Dionysus (Greek God Romance Book 1) (10 page)

“Such an eloquent word for a simple god. Have you developed a stutter? Has your brain been so damaged by your brutality?”

Ares chose to ignore this and continued, “He tried to wa—war with me when I put the mortal in her place.”

“He tried to war with you when you put the mortal in her place?”

He nodded.

“How deficient in intelligence are you?”

He started to stammer, but she held up her hand for silence.

“Of course, he meant to war with you. He would war with you over anything. If I gave him a stick and told him it would kill you, he would jab it through your throat.”

“Uh—”

“Enough. I will see to this.”

Ares looked around, timid, dubious and feeling loopy. He had no clue what he should do now to please his mother.

“What are you still sitting here for, Ares? Go.”

“Yes.” He jumped out of the chair, did a slight bow, hurried out the door and headed for Aphrodite’s place. She said she had something special in-store for him.

Hera thought for a moment, watching her foolish son saunter out the door.
It may be nothing. But I shall investigate myself. Nothing can be done correctly without my guiding hand.

An alarm beeped. It was Zeus’ house arrest ankle bracelet. She was thankful it had not gone off in front of her son. It was no secret that Zeus was an avid adulterer.

She sighed. It was time to scrub another stain out of their marriage.

HALO 5: GUARDIANS

On November 15, 2001, the original Xbox was released. Dionysus had heard of it and thought it would be entertaining to send Ares one with the game, “Halo: Combat Evolved.” This was promoted by their mutual hatred and a particularly nasty remark Ares had made the day before. Dionysus had thought, correctly, that although Ares could win any war game in real life, because of his powers and physicality; he may not be able to do so in a virtual arena.

On November 16, 2001, after spending hours and hours playing the game Halo and mastering Easy, Normal, and Heroic. Ares ventured to play Legendary. . . and was beaten ruthlessly by the computer. This threw him into a rage that had him destroy his Xbox.

On November 9, 2004, “Halo 2” came out, Dionysus bought Ares another Xbox with a subscription to Xbox Live. This time Ares did not venture the Legendary setting; however, he did attempt to play people online deeming that difficulty impossible and it also being impossible anyone was better than him. After several defeats, he destroyed another Xbox.

Feeling satisfied and not wanting Ares to figure out that he was being made the fool, Dionysus decided not to get him a Xbox 360, or later, an Xbox One. He waited and waited, binding his time for the last decisive blow. . .

On August 22, 2015, after the incident at The Old Watering Hole, Ares heard a knock at his door. He opened it to a FedEx delivery man. “Sign here.”

Ares furrowed his brow but found questioning a mortal beneath him. He signed.

“Thank you, Ares. We will start unloading.”

Another burly man appeared behind the FedEx truck, rolling his dolly over and lifting up the semi doors. Ares pushed the delivery man out of the way and waddled over to the truck.

His eyes widened in shock—and what he never would admit to—horror as well. The truck was filled with Xbox One’s to the brim.

“You must be a very generous man, Ares.”

Ares made no reply.

“Where would you like us to put them?”

“Them?”

The man nodded. “Yeah, all 730 of them.”

“Seven—hundred—and—thirty. . .?”

“It’s quite the order. I’m sure you’re about to make a lot of people very happy or very addicted.” The man chuckled at his own wit.

Ares stared blankly at the truck.

“Should we take them around the back?”

Ares nodded.

“You know, you should get another game. Some variety, you know, I’ve got a few myself.”

Ares croaked, “What?”

The man went to the side where one game was left atop one of the Xbox One’s. He handed it to Ares:

“Halo 5: Guardians”

Dionysus, from far away, could be seen grinning and holding in a laugh that he would save for the bar where he would bellow, slap chairs and tables, and roll around like a mad man. The image was burned into his mind, seeing Ares waddle back into his home, the game in hand, giving it a venomous look, and also, the look of a child frightened by the dark.

BAD BOYS GET THE TOYS

Aphrodite appeared at out of nowhere, as she seemed to do. She sashayed over wearing a silk dress that was, once again, see-through and highlighted her perfectly symmetrical and circular nipples.

“Dionysus, you collect so quickly. I hope your
gun
doesn’t fire so.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “Don’t remember?”

“I know. I know. A devil in the sack, you were godly. . . as expected.” She arched her back to accentuate her assets, and her voice strained, “I could never get you to be one of the boys.”

“Never been one.”

“A shame. . . We could’ve had
such
fun.”

“Golden dildos?”

“No. No. No. Karma sutra would be the end of the line for us. Bad boys get the toys.”

He laughed and took a seat at the dining table. When Hera was involved, he found it better to be sitting in order to temper his mood and reaction. If his reaction was too strong, Aphrodite would be liable to use it against him at another time. And while they had always been on relatively good terms, you could never trust a god or goddess wholly, especially an Olympian.

“Oh. . .” She said, arching once again. “Sit at the table for business, shall we?”

“We shall.”

“What makes you think Ares went for it?”

“You don’t think I checked?”

She giggled, putting her petite hand to her lips. “Oh. . . He would’ve been home with the penguins when he left.” Dionysus grinned, she perused, “I thought you might like that.”

“You know me well.”

“No one knows anyone well.”

He blew air out of his mouth as if he felt the chill of a dismal winter. “True.”

