Daughter of the Earth and Sky (6 page)

Poseidon must have said something I missed because Hades bristled like an angry cat. I recognized the look in Poseidon’s eye. I’d seen it in my classmates as they teased their younger siblings, pushing every button they had. I fiddled with my necklace and turned my attention to the girl in the water. She seemed frozen there, and I wondered what kind of shield was keeping her in place.

“Who is that?” I motioned at the water. “And why did you send for me? What do you know about Zeus?”

Hades stared at me, and I rolled my eyes. “What?”

He closed his eyes and looked up. Poseidon laughed.

“Well, who is she?” I demanded.

“Look at her. You can’t tell what she is?” Poseidon replied.

I stared at the girl, her red hair swirling in the wind. I could tell she was a goddess, but knew he meant something more than that.

Hades narrowed his eyes and swore. “What has Zeus done?”

I gave the girl a closer look, but couldn’t see anything different.

“You are new,” Poseidon mused, looking me over curiously. “How old are you?”

“She’s Zeus’,” Hades explained, motioning toward the girl on the water.

“Yeah, I gathered that. So have you guys ever seen her before, or…” I trailed off at Hades’ expression.

“No she’s
really
new.” Hades squinted his eyes against the setting sun.

“She appeared on the waves the day I sent for you,” Poseidon added.

“And you kept her out there? What’s wrong with you?” I demanded. I imagined spending two days in the ocean and shuddered.

“I’m not setting that thing loose in the world. If you can’t see the level of charisma she’s projecting, then I’ve severely overestimated your abilities.”

“She’s never seen another god with charisma,” Hades interjected. “There wasn’t an opportunity to teach her.”

“So she has charm.” I shrugged. “So do I, so does Zeus. What’s the problem?”

“She doesn’t just
have
charm.” Poseidon laughed. “That’s all she is. She’s a full deity, but from what I can tell, she came solely from Zeus, and charm is all he gave her. He gave her an obscene amount.” He went silent for a moment. “She wasn’t created here. She rose from the sea near
Petra tou Romiou
.”

Hades swore. I looked at him in confusion. “What does that mean?”

“It’s where Uranus fell,” Hades explained.

Poseidon nodded, looking grim. “The resting place of a fallen god is always rife with chaotic power. I think he used Uranus’ remains to help create her.”

“What would that do?” I asked.

“She has the potential to become more powerful than us,” Hades replied.

I realized what Hades meant, and my eyes widened. Uranus was Chronos’ father. Chronos and Rhea had created my mother, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, and Zeus. With gods, every generation is less powerful than the last. If Zeus had imbued her with charm and created her from Uranus’ remains, there was no telling how much chaos she could wreak.

“So why send for me?” I managed to ask.

Poseidon looked surprised. “Isn’t it obvious? You’re the only one who’s ever managed to kill a god.”

“You want me to kill her?” I exclaimed, my voice rising in shock. “She hasn’t done anything!”

“I don’t much care for your realm,” Poseidon explained. “But the people in it have feelings of awe or fear regarding the ocean. It helps to keep me alive. So you’ll understand why I have a vested interest in not allowing it to crash and burn.”

I looked at Hades, and he looked back at me like
oh you want help now? What part of let me do the talking was too complicated for you?

Crud. I was going to have to tread carefully here. I couldn’t outright say no because someday I might be in a position where I had to kill this random girl, and I didn’t want to be unable to do it because of something stupid I said today. “I have no intention of killing her at this time.”

“That was carefully phrased,” Poseidon mused.

I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. I felt like a puzzle he was trying to solve.

I shrugged. I wasn’t going to mention that I couldn’t kill just any god. Killing Boreas had been a stroke of luck. He’d sworn allegiance to Zeus, pledging his powers behind Zeus’ mysterious cause. Gods pass on a portion of their powers to their children. Since their children were once a part of them, gods are only vulnerable to their kids. A strange and messed up system that had allowed my mother’s generation to kill the Titans. Since I was Zeus’ daughter, Boreas had been as vulnerable to me as he’d made himself to Zeus.

“Hades, talk some sense into your young bride. You see what that creature is. You know how dangerous she can be.”

“Creature?” I demanded. “It? That girl is one of us!”

Hades hesitated. “I can’t justify her death for something she could do.”

