grinned.
“You’re not exactly innocent when it comes invoking the wrath of Nemesis,” said Aphrodite.
“I haven’t done anything to her since that bacchanal in the spring of 293. And B -T-W, I only suggested we should use her sword for the spit. Apollo was the one who stole the damned thing and put a dead pig on it.” Daphne grimaced. “Damn. I promised myself I wouldn’t say the A-word.”
“I forgot you two are on the outs again. What did he do this time?”
“Does it matter?” Daphne sashayed to her desk, and pulled open a drawer. “There’s not a whole lot on the agenda.”
“I know.” Aphrodite sighed. She looped her arm around Grace’s shoulder, and they walked back to join Daphne. “Those reality dating shows and tawdry online matchmaking websites have taken the fun out of love. In the old days, all you needed were a couple hundred young people gallivanting in nature, a roaring bonfire, and vessels of Dionysus’s vintage wine. That’s how you make love matches.”
“I thought those parties always ended in orgies.”
“They did,” said Aphrodite, “but they also ended in love matches.”
Daphne pulled a metal object out of the drawer and showed the women. “Ta-da!”
Aphrodite squinted at the odd square object. “What is it?”
“Hephaestus made it for me. It’s basically a god and goddess GPS.”
“Why would you need one of those?” asked Aphrodite. One blonde brow winged upward. “To avoid a certain boyfriend?”
“Ex-boyfriend.” Daphne tapped the top of the GPS. “Now, do you want to find Nemesis or not?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
DARRIUS HELD ALAYA in his arms, feeling utterly complete. Gone was the restlessness that had been his solid companion since the day he’d lost Alaya. He never thought he’d have his beloved in his arms again. To kiss her, to hold her, to love her—it was surreal. And yet, here they were, together once more.
This time, they would have their happily-ever-after.
“You have been judged and found guilty of hubris,” boomed a female voice. “Vengeance is mine!”
Light shattered the darkness.
Darrius jumped out of the bed, growling, already preparing to change into his lycan form. He would defend Alaya to his dying breath. His woman rolled off the bed and joined him. She was a warrior. As fierce a beast as any lycan he’d ever known. Alaya’s stance was loose, but Darrius knew she was also preparing for the change. Together, they would face this danger.
Whatever the hell the danger was.
Out of the brightness walked a tall woman, dressed in black leather. She held a gleaming sword in one hand—and in the other, a gold apple. “The frivolous insolences of mortals,” she said with a sneer. “Do you believe you deserve true love? I mean, really! It’s been seventy years. That’s a dog’s age.” Nemesis laughed. “Dog’s age. I crack myself up.”
“ Fuck off, Nemesis. I’m free of you and your wrath.”
“Watch your mouth, puppy. You broke the bargain. You will be punished.”
“I didn’t break the bargain, and you know it. I have a different face. It is my old visage that Darrius could not look upon.” Alaya smiled thinly. “So there.”
Nemesis raised the sword, which drew Darrius’s gaze and his ire. Alaya growled low in her throat and crouched, ready to leap.
But it was the apple that posed the threat.
“You will forget your true love. Forever.” The apple glowed red, and that insidious color snaked toward them quick and vicious. Its noxious heat surrounded them, a cloud of poison they could not escape.
“Damn it, Nemesis!” Through a veil of choking red, Darrius saw a delicate bejeweled hand snatch the apple. The red dissipated immediately.
“Daphne! We don’t have much time.”
“On it, boss.” A thin girl dressed in a vinyl pink sheath and thigh high ballet boots appeared before them. Tiny jewels glittered at the end of her pink lashes, making the violet color of her eyes pop. Her purple hair was