She put her hand on his. “Still hung up?”

“On what?”

“You know.”

“I don’t.”

“Don’t play dumb. It doesn’t suit you.”

“You seem to have an aptitude.”

“I do. You don’t. Do I have to say her name?”

Dionysus stared blankly back. Aphrodite was damn dangerous. She picked his façade apart, too well. He thought better of sharing.

She waited a second then supplied, “Ariadne.”

A slight glimmer entered his eyes. “What about her?”

“Oooh. . .” She clinched his hand in hers. “I see it all over you.” She changed the subject. “I remember when Heph used to come home, worship me, bring me flowers and love. All he brings now is work.”

Dionysus kept silent, holding to his earlier disposition.

She let go of his hand, put her hands on the table and leaned towards him, coming within inches. She whispered, “
Don’t
throw her away.”

He pulled his head back. “What?”

“Rebecca, you stupid boy. Do not throw her away. Ariadne has been gone like the Heph of old.” She went back into her chair. “Don’t be stupid. Ah, who am I kidding? You’re going to be stupid. You all are.”

“Coming from the adulterer?”

“No one asks how I got here. They only know the result.” She looked up at the ceiling, seeing her old self and Heph, hand-in-hand, cherishing their time together. She returned to the table with venom in her eyes. “What do you know of it?”

He conceded, “You’re right. I know nothing.”

“Good. That’s the first step.”

“Let’s get back to why I’m here.”

“Ah. . . my husband.”

“Why did you plant the idea of working with Hestia?”

“I thought of it myself but. . . it seemed too cruel.”

Confused, Dionysus asked, “But you did it anyway?”

She shook her head. “No. No. No. It’s no secret Hera’s hatred for my husband.”

“I
knew
she was involved.”

“I let her think it was her idea.”

“Oh?”

“You know her, always looking to devise intricate plans that wreck you for thousands of years. . . since she can’t kill you.” She sighed. “
That,
you know all too well.”

“You’re scary.”

“A scorned woman always is.” She nodded and said, “You should remember that.”

“Noted. So you plant the idea then what?”

“You must appreciate the beauty of the presentation before having your first course. I know you know better than that. You
always
dined in before guiding your instrument inside.”

Dionysus chuckled. “I was a smart youth.”

“And a dumb old man, yes, I know. I caught her on her walks with Zeus. One time in a week then spread it out, took about a year but each conversation I peppered about Heph and his shop. She caught on to what
she
must do.”

“Hmph.”

“To be fair, I think she would’ve devised a similar plan.”

Dionysus drummed his fingers on the table. This was a development he not expected. He was one of the only gods or goddesses to give Aphrodite credit for having a brain and thought patterns. . . but this. . . this was diabolical. She was a force, and quite possibly, more so than Hera. He stroked his chin for a moment, she waited patiently, then he said, “All right.” He put his tongue to the roof of his mouth and made a sucking noise. “I
certainly
don’t want you as an enemy. You never asked why I wanted to know—”

“I imagined it was to procure something from Heph.”

“Right. So. . . I was going to tell him—”

“Tell him the truth.”

He scratched his head, expecting to hear something else then realizing what she had said. “What?”

She placed her hand on his again and an endearing look streaked her face. She took a long pause between each word, sounding them out. “Tell. . . him. . . the. . . truth.”

“You’re involvement?”

“Absolutely.”

He rubbed his forehead with his hand, looking away. “Why?” Almost as if, it was a question for himself.

“Because he won’t blame me. I wish he would.” She sighed, her head and eyes rolling around. “Oh, I wish he would. But he won’t. He will blame Hera. I wish he would leave that shop. It’s partially why I did it. But he won’t. I wish we could go back to our young love. But we can’t. And so, I made a deal with Hera.”

“There’s more?”

“Always more, I told her that I’d do it if she let me and Ares use the pool house when Heph was home.”

Dionysus said nothing, staring blankly. Aphrodite rose from her chair and left.

He one word entered his mind, one solemn bitter word to describe this conversation:

Damn.
 

HEPH, MY MAN

Dionysus ventured back to Heph’s Shop of Wonders, alone. He headed straight there after his meeting with Aphrodite. He decided this after finally leaving Aphrodite’s dinner table, being intensely disturbed by the revelation of how devious the woman with the bubbliest persona was. He settled on excluding Rebecca from the trip out of self-preservation. He had no idea how Heph would react to the news. He also thought there was a chance that Rebecca would see him in a dimmer light if she knew the full truth.
That
was not something he would leave to chance, and in its own right, a revelation of its own. He was falling for her, plain and simple. So, he decided to give Rebecca the short version of the events that transpired.

He walked into the facility, this time, however, the main Cyclops did not do a bow—which made Dionysus smile, he had been right about something this week. He went through the same entrance, and somehow, someway, had the
same
experience with the
same
follower of Hestia. He almost turned around and went to the bar for self-lubrication, feeling a bad omen. She gave him the
same
dribble and the
same
scornful and distasteful look for skipping the tour and going to Heph’s shop. It was
absolutely
maddening. And for a second, a moment, he thought Aphrodite may have set him up as well.

But he remembered a flippant remark Hestia had made once to Hermes, “You should treat all like it is the first time meeting them. Then there is not much to talk about and you can carry on with your schedule.”