Love's Forge (11 page)

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Aphrodite sat on her back porch, thinking about what Harmonia had said. She’d had the chance to cool down by the time she made it to Apollo’s house, even though she’d then discovered Hephaestus had beaten her there and had left only five minutes earlier. That had annoyed her, but upon seeing her estranged daughter she’d felt nothing but guilt.

The only time she’d ever seen Harmonia annoyed or upset in anyway had been a few weeks earlier when she’d told Harmonia she was infatuated with Apollo but not in love with him yet. She’d expected to find Harmonia in a bad mood today, but she hadn’t. Her daughter had been very understanding and sympathetic. Instead of expressing any anger about having spent her entire existence hiding her father’s identity, she’d asked Aphrodite if she was all right. She’d actually been concerned Aphrodite would be upset with her. Hephaestus, it seemed, had come to apologize for breaking his word to Harmonia. He was very concerned about her reaction. That had surprised Aphrodite. She’d known for a long time it had been a mistake to keep Eros’ paternity a secret. Now, she wondered if keeping Harmonia’s identity as Hephaestus’ daughter a secret had been just as big of a mistake. Harmonia had been forgiving and understanding, but she had said that Hephaestus had reacted with remorse instead of anger. It wasn’t his fault, but he seemed to feel a sense of loss at having been kept in the dark for so long, according to Harmonia. Aphrodite knew he would have been pleased to know he had a child, but at that time she hadn’t wanted that kind of tie to anyone. Now she could see how much she’d denied both of them.

Aphrodite fought back tears. She’d lost her temper, and thus had hurt Hephaestus even more. He had lied to her, and he had brought Harmonia up on purpose to see how Aphrodite would react, but she’d been guilty of far worse manipulation in the past. Even though he’d been using his new knowledge against her, he hadn’t been angry. He’d been loving with her, as if he was happy despite her deception just because he knew they did have a child together. Harmonia felt the same after Aphrodite had told her about their talk and she’d compared that with her father’s reaction. They’d have been spending a nice afternoon together if she hadn’t lost her temper. One minute she’d been defending him and the next she’d been furious. She recalled his words and how he’d pointed out the parallels between his relationship to his mother and her own with their daughter. That had stung. She could never seem to get anything right.

Aphrodite covered her face with her hands and sniffed. Her life seemed to be stuck on a downward spiral, and only time would level it out again. Every time she tried to take action, her plans went wrong, so she didn’t see the point in trying anymore.

“Aphrodite?”

She jumped, and when she looked up she saw Ares and Alala standing at her gate. She stood up, trying not to blush. As she walked over to them she passed the spot where Ares had fucked her only a few days earlier. She closed her eyes, telling herself she was going to replace all those plants as soon as possible.

“Hi,” she said. What else could she say? What else could she do? She couldn’t read Ares’ expression, but Alala looked sympathetic. She clung to Ares’ arm and smiled at her.

“Are you all right?” Alala asked.

She admired Alala a hundred times more than she ever had. She felt her genuine concern, and she knew Alala would never do anything as small as say an unkind word to her over all this, no matter what she felt inside. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve been all right or anything even close.”

“Did he hurt you?” Ares asked.

“No. He didn’t.”

Ares cleared his throat. “Look, I’m going to be indelicate. He was pretty angry when he took us. Did he hit you? Did he rape you?”

She shook her head. “Ares, he loves me. He really does. What he did was…a bad decision, but he didn’t do anything like that.”

“Did you have sex with him so he’d let me go? He said it was his own choice, but I have to know if he used you that way.”

“Ares!” Alala said.

“I want to know,” he said.

“No. We haven’t had sex.” Aphrodite appreciated Ares’ concern, but she resented him suspecting Hephaestus would be violent with her. The brothers were not close and it seemed likely they never would be, but her softening feelings had made her defensive of Hephaestus. “Ares, I know you disapprove of the way we married. I do too. But I honestly wanted to try again with him. I care for him a lot. He’s a good friend, and he’s far more patient than his recent actions indicate. I promise he didn’t do anything to make my feelings for him change. I was afraid he would hurt you but never afraid he would hurt me. I’m completely unharmed, if a little confused.”

