Eros (30 page)

She licked her lips and moved forward, climbing gingerly into the boat.
Charon got in after her and sat down at the rear, starting up a small motor which sent the vessel chugging into life.
With a lurch, the boat jerked across the fast-flowing river.

Skye stared into the water.
It was so black here that against the green light it almost seemed purple.
She leaned out, sniffing delicately, trying to see how similar the water was here to the source.
As she did so, a huge scaly shape rose up. She shrieked and pulled back.

‘You should keep away from the water,’ Charon observed calmly.

Skye shot him an exasperated glance and scooted to the middle of the boat.
It rocked from side to side, as if the monster below was creating its own tide.
She clenched her teeth and hoped the journey would be over soon.

‘The last lifer was a lot more friendly than you.’

Skye scowled.
‘There’s nothing wrong with being quiet.’ She turned and looked at him.
‘What’s a lifer, anyway?’

‘Who,’ Charon corrected, making a slight adjustment to the boat’s rudder.

‘Fine.
Who is a lifer?’

‘Someone like you.
Someone who thinks they can persuade Hades to give them back their loved ones.’ He raised his eyebrows at her.
‘It almost never works.
You should give up now.’

Skye frowned.
‘That’s not why I’m here.’

‘Really.’

‘Really!’ she protested.
‘I just want to speak to Persephone, that’s all.’

Charon began to laugh.
It started off as a small sound but grew in intensity, until he was bellowing and making the boat shake.

‘What’s so funny?’ Skye asked, stung.

The boat jerked to a stop against a small wooden pier.
Charon wiped his eyes.
‘We’re here.’

‘Wait, why were you laughing?’

‘You need to get out.’

‘Tell me first.’

He gave her a dark, amused glance.
‘You won’t get in.’

‘What do you mean?
I’m here.
I’m in.’

‘Lady Persephone doesn’t spend much time in these parts.
Hades likes to keep her to himself when she’s here.
He won’t want the likes of you interrupting him.’
Charon winked at her.
‘The pair of them are busy.’

Skye felt her cheeks reddening.
‘They can’t be busy all the time.’

Charon smirked.

She drew a shaky breath.
‘She’ll see me,’ she said.
‘She has to.’

‘I give you about fifteen minutes before you’re running back here with your tail between your legs.’

Skye drew herself up.
‘I’m not scared.’

He narrowed his eyes at her.
‘You should be.’

Trying to push down her rising trepidation, Skye clambered out of the boat.
‘Thank you,’ she said primly then she turned on her heel and walked off the pier and onto the dark shore.

Shoving her hands into her pockets, Skye forced herself to appear as nonchalant as possible.
Her previous calm had disappeared at Charon’s words.
As much as she tried to tell herself to ignore him and remain optimistic, she couldn’t help feeling that she was strolling blithely to her doom.
You didn’t have to do this, she told herself.
You could have quit ages ago and lived happily ever after.
She smoothed back her hair.
She’d been certain that she was right to continue with the tasks and make sure they were all completed; now she couldn’t help feeling that she’d made the worst mistake of her life.

Spotting a dark shape and a large gate up ahead, she headed straight for it.
When she was about ten feet away, the shape moved.
Two red eyes were glowing at her.

Biting her lip, Skye took another step.
The shape moved again.
Then there were three eyes.
A fourth snapped open and regarded her unblinkingly.
Even though her insides were screaming at her to turn and run while she still could, she took yet another step forward.
Cerberus’s remaining head jerked awake.
Now all three pairs of eyes were following her progress.
She sidestepped to the left.
The eyes swivelled towards her. She sidestepped right and they did exactly the same thing.
Skye held her palms out, trying to indicate that she wasn’t a threat.

‘Good doggy,’ she said softly.
She stopped for a moment.
‘Good doggies,’ she rephrased.

A low growl began in the beast’s throat.
It was lying directly in front of the gates so there was no way she could skirt round it.
She had to either find a way to pacify the three-headed dog so it let her past, or try and defeat it.