“Fine.” Poseidon shrugged. “I wash my hands of this. She’s your responsibility now.” He met my eyes with a level stare. “If the world crumbles, you’d better hope Boreas wasn’t a fluke.”

Hades moved forward, eyes flaring. I grabbed his hand holding him back.

“Poseidon, you’ve lived this long, so you must have a healthy sense of self-preservation.” I kept my tone light. “So let me get this straight. You’re a god. You sent me a message to deal with this because you know I’ve killed a god before. You also know in the event of your untimely demise, my husband would determine where to send your soul…”

“Is that a threat?” Poseidon growled.

“As subtle as yours,” Hades retorted.

Poseidon grinned at me. “You are spirited.” He shook his head and stepped into the water. He made a sharp motion with his hand, and I saw the shield around the girl fall. “Enjoy the family reunion.” He vanished before I could blink.

“On a scale of one to ten, how badly did I just screw up?” I asked.

Hades shrugged. “I’d never want that scumbag for an ally anyway. I forgot how much I hate him.”

The girl in the water met my gaze and made her way toward us. I chewed my lip nervously. How were we going to handle this? If she was a danger to everyone around her, the safest place for her would be in the Underworld, but she couldn’t go to the Underworld like I had. Hades had marked me as his bride to make it possible to travel between realms, but gods only get one spouse.

I bet he regretted that now. She needed to be down there more than I had. And she would make a much better queen. She was so regal, even dripping wet and trudging through waves.

She was prettier than me.

She was taller and thinner, looking every bit like a supermodel. Her hair was a gorgeous shade of red. She flashed Hades a beautiful smile, and I felt a pang of envy. It was a strange sensation. I’d never really experienced jealousy before. For all the trouble my appearance had caused me, I’d never felt ugly or plain like I did right now.

Hades watched her approach. Of course he would be watching her; she was a freaking vision of beauty standing before him. I bet he’d look past their age difference. When she reached the shore, he extended a hand to help her out of the water, and something in my mind snapped.

“Don’t touch him!” I shrieked, flying at her.

Hades intercepted me before my clawed hands could reach her perfect face. She stepped back into the water, eyes wide.

“You whore!” I yelled. “Stay away from him!” I struggled to get out of Hades’ grip. Scratching and clawing at him, trying to get to her through the red haze of anger filling my mind. I was dimly aware that he was speaking, but couldn’t focus on anything but her.

Hades swore and let me go, pushing me behind him as he reached for her. I gave a wordless shriek when he grabbed her arm, pulling her roughly onto the shore.

“Turn it off!” Hades snapped at her. At her blank stare, he swore again. Hades tightened his grip and pushed her toward the tree line. She cried out, some part of my mind heard the terror in her voice and registered that as important. “Let her go. Now!”

I fell to the sand, crying. He was talking to her! He was touching her. I could never compete with her. I’d never be able to measure up to her complete and utter perfection. My life was over! The waves crashing onto the sand filled my mind with an idea. I didn’t know what would happen if I entered Poseidon’s realm, but it was a safe bet I wouldn’t be returning to bother Hades. I stood shakily and walked toward the ocean.

“Do not move,” Hades told the girl in a threatening growl. He ran in front of me, grabbed my shoulders and gave me a small shake. “Persephone, snap out of it!”

I shook my head, sobbing too hard to respond.

“Damn it! This isn’t you.” He glared over my shoulder. “I said, don’t move!”

“What’s wrong with her?” she asked.

Gods, even her voice was perfect. Light and melodic, like a freaking Disney princess.

“You’re what’s wrong with her!” Hades snapped. “Stay the hell back!”

“You deserve so much better.” I gulped back tears.

“Gods,” Hades muttered, rolling his eyes. He pulled me into a kiss. It was hot and frustrated, his anger radiating off him in waves. I felt power flowing into me, and gradually my mind stabilized.

I broke the kiss, staring at Hades wide-eyed, humiliated by the person I’d become. “What the hell was that?”

“She charmed you.”

My mouth dropped open.
That
was what being charmed felt like? How could I have put anyone through that! The larger implications of the situation hit me, and I swallowed hard. If she could charm a god, we were in big trouble.

“I am so sorry.” My voice was shaky as I turned to the girl.

“Don’t you dare apologize.” Hades crossed the beach with a quick, angry stride. The girl shrank back, eyes wide with fear. “What did Zeus send you for?”