Ares didn’t look satisfied, but Alala spoke up. “We came here to tell you we know who put a spell on you.”

“Who?” Aphrodite had been over and over the possibilities, but none of them had made sense.

“Lachesis. She decided Hephaestus was taking too long to win you, and she thought the right kind of drama would speed things up to her liking.”

Aphrodite couldn’t believe it. Lachesis was her friend, or she had been at one time. Why didn’t she just come to her and tell her Hephaestus was the one for her? She knew she probably wouldn’t have just accepted that, but she trusted Lachesis. At least, she had until now.

“I’d like to kill her. What do you think?” Ares said, a little too flippantly for Aphrodite’s taste.

“That doesn’t seem like an answer to me. Is Hephaestus all right? Did someone tell him?”

“Hera and Zeus told him already,” Alala said.

“Why do you care?” Ares asked. The earnest and searching look in his eyes told her that, despite how well he understood her, he had no idea what to think right now.

Aphrodite had had enough. She felt she had a right to speak frankly to the man who had been such a big part of her life for such a long time. “Because if I could love anyone, I could love him. None of you see what I see in him, and quite frankly none of you see in me what he sees. He overlooks my flaws and only criticizes me to make me a better person. He doesn’t see a giggling airhead with nice tits. He’s in love with me. He loves every part of me. He doesn’t care how many men I’ve fucked. Yes, he forced me to marry him, but he has never once demanded anything of me. We haven’t even had sex since that day. I wear his ring.” She dropped the glamour on her ring and held her finger up. “And I refuse to ever hide it again. It’s to remind me he’s in love with me. His patience is unsurpassed. The last few days have been unusual, but I’m not upset with him. I don’t hold anything against him. He’s done nothing wrong. He overreacted to Lachesis’ incredibly stupid plan, but with pretty good reason.”

“You’re in love with him too,” Alala said suddenly.

“No, not yet, but—” she said.

“Just shut up!” Ares said. “You are! That’s a pretty adamant speech about someone you’re not in love with.” He looked stunned, but she saw a smile creeping up. “I never thought I’d see the day. I had no idea!”

“Oh, you shut up!”

Ares laughed. “I would not have believed this otherwise. That oh so articulate reaction confirms it. You always tell me to shut up when I’m right!” He laughed again.

She huffed at him. “Well, your anger has evaporated it seems.”

“I do believe it has.” He snickered. “You know, now that I have all the context, this is kind of funny. The part about me getting thrown against your house and sitting in a cage for two days while Alala was scared half to death could have been omitted, but otherwise it’s kind of entertaining.”

“Is it now? Is it really?” Aphrodite asked as Alala rolled her eyes at her soon-to-be husband.

“Yeah. Kind of kinky. Kidnapped by a dark, mysterious stranger—”

“Ares!” Alala said. “Gods, you can be so tacky! That’s enough!”

His smile faded. “Oh, come on.”

Aphrodite’s face was flaming, and she wanted to punch Ares right in the gut.

“Why don’t you go?” Alala said. “Our news has been conveyed, so why don’t you amuse yourself elsewhere?”

He looked between the two of them for a moment and threw his hands up in surrender. “Fine. I’d think you’d be happy I’m not angry at him.”

“I am,” Aphrodite said. “It’ll just be slightly longer before I find this quite as amusing as you do.” She turned away from him.

“Sorry. I’ll behave better in the future.”

She looked back. “It’s all right, but I can’t laugh about this yet. Please consider that the next time we talk?”

He nodded and kissed Alala on the cheek. “I’ll see you both later.” He vanished.

Aphrodite gestured for Alala to sit down on a bench. The last time they’d sat down together, Aphrodite had told her about her secret marriage. She’d been confused about what she wanted then. Did she really have a better idea now?