Skye thought carefully.
Her wits had helped her get this far.
Surely she could think of a way to get around this.
It was just a dog.
A three-headed dog with glowing red eyes, but just a dog.

She forced herself to calm down.
Dogs could smell fear.
If she acted like prey, it wouldn’t hesitate to attack her.
She needed to show it who was boss.

Straightening her shoulders, Skye walked forward, straight at it.
All at once Cerberus leapt to its feet and each monstrous head began barking .
She stared at its size.
It had to be at least a storey high.
Three sets of jaws opened and shut, snarling and dripping with drool.
Its body was huge, with muscles rippling under its smooth dark fur. Skye spotted a studded collar around its neck.
Despite her fear, she admired whoever it was who’d been brave enough to try and tame this beast.

‘Sit!’ she said sharply.

No matter how hard she tried to sound unafraid, her voice still trembled.
It didn’t matter, however, as Cerberus ignored her command.
The head on the left side lunged forward, jaws opening to reveal sharp white fangs and a lolling red tongue.
Skye stood her ground.
Okay.
That head was possibly the most aggressive of the three.
Perhaps she could appeal to one of the others, whose inaction had prevented the first one from reaching her.

She pointed towards each head in turn.
‘Head One, Head Two, Head Three.’
Then she moved slightly to her right and addressed Head Two.

‘Hi there.’

It snapped and growled.
She was aware that Head One was glaring at her malevolently but, for the time being, she chose to ignore it.

‘I’m here to see Persephone.
I’ve been sent by Aphrodite.’
She licked her lips nervously.
‘She’s a goddess.
That means she’s got more power than you.
You don’t want to piss her off.
Believe me,’ she said under her breath, ‘you really don’t want to piss her off.’

Skye walked forward two paces.
Head Two reared up and howled, making her ears ring.
Then, without warning, it sprang forward, fangs flashing.
She only just managed to jump out of the way.
Damn it.
She sidestepped again and looked Head Three in the eyes.

‘Tell Hades I’m here.’
This time, her voice was clear and strong.

Head Three turned slowly and looked at its companions.
She could almost smell the disdain.
This wasn’t working.

Backing away, she fumbled in her pockets.
They were empty apart from her phone.
She began casting around on the ground for something to help her.
Keeping one eye on Cerberus, she bent down and scooped up two small stones, hefting them in her hands.
Each of the heads growled.
For a moment she was tempted to see whether she could aim each stone well enough to strike the dog in its separate foreheads.
That was a foolish thought, however.
She only had to miss once and she would end up as Pedigree Chum.
There was a smarter way.

She tossed up one of the stones and caught it.
The three heads bobbed up, their eyes tracking the movement.

‘You want to play?’

She tried the same with the second stone.
The same thing happened: each pair of eyes remained trained on the stone as it left her hand, heads jerking down as it landed back in her palm again.
Skye grinned.
She took a step forward.
Then another.
Very carefully, she unfurled her fingers and held out her palms, revealing a stone in each.

‘Do you want to play fetch?’

A drop of spittle fell from Head Two’s mouth.
Skye shifted her weight.
She had to be ready to run.

Head Three barked and Skye winced at the sound.
There would only be one chance to get this right.
She took a deep breath then, with all her might, flung one stone to her left and one stone to her right.
Head One went one way, Head Three went the other.
Skye sprang forward, shoving herself underneath Head Two while it howled in agony as the other two heads ripped it in either direction, vying desperately to be the one to run after the bouncing stones.

Skye threw herself along the ground and under Cerberus’s belly.
Its tail, sharp and pointed, almost like a dragon’s, whipped from side to side and she rolled along the ground like an acrobat to avoid it.
As soon as her hands clasped the cold metal of the gates, a triumphant smile curved her lips.
Maybe she’d make a ninja after all.

