Ode to the Queen (12 page)

“What-What’s the occasion?” He said stumbling a bit as he grew more flustered by our growing closeness. I smiled and shrugged coyly.

“Celebrating the fact that we could probably do a bottle each and it wouldn’t kill us?” I laughed and he smiled but there was something hallow about it. He was a sad boy, I’d known this from the moment I’d met him but I told myself that maybe making him believe I was interested in him it could help his self-esteem. It might make him a little less sad, if only for tonight. That was the whole point of this excursion, wasn’t it? We were supposed to be taking each other’s minds off our individual problems and just having fun. Flirting was fun, and it was harmless.

“Sounds like a good plan.” He said, boldly slipping on arm around my waist and drawing me closer. I couldn’t help but sideways glance at Aidan to see if he was looking but much to my complete and utter disappointment, he was sucking face with one of the underage girls I’d seen him with earlier. Typical.

Dana returned with our shots of tequila and we took our own shot glass, clinked them together and with a grin threw them back. The small dose burned down my oesophagus as it made its way to my stomach, already churning with more alcohol than humanely possible and my face scrunched up in reaction.

Griffin, on the other hand, took the liquid like a champion and threw it back without so much as a flinch. In fact he even laughed at my own reaction before signalling for a second round. He’d read my mind and despite the disgust I felt at the taste of the booze the first time, I knew from experience the second shot went down a lot easier.

One thing Griffin did have going for him was the fact that I did feel comfortable to be with him and not feel as though I had to say something in this silence. Instead we seemed to communicate silently, throwing back the shots as fast as the Muse could get them to us, all the while using laughter as our chaser. I probably should have given Griffin a bit more credit before writing him off completely as a drunk; at least he was a good one.

It was around finishing the bottle of tequila between us that I finally managed to talk Griffin into going onto the dance floor with me. I was no longer feeling any pain, physical or emotional, and I simply just wanted to lose myself in the crowd of bodies sweating on the dance floor for a few hours. Whatever was waiting for us now that all the Gods had ascended could wait until tomorrow.

Griffin, at that point, was content to do just about anything I asked him to, so he happily obliged to my request for a dance. Taking his hand we left our emptied glasses on the bar top and I led him into the crowd. It had been a while since I’d even thought about Aidan and thankfully, for the first time since seeing him he was finally out of sight and out of mind. As far as I knew he’d gone off with that petite little girl and that was that. I didn’t care; I didn’t even give it a second thought because I had Griffin.

Griffin was happy to tell me all sorts of things that made me feel better about myself. So far he had gushed about how beautiful he thought I was, how perfect my dress was for me, how I deserved to be Queen because I was so gracious and wonderful, how he thought that both my Goddess and I had been treated unfairly by everyone in the past and in the present, and how he would always defend me if I ever needed it. Frankly that last bit had made me briefly recall Aidan’s claim that I was unable to defend myself but I said nothing and smiled.

He didn’t have to know I intended to defend myself from now on; I didn’t need a man to protect me. Girl power was, after all, the area of Hera’s expertise.

By the time we had made our way out onto the dance floor there had been sufficient amount of time for other people to make their way to the club for the evening. I was sure if I looked around and sought out familiar faces I no doubt would have been able to spot people I was trying to avoid but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about much really as I situated myself right in the middle of the action where other bodies could rub up against me as everyone writhed and grinded to the beat of the music.

Clubs, as a rule, were gross and hot. Too many people shoved into too small of a space resulted in a lot of sweat. Not to mention the fact that people were mostly drunk but insisted on having a drink in their hand for appearance’s sake, which almost always was spilt on someone other than the bearer. The floor was wet, people were wet, and it was just, all in all, a recipe for disaster.

But the whole point was being drunk enough that you didn’t care. Which was exactly why I pulled Griffin close behind me, wrapped one of his arms around me and pushed my body back hard against his.

I guess I knew that I didn’t really like him, nor did I wanted anything from him but the alcohol never really made me think about the consequences of such a forward action.

I let him put his hands low on my hips, I felt him push his pelvis into my back and I never once considered stopping him. My inhibitions were gone and frankly the only thought I had was: ‘well, if people think I’m a slut I might as well have fun while they believe it.’

So I slung my arm over my shoulder and around Griffin’s neck, keeping his face close to my ear where I could feel his breath panting softly against my skin. My eyes closed as I fell into the dance, my hips swaying and marking the beat with each punch to the side. It was the first time I had truly felt good about myself since arriving at Olympus. I felt beautiful and I felt desired and there was nothing that could spoil that.

