P. Hoover - Solstice

Zeus pretends to think some more. “I guess there’s always Hermes. He’s a good kid.”

The family tree in my mind plays before me. “Hermes is your son, too.”

Zeus nods and smiles. “I have lots of kids. It makes the wife a bit on the crazy jealous side, but I’m king of the gods. What does she expect?”

I can’t believe my father is telling me this. And worse, he doesn’t seem to want to stop.

“Or there’s Apollo. His twin sister might hunt you down, but you’d have fun before it ended.”

“Hunt me down?”

“I’m sure Hephaestus will be bothering you soon enough too, once he finds out where you are. Although that would just have to be an affair on the side. Aphrodite may not like her ugly husband, but that doesn’t mean she wants you running around with him either.”

“Why does it seem like you don’t want me to be with Shayne?” To me, Shayne seems like the obvious answer.

Zeus pinches my cheek like I’m a five-year-old. Which I am not.

“Because I just can’t stand the thought of my darling daughter running around with all those monsters and fires, doling out torture to everyone who happens to kill thy neighbor. Change might agree with you.”

“I liked being the Queen of the Underworld.” And I love being with Shayne.

Zeus points upward. “But think of the sun with Apollo. Or far away battles with Ares. There’d be plenty of death to be had with Ares in charge. Or Hermes, carrying messages around the world. You could see Japan.”

“Or the Underworld, with Shayne.”

Zeus exhales in disgust. “Yes, or the Underworld with Shayne. Just talk to Reese.”

“No.” I sit back, letting the bleachers support me. “What about my mom?”

“Ah, the lovely Demeter. I’ve always had a sweet spot for her—even with all her peculiarities.”

“Will she go to Tartarus?” I’ve been told more than once the price for killing a phoenix.

Zeus laughs, but it’s not funny to me. I don’t want to see my mom there even if she has been the most overprotective, overbearing mother in the whole wide world.

“She should.”

“Will she?”

Zeus puts up his hands in defeat. “The assembly’s split on it currently. There are some who would love nothing more than to strip her rank and cast her into Tartarus.”

“But not everyone?”

“Not everyone. There are others who recognize that what she did, she did for love. And they want her to resume her role here on Earth.”

Love. My mom has a strange way of showing it. “Send her home so I can talk to her,” I say.

Zeus nods. “I think that’s a good idea.” He stands to walk away. “And don’t forget…”

I scowl because I know what he’s going to say.

“…talk to Ares.”

I have no intention of talking to Reese. I tell myself this the entire time I’m walking toward the greenhouses on the outskirts of the school property. It’s like my mind and my body are at odds. I try to justify my actions by telling myself that the only thing I’m going to say to Reese is that I never want to talk to him again. And then he’ll leave me alone, and I can have a future with Shayne.

Reese is waiting for me, leaning against a brick wall, and I know the second I see him that me being here is a huge mistake. I should leave, but before my legs can process this command, he’s there beside me, and his smell hits me like simmering ambrosia. Intoxicates me.

He takes my hand, and though my mind screams at me to yank it away, I don’t, instead letting him hold it as we walk.

“I told you I wouldn’t wait forever, and now I don’t have to.”

His arm is next to mine, and I can feel the sweat from his bare shoulder mingling with my own.

I try to relax, but something about his voice sends shivers through my body. And his smell is amazing. I take another breath and let it course through me. It makes me think everything is normal—that everything will be okay.

Reese opens the door to one of the greenhouses, and we go inside and sit on a bench. It’s foggy from the humidity, and I can’t see the world outside through the glass. I sit there for a few seconds just breathing him in.

“My life started again when you opened the box, Persephone.” He slides closer to me, pressing his leg against mine.

I shake my head, still trying to sort out the truth—if there is any truth floating around the strange stories I’m hearing. It’s like I’m finally getting every answer I wanted, and it’s too much to process. “Why did opening the box matter so much?”

His breath is hot; it’s on my ear as he speaks. I don’t pull away. His finger traces the line of my face.

“Only you could open it,” he says. “Deceit made it that way. You opened the box and freed your identity. I felt it the second it hit the air. And I came to you the very next day.”

I remember the day I met Reese. The same day I met Shayne. Just after my eighteenth birthday. “Who gave me the box? Who is Melina?”

Reese shrugs, and his muscles harden next to me, and I want to reach and touch them. “Aphrodite, though I think she was trying to kill you.”

“Kill me?”

“She loves me,” Reese says. “She always has.”

“Do you love her?” I force the words out of my mouth. As absurd as the thought seems, I don’t want Reese to love anyone but me. But I also think I hate him.

“She’s nothing next to you.”

I can’t help but glance around. Can Aphrodite hear him? Will she smite me on the spot? “Reese—”

“Shhhh…” Reese whispers in my ear. “You can be with me forever, Persephone.” He puts a hand on my leg, and a jolt runs through me, making every thought in my brain run off to the shadows.

“Forever?” I repeat. And his scent hits me hard. I fight it for a second—it’s like a drug—but the smell is powerful, and it takes over. I inhale, and exhilaration moves into my lungs. It reaches every muscle in my body as his scent makes its way through my blood.

Reese nods, tickling my leg with his fingers.

I quiver under his touch and breathe deeply again.

His words are music in my ear, lulling me exactly where I want to go. “Forget about your mom. You can live in my world. We can be together like we should have been together so long ago.”

But I shake my head. “My mom will never let me.” And I’m not sure I will let me. Reese is lethal, but the thought of being near him for eternity empties my mind of every rational thought and makes my head spin. And there’s something else niggling in my mind, but it won’t take shape.

Reese smiles and rubs my leg sending a fresh wave of chills up me. “I’ll take care of your mom.”

I’m possessed, and the overwhelming urge to kiss Reese takes over me, and I lean into him. When his lips meet mine, I never want us to be apart. He separates his lips, and his tongue explores my mouth, and I let him and explore him, too.

His hands are rubbing me. Moving up my thighs. I want so badly to be with him. I want to feel this way for always. I tip my head back, and he kisses my neck, sending electricity down my chest and stomach. I spread my legs, and his hand begins to move, and I know I’ve felt this way before. I want to feel this way again. I ache to be with him. I want him to be a part of me. And when his fingers just barely reach me, I remember.

“Shayne.”

It’s like a whisper in my mind, but I say it aloud.

“No. Don’t worry about him.” And Reese’s lips are on mine again.

“Shayne.” I say it again this time, louder, and when the word comes out of my mouth, Reese’s hand stops briefly, barely grazing me. I want Shayne. Not Reese. It’s like a fog has been clouding my mind, but I’m trying to make it lift.