“I’m here to clean up your fucking mess. Again.”
Mars nodded at the girls between his legs as he dug into his pocket. He procured a small wad of cash, handing it to the one curled around his right thigh.
“Go get yourselves a drink, will ya?” He said the words nonchalantly, as if they weren’t any different than “hi” or “hello.”
But to Mars, they certainly weren’t.
When the doe-eyed darlings left their coveted spot between his legs, Athena crossed her arms, shooting him a scathing look.
“What did you do, Mars?” she asked.
He stared back at her with his bright, golden eyes, dark hair falling in his face.
“What’s it to you? It’s not like you care what I do.”
“Of course, I care what you do—”
“I haven’t heard from or seen you in over a century, Athena. Then out of fucking nowhere, you show up here looking all pissed off, so I know you’re not here to catch up over fucking coffee.”
Athena’s feathers bristled beneath the surface, feeling the bite of her predator’s threat.
“Dad called.” She said the words plainly, but she felt their weight.
Two words.
Those two words caused all of Mars’s aloof, charismatic playboy demeanor to vacate, leaving his golden eyes dark and shadowed, his shoulders tense.
“He’s...”
“Worried about you. Heard some rumor that you’re losing your power... That you tried to take on one of the fates...” She could not help that her voice cracked as his face fell.
“I’m fine, I—” Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the earth moved.
Athena gasped and the Den shook, bottles crashing to the ground.
An earthquake.
A flash of blue sped past her, like a comet, and as soon as the Den had fallen into a quick, broken disarray, it was over.
Mars clutched his chest, a look of pain on his face.
“Are you all right?” she asked, even though she knew the answer. They’d survived plenty of natural disasters, and never once did they experiencepainor injury. They were Gods, for God’s sake.
“I’m fine, I—”
Mars attempted to stand, but just as he did, his auraflickered.The golden glow that encompassed him died, and so did the light in his eyes as he fell to the ground, causing Athena to react.
She caught him as he fell against her, his body heavy in her grasp as he looked up at her for a moment.
His golden eyes had faded to brown.
Human-brown.
A sweat broke out along his brow as he clutched his chest. Patrons in the Den were bristling about, chattering about the earthquake, and Calliope approached them.
“Are you guys all right?” she asked as she helped steady Mars.
Mars let out a shaky breath as his golden glow fused back to life, but it was not as bright as it once was.
