Page 80 of Curse the Flame

However, she does look as nervous as the rest of us.

Swallowing roughly as she approaches, hugging an arm around the middle of her light pink chiton, she pleads with Daphne as she says, “Is it over yet? Are the mountains safe?”

Daphne shakes her head. “Not yet. We got Hades, though… Will, have you met Jolie yet?”

If I had, I would’ve remembered. “No.”

She gestures at the beauty. “This is Jolie. You might know her better as Psyche.”

Wait. Psyche? I know Psyche. At least her shockingly good looks make sense now, but if she’s Psyche… I inch out toward the tree line, peering up in the sky. Just like I thought, there’s a male shape flying up high on a pair of fluffy white wings.

“Is that Eros?” I ask in ill-disguised wonder.

The tiniest smile breaks through her obvious worry. “He’ll be so pleased someone recognized his Greek name. Gods know I love him, but he gets so offended when someone calls him ‘Cupid’.”

Daphne arches an eyebrow. “Then he shouldn’t have shot me with a lead arrow, Jol. Then maybe my soulmate would show yours a little more grace, yeah?”

When Jolie lowers her eyes to the dirt, Daphne bumps her lightly in the shoulder with her fist. “I’m just fucking with you. You know that. Now say ‘hi’ to my cousin. This is Willow, better known as Persephone. She finally convinced Hades to get off his ass and get off his metal throne so he can finally help us out here.”

Unlike Jolie, I know better than to rise to Daphne’s bait. Instead, I just smile at the blonde. “It’s nice to meet you. I mean, maybe not under these circumstances—” Boom. I have no idea what just happened behind me because I have my back to the mountain, but it doesn’t sound good. I let out a weak chuckle. “But, yeah. You know what I mean.”

When Daphne and Jolie both agree with that sentiment, my cousin turns to me. “Okay. I’ve been dying to ask, but I knew we had no time when we were in the Underworld. Real quick. What the hell happened down there? With Kronos? We only had any clue that something happened because Delphi reported that Sparta was on the move. On Alex’s orders, Marcus sent some sentries out, so we figured they were planning to attack Olympus today, but it wasn’t until Ares announced to his men that Kronos was in place in the Underworld that they started to move. Marcus reported to Alex, and the two of us used my ruby to tell you that he was down there and that we needed you for the fight, but then you guys said you captured him. What the hell? How?”

I know Daphne. She’s both trying to be nosy and get information from me at the same time as she’s distracting both of us from the reality that our husbands are preparing to fight against the vicious god of war, three titans, and a freaking army.

If I wasn’t so worried about what was happening to my husband, I might humor her and give her all the deets. As it is, all I can manage is, “He arrived as a shade. I thought he was Theseus, and then he tried to kidnap me,” before both women gasp.

Daph, I get. I figured she would lose it if she found out I was in danger. But Jolie? Her sudden reaction is more of a surprise.

Her head whips around. “Theseus?” she echoes. “Did you say ‘Theseus’?”

I nod. “That’s how he made it to the Underworld without getting caught. He claimed he was Theseus, and as Theseus, he was killed trying to keep the minotaur from attacking his wife.” I think of poor Aria. “I hope she’s okay. I didn’t see her shade in the Underworld alongside his.”

“That’s because she isn’t dead,” says Jolie.

I’m glad to hear it. I’m also confused how Jolie knows that. “She isn’t?”

“No. I… I know Aria. She’s like a sister to me. She thought Theseus was her soulmate. Even tried her best to make it work, but he was so bogus. Do you know what that loser did? He gave her to the minotaur. Claiming he couldn’t understand why their story wouldn’t end, he brought her to the hidden labyrinth, and he left her there. I don’t know what happened to him after that, but I’ll say one thing: Aria is much better off without that jerk in her life.”

I don’t think it’s the right time to explain that the real Theseus probably was never in her life at all.

CHAPTER 22

HOME

WILLOW

Luckily—or not luckily, depending on your point of view—another explosion splits through the air, suddenly reminding the three of us that there’s a battle raging.

I can’t do it. Daphne’s anxiety might have her unable to watch out for her sun god, but I can’t pretend that Aiden isn’t out there, risking himself because I basically asked him to. I know he’s only here because of me.

I have to make sure he’s okay.

Tiptoeing closer to the tree line, staying hidden as best as I can, I watch as gold and silver sparks flash through the sky. It takes a second before I realize what they are. Arrows. Following them to their source, I see that Eros is shooting from the sky. Alex is shooting from the ground, tucked out of sight in a hiding spot of his own.

On the mountain, there are two archers: a petite figure with dark hair, dressed in mortal clothes who has a silver glow covering her even more effectively than her t-shirt and jeans, plus a giant of a man draped in a brown leather cloak perched at her side. Artemis and Orion—or, if you ask Alex, Noelle and Hunter. They’re both shooting arrows, too, and as I watch, I see that all four archers are targeting the titans.

It’s working. I would’ve thought that the arrowheads wouldn’t penetrate their marble-looking skin, but they definitely do. All three of the titans look like pincushions, that’s how many arrows had found their place in their oversized bodies.