Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
I watched as the high heel bounced off the window and then fell to the floor with a dull thud. Not even a scratch on the glass. My shoulders slumped in defeat.
Pressing my forehead to the bars, I let my arm dangle uselessly through the gap between two vertical rungs, caught awkwardly over the horizontal brace of the cage.
Not only was I down one shoe, but my confidence in my aim was bruised.
Perhaps if I had been armed with a bow and arrows, I would have been more effective in drawing attention to my predicament.
It had been centuries since I last used one, but I was certain that if I squinted hard enough and imagined the window to be a beating heart, I’d nail the shot.
Maybe.
Rare frustration overwhelmed me. I jerked my arm back through the bars and released a guttural yell. Cathartic, but useless. My hands beat against the bars, hitting them several times with open palms before violently shaking them.
The cage held steadfast against my pathetic outburst.
“Just you wait until I get out of here!” I snarled. “I’m going to match you with the most nauseatingly sweet soulmate in existence! You’ll be pulling rose petals out of your ass, pissing champagne, and crying over stuffed teddy bears every anniversary!”
I paused before adding with vicious finality, “FOREVER!”
Every shouted word echoed in the room, the various artifacts and paintings the only witnesses to my threats.
With an irritable growl beneath my breath, I pushed away from the bars, stumbling over the sole remaining heel that sent me crashing to the floor. The sea of blankets and pillows on the floor cushioned my fall, but not my pride.
“Should have suffocated him with this,” I said as I picked up a small heart-shaped pillow made of velvet. I pulled it to my chest, squeezing it tight.
Sitting there with only small physical comforts, my mind wandered back to what had happened right before Eryx had left to answer the door.
Aphrodite’s sash: a bluff or the real deal? I knew such a thing existed, but could he really have gotten his hands on it? Was I so weak that I could fall prey to its power?
Dammit.
I swallowed hard, a traitorous flush creeping up onto my cheeks at the memory of how he tasted. The way I wanted to coax more of those gravelly sounds from him. His fingers threaded through my hair, and the primal way he chased his release.
It had been the closest thing I had ever felt to being desired for once. Yet that damn sash had me questioning if my own desire for him had been artificially induced.
You’re a downright mess, Charlee.
My self-chastising thoughts were interrupted as I heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. Too light to possibly be Eryx’s heaping figure.
I sat up straighter, the stuffed heart falling from my grip. Was this help on the way or just false hope?
By the time I pushed myself up onto my feet, I heard the second set of footsteps. These were heavier, rushed. Likely Eryx, though I hardly imagined him being uncomposed enough to be sprinting anywhere.
Outside the door, I noticed the shadow of a pair of feet beneath the gap under the door.
“Let us see what’s behind door number one, shall we?” A female voice asked with an edge of something resembling amusement.
The handle turned silently, and the door opened to reveal a woman surrounded by an air of sophistication.
Something else lingered on her, an applied chemical scent that reeked of regality.
If one had ever smelled molten gold and frozen lilies, it bore a heady resemblance to that striking mixture. Quietly powerful and unrepentant.
She stepped into the room, approaching my cage with a silent stride like she walked on clouds. Stopping just out of reach beyond the door, a corner of her mouth quirked up.
“Oh my,” she purred at the sight of me locked behind the bars of the cage. It wasn’t abject horror, but sheer fascination with Eryx’s dirty little secret.
Realization struck me that I was standing there in nothing but a scant set of lace lingerie. Leaning over, I fumbled for the first blanket that came to hand—a heavy quilt with patches of various crests representing the classifications of the gods.
It easily engulfed my body, restoring some modesty despite current circumstances being what they were.
Eryx’s heavy footfalls ceased in the doorway to the room, his hands gripping the frame tight enough to make the wood groan in protest.
“Pia, it’s not what it looks like.” A classic line from every man ever caught up in something he shouldn’t be. “This is between Charlee and me.”
She waved a hand dismissively at him without ever breaking eye contact with me.
Finally, she perked up a brow with a wicked grin of recognition on her cherry lips. “Eros?”
My ancient name vibrated through my body like a brass bell being rung in defiance.
I lifted my chin, attempting some dignity. “They stopped calling me that centuries ago. Mortals found ‘Cupid’ less intimidating, prettier.” My voice came out steady but soft with grief of an era lost to time.
She clasped her hands together in front of her in delight, her face lighting up with excitement. Turning towards Eryx, who remained scowling in the doorway, she spoke with barely contained glee.
“This is ever the surprise, Eryx!” Her laughter that followed was lighthearted and infectious, embodying the sentiment of being tickled pink.
Then, she was moving with purpose. Pia walked over to a small vanity and moved the prim ivory stool over to my cage. Tucking her dress underneath her as she lowered herself onto the seat, it was clear she had no plans of leaving this room anytime soon.
“Eryx, bring us the wine from that disastrous trip we took to Greece, New York. I’d like to have a chat with Charlee,” Pia demanded, her tone suggesting she wouldn’t tolerate any argument over the matter.