Quickly, before Cerberus could spin around and react, she yanked at the gates.
They clanged together but didn’t open.
She could sense the three heads of Cerberus reacting as one, snapping one way then the other to try and stop the intruder from entering the Underworld.
Alarmed, she pulled harder.
The gates still didn’t open.
Spotting a bolt, Skye leapt to her right and began fumbling at it.
It wouldn’t budge.
She cursed and tried harder but no matter what she did, she couldn’t raise the heavy latch to let herself through.

Something wet and sticky landed on the back of her neck.
Skye slowly turned.
Cerberus had managed to twist itself around.
All three heads were facing her and all three of them had hatred in their cold, red eyes.
Skye’s stomach dropped and she could feel her legs trembling.
She could feel their hot, heavy breath on her skin.
Then she ran.

Cerberus leapt at her, its three heads now working in unison, all with one simple objective: to catch her and kill her.
She could feel jaws snapping at her back.
All she had to do was to get back to the pier;
she knew instinctively that the beast wouldn’t encroach upon Charon’s territory.
Skye swerved left, then right, zigzagging in an attempt to fool Cerberus and get away.
There were ten feet to go, nine feet, eight … she was so close.
And then she felt searing pain as her body was lifted up in the air.
The mouth – she couldn’t tell which head it belong to – shook her violently while the pressure on her ribcage made her feel as if every bone in her body was about to break.
Finally she was being flung like a rag doll to one side.
Her body slammed against a wall and she collapsed, barely able to breathe.
She pulled herself to her hands and knees and began to crawl, while every one of Cerberus’s six eyes watched her.
Her fingers were clawing the dirt and she could hear herself moaning involuntarily in pain.
The beast was toying with her now.

‘Please,’ she whispered.
‘Leave me alone.’

Then another voice filled the space, a cracked, dry voice which echoed in her brain and sounded familiar.

‘Begone, Cerberus,’ said Styx, a looming figure wrapped in water pulling up out of the river and pointing at the animal.
‘Begone.’

Head Three whined softly.
Skye jerked her head upwards and watched as the animal turned and slowly padded back to the gates.
It lay down with a heavy sigh, each red eye still fixed on her.

Skye pulled herself over to the bank of the river Styx and collapsed, gasping.

‘It worked,’ said Styx conversationally, as Skye forced herself to sit up.
All she could feel was overwhelming misery and agonising pain.

‘What?’ she asked dully.

‘It worked,’ he repeated.

Skye glanced back to the gates where Cerberus was lying down again. ‘No, it didn’t.’
She could feel tears pricking her eyes.
‘I failed.’

Styx ignored her.
‘Lethe and I are back on speaking terms.
The squashed cakes were perfect.
Can you make me some more?
Maybe with little hearts on them this time?’

‘I was supposed to find Persephone,’ she whispered.
‘I was supposed to be with Coop.’

‘Huh?’

‘Don’t you see?
I’ll never get past that dog now! That was my one shot and I screwed it up.’

‘Oh.
Sorry.’

‘Whatever.’

She clambered painfully to her feet, her head still ringing.
Any minute now she’d start seeing little birds tweeting round her.
She’d been so sure she could do it.
Even with Charon’s warnings and the enormity of the tasks, she had still believed she would succeed.
And now it was all over.
She wondered whether she’d see Coop, just one last time, so she could say goodbye.
Considering the terms of the agreement, it was unlikely.

Skye pulled out her phone and studied it.
The least she could do would be to call him.
If she was lucky he’d be allowed to answer and she could tell him herself that she’d failed.
That she would love him until the day she died and that she was so very, very sorry.

‘The signal here is very good,’ Styx commented helpfully.
‘You wouldn’t think it would be, but it is.
Charon’s always playing silly games on his phone or checking his email.’

Skye took a brief moment to wonder who on earth would be emailing the Underworld’s boatman.
It was probably just spam, she thought uncharitably.

Her heartbeat stilled.
She stared down at her phone as it displayed Coop’s number. ‘Email,’ she whispered.

‘Pardon?’

‘Email.
Persephone.
Email.’
She jumped up and down and then winced at the pain.

