Aphrodite

  I scoped out the rest of the room, taking a moment to get my bearings. Booths dotted the room, arranged in semicircles so everyone seated could see the stage, but no one sat. Sitting would indicate a time commitment no one seemed to want to give.

  Stopping at the edge of the auditorium, I leaned against the back wall, soundproofing fuzzies tickling my bare arms. Deep in the crowd, Adonis stood out like a golden beacon, somehow managing to almost glow despite the dim lighting. He was engaged in an animated discussion with a woman who looked far too plain to belong to a modeling convention.

  Tantalus followed me with a smirk and leaned against the wall beside me, hand planted right next to my head. “I’d buy that, if I ran into you on deck.”

  I smiled, looking him over. “Maybe I’m just enjoying the view.”

  Tantalus stepped in front of me, holding out his hands as if he were the gods’ gift to man. Which, technically speaking. . . . “Well, look no further, sweetheart.”

  A violent shudder wrenched through me at the term of endearment. I wrapped my arms around myself as if I’d shivered.

  “Cold?” His eyes roamed over me. “If you want, we can ditch this and go someplace warmer.” The leer in his voice left little doubt that he meant his bed.

  I considered his proposition. Well, not that angle of his proposition. I preferred men who worshipped me, not themselves. But Tantalus wouldn’t question me following him around. He’d actually welcome the attention. And I wouldn’t be heartbroken if something happened to him. That made him good bait. “What room are you staying in?”

  He rattled off the room number. “It’s one of the nicest on the ship. I could show you.”

  Adonis touched my arm, and I started in surprise. I hadn’t noticed him coming this way at all.

  “Can I have a word?” Adonis’s question may have been directed at me, but his gaze never left Tantalus.

  Tantalus shrugged, moving back almost enough for me to avoid brushing against him as I edged away from the wall. “She’s all yours.” His tone made the unspoken words “for now” as loud as if he’d shouted them.

  I let Adonis escort me farther into the auditorium, but turned and waved a few fingers at Tantalus as we walked away.

  “Stop that.” Adonis whirled on me, gold eyes flashing.

  “Why?” I tilted my head, and a lock of red hair fell over my shoulder. “Worried the evil goddess is going to hurt your friend? Oh wow, he’s still looking at us.” I waved, flashing Tantalus a flirtatious smile. “Don’t worry, I don’t think he’ll mind my company.”

  Adonis gave me a flat look. “Are you serious?”

  I kept my smile pleasant. “As a heart attack.” Which, all things considered, wasn’t terribly serious to gods, but I liked the phrase. “I can get all the information I need watching him, without the annoying attitude.”

  Adonis opened his mouth to protest, but I held up a hand to cut him off. “I’m not going to chase after you, Adonis. Not in your wildest dreams. And if you’re expecting me to apologize or beg for your understanding, you are sadly misinformed. Because of our history, I told you why I was here and offered to get you somewhere safe. But that was just a courtesy.”

  Adonis snorted. “A courtesy?”

  “You aren’t entitled to a rescue mission just by virtue of being a demigod,” I reminded him. “People go missing all the time without divine intervention. When’s the last time you personally made any effort to find out why?”

  He clenched his jaw, but didn’t reply.

  “I have no plans to hurt your friend,” I assured him. “Or take advantage of him, or whatever it is you think we ‘monsters’ do, but—”

  “It’s not him I’m worried about.”

  And what did he mean by that? The crowded room burst into applause before I could respond.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” called out yet another demigod who’d waltzed out on to the stage. “Welcome to Model Madness.”

  “Three or four demigods across the entire convention?” I challenged, while the demigod launched into a speech. Something about work, fun, and charity. I couldn’t decide if he wanted to sell me something or get me really pumped up about being here.

  Adonis shrugged. “Counting them. Tantalus works for another agency. Narcissus,” he motioned to the demigod on stage, “runs my agency and the convention. And I already told you about Elise backing out at the last minute.” He shrugged again. “There could be more I don’t know about, but I doubt it. We’re kind of a community.”

