Goddess of Love (30 page)

“Very well, my son.”

Hera approached Griffin's fallen body and knelt beside him. She touched his face. He thought how cool and soft her hand felt. “Listen well, mortal man. My son is Vulcan, God of Fire, husband to Venus, whom I believe you love. He can save your soul and your life, but in doing so he must take possession of your body and your mortal life. You, in turn, will become him—one of the Twelve Olympians, God of Fire. You will retain your soul and your memories, but for eternity you must guard the sacred forge and the pillar of flame. You will become the God of Fire. Do you understand?”

With a mighty will, Griffin forced words through his damaged body. “Does Venus know?”

Hera shook her head. “No.”

“If I say no, I die?” he rasped.

“You will surely die, but you should know you have nothing to fear from death. You have been a good man. I can assure you a warrior's afterlife in the Elysian Fields.”

Griffin's fading eyes turned to the god called Vulcan. “My sisters…” He gasped.

Vulcan dropped to his knees beside Griffin. “I know of your sisters. I would cherish and protect them as if they belonged to me. They will never know that I am not their beloved brother.”

“Your oath on that,” Griffin said.

“You have my oath.”

Griffin closed his eyes and whispered, “Then I agree. I will exchange souls with you.”

Griffin heard Hera begin a chant, the words to which he couldn't understand, but the power of them pushed against his skin with more insistence than the flames that threatened them. And then he felt an enormous tugging, as if he had been caught in a terrible tornado. He opened his mouth to scream and scream and scream…and then he knew only the utter blackness of a night more complete than any he could have imagined as nothingness engulfed him.

T
he ringing phone woke Pea. Groggily, she muttered, “Vulcan, hand
me that, would you?” Then she remembered he was an ancient god and he probably didn't know anything about a ringing phone. She opened her eyes, expecting him to be smiling at her, perhaps a little confused, but sexy and rumpled and warm beside her.

He wasn't there. Except for Chloe, who was blinking sleepily at her from the end of the bed, she was alone in the room. Frowning, Pea reached for the phone.

“Hello?”

“Is this Dorreth Pea Chamberlain?” a tense male voice asked.

“Yes.”

“Miss Chamberlain, this is Robert Thomas from the Midtown Fire Station.”

“What time is it?” Pea asked the question without thinking.

“Five a.m., ma'am. Uh, I'm calling on behalf of Griffin DeAngelo.”

“Griffin!” A horrible sense of foreboding flushed her body. “Has something happened to Griffin?”

“Yes ma'am, I'm afraid so. The captain has been injured on the job. He's at Saint John's, getting ready to go into surgery. His one request was that we call you and have you come directly to the hospital.”

“I'll be right there.”

She hung up and grabbed the jeans and discarded sweater that were lying over her vanity chair. “Vulcan?” she called. No answer. “Vulcan!” This time she yelled his name. Pea hurried through the house. Had he gone back to Olympus? Why hadn't he woken her first? And why had he left in the middle of the night?

She threw the T-Bird into gear and gunned it out of her driveway. Griffin was hurt. Of course he'd had her called. Clearly he understood she was his link to Venus. So she needed Vulcan to get word to Olympus that Venus was needed back here ASAP. But where was Vulcan?

Pea's stomach felt sick. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

She rushed through the emergency entrance of Saint John's Medical Center and almost ran straight into a soot-covered fireman.

“I'm Pea Chamberlain. They called me for Griffin DeAngelo.”

“Right this way, ma'am.”

Pea followed the somber young fireman into the bowels of the ER. A nurse stopped them.

“This is the woman the captain's been asking for,” the fireman explained.

“Then come with me, miss. You must hurry. They're taking him to surgery. You'll only have a moment with him.”

“How is he?” Pea asked, as she hurried to keep up with the nurse.

“It's not good,” the nurse said, without looking at her.

She led her to a glass room that was alive with people. Pea was glad everything was happening so fast. If she'd had time to think she might have gotten sick or, worse, fainted. She would have never recognized Griffin. His face was black and bloody. His lips were cracked and swollen. The left side of his body from his waist down was tented, and she thought he had tubes and wires coming out of every unburned surface on his body.

“Two minutes, miss,” the nurse said.

Pea made herself approach the head of the small ER bed. “Griffin? It's me. Pea.”

