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Without a word, the god Poseidon lifted her from the floor and held her to his chest. He strode purposefully to the westernmost end of the temple. The tide had risen so high that water pooled at the feet of Athena and all the burnt offerings were extinguished. He stepped from the temple directly into the water. The sea surrounded her at once.
Passion fled. Panic took its place, seizing her heart as Poseidon has seized her body.
What had she done? The shore receded in the distance and the world was nothing but black water. She screamed in terror, but the water muffled the sound. Would she drown? Would she die? Was this the cruelty Poseidon had offered her? Would she close her eyes and wake again in the kingdom of Hades?
She squirmed in Poseidon’s grasp, but he did not release her. She beat against his shoulders, pounded her fists into his hands. It was like trying to raze a forest using a feather.
A heavy current surrounded them and lifted them to the surface. The white cap of a wave broke over Lia’s head and she tasted air. She was going to die if he took her down again. She had one chance to save herself. No one could best a god except, perhaps, another god. What god would she call upon? Athena, who had sent her to the temple? Zeus, who would take any chance to best one of his brothers? Aphrodite, who would take any chance to spite one of her sisters?
Lia filled her lungs with air and cried out a name in prayer.
“Eros!”
She cried out to Eros, for Eros alone would understand the desire that had driven her mad. Had he heard her cry? Would he help her?
Something flew past her head and into the water.
Something long and sharp and vicious, tipped with sharp stone and poison.
An arrow.
She looked up and there on the rocky ledge of the cliff stood a man.
No, not a man. A god. White wings sprang from his shoulders and spread twenty feet wide. He was all sinew and muscle and pure concentration. He held a mighty bow in his mighty hands. He notched an arrow and pulled back the string.
He let it go and it struck home, right in Poseidon’s back. The god of the seas cried out and blood bubbled in the waves, turning them red. He would not die from the wound, but he did let her go so that he could tear the arrow from his shoulder.
Lia swam away from him as fast as she could. Waves crashed over her again, but she fought them until her strength failed her. Her arms were leaden and her lungs burned. She was a mortal girl, not a goddess. Eros had saved her from Poseidon for nothing.
She began to sink again, deep, deep into the cold black sea. As she faded, the last of the life leaving her body, she thought of her mother and she wished she had kissed her goodbye and told her how much she loved her.
“Lia, Lia...”
She knew she was dying or already dead, because an angel hovered over her. Had to be an angel. What other creature had white wings with a twenty-foot span that shimmered like silver in the dawn light?
“Lia? Lia, it’s me. Speak, Lia. Breathe... You have to breathe. If you die in this world, you’ll die in the other.”
Die? Wasn’t she already dead? Her eyes slowly focused.
Olive skin, boyish smile, eyes the color of a storm-wild sky.
“August...” she breathed. “I thought you were an angel. You had the most beautiful wings.”
The world went black.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Lia wasn’t dead. She knew that for certain. After a few breaths, a few blinks, she saw she was back in August’s bedroom, on his bed, and August held her in his arms. He was rocking her slowly, speaking softly in Greek. He touched her chest, felt her heartbeat, kissed her face, her forehead, her hair, a thousand times.
“August?”
“Lia...” he breathed. “I thought I lost you. I couldn’t find you anywhere. I’ve never been that scared. I would rather lose me than you. I would rather lose the whole world.”
“I have to...” She took a ragged breath. Her entire body ached like she’d been slammed against a wall. “I have to sit up.”
Carefully he held her into a seated position. She swung her legs off the bed and rubbed her forehead.
“Are you all right?” August asked, and before she could answer he pressed a glass of water into her hands. It shook so hard she almost spilled it, but he steadied it and brought it to her lips. She drank deeply, and when she’d finished, she felt better. Not good. But better.
