A Hall of Mirrors

A Shadow Beckoning

Aphrodite was waiting for Kath in her room when she arrived, having been bridged home by Apollo, and she wasn’t even surprised about it. The goddess of beauty and love was lounging over Kath’s neatly made bed in a pair of hot pink sweatpants that hugged her ass and a matching hoodie jacket. Her eyes were flickering again but Kath let them be for now. She was too exhausted to even care.

“Did you have fun, my sweet?” she had asked as soon as Kath was through her door and was already hurrying over to her closet to change.

Kath couldn’t help but smile. She never actually knew fun until today, until Apollo showed her how to do it. At the end of the day, she was glad he was a bullheaded person and came anyway to come with her. She realized now that she would have been like a fish out of the water if she went to the Village all on her own.

“Yes, Mother, I did,” she said, her voice taking on an excited tone. She popped her head out of her closet to look at Aphrodite before she took off her blouse. “Would you like to hear about it?”

Aphrodite smiled brilliantly. “Of course, my heart.”

So, Kath recounted her adventures to her mother as she changed into a robe and showered quickly in the bathroom that connected to her bedroom, one she rarely used to bathe in because she usually had a harem of nymphs helping her and they wouldn’t fit in the first place. She left the door open so Aphrodite could listen and Kath did not doubt for a second that her mother was indeed listening. Aphrodite barely listened to other people, especially Zeus and Hera, but she was the best listener when it came to her and Kath could always count on her to get everything out of her chest first before the goddess offered her own insights.

Aphrodite did just that, and soon Kath’s tale extended to the part where Apollo had Aletheia confirm to her that she could sing. She sighed, staring at the ceiling as she laid beside her mother.

“Can you believe that I can sing?” Kath giggled, turning to look at Aphrodite. “I never thought I could.”

“Kath, you can do anything you put your mind to.”

“Yeah, I know that, but this was different. It’s something I should have done at least once in my hundred years of existence, yet when I really thought about it, I don’t remember being fond of music enough to sing.”

“Maybe you just never got into it. I remember you were quite obsessed with fashion for a while. And you’ve been reading books ever since I taught you to read. Don’t beat yourself up and cloud over a perfect day.”

Kath smiled sleepily, snuggling under the arm of Aphrodite. “It really was perfect.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” She began stroking Kath’s hair. “I was quite worried when I heard you went exploring the Valley with Apollo. The two of you did not exactly hit it off at your Introduction dinner.”

She shrugged in answer. “We eventually got over that stuff. He wasn’t actually that bad when he stopped being a celebrity for a split second. Paid for my meals and everything.”

“Meals? Plural?”

Kath rolled her eyes. “We were gone the whole day, Aphrodite. Of course, I’m talking plural.”

Aphrodite’s answering laugh was sweet and twinkling. “Will Apollo accompany you again tomorrow?”

“I think so,” Kath replied with a wide yawn. “He said something about taking me to the seaside part of the Valley tomorrow. Maybe he’ll teach me how to swim.”

“That’s… sweet of him.”

Kath heard the uncertainty in Aphrodite’s voice but she was too sleepy to even acknowledge it, or the shadows that seemed to flicker annoyedly. Instead, she closed her eyes and settled into a deep rest that she had never once appreciated before until now.

She dreamt of artist’s quarter, that long street teeming with life in all its vibrant colors. In her dream, she was soaring, flying like the wind without any care in the world. There was that little shop of flowers, and the restaurants they ate at. Then Kath felt a tug on her hand. When she looked over, it wasn’t Apollo that was flying beside her.

Those were not the bright, sky-blue eyes she expected to find grinning at her. Instead, they have been replaced by hooded obsidian eyes with flecks of gold. Shadows enveloped him instead of the bright sunlight, and his hair, not at all wavy and sun-bleached like Apollo’s but were instead like fibers that came from the darkest night cropped short.

Sensual lips curled at her, smirking as he beckoned her with a tanned, long-fingered hand. She imagined those fingers tangling themselves in her hair and pulling tightly all for a brief moment before she realized who exactly was flying beside her over the Village in the Valley.

“Hades,” her dream-self mouthed. 

The Lord of the Underworld flipped sideways, coasting along smoothly beside her. His suit, always in black, didn’t even ruffle from their traveling while her nightgown flapped and batted her legs.

“What are you doing here?” Kath found herself able to ask in spite of the lump on her throat.

A dark, perfectly shaped brow arched up at her. “It was you who called upon me, little kitty.”

Whatever it was she was anticipating Hades to say, it wasn’t that. Kath puzzled over how she was able to summon a god in her dreams, least of all this god who confused her out of everyone she had met on the night of her Introduction. Kath willed her flying to stop, thinking the command, and managed to stand up on the sidewalk. She glanced up and down the street, startled to find that there were no pedestrians or shoppers out and about. There was even no music floating up to her ears.

