Page 2 of A Contemporary Mythos Valentine's
Shit.
Clearing my throat, I turned away from him. “They’re fake. A costume. You know, Cupid?”
It felt like getting kicked in the nuts referring to my own daughter dressed as the Roman version of me I despised, but Valentine’s Daywasright around the corner. Surely, he’d buy it.
“Ah. Right. Adorable little cherub you got there, son.” He patted my arm with a warm smile.
“Thank you.”
He nodded and, after waving his gnarled hand at Hedone, shuffled away.
Blowing out a breath over the bullet I dodged, I looked for anyone else approaching and knocked on the door again—this time with more force.
Where the Tartarus was she?
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” Aphrodite shouted from inside.
“Finally,” I mumbled under my breath.
When she opened the door, she’d looked frustrated, but her expression brightened into a wide smile once spotting us.
“Cupie,” she shrieked.
A nickname she’d called me since childhood, and still, I was not overly fond of it.
“And my widdle girl,” she said in her high-pitched baby talk as she wiggled her fingers at Hedone.
“Can we come in?” I looked around again.
Her blue eyes darted to Hedone’s bristling wings. “Right. Right. Get in here.”
After shutting the door behind me, I cleared my throat. “So, uh…you, okay? You looked a little flustered when you answered the door.”
The fresh dynamic of my mother and I actually getting along was still new, which made moments like these awkward.
My mother frowned as if she hoped I hadn’t caught it. “I’m fine. Just uh—bummed I still haven’t been able to fix my powers.”
Aphrodite’s powers had been on the fritz for a year now. We’d suspected the only way for her to fix it was for the goddess of love tofindtrue love.
“Have you—gone on any dates?” I winced.
Hedone clapped her hands before shoving four of her fingers in her mouth, drooling on them.
“Dates? Eros, seriously?” She guffawed and folded her arms.
“What? How else are you going to find someone? He’s not going to just fall out of the sky.” I gently grabbed Hedone’s hand as she started to pluck at the buttons of my plaid shirt.
“Who knows? Maybe he will.” She smiled.
“Mom.” I raised a single brow.
She rolled her eyes and let her arms drop at her sides. “Fine. Fine. What are you doing here anyway?”
“Elani and I are taking a weekend, and you are watching Hedone.” I held my daughter out to her grandmother with stiff arms.
“Me?” Aphrodite slapped a hand over her chest and slow-blinked.
“Uh-huh.” I jiggled Hedone, making her giggle. “Oh, come on. I had wings, too, and you did just fine with me. I turned out—mostly okay.”
