Chapter Eight
Apollo
“How was girl’s night?” Apollo asked as Geri staggered into their bedroom. It had been a few hours since he left the ladies, and after he demolished his personal charcuterie board, he went upstairs to read in bed and wait for his mate.
“It was good. But I may have had too many espresso martinis.” She grabbed onto the nearest thing within her grasp—a decorative shelf next to the door. “Yeah, I think I had one or two over more than I needed.”
Apollo made a motion to stand. “Do you need help over there?”
“Me? Pshaw.” She waved him away and then stumbled over until she plopped at the foot of the bed, face up. “I’m not usually a lightweight…but I think there was something else in those martinis?”
“Sounds like it was Olympus liquor,” he chuckled. “Those can pack a punch.”
“You make your own booze here?”
“Yeah, of course. Dionysus owns the largest vineyard, distillery and brewery here in Olympus. He brews them so they’re strong enough to get gods and goddesses drunk.”
“No wonder. It usually takes a lot of alcohol to get a shifter drunk.” She pressed a hand to her forehead and groaned. “Oh gods, I’m gonna have a major hangover tomorrow.”
Shifting from his position, Apollo crawled over to her. “Want me to make it better so you don’t have to wake up with a hangover?”
She turned her head to look up at him. “You can do that?”
“Of course.”
“Normally, I would tough it out.” She grinned. “I suppose I should take advantage of having a god for a mate.”
“Come here.” He opened his arms, and she easily slipped into them. Placing a hand over her forehead, he sent a wave of healing to her. “There. How do you feel?”
Glancing up at him, she blinked. “Completely sober. That’s amazing.”
“Good.”
“Almost too good,” she laughed. “Maybe I should have waited until morning when I actually had a hangover before you could cure me. I was enjoying the feeling of being tipsy without having to imbibe a whole case of liquor.”
Apollo tsked. “Oh, believe me, you don’t want to experience a hangover from Dionysus’s Thermopylae vodka, not even for one minute.
It had Hercules swearing off alcohol for a month, and that guy loved to drink.
” Sighing, he tucked her head under his chin.
“Did you have a good girls’ night?” While Geri had been plenty occupied with the garden, he was still worried about her being lonely.
“Yeah, it was good. I was kinda intimidated by Aphrodite at first, but that was only because she held our fate in her hands. But she’s pretty cool.”
“True, she’s more than just a pretty face.
And I’m just glad my sister is around again,” he said.
“And that this whole Arcane business is behind us.” Hopefully, things would go smoothly from now on, and there would be no other incidents back in the Upperworld that would make her want to try to leave Olympus again.
“Yeah, about that.” Disentangling herself from him, Geri sat up. “About your sister…”
“Yeah? What about her?”
“Have you spoken to her recently? Like, really sat and talked with her since she’s been back?”
“No?” Actually, he hadn’t really seen her before tonight once the whole Arcane stuff was settled. “Why?”
“Hmm…” His mate tapped a finger on her chin. “Tell me about when you were last there in Alaska. How was she acting?”
“She was okay—although…” He scratched at the back of his head. “It was, I dunno, it was like she was avoiding me.”
“Avoiding you?” Geri leaned forward. “How? And why?”
“She was like a hyperactive rabbit—moreso than usual—hopping around the place, going in and out of the room. And as for the why…well, she only does that when she’s trying not to lie. Like, she can’t lie to save herself, so she’ll just avoid me rather than not tell the truth.”
“Interesting.” Geri’s eyes narrowed. “And Cade?”
“What about him?”
“How was he acting?”
He thought for a moment. “He was…Cade. You know. Silent. Broody. Silent McBroodypants.”
“You sure he wasn’t acting weird?”
“No. What is it you’re trying to say, Geri?”
She pressed her lips together. “I think something happened there. With them.”
“Them?”
“Artemis and Cade. She was acting weird all night.”
“Cade and Artemis?” Was she serious? “We’re talking about my sister, right? And your brother?”
“Do you know any other Cade and Artemis?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “But why that reaction? Don’t you think it’s possible?”
“I mean, anything’s possible, baby.” He paused, wondering how to say what was on his mind. “It’s just that it’s Artemis we’re talking about here. The whole virgin goddess thing is kinda her schtick.”
“But is that part of her persona as the goddess of the hunt? Like, does she have to remain a virgin forever or face consequences?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Then why couldn’t something happen between them?”
“Again. Artemis,” he pointed out. “Your brother didn’t exactly warm up to her when they first met.”