His eyes fluttered twice and then opened. His blue eyes met hers and she felt a shiver of something…something she couldn't quite identify. She moved closer to him. His swollen lips began to move. Pea leaned forward.

“…love you, little one…”

She gasped as the truth slammed through her. “Vulcan!” She gasped.

Relief relaxed his face. He smiled and closed his eyes with a contented sigh.

“I must ask you to leave, ma'am. We're taking him to surgery.”

Numbly Pea let them show her to the surgical waiting room. She sat on an overstuffed chair and nodded automatically when a fireman asked if she wanted coffee. Griffin wasn't Griffin. He was Vulcan. Of that she had absolutely no doubt. But how had it happened? Suddenly she felt claustrophobic.

“I—I have to get some air.” She ignored the concerned looks of the fireman as she ran from the room, down the hall and rushed out the automatic doors, where she leaned against the side of the hospital, drawing in deep breaths and trying not to throw up.

“You love him very much, don't you?”

Pea looked up to see an exquisitely elegant woman standing in a little halo of light beside her. She reminded her of Venus, even though she looked nothing like the Goddess of Love.

“If you mean Vulcan, then yes I do. I love him very much,” Pea said.

The woman nodded her head. “I knew it. You are his eternal love—the true mate of his soul. I am Hera.”

Pea didn't need a schoolbook knowledge of mythology to know who this goddess was, she only needed the instincts of a woman. “You're Vulcan's mother.”

The goddess smiled. “I am. And I owe you a debt of gratitude, Dorreth Pea Chamberlain. Before Vulcan knew and loved you, he was only partially alive. You saved him from eternal loneliness and more. You have given him a happiness I never thought he would know. I find his immortality a small price to pay for such a blessing.”

Pea wasn't sure she'd heard the goddess correctly. “His immortality? What does that mean? What happened tonight?”

“My son is not the only immortal who has been observing your modern world. I knew Griffin DeAngelo had become beloved of Venus. Tonight DeAngelo was dying. I saved him by having my son take his place. Vulcan breathed the one remaining spark of immortality that clung to his spirit into his mortal shell. Now Vulcan is Griffin—a mortal man. He will live one mortal life. And Griffin has become Vulcan, God of Fire, for eternity.”

Pea's body began trembling. “He remembers? He's still Vulcan?”

“In all but body, yes he is.”

“And he'll live?”

“Yes. My son will live a long and happy life. You and he will have many children. I will be a grandmother and great-grandmother over and over again, and for generations the spark of the God of Fire's spirit will shine in the DeAngelo family.”

Pea began to cry. The goddess approached her and touched her face. “My son chose wisely.”

“What about Venus and Griffin?” Pea said, wiping her eyes while she still tried to comprehend the enormity of what the goddess was telling her. “What will happen to them?”

“That, my sweet mortal daughter, will be up to the new God of Fire and the Goddess of Love.”

A commotion in the parking lot interrupted Pea's next question for the goddess. The two of them glanced behind them in time to see four distraught young women hurrying toward the ER entrance.

“Griffin's sisters. The oldest and most reasonable is called Sherry. Speak with her first and the rest will follow her lead,” Hera said. “Now go to them. You will soon be a part of their family.”

“You aren't leaving, are you?”

“There is nothing more for me to do here, but do not worry. I will return often to visit my grandchildren.” The goddess raised her hand regally. “May my blessing stay with you eternally.” Hera silently disappeared.

Pea drew in a deep breath, willing herself to be calm. Vulcan would be okay. She had a goddess's word on it, and that was good enough for her. She met the four girls as they got to the ER doors.

Pea picked out the woman who looked the most in control of herself. She had long, dark hair and Griffin's startling blue eyes. “Sherry DeAngelo?” she asked.

The four women stopped short. “I'm Sherry DeAngelo. Who are you? Do you know what's happened to our brother?”

“I do. He's been in an accident.” The women gasped, and the one who was clearly the youngest started crying. “They've taken him to surgery, but he's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay. I promise.”

“Who are you?” Sherry asked.

“My name is Dorreth Chamberlain, but everyone calls me Pea. And I'm the woman your brother loves. He and I are going to be married.”

All four sisters gave her mirror looks of confusion. Pea smiled. “I know it seems odd. You probably thought he was in love with Venus, the beautiful blonde, right?”

