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Chapter 15
" In other words, there is no magic wand, or whatever, that you can wave over me that wil guarantee that I make the right decisions. Even if it means my mistakes might cause others a lot of misery." Lina knew she sounded exasperated. What was the use of being a goddess if she was stil fal ible?
Demeter's expression was kind. "Wisdom does not come with immortality, Daughter." The Goddess emphasized the word to reinforce to Lina the role she must play. "It comes with experience. And you have had many years of excel ent experience in your life. Listen to your intuition. Use your mind. Believe in yourself. If you do make a mistake, learn from it." The glass began fil ing with murky wisps of cloud-like tendrils, obscuring the Goddess's face. "Return to Hades with my blessings, Daughter." Her voice faded and her image disappeared. Lina sighed. Basical y, she was on her own.
"I hope Persephone's having an easier time at Pani Del Goddess," Lina grumbled. The instant she spoke, the vapor within the glass bal began to swirl again. Then, as Lina watched in amazement, the cloudiness cleared to reveal a scene that caused her stomach to tighten with an unexpected wave of homesickness.
Lina bent closer to the oracle, total y engrossed in what she was seeing. Pani Del Goddess was definitely having a good day. The little bakery was fil ed with customers. Actual y, Lina blinked in surprise, it was packed. She peered though the magical orb, counting the familiar faces and realizing that they were in the minority. She didn't recognize most of the customers.
They certainly looked happy. There was a lot of talking and laughing going on along with - Lina blinked again, then her face broke into a pleased smile - they were eating what she was sure she recognized as Pizza alia Romana, the pizza that had summoned Demeter. There were also several new signs placed along the wal behind the pastry cases. In bold script one read PIZZA DEL GIORNO - Pizza of the Day - QUATTRO STAGIONI - Four Seasons, with al your favorites: tomatoes, artichokes, mushrooms, olives, three cheeses and prosciutto. Another proclaimed the vino del giorno - wine of the day - PEPPOLI CHIANTI CLASSICO RESERVA. It was the third sign that confused Lina. Al it said was TUBS OF AMBROSIA CREAM CHEESE LIMITED TO
THREE PER CUSTOMER.
Ambrosia cream cheese? What was that?
Then Lina gasped and felt her face flush hot as she watched herself saunter through the swinging doors from the kitchen and enter the bakery. Lina shook her head back and forth, back and forth, back and forth in a repeated motion of denial.
What had Persephone done to her? She wasn't wearing one of her wel -tailored business suits. She had on a little silk wraparound skirt that was bright fuchsia and a flowy short sleeved shel the color of honeydew melons. The skirt was short. Very short. And fuchsia! She didn't even own anything fuchsia! The shel veed dangerously low to expose Lina's deep cleavage. Openmouthed, Lina stared at her own body. The long length of leg that the skirt revealed was tanned, as was the rest of her body - which, in her opinion, Lina could see entirely too much of. And she had lost weight.
Lina narrowed her eyes and studied herself. No, maybe she hadn't actual y lost weight. She looked toned and healthy. Her curves were al stil there. They were just tighter and more wel -defined. And her hair was different. It was longer - a couple of inches longer. How could that be? Hadn't she only been gone a day or so? Lina looked again. Yes, it was definitely longer. It rested on her shoulders in messy, indistinct curls, giving her a naughty, windblown look. A man waved at Lina's body and she responded with a saucy smile and a toss of her hair. The man
- merda! He wasn't just a man, he was an incredibly young man - hurried over to the object of his attention. Lina gaped as she watched herself flirt outrageously with a young, handsome, young, muscular, young man who was quite obviously very wel acquainted with her. He couldn't have been much older than twenty-five.
The young handsome man bent and kissed Lina's body's mouth. Right in the middle of the bakery. Right in front of everyone.
"I don't F-ing believe it." She was too shocked to curse correctly in Italian or English. Persephone laughed and spun playfully away from her suitor. For a split second she looked up and winked. Right at Lina.
Lina gasped and jerked back like she'd been slapped. At once the glass began to swirl and become cloudy. The image of Pani Del Goddess dissipated like smoke.
