Shafted (14 page)

They were within a few yards when suddenly
Eros wasn’t beside his wife anymore. Psyche spun back to find him
dangling in the air by the scruff of his neck and stopped dead
mid-stride.

“Charon damn it put him down!”

Psyche’s raised voice and Charon’s answering
growl brought Anteros out of his euphoric cloud. Removing his coat
and wrapping Callie in it he pressed a finger to her lips and
tucked her behind a post where she wouldn’t be seen
immediately.

Confident she was as safe as he could make
her given the limited options available he stepped out the door and
froze. A chuckle, led to a giggle, which led to a snicker, which
broke into a belly laugh. His brother was snarling up a storm,
hanging in the air wearing a pink cape and a...diaper? Anteros
doubled over holding his midsection.

“Charon, you jerk, I said put my husband
down!” Psyche turned on Anteros. “And you can stop that anytime
now. He all did this for you, so stuff a sock in it Tero.”

Looking through the tears in his eyes Anteros
saw the truth on her face and his laughter sputtered then stilled.
His composure regained, he cleared his throat. “Charon, go ahead
let him down.”

The demon shrugged his shoulders and opened
his fist. Eros stumbled when he hit the ground but got his own back
by driving the tip of his bow behind him, straight into Charon’s
ribs. “Oopph.”

“Eros, if you did this all for me, then why
the golden arrow?”

Eros put his arm around Psyche pulling the
end of his cape around her. “Tell him?”

She nodded.

Eros turned and looked at his brother. “Tero,
I never used a real golden arrow on you, I used a fake one dipped
in some of Phantasos’s mojo.”

“Morpheus’s brother?”

“Yup, with his spell coating the arrow you
believed what we wanted you to.”

Anteros started grinding his teeth. It had
all been an illusion? Everything Callie had gone through.
Everything he’d been through. A veil of red started to bleed into
his vision. “Charon. Don’t interfere. Eros if you don’t want her in
the middle move away from Psyche.”

“Ants? Easy now.”

His muscles involuntarily locked before he
could launch at Eros, and judging from the black look on his twin’s
face, his had too.

“That’s enough, both of you.”

Aphrodite strolled toward them from the
direction of the hall haloed in a strawberry hue. Her full length
white coat and boots as iridescent as the snow crystals she stepped
on.

Her right hand stretched out. “Eros did
nothing I didn’t command him to or that his heart didn’t know was
right.” His brother was suddenly in his leathers, his costume gone.
“Both his and Psyche’s motives were out of love for you.” Aphrodite
flicked the fingers of her outstretched hand and Psyche was wrapped
in a full length coat of shimmering fleece. “And I refused to lose
any more of my family to ambro-fever.” Her path brought her
directly in front of Anteros. One more finger wiggle and his
muscles were his own again.

Anteros looked closely at her face for the
first time in centuries, and was shocked at what he saw. The
goddess was still there, but she stood behind the mother.

She brushed a strand of his hair back off his
shoulder. “I saw what was happening to you Tero, and when Hades
told me about your deal, I knew we were out of time.” One single
tear hung precariously from her lashes. “I couldn’t stand by and
see you suffer Ares fate.” She swiped the drop away and sniffled.
“I also knew you’d be as much of a stubborn jackass as your father
and had to take matters into my own hands. So sue me.”

Callie crept out and stood in Teran’s shadow
wondering if she really had finally lost her mind. Cupid was a
biker, the redhead was suddenly wrapped in gold, the giant had
flames burning in his eyes, and every one except Teran, especially
the woman playing with his hair, was glowing.

“Anteros, you were on the verge so
I
asked Eros to shoot you.”

She was not hearing all this. Callie pinched
herself. No she wasn’t dreaming. Her stomach suddenly didn’t feel
so good and her head ache was coming back. “Ahem, did you say Eros,
as in Greek for Cupid?” Everyone turned their attention to her and
she wished she’d kept her mouth shut. They were each intimidating
on their own. En-mass they were terrifying.

“Zeus’s beard, Callie, you were supposed to
stay out of sight.”

