Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Now, she sarcastically raises her hand. “A question.”
Minos’s smile doesn’t flicker. “Yes, Aphrodite?”
“The game ends when the blindfolded person guesses the identity of the person they touch. How can there be a group winner?”
“Ah, yes, that is traditionally how the game is played. For our purposes, though, I propose an alternative way.” He chuckles. “The one blindfolded will go around the circle and guess as many identities as possible. The person with the most correct guesses will take Icarus off my hands.” His chuckle turns to a booming laugh. “Sorry, I misspoke. They win a date with Icarus. If only getting rid of this son was such an easy task!”
“I see,” she says slowly.
“Shall we begin?” He turns and leads the way out of the dining room.
I exchange a look with Cassandra. “Wait until after.” I don’t dare say more with so many witnesses, not even speaking low in her ear. She’ll understand. There’s no point in trying to pull Hermes aside to talk now.
“Of course.” She rolls her eyes, though the expression is half-hearted. “Let’s do this.”
Once again, we find ourselves back in the elaborate living room. If before I could not define why Minos made his choices with these games, today it’s abundantly clear that he intends to humiliate Icarus for some unknown reason. Minos sits in the so-called place of honor in a high-backed chair that we form a reluctant ring around, with Icarus at the head. As at the table, he looks like he wants to be anywhere but here.
It makes me wonder if Icarus is just as unhappy with coming to Olympus as Ariadne seems to be. If one child is willing to work against their father, maybe the other is as well. I’ll ask Cassandra after this. If my instincts are occasionally wrong, hers rarely are. She sees things that I miss all the time. Perhaps now is one of those times.
“For our first attempt…” Minos’s smile goes sly. “Aphrodite, if you would be so kind.”
She stands gracefully. Today she’s wearing a pair of tailored black pants and a violet silk blouse that leaves her arms bare. Her dark hair hangs in a curtain down her back as she strides to Minos and turns around so he can slip a blindfold over her face.
“Now, of course, we won’t want to make it too easy. Shift yourselves about the room, please.”
Cassandra huffs out an exasperated breath as I follow her, moving to stand next to the fireplace, across from where we’d been. She doesn’t say anything, though. We’re too busy watching Minos carefully spin Aphrodite in place. Too many times, by my count, but I’m not the one running the game.
As it is, when he releases her, she stumbles. Not a single person makes a sound. It’s strangely eerie to watch her move forward with her hands outstretched. She finds Adonis first. He holds perfectly still as her hands come to rest on his chest. From my angle, I can catch her smile in profile. She coasts her hands up to his shoulders and over his neck to his strong jawline. He smiles as she explores his face with her fingertips.
Aphrodite laughs lightly. “I would know that smile anywhere, Adonis.” She leans up and presses a kiss to his lips.
Then she moves on. She’s better at the game than I would have reckoned. She mixes up the Minotaur and Theseus, but that may be because she seems reluctant to touch both. She also mistakes Eurydice for Artemis, which has Artemis glaring holes in her back. The rest of us, she guesses correctly, working her way around the circle until she stands before Pandora, who’s on my other side.
Though no one has confirmed or denied the guesses, she must know who it is she touches as she ghosts her fingers over the other woman’s arms and cups her face in surprisingly gentle hands. Aphrodite gives a wicked smile. “Only one way to say for certain.”
Then she kisses Pandora.
Without thinking, I look to Theseus. This is just another power play between him and Aphrodite, but I can’t help a shudder at the sheer fury in his eyes as he watches them. I hadn’t pegged his relationship with Pandora to be overly romantic, but they’re obviously close, and he’s undeniably enraged to see Aphrodite kissing her.
Aphrodite lifts her head, smiling. “Hello, Pandora.”
“Hi.” For her part, Pandora’s a little breathless.
And so it goes.
Each turn, Minos spins the blindfolded person and the rest of the guests rearrange themselves. I give up trying to stay next to Cassandra after the second round. There’s no reason to. She never leaves my sight.
The Minotaur does horridly, only guessing Theseus, Icarus, and Pandora correctly. Charon and Hephaestus only do slightly better. Dionysus seems to do poorly on purpose, though with him it’s impossible to say if that’s feigned or no. Adonis doesn’t seem to care at all, rattling off names the moment he touches a person, usually guessing incorrectly. Artemis does nearly as well as Aphrodite. Cassandra gets everyone but the Minotaur correct.