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Gany hauled Eros through the swinging door into the kitchen just as Peyton was removing a sheet of shortbread cookies from the oven.
“Peyton, could you help Melina out front for a bit, please?” He glanced at Eros, who was frowning at his phone. “I just need a minute.”And it had better not be any longer than that.
Ever since Purgatory Playhouse had been shut down, Gany had been blissfully free of the sight of any Olympian. Suddenly here one was, just when he was finally getting a chance to make some time with his crush.
“Ga—”
“Do not speak.” Gany held up a palm as Peyton set the cookie sheet on the cooling rack. He waited until they’d cleared the door and then dropped both fists to his hips. “What in hades are youdoinghere? Do youwantan eagle to chow down on your liver for the next thousand years? You’re not allowed to be anywherenearyour victims.”
“Victims.” Eros scoffed. “I didn’t havevictims. I hadgiftees.”
“Tell that to Medea. Tell that to Medea’schildren.”
“None of them are here, and I didn’t do anything toyou.”
Gany folded his arms, eyes narrowing. “No? I’m still not convinced you and your stupid arrows weren’t behind Zeus’s obsession with me.”
“Anyway,” Eros said airily and then shoved his phone under Gany’s nose. “Have youseenthis?”
“I’m not seeing it now, considering it’s practically up my left nostril.”
Eros grabbed for Gany’s hand. Breath frozen, Gany stumbled backward, barely managing to suppress a scream, and smacked his hip on the corner of the marble pastry counter. He wrapped his arms across his stomach and tried not to hyperventilate.
Eros frowned for a second and then, surprisingly, looked apologetic and offered the phone to Gany on his palm.
Gany settled his breathing and edged forward to take it. He peered down at the gigantic device, twice as big as Gany’s own phone.
Trust an Olympian to supersize things.
The inner snark calmed him further, enough that he was able to focus on the screen. It displayed an extremely realistic looking mountain, its peak crowned in clouds, with a light brown path zigzagging up between a maze of trees, rocks, bushes, and the occasional sheep. A male figure in a loincloth, dark curls tamed by a cloth tied across his forehead, stood near the foot of the mountain, his hands braced against a boulder taller than he was.
“What is this?”
“It’s the Divine Dues app.”
Gany looked up at the disgust in Eros’s voice. “It’s the what?”
Eros huffed a breath. “TheDivine Duesapp. It’s how we’re supposed to know when we’ve done enough to get back to Olympus.”
Gany’s lips slid sideways into a smirk. “I take it this graphic is supposed to represent Olympus?”
Eros nodded. “And that’s my avatar. Every time I do something that the app considers a step toward paying my dues, I push the boulder further up the mountain.”
Gany peered at the screen again. “Eros. You’re at the absolute bottom of the mountain.”
“Iknow.” Eros snatched the phone back and swiped his finger on the screen, rotated it to landscape mode, then held it up. “Look at this.”
The screen depicted twelve columns, each with a stylized mountain and a progress bar topped by a boulder icon. The Olympians’ names were displayed above each mountain. Gany was interested to see that most of the boulder icons, including Eros’s, were bottomed out.
Eros shook the phone. “That prig Hestia is three quarters of the way there. It’s not fair! She started out with an advantage. How much trouble can you get in hanging around a hearth?”
“You’d be surprised,” Gany said dryly.
Eros stared at the screen morosely. “How am I supposed to make any progress when I’m stuck working at a flamingnursery. Nothing but plants, plants, plants.” He held up his other hand and waggled his fingers. “I’ve gotdirtunder myfingernails.”
Gany rolled his eyes. “You could always try washing your hands and using a nail brush.”
“Why should I have to?” he said sulkily. “I never did before.”
