Chapter V
Demi
Cassie blew into the penthouse without a knock or an invitation. The door flung open with a gust of enchanted wind—she knew how to pick magical locks, and she was notorious for barging in whenever she pleased.
I kind of liked it. It reminded me that someone cared about me. Even if I felt undeserving of it. When you lock your heart, it doesn’t just prevent you from falling in love. It stunts all connections and emotions.
“I came as soon as I got the impression,” she said, breathless, her aura buzzing like static.
I turned from the balcony rail, clutching a framed photo of my mom and me.
The evening ocean breeze tangled through my hair, salty and soft, like fingers trying to soothe me.
It wasn’t working. Behind me, the waves crashed against the shore in rhythmic fury—mimicking the panic attack I had going on inside me.
I’d been staring at the waves for the last hour, trying to make sense of what had happened in Hestia’s office.
And thinking about my mom. A lot. Mostly about what kind of life she would want for me.
It certainly wasn’t the one I’d been living. I knew she would want me to have love in my life . . . and probably a better wardrobe. Shopping for clothes used to be our favorite pastime.
That said, I couldn’t believe Zeus had ordered me to go on a quest. And not just any quest. This was probably the most horrific quest of all time—appearing on a reality TV show.
I would much rather have been sent to slay a Hydra.
Or wrestle a Minotaur. Or clean out the Augean stables with a toothbrush.
Anything but appearing on Love Unscripted and letting Roman Archer choose who I dated. Or worse, sitting through all the in-depth interviews I would have to have with him. I couldn’t believe he’d agreed to it. We hated each other. It was apparent from the first time I met him that he loathed me.
It had crushed me.
My goddess side had whispered things to me about him.
Beautiful things. Things I’d thought would mend my broken heart at seventeen, or at least stitch it up some.
Those whispers were lies. Big fat lies that I had believed with all my heart.
So much that I’d made a fool of myself. I still couldn’t even think about the night we first met.
That horrific night had made me not trust that side of me.
And after wrongly believing that my father had used his powers against my mother, I’d wanted to protect my young heart against any god or demigod, so I locked it.
I hadn’t even been sure I could. But I’d figured if I had the ability to make people fall in love, why couldn’t I also prevent it?
It was rash and drastic, especially for one so young.
But I was hurting and desperate and still in shock a year after my mother’s death.
As I grew older, I had often regretted the choice.
But even as I was performing the complicated magic, something deep inside me spoke to me.
It whispered that true love couldn’t be stopped.
That it was the most powerful magic on the earth and in the heavens.
That if true love found me, it could and would unlock my heart.
It had obviously never found me.
It’s not like I’d really done anything to find it either.
I figured if someone like Jonas couldn’t unlock my heart, it was hopeless.
And now I spent my days working long hours and then hiding in my penthouse.
Then there were my fashion choices, which didn’t exactly scream that I was looking for love.
Believe me: No one was asking to see what was under the black muumuu.
Even if I did leave my comfort zone and changed my wardrobe, I didn’t see how I was going to find true love on Roman’s ridiculous show.
Don’t even get me going about the exposure this meant for me. My return to public life was going to be a circus at best. Why would Zeus want to unmask me like that?
Cassie stopped just outside the double doors to the balcony. Her wide, worried eyes fell on the photo I was clutching, but she said nothing of it. “A great disturbance has happened in the Force,” she said breathlessly.
“We’re not Jedis,” I deadpanned.
She inched closer. “You know what I mean. I got the impression you have to leave. Please tell me I’m wrong.”
I walked past her into the penthouse, exhaling slowly, deliberately. “I wish I could.”
She followed me. “You should have let me hex Roman. That glorified toga rack.”
“It’s not his doing.” I threw myself onto my stiff leather couch. It was as impersonal as I was. The entire place was. It looked like it was straight out of a luxury catalog curated by someone who’d never felt joy. All clean lines and cold surfaces.
No warmth. No soul.
Just like me, for the last several years.
Now I was paying the price for it.
Cassie sat next to me. She was already ready for bed, wearing her loud purple Pegasus lounge set. “Then why do you have to leave?” she asked.
I hugged the framed photo tighter. The one of Mom and me, locked in a sweaty, chalk-dusted embrace just moments after a judge at the Olympic Trials told me I’d made Team USA. We were both delirious—grinning, crying, squeezing the life out of each other.
I wished I could have bottled that joy and saved it forever. If only I had known what was to come.
A week later, all the joy was gone. A freak accident on the road to our house in Malibu.
A deer darted out in the middle of the road.
Mom swerved to miss it. The roads were wet, and the car lost traction.
We rolled down a steep ledge. I shouldn’t have survived.
My divine lineage saved my life that night. And it stole it too.
I didn’t tell Cassie any of this. Instead, I recounted my divine ultimatum and the mortifying quest Zeus had bequeathed me. Worst gift ever.
Her violet eyes flashed everything from shock to outrage on my behalf, and even some amusement. She couldn’t help herself; she giggled. “Oh. My. Titans. You on Love Unscripted?”
I groaned and buried my face in my hands. The frame slipped into my lap. “It’s a nightmare.”
“I mean, we could sabotage it. I can think of five hexes right now.”
My hands fell to my side. “If only, but I swore to my father I wouldn’t and that I wouldn’t let you.” I smirked.
“I still could. You don’t have to have anything to do with it.”
“I appreciate it more than you know, but if I don’t find love, I can’t live in this world. And there are always unnamed consequences when one fails or refuses to fulfill a quest.”
Cassie swallowed hard. “True. Once Poseidon sent my cousin Dexter on a quest to find a new species of animal life in the ocean just because he made some crack about Poseidon’s trident.
Something crude about its size compensating for his lack of virility.