Well, almost nothing.

The song changed, as did the rhythm necessary to keep up with it. People moved faster and more frenzied, resulting in further careless behaviour. Someone bumped into us, jolting me from the haze I had fallen into and I pulled away from Griffin. I shot him a smile to tell him I was okay as I turned around to face him once more. We returned to dancing, the earlier intimacy lost.

He reached out, his hands falling back on my waist and he pulled me back against him and we clung to each other for a moment, losing ourselves once more in the dance when it was abruptly interrupted by a coldness running down my back.

With a shriek I pulled away from him and twisted, craning to see my back and the darkness that was spreading over it where the material was soaked by someone’s drink. I moved quickly, trying to catch the culprit but most people around us had had their drinks more or less knocked out already so it was hard to tell.

I turned, looking at Griffin hoping to convey my intentions to him before moving through the crowd towards a bathroom. I needed to clean the drink off my dress before it was ruined. That was the only thought in my mind.

It didn’t occur to me that magic could fix the dress if it was ruined, or at the very least I could conjure a new one later. But I’d never worn something so beautiful and expensive before that I could hardly bear the thought of parting with it so soon.

I pushed and elbowed my way to a clearing between the bodies and glanced around for a bathroom. Toward the back of the room there was a dark hallway I assumed would lead me to where I wanted to be. My hands were already unzipping the side of the dress so I could get it off and clean it when I got into the bathroom.

By the time I had the door open I was already letting it fall down my body to the ground where I scooped it up quickly to save it from whatever disgusting things were there.

The door swung shut behind me and I held the dress up to examine the damage. I had been hoping it would be nothing more than a clear liquid like rum or vodka. But with my luck whoever it was had managed to toss their pink drink all over me. The ends of my hair were dyed too from where they had been hit. The whole thing was a disaster.

I was too drunk to be dealing with this, my body lurched forward making me catch myself on the edge of the counter for a moment as I stared down at the ruined dress pinned beneath my hands. The room spun for a moment before I blinked the haze away, focusing once again on the idea of saving the dress.

Collecting soap from the dispenser I rubbed my hands together before gently rubbing at the material hoping it would take it out. The suds turned pink as they pulled the stain from the soft material, hope and relief flooded me. I was bent over the counter, scrubbing at the dress for all I was worth, when the door opened behind me and in slipped Griffin.

I expected him to ask about the dress, or even if I was okay but he didn’t say anything as he moved over to me. His eyes were watching my reflection in the mirror. I should have seen the look in his eyes when I glanced up to see who it was my drunken haze distorting the glassy reflection.

He came up behind me, his hands returning to my hips and running slowly along the exposed bare flesh of my lower stomach, his eyes trailing my form like Aidan’s once had: the predator and the prey.

“Leave it, I think you look much better without it on.” His voice was husky in my ear, different from how he normally sounded. There was something edgier in his accent, something that my drunkenness didn’t recognise right away as dangerous.

Shaking my head I looked up at him and quickly made eye contact before trying to shrug him off.

“No, I have to fix it now or it’ll be ruined.” I hoped that would be enough to get him off me but it wasn’t. His hands tightened somewhat painfully and he turned me around completely to face him.

“Leave it Savannah.” He said more firmly, his voice hard and cold. I blinked, desperately trying to fight through the drunken haze as we stared at each other. His eyes had changed and there was something different about him, something unnatural and dark. I wanted to say soulless but I knew that couldn’t be the case, we both possessed two souls within us now and yet… His eyes were blank pits with no light or warmth to be found in them.

My stomach seized slightly, panic flooding my veins as I reached up and tried to push him away.

“Why don’t you go get another drink while I fix this?” I said quickly, turning myself away as fast as I could to focus on the dress. His hand came out again, this time much less gentler and turned me back around to face him.

His fingers tightened around my wrists, I was sure he would leave bruises from the force he was using. His body arched, pinning me against the counter tightly and he didn’t say anything. Nary a breath could pass between our two bodies.

Foggy as my mind was I knew this was bad and I needed to do something - at the very least, say something. But before anything could come to me he was leaning down, kissing me much more deeply than I was comfortable with.

“Mm- N-no!” I said, my words being absorbed by his lips as they pressed against mine. I pushed my hand up between us and gripped his chin hard, pushing his face away from mine. A growl of frustration resounded in his throat and he glared at me with almost hatred.

