Chapter XII
Demi
I sat on the porch, soaking in the midday sun while Cassie was doing her first interview with Roman and getting a style consult. If only I could be a fly on the wall. But I was sure I would hear all about it tonight.
Meanwhile, I was having a mini crisis.
Not only was my great-grandfather throwing lightning bolts at me like confetti on this forsaken quest, but he’d also decided to toss Roman into my path and make the man be nice to me. Zeus had obviously undone Cassie’s charms where Roman was concerned, and he’d kept Lady Goldy from warding him off.
Why?
So I could lament how attractive Roman was up close.
How the gold flecks in his eyes looked like little rays of sunshine.
If that wasn’t unsettling enough. The divine half of me was losing her mind over him.
Seriously, she was a fan of his chiseled chest and jaw.
Don’t even get her going on that painted on perfectly sculpted beard of his.
If her fangirling weren’t enough, every touch from him made my heart ache as if it remembered that once upon a time it used to be alive.
It was almost as if my heart was angry at me for locking it.
Like it wanted to connect with the Cupid part of Roman.
And that part of him was persistent, like it had a personal vendetta to settle with me.
He was banging on my heart’s door so hard that it physically hurt.
On one hand, it gave me some hope that my heart wasn’t dead and that if true love came knocking, it would unlock.
But the divine in me was rooting for Roman to turn that key.
It was like she was egging on his divine side in a game she refused to lose.
Obviously, it was a fruitless endeavor. But I worried she was going to keep getting him to try.
It didn’t help that I could read Roman’s heart. He liked the makeover. A lot. Physically, he was totally attracted to me. But he didn’t like that he was. The contradiction pulsed through him—desire tangled in confusion and maybe even some resentment.
I resented him too. Resented that he was acting more like how I’d thought he would back when we were younger.
Although that was probably all Zeus’s doing.
Yet, I saw the boy I used to watch from my balcony laughing on the beach and politely carrying and setting up beach umbrellas for strangers.
Once I’d even seen him risk his life to save a drowning child who had gotten swept out by the ocean current.
For a split second in his arms that morning, I’d seen the boy who I’d thought—who I’d hoped—would see the real me .
. . instead of what I’d become on the outside.
Except my outside is what he seemed to like best about me now—my glow-up, as Cassie would call it.
I was afraid that’s what all the male cast members were going to like about me—my appearance.
What if they only fell in love with their eyes?
What if I couldn’t let them in or connect to any of them because of what I’d done to my heart?
What if my goddess side wouldn’t let me because she was pining for Roman?
Roman, who clearly was not my true love.
I needed to think up a plan B and come to terms with becoming my mortal side again and living in a world where I would be alone, maybe unsure of my identity.
That sinking thought settled like a brick in my gut.
What if after this was all said and done, Demi Blake as I knew her ceased to exist? Making plan B would be useless then.
Would my father and great-grandfather be so cruel?
They had sent me on this awful quest, and let’s not forget the lightning bolt and the tree that could have crushed me. Did I mean so little to them? Or was unlocking my heart so important I needed near-death experiences to get there?
While I was contemplating the mess I’d found myself in, I had an unexpected visitor.
“I found you!” Junie Archer exclaimed as she ran down the path waving a book, looking as cute as could be in her ruffly pink jumper, her ponytail bouncing along with her.
I stood, not sure what to make of this. Why was Roman’s daughter looking for me? And why was she running around the resort property by herself? That wasn’t safe. Surely she had a nanny or even a security detail or something.
I met Junie at the bottom of the porch steps. She ran straight to me and wrapped her arms around my legs just like she had the night before. Her book tumbled to the ground.
“My goddess told me where to find you,” Junie whispered like it was a secret meant only for us.
It sounded like we both had troublemaking divine sides.
And just to prove what a troublemaker mine was, she had my arms wrapping around Junie just like they had the night before. My heart jolted as if someone had shocked it. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, but it was unsettling that it kept happening with members of the Archer family.
“Junie, where’s your dad or nanny? I don’t think they would want you out here alone.”
