Akri sighed. “What are you doing here?”
Simi gasped as a woman answered and not just any woman.
The heifer goddess, Artemis. “That’s just … not right. Say something else so I know which of you is Acheron.”
“What, Artemis?”
“There’s that irritated tone I loathe.” She paused a moment before she spoke again. “I have brought you presents.”
Simi’s brows shot up at those words. Always beware a Greek bearing gifts, especially when it was a god.
“Why?” akri asked.
“You’re going up against my brother and the rest of those animals … I want you to win, and make him bleed. A lot. Buckets and buckets full until it gushes and fills the entire hall.”
“Should I be afraid of the bloodlust?” Styxx asked.
“I’m terrified of her. What did Apollo do, Artie?”
“He attacked Nicholas while he was weakened. I will not have it. Since I’m not powerful enough to harm my brother on my own, I want you two to kick his leg.”
Kick his leg? Simi repeated silently as she tried to make sense of that.
“You mean ass, Artie?”
Oh … Simi shook her head. The heifer could never get her sayings right. She messed them up all the time. So much so that it made akri crazy.
“Whatever body part pleases you. You can’t kill him, but you can make him suffer. Long. Hard. Pitifully. I gave Savitar an assortment of weapons I dipped in the River Styx. It will weaken Apollo to the point he’ll be as a mortal. If I were you, I’d castrate him slowly and with a great deal of?—”
“Grammy! Grammy!”
Simi laughed at the sound of Mia breaking in. Amused, she cracked open the door to see the dark-haired four-year-old leap into Artemis’s arms. She was so beautiful. The top of her frou-frou dress bulged with pink-and-white cloth flowers, some of which decorated the long, poofy, yellow tulle skirt. Her legs were covered with matching pink leggings and pink patent leather shoes. Mia was even wearing a pair of munchkin-sized, pink tulle fairy wings that Kat had made for her so that she could match Simi’s resting wings.
Her rant instantly forgotten, Artemis gave the child a giant hug as she picked her up. “Mia Bella! How is my precious today?”
The little girl squealed. “Gamma, Gamma, Gamma, guess what? Guess what! The Simi gonna put hornays on my head like hers and Pappas’s. And she said that I could pick any color I want and that they’d be on all the time, and they can glow in the dark, too.”
That was true. Simi had offered to do it so that Mia would have beautiful hornays like hers.
Bug-eyed, Artemis looked horrified.
Akri laughed and rubbed Mia’s back. “How about if Simi makes you a pair that can come off?”
Pfft on that. Akri always spoiled her fun.
Mia wrinkled her nose at him. “Pappas! No! I want real ones. Like you and Simi and Xireni.”
Artemis screwed her face up at Mia. “You know Pappas only has those when he’s mad, right?”
Mia’s eyes widened. “Really?”
They both nodded.
Mia’s attention finally went to Styxx. Her eyes widened. “Who cloned Pappas?” she whispered loudly.
Akri smiled. “He’s my brother … your grand uncle Styxx.”
Mia launched herself into Styxx’s arms so that she could kiss him. “You look just like my Pappas.” Then she put her hands on his cheeks and rubbed noses with him. “That’s how Charonte say hello. But only if they like you. Otherwise, they eat you with ketchup or barbecue sauce, or if they’re like my uncle Xed, jalapenos which are really hot, too.”
