The Goddess Hunt

I nodded. That had become painfully clear when Henry had explained to me exactly what had happened between him and his first wife, Persephone. The myths had detailed how he’d kidnapped her and forced her to be his wife; he’d insisted it was an arranged marriage that had failed, and Persephone had been his willing bride. The rest of the council of Olympians had confirmed his side of the story.

“So what really happened?” I said. “Why are you so afraid of Henry?”

Lux scoffed. “We’re not afraid of him.”

“Sure seems that way to me,” I said, and Casey managed a small smile.

“Forgive Lux. He does not admit weakness easily. The beginning of the story is true, for the most part. We have different fathers, but obviously we are twins.”

It was my turn to smile. “Obviously.” They were identical down to their slightly crooked bottom teeth.

“Whether I was made in Lux’s image or Lux in mine, we don’t know. We were born to the same mother at the same time, and we were raised as my father’s sons. He was a king, and we had a good life with our sisters.”

“One of which you may know as Helen of Troy,” said James from the table, and Lux’s expression darkened. Instead of grumbling even more, he shoved a large piece of rabbit into his mouth and took his time chewing.

“Oh.” Kind of hard not to know about her. “Right, so—happy childhood with a gorgeous sister who inspired a war. Got it.”

“A war we never saw, as I died shortly before the start of it.” Casey folded his hands together and stared into the crackling fire. It was the first time during our conversation that he hadn’t met my eyes. “After my death, Lux went to his father—”

“He’s not my father,” said Lux through a mouthful of rabbit.

“Lux went to Zeus and begged that he allow us to stay together. Zeus relented, and he told my brother that we would alternate days between the Underworld and Olympus.”

“Lying bastard.” Lux again, though at least this time he’d swallowed.

“He did not lie,” corrected Casey. “Lux simply understood it one way while Zeus meant it another.”

James stood, his meal only half-eaten, and he moved to sit with us. “It wasn’t a misunderstanding. Zeus knew what he was doing.”

“Told you,” said Lux, and Casey sighed.

“Yes, well, regardless. My brother understood it to mean we would spend one day in the Underworld, one day in Olympus—together. Zeus, however, meant that we would spend it apart, sharing Lux’s rightful time in Olympus and mine in the Underworld.”

My hands tightened into fists. No one had to tell me how much the council enjoyed trickery. The past six months of my life had been one big deception on their part, though I didn’t hold a grudge. It’d all turned out perfectly all right for me—better than all right, even. But nothing about what Zeus had put Casey and Lux through was even remotely okay. “I’m sorry,” I said. “You’re together now though, right?”

Lux pushed his empty plate away. “Not because of anything Zeus did. Once I realized what was happening, I broke my brother out of the Underworld, and we’ve been on the run from the council ever since.”

“There’s a bounty on our heads,” said Casey. “Quite generous, really.”

“Thankfully the council’s mostly too busy to look for us, and the minor gods can’t tell their arses from their armpits.” Lux flopped down beside his brother. “But your dear husband is even more interested in finding us than Zeus is. Funny how much escaping from the Underworld can piss someone off.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What part of ‘I won’t say anything’ don’t you understand?”

“Forgive me if I’m skeptical. You are newlyweds, after all.”

Casey set his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Let it go. Kate, we don’t have many friends among the members of the council. They don’t take kindly to having the tables turned on them. Hermes—James, he’s the only one who’s shown us any kindness at all.”

“Well, you can count me as a friend, too,” I said. “I’m not going to let their egos get in the way of me helping you.”

“See?” Casey nudged his brother. “She’s not so bad.”

Lux scoffed, his dark eyes fixed on me. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

His lack of trust didn’t exactly inspire my confidence in him either, but at least he had a legitimate reason for being suspicious. I stared back, refusing to look away, and the seconds ticked by. Lux smirked.

“Feisty.”

I wrinkled my nose and gave him a look, which he returned mockingly. Casey grinned and patted his brother on the knee. Now that they were beside each other, they were in constant physical contact, as if reassuring themselves that the other was still there. I didn’t blame them.

“You need rest,” said Casey to Lux. “Go to bed, and we’ll figure out where James and Kate will—”

“Stop.” Lux tensed, and he turned toward the door. Several seconds of silence passed, and he whispered, “Did you hear that?”