Page 5 of A Contemporary Mythos Valentine's
Eros looked over his shoulder when he noticed me staring wide-eyed. “Shit. I forgot Zeus lived here.”
“Maybe he won’t notice us.”
“Notice? He probably already knows we’re here,” Eros mumbled.
We both froze on the bench as Zeus walked past us. His steely blue gaze cut to us but all he did was give a curt nod before continuing on.
Eros let out a breath and raked a hand through his hair. “And on that note, I think we’ve done enough for the day.”
“Is Zeus really that bad?” I kept my eyes traced on Zeus’s back as he got further away. His heart had so many layers over it, I couldn’t sense it if I tried.
“He has his moments, but I usually optnotto find out what kind of day he’s having and just avoid him altogether.” Eros rose and held a hand out for me to take.
Sliding my palm against his, I stood, still watching Zeus. “But isn’t he your grandfather?”
“He’s a grandfather to a lot of people, Lani.” Eros shrugged and tugged on my hand to walk with him.
“I’d like to help him if I could.”
Eros shook his head and kissed my forehead. “All the more reason you’re my soulmate, sweetheart, but the only person that can help Zeus—is Zeus.”
Sighing, I pushed the unsettling notions aside and took Eros’s hands. “Ready to fly to my surprise weekend?”
“Fly to?” He gave a tiny smile and bumped his knuckle under my chin. “Where are we going?”
I squeezed his hand. “Greece.”
* * *
E R O S
I couldn’t remember the last time I visited Greece, and for Elani, it was a brand new experience. There was somewhere she wanted to take me, but a spot I wantedherto see first—and knew she’d appreciate the history behind it. We flew side by side, holding hands to take advantage of Elani’s more recently developed cloaking power. My entire modern immortal life had been spent avoiding mortal eyes whenever I released my wings or flew, and here my soulmate, even if it was on rare occasion, was able to provide relief.
“Here we are,” I said to Elani, giving her hand a quick squeeze and motioning with my head to the rock formation overtop the crystal blue water beneath us.
She smiled as we flapped our wings to descend. Once our feet landed on the rock, Elani hugged to my side and beamed at the sight around us.
“This is beautiful. Where are we?” She shielded her eyes from the sun with a single hand.
Leaning over to let my lips brush her ear, I whispered, “Milos,” making sure to use a Greek accent that I knew made her toes curl.
“Milos,” she repeated with a grin. “Wait. As in, Venus de Milo?”
I sat on the gray arched rock we stood on, tugging her down with me to hang our legs off the edge. “That’d be the one. This is where they found the statue.”
“Of…your mom?” She nestled beside me and curled her arm with mine.
Nodding, I rubbed her forearm. “Yes, and I’d never tell her this, but I heard the statue may have not been of her.”
Elani sat up straight. “Oh? Then who is it supposed to be?”
“Amphitrite.”
Elani’s brow furrowed, and given her silence, I guessed she had no clue who Amphitrite was. It wasn’t surprising considering she’d been banished to the stars thousands of years ago, and myths of her had dwindled through the centuries.
Smiling, I bumped my shoulder against hers. “The former Queen of the Seas. The island of Milos revered her back in the day. But she’s been forgotten in the modern world. It’s no wonder they’d think of Aphrodite first.”
“Why has she been forgotten?” Elani frowned and let her feet flop freely over the rock’s edge.
