“I told you about my heritage. About my powers. Aren’t you going to divulge to me how you managed the healing and the mask?” He held out his open palms to her, beseeching her to be forthcoming.
“Why? It sounds like you’ve got me all figured out already!” She snorted sarcastically.
He rolled his head on his neck and groaned. “It is a wonder no man has snatched you up with that sweet and conformable personality.”
“My personality is no better or worse than the company I keep.”
He waved her off like a fly and headed for the water.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to enjoy a drink of this sweet water. All that singing has left my throat dry and my body weak.”
The noise that came from Alena’s throat could only be interpreted as an unfavorable appraisal of his intelligence.
“You don’t approve of my slaking my thirst?”
“Are you an imbecile? Don’t you know anything about the gods and their tests?” She dug in her bag and removed a crystal with a pale green tint.
He squatted down beside the shore. The water was as clear as any he’d ever seen and felt cold against his fingers. He cupped his hand.
“Don’t drink that!” She shook her head like he was an idiot.
“Why not?”
“Everyone knows you never eat or drink anything in the realm of the gods. It’s how they curse you. You drink that and you could be trapped here for all eternity, or… or—”
“Or what?”
“It is said the goddess Circe transformed a man into a pig with a cup of wine.”
Alena was right. Orpheus remembered the stories from his childhood and the warnings about the gods. But as he tried to stand and turn away from the stream, the light played off the water and his mind turned as blank and empty as the silvery sky above. He lowered himself again to the stream’s shore.
Cupping his palm, he scooped a handful of water and sniffed it. “It smells fresh and sweet.” He was so thirsty. Soothing whispers seemed to float off the waves.Drink. The water is pure.Drink.
“Please! Don’t!” Alena called from behind him. She held up the stone in her hand and rushed to his side, then quite suddenly backed away. “Orpheus, the water is casting a spell on you. Come toward me. Turn away from it.”
He shot her a flirtatious smirk, feeling light-headed and mischievous. “I’ll make you a deal, my lovely—you tell me the origins of your power, and I won’t drink this water.”
Alena’s eyes widened and she gestured anxiously. “Come closer, away from the water, and I will tell you all you wish to know.”
Orpheus again tried to move to her, but the water danced in his peripheral vision, singing to him. His throat burned as if he’d swallowed a hot stone. If he could first quench his thirst. One sip, that was all he needed. He squatted back down and dunked his fingers under the cool surface.
“No, please wait!” Alena cried, holding out her hand to him.
He ignored her and scooped a handful to his lips. Delicious, cool refreshment soothed his burning throat. It was the sweetest water he’d ever tasted. He cupped both hands together beneath the surface again and drank more, then splashed his face.
“You must try this, Alena. It’s fresh. And perfectly good. Nothing is happening to me—”
His breath hitched, cutting off his thought as the world began to spin.
Chapter Five
Men!Alena planted her hands on her hips and watched in horror as Orpheus’s nose stretched toward her like pulled clay. His arms followed, extending toward the ground even as his stomach swelled and his feet morphed into grotesque clubs. The process looked painful, but the transformation occurred quickly. When it was over, Orpheus had become a bristly gray donkey with particularly long ears and a woolly face.
“Hades! By the gods, Orpheus, I told you not to drink it!” At least he’d finally moved away from the cursed water. She rushed to him and guided him safely away from its influence.
Orpheus brayed woefully at her.