"Problems with the oracle, Goddess?" A deep voice spoke from behind her. Lina whirled around to find that she was facing a man. An amazingly beautiful man.
"Persephone! I did not realize it was you."
"Hel o," Lina said breathlessly, her shaking hand covering her pounding heart. Who was this gorgeous man?
A name drifted enticingly through her mind like an erotic whisper - Apol o. Lina fanned her hot face and tried to pull herself together.
"You startled me, uh, Apol o."
The God lounged against the side of a large boulder. He was wearing a short leather tunic that was carved with a chest plate that met an unusual looking skirt-like wrap slung low around his muscular hips. But the "skirt" in no way made him appear effeminate. Except for a pair of sandals the rest of his body was bare. Very bare. Apol o was made of long, golden lines of muscle. His smile was smooth and attractive. Lina couldn't help staring. Actual y, she thought staring was probably required in her particular situation.
The God nodded his head at the oracle. "Talking to Demeter?"
"Urn, yes."
"She is visiting Hera. I think the two of them are planning something new with which to plague Zeus." He dropped his voice to a conspirator's level and his eyes gleamed. "Gossip has it that the Thunder God is besmitten with a mortal maiden... again." Apol o scratched his strong chin in consideration. "I believe the hapless girl's name is Io." He shook his head and laughed, making his bril iant blue eyes sparkle mischievously. "I wil never understand Hera's temper. We al know Zeus has an appetite for beauty, yet he has chosen only one wife. She should not waste her time on frivolous jealousies."
Lina lifted one perfect eyebrow. "You don't consider fidelity in marriage important?"
"I believe finding pleasure is important, as you know very wel , Persephone." His look was intimate as wel as seductive.
Ohmygod. Had Apol o been Persephone's lover?
"I would be honored to remind you of any number of pleasurable delights, Goddess of Spring." He pushed himself from the bank and moved with a feral grace toward her. Lina's mouth went dry. He looked like he was going to take her in his arms. Lina lifted one hand out in front of her like a stop sign. Yes, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen, but she wasn't the type of woman who would kiss a stranger - despite what Persephone might be doing in her world. Apol o watched her body stiffen and her jaw clench. He was wel -versed in seduction and he knew how to get past a goddess who was dabbling in coy flirtation. In a fluid motion he changed his intent. Instead of taking her luscious young body in his arms he captured her outstretched hand and bowed gal antly over it. Like the consummate gentleman he was not, he kissed her hand lightly. Stil holding her hand, Apol o looked deep within her eyes.
"I have watched you frolic in the meadows as I have driven my chariot through the sky. Your body moves with more grace than the flowers that bend delicately in the morning breeze. We would make a good match, you and I - the God of Light and the Goddess of Spring." Lina almost laughed aloud with relief. Now here was something she was used to dealing with - a slick guy with a ready line. She batted her long lashes at the handsome God and sighed with an excess of maidenly delight. For good measure she even added a little Oklahoma twang to her breathless response.
"Oh, Apol o, I'm so glad you final y asked."
The God's lips began to turn up in victory, but her next words caused his expression to freeze.
"Imagine - marriage to the God of Light! I simply couldn't be more thril ed! Just wait until I tel Mother." She gushed, squeezing his hand and bouncing up and down like a giddy school girl.
"Marriage?" His deep voice had gone suddenly hoarse.
Lina beamed an innocent smile into his sapphire-colored eyes.
He dropped the Goddess's hand like it was a flaming torch and took a step back, retreating from her bubble of personal space.
"It is not wise to rush hastily into marriage." He cleared his throat as if the word marriage was stuck there.
She told her face to frown prettily.
A flash of gold over Apol o's right shoulder caught her attention and interrupted the pithy reply she'd planned. She glanced behind him and felt her mouth round in pleasure.
"Oh! They're amazing." Forgetting about the suave God she turned her ful attention to the four horses that had just trotted into view. They were harnessed to a golden chariot that blazed with such a bril iant light that it made her eyes tear. And the horses! They were the same blinding golden color with manes and tails of silver-white. The four slid to a halt, snorting and stamping their delicate hooves.