  Yeah, I’d already learned that much from Persephone’s head priest, Orpheus. The demigods of today were so lucky. Back when Olympus stood, they didn’t have Internet access to track one another down and form support groups.

  “Adonis!” A tall, leggy, demigoddess broke free from the crowd and flung herself into his arms.

  Adonis embraced her, but the movement seemed more out of reflex than affection. “Elise? I thought you got a deal with—”

  “I changed my mind.” She met Adonis’s eyes with a look that made me think she was talking about something more than a career choice.

  “That’s . . . great?” Adonis’s smile looked hesitant.

  Elise gave Adonis a quizzical look, then started in surprise when she noticed me. “You’re a—”

  “Hi.” I held out a hand. “I’m—”

  “You know what? I don’t want to know.” She turned her attention back to Adonis, dismissing me as though I was beneath her notice.

  My mouth hung open. Had that just happened? I was a goddess. I didn’t get dismissed. I dismissed people. Gritting my teeth, I focused my attention on the stage as the crowd erupted into another round of applause. I could have spat something witty and snarky right back at her, but arguments with mortals were beneath me. She wasn’t worth my time.

  You keep telling yourself that, Aphrodite. Delusions are fun. If only insulting other people was as easy as insulting myself. Scowling, I studied the demigoddess out of the corner of my eye. Female demigods were rare. Divine genetics triggered the “Y” chromosome more often than not. Good thing, given how much stronger demigoddesses were.

  Hercules got all his press for killing monsters in what looked like clever ways. But in reality, his charm drove those creatures to their death. They knew he wanted them dead, so they complied. People remembered the monsters. They forgot that his charm also drove his wife to kill her children and herself. In the end, he got so out of control that Zeus had activated the ichor in Hercules’s blood to transform the hero into a god.

  But compared to Helen of Troy, Hercules was small potatoes. Hercules’s charm killed a few monsters; Helen’s destroyed an entire civilization. I needed to learn this girl’s lineage. She might not have any powers at all, but if she did, they’d be exponentially stronger than a male demigod’s of the same bloodline.

  Narcissus’s golden eyes landed on me and widened. As soon as he wrapped up his speech, he hopped down from the stage, making a beeline for our weird trio.

  “Please be with my agency,” Narcissus begged when he arrived. “To stand out in this crowd is an accomplishment.”

  Adonis and Elise gave Narcissus a flat look.

  “I mean,” he said, backtracking. “Oh come on, look at her. You’re all stars, anybody can see that, but you have to admit, she burns a bit brighter. E—” He snapped his fingers. “Get over here.”

  For a second, I thought he meant Elise. Then a beautiful woman with wide, intelligent eyes hurried across the auditorium after Narcissus, dodging tables and lingering models with a nymph-like grace. “E” whipped out a tablet and held a pen at the ready.

  Narcissus looked me over. “Is she with you, Donnie?”

  Was I? I raised an eyebrow and looked to Adonis.

  He glanced between me and Elise, then let out a long-suffering sigh. “Yeah
,” he decided. “She’s with me.”

  “With you?” Elise sputtered. “What do you mean with you?”

  “Can we talk about this later?” Adonis asked in an undertone.

  “Um. No.” Elise’s gold eyes flared and she drew her hands to her hips. “Narcissus, I apologize for being so unprofessional, but we were actually talking when you—”

  “It’s fine.” Narcissus said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You two can go.”

  “Adonis?” Elise tilted her head.

  Adonis gritted his teeth, looking between Elise and me. “This isn’t what it looks like, and I’d love to explain. Later maybe. But right now—”

  “You ever consider a career in modeling?” Narcissus asked me, oblivious to the drama playing out between the two models. “Your kind needs all the exposure you can get, right?”

