Chasing Adonis (28 page)

Read Chasing Adonis Online

Authors: Gina Ardito

BOOK: Chasing Adonis
5.36Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

Whirling in surprise, Shane found himself face to face with
a human sequoia. Taller than he, the giant easily topped six-and-a-half-feet.
Thick, silver hair pegged him as much older than Shane, but his golden
complexion was unlined, firm, and ageless. The eyes, however, sharp and thickly
lashed, struck a chord of familiarity in Shane’s memory.

“Who the hell are you?”

The titanic man didn’t answer. He merely stepped back into
the kitchen area to reveal a classically beautiful woman standing behind him.
She, too, reflected a timeless quality. Rich auburn hair piled in a coronet
upon her regal head. High cheekbones framed wondrous apple green eyes and a
long slender nose. Her swan-like neck bobbed once as she nodded in Shane’s
direction, a gesture of greeting and acceptance, but not deference.

Confused, Shane could do little but stare in open-mouthed
awe. These strangers looked like statues carved by artisans in an ancient era.
Both wore toga-style white robes, trimmed in what looked like ribbons of pure,
solid gold.

I’m dreaming. Have to be. This whole thing is just one
bizarre nightmare. Soon I’ll wake up, Tyler will be fine, and Adara will still
be here with us. I just have to wake up.

Come on, Shane. You can do it. Wakey-wakey.

Hoping to speed the process along, he blinked—once, twice,
three times—but the vision before him never changed.

“Adara needs you, Shane Griffin,” the man announced in deep
timbre. “She is in grave danger.”

Questions surrounded him, flying from his brain to his lips
with the rapid-fire speed of a machine gun. “Who are you people? Where’s Adara?
How did you get here? What’s going on?”

“I am Zeus,” the man replied.

Shane failed to see the humor. “Zeus, huh? As in the ancient
Greek god?”

The man’s mouth turned upward, and amusement glinted in his
fathomless eyes. “Not ‘as in.’ I
am
the Greek god. And I am not now, nor
have I ever been, ancient. My companion is Nemesis, goddess of divine
retribution and your former mistress.”

Uh-huh. And I’m Elvis. Pleased to meet ya, baby.

Zeus’s eyes narrowed while thunder rumbled in the air,
shaking the knick-knacks on the shelf above his head with a clinking sound.
“This is no jest, Shane Griffin. I am Zeus, king of the gods, and more
importantly, I am Adara’s father.”

“You?” Outrage replaced disbelief. Outrage for the
loneliness Adara had borne all those years. Outrage at the scars this bastard
had left on her heart. “You’re Adara’s father? So, where the hell have you been
the last twenty years?”

Zeus gave a mirthless laugh. “Foolish mortal, I have 831,667
children. Do you think it easy for me to keep track of them all?”

“How should I know? But if you have such trouble maintaining
your parental responsibilities, maybe a god of your stature should learn to
keep his pecker inside his robes.”

Behind an upraised hand, the woman named Nemesis snorted, a
rather ungoddesslike way to stifle a laugh.

Zeus’s attention swerved to her, and he frowned. “You find
the griffin’s comments amusing, Nemesis?”

She lowered her hand, revealing a broad and glittery smile,
like tinsel on a Christmas tree. “Aye. I like him. Even when he was my minion,
the griffin always had a winning way. It pleases me to see he hasn’t changed.”

“He
never
pleased me.”

“Another reason he pleases me so much.”

Shane’s gaze veered from one to the other with impatience.
“Look, I don’t know who you two really are, or how you came to be here, but if
you know something about Adara’s whereabouts, you’d better be prepared to tell
me. Now. Her life could be on the line.”

“All in good time, Shane Griffin,” Nemesis said. “There are
things you must know before seeing Adara again. And there are things I wish to
know before I reveal such information to you.”

Shane sighed. With no other choice except shooting the two
of them to put them out of his misery, he’d have to play along for now. “Fine.
What do you want to know?”

“I will ask you my question when I am ready and not a moment
earlier. However, you must vow to answer honestly. Will you answer with all the
truth in your heart, Shane Griffin?”

“I’ll be as honest as I can.”

“Fair enough. Let us begin then. Have you ever heard the
story of Adonis and Aphrodite?”

Shane snorted. Like those old myths from eighth grade
history class made such a deep impression on him. That was ages ago, and even
then he found the legends stupid and a little too over the top for his tastes.
Except maybe the stories of Hercules. Still, if it would lead him to Adara,
he’d tell them as much as he could remember. “Aphrodite was the goddess of
love, right?”

