Mt. Olympus’ ballroom was amazing in its vastness, with towering marble pillars that went all the way up until it disappeared in a mass of fluffy clouds. It took me several moments to understand that I was literally looking at clouds, and that the sky actually served as the ballroom’s ceiling.
Very cool, I thought,but what if it rained?
The couple on the throne chuckled. Dike was glaring at me again. And I realized a second too late I had blurted my thought out loud.
I was so dead.
“Come forward, Blair Vavrin.” It was the man on the throne who spoke, tall and powerfully built, with a dramatically handsome face and a long dark beard.
Sad Keannu,I thought yet again, but of course he wasn’t just that. He was Zeus, the god who reigned in Mt. Olympus –and he knew my name.
Zeus! Knew! My! Name!
My knees knocked against each other as I moved forward, stopping only before the edge of the dais. Remembering Dike’s lesson earlier, I made sure to curtsy this time, so deep that I almost lost my balance and toppled over.
When I straightened, the couple on the throne was visibly amused, and Dike looked like she wanted to throttle me.
Okay, not only was I dead, but I was so going to be fired after this.
“We thank you for your aid.” It was the dark-haired woman on the throne who spoke this time, and cast it, but she looked so much like a dead ringer for Charlize Theron that I felt like I had stepped into a movie set, and that would be...what?
Sweet November? The Devil’s Advocate? Or John Wick meets Atomic Blonde?
Clearing my throat, I started to thank the Olympians when I realized one glaring hole in my vocabulary. How did one address Olympians?
“Thea,” I heard Dike cough from behind.
I nearly expired in relief, and smiling nervously at Zeus and Hera, I stammered, “It w-was my honor to serve,theo, thea.”
“How kind you are,” Hera murmured with a smile.
“Indeed,” Zeus agreed, “which is why my wife and I would like to offer you any reward you choose.”
I automatically started to refuse, but then I saw Dike’s scowl, and the look of deadly warning on her face was pretty easy to interpret.Refuse...and die.
“Don’t be shy, child,” Hera said soothingly.
“I...well...”Gaea help me, but what could I ask that would make me appear neither greedy nor sycophantic?
“Speak your desire,” Zeus urged, “and it will be granted.”
Unable to bear everyone’s scrutiny, I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. “I would like...a photo with Apollo.”
Zeus and Hera stared at me in surprise.
This time, Dike looked like she wanted to kill herself.
I guess...that made me sound more like a teenage fangirl than a respectable agent of CSI?
“You are certain of this?” Zeus inquired finally.
“Yes,theo. Apollo is my favorite Olympian.” This, at least, was true.
Zeus’ dark brows shot up. “You favor him over me?”
Brooms and sticks!
“I...I...I...”