  “Um . . .” My kind, huh? Modeling wasn’t an uncommon cover career for a god struggling to find worship. We needed the worship, and we couldn’t lie, which made pursuing acting or most other careers that threw you into the limelight difficult. But I had charm. I could get all the worship I needed simply walking through a crowded room.

  “Aw, come on. A pretty girl like you?” Narcissus raised his eyebrows at me. “Sure you have. E, draw up the paperwork.”

  “Draw up the paperwork?” E had, at least, noticed I hadn’t agreed.

  “She’s not here for—” Adonis protested, but Narcissus cut him off.

  “Don’t want me eating up all your girlfriend’s time?” Narcissus ignored Elise’s offended squeak at the word girlfriend. “I get ya. I wouldn’t want to let her leave my sight either if I were you. I can work her into your shoots, if you want. I mean, geeze, look at you two.” His golden eyes darted between us. “Step out of your heels, darlin’.”

  “What?” I gave Adonis a confused look, but even he looked taken aback at Narcissus’s request.

  Adonis shrugged, so I obliged. There weren’t many models left in the room, but the few who remained did a double take when they saw me step out of my shoes.

  “Stand closer.”

  Adonis and I moved until we were standing side by side. Beneath my feet, the carpet felt compressed and moist. Like the thin fabric was sweating.

  “Perfect, E, look. They fit together like a fuckin’ puzzle.”

  “They fit together.” Her eyes darted up from her tablet every so often, as if she was trying not to look occupied by something on her screen. Was she playing a game? Why bother hiding it from her boss? Throughout this entire conversation, Narcissus hadn’t so much as looked at her.

  Narcissus studied us for a moment, his fingers hooked on the belt loops of his khakis. “I’d buy whatever you two were selling. Hell, yeah.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Elise stared at Narcissus as if he’d gone mad.

  Okay, enough. I stepped back into my shoes and moved away from Adonis. “I’d only be in Adonis’s shoots?” That would give me better access than I could hope to achieve without using charm.

  “Of course.”

  “I’m willing to consider that.”

  “E, send her the paperwork. Adonis’s suite, I presume.”

  Adonis opened his mouth, then closed his lips in a tight line, nodding.

  “She’s staying in your room?” Elise demanded.

  “Elise . . .“

  “Forget it.” Elise shook her head and walked off.

  Adonis watched her go, equal parts relief and regret evident in his expression.

  I cleared my throat, drawing Narcissus’s attention back to me. “I’m not signing anything.” Gods can’t lie, and who knew what this guy would try to work into his contract.

  “ ’Course not.” He winked at me. “And even if you did, I somehow doubt you have a proper paper trail. But while your word alone is good enough for me, we shoot advertisements and no company is going to pay for photos without a written release. If I can’t sell you, there’s no reason to take your picture. How about I sign the paperwork for you later, and work out all those pesky details?”

  “Mmm . . . still not going to allow you to put my name on something I don’t understand. Walk me through the contract over dinner?” I needed to know who he’d spoken with to arrange the convention. Did someone suggest the cruise to him, or did he come up with the idea on his own? Where did he advertise Model Madness?

  More likely than not, the information would be useless. Melissa and I had managed to hunt down Adonis last year using nothing more than social media. Thanks to their distinctive features, demigods weren’t difficult to track down if anyone really wanted to find them. But still, there might be a chance I’d glean some detail important to my investigation.

  “I’d be delighted. Tomorrow at seven? I’ll drop the contract off in your room in a few hours. You can look everything over, come up with any questions you like. In fact—” Narcissus paused, considering. “Why don’t you do a shoot with Adonis tomorrow to see if the job is to your liking?”

  I glanced at Adonis. He rolled his eyes, but didn’t object.

  I forced a smile to my face. “Why not?”

  Chapter V

  ADONIS KEPT AN arm in front of the elevator door until we were both inside. But not in a polite, “here, let me get that for you” way. No, he held the door back as if the heavy contraption could spring free and crush him at any moment. Once we were both clear of the track, he drew his hand inside in a flash and hit the button for our deck, his shoulders relaxing when the elevator rose without incident.