She focused on Teran’s beloved face and
swallowed hard, who was this man she’d given her heart to?
Zeus’s beard.
Yup, it was official. Her
elevator was no longer going all the way to the top.

Except, it wasn’t the first time he’d said
that was it? More confused than ever, Callie desperately tried to
find one coherent thought in her mind. Before she found one, out
the corner of her eye she saw the woman with the brightest glow
wave her hand again, this time at Teran. Suddenly he started to
glow like the rest. “Oh-kay, someone please start explaining before
I decide it’s too much trouble to listen and pass out.”

Teran shot a dirty look at the woman who
smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Turning from her, he approached
Callie slowly with his palms open at his sides. “Callie, now before
you panic, please listen, I need you to hear me out. What I have to
tell you is going to sound crazy but I promise it’s the truth.”

“What is?”

“We,” he gestured behind him. “All of us are
Olympians; Gods of the Greek Pantheon.” The giant cleared his
throat and Teran rolled his eyes. “Okay except him, he’s a
demon.”

The last thing Callie saw was tree tops.

Chapter 23

“So you really are a god.”

Anteros, afraid to tip the scales now that
she seemed to be accepting what he’d told her, simply nodded his
head and fought his growing need to wrap his arms around her. He
couldn’t imagine a worse way for her to have found out who and what
he was. She looked so fragile and alone, it was killing him.

“And he really is Cu...I mean Eros?”

Another nod and twist in his guts. What if
she couldn’t accept him now? What if it was all too much and she
decided to leave him after all. The twist turned into a knot.

Callie turned her head away from him and
looked at his mother. “And you’re not only their mother, you’re
Aphrodite.”

“Yes dear, that’s right. I really am the
Goddess of Love.”

They’d brought her back to her grandmother’s
cabin and started a fire hoping familiar surroundings might help.
Now he wasn’t sure if it had been the right choice. Callie sat so
still and took so long looking from one to another of them, a bead
of sweat trickled down Anteros’s back. He wished he knew what she
was thinking.

Finally a look of determination flowed over
her face and she sat up a little straighter. His heart kicked his
ribs both dying for the suspense to end and dreading what the
outcome might be.

“Well, whew this is a lot to take in. But,
okay, the way I see it, I can either accept that what you’re
telling me is the truth. Or I can voluntarily have myself
committed.” She lifted her eyes to him and a sly grin creased her
face. “Besides I can’t deny I was dumb enough to fall in love with
you, so hey, what the heck, if I’m an Amazon queen why can’t you be
a Greek god?”

Anteros let out a whoop and swung her up in
his arms, kissing her deeply, before Charon’s fist pump and hissed
‘yesssss’ died away.

Suddenly the lights flickered and the room
filled with the sent of oranges. Aphrodite wrinkled her nose. “Oh
great, here we go.”

Callie blinked and a statuesque woman in a
serious pinstriped power suit and Prada shoes stood in front of the
fireplace. “I wouldn’t send out the invites yet, Sister. I think
there might be a problem filling the part of the groom.”

“Oh, for Hades sake Athena, are you still on
that kick?” Aphrodite moved around the table positioning herself in
front of the other woman. “Don't you think this is all getting kind
of old?”

The expression on Athena’s face was
unreadable but something in her body language didn’t seem right to
Callie. Her hands were clenched and her back was stiff as a board.
Looking back to her face, Callie bristled under the power of her
ice blue gaze.

Her chin bobbed in Callie’s direction and
Teran tucked her tighter into his side. “She is the last of them
and has defied my decree.” Turning her laser gaze directly on her,
Athena’s eyes narrowed. What part of ‘no descendant of Hyppolya
shall give her heart to a man and not suffer the consequences’ do
you woman not understand?” She looked down at the hand clutching
Teran’s forearm. “She even wears the ring.” Athena pointed her
finger at Teran. “He is therefore forfeit.”

Callie snarled and started to pull away from
Teran. “Over my dead body—”

A tiny giggle rippled through the room and
everyone turned their attention to the source. Aphrodite plopped
down on the coffee table and snickered again. “You know for someone
who spontaneously popped out of our father’s head, you aren’t too
smart Sister-mine.”