Geri burst out laughing. “Oh my god, are you blind? He was acting so out of character the morning of our wedding. He never gets rattled by anything, but Artemis got under his skin. They were also like, eye-fucking each other the entire time. I honestly didn’t know if Cade was gonna kill her or throw her over his shoulder and drag her into his cave. ”
“What?” His mind was boggled. “I honestly didn’t notice anything.”
She smirked at him. “Oblivious as ever. You didn’t even realize I wanted to have my hands all over you the moment I saw you.”
“I mean, every girl wants to—yeow!” He yelped as Geri swatted his arm hard. “But seriously…” He shook his head. “I don’t see them together. Your brother is so serious, and Artemis has the biggest stick up her ass.”
“Well, maybe he took out that stick and replaced it with his—”
“Gross!” Apollo gagged. “No, I don’t want to think about my sister’s—anything!
Or her doing things with guys and shit.” She was his sister, after all.
No brother needed to know anything about his sister’s sex life.
“No way. You’re wrong. They can’t have slept together. I’d bet everything I own on it.”
A glint lit up her eyes. “Oh, really now? So do you wanna bet on it?”
His head whipped toward her. “What kind of bet?”
“Like a bet bet. I’ll bet that something happened between your sister and my brother, and if I’m right, I win something?”
“And what would that be? You want to put a couple thousand drachmas on it?”
“No, no, I don’t want your money. That’s boring.” She drummed her fingers on her cheek. “How about…if I win, you have to take me to that new donut booth at the market?”
He groaned. “The one where people line up at five a.m. because they run out all the time?”
“Yup, that one.”
“And if I win, then we’re not lining up for any social media food trend for at least five hundred years.”
“Five hundred—oh, alright, you have a deal.” She held out her hand, which he shook.
Apollo smirked to himself. There was no way his straight-laced sister would sleep with Cade—or much less have a casual fling. This would be the easiest bet he would win.
*****
“I can’t believe Brandy chose to change partners,” Geri exclaimed. “Jerome was perfect for her.”
Apollo smirked at her. “See, I told you you’d enjoy watching Infatuation Isthmus.”
“Ugh, no I hate it!” Geri tossed some popcorn from her bowl—because yes, they had separate bowls due to the she-wolf refusing to share—at the TV in disgust. “And I hate myself for wanting to keep watching it.”
Apollo threw his head back and laughed. Geri had been in the garden all morning long, and since he had some alone time, he decided to catch up on episodes of his favorite reality show.
Infatuation Isthmus was a new smash hit from the Upperworld and just Apollo’s cup of tea—stupid, trashy, and terribly entertaining.
In his thousands of years of existence, he observed that humans didn’t change much, but it wasn’t until Reality TV shows were invented that he could watch, record, and rewind every single moment of mortals making fools of themselves over love and money.
Will Shakespeare had been right—“What fools these mortals be!” indeed.
“So, now that the stunners”—these were the new contestants arriving at the isthmus each week to stir trouble—“are here, who do you think will be the first to break—”
“Hey guys!”
“Holy fucking shit!” Apollo nearly tossed his bowl of popcorn in the air as Artemis appeared in front of the TV. “For fuck’s sake, Artemis, don’t you know how to knock?”
His twin sister laughed sheepishly. “Oops, sorry about that.”
“What if we were naked?”
Artemis’ cheeks turned pink. “Well, it wasn’t like I planned to appear in your bedroom.”
“You don’t think we fuck all over–”
“Ew, stop.” She held out a hand. “Sorry for barging in, but—wait, is that Infatuation Isthmus?"
“Yeah, Geri loves it.”
“I do not!” His mate protested. “I hate it.”
Artemis walked over to the couch and plopped down between them. “Did Caitlyn dump that loser Andrew?”
“You bet she did and deserved it, the bastard,” Geri said, then clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Oh yeah, she hates it,” Apollo said, which earned him a popcorn flake on the nose.
“Why you—” Geri shook her head. “Wait, why are you here, Artemis? I mean, not that I’m not glad to see you, but you rarely just pop in without a warning.”
“Oh yeah.” The goddess of the hunt snapped her fingers. “Right. I came here for something.”
Apollo cocked his head to the side. “And that is…?”
“Well…” She wrung her hands together. “I don’t know how to tell you the news, so I’ll just come out and say it. First, please know that if it were possible, both of us would be here, or we would have invited you to the Upperworld so Geri could hear it, too.”
“He?” Geri said.
“Yeah, uh. He—Cade and I are in love. His wolf chose me and wants to mate with me.”
Popcorn showered over them as Geri tossed her bowl in the air and leapt up. “Yes!” she screamed, her fist raised in the air. “I knew it!”
“You don’t mind?” Artemis said, a puzzled look on her face.