The Iron Queen (Daughters of Zeus) (7 page)

We didn’t have to walk long before we found the photo shoot. A girl with messy hair adjusted a light board and shouted instructions, while a man with thick glasses snapped pictures. Four half-dressed blondes frolicked in the sand in some sort of pretend volleyball game. In the center of the commotion was Adonis.

Looking at him set my heart racing. He was perfect. His golden features shone like the sun. A rakish grin lit up his face, and his unbuttoned shirt billowed in the wind, revealing an impressive six-pack.

“Thank you, wind,” Melissa whispered beside me.

Bobbing my head up and down in agreement, I admired the model. Wow! Wait a minute, what in the hell was I doing gawking at a demigod like a deranged nymph? I snapped out of it and straightened up, tossed my hair behind my shoulder, and turned on my charm full blast before striding across the beach.

“Whoa!” one of the male models gasped.

I felt the weight of everyone’s eyes on me and reveled in the reverence of their slack-jawed expressions. This was more like it.

“Come with me.” I didn’t wait for Adonis to acknowledge the order, but turned on my heel, confident he would follow.

He didn’t.

I turned, pouring more charm into my gaze. “Come. With. Me.”

“Why?” he asked, completely unaffected by my charm.

“Because I said so,” I sputtered, bewildered by his indifference.

He raised an eyebrow. “You seem to have a rather high opinion of yourself, so I’ll try to break this to you gently.” Leaning toward me, he put a hand on my shoulder and stage whispered, “You aren’t as impressive as you think you are.”

Melissa giggled. Adonis looked up as if noticing her for the first time, easy grin faltering. “Can I give you some advice, or are you so brainwashed by this thing that you can’t understand me?”

Melissa giggled again. “I’m not charmed, if that’s what you’re asking.” She blinked and looked around at the other models and photographers. They stared back at her, expressions blank.

“They won’t remember this conversation,” I assured her.

Adonis narrowed his eyes. “Stop charming them.”

“It’s for their own good,” Melissa murmured. “If they tell anyone about this or mention the gods—”

“They aren’t stupid!” Adonis snapped. “Unlike you, hanging around these creatures willingly. If you were smart you’d stay away because whatever they’ve promised you isn’t worth it.”

“Excuse me?” I demanded.

Melissa grinned at Adonis as if she’d discovered the one person in the whole of creation who felt the same way she did. “I don’t like them either, but you may want to listen to this one. She’s trying to save your life.”

“Come along, Melissa. He’s not worth the effort.”

“Save me from what?”

I smirked at Adonis and opened my mouth to tell him off, but Melissa spoke first.

“Zeus is killing off all his kids, including demigods.”

“What makes you so sure Zeus is my father?”

“You have charm,” I interrupted. “Not controlled of course, but charm only comes from Zeus.”

“Is that why he’s immune to you?” Melissa asked in an undertone.

I shook my head. “That happens every now and then, random fluke of the Fates. The gods can’t touch him.”

Melissa’s eyebrows shot up. She started to say something, but I cut her off with a glare.

The look on Adonis’ face told me his parentage was news to him. That wasn’t uncommon. Most demigods knew they were demigods. It was obvious to anyone in the know thanks to their distinctive physical features, but few knew which god spawned them. Gods were fond of disguises.

“I thought Zeus was dead.”

“Not yet.” I gave him a dark smile. “But I’m sure he’ll be around to explain soon enough. Bye now.”

I flounced off, dragging Melissa behind me.

“Wait!” he called.

I turned, feigning indifference. “Yes?”

He hesitated and looked at Melissa. “Can I trust you?”

“Me?” She drew back in surprise.

He smiled at her. “Well, I know I can’t trust
her
.”

I narrowed my eyes and studied Adonis closely, something akin to dread growing in my stomach. Demeter had been tracking, warning, and hiding demigods for months. Yet somehow she’d missed the one featured in Persephone’s magazines?

I should have talked to her before we left. But I’d been so eager to do something helpful, to prove to myself I had at least a little free will, that I’d rushed off and dragged Melissa with me.