Alala spoke first. “Interesting week it’s been.”

“I’m sorry about your wedding.”

“It’s fine. It’s just a ceremony. We’re going to exchange vows on the beach and then throw a big party. Layla and Iris have worked really hard planning it, so we decided to go ahead.”

“Really? That’s great. Are you still going to do it tomorrow?”

She nodded. “Ares wants to.”

“Eros hasn’t blessed a wedding in a long time.”

“How did you know I asked Eros?”

“I would have if I were you.”

“Is that all right?”

She laughed. “It’s your wedding. Of course it is. And it’s a nice touch in a way, having his son bless your vows. Much less awkward.”

Alala smiled. “I’m glad you think so. I know this isn’t your fault, but at times it feels like—” Her smile faded.

“Like his past won’t go away?”

She nodded.

“I wish I could find a spell to fix that, but I can’t.”

“After Hephaestus released him, we talked.” She took a deep breath. “It drives me crazy sometimes thinking about how many times you two made love, but I know in my heart he loves me. I have to work through my insecurities on my own. My heart will line up with my head soon.”

“You are far too good for him. I’m glad you feel this way. I’m sorry I made him unhappy for so long. I’d hate it if I were still in the way.”

“Don’t worry. It will get better. I know he loves me, and I know you certainly don’t love him.”

“Do you? I’m glad you’re so sure because it’s not exactly something I could prove to you otherwise. ”

Alala’s eyes widened in surprise. “Did you hear anything you said a few moments ago? Did you notice how every ounce of blood in your body rushed to your face when Ares was teasing you?”

She blushed again. “I suppose—”

“
I
suppose you had a far better time being held captive than Ares did.”

“Alala! Weren’t you just getting on to Ares for saying the exact same thing?”

Alala considered her for a moment, but she didn’t answer Aphrodite’s question. “There’s something about him. I noticed it at the wedding. He’s quiet, and he’s not great at socializing, but there’s a pull there. I can’t explain it.”

Aphrodite wanted to say something, but she was completely at a loss. She’d never heard another woman talk about Hephaestus before, and something about it annoyed her. Her heart thudded. Was she jealous? That seemed impossible.

“And he’s very strong. His muscles are amazing. I could tell just dancing with him. And his hands are so warm. And they’re bigger than Ares’.” She smiled and giggled.

“Excuse me?” She couldn’t believe her ears.

Alala burst out laughing. “Sorry. I know I sent Ares away for the same thing, but I’ve been around him too long. I wanted to get a reaction. I didn’t mean to tease you that much, but you should see the look on your face.”

Aphrodite tried to compose her features. “I’m glad everyone finds this amusing. Gods forbid I stop entertaining everyone.”

She touched her hand. “Hey, I’m sorry, but I think you love him, and not because of sex. You can have great sex with anyone. You don’t get as many chances to make a real connection with another person.”

“I know, but…” She couldn’t go on because Hephaestus was walking toward them.

“This is a much nicer scene to walk in on,” he said.

He and Alala smiled at each other as Alala stood up. Were they all crazy? How could he joke about that? How could he smile about anything? Lachesis had toyed with both of them, and Harmonia’s confession had complicated their relationship even further.

She stared at the ground. He was apologizing to Alala, and she was telling him not to worry about it. Not to worry about it? Imprisoning her fiancé? She looked up at the two of them smiling in complete disbelief.

Alala was already walking away by the time Aphrodite came back to reality. Alala waved over her shoulder. “I hope to see you two tomorrow.”

“We’ll be there,” he said.

Aphrodite looked at Hephaestus. “You do realize you’ve all gone mad, right? How can you be so calm? How could she just forgive you and smile at you?”

“Why are you being so melodramatic? You forgave me. You even came for me.”

She blushed furiously. “You don’t think I have good reason to be confused and angry and upset right now? I think you should watch what you say.”