‘I don’t understand.’

‘What’s Persephone’s bloody email address?’ she yelled.

‘I’m a river god,’ said Styx, ‘why would I use email?’

‘[email protected].’

Skye’s head jerked up.
It was Charon.
He stared at her for a moment then shrugged.
‘You did better with the dog than I thought you would.’
He smiled faintly.
‘Not bad for a human girl.’

‘Thanks,’ she breathed.

‘Persephone doesn’t know who you are,’ Styx pointed out.
‘She’s not likely to help a stranger for no reason.’

Skye grinned.
‘Maybe I’m not a stranger.’

***

‘So let me get this straight,’ said Hermes, ‘you’ve sent a spam email to Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, pretending to be Aphrodite.’

‘Yup.’

‘You told her there was a themed party coming up and that she needed to borrow some of Persephone’s beauty.’

‘Yup.’

‘And Persephone believed this?
She’s sent it to Olympus?’

‘Yup.
In a pretty little box,’ crowed Skye.
She held up her phone so he could see Persephone’s email response.

Hermes shook his head.
‘Unbelievable.’

Skye grinned.
‘I know.’

‘So that means…’

‘That Skye Sawyer has passed every task with flying colours,’ boomed Zeus, appearing out of the gates of Olympus.
His eyes twinkled at her.
‘Congratulations.’

Skye suddenly felt shy.
‘Thanks,’ she mumbled.
‘Where’s Coop?’

‘I’m here.’
He stepped out from behind Zeus and moved towards her, cradling her cheek.
‘You’re hurt,’ he said softly.
‘I shouldn’t have let that happen.’
He rested his forehead against hers.

‘I’ll heal,’ she said, losing herself in the depths of his eyes.

His arms curved round her waist.
‘I’ll never let you out of my sight again.’

Skye laughed.
‘That’s hardly fair!
For most of the time I’ve known you, you’ve never been
in
my sight.’

Coop smiled down and brushed his lips against hers.
‘I’m so proud of you.
I’m going to spend the next millennia making sure that you’re just as proud of me.’

Skye pulled back.
‘I’m already proud of you.
But…’

‘Congratulations, Ms Sawyer,’ interrupted Aphrodite.
‘You succeeded.
Your tenacity is admirable.’
Her gaze flicked to Coop and softened.
‘As is your influence on my son.’

‘I love him,’ she said simply.

‘I see that now.
I should not have put you through what I did.
Perhaps Coop is not the only one who has learnt a lesson through knowing you.’

Skye blushed.

Aphrodite looked at Zeus.
‘It’s time.’

He nodded.

‘Turn around, Skye,’ said Coop in her ear, his fingers tightly holding on to hers as if he was worried she would suddenly escape.

Skye looked over her shoulder, then gaped at who was there. ‘Mum!
Dad!’

The pair of them were pale and staring at the imposing walls of Olympus.

‘Oh my goodness,’ her mum said, with her hand at her throat.

Her dad seemed lost for words.
Skye reached over and gave them both a tight hug, then smiled shyly.

‘This is Coop.
The man,’ she licked her lips, ‘the god I was telling you about.’

‘God,’ her mum whispered.

Skye laughed, while Coop shook her dad’s hands and gave her mother a peck on the cheek. ‘It’s an honour to meet you,’ he said.

Her dad recovered first.
‘God, you say?
I wonder if you might be able to help me with a little problem I’ve been having?’ Coop raised his eyebrows.
‘My football team…’

‘Dad!’ Skye groaned and thumped him on the arm.

Coop gave him a wink.
‘I’ll see what I can do.’

She rolled her eyes.

‘Hi.’

Skye looked up and spotted Emma.
‘Oh my goodness!
Where did you come from?’

Her old friend smiled at her.
‘I’m so sorry, Skye.’ She shook her head.
‘I should never have got involved.
I should never have opened my big mouth.’