“You can trust us,” Melissa promised.

But could we trust him?

Chapter XIV

Hades

I studied the map of the University of Georgia’s campus, searching for the Philosophy Department that Athena headed. This place was more complex than the entire Underworld. I grimaced and glared at the map as if I could force it to give me answers. A never-ending river of noisy students flowed around me, and the sun battled against the black pavement to determine who could throw off the most heat.

Across the street, a gardener tended to a weeping willow with a trunk nearly as thick as he was. I averted my eyes, swatting at a mosquito that dared bite my neck. Why did so many gods live in Georgia? If I were stuck on the surface, I’d find a less humid place with fewer hills. I’d been back and forth around this stretch of buildings for ten minutes, and somehow, it managed to be uphill both ways.

“You look lost.” A spiky-haired brunette separated from the mass of students and looked me up and down. She fiddled with the strap of her backpack, and her freckled face turned pink. “Where are you headed?”

“Peabody Hall.” I showed her the map.

“A man willing to ask for directions? Nice!” She flashed me a grin and pressed a button on her phone and checked the time. “I can take you.”

I grinned. “You sure? I’d hate to make you late to class.”

She looked me over again. “Worth it.” Her eyes widened like she couldn’t believe she’d said that out loud. Turning on her heel, she coughed, clearing her throat. “This way.”

The girl, named Kristen, was a sophomore who was studying to be a social worker. She worked at a place called Barberitos and was off tonight if I wanted to grab a cup of coffee at the Two Story Coffee House.

“No, thanks,” I said without explanation.

Her face fell. “Not a coffee drinker? We could go get something stronger. Ever been to Trapeze?”

“No, I like coffee.” I glanced at the map. Were we going the right way? I looked up to ask and noticed her glum expression, then thought over our conversation and sighed, hearing the unintentional, unspoken qualifier.
Just not with you.
Damn. I was normally good at human interaction. Then again, the dead weren’t all that flirtatious, so this was new territory for me. “It’s not…” I hesitated. “You seem nice.”

Kristen brightened.

“But I’m married.”

Her eyebrows shot up, and she glanced at my left hand. “I don’t see a ring. Oh wow, I actually just said that out loud.” Her face colored. “Uh, um… My sister didn’t do the ring thing either. She told her fiancé she’d rather they spend the money on traveling somewhere cool.”

What did rings have to do with anything?
Right.
Humans and their marketing traditions. Some Greek idiot believed the ring finger on the left hand had an artery that led straight to the heart. And they bought it. How such an intelligent species could be so uninformed about their own physiology for so much of their existence was beyond me. Humans scoffed at the idea of gods and turned their backs on us, leaving us all to die. Yet some ridiculous notion that wearing a chunk of metal on a certain finger bound two souls until death stuck. Figures.

Wait a minute, should I have given Persephone a ring?

“This is it,” Kristen announced, startling me out of my reverie. I jerked my head up, surprised by the sudden appearance of a brick building. She pulled a notebook out of her backpack and scrawled a number onto a piece of paper. “In case you change your mind.”

Ignoring the piece of paper, I thanked her and climbed the stone stairs. The heavy wooden door thudded closed behind me as I scanned the room numbers for Athena’s lecture hall. Her room was packed. I slipped in with a group of students who somehow managed to look studious and sloppy at the same time. Athena’s back was turned while she wrote on the board. Very little conversation buzzed around me while I found a seat in the back and settled in. The students near me didn’t talk or look at each other much. Instead, they all had their heads bowed over their desks as they stared down at their laps with laser-like intensity.

I frowned, wondering what kind of class Athena was teaching when the mystery was solved by the boy next to me.

“Classic.” He spoke with a slow drawl, seemingly unbothered by the greasy chunk of dark hair hanging in his eyes. He flicked his gaze from me to the board. “You’ve read it, right?”

I must have looked confused because he drew his cell phone from beneath his desk and waved it at the board.

I glanced at what Athena had written.

Do androids dream of electric sheep?