When Dexter came up empty-handed, Poseidon turned him into a clam until he produced the perfect pearl. ”
I blinked. What? That was so disturbing. The gods were so full of themselves. I shuddered to think what Zeus would do to me. Maybe turn me into clam chowder and consume me with a side of ambrosia bread?
He obviously wasn’t as grandfatherly as I’d thought he was. If he were, he wouldn’t be sending me on this vile quest. Why not send me on a singles cruise? Or sign me up for a matchmaking app? Or literally anything that didn’t involve Roman Archer and televised humiliation?
“Being a clam doesn’t sound half bad right now.
” I squeezed my eyes shut as if I could hide from the horror before me.
“It’s better than having to fill out the Love Unscripted application.
Hestia went over some of the questions with me in her office.
They were absurd. Why do they need to know my love language?
I don’t even know if I have one. And my biggest relationship fear is being in a relationship. ”
I popped my eyes open to find Cassie grinning way too big. “And, I have to send in head and full-body shots, and a video audition,” I said dramatically.
Cassie bit her lip and surveyed me from head to toe. From my dingy-colored hair made purposely limp to my black muumuu that covered everything. “Please tell me, for the love of the Titans, that you’re going to . . . well . . . look more like a goddess.”
I sighed and slumped deeper into the couch.
I’d been thinking about this ever since I left Hestia’s office.
Hestia and Father had both subtly suggested that I might want to consider sprucing up my wardrobe and maybe ditching the glasses.
What did Hestia say? Quit hiding the windows to my beautiful soul.
I wasn’t sure I had a beautiful soul anymore. Once upon a time, I believed I did.
“I don’t want someone to fall in love with me because of how I look. It seems unfair.”
Cassie’s brow scrunched. “Is that why you’ve been hiding behind your clothes all these years? Huh. I thought it was because you just hated life.” She paused and then laughed. “Your reasoning is kind of noble. Albeit ridiculous.”
“Why is it ridiculous?” I asked, trying not to bristle.
She reached over and took off my glasses, her eyes locking on to mine.
The corners of her lips twitched, as if she were trying to hold back the truth with her grin.
“For one, being beautiful isn’t a crime.
And just because someone falls in love with you, doesn’t mean you have to fall for them.
The right guy will fall in love with you not because of how you look but because of who you are. ”
She waved a hand over me. The muumuu, the messy hair, the emotional armor. “Is this who you really are?”
I looked up and away from her gaze. “I don’t know who I am,” I whispered.
Cassie lifted the framed photo off my lap and shoved it in my face. “I think you owe it to this girl to find out.”
“What if that girl was a lie?”
“Demi,” she said gently. “She wasn’t.”
“How do you know?” I begged, voice cracking.
“Because you were my hero growing up.”
“I was?” The words came out jagged.
“Yes. My sisters and I used to watch you compete on TV. You made it look so easy, so naturally we had to try to replicate your floor routines.”
I was stunned and honored. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
She shrugged. “You seemed to want to forget that girl. And I have my own scary reputation to live up to.” She cackled evilly. “And I didn’t want you to think you had a sycophant working for you. Because you don’t. I will still hex anyone I please at any time.”
I did something I hadn’t done in a long time. I threw my arms around Cassie and hugged the life out of her.
She was so taken aback that at first, she was rigid. But it didn’t take long before she mirrored the embrace.
“Wow. Are we bonding?” she asked.
I let go of her and nibbled on my lip. “I think so.” It had been so long, I could hardly remember what it felt like to truly bond with a friend. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I don’t want to ruin your reputation.”
“I appreciate that,” she laughed. “Now, are you ready to make the most divine application video and do a glamour shoot?”
I grabbed a throw pillow and squeezed it tight. “I don’t know.”
“Demi, do you really want to go on TV looking like this?” she asked delicately. “Do you know what kind of attention that’s going to get?”
I slammed the pillow into my face and mumbled into it, “I know.” I’d had visions of it, and it wasn’t pretty. “I can already hear the headlines,” I whined. “‘From Gold Medals to Ghastly Muumuus’; or ‘Demi Blake: From Rising Star to Fallen Star—How She Crashed and Burned.’”
Cassie tore the pillow away from me. “Okay, drama queen,” she said with love. “Although you’re probably not far off. So, what are you going to do about it?” She dared me with her eyes.
I blew out the biggest breath of my life, begrudging this quest. “Can you help me?”
“Eep!” she squealed, springing to her feet. “I’ve been waiting for this moment.”
Suddenly, two racks of clothes shimmered into existence, along with a vanity and studio lighting that could blind Narcissus himself.
“What in the actual Hades?”
“Oh, that reminds me. Zara, the HR queen—” Cassie rolled her eyes.
She and Hades’s granddaughter didn’t exactly get along. Probably because of all the extra paperwork Zara had to do when Cassie got a little hex happy.
“—said her grandpa doesn’t like everyone using his name like a swear word.”
“She’s kidding, right?” I’d always thought Hades enjoyed his name being invoked all the time.
“Do I look like someone who jokes about HR memos?”
“Fine, what in the actual hell is this?” I deadpanned.
“This is a new beginning.” Cassie’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “And . . .” She smirked. “The icing on the cake? You’re going to show Roman Archer exactly who he’s dealing with.”
I winced at the sound of his name. The thought of him orchestrating my love story made me want to vomit. And I’d tried to dress up for him once and it hadn’t worked out so well. But I refused to think about it.
“No. Roman will never see the real me. No matter who she is.” That I knew.
Cassie tilted her head in a silent question, but she didn’t press. “Well, at least you can find consolation in the fact that he’s the host and not a cast member. Could you imagine being paired with him?” She shuddered for effect.
Once upon a time, I’d imagined it in great detail. But no one would ever know that. Especially not Roman Archer.