“I—” Her voice shook, her eyes darting between us like a cornered animal.

I reached her before Hades. “I am sorry I tried to attack you.” I gave Hades a level look, and he rolled his eyes and stepped back. “But I wasn’t in control right then, you were. Do you understand how you caused that?”

She shook her head.

I kept my voice gentle. “That’s okay. I’ve done the same thing to people without realizing it. It’s called charm. Children of Zeus possess it.”

“Are we sisters?”

I hesitated. “We’re both daughters of Zeus,” I said with what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

A beautiful smile grew across her face. “Sister!” she exclaimed, pulling me into a hug. Hades made a sharp noise, and she quickly let me go. “My name is Aphrodite.”

I blinked, wondering where that name had come from. Gods suck at picking names. If I ever had a kid, they were getting a normal name, like Julie. “I’m Persephone, and this is Hades.”

“Is this your realm?”

“One of them,” I replied. “Will you answer a few questions for us? It’s really important.”

She looked back and forth from me to Hades, indecision clouding her face. Her gaze returned to me, and she nodded. “I’ll answer anything you ask, Sister.”

“Erm, thanks.” I could deal with her calling me her sister—if I gritted my teeth. I looked to Hades for guidance.

“Have you ever seen Zeus?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “He created me, far from here. And then I saw him vanish.”

“He didn’t say anything to you?”

“No.”

“Do you know anything else?” I asked, frustrated.

Aphrodite took a deep breath, and Hades quickly interjected, “Anything else about Zeus. Why he created you? What your purpose is? What his plans are?”

She shook her head. “He didn’t tell me anything.”

“Your question would have taken forever to answer,” Hades explained. “She knows almost everything. She wasn’t born; she was created. That’s why she didn’t have to learn to talk, or walk, and knew exactly who Zeus is.”

“Almost everything, huh? How come she can’t control her charm?”

Aphrodite flushed and looked down. “I…”

“He didn’t want her to control it.” Hades’ voice was grim.

“What? Why not?”

“Aphrodite, did you swear fealty to Zeus?”

She looked at Hades, puzzled. “No. Why would I ever do that?”

Hades didn’t answer, but I understood. I felt sick. We knew Aphrodite wasn’t lying. Gods can’t lie. She hadn’t sworn fealty, and Zeus hadn’t taught her to control her charm. Uncontrolled, Aphrodite’s charm could drive people as crazy as I’d just been. And those feelings would be directed at her. Worship. Zeus was using her to gain followers. She hadn’t sworn fealty yet, so I couldn’t kill her. But, I’d wager anything he’d planned to come back to her later. And she’d be desperate for help. He could offer it to her in exchange for fealty.

I couldn’t let that happen. Hades read my thoughts in my face and gave a slight nod. “Would you like to come with us?” I asked. “Get off this island?”

Her face broke out in a dazzling smile. “I’d love to.”

Of course it wasn’t as simple as just leaving. Hades and I gave Aphrodite a crash course on charm so we could get back to the hotel without people attacking us or jumping off bridges or something equally crazy. She picked it up faster than I had, but I wasn’t surprised. She had me to teach her.

Hades taught me to control my charm with guesswork and patience. He didn’t have charm, and my charm wasn’t strong enough to work on him, plus the souls in the Underworld were immune, so it was doubly hard to tell if I was doing something right. It had taken months to puzzle out some modicum of control. It was amazing I’d learned to control it at all. Aphrodite wouldn’t have that problem. I knew how it worked now and knew how to communicate it in a way that made sense.

That seemed awfully convenient. Not only did Hades and I find Aphrodite, but we just happened to be the only people who could teach her to control her powers. A glance at Hades told me he was worrying about the same thing. Had Zeus wanted us to find her? Could she be working with him without knowing it?

When we finally made it to the hotel, the morning sun had just begun to lighten the horizon. Hades unlocked the door and yawned. “She’s going to need real clothes. We can’t keep her shielded like this forever. It’s a waste of power.”

“Real clothes?” Aphrodite asked.

I smiled at Hades to show that I’d noticed his carefully averted gaze when the sea foam didn’t cut it. I thought of the strange outfits Cassandra had packed and sighed. “Don’t worry Aphrodite. I’ve got something.” I started to close the door, but Hades caught it with his hand. I shot him a questioning look.