Page 30 of Prometheus' Priestess

Athena stared at the still-empty, gnarled war table out of habit and debated her next move. She needed Amara to start her alchemy lessons, the trials of the seven ‘sins’. Athena snorted at the thought.

Sending in the wrong god with the wrong lesson would only drive the priestess into a stupor. She needed one that was jarring, that would cause resistance in Amara’s blood the minute it hit her. For resistance was the opposing force to acceptance. The sooner Amara accepted her gifts, the quicker they could get to work alchemising the fear. Given the way she had been exposed to it, Athena reasoned that the best lesson to send Amara first was lust.

Eros, God of Lust and Primal Desire, could easily be persuaded to prick her with an arrow. And if Prometheus remembered his vow, he would know to aid Amara through the challenge. If Amara could ride the waves of lust until she stopped fearing the intimate acts it would lead to, then she would be one step closer to remembering her alchemy.

Athena looked at her tawny companion who cooed in agreement. A cunning smile broke out over her face, pearl white canines glistening in the early spring morning sunshine. It looked like she’d be able to play Aphrodite’s countermove to her advantage afterall.

CHAPTER XV

They walked in silence down the cobbled street after dinner. Despite his earlier strange behaviour when she’d finally told him her name, which he’d brushed off as a strange sense of déjà vu,it was a comfortable silence that stretched between them.

Amara had forgotten how much she enjoyed the night. The way the streetlights twinkled and shimmered in the spring puddles on the pavement, the huge chasm of sky that was such a deep blue it almost appeared black. With Theo beside her, she felt safe for some reason. He kept his hands deep in his pockets and had made no move to touch her inany way. In fact, he actively made space when a lone passer-by tried to walk too close to her. She thought he was wonderful forit.

Eventually they reached the bottom of the stone steps that led to Amara’shotel.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “I wasn’t expecting today to be quite so, so …”

“... magical,” he finished for her.

There was a look in his eyes she couldn’t quite place. It was the same one he’d given her earlier, and it made her feel like she must have tomato sauce on her face. She wiped at her cheeks, just in case, but came away with cleanhands.

“Would you like to do this again?” he askedher.

Amara let out a shy smile, unaware that it lit up her wholeface.

“Iwould.”

“Would tomorrow be too soon? I could show you some of my favourite areas of the city I think you’d love in the daylight,” heoffered.

“I’ll be ready ateleven.”

He nodded in agreement, rocking back on his heels, his hands still deep in his pockets.

“I’ll see you tomorrowthen.”

“Yes. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

She turned at the top of the entranceway stairs and saw him still waiting there until she was safe inside. When she made it to her room in the building, Amara turned the light on and went to the window to check if he was still there. He was. Then Theo lifted his hand in a wave and strolled into the night.

The next morning Theo was standing on the same spot, at 11 a.m. precisely, waiting for her. Dressed in jeans that moulded to his large legs and a deep V-neck black sweater with a matching black coat thrown over the top, he looked... gorgeous. The thought startled Amara and she shook her head as if trying to shake it out. Look what had happened when she had let a stranger ogle her, and now she was doing the samething!

“I am a fool,” she muttered to herself as she headed down the stone steps towardshim.

“Ready?” he asked. She nodded in return, not trusting herself to speak with her current thoughts, and together they began walking in what she assumed was the way to the citycentre.

Their first stop was a bagel cart.

“We’ll take two smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels and two coffees. Do you want milk or sugar inyours?”

Amara shook her head, pulling a face, and Theo grinned. Handing over the bagel, she contemplated admonishing him for ordering for her. But one bite in and the explosion of the freshness of the salmon coupled with the creaminess of the spread had her moaning out loud in delight. She blushed, embarrassed that she’d made such a loud sound. His eyes merely crinkled in delight at her, and they continued on their way. They walked past shops that looked like barbers, which he assured her were actually hidden underground pubs. They walked along rows of houses with private access to large gardens that looked beautiful even in early spring, when winter was still thawing. They walked through streets with quotes written on the pavement slabs if you knew where to look. Amara would have missed them completely if he hadn’t pointed them out to her. She always had a habit of looking up at the sky when she walked, not down at her feet, as if she wanted to be in the heavens and not onEarth.

A week passed and Theo continued to show up for her. Every day, waiting on that same spot, precisely at 11 a.m. Every day a new hidden gem of the city revealed to her. Every day a little bit more comfortable in her own skin again.

Amara sighed, leaning back on the park bench they’d stopped at on the seventh day, on a walk around the gardens beneath the castle, staring up at the sky onceagain.

“Do you want to go up there?”

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