“Icarus. You can’t!”
I cross to Ariadne and cover her hand with mine. It’s been years since she was in danger of ripping out her own hair because of anxiety, but seeing her twist her curls makes my scalp twinge in sympathy. “Don’t let him get to you.” I shoot a look at Icarus. “And you. Behave.”
“Many have tried to get me to behave; all have failed.” He grins suddenly, the expression is pure delight. This right here is why I can never hate Icarus. As sharp as he is, he’s just as quick to trade insults for a mischievous invitation to get into trouble. He proves me right when he leans in. “You went to an infamous kink club with Eurydice Dimitriou last night. Did you seduce Demeter’s youngest daughter? Tell us all the details.”
I smile and lean forward, enjoying the way they both mirror my movement. I wait until they’re practically quivering with anticipation to say, “A lady never tells.”
He groans. “That’s no fun. Eurydice is pretty, but her shadow is even prettier. I don’t suppose Charon joined in the fun?”
Ariadne covers her face with her hands. “For gods’ sake, Icarus, can you just be normal for two minutes.”
She doesn’t see his flinch in response to her words. His family never seems to. He catches me looking and we share a heartbeat of commiseration. I, at least, have a reason to be on the outside of this fucked-up little family unit. Icarus is Minos’s biological son. I can’t imagine how it must have felt for his father to go seeking two more and then turn around and show them such blatant favoritism.
So, yeah, I don’t love Icarus’s cutting remarks, but I don’t hate him for them.
“I didn’t sleep with Eurydice or Charon. And I have to question your taste if you call him pretty.” Like so many people in the upper tiers of Olympus, Charon is attractive, but it’s a more salt-of-the-earth attractiveness than some of the peacocks who strut around the upper city.
Best I can tell, Eurydice is oblivious to the way he looks at her even as she watches him when she thinks no one is paying attention. I don’t really know her, but it makes me want to give her a sharp elbow and sharper words. Life is too short to pass up something that’s obviously founded in more than pure lust.
It’s not my business.
Frankly, nothing in this city is my business. The whole thing exhausts me, especially after yesterday, last night, and this morning. “I’m going out tonight.”
Icarus perks up. “Out? Where?”
“I have an invitation—and it’s exclusive.” I can’t stand the way he wilts the tiniest bit. “I hear there are some lovely shows in the theater district. Why don’t you two try to check one of those out? Surely Minos can’t object to that activity.”
“He objects to all activities right now. We’re under strict instructions to stay here and out of trouble.” Ariadne won’t quite meet my gaze. “But have fun tonight.”
Gods save me, but I almost offer to take them with me right then and there. Only the knowledge of their reaction to it being Aphrodite issuing the invitation stops me… That, and the fact that I kind of want her all to myself tonight.
I refuse to think too closely about that.
Still, I hesitate. “Let me check this place out. If it’s on the up-and-up, I’ll see who I have to talk to in order to convince them to issue you invitations, too.” It’s not, strictly speaking, a lie. But it’s not quite honest, either. I feel a little bit of a monster for the way they both beam at me.
I’ll ask Aphrodite about it tonight. No matter what else she’s said, the only reason she’s getting close to me is to suss out information about Minos and his plans. Surely she’ll want access to Icarus and Ariadne, too. They don’t know anything more than I do, but she won’t believe it. It’s as good an excuse to get them out of here as any.
* * *
My confidence that I know what I’m doing dwindles with each floor the elevator passes on its descent to the parking garage. I check my phone for the sixth time, rereading Aphrodite’s brief text again.
Aphrodite: My car will meet you in the parking garage. Be there at nine.
It’s not until I open the door and slide into the back seat that I realize I’ve made a mistake. I’m not alone. Aphrodite lounges in the seat next to me, wearing a masterpiece of a red dress. Its silky fabric leaves her shoulders bare and drapes horizontally across her chest in a way that should be modest…if not for the corset boning just below it that emphasizes her thin waist, followed by more draped fabric around her hips that leaves one long leg completely bare to the upper thigh.
It’s a dress meant to seduce.
I know better than to let my gaze linger on the smooth skin of her thigh, to let my curiosity tease out what she might or might not be wearing beneath the dress. She looks like a present just begging to be unwrapped, the top of the dress barely clinging to her upper arms. One tug and I could know if she’s bare there, too…
I jerk my gaze away.
Gods, what am I thinking?
“Pandora.” Aphrodite’s voice is lower than normal, a faint edge there that makes my skin prickle in a way that’s far too pleasant. “You dressed up for me.”
I swallow hard. “I dressed up for the club.”
“Of course,” she agrees easily. She leans over and drags her gaze over me in a sweep I can almost feel. I have to fight not to shift, to press my thighs together.
Truth be told, I did dress up for her. I wanted her to look at me just like she’s doing right now. I just…wasn’t prepared for my reaction to it. I’m not normally so reckless when I choose my lovers, but there’s something about Aphrodite that sweeps away all common sense.
I give myself a mental shake. Surely I’m not actually considering letting her seduce me? Of all the people in Olympus, she’s the one most off-limits. She’s my best friend’s wife. Yes, it was a forced marriage and yes, he appears to hate her, but honestly that just makes her an even more inappropriate choice.
Not to mention, she’s dangerous. Possibly to me. Definitely to Theseus.
Aphrodite leans back, but it’s no easier to breathe in the close space. Her perfume is faint but intoxicating. She’s styled her dark hair up in a way that’s artfully messy and makes me think of sex.
For her part, she seems equally affected. She clears her throat, and when she speaks, her voice still has that edge of seduction. “There are some ground rules for your admittance to the club. Hades and Persephone are unaware of our presence there, but Charon is a stickler for the rules. No drinking on your first time.”
“Last night was my first time and I was most definitely drunk.” I refuse to feel shame for that. They obviously had a plan for me, so I suspect I would have ended up sleeping it off in Aphrodite’s bed no matter what choices I made leading up to arriving at the club.
“Special circumstance,” she says breezily. “As I was saying, you can observe the other people in attendance, but you can’t participate with anyone outside your party.” She gives a sharp smile the same cherry red as her dress. “If you’re a good girl, then you’ll likely be invited back with more freedom.”
Good girl.
The two words go through me like a gunshot. I press my lips together and fight not to shake. What is wrong with me? I won’t pretend I haven’t lost myself to lust more times than I care to count—I love life too much to turn down either fun or pleasure—but this is different.
This feels weighted in a way I’m not prepared to deal with.
I think I made a mistake agreeing to this.
10
APHRODITE
I’ve always been one to mix business and pleasure. Life’s too short to deny yourself, and if it has the added bonus of sending the men of my family spinning out? Well, I’m an overachiever like that.
This feels different.
Pandora is practically vibrating with tension by the time we pull up outside the club, and while part of me enjoys the fact that she’s obviously so deeply affected by me, the rest of me has the strangest urge to comfort her.