“Aphrodite
is
the goddess of love and beauty,” Zeus
corrected with a snarl. “Among other things.”

“Right. And Adonis was the most handsome man ever born. Or
something like that.”

“Yes, Shane Griffin.” Nemesis smiled. “Something like that.
Though, personally, I never thought much of the man. Still, this is not my
story. One afternoon, while playing with her son, Eros, Aphrodite accidentally
pierced her breast with one of the winged boy’s love arrows. She was instantly
smitten with Adonis, the first man she saw. But she was not the only one.

“Persephone, goddess of the Underworld, also loved Adonis,
and the two fought bitterly over him. It was left to Zeus to solve their
dilemma.”

She cast angry eyes at the king of gods, and he looked away,
but not before Shane caught the flush of shame in his rough-hewn cheeks.

“I handled it poorly, I admit it,” Zeus murmured. “I ordered
Adonis to spend one third of the year with Persephone, one third with
Aphrodite, and the last third with whomever he wished. Adonis chose to spend
that last third with Aphrodite. Persephone never forgave Aphrodite for her good
fortune.”

“‘Tis ancient history now,” Nemesis said. “The rest of the
tale might have ended there but for the jealousy of Ares, god of war. Ares was
Aphrodite’s lover for many millennia, and he could not bear to lose her
affection to a mere mortal. Thus, he sent a wild boar to gore Adonis during a
hunt, killing him. Heartbroken, Aphrodite flew to the Underworld to beg
Persephone for Adonis’s return. While Persephone could not reverse his death, she
did agree to send Adonis back to earth and allow Aphrodite to win her lover’s
heart again when he reached the age of thirty. Still stinging from those months
without Adonis, she did not tell Aphrodite that, in this next life, Adonis
would be reborn a female.”

Shane held up a hand. “What the hell does this have to do
with anything? I mean, it would make a great soap opera plot, but—”

“Be patient, Shane Griffin,” Nemesis interjected. “All will
be revealed to you in time. Recently, Adonis, in his new form, reached the age
of thirty, and Aphrodite reappeared in his life, as promised.”

In that moment, it all became crystal clear for Shane.
Still, he didn’t want to believe it. It couldn’t be. Impossible. Things like
this just didn’t happen in the real world. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me
that Adara Berros is actually Adonis reborn?”

Nemesis nodded. “And Tedior Pha—”

“Is an anagram for Aphrodite,” Shane finished then slapped
his forehead. “Jesus, what an idiot I am. How could I not see it?”

“Why should you?” Nemesis retorted. “You mortals have long
forgotten the gods and goddesses of Mt. Olympus. Replaced by scientists and
debates over the name of the one supreme being you believe responsible for all
earth’s wonders, we have lost much of our influence over time. But we still
exist, we still have our favorites, and we still involve ourselves in mortal
lives when a whim takes us.”

Her lighthearted tone made the hackles on Shane’s neck
flourish in indignation. “That’s all Adara is to you? A whim? A temporary
entertainment to while away the time?”

Nemesis wagged a finger at him. “Do not dare to chastise me,
Shane Griffin. You forget yourself. At a moment’s notice, I can destroy
everything you love and leave you bereft and miserable. It is a task I relish
when a mortal oversteps his boundaries. I will forgive you your transgression
this time and attribute it to your concern for Adara. Therefore, now that you
know the truth of things, it is time for you to answer my question. And
remember, you vowed to speak honestly.”

“Okay, so, what’s the question?”

“Do you love Adara Berros?”

Not quite what he expected her to ask. And a question for
which there was no easy answer. The breath left Shane’s lungs in one long exhale.
Did he love Adara?

Her current absence bored a cavity into his heart so deep
the Grand Canyon paled in comparison. But was that love? Or was it regret?

From the moment he first clapped eyes on her, his every
thought revolved around her. But was that love? Or dedication to his job?

Just the memory of her touch made him ache, and envisioning
her flawless porcelain skin had him hard as a rock. Was that love? Or lust?

One thing he couldn’t excuse away, though. If he never saw
her again, his life would become an eternal suffering. Like hollowed driftwood,
he’d float through his days, unseeing, unfeeling, merely existing hour by hour
until, finally, mercifully, something swallowed him up, and it ended. But was
that love?

“Well?” Nemesis prompted, slender arms folded over her chest
in interrogation. “What is your answer?”

“Hell, yes. I love her.”