She felt Hades bridge behind her, shivering at the mere presence of him. Kath whirled and glared at the smirking bastard who was leaning on a lamp post with his hands in his pockets and his foot crossed over the other.

And then, with all the predatory slowness of the world, his eyes roved down her body. Kath quickly crossed her arms, an attempt at decency, but she already knew he saw the stiffening of her peaks.

He grinned, his eyes snapping back to hers.

Kath, on the other hand, saw nothing but red. “You are a pig,” she spat.

Hades picked at his nails, assessing their cleanliness. “Here I was, kind enough to answer your booty call and yet you still dare insult me to my face.” Black depths pinned her with a mocking stare. “Is this your idea of foreplay? Are you trying to get me riled up so the s*ex is hot and almost savage? If yes, you could have just asked. If no,” his grin widened, sending a jolt straight down Kath’s spine. “Then may I ask you to reconsider?”

She couldn’t believe the filth that came out of his mouth, her own popping open in an outraged response to his uncouth behavior. Kath convinced herself that the unusual tingling between her legs was only a physiological response and not something worthy to even ponder upon. There were words thrown and she could not be faulted for being aroused.

But she looked at him, really looked at him, and saw the utter power beneath that sleek black suit of his. Hades was a god in all sense of the word and she would not be at all surprised if his skills in the bedroom were up to par.

Kath wanted the whole experience of what the outside world had to offer her, and that included men and the experiences she could have with them. She, however, drew the line when it came to experiencing those things with Hades. He was not for her and she knew that even if he did just practically asked her to sleep with him. She would not cross that line even if killed her.

Which wasn’t, just to be clear. Kath could acknowledge there was no shortage of appeal that emanated from the King of the Dead, but she didn’t mourn the fact that he was out of bounds.

“Oh, act your age,” Kath snapped, wrestling down the redness of her cheeks. “We,” she gestured between the two of them, “are not happening, Hades.”

Hades pouted, and dammit she had to look at the spot between his eyes just so she wouldn’t gawk at those lips. “And why is that, little kitty? You never pledged yourself to be a maiden, why not let me do the honors? I promise I’ll make it gentle and fun for you.”

Kath scoffed, even if she was just imagining what a night with him would be like. “I’m not touching you even with a five-foot pole. You’re too complicated for the first time.”

Surprise halted the dark god. “Complicated? Me?” He tilted his head. “How’s it so?”

Oh, no. Kath quietly cursed herself. Why did she have to say such a thing? Kath quickly searched her mind for a possible out for this grave she had dug for herself but thought instead of giving him honesty. 

“Because I have been warned to stay away from you,” Kath said, wrapping her arms tighter around herself. “I want my first time to be with someone I won’t have to see again. Probably a mortal. You, on the other hand, are part of this ‘family’ that has been sheltering me since I was born. If we slept together, it would be messy. And I don’t know about you, but I just got my life. I’d prefer not to drown myself in drama. I’ve been told I have the rest of my immortal life for that.”

If it was at all possible, Hades’ eyes darkened even further. The shadows that half hid him in darkness turned cold and wary.  Slowly he straightened from his lazy position and buttoned the front of his suit jacket, then fixed his sleeves.

“Smart little kitty,” he murmured, and though Kath shivered, it wasn’t from the usual warmth of his deep voice. No, his tone had become clipped and unmistakably unwelcoming unlike earlier. “They were right to warn you about me. After all, I’m the bogeyman to all their nightmares. Don’t worry. I won’t come to you the next time you call for me, no matter how hard you beg.”

And without even a goodbye or an acknowledgment that he was leaving, Hades bridged away, probably to the Underworld, and Kath let go of the breath she had not known she was holding. Despite the sun shining high atop her head, she was unusually cold, even in her dreams. She shook her head, berating herself for being so affected by him.

Who was she kidding, though? How could she not be affected by him? Everything about him seemed to call to a deep part of her that Kath was too scared to even look at. No. she had to stand by her word. Hades was trouble and she was doing herself a favor by staying away from him.

She was not for him, even if that dark part of her screamed that she was wrong not to give him a chance. Like she did Apollo.

That thought jerked her awake, and when she opened her eyes, the sun was already shining. She moaned, feeling the bed and realizing she was the only one in it. Aphrodite must have slipped out in the middle of the night to go back to her own rooms. And there definitely was no Hades.

Kath pulled her covers up to her chin, wanting to spend the rest of the day in bed to beat herself up about how lewd her thoughts were being. But Apollo would be coming over anytime soon to show her the sea. She didn’t want to miss that. Not even for a session of reminding herself why a certain dark-haired, dark-eyed god was out of limits.

Nope. Today was all about getting a tan and swimming with the dolphins (and she hoped there were some). No space for darkness here.