Page 9 of A Contemporary Mythos Valentine's
“Fucking each other, I think, is where he’s going with that.” Harmony patted Ares’s muscular chest.
I felt my cheeks warm.
“Olympus, no. Trust me. I don’t need my eyes scarred for life. We’ll knock on the door like normal people.” Eros flew his palms up and motioned his head toward the windows. “Ready to go up?”
My wings sprouted out, answering him, and I smiled. His more masculine ones soon followed, the gust from them flapping out, sending my hair floating for a moment.
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen your wings in person.” Harmony stared at us wide-eyed as she traced her fingers over some of the feathers in my wings before reaching for one arch of Eros’s.
I slid forward, peculiar jealousy punching at my gut, but Ares snatched her hand before it landed and patted the top of it. Harmony glared at her war god.
“You touch him there, and that’ll make for a very awkward moment, gatáki.” He bobbed his brows, waiting for the realization to settle over her.
“Oh.” She gave me a sheepish smile. “Oh. So sorry. I didn’t know.”
“No worries.” I smiled, halfway lying.
Since when were I the possessive type?
“Come on, Lani.” Eros touched the crook of my arm, sending all other feelings soaring away.
“You two kids have fun, now,” Ares said, waving.
Eros smirked as he led me to the balcony with a hand on my lower back. “Yeah, yeah. Just try not to destroy the place.We’rethe ones who put down the deposit.”
“No promises.” A wicked grin played over Ares’s lips, and he smacked Harmony’s butt, making her yelp.
After one last exchange of grins, Eros and I took the skies, hand-in-hand, disguised from the world as an invisible shadow.
* * *
E R O S
Elani wished to see more of Greece, and I couldn’t think of anything that closely resembled the country’s ancient culture more than the remaining temples. The first one I took her to was the most well-preserved in the modern age—Theseum. Being the number of tourists roaming the grounds, we’d landed behind a hill before uncloaking and sheathing our wings.
“This is nothing short of amazing, Eros. It almost looks completely untouched.” Elani’s eyes brightened as she walked toward the Doric order temple. Six columns held up the front and back of the structure, with thirteen columns on the sides.
Smirking, I took Elani’s hand. “Heph likes to claim the reasonhistemple is the most intact is because they subconsciously built it better being it was in honor of a forge god.”
“Have you talked to him recently?” She spoke to me but kept her eyes fixed on the stone columns as we got closer.
The first time Elani had met Heph was undoubtedly the most bizarre introduction I’ve witnessed. Not only did he appear in Scotland from one of his portals, but my dear mother hired Nessie to “scare” Elani. Heph and I battled him, and I hadn’t seen him since.
“Nah, he likes to keep to himself mostly. He prefers staying in the future bounty hunting versus the current time like the rest of us.” I traced my finger over the coarse texture of the column before leading Elani inside.
She paused and tugged me back to her. “The future? Bounty hunting?”
“Right.” Chuckling, I dragged a hand through my hair. “I’m so accustomed to you. I keep forgetting this is all still so new for you.” Glancing around at the dozen people within earshot, I rubbed her shoulder. “I promise I’ll fill you in, but here probably isn’t the best moment. Agreed?”
After scanning our surroundings, she nodded and walked further into the temple. The center was still also intact, and the open areas on the top of the building allowed sunlight to beam through, casting ethereal rays.
“Wow. The sculpted artwork still looks so pristine.” Elani pointed up at the mantel of carvings—men in togas, Hephaistos with his hammer, a chariot.
Curling an arm around her waist, I stood next to her. “Is this everything you ever imagined it to be?”
“Ever since becoming my new self, I’ve often thought what it would’ve been like to exist in a time where I believed in the gods.” She turned to look at me, melancholy playing in her gaze. “That I would’ve just known who you were, and you wouldn’t have had to waste time convincing me otherwise.”
I cupped her face before kissing her forehead. “You said it yourself, Lani. We both had our trials and tribulations to muddle our way through before becoming these versions of ourselves. Thebestversions for each other.”