They nodded in tandem.

“Well, it's a long story. Actually Venus is a good friend of mine. But our little soap opera isn't what's important right now. What's important is getting Griffin well. Come on. Let's go together to the surgical waiting room; we'll talk more there….” And Pea led the confused sisters into the hospital while she hurriedly concocted a reasonable “Griffin and Pea” love story.

Well, one thing was certain—her overactive imagination was certainly going to come in handy. Maybe she even had a future in writing fiction….

 

“Goddess, Zeus and Hera send word that they will see you now.” The nymph bowed low as Venus swept past her.

Where was Vulcan? It had been a full day. She'd sent word to his realm that his parents had agreed to hear their petition this evening during the gathering of the immortals in the Great Hall. But had Vulcan deigned to send her a response? Even a brief message via nymph or satyr or wood sprite saying that he'd be there? No. How totally annoying.

Of course if she were being honest with herself, she would admit that everything in the past twenty-four hours had annoyed her. The opulence of her temple bothered her. Her servant nymphs got on her nerves. The wine was too warm. Or too cold. Prayers from her subjects had stacked up until the very air around her was filled with a deafening cacophony of irritating sound. But all of that chaos could have been borne if her heart and her spirit hadn't been pining for Griffin.

Venus had to admit it: She missed him dreadfully, and it had taken all of her will to go on about her divine duties and not rush directly back to Tulsa and confront Griffin again. Give him another chance. Try to show him that she hadn't changed, she hadn't misled him, she was still the woman he'd fallen in love with. But she hadn't gone back. She'd stayed in Olympus and pulled her pride around her like an expensive robe.

The Goddess of Love did not chase after any man.

The Goddess of Love did not bear insult well.

The Goddess of Love had pride and dignity.

Venus's sigh was soul deep. “The Goddess of Love is miserable,” she muttered.

The Great Hall of Olympus was crowded with glittering, golden immortals and exquisite nymphs of all types dressed in diaphanous scraps of clothing. Venus even recognized several lesser deities, like Hebe, Goddess of Youth; Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow; and the Muses and Graces. Persephone gave her a saucy wink as she walked past her, which Venus tried her best to return with good humor.

Well she supposed she should be pleased that apparently all of Olympus was there. Everyone could witness the dissolution of her marriage with Vulcan. It would save her having to repeat herself over and over again.

Maybe after this was finished, she would return to Tulsa with Vulcan. She'd only been away from Pea for a day, but already she missed her mortal friend. No, she corrected herself gloomily. Vulcan and Pea would want to be alone. They would probably begin planning their wedding. And she was happy for them—really she was.

She was also thoroughly depressed.

“Venus, Goddess of Love, and Vulcan, God of Fire, we shall hear your petition now.” Zeus's voice boomed across the enormous room.

Venus began picking her way to the raised dais, which held the two glittering thrones on which sat the king and queen of Olympus. Discreetly she let her eyes sweep the room. Where was Vulcan? She could do this without him, but if she did it would seem mean-spirited and disrespectful. Unless he was there to show that the dissolution of their marriage was mutual, no matter how she put her request, it would appear that Love had discarded Vulcan. His name would be spoken with even more disdain. Perhaps she should wait for him and ask to come before Zeus and Hera another day.

No, Vulcan wouldn't want that, and neither would Pea. And what did Vulcan care about what the immortals thought of him? He'd found his love. Pea was all that mattered to him. Venus stopped before the dais and curtsied low with such fluid grace and beauty that she called the attention of everyone in the room to her.

“What may we do for you, Goddess of Love?” Zeus asked. Then, with a frown, he added, “And wasn't the request for petition made by you
and
our son?”

“It was my lord,” Venus said. “But it seems Vulcan has been detained, so I will present the request for both of us.”

Zeus snorted, but Hera responded with a gracious, “Go ahead, Venus. We will hear your request.”

Venus lifted her chin and spoke in a clear, confident voice that carried throughout the Great Hall. “It is no secret to any of you that my marriage to the God of Fire has been an unusual one, and it is that marriage that is the subject of our petition today.” Venus paused, waiting for the curious whispers to fade. “Vulcan and I have been good friends, but we married under false pretenses. Ironically our marriage has lacked love. We would now like to rectify our mistake. Marriage should be based on more than convenience, so Vulcan and I ask that—”