Zeus (The God Chronicles) (9 page)

“It’s a video feed,” he explained, noticing my confusion. “It shows the view from my room. I felt like the office needed a little bit of pizazz. You can only spend so much time in a dark office before you lose your mind.” He smiled weakly as he got up from his desk and moved towards the chairs. I followed him there, still confused as to what his explanation would be.

His office was dark. It was decorated in rich brown colors, with giant bookshelves lining the wall behind his desk. Between the doors and his desk was a large rug, which depicted a map of ancient Greece. There were similar paintings hanging on the walls. The ceiling was vaulted, giving the room an open feeling, but the lack of lighting added to the darkness.

We settled into the arm chairs in front of the
window-like screen.

“I did mean to call you,” he began. “But I didn’t want to seem too eager by calling the next day.”

“Two weeks was too long,” I said, not able to stop the ice creeping into my voice.

“I know,” he shot back, growling a little. “Just let me finish, okay?”

“Okay,” I conceded.

“I decided I would call you back in three days. That seemed like a good time. But then things got
 . . . messy.”

“What does that mean?”

“My . . . uncle, Kronos, sent a message to me.”

“You weren’t joking when you said your family was into Greek names,” I said, mostly to myself. Zeus still smiled at my comment, but continued on like I hadn’t interrupted.

“He feels I’m not fit to run . . . uh . . . Tartarus. He wants to take control of it from me.”

“But didn’t you start it? I mean like paying for everything, getting it all set up, all that?”

“Yes, I did.” He slid a hand over his face, the tired demeanor growing.

“Well, that doesn’t sound very fair,” I said. He laughed a little at that.

“You’re right, it’s not very fair,” he chuckled. “He won’t stop until he gets it, though. That’s the problem. He’s not a very honest man either. I worry about what he’ll do to get it. This is where the messy part comes in.” He slouched over in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. There was silence while I waited for him to continue, and he studied the screen in front of him.

“What do you think he’ll do?” I asked after a few moments.

“It’s not what I think he’ll do, it’s what I think he’s done.” He turned towards me, one hand raised to his chin, pulling on the short hairs there. After a minute, he turned back to the pretend window.

“My friend, Niki, was supposed to come for a visit. She’s like a little sister to me, and I haven’t seen her in a long time.” He ran a hand through his hair and returned to resting his elbow on his knee. “I’d thought she would be here about a week ago, but she hasn’t shown up. No one knows where she is.”

“You think your uncle kidnapped her?” I gasped. “Zeus, that’s a huge accusation! Are you sure you want to accuse him of that?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done something like that,” he grumbled.

“Then why isn’t he in jail?!” I couldn’t believe he actually thought his uncle would be so nasty and evil over a casino.

“He has been, for a long time. I guess he got out.” Zeus shrugged his shoulders and then stood up. “Anyway, that’s why you didn’t hear from me. I was trying to find a way to deal with my uncle and figure out what happened to Niki. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I will, though. I do want to go out again; I’ve been busy
, that’s all.”

“Hold on a second,” I said standing up. “What are you going to do about your uncle? How are you going to find out if he has Niki? Don’t you want to talk about this some more? It all sounds like a really, really big deal!” I looked at him in shock. How could he be so calm about this?

“Zeus,” I began again, softer. “I think you might be in shock. Normally, people have already gone to the cops with stuff like this. I know he’s family, but I really think you need to talk about it some more, with someone who’s not me—someone who can actually do something about it.” He wore a small grin as he met my gaze, so I walked over and placed a hand on the side of his face. His eyes closed and he sighed deeply.

“This is a big deal,” I said softly. “You need to get someone to help you.” He opened his eyes and stared into mine, taking my breath away. I loved their golden brown color. They were unlike anything I’d ever seen. I felt his hand cover mine and pull it towards his mouth.

“I’ll call,” he said. He kissed the palm of my hand.

I tried to clear my head, shooing the butterflies in my stomach and reminding myself to breathe. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Just keep your phone on you.” He smiled seductively.

“You know what I mean,” I said, finally breaking eye contact.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, releasing my hand.

“Okay. I guess I’ll go then,” I stammered. “Sorry I burst in yelling and everything,” I added sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” he laughed. “I deserved it.”

I reached the door as he finished talking and opened it.

“Karly?”

I turned to look at him again.

“Thank you. For listening.”

I smiled and nodded my head. I closed the doors behind me as I left. I smiled apologetically to the girl behind the counter as well. I also made sure to tip the valet, even though he hadn’t touched my car.

Chapter Nine

I was deeply ashamed of how I’d acted. Never before had I decided to call someone out and then actually done it. It was my luck there would be a good reason for him not calling. In fact, I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t call no
w. I still kept my phone close, waiting for it to ring.

I didn’t have to wait long.

Bright and early the next morning, my alarm was replaced with a ringtone. Groggily, I pulled the buzzing phone out from under my pillow.

“Hello?” I
found the time on the clock across the room. It was five thirty. I groaned.

“Well, that’s no way to say hello.” Zeus’s voice came through the earpiece happy and loud. I was going to kill him.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” I whispered, not wanting to wake Jessie.

“Time to wake up?” He was entirely too chipper.

“I thought boys didn’t get up until noon,” I teased, getting out of bed and slipping into the hallway.

“They don’t if they have a business to run—and a pretty girl to call, of course.” I could hear the teasing in his voice, as well as the smile that was sure to be accompanying it.

“I’m not very pretty right now,” I teased back, going into the living room and sitting cross-legged on the couch.

“I wouldn’t say that,” his voice purred. “I think you look good enough to eat.”

I froze. “How do you know what I look like?”

