned, gesturing with a seductive finger, "If you are to be mine, I must have a better look at you."

Chloe should have known they wouldn't have to twist his arm. Roman had been waiting for years for this moment and he practically ran Ace over to get to the goddess. "Bloody wanker," Ace mumbled, rubbing the spot at his ribcage where Roman had elbowed him.

Roman dropped to his knees in front of the goddess. "My lady," he said, "I am yours to do with as you please. I am eager to serve."

Aphrodite held out her arm for her hair to be draped over it. She leaned forward, just enough not to squish Rose, bringing herself to eye level with Roman. A long, pretty finger ran down the side of his face.

"Eagerness is a virtue you will find that I
never
tire of," She said. Chloe thought sure Roman was going to pass out any minute, but the guy stayed conscious and she had to give him his just due for that. The goddess was mesmerizing and her touch was probably a hypnotic thrill.

Aphrodite’s gaze suddenly became fixated on her. "He is a beautiful boy, Pythia. I will enjoy him. I suspect he might even become my foremost lover if he proves himself worthy." She smiled again and Chloe found herself keeping her eyes closed longer between every blink just to keep from becoming hypnotized by it.

"Mother, please don’t start up with that," Cupid said, smiling, laid back on his chaise, "Not everyone is used to open forums on sexuality."

Aphrodite waved him off and petted Rose. "My love life has been an open forum since my husband Hephaestus trapped me in the net with Ares and displayed our naked bodies for all of the gods to see." Cupid rolled his eyes, making the goddess smile. "Ares and I conceived you not too long after," She recalled fondly.

"Ares is your dad, too?" Chloe couldn't help asking. "Hephaestus is your
husband
?" She remembered the ugly statue of the god from her visit to the Shrine and couldn't imagine this exquisite woman being married to such a creature, no more than she could believe that the big, brawny War god was Cupid's father. This was one big, crazy family.

Aphrodite nodded in a queenly manner. "It was the will of Zeus that I marry Hephaestus upon him coming to Olympus to release his mother Hera from the throne he had built to entrap her in. But that is a story for another time. I do not question the will of the king…except in cases where he might wish harm on a perfectly innocent girl."

Yeah right.
" I was perfectly innocent when you sent your Graces to kill me and my friends," She retorted. She saw Joy's hands ball into fists, but a look from Blossom kept her from acting on her anger.

The goddess looked unimpressed by her little outburst. "As my dear daughter-in-law so informed you, you were simply in my way." There was just a touch of venom in her tone.

"So killing me for your own reasons is justifiable, but not for someone else's?"

"Red…you're killin'
me
back here…" Strafford mumbled, but she could tell he was trying not to laugh.

Aphrodite was not rattled, however. "Sweet Pythia, if it was truly my intentions for you to be dead, then I would have killed you myself." She snapped her fingers. "Like
that
. And if your triumph over Radiance had not come about from a fair duel, then I would have." Even menacing, her voice was still delightful. "I find you insignificant and least of all, a threat to my power. I wish you a long, happy life––with an above satisfactory lover."

"Mother!" Cupid laughed. "Aren't you supposed to be grieving or something like that?"

"But what is there to grieve for? The procurement of a new lover is cause for celebration, not mourning." She smiled down at Roman and ran her fingers through his blonde curls. They instantly turned thick and dark. She licked the tip of one finger on each hand and grazed each of his cheeks, leaving two dimples behind, then kissed each of his eyelids, turning his blue eyes to brown. The goddess leaned back and admired her work. She had turned Roman into Dropper, into
Adonis
. Chloe could not believe what she was seeing.

She felt the fury rise up in her. "Dropper was too good for you," She snapped.

"Your bloody mouth, wan…" Strafford chuckled, "As much fun as it is to watch you go off, you need to shut up now."

She ignored him. "You tried to have us killed! And you didn't even care about him!"

A flicker of annoyance crossed Aphrodite's expression. "I never truly expected him to be returned to me, Pythia. I simply wanted him out of Persephone's dark clutches. Better him dead than with
her
. I hope she greatly enjoys her corpse."

"Wow, tha' really is bloody lame," Ace muttered.

