Dani and Theo looked at each other, confused, and then looked back at the priest.
“I’m sorry, what is it exactly that the Minotaur’s Children are worshiping then?” Dani asked.
“We celebrate the strength and virility of the Minotaur,” the priest said, smiling almost with adoration.
Thevirilityof the Minotaur? They were celebrating thelovemaking between Pasiphae and the bull? Theo scanned the room, and the benches and chaises took on a whole new light.
“The Minotaur’s Children…is asexcult?” Theo asked.
The priest looked mortified. “Oh goodness, no,” he said, holding his hand to his chest as he started laughing. “Is that what you were thinking?”
“Um…yeah. You haven’t exactly told us who you are or what we’re doing here,” Theo said. “Virility? I mean, come on. Did the Minotaur evenhaveany children? Not to mention this place. This is like a swingers’ paradise,” he said, motioning to the furnishings.
He’d heard some far-fetched ideas in his years, but most of those remained in the mythology books.
“We are a society who seeks to protect the truth of the Minotaur. Descendants of Theseus, who harnessed its true strength.”
Andreas laughed. “So, in other words, you can’t have Demetrios Papantonis taking the glory from Theseus, is that right?”
“Demetrios Papantonis was nothing but a storyteller,” the priest said.
“Cool,” Dani chimed in. “I’m sorry, but why did you bring us here?”
Leave it to her to cut out the bullshit.
“There’s nothing out there,” the priest said, standing from the bench. “I’m saving you the trouble of wasting more time than you already have searching for a nonexistent relic. Trust me, we’ve looked. The library upstairs is full of just about every writing that evenmentionsthe Minotaur. Over the years, the Minotaur’s Children have followed every lead. And it seems we eventually came to the same conclusion after studyingDemetrios Papantonis’s writings as you did about the Temple of Poseidon. But after countless days and hours searching the temple over the course of years, we’ve determined that Papantonis’s words were nothing but a metaphor. The temple is merely a place for us to worship thespiritof the Minotaur.”
“Then why remove all evidence that he existed?” Andreas asked.
“Because we needed to protect the sanctity of Theseus. If people thought Theseus had been fooled into letting a powerful gemstone like the eye out of his grasp, he would have lost credibility,” the priest explained.
“You were worried about hiscredibility? The man lied and deserted the woman who saved himon a beach!” Dani said. “Unbelievable. You could have told us all this back at the temple. You didn’t need to scare the shit out of us by tossing us in a shady-ass van and driving us to this house.”
“Well, if I’m being honest—” the priest started.
“Please,” Dani interrupted. “Honesty would be lovely.”
Theo snickered. He hoped she never got rid of that sass.
The priest paused, twisting his mouth. He clearly didn’t like it as much. “As I was saying, the way the Minotaur’s Children have thrived all these years is by recruiting members. And who better to join our ranks than other Minotaur hunters, men who’ve found their way to the Temple of Poseidon, searching the grounds for the Minotaur’s remains?”
“So, let me get this straight,” Andreas said, bringing his hands into a steeple in front of his face and placing his index fingers on the bridge of his nose. “You brought us here to…become members?”
“Well, not all of you,” the priest said, looking at Dani.
“Why? Because I’m not Greek?”
“No, not that,” the priest said.
Dani rolled her eyes. “I bet they don’t even acknowledge that Theseus only succeeded because of Ariadne,” she said under her breath. Theo couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What if we don’t want to join your…”Cult, Theo thought to himself. “Society?”
“The choice is yours. No harm will come to you if you decline.”
“Whatwillhappen to us if we decline?” Theo asked. “Aren’t you afraid that we’ll tell others what we saw here?”
“Who would believe you? There are few mentions of Demetrios Papantonis in history. Aside from his journal, which has questionable origins, there arenomentions of the eye of the Minotaur inanyhistorical writings. And no member of the Minotaur’s Children will reveal their association, if you’re able to discover their identity in the first place. But as a show of good faith, my name is Lysander Stavrou, and I am a member of the Hellenic Parliament.