Skye hushed her and gave her a quick hug.
‘It’s okay.’ She gazed at Coop.
‘Everything’s turned out for the best.’

‘It’s not over yet,’ he grinned.

She frowned.
‘What do you mean?’

‘You’ll see.’

‘Skye Sawyer,’ intoned Zeus, ‘we ask you here, on the steps of Olympus and in front of this gathering of family and friends to make your vows to Cupid.’

Startled, Skye turned to Coop.
He knelt down on one knee and took her hand.
She was aware of her mother gasping next to her.

‘We don’t normally do it this way,’ he said, ‘but in your case I’m willing to make an exception.’
His eyes searched hers, warmth, love and something that looked a little bit like nervousness reflected in them.
‘Skye Sawyer, will you marry me?’

For a moment it seemed to Skye that she’d forgotten how to speak.
Or breathe.
Then she found her voice.
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘Yes.’

Coop pulled her to her feet and kissed her until she felt dizzy, then he laughed.

‘I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you,’ he whispered.

‘Skye Sawyer,’ continued Zeus, smiling, ‘as the wife of Cupid, you are welcomed into the family of Olympus.
The same rights and privileges are granted to you as to other gods.
Your humanity, kindness and compassion leave me with no alternative but to proclaim you as the Goddess of the Soul.’

‘I don’t understand,’ said Skye, bewildered.

Aphrodite frowned at her.
‘You mean you didn’t know?’

‘Know what?’

‘That by becoming his wife, you become one of us?’

Skye stared at her dumbly, shaking her head.

Aphrodite sighed and glared at her son.
‘If you’d told me that sooner, we could have been spared a lot of time.
She hardly had ulterior motives to get her hands on immortality if she didn’t even know it was possible.’

‘Immortality?’ Skye paled.

‘Can we damn well get on with this?’ snapped Zeus.
Everyone fell silent.
‘Very well, then.
Skye Sawyer, you are now a goddess of Olympus.’
He extended one index finger and pointed it at her.
The top of his finger sizzled and there was a crack of thunder, then several gasps.

Skye felt a warm glow spreading through her body.
Her skin tingled.

‘Your wings!’

Puzzled, Skye half turned, then gaped at the soft feathers extending from her back.
They weren’t snowy white like Coop’s; instead there were many multi-coloured hues, glimmering in the sunlight.

‘Oh,’ she said weakly.

‘Are you okay?’
Coop touched her face.

‘We’ll be together forever.’

‘That we will,’ he said.
‘You know, “the wise want love.’’’

She smiled faintly.
‘Shelley? “Those who love want wisdom”.
I think I understand you now.
I understand how you feel about true love.’

Coop looked pained.
‘That’s because I didn’t think it was real.’
He drew her close to him.
‘Now I’ve got you, I see that it is.’

‘When did you know you felt that way?’

He looked into her eyes.
‘It was creeping up on me for so long, I hardly realised.
But that moment at the beach when Apollo tried to hurt you then he threw you into the sea?
That’s when I knew.
Because if anything happened to you, I wouldn’t want to live.’

‘We had to work for it.’

He laughed.
‘That we did.’

‘It wasn’t just a sudden bolt out of the blue.
Maybe,’ she paused for a moment, then took a deep breath, ‘maybe it’s sweeter now because it wasn’t instant.
Because we had to fight for it.’

‘What are you saying, Skye?’

‘I helped Styx,’ she said.
‘I didn’t mean to, but I did.
He’s in love with Lethe although he won’t admit it yet.
I helped him see the light.’

‘And you did it without a magic gun.’

She nodded.
‘Maybe you don’t need to shoot people.
Maybe you just need to help them along a little bit.
Get them to make the moves themselves instead of doing it for them.’

‘You mean sort of like a dating agency?’

‘A bit.
Just one where you know they’re actually meant to be together.’

‘It might work,’ he said slowly.
‘Let’s put it to my mother and see what she says.’

‘Together?’ squeaked Skye.

He kissed her deeply then smiled.
‘Together.’