Eventually, I fell asleep over the console, still holding Gavin’s hand.
It was still dark when I felt the Jeep stop moving, and Gavin nudged me slightly.
“Are we there?” I asked, my hair stuck to my face.
His jaw was set as he stared out of the window. I followed his gaze, my stomach knotting upon seeing that we weren’t the only car. I sat straighter, leaning toward the dash and squinting at the shadowed vehicles.
“Is that…” I stared at the car waiting in the dark purple light, a motorcycle’s headlight shining nearby and illuminating it just enough to see. It was a Panther DeVille, the same car that had become famous during the Disney film.
“Yes,” Gavin said as he put the Jeep in park. “I’ll give you one guess as to who drives it.”
His lips drew into a flat line, and we glanced at the woman standing with her arms crossed by the motorcycle.
Oh.
Well, that made sense.
Aphrodite had a scarf wrapped around her hair to block out the sand and dirt. She looked so…herin the white pantsuit she wore.
“Only she would wear that into the desert,” Gavin muttered. “Come on. They’ll swarm the car if we don’t get out.”
He was right. The others were beginning to stare our way. God, I was a wreck. I wanted to hide in the backseat and pretend I wasn’t there. At first, it sounded like so much fun, but now that I knew the real reason for our attendance, I didn’t know how to act.
Would I be the girl they remembered? Would they even know me? And if they did… would that help my memory?
I needed to vomit.
A cold sweat beaded on my forehead, and my hands were clammy as I crawled out of his car. Eyes peered through the darkness, including the eyes of Aphrodite and Ares. Ares revved up his bike as Gavin and I approached the front of the station wagon parked by Aphrodite’s car.
“It’s a family reunion,” a familiar voice said as they exited the station wagon.
My gaze narrowed at the person. The moment his face came into view, things made sense.
Gavin’s grip tightened on my hand. “I don’t believe you’ve met him yet,” he said, yawning at the last words. “This is Hermes.”
I eyed Hermes’s smirking face. “Oh, I know him,” I said. “I think I want my money back now.”
Hermes huffed amusedly and opened his mouth to speak, but whatever look rested on Gavin’s face sent his smile faltering and words stammering.
“How exactly do you know him?” Gavin asked.
“He was the pilot of the plane Tyler chartered to the vineyards a few weeks back.” I tilted my head. “We had anicelittle conversation on the way back.”
“Now, I don’t think that warrants a refund—“
“Pay up,” I said, extending my hand.
Hermes’s mouth twisted, but he shelled out a wad of cash from his back pocket and started counting bills. He glanced at Gavin. “She’s more demanding than I remember,” he muttered.
“Youtried to tell me who I was that day,” I said. “He told me I looked like a girl he had once known,” I said. “A girl who had been dropped off atop a mountain to wait for her husband.”
Aphrodite turned in our direction. Ares shut off the bike.
“Ah, well, if we’re getting technical about it—“
“Fucking Styx, Hermes,” Ares muttered behind him.
“You remember?” Aphrodite asked me.