“You can’t be serious,” Eryx muttered gruffly. His eyes met mine, dark with unspoken warning. Though it remained unclear who I should be more wary of, him or the woman with a sudden fascination with me.
Pia’s sharp glare sliced through the air when directed at my captor. It was enough that he raised both hands in placating surrender. He took a step back into the hallway, turning, but not before adding in a grumble, “Not worth the damn headache.”
Once Eryx was gone, Pia settled into her seat with her hands folded neatly in her lap.
“Do you know who I am?” she asked, no lead-up and no pretense.
I pressed my lips together, clutching at the quilt secured around me. “Yes, you’re Her—”
She lifted a hand with a sudden hush, cutting me off from saying her name aloud.
“I should clarify. Do you know who I am to him?” She tilted her head slightly toward the empty doorway where Eryx had been moments ago.
Shaking my head, she seemed to soften her expression by a fraction, either out of pity or rare kindness.
“I am the woman who broke his faith in matters of the heart, in all things related to love’s desires.” She paused as a rueful smile graced her lips, an unexpected moment of genuine emotion slipping through the control she exuded over everything else she did.
“Even those of us bestowed with the responsibility of guarding the sanctity of marriage, it seems even the Fates find ways to humble us all.”
There was a profound sense of regret in how she spoke, but it also carried the conviction of a woman who had grown from learned experiences.
When the requested bottle of wine and two glasses arrived, they were not delivered by Eryx, but by his butler instead. Our eyes met briefly, but professionalism won out as he was quick to avert them to the task he had been charged with.
“Ms. Argos,” he nodded in respectful greeting at Pia as he filled each glass with fragrant red wine. The glistening shades of crimson spoke to the superior vintage.
As he turned to leave, I couldn’t help but call out to him despite his obvious avoidance. “Nice seeing you again, Mr. Peterson! Be sure to enjoy those strawberries in two-to-three days for optimum freshness!”
His steps slowed, the only indication he had heard me. But instead of outwardly acknowledging it, he merely picked up his pace twice as fast on his way out of the room. The door clicked shut behind him.
Pia snorted. My eyes snapped right back to her in surprise. For a woman who embodied elegance, it was a jarring sound.
She leaned over and retrieved both wine glasses, extending one to me close enough that I could reach through the bars for it. It took some careful maneuvering, but I guided my wine glass into the cage with me.
“Jamie has a larger sweet tooth than a honey-drunk bear. Those strawberries never stood a chance of ever making it to the fridge.” She smirked into her glass as she took the first measured sip.
Taking my own taste of the wine, the complex flavors didn’t hesitate to coat my tongue. Notes of dark chocolate and black cherries were predominant, yet still soft enough to allow a quieter hint of tobacco leaves to emerge.
I smiled to myself, unexpectedly enjoying the offering.
“It has a really nice taste,” I said as I looked over at Pia, whose posture had subtly relaxed. Instead of a woman of prestige and power, she now appeared like the type of girlfriend you have mimosas with for a brunch that bleeds into an all-day affair.
She swirled the contents of her glass with delicate movements, seeming to peer into something in its depths only visible to her. “It’s from one of the last trips Eryx and I took together before we split,” she said with clear fondness for whatever memories were playing out inside her head.
Clearing her throat, she looked up at me and gestured with her glass. “No need to stand on my account, make yourself comfortable.”
Using one hand to keep the blanket mostly cloaked around me and clutching my drink in the other, I lowered myself onto the floor with care and settled into a crisscrossed position.
“He’s not as complicated a man as he pretends to be, you know,” Pia began with evident hesitation.
“I may be who he blames for his scarred heart, but he was hurt long before I came along. Being charged with sowing discord often comes at its own cost. One that even the strongest gods are susceptible to.”
I listened intently as Pia laid out what she knew of the man whom I had only seen as my captor, not as the broken-down and tired god he was.
She regaled me with stories of Eryx’s upbringing by the goddess of night, his infamous stunt involving an apple that began a war, and how his very nature kept him shunned by many of our kind.
“And that excuses this?” I looked at Pia with knitted brows of disbelief as I gestured with my nearly empty wine glass at the metal bars that surrounded me.
She shook her head and gave an apologetic smile. “No, of course not. And as much as I wish I could intervene in this particular predicament of yours, there are… consequences beyond just you and me that come into consideration.”
Setting her glass down on the tray, she laced her fingers together over top of her knee, leaning forward slightly.
“However, I want you to listen to me carefully, Charlee. Even discord can be molded into something beautiful if given the right artist to shape it. Desire comes in many forms, and sometimes we are all too blind to what it is we truly want beyond the layers of lies we prefer to tell ourselves.”
Her words sank into me, speaking a truth I hadn’t considered. Eryx’s heart didn’t lack desire for a match; it just needed the right guidance towards one that could beat in time with its imperfect chaos.