“What? Do you think you’re too good for us? Do you think because you’re Hera you can pick and choose when it’s good for you to get your way? I’m sorry Princess but that’s not how I work!”

His hands gripped my wrists once again, pushing them behind my back with unnecessary force and pinned them there with one strong hand. His body forced me hard against the edge of the counter like he was trying to force me up onto it, the squared edge biting into my skin. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it had leapt into my throat as I stared at him in horror.

“Griffin! What… I’d never…” I didn’t know what to say, torn between self-defence and the innate desire to run.

“This isn’t Griffin.” He countered coldly, the ice of his voice sending a series of shivers down my spine. I knew what he was about to say before he even said it, “This is Hades.”

I was aware now, very acutely, of the danger of befriending someone with a more volatile God than my own. It would seem that Griffin hadn’t ever made the union with Hades. Hades chose when he would take control of the will-less Griffin and when he allowed the boy to think he was the one in charge. The thought terrified me that a God could be in such complete and utter control over a person.

“You don’t want to do this…” I said carefully, not entirely sure what I could say to sedate him. In all those self-defence classes they told you to yell rape or look for someone to help you... But we were in an empty women’s bathroom of a club already too loud for someone standing next to you to hear you, let alone someone in a totally separate room. And this was Hades, second only to Zeus in power. It would take more than one God to go up against him, definitely more than one Goddess who only infrequently chose when to show herself.

“Oh but that’s where you’re wrong. I do want this… and in some way you do too. No one else wants you; you’re the sloppy seconds for all the Gods. The desperate measure people turn to when they need a fix. That’s all you’ve ever been and all you’ll ever be but you see: I’ll take you. Not just because I know you’d put out when the right words are whispered in your ear but because we could be powerful together… If you joined me we could have it all, I’d give you the world… He’d give you the world.”

I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Did he think that, now especially, I would be willing to go along with this? He was right, maybe ten minutes ago if he had continued to lay on the charm while my inhibitions were low I would’ve lost the self-respect needed to say no, but now? Now he had me scared and disgusted and I knew one thing: I would never say yes to him.

But this felt like a negotiation so I took the opportunity to counter, “if you want me, let me choose you… Don’t force an ultimatum…” I said slowly knowing that I could buy myself time to find a way out of here if I kept him talking.

I tried desperately to kick-start my hazy mind, desperately needing some water if only to sober myself up a little bit. I hoped what I said would be enough to give him pause to consider but he just laughed, “Do you think I’m stupid?” Well, I had been hoping that would work.

“Please Hades…” I said my bottom lip quivered as I slowly felt my grip on the situation crumbling.

“Please Hades…” He mocked as fear clenched my stomach and I began to struggle against his hold. I tried to fight him, making his grip loosen even enough that I could break one of my hands free to hit him and run. If I could even get to the door, maybe there was a fire alarm or something.

“I wouldn’t try it, I designed this place – remember?” I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes returning to his just in time for them to start welling up with tears. I was trapped; this is what he’d wanted. Had it been his plan all along?

Before I could think of something else to say or do he leaned in, kissing me again and I twisted my head in an attempt to shy away from the gesture.

This didn’t stop him as his free hand moved to my hip, gripping it tightly and pushing me further onto the counter. His fingers slipped beneath the elastic band of my underwear and he started tugging, the ripping sound echoing around the room.

This was a living nightmare and I was trapped in it. I felt numb and helpless. My mind cried for me to shut it down, separate myself from the situation and free us from this horror.

He was going to rape me and all I could do was cry because I was drunk and stupid. I could feel the material around me giving in more and more to his strength and the panic became uncontrollable.

My entire body was shaking as I cried harder, choking on air as I sucked in another breath to fulfil my needs.

The terror resonated through me, filling every last inch of me as I twisted and cried more, trying to get him off me in some way.

“HELP. HELP ME SOMEONE.” I screamed as loud as my voice would go, “HELP, ANYONE.” My voice cracked and my throat ached at the effort.

“Shut up. No one is coming.” Terrified as I was, as numb as my mind wanted to go to shut off the experience there was a voice. She was telling me to be strong and to not stop fighting; Aidan’s words resonated through my thoughts reminding me that I couldn’t depend on someone to always defend me.

I had to defend myself.

So I twisted and I tugged, I tried to pry myself from his grip and I flailed my legs against him. I did everything I could despite the power he was exerting over me. Why was it when I hadn’t wanted Aidan and Hunter’s advances Hera had come through for me and given me the power to send them away that now, when I
really
needed her she had completely abandoned me?