“I like the way your hair is sticking up, very sexy—almost like we spent the night together. Also love the green tank top with the black shorts. It complements the rosy color your face is turning.”

My eyes felt as wide as saucers, and I curled in on myself, quickly readjusting my bed-head ponytail.

“Where are you? How can see me?” I was never leaving my room without being ready again.

“Check the window, my dear,” his cocky voice came through.

I
did and, sure enough, the blinds were open just enough that I could make out Zeus standing on the other side, watching me.

“Are you stalking me?” I teased, trying to cover up the mortification at my appearance.

“Maybe,” came the seductive reply.

“Oh, then
maybe
I’ll call the cops,” I whispered dangerously.

“Hey now,” he laughed. “I don’t have any weapons on me, just coffee. I thought you might be up for a cup this morning.”

“Well, I’m up, that’s for sure,” I laughed. “Hang on a sec, I’ll unlock the door.”

I hung up the phone and ran back to the bathroom to drag a brush through my hair. When I finally got to him, Zeus was pretending to be asleep, leaning on the siding. He was wearing a long sleeve, black shirt and faded jeans. If I looked good enough to eat, then he looked good enough to kill for.

“Huh? Oh, sorry,” he yawned, continuing with the ruse. “You took so long I thought I would take a little nap while I waited.” He grinned devilishly at me and stepped across the threshold.

“So this is where you live,” he said,
studying the apartment. “It’s so tiny! That sucks, I’m sorry.” He laughed some more, protesting when I punched him in the arm.

“It’s no fancy resort,” I retorted. “But I love it, so there.”

“That’s good enough for me.” He smiled and held out a paper cup. “I thought if I came early enough, you wouldn’t say no to my coffee this time.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “That depends on how good it is,” I said, switching to mock seriousness. My face the perfect mirror of concentration, I took a large gulp of the coffee and promptly spit it out.

“Oh my gosh! I didn’t think you were serious!” He grabbed the cup from me as I coughed, bent over with my hands on my knees.

“No, it’s good!” I coughed out. “Just a lot hotter than I was expecting!” My eyes watered as I tried to breathe normally. Zeus sounded like he was ready to cough up a lung himself, he was laughing so hard.

“What’s going on?” a groggy voice said behind me. I turned around to see Jessie, yawning and rubbing her eyes. “What time is it?”

“Sorry Jessie,” I coughed. “I didn’t mean to wake you up, it’s still early.”

She seemed to suddenly realize who was standing in the room with me and her eyes narrowed.

“Wh
at is he doing here?” Her voice displayed her distrust.

“He brought me some coffee. I really was trying to be quiet; I’m sorry.” I hadn’t told any of my roommates I’d even been out on a date since I’d moved here, let alone one with Zeus. “We went out a couple weeks ago,” I added sheepishly. “I forgot to tell you.”

“Well,” she said thoughtfully. “Good for you guys. I’m going back to bed.” She winked at me, and Zeus chuckled.

“That went a lot better than I expected,” I whispered as our bedroom door closed.

“So, I had another reason for coming over,” Zeus said, setting our coffee on the table as I turned around.

“What’s that?”

“I want to go out again, tonight maybe? I thought we could go out to the mountains and do some stargazing.”

“How about,” I said, mulling it over, “we go out to the mountains tomorrow. I don’t have anything going on because it’s Saturday. We could make a day out of it if you wanted.” I passed by him and picked up my coffee, being careful not to burn myself as I sipped it.

“That sounds awesome,” he said. “But I was hoping for something to distract myself with tonight. No one’s heard from Niki still.” He picked up his own cup and gripped it tightly, staring down at it.

“So come over tonight. We can watch a movie or something.”

“Alright, cool.” He smiled at me and leaned up against the table. “So will the nightcap be here or at my place?”

“Get out!” I pretended to throw my coffee at him and he laughed. “No seriously, get out. I have to get ready for school.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Zeus groaned, as I held up the “movie” we were going to watch.

“What? You’re Greek. I thought you’d get a kick out of it.” I smiled as I pulled the disc out of its case and put it in the player.

“It’s not even a movie, it’s a television show! You said we were going to watch a movie.”

“Come on,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It’s
Hercules
. Everyone loves him.” I shot a wink his way as I sat down on the couch.

“Not everyone,” he grumbled, moving to join me.

“Oh, really?” I said skeptically. “Who doesn’t like Hercules?”

“Hera,” he shot back, sitting next to me and folding his arms.

“Touché,” I laughed. “Either way, this is what I want to watch tonight. I thought we might be able to get a couple dates out of the series—if you wanted.”

“Fine,” he sighed. “But only because I like the idea of more dates!”

“It’ll be fun, you’ll see,” I said, picking up the remote and scooting closer. “The graphics are awesome. And by awesome, I mean nowhere near as good as what we have today.”

I pressed play, and the first episode started.

“That is not how they dressed! Or talked! And why is that short guy with Hercules? Who is he supposed to be?”

“Calm down!” I laughed. “It’s just a show; relax a little.” I slipped my hand into his and snuggled closer to his side, resting my head lightly on his shoulder. I was rewarded with a smile and a slight hand squeeze. When we reached the part where Hera killed Hercules’ family, Zeus spoke softly again.

“That isn’t how it really happened.”

“Really?” I asked. His voice was full of pain reflected in his eyes. “How did it happen then, according to the actual myth?”

“Hera caused a deep sleep to come over Hercules. In the dream she gave him, he was slaying beasts to protect his family. She tricked him, though; while he slayed the monsters in his slumber, he slaughtered his family in real life.” His face had gone pale, and I could see how much this hurt him.