  “Okay . . . why?” I motioned to his arm, then waved at the elevator door.

  “I saw this movie once . . .” Adonis shuddered, moving his hands toward his neck before jerking them down as if he hadn’t realized they were in motion. “Elevators make me nervous, that’s all.”

  “Must have been one hell of a movie.” I studied my distorted reflection in the silver door, unsure how I felt about the way my body stretched and contorted depending on how I moved. “Do you want me to set the record straight with your girlfriend?”

  “Ex-girlfriend,” Adonis corrected as the elevator slowed to a stop. “And talking to her won’t help. She’s not upset because she thinks I’m with someone else; we both moved on a while ago.”

  “Didn’t seem like it to me.”

  “No, it’s not—” Adonis swallowed hard and held the elevator door back until we were both free of the metal confines of the apparent death trap. “She’s like me.”

  I frowned. “Like you?”

  “Whatever I am? She’s the same. I met her parents. They’re both demigods.”

  I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck. A demigoddess with Adonis’s weird lineage would have an insane amount of charm, and she’d be completely immune to mine. Could she be responsible for charming everyone on the other boats? No one knew the true extent of Zeus’s stupid science projects.

  Adonis fell into step beside me as we headed down the hall. “That’s why we broke things off. I couldn’t get past what Demeter said, about Zeus having a female version of me out there that I’d . . .” He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. “You know, be ‘compelled’ to breed with.” Adonis’s expression twisted, as if he’d tasted something foul. “So you can see how rooming with a goddess, after I dumped her because I didn’t want anything to do with gods, might set her off.” He frowned searching his pockets as we approached the door to the suite. “Where did—Right. They never gave me a key.”

  “Here, I’ve got mine.” I slid my key card into the lock slit.

  “Thanks.” Adonis walked past me into the room. “Helluva day, huh?”

  “For you, too?” I laughed, stepping out of my shoes. “There’s an extra key on the counter. You can have that one.”

  “I appreciate it, but I’ll need to get my own if I want
to get on and off this ship when we reach a port,” Adonis reminded me. He moved to the fridge, opened the door, and stared inside it for a moment, as if the contents might have shifted while we were gone. After a long minute, he asked, “You thirsty?” When I nodded, Adonis grabbed two water bottles out of our fridge and tossed one to me.

  I caught the bottle and sank onto the white couch, letting my shoulders unknot as I leaned back. Sitting down instead of investigating seemed wrong, inefficient, but I couldn’t think of anything else I could look into before Miguel gave me access to the computers. “I’ll have Miguel take care of it.”

  The cushion dipped when Adonis sat on the opposite end of the couch, propping his feet up on the wicker table. He looked so dejected about his run-in with Elise that I took pity on him.

  “You can do better.”

  “Huh?” He didn’t even lift his head off the couch when he looked at me, leaving one cheek pressed against the thready fabric.

  I shrugged. “Just saying. You could do better than Elise.”

  “Thanks?” He leaned forward, hunching over so his elbows rested on his knees. “I know she didn’t come off great, but she’s not that bad. I actually—” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. After I found out what . . . I couldn’t—Ah, never mind.” He leaned back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “I’m not making any sense.”

  “You are, though.” I took a sip of my water. “Being a living science experiment sucks, believe me, I understand. Even the most innocuous choices can feel . . .” I trailed off, unable to think of a strong enough word to capture what Zeus had done to us. Different methods, same result. We were both built to his specifications.

  “Programmed?” Adonis offered, catching my eye.

  “Exactly.” My throat went dry. He got it. He got me. I swallowed hard, dropping my gaze from his, feeling flushed.

  Adonis opened his mouth as if he was about to say something but a knock at the door cut him off.

  When he rose from the couch, I waved a hand, motioning for him to stop. “I’ll get it.” I doubted anyone who bothered knocking intended to whisk Adonis away into missing demigod land, but why take the chance?