Aphrodite wants to right a wrong from many years ago. Her petty quarrel with Apollo resulted in him being separated from the woman he loved. Until now. With Zeus’s help, Aphrodite has given Apollo and his beloved Daphne a second chance. Will they find happiness together? Or will they find that the years of separation have drastically changed what each of them once wanted?
Excerpt:
Aphrodite stood in
a field and stared at a very unusual laurel tree, which was not a tree at all.
It had once been a girl named Daphne, and soon it would be again. She held her
hands over the center of the trunk and concentrated. When she lifted her hands,
a large lead arrowhead was there, stuck deep into the tree. Zeus had helped her
with the spell once he and Hera had agreed to let her lift the enchantments on
Apollo and Daphne without their consents, so this time she trusted her magic.
She would not make the same mistake she had made many months ago with the spell
she cast on Ares. She wanted to give Apollo and Daphne a second chance since
her meddling had ruined their first one.
She tugged on the
arrowhead, but it didn’t budge. She wiggled it a little, and that seemed to
loosen it. She pulled on it again. This time it came out quickly. Sap began to
pour out of the tree. Before long though, it turned to blood.
Aphrodite looked
at the arrowhead and threw it down. She tried to stop the blood with her hands.
The tree felt hot. She felt the bark turn to soft skin, saw the tree shrink and
transform into a girl who immediately began to moan in pain as her knees
buckled and she crumpled on the ground.
“Apollo! Apollo!”
She tried to support Daphne as best she could. Apollo had the ability to heal
all of the gods and other beings of Olympus, and surely he would help the woman
he’d loved for centuries. He didn’t answer at all though, and he didn’t appear.
Damn it, he must be hurt too!
She looked around,
but she saw no one. “Zeus! Help us! Please!”
Zeus immediately
appeared. He knelt down and took Daphne in his arms. “Hypnos!”
Hypnos, the god of
sleep, appeared within seconds. He looked angry.
“What have you
done?” he asked with obvious venom.
Zeus looked
shocked, and Aphrodite understood why. No one questioned Zeus, and Hypnos never
spoke to anyone like that. He was always quiet and gentle. With a chill
Aphrodite remembered that Hypnos was now the god of death again as well as the
god of sleep and dreams. Thanatos, whom they had all known as the god of death
for centuries, had never been real at all. He’d been part of Hypnos, the darker
part, living a separate life at the will of Zeus and the Fates to protect the
other Olympians from Hypnos’ ambition and darker desires. Since Thanatos’ duel
with Zeus, Hypnos had been made whole again, reabsorbing everything the Fates
had extracted. All his powers were fully restored, so Aphrodite couldn’t help
feeling nervous about his unexplained anger. She still remembered the days when
wondering what he might do had caused great fear.
“I said, what have
you done?” Hypnos repeated.
“A spell seems to
have gone wrong. We didn’t foresee this,” Zeus said. “Help Daphne, and then
I’ll explain.” He looked up at Aphrodite. “Apollo may need help too. Go to him
and let us know.”
Aphrodite nodded
and snapped her fingers. She had no idea why Hypnos was upset, but she knew
Apollo just might be out for her blood if he wasn’t in the same state Daphne
was.
* *
* *
Apollo lurched
forward as he threw up on his living room floor for the third time. His head pounded,
and his heart felt as if it was being ripped apart. Something tore at his
throat. He looked down and saw an arrowhead in the pool of bloody vomit. He
stared down at it in disbelief.
“Eros,” he called,
his voice barely audible. Then he stopped. Eros had shot the arrows at him and
at Daphne, but he had done so at Aphrodite’s command, her vengeance for Apollo
mocking Eros’ archery skills.
He’d thought
Daphne was the loveliest girl he’d ever seen. She’d been shy, but he had
persisted. Just when he’d felt she might be warming to him, Eros had shot them
both. Apollo had fallen madly in love with Daphne in an instant. He’d reached
for her, only to see her face curl up in disgust. She’d pushed him off and ran
from him. Not knowing what was wrong, he’d pursued her. He hadn’t understood
her cries of terror or her disgust at the idea of him being near her. Then
she’d called for her father to help her.