"You let him die for nothing!" Chloe exclaimed.

Aphrodite's eyes sparkled. "You sound quite put out, Pythia. Is that
love
for Adonis that I sense in your heart?" Her eyes flickered over Strafford, then back to her.

Chloe felt her cheeks flush. "No, but he was a good person and I do have a certain respect for the lives of others."

The goddess laid a hand on her chest. "As do I, Pythia, as do I.”

She was getting tired of the games. "Why did you bring us here?" She snapped, and she felt Ace nudge her with his elbow. She just elbowed him back.

The goddess's laugh was as delicious as whipped cream and strawberries. "Your tongue
will
be the death of you, girl. But I must say, I admire your fire. It is rare to see it burning so brightly in a mortal. Your kind frightens so easily. It is refreshing to see that even in the presence of a god, there is some courage left in your race. I only hope you will manage to keep it through the trials ahead."

"I already know of the trials ahead," Chloe snapped, "I know my coming here is causing trouble in Olympus. I know about the Great Unknown Prophecy."

"Ha! You know nothing, girl!" Aphrodite exclaimed, "The fight for your life, the fight for your very
destiny
has only begun! Yes, your arrival has triggered the Great Prophecy, but it was your
birth
that triggered the end."

She felt her chest tighten. "The end of what?"

"Why, the end of it all." The goddess remained elusive in her responses and didn't hide the fact that she was doing it on purpose. Chloe remembered what the emo girl had said about her kind of, sort of dooming all of
Myth
. Was that what the goddess meant?

"Adonis was just the beginning of your
trials
," Aphrodite continued, "Before it is all over, more stars will fall at your feet. More chants will spill from your lips. More prophecies will soon fill your head. The heavens of
Myth
are in peril, and some feel that to correct this, the pillar that is holding up this temple of doom must somehow be brought down into a blissful ruin of lost hope and despair. And
you
, my love, are the pillar to be destroyed."

"Let the gods send whoever they want," Strafford snapped, finally stepping up like a Prince should, like her
guardian
should. She loved how any threat against her got him all fired up. "Ask the Bane Princess or Hecate or the leftover Graces how we deal with our enemies, or any of your bloody
threats
. Joy looks like she's jus' burstin' with details."

Joy stepped forward.

"Do not be goaded by a half-breed," Aphrodite clipped, not even looking over her shoulder at the Grace who halted at her voice, "Especially not by a disgraced Olympian Prince. He wishes to die valiantly, so we shall let him. I would think you would be happy for this. Dead is dead."

"I would be happy to do it myself, my lady," Joy snapped.

"Your chance has passed," The goddess said. Even Chloe knew it was a declaration that Joy and Blossom's assassin license had been revoked for the time being.

"This conversation has become incredibly tiresome, mother," Cupid said, looking extremely bored.

"I agree," Aphrodite concurred, standing to her feet. Chloe swallowed. The goddess was a
total
Amazon with legs that were to die for. "Come, Roman. Romance is calling us."

"I swear, mother, you're going to ruin them!"

"Quiet, Eros. If you would take more lovers instead of being so devoted to Psyche maybe you could learn to appreciate my insatiable appetite." Cupid just rolled his eyes and flashed away. "Farewell, godlings and Pythia. We will meet again soon, I’m sure. See yourselves out. The Graces will not follow."

Aphrodite shot the pair a glance, then, taking Roman's hand in hers, she disappeared in a flare of blinding light.

Once the essence of Aphrodite had vanished, they just stood there, exchanging deadly glares with Joy and Blossom. They said nothing. The Graces said nothing. Which, in fact, said everything that needed to be.

The staredown didn’t stop as they backed their way through the door, and when it seemed the Graces had decided it was wiser to obey the goddess than not, they turned to walk away.

“Our lady said we weren’t to follow you,” Joy spoke up. They froze.

Then too much happened at once.

Blossom appeared behind them and flung Ace and Swindle away like scarecrows.
Gods,
she was strong. They bounced along the marble floor, breaking bones and collecting bruises. Before he could react, she lunged for Strafford, pinning him against the wall with her hands like they were iron shackles. He struggled, but when he realized he wasn’t going anywhere, his eyes jumped to hers.