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Eros’s eyes narrowed, his chest puffing out, and for an instant, Gany thought he’d hedge, but then his shoulders sagged. “You’re a bonus quest.”
Gany blinked. “I’m a what?”
Eros brandished his phone, the app glowing on its screen. “See, there are these side quests you can go on for extra points.” He edged closer so Gany could see the list, which included things likeFeed the hungry,Be kind to animals,Help little old lady cross the street.
“Seriously? You’re gods on parole, not freaking Boy Scouts. And what do any of those have to do with me?”
“That’s the perpetual list. You can do them over and over. They don’t expire, but they’re not worth many points.” He swiped to that group graphic. One of the little icons was nearly at the top. “Hestia’s hit thatfeed the hungryquest seven hundred and eighty-four times, and it’s hardly fair. She works in a soup kitchen.” Eros’s tone was aggrieved. “Every time she dishes up a bowl of mac and cheese she gets points. She’s going to get back to Olympus before the rest of us are halfway up the slope.”
“Did you ever think she might not have as far to go?” Gany said dryly. “Her track record isn’t as awful as the rest of you.”
“Hmmmph.” Eros tapped his screen to bring up another list. “These are the bonus quests. Onetime tasks. They’ve got way more points.” He held it out. “See?”
Gany peered at the screen. At the top of a very short list—was his name—Ganymede. Just his name, no other details or description.
“See? If one of us brings you with us, we’ll be right at the gates of Olympus in one step.”
Gany stomach tumbled.No. The Fates wouldn’t do this to him, would they? They’d promised him a life free of the gods. “How do you know?”
“How do I know what?”
“That you’re supposed to bring me to Olympus?”
Eros blinked. “What else could it mean?”
“Since I never wanted to be in Olympus in the first place, maybe it means youleave me alone!”
Eros’s perfect brow wrinkled. “You mean I’d get points for doing nothing?”
“No, you’d get points for letting me control my own life.” Gany spotted Finn walking down the sidewalk toward them. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to figure out how to resurrect my business.”
He left Eros frowning next to the dumpster and hurried to meet Finn, who was peering past Gany’s shoulder, eyes narrowed.
“Isn’t that the buff guy from the bakery this morning? Aaron?”
“Yes, but never mind him.” Gany laid his palm against Finn’s cheek, the stubble there surprisingly soft against his palm. “Are you okay?”
Finn placed his own hand over Gany’s, holding it for an instant before he turned his head and kissed Gany’s palm. “Never better. They gave me a hit off their oxygen and I’m good as new.”
“You promise?”
“I do.” He looked at the bakery. “You’ve got hazard insurance, right?”
“Of course.”
“It’ll probably take a while for them to pay out, though, won’t it? How long do you think it’ll take before you can replace the oven?”
Gany sighed and leaned against Finn’s chest. “I’ve got the capital to replace it without waiting for the claim to go through, but you can’t just pick up a commercial oven at the corner hardware store. It took three months for that last one to get delivered.” He studied his cheerful pink-and-white striped awning. It hadn’t been marred by the smoke, which was… something, anyway. “I can manage financially until the bakery reopens, but the catering business?” He looked up at Finn. “The wedding cake? I’ll have to back out of the job.”
Finn kissed him softly. “There’ll be others. We’ll just have to—”
“Gary Mead?”
Finn sucked in a sharp breath, his arms tensing around Gany. “M-M-Mr. Johnson?”
Gany looked around to find an extremely tall, extremely fit dark-haired man standing behind him, a smile on his genial, red-bearded face. The man—Mr. Johnson, apparently—nodded at Finn.
“Finn. Good to see you’re back on your feet.”