A succession of sharp intakes of breath raced
around the room and Callie stayed ready to spring on Athena if she
had to – which she’d do if she could figure out how to break the
hold Teran had on her and get out from under his arm.

“Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Hearth. Ha!”
Aphrodite crossed her legs and wrapped her clasped hands around one
knee.

Athena’s face turned red and the tendons in
her neck stuck out. “You dare mock me!” Her hand shot out and a
streak of blue lightening leapt from her fingers.

Teran, Eros and Charon all moved at once to
intercept, but before it could do any damage, it fizzled out.

Athena looked at her fingers with her mouth
hanging open and Aphrodite stood up gently nudging the men aside.
“Sister, the curse you laid on Hyppolya’s daughters states they
must never give their hearts to a man, yes?”

Athena’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, and your
point?”

“My point is Callista, heir to the Amazon
throne and direct descent of the queens of old, did no such
thing.”

“Huh?”

“Anteros son of Ares and Aphrodite the man in
question is not a man, he’s a GOD!”

Stunned silence filled the room for several
seconds then Charon broke into a butter churn dance. “Woo hoo. Woo
hoo. Aphs, you sure you ain’t harboring a bit a demon in there
somewhere?”

Anteros watched several emotions chase across
Callie’s face and his heart echoed every one of them. The curse was
broken. Not only was Callie free, so would her daughters be.

Athena was staring off into space and Eros
helped her sit before she fell down.

Callie cautiously stepped forward giving
Teran’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “But that’s only part of the
problem, right? What about the fever you mentioned.”

Anteros mind rebelled and the knot in his
stomach which had started to unravel tried to climb up his throat
instead. How could he have forgotten? He had an appointment with a
nice impenetrable cell.

Psyche walked over to her husband and took
his hand in hers. Looking into his eyes she smiled. “That’s not a
problem anymore either.” She turned and looked straight at Anteros
and he felt a spark of hope rekindle. “You know there is no cure,
but, thanks to your mother and brother you now have the next best
thing.”

She shifted her attention to Callie. “For a
god stricken with ambro-fever, it’s a matter of balance when they
get either too much or too little of what they embody. In Eros’s
case, it happens when he gives too much love out and then he gets a
little trigger happy. I’m able to temper that by feeding love back
to him. In Anteros’s case it started to happen when he got close to
the point he’d taken too much heartache in.”

“You said started to happen, it’s not
now?”

“Yes, she did, and for now the tide has
turned.” Aphrodite took Callie’s hand, placed it in Teran’s and
covered both with her own. “We can’t be sure that at some point it
still won’t happen, but because of you his chances are far better.”
She looked up at her son. “In fact as long as he has you, he may
never fall.” Turning her attention back to Callie she gave their
joined hands a squeeze. “And if he does, you’ll be there to catch
him.”

Standing on the front porch watching all but
one cloud of mist vanish, Callie and Teran held each other close.
“Eros, I don’t know what to say.”

“I do.” Callie blinked a few times fast and
smiled. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

Eros smiled back at them and began to fade.
The entire meadow started to gain a rose colored glow and the
icicles on the trees lit up softly from within. Callie gasped and
Anteros looked at his brother with surprise. “Mom’s not the only
one in the family with skills you know.” He winked and gave a
juvenile ‘thumbs-up’ and vanished.

Anteros tilted Callie’s chin and looked into
her eyes. The spectacle his brother created around them didn’t hold
a candle to the love shining there. “Who would’ve thought getting
shafted by ‘Stupid Cupid’ would turn out to be the best thing that
ever happened to me.”

A wicked light ignited in her eyes and she
momentarily chewed on her bottom lip. “Well isn’t that what he’s
supposed to do? Bring you the love of your life? I mean, I know he
brought me mine.” She reached up with a nibble for his ear and
whispered. “And baby you can give me the shaft anytime.”

Who knew a god could blush.

THE END

Author Bio: Kymber Morgan

Living in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains
and having grown up with her own link to mythology through a family
legend, Kymber loves nothing better than taking her imagination out
for a spin often asking, among other things, what if the myths and
legends we grew up on were real.

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