His fingers moved across the screen of his phone. “She posted it on ELC this morning, so you should be able to download it.” The boy started to add more but stopped when Athena turned to face the class.

“What does it mean to be human?” Athena asked. The entire room fell silent. Heads popped up, looked at her straight on, every eye glazed over with reverence. Subtle waves of charm washed through the room, commanding attention, drawing their worship, and likely opening their minds to her lecture. I couldn’t decide if I was disgusted or impressed. I’d never liked charm, but this seemed like a good use of it. The students hung on her every word, open, engaged, and learning. So long as Athena taught halfway decent material, this was one of the more mutually beneficial uses of charm I’d ever seen.

Athena hadn’t changed since the last time I saw her. She tucked her carefully coiffed brown hair behind her ear and looked out at the class with emotionless gray eyes. “We’ll talk theories in a moment, but I’d like to know your opinions. What makes you human? What’s different about you from every other creature out there?”

“We can think?” a boy wearing a loose button up shirt and khakis called from the front row.

“We have emotions?” a girl asked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her pinkie.

“We’re self-aware? Like, we think about thinking and time and stuff?”

Gods, when had college kids become so uncertain? All their replies ended with an upward lilt like they were asking a question instead of supplying an answer.

After a couple of students gave faltering answers, I called from the back of the room, voice strong and certain, “They can lie.”

Athena jerked her head toward me, panic flashing in her eyes as she scanned the rows of students. When her gaze locked on mine, the color drained from her face. “Class dismissed.”

The students looked at her in confusion. Athena didn’t look away from me, but her voice took on a panicked edge. “Get out, now.” Her charm was in full effect.

The room filled with noise. Chairs scraped across the blue carpet as they were pushed back from the desks. Papers rustled as they were gathered and shoved into folders. Hushed whispers whipped around me as the students filed out of the classroom. A few glanced my way.

I stretched my legs and folded my arms over my chest. When the last student left, I curled my lips in a grin. “Philosophy?”

“I didn’t know about Zeus. I didn’t.”

“You know about him now. Did your message get lost in transit, or did you have the impression I wouldn’t be interested in the news?” I could see her pulse pounding in her neck.

Athena pressed her elbows to her sides like she was trying to make herself smaller, less threatening. All she accomplished was wrinkling her gray power suit.

“Where is he, Athena?”

Her chin trembled. “I don’t know.”

I unfolded myself from the tiny desk and stood, keeping my stance casual, then walked through the row of desks. Athena tensed. She looked ready to run. Sticking my hands in my pockets, I stopped at the edge of the first row, leaving her the front of the room.

She inched away until her back met the white board. “All I have are theories.”

“I’m going to need more than theories.”

Chapter XV

Persephone

“Persephone.”

My eyes fluttered open.
Hades.
It was his voice. My vision blurred then focused. He knelt in front of me, his eyes marred with dark lines of worry.

“You’re here.” I threw my arms around him.

His lips found mine and he kissed me, pulling me to my feet.

“How are you here?” I asked, breaking off the kiss. My head was pounding and the room swirled around me in indistinct colors. I swayed on my feet, and his grip on me tightened.

“You’re dreaming.”

“Right.” Closing my eyes against the crushing disappointment, I leaned into Hades, drawing on his strength as that spark of hope sputtered and died. Of course it was just a dream. Dreamwalking was one of many forms of communication the gods could use. I sucked at it, which explained the room swirlies.

“I don’t know how long we’ve got until you wake up.” His voice was urgent. “Persephone… Did you—”

“No.” I slid my necklace back and forth on the chain and started to explain how I couldn’t swear fealty, but Hades interrupted me.

“I have a plan.”

All my worry fell away. Yes, this situation was bad, but Hades would find me. Yeah, it would be better to save myself, but I was in over my head here. He could fix this. “I knew you were going to get me out of here.”

Hades looked down. When his dark hair fell into his face, I pushed it off his forehead. He jerked his head up, seeming surprised, then closed his eyes and shook his head. “I can’t promise that, but…” He hesitated and fumbled for my hands.

Looking down at our entwined fingers, I frowned. There was something…