Love's Forge (8 page)

He clung to Alala as he felt her breathing steady. He’d been given such a precious gift, and he didn’t begrudge anyone that kind of happiness.

Chapter Four

Harmonia stood staring at the side of a mountain. She looked to Hermes for confirmation. “Here?”

He nodded. “Would you like me to stay with you for a moment?”

She shook her head. “I’m not afraid of him. Thank you.”

Hermes nodded and vanished.

She looked at the wall again. She touched the spot as he’d instructed, and to her surprise it opened right away.

Hephaestus stood there for a moment, but then he turned to the side and gestured for her to come in. He had more of a tan than she’d remembered, but his dark hair and eyes were still very striking, as was his scar. She’d always found it intriguing, even though its origin was no mystery. He wore drab gray clothes though. The shirt and pants fit well on his chiseled body, but he looked so boring.

Harmonia felt bad for thinking that. She sounded like her mother. She turned as they walked. “Thank you for seeing me.” She noticed his limp, and then felt bad for doing so. She turned to watch where she was going again.

“It’s no problem.” After a moment, he added, “You don’t seem angry or worried. That’s how everyone else feels.”

They stopped and faced each other. “I know you wouldn’t hurt her.”

He nodded. “I promise I haven’t. She’s not here willingly, no, but I need her to stay. What I did to Ares was wrong, and I let him go because of that, but this is between me and Aphrodite.”

“I didn’t come to plead with you to let her go.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You didn’t?”

“No.”

He turned and opened a door. A simply furnished living room lay beyond the door. “Let’s sit down.”

Harmonia didn’t know what to think of his home. It was definitely different. It was a big, winding cavern. It wasn’t dirty though. Every inch of the stone floor was smooth and cool and completely free of dirt. The only thing she’d seen until he’d opened up this room had been a series of doors. The furniture here was brown and dark red. The table was wooden and simple, and the couches and chairs were the same, all covered in leather. The only decorations were iron candleholders on the table. They were simple but very beautiful. She wondered if he’d made them, but she didn’t ask.

After she’d settled in and he’d sat down beside her, she looked over at him and cleared her throat. She felt more nervous than she’d expected she would. “Given what’s happened, I’ve decided to break a promise to my mother. I’ve been lying to everyone all my life, and now I want the truth to be known.”

“Are you sure this is for the best?” he asked.

“Yes. She’ll be very angry, but I want to tell you something.”

“All right.”

She should have said it simply and gotten to the point, but instead she asked, “Do you know how old I am?”

He shook his head. “She didn’t tell me about you. If you’ll remember we met when Aphrodite brought Eros to see Zeus and Hera. She hadn’t told me she already had any children when we started our affair. I often wondered if you might be Ares’ daughter, but since you never see him or come here, I assumed it was someone else. Was I wrong?”

She shook her head. “She didn’t have any children then.” She looked right into his eyes. “When you two became lovers, she still didn’t have any children.”

His gaze nearly burned her.

“Do you see what I’m saying?”

He didn’t reply.

“I was born in the mortal world. I grew much faster than Eros did. When I was one day old, I looked like I do now, even though he took weeks to grow up. No one visited me when I was born, when I was a baby. I knew who I was, what my powers were, and what my purpose was. She told me we were going home. She said she had a new home for me. Not with her, with other people. I believe she intended for me to go live with Eris, since we existed to compliment each other, but I’m not sure. I didn’t want to go, but she said we had to. I said I wanted to stay. I liked the mortal world and the mortals we were living with. She said I could stay if I would never ask who my father was. I said I would promise never to tell or ask questions about him, but I had to know who it was before I would promise. Lots of people have thought it was Ares. A good guess, given the timeframe, but wrong.”

He stood up and walked away from her.

“I have a casual relationship with her. I’m not asking for anything from you. I don’t care if you tell everyone or want it to stay a secret. But you should know. It was wrong of her to hide it from you. I was young and like her then. I wanted my own way and made that promise to get it. When I met you, you frightened me a little. I decided never to question her choice. I told people I was like Eris, that I had no father. It made sense because in the supernatural sense we were considered sisters. She had no father, so why should I have had a father? Eris came from Chaos, born to the goddess of the night Nyx with no father.”

“I know where Eris came from!” he snapped.

She swallowed. “I was only trying to show the logic. She came from Chaos and darkness. I came from love. She was discord, and I was harmony. It made sense we could each be born with only one parent, so everyone believed me. I even lied to Apollo. He thinks I’m here to save my mother.”

“I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

He spoke so softly she barely heard him.

“That’s fine. You have every right to be angry. I expected that kind of reaction. It was wrong of her to do this to you.”

“She didn’t tell Eros who his father was. She kept it from him and from Ares. At least you knew. Eros didn’t for a long time.”

“But the difference is everyone suspected the truth. Eventually it became a moot point. No one really cared.”

“They cared. The three of them. They needed the truth to be told.”

“I guess.”

“I’m right. Your mother was happier after it was all out.”

“That shows you do know her very well. I couldn’t begin to speculate about her happiness. Hopefully, she’ll feel the same way now that all of her secrets are out.”

“At least Ares knew Eros.” He looked down at her. “This is the second conversation you and I have had.”

She sighed. At least he believed her, and he didn’t seem too angry. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head slowly. “It is not your place to be sorry.” He sat down again. “Eros is like her, but it was easy to see his father in him. I knew the whole time Ares was his father. I wanted him to be mine so Aphrodite and I would share something.”

“You knew he wasn’t?”