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

The dazzling smile spreading across Nemesis’s lustrous face
spoke volumes about her approval of his reply. With a nod, she touched his hand
and drew him forward. “Come, Shane Griffin. There is much to do and little
time.”

But Shane couldn’t hold back his impatience any longer, and
he dug his heels into the carpet, pulling back. “Come where? I have to get back
to the hospital.”

“Your family is safe and will continue to be so for the
length of time we are away. Zeus has ordered Hygeia and Panacea to watch over
your nephew. Demeter and Rhea will stay by your mother’s side to protect and
comfort her. I promise you, no harm will come to them.”

Oddly enough, he believed her. His confusion from earlier
almost dissipated. “Which one was the nurse in New York?”

“Hygeia saw to healing Adara after Ares tried to run her
down with that mechanical chariot,” Zeus said. “Now they will do the same for
the child.”

Under normal circumstances, he’d laugh himself silly for
even going along with these two kooks, but hell. These weren’t normal
circumstances. And Adara came first right now. “Where’s Adara?”

“She is in Aphrodite’s temple. There, Aphrodite hopes to
convince her of their eternal love, binding their fates together in
perpetuity.”

“I don’t understand. If this goddess loves her so
desperately, why would Adara be in danger?”

“It is not Aphrodite who means Adara harm. Your battle will be
with the god of war. Ares will attempt to destroy Adara in order to keep
Aphrodite from rekindling her passion for eternity. You will need to fight the
god of war, Shane Griffin, and you must win, or you and Adara shall both die.”

Yeah, sure. That sounded easy. “How? What am I supposed to
do? Shoot him?”

Nemesis shook her head. “Your primitive weapons have no
power against an immortal. Ares will not fight fairly. He will find your
greatest weakness and use it against you. Therefore, you must prepare yourself.
Do not see with your eyes or listen with your ears, for they will deceive you.
Only one defense will defeat Ares from his quest, your love for Adara. Fight
with your heart, Shane Griffin.”

“I’d rather have a more reliable weapon, if you don’t mind.”

Although one finely arched brow rose in his direction,
Nemesis made no other reaction to his less-than-funny jest. In all fairness, it
was nerves that drove him to make the comment anyway. But the glimmer of a
smile sure would have gone a long way to boosting his self-confidence at the
moment.

“We shall enter a new realm when we meet with Ares,
Aphrodite, and Adara,” she continued. “There are three paths in this realm,
Shane Griffin. A path to heaven, a path to Hades, and the path to a fortunate
future on Earth. Choose the wrong path, and all is lost. Your heart must remain
pure and your love for Adara Berros certain and unwavering.”

Great. Piece of cake. Victory would prove as definite as
predicting the weather on the six o’clock news.

“You must not doubt yourself, Shane Griffin,” Zeus growled.
“Self-doubt has destroyed more warriors than any other weakness known to
mankind. Allow Nemesis to guide you, and you will, indeed, achieve victory.”

“Come.” Nemesis held out a hand. “We must go.”

“Go where? Where is Aphrodite’s temple?”

“In her homeland of Cyprus, of course.”

“Cyprus?” Crushing weight collapsed against his heart.
Cyprus was halfway around the world from Florida. And Adara had a head start—a
long one. They’d never make it in time to save her from this Ares character, or
whoever held her. “How long will it take us to get there?”

Nemesis and Zeus shared a smile, Shane was certain at his
expense. “Do not fret, Shane Griffin. We shall arrive within the blink of an
eye.”

 

~~~~

 

“You have no right to be here,” Ted said coolly.

Benjamin Cherry puffed up his chest, his porcine gaze
glinting like embers amid ash in the candlelight. “I have every right. You
began this folly with your relentless pursuit of that unworthy mortal, Adonis.
Now I shall finish it.”

Rooted to the spot with shock, Adara gaped at the two
combatants. How did Ted know Benjamin Cherry? Only one answer came to mind, and
the very thought gobbled up her heart, leaving her empty and numb.

Oh, God. Shane was right, after all. And she’d played right
into Ted’s trap. Hot tears of regret seared her eyes. She never should have
left the hotel suite. Why hadn’t she waited for Shane?

Other books

Ford: The Dudnik Circle Book 1 by Esther E. Schmidt
Church of Chains by Sean O'Kane
Unraveling the Earl by Lynne Barron
The Scarlet Letter Scandal by Mary T. McCarthy
A Part of Me by Taryn Plendl
Cut to the Chase by Elle Keating
Conspiracy in Kiev by Noel Hynd
Happenstance by Jamie McGuire