“But I’m with you,” she said so innocently it made me giggle.
A real giggle.
“True, but I’m sure someone’s worried about where you are.” And I was more than sure that her father wouldn’t want her to be with me. The disconcerted look he’d given me yesterday when Junie had announced she had dreams about me said it all—Stay away from my daughter.
“Don’t worry, they’ll find me. They always do.”
Was sneaking off to strangers a habit of hers? I certainly hoped not.
“Well, we should find your nanny or dad.” Even though I was technically supposed to be in isolation.
“My grandma is watching me, and she won’t care that I came to see you. I told her all about how you’re in my dreams, and she thinks you’re nice. Besides, you need to read to me.”
I’d thought for sure this girl was five, but she sounded more like she was fifteen.
I leaned away from Junie.
Her adorable face was already beaming up at me, eyes wide with delight.
That’s when I found myself saying, “How about I read to you while my golden eagle finds your grandma and tells her where you are?”
“I knew it!” she shouted.
“Knew what?” I asked, genuinely confused.
“That you had a golden eagle. I dreamed about her.”
Of course she had. If I said that didn’t worry me, I’d be lying. Either my great-grandfather was meddling again—threading divine whispers into a child’s dreams—or Junie and I were tied together in some way I didn’t yet understand.
Why? I had no idea. But I had a feeling I was going to find out. And I wasn’t sure I was ready for the answer. But Junie was more than ready to get our party started.
She picked up her book—The Kissing Hand.
My hand flew to my mouth. It was my favorite book when I was five. My mom used to read it to me every morning before kindergarten. Then she’d kiss my palm and remind me—If you ever feel lonely, just press it to your cheek.
For the first time in a long time, a single tear slipped down my face. I reached up and pressed my palm against it, wishing—aching—for it to be her kiss.
Just once more.
Junie took my free hand.
“You don’t have to be sad anymore. I’m here.”
I smiled and curled my fingers around hers, a strong connection invisibly weaving us together. My heart begged louder than ever to be unlocked so our story with Junie could truly unfold. What story?
“Thank you, Junie,” I whispered. “Would you like to call my eagle?”
She nodded, her grin stretching wide across her beautiful face.
She was the perfect blend of her gorgeous parents—her dad’s eye shape and thick lashes, her mom’s bone structure, olive skin, and dark hair.
“All you have to do is say, ‘Lady Goldy.’”
Junie didn’t hesitate.
“Lady Goldy,” she sang, like it was a name she’d known forever.
Within seconds, Lady Goldy appeared—wings gliding gently as she hovered in front of Junie, waiting to be adored.
Junie instinctively reached out and petted her head.
Lady Goldy closed her eyes and hummed low, basking in the affection.
“Lady Goldy, please find Junie’s grandma and tell her where she is—and that she’s safe,” I instructed my trusty companion.
Well, at least I thought she was. She’d let me down this morning by letting Roman find me. Apparently, her true loyalty lay with Zeus.
Lady Goldy nodded and took off so fast it was like she vanished into thin air.
I turned back to Junie.
“Are you ready for me to read to you?”
My voice shook. It was strange—maybe even a little sad—how much the honor frightened me. Maybe it was because, a long time ago, I’d had dreams too.
Dreams of having a little girl of my own. With Roman. It embarrassed me to think about it, so I shoved the thought aside.
Junie sat on the top porch step, book in hand, her expression far too knowing for someone so young.
“You don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m a nice girl.”
I laughed and sat beside her, the sound catching in my throat like it didn’t quite know how to be happy.
She handed me the book.
“My goddess whispered to me that you’re a nice girl too. The nicest ever. You just forgot.”
I swallowed hard.
I really hoped her goddess wasn’t a liar like mine.
Because I hoped she was right. That whoever I was in the end, I was at least a nice girl.
Junie leaned her head against my arm, her tiny weight settling me in a way nothing else had in a long time.
And for a moment, I let myself believe her divine half might be right.
That maybe I had just forgotten.