Apollo had stopped
short, but had still run face first into a tree. He soon afterward learned the
tree was Daphne. Her father had protected her the only way he could. The
poisonous lead arrowhead had lodged deep in her heart, and she preferred life
as a tree to life in a world with him in it. So the spell had never been
lifted. He’d loved her and been forced to live without her, thinking only of
how much she loathed him, for centuries.
He mustered all
his strength. “Aphrodite!”
“I’m already
here.”
He rounded on her,
though he was too weak to stand. Blood flowed from his mouth, and he could feel
the warm liquid also running down his throat. “What have you done?”
“How can I help? I
was afraid to speak. I’m sorry. The sight of you shocked me. Please tell me how
to help. Then you can yell at me all you want.”
He pushed his rage
down as the pain surged. “The bottles, there.” He pointed to the left side of
the bar. “The ones on that side aren’t alcohol, they’re potions.”
“Which one?” she
asked as she ran over.
He squinted.
“Blue. Top shelf, second bottle.” He cringed. “I need to stop the bleeding.”
She rushed over to
him, and he gratefully took a long drink.
“Didn’t you learn
your lesson with Ares? Zeus should forbid your use of magic.”
She knelt by him
and wrung her hands. He could tell she was fighting tears. “It wasn’t my own.
The spell was Zeus’, but something went wrong.”
“Zeus helped you?”
He puzzled over this, but then thoughts of Daphne sent a jolt of fear to his
heart. “Where’s Daphne?”
“With Zeus and
Hypnos.”
He struggled to
stand. “She may need me.” He braced himself on the bar. She tried to steady
him, and he grabbed her by the throat. “If she dies I will never forgive you.
Zeus may have to keep me from killing you.”
Aphrodite didn’t
seem concerned for herself. “You’re weak. I’ll take us there. Zeus and Hypnos
wouldn’t let her die.”
“But she may need
something only I can give. Zeus is not omnipotent. I am the only one who can
heal. Hypnos could only slow down her death.”
Aphrodite snapped
her fingers, and they appeared in the field where Daphne had lived so long as a
tree. Hypnos cradled Daphne in his arms. He looked furious, and Apollo wondered
what could have happened. Zeus stood watching at a distance.
Hypnos spoke up
quickly, cutting Apollo off as he opened his mouth. “Help her. A few more
minutes and I will have no choice but to take her back to the Underworld.”
Apollo nodded and
allowed Aphrodite to help him to Daphne. The intensity in Hypnos’ voice had
chilled him. Apollo knew it was urgent if Hypnos had to fight against his
instincts. He touched her forehead. She’d lost too much blood, and her mind was
catatonic. He concentrated, and three bottles appeared. Two contained orange
liquids, one blue. He took the blue one first. “Hold her up. She has to swallow
all of it.”
Hypnos helped
Apollo pour it slowly down her throat, pausing to make sure it wasn’t choking
her. Apollo rubbed her head, and then her throat, and finally her chest just
over her heart. He felt his hands warming as his powers returned. He took one
orange bottle and smelled it. He set it down and reached for the other. He
smelled it as well and then handed it to Aphrodite. “Cover your hands. It will
coat them like honey. Work it deep into her scalp. Rub until it is absorbed,
and use the whole bottle. When you are done, there should be no trace on your
hands or her skin or hair.”
Aphrodite nodded
and did as she was told. Apollo looked up at Zeus, too afraid to be angry now.
In his mind he told the king of the gods, She
might be insane. She might never be as she once was. She’s only a nymph, not a
god like us. I can only do so much.
This should not have happened, Zeus
replied.
Apollo picked up
the last bottle and gave it to Hypnos. “Make her drink this slowly as well, all
of it.” He touched her hand, which was cold. He looked down at her pale face.
She was still perfect to him. He wanted nothing more than to see her open her
stunning green eyes.
“Tell me about the
spell, Zeus. If all this doesn’t cure her, we’ll have to try something else.”
