“Not much. Mostly that whenever Andreas found a lead, such as a marking or a reference, the next time he would go tothe same place, it would be gone. They clearly don’t want to be found…or the eye, for that matter.”
“Kind of a gross name—the Minotaur’s Children. You know, with the whole bestiality component, don’t you think?”
Theo laughed. “I suppose so. Hadn’t really thought of it, to be honest.”
“Are you serious?” Dani said, making a face. “That was the first thing I thought when I heard the name.”
“That’s because you’ve got a dirty mind.”
“You like it,” Dani said, sticking her tongue out at him.
“Yeah, I do,” he said, grinning.
Dani leaned back, satisfied with herself.
“You don’t think people were having sex with the Minotaur, do you?” she asked. Because if they were, yuck.
“I doubt it. Greek myths don’t really shy away from talking about sex, and there’s no mention of people having sex with the Minotaur.”
“Unless,” Dani said, excitedly rolling over on the daybed, “the Minotaur’s Children had those references erased!”
He chuckled. “Unless that. Who knows? You could be right.”
She settled onto her side again and tucked her hands under her head as she stared at Theo. He looked so sexy lying there, reading. Watching him was one of her favorite pastimes, though it was much better with him in beach attire sans shirt.
She missed this. She missedhim. Just being with him.
“Tell me the story of the Minotaur,” she said.
“You’ve heard it.”
“I know. But I like hearing you tell it.”
“Well,” he said, closing the book and turning slightly to face her, “King Minos had prayed to Poseidon for a beautiful white bull, which Minos was then supposed to sacrifice to Poseidon.But he didn’t. So as a punishment, Poseidon and Aphrodite arranged for Minos’s wife, Pasiphae, to fall in love with the bull. Pasiphae then had Daedalus, Minos’s craftsman, build a wooden cow contraption so she could have sex with the bull.”
Dani’s eyebrow raised. “You’re joking! I don’t remember him building a Trojanbull!”
Theo shook his head. “I’m afraid not. After she gave birth to the half man, half bull, Minos had Daedalus construct a labyrinth beneath the palace to keep the Minotaur. Later, after the death of Minos’s son in Athens, King Aegeus would send seven young men and seven young women to Crete to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. If they made it out of the labyrinth, they would be free. But no one made it out. Not until Theseus came around.”
“And who was Theseus again? The guy with the sail?”
“Right. King Aegeus’s son. Theseus had set out on a mission to complete a series of dangerous tasks. The defeat of the Minotaur was his final task. And when he arrived on Crete, Minos’s daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with him at first sight, and she offered to help him through the labyrinth by giving him a spool of thread that he could use to find his way back out of the maze after slaughtering the Minotaur.”
“What happened to her?”
“He abandoned her on the island of Naxos when she was sleeping.”
“Wow, Theseus was a dick.”
“Or a prince used to being admired and adored.”
Funny, because Dani was admiring Theo as he talked. He knew these stories as if he’d written them himself. Knowing all the ins and outs. All of the people involved. It was cute.
“What?” he asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I think it’s sexy when you turn into a Greek geek.”
“Oh yeah?”