“Aphrodite went back to Ares after we were married. When I put that ring on her finger, I forced her to marry me. That’s true. It’s not a malicious rumor. But I also promised her we wouldn’t have sex until she agreed to be faithful. To really be my wife.”

“So you two haven’t?”

He lowered his eyes. “We’ve touched. We almost had sex a few weeks ago.”

“You did?”

“I haven’t broken my promise though. We haven’t done that.”

“You don’t have to talk about this. I’m not upset, and I’m not going to judge you.”

“I didn’t think you would. I’ve never talked about this with anyone.”

“Don’t worry about what I’ll think.”

“I told her we wouldn’t until she asked me to.” He stood up. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“All right. Are you two talking? She seemed hopeful about the possibilities for the future. I thought the next time I saw her she’d be so happy.”

He turned back to her. “And instead her husband has her locked up.”

“It was a poor decision. I think the spell affected you too.”

“Spell?”

Harmonia paused. He looked genuinely confused. “We’re all assuming it’s a spell. Aren’t you?”

“I was still considering that.”

“You let Ares go. You must have seen he wasn’t to blame and that you overreacted.”

“It let him go because this is between me and my wife.”

She didn’t argue with him. He knew they hadn’t set out to betray and deceive him. He was probably embarrassed by the way he’d reacted. He had to know the news had spread immediately.

“It is. I was only asking out of concern. She obviously denies trying to hurt you. She’ll get over being angry with you. Your friendship means a lot to her. If anything will convince her to want you as more than a friend, that will.”

“We were talking. I suppose we still are.”

“Why do you suppose? What happened?”

He paused, and his gaze darkened again. “When I said I wanted to talk about something else, I didn’t mean just sex. I meant something else entirely, all right?”

“Sorry.”

He sat down next to her and looked at her closely. After a few seconds, he said, “Your eyes are green.”

She blushed under his scrutiny. “Yes, they are.”

“You like the mortal world?”

“I do, but I’m going to live here with Apollo now.”

“Are you getting married?”

“Probably.”

He nodded. “I’m terrible at this. I’m sure your mother has told you all the worst things.”

She shook her head. “She tells me good things. It’s why I wanted to come see you. This reaction was so unlike you it alarmed me. I decided you needed to know the truth.”

“Did it?”

“Yes.”

“Should I let your mother go?”

She weighed her options. “I don’t know.”

“I expected you to say yes. Setting her free would prove whether we should be together or not. It would show my love for her.”

“If she’s here, she has to talk to you.” She laughed. “She can’t exist without someone to talk to. I’m not afraid now. I know you won’t hurt her.”

He smiled.

“That’s nice. You look different when you smile.”

“We’ve fought. In a way. She’s not really resisting. She’s responded to everything I’ve—” He looked away. “Would she stay if I told her she could leave at any time but that I wanted her to stay? For a few days? Three days? Something like that?”

“Maybe you should talk to Hades. He made the captive seduction work, it seems.”

“I’m serious. If I make it possible for her to leave, but ask her to stay for a few days, do you think she will?”

“Any other time, I would have said no. She’s petty and bitchy. She’s childish. I think these past few months have pushed her beyond that. Finishing once and for all with Ares, revealing who Eros’ father is, the spell on Ares to help him win Alala, and then trying to help Apollo and Daphne? She’s been worried sick about every part of her life, and every time she’s turned around something dramatic has happened. All her plans have gone wrong. Lots of it was her fault. That spell on Ares was stupid. She could have hurt him. She should have just told him Alala was in love with him. She should have approached Apollo and Daphne another way as well, but her crazy plan brought happiness to four people instead of two. Daphne and Hypnos are happy, and Apollo and I are happy. I was attracted to Apollo, but this made me take action. In the end, it turned out well.”

“I’m pleased you’re happy. You’re right. I’ve been trying for months to get Aphrodite to rely on me. Ever since Eros’ wedding. It all began there. Hermes fell in love with someone else, and she and Ares reached their breaking point. I wanted her to need me.”

“She did. That’s when you two connected again. You tried to help her as a friend would. You didn’t use her vulnerability to seduce her.”

He looked away.

Harmonia couldn’t help wondering what had been happening between them. He said they’d touched. Had he meant before all this? If they’d almost had sex a few weeks ago, her mother was closer to completely falling for him than she’d thought. What exactly had he meant earlier when he’d said she was responding? He’d cut that thought off quickly. She pushed the images away. That was their business, and despite her detachment from them, she didn’t want to think about her parents having sex.

“Ask her. If she wants to leave, let her. It will tell you a lot about what she’s feeling. If you promise she’s truly free, I think she’ll believe you. She might give you those three days. Even one night would probably be worth it. Just to sit and talk without her feeling trapped?”

“I think she’s felt trapped with me for a long time.”

“She’s afraid of having a relationship instead of an affair.”

“You think?”

She nodded. “I was like that years ago. Before Apollo caught my eye and started me thinking thoughts of ‘forever,’ I had lots of sex. I’m sorry if you don’t want to hear that, but I did. I was with lots of men.”

“As long as it was what you wanted, I’m fine. I have no right to object.”

“You’re my father.”

He stared at her for a moment, as if her actually saying that sentence had affected him. “I wasn’t thinking about that. Everything may go out the window when I tell her.”

Harmonia thought quickly. “Don’t tell her yet. She hid it from you so long. I think you’re justified.”

“You’re sure?”

“Work things out with her. I know deception usually ends badly, but try it. I can’t tell you what to do, but we can worry about this later.”

“Was she really so scared she thought hiding you was the best choice?”