“It was supposed
to reverse time for both of you. Removing the arrowheads removes the spells
that were a part of you. You should both be as you were before.”
Apollo nodded and
squeezed her hand. He smoothed her skirt over her legs. She wore the simple
green and brown dress she’d been wearing that day long ago as they’d strolled
in the field together. Her feet were bare. He remembered how much she loved
walking barefoot in the grass. “That explains why I still care so much for her.
I was already falling for her then. I was trying to make her see how much I
wanted her.” He felt tears in his own eyes. “She said no to this, to the
lifting of the spell. I would rather you’d left her a tree for all eternity!”
His voice echoed throughout the valley.
Aphrodite didn’t
speak. Tears flowed freely down her face. Apollo couldn’t feel anything for
her. After what she’d done to him, he’d become obsessed with her. He’d wanted
nothing more than to have her, to fuck her and completely have his way with
her. Once he’d done that, he’d been disgusted with her and himself. He’d hurt
someone else in the process, Alala, who would soon be Ares’ wife. When they’d
been lovers for a time, he’d finally gotten his chance with Aphrodite. The day
Alala had found him fucking Aphrodite, she ran from him, just as Daphne had so
long ago. Alala was the only one who’d shown him kindness or love in the bitter
centuries he’d been forced to live through without Daphne. He blamed it all on
Aphrodite.
Daphne stirred.
She opened her eyes and looked around. She seemed panicked until she realized
Hypnos was holding her. “Hypnos!” she whispered. She threw her arms around him.
“Where am I? What has happened? Every inch of my body hurts.” She rubbed her
head and then looked up. “Who are these people?”
They all stared at
Hypnos, who smoothed her hair and held her close as if none of them were there.
“I can explain.
You’re going to have to remember things you’ve forgotten.” Hypnos stood and
lifted her in his arms. “Talking to her will only confuse her. She drank from
the Lethe years ago to stop the pain of her memories. I couldn’t refuse her.”
“What?” Apollo
demanded. “How did you help her? How could she drink from the Lethe? She’d been
a tree for centuries. She wasn’t dead. She couldn’t have gone to the
Underworld.”
“I am the god of
sleep and dreams. She hovered near
the Valley of Dreams, alone in her own world, and my friendship is the only
reason she is sane. She begged to forget, so I brought her water from the
Lethe. It seems the spell hasn’t altered that.”
Apollo felt his
rage boil over. “That’s why she stopped talking to anyone years ago. You wanted
her for yourself, and you forced her to forget!”
She whimpered and
buried her face in his neck. “Hypnos, take me home, please!”
Hypnos glared at
Apollo. “I am her friend, only her friend, but I will fight you as though I
were more. Let her be with her only friend. She doesn’t remember any of you. I
will explain everything to her.”
“I don’t trust you
to do that,” Apollo said as he stepped closer.
Daphne flinched as
he approached, and Hypnos took a defensive stance. “Back off, right now. You’re
frightening her.”
Fierce jealousy
filled Apollo’s heart as he watched her cling to Hypnos. “No. I won’t let you
take her. She’s mine!”
She jerked her
head up. “Are you crazy? I don’t even know you!”
His heart thudded
painfully. He saw once again that same look of revulsion on her face. He turned
from her. “Go. Get out of here!”
Hypnos nodded to
Zeus. “I will explain all, to her and to you.”
Zeus nodded
quickly and waved him away. Hypnos and Daphne disappeared.
Apollo turned back
to Zeus. “How could you let Aphrodite do this? I am going to lose Daphne a
second time. Do you know what that is going to feel like? Do you have any
idea?”
Zeus sighed.
“Let’s wait until Hypnos has explained things to her. We can do nothing until
then.”
Apollo turned his
back on Zeus and walked away, slapping Aphrodite’s hand back when she reached
out to stop him. “I am going to get rip-roaring drunk! Keep that blonde bitch
out of my path, or I will kill her!”
The two remained
silent as he headed to the mortal world, ready to make a few bartenders very
happy.
