Page 6 of A Contemporary Mythos Thanksgiving
“—distracted,” the young man finished, his eyes searching Olivia’s face.
Poseidon cleared his throat and patted the man’s shoulders. “Ladies, this is my son, Triton.”
Yeah. No being on Earth could convince me there was an ugly Olympian amongst us. Even those less pleasing to the eye would have some redeeming quality that made them blossom from the inside.
Olivia stuck out her hand, suddenly finding her voice, her cheeks turning rosy as she smiled widely at him. “Olivia, or Ollie, if ya like.”
“Your accent is—refreshing,” Triton said with a radiant smile that matched his dad’s.
Olivia sucked on her bottom lip. “You’re refreshing.” She fast-blinked. “I mean you look refreshing—er, from the salt water, and the—” She blew out a breath and hung her face in her hand.
Poseidon bumped his elbow against his son’s arm and bobbed his brow at me.
“Say, I’m wicked starving. Want to grab a bite with me? Tell me about Australia? Would love to hear it.” Triton rubbed the back of his neck as he waited for Ollie’s answer.
Olivia shifted her gaze to me in silent questioning.
I looked between the two sea-gods and my best friend, shrugging. “Have at it, Ollie. I’ve gotta talk toSimonhere anyway.”
Poseidon deciding on Simon Thalassa as his mortal, pro-surfer name still made me smile.
“I’d love to,” Olivia answered, grinning.
Triton motioned with his head for her to follow, and as the two whisked off together, I heard him ask her if a salad bar was alright.
“Is this a brother-induced conversation or something more pleasant?” Poseidon asked, brushing sand from his arm.
I slipped my sunglasses back on. “Both? Where’s Cory by the way? Was hoping to finally meet her.”
Cory, also known as, Cordelia, formerly known as Amphitrite—Poseidon’s long lost Queen who hadn’t really been lost at all, but forgot who she was thanks to an age-old curse.
“Oceanography booking in Panama. She’ll be back in a couple of days.” Poseidon folded his arms and squinted at me as if trying to read the reason for my visit.
“Can we walk on the coast? Been awhile since I felt bath water like salty water on my feet.” I smiled up at my brother-in-law as he obliged me and led us to the wet white sand. “I’m putting together a gathering for two reasons. It’s been quite literally hundreds of years since there was a meeting of the king and queens of Olympus and—”
Poseidon ruffled his long, wavy hair, making sand trickle from it. “Let me take a wild guess. We needfamilytime.”
Playfully, I slapped him on the arm, gasping. “You’re so intuitive, bro.”
“Funny you should mention it because Cory the other day brought up about Thanksgiving. If I’d ever celebrated it.” His lips curved into a smile.
“And you told her?”
Poseidon shrugged. “I told her no. Why would I have? But—I could never turn down an excuse for gorging and alcohol.”
“Good man. Then you’d both be up for it? Business to start, finishing off with family fun feasting and festivities?” That came out far too Dr. Seuss for my liking.
Poseidon chuckled and bent down to bump our shoulders together. “Sure. But I assume this includes all kings and queens? How the hell do you plan to convince Hades?”
“I’d have my ways, but sent Z to deal with that particular matter.”
He cocked an eyebrow at me, and paused walking. “Youdocare about them coming, right?”
“Of course, I do,” I said through a laugh. “But with this new version of Z, he has decades worth of proving himself to do. And I’m giving him the opportunities for it.”
Poseidon grinned and hugged me to his side. “You, Keira, arepreciselywhat my little brother needed.”
“I know, but I needed him too.”
