Calliope felt defensive.“I don’t know!That’s why I’m askingyou, Mars.You are the only one I know closest to him.You would know better than I?—”
“Yeah, wewereclose.Thick as thieves, but?—”
Calliope did not miss his sarcasm, but she noticed there was also an air of hurt in his words.Hurt, in Mars’s voice was...
Uncharacteristic.Odd.
“But what?”
Mars shook his head.“Sometimes people change, you know.And some people...some people don’t.Some people can’t embrace change.”
Calliope noted the sadness in his voice.“Did you two have an argument or something?”
Mars shook his head once more.“No, it wasn’t like that, it was just...”He let out a heavy sigh.“He’s my best friend, Callie.You know that.Nothing’s ever going to change that, but he felt like...”
Calliope suddenly realized the problem as Mars answered his buzzing phone, smiling when he looked at it.
“It’s Lorelai, hold on,” he said as he tapped out a text.
Pegasus had lost his wingman.He’d lost his partner in crime.To a human.A human who had saved his life.
The puzzle pieces started to fall into place, but was Chuck—wasPegasus,the god shifter she once knew—would he do something like this?
A god as powerful as him certainly didn’t need to resort tostealing.And as much of a pain in the ass as the man was, how cocky and conniving he could be, Calliope had never known him to steal anything but hearts and beds.
“You could just ask him, you know.You don’t have to converse throughme.”
Calliope pursed her lips.“And you think he’d tell me the truth?”
Mars shrugged.“You know him pretty well, too.I don’t know what you’re so afraid of, why you two won’t speak.”
Calliope let out a heavy breath.“It’s not that simple, Mars.”
“You always say that, Callie.You act like things are so complicated, but they aren’t.Chuck’s not the same guy you once knew.He’s changed.”
Calliope knew Mars was right, the winged pegacornhadchanged.Perhaps he had fallen as Mars once had...
“When is the last time you saw him?”she pressed.
“Personally?A couple months.But I know he still hangs out at theDen of Sinpretty frequently.If you...wanted to, you know, stop by for a chat with the guy.”
Calliope looked away, shaking her head.“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
She looked at the clock, realizing her next class would be starting soon.
“Just...think about it, okay?”Mars said carefully.
Calliope nodded.“I will think about it, but perhaps you should also remember that youoweme still.A favor.”
Mars’s gaze narrowed.“You cashing in your chip already, Cal?Shit, you really have something against the guy.”
It wasn’t that Calliope hated her ex-pegacorn beau.It was more or less, he aggravated the hell out of her.Chuck was not practical.He lived life on the edge, and he lived with no consequences.It did not matter to him who he fucked, where he landed, or where he went.Life was his buffet and a long time ago that had been attractive, but it had gotten stale.The inspiration dried up, as all sparks did, and when the sun came out, she had realized that she could not live on the edge of a cloud.Calliope longed formore.
She longed for love and devotion, two things the god shifter was not capable of.For Pegasus needed to be adored and praised, to have his coat stroked and then some.And in Pegasus’s life, there was only room for one beautiful creature.Himself.
“My class is starting in ten minutes,” she said pointedly.
Mars hummed in response.“Okay, I see.I’ll catch you later, Cal.Let you know if I hear anything, okay?”
