Deer in Headlights (Hearts and Arrows 1) (Good god series) by Staci Hart Read Free Book Online Page A

her in the spring grass.
    A branch snapped nearby, and Aphrodite opened her heavy lids, confused.  
    “What in Hades?” she said, her voice husky, and then she saw him.
    Erymanthus hid in the brush, leering at her with a hand under his robes. It was not the first time she had found Apollo’s son lurking, trying to catch a glimpse of her bathing or with Adonis, but never had she been taken by surprise. And she was so shocked, so caught off guard, that when he sneered with a wicked look in his eye and turned to run, she filled with rage.
    She stood and flung out her hand, fingers splayed, eyes glowing blue-white in her wrath as she paced toward him. An angry wind flew through the space between them, kicking up leaves and flowers that danced madly in the currents, whipping her hair around her. He clawed at his eyes, screaming as he turned and ran.
    She let him go with his life, though he would spy no longer.
    The wind calmed as her hand dropped to her side, her heart thumping in her chest as she turned to where Adonis lay stunned, his long body stretched out in the grass. He shook his head, but the shock never left him as she stalked to him, her heart racing furiously on the rush of her wrath.
    Adonis propped himself up, and when she reached for his face, he leaned out of her reach, emotion warring behind his eyes. “How could you?”
    She was dumbstruck, her anger dissipating, her tone soft and pleading. “Truly? He saw me naked, exposed, and this is not the first time he has tried. He was touching himself, Adonis, while watching us. You suggest that I let that go unpunished?”
    “What will become of him?”
    “He is blind, but he is alive, and lucky to be so. I am a goddess, worshipped and sacred. Surely you understand?”
    He looked away and rubbed a hand across his lips. “I sometimes forget that you are not human.”
    Her eyes stung at his words. “Have you forgotten who I am? I know that it is impossible for you to grasp immortality and the life of a god, but that does not mean I am not the one you love.”
    “This is why I do not wish for immortality. You say that all will be the same, but it will not.”
    She touched his cheek, and he turned to face her, his eyes sad. “Adonis, please. I have lived so long and have order to uphold. It is the way of things. It does not change my feelings for you, or who I am.”
    His face softened, and he leaned into her hand. “I know. I should not be so shocked, but to see you in wrath reminds me how different we are.”
    She pulled him into her chest, filled with cold dread, and he wrapped his arms around her. If he never drank nectar, he would never fully be hers, would never understand, and she wondered how long they could survive together if they couldn’t find common ground.
    “I must go,” she said and kissed the top of his head. “Go. Hunt. Call for me when you are ready to speak, and I will come to you.”
    She returned to Olympus, thinking over the exchange as she soaked in a steaming bath, trying to relax, though her mind was occupied, searching for a way to bridge the gap between her and Adonis. The room glowed with the soft light of candle flames that lined the edge of the enormous marble bath. She sank into the fragrant water, and her eyes had just closed when he called her, his voice ragged with pain.
    Adonis.  
    She shot up, the force spilling water over the edge, putting the candles out with a hiss, filling the room with the acrid smell of sulfur.
    “Gods,” she whispered and when she blinked, she was dressed and by his side.  
    The horror of what she saw stole the air from her lungs, and she fell to the ground next to him. Blood was everywhere, on the grass around him, on his ashen skin. The flesh on his torso was torn open from groin to sternum, and his entrails lay all around him in the grass. She leaned over him, called his name, shouted and cried as she pushed them back in, her hands splayed to hold him together.
    His eyes tracked her, and he