Chapter 36
Hedone
Ihad to work hard not to let my smile show when we watched Hera in the flame dish, announcing that Hercules had won the first Trial.
Joy spread through me like warm liquid when I saw him bloody, naked, and victorious.
His intense gray eyes and his fierce power made me shiver.
Not the coy, practiced shiver I often employ to charm admirers, but something uncontrolled and genuine that radiated from my very core.
I long to touch him, to feel him, to kiss him.
To trace the contours of muscles built not for display but for true strength.
To test the roughness of his calloused hands against the softness of my skin.
I knew he would win. I was so sure of it. But I still wanted to help him.
I couldn’t do that if it meant putting my own crew at risk, though. I didn’t care if they won or lost, but I didn’t want to hurt them.
I sat for hours, trying to come up with a safe way to help him. An unexpected stab of fear for Hercules flashed through me when I watched Hera describe the flesh-eating lion, but it faded quickly. If anyone could triumph over such a monster, it would be him.
And then it hit me.
I was the only one who was awake. Who had seen Hera announce the trial. The only one who hadn’t reveled in the party and slept through dawn.
What an easy way to give my tough, strong, beautiful Hercules his head start.
All I had to do was leave my own crew sleeping, safe and sound in their beds.
Theseus wasn’t angry with me when I told him I had fallen asleep and missed the last announcement. He was never angry with me.
We’re all on the quarterdeck now, waiting for the next Trial announcement. Theseus isn’t taking any chances this time.
“It’s not ideal that he won. Not surprising, but not ideal,” he’s saying.
I look at his soft, dark hair and perfectly proportioned face. Is he as beautiful as Hercules? I feel a pull in my gut, a fleeting rush that ghosts across my senses like a half-remembered dream, instantly replaced with a burning desperation to see Hercules again.
No, I decide. Theseus is too pretty, too gentle. I need a man who can take care of me, fight for me, set my soul alight with passion.
“We’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t win the next one,” says Bellerephon.
He’s sharpening arrowheads on his lap, sparks of flint flying across his leather-clad thighs.
Bellerephon is bigger and more muscular than Theseus, but his eyes are not as warm and his smile not so easy.
I feel the tug inside me again and focus on the thought of Hercules.
I need to help him win again. I need him to know how I feel.
“Where do you think the next Trial will be?” I ask Theseus.
He shrugs. “The only thing we know for sure is that it won’t be on Cancer.”
“Captain?” says Psyche.
We all turn. The flames in the flame dish are white and a foot high.
Bellerephon stands quickly, his arrows clattering to the ground. He ignores them and moves closer to the dish. I stand too, moving around him for a better view. The man in the blue toga materializes in the flames.
“Good day, Olympus!” he says. “Are you ready for the second Trial?”
I hold my breath.
The smiling man fades slowly, then Athena appears in the bowl. She’s wearing white, as she always does, and her blonde hair is braided in a crown around her head. The goddess smiles.
“Good day. Congratulations to the previous victors, the crew of the Hybris.” She nods.
“The next Trial will be somewhat more difficult, I believe. Deep in the center of my sky realm lies a monster with three heads and a voracious appetite. It is as tall as a building and cannot listen to reason. It will kill indiscriminately and without remorse. Please, heroes of Olympus, kill this monster, the Hydra.” She bows her head again, and vanishes.
Theseus rubs his hands together as he turns and looks at us all. “Excellent,” he says.
Psyche frowns at him. “How is a massive, violent, three-headed monster excellent, captain?”
“First, we made the right choice staying in the Void. We’re closer to Libra than all the other ships. Second, Hercules will get cocky because this is another brute-strength challenge. And people make mistakes when they get cocky.”
He’s wrong, though. My Hercules won’t make mistakes. He’s going to win, and I’ll do all can to help him.