Page 21 of Loved By Aphrodite

“I see. We need to go to their headquarters to disable it then. Seattle, right?”

He rose from his chair. “You don’t have to go with me. Why don’t you stay here or go home? I’ll call you once I’m done.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “And why would I not come with you? It’s not like it’s dangerous or anything. We’re gods, we can go in and out undetected, and even if they did catch us, what would they do? We could just disappear before they arrest us.”

“It’s not that.” He searched for an excuse, because the truth was, being around her was too much. Memories and emotions he’d long buried were threatening to resurface, and he could not deal with that right now. “But I don’t want you to be bored. This could take a while. Why don’t you go home and attend to your duties?”

“Thisismy duty,” she retorted. “I’m the goddess of love, and this problem is within my realm, therefore, I need to fix it. Besides, what if you need my love magic again?”

Well, she had him there. “I suppose that makes sense. Give me a sec to gather my stuff, and we’ll go.” He grabbed his laptop and a couple of cables, then stuffed them into a backpack. “Ready? You know the address?” She nodded and he teleported them out of his workshop.

They appeared outside a glass and steel building in busy downtown Seattle. The corporate headquarters of Philautia rose up like a spire into the sky, the sun glinting off the shiny mirrored surface.

Hephaestus shaded his eyes with his hand as he glanced up. “Let’s head inside.”

Their magic allowed them to remain invisible as they entered the lobby. He stopped in the middle and held up a hand. The world around him quieted as he called on his powers, seeking for the hum of technology around him.

“Sixth…no, seventh floor.”

They transported themselves to the seventh floor, just outside the elevator lobby.

There was a single door on the floor, locked behind an electronic lock, which of course, did nothing to stop them from simply reappearing on the other side.

“This must be—what the fuck?” Hephaestus cursed.

Aphrodite gasped. “I don’t understand…what is that?”

The large room looked like any corporate IT mainframe server room—climate-controlled, filled with racks of servers that blinked and hummed intermittently. However, snake-like vines climbed and twisted amongst the servers. Bright purple flowers bloomed along the vines, filling the air with a strong perfume.

“Whatever it is, the humans must not be able to see it.” There was definitely strong magic coming from the vines.

She reached out and touched the flower closest to her. “I know this…” She took a sniff. “‘It fell upon a little western flower. Before, milk-white, now purple with love’s wound, And maidens call it ‘love-in-idleness.’”

“I beg your pardon?”

“It’s a quote fromA Midsummer Night’s Dreamby Shakespeare,” she began. “In the play, the nectar from the flower makes the characters fall in love with the first person they see. Not many humans know about it as it only grows in Mount Olympus.” She flashed him a sheepish smile. “I may have, er, inspired the bard to write about it.”

“You what?”

“I adore Shakespeare, saw every one of his plays,” she said. “But Will was having a bad case of writer’s block, and I was so impatient waiting for his next work. So, I kind of visited him in a dream and told him about the flower.” Her brow furrowed. “This must be what’s making the current users fall in love.”

“Possibly. A combination of organic magic and technology.” It was brilliant, really, if it had been used for good instead of causing chaos.

“So, can you shut it all down?”

“Let me take a look first.” He approached the mainframe, taking his laptop out of his bag. Plugging it in, he opened it and began to type. “Hmm….”

She sidled up next to him. “What is it?”

“I can’t even access it. I think my earlier theory might be true—thereissome kind of hardware block.”

“Where is it? Hidden behind the vines?”

“Or itisthe vines.” It was difficult to explain, but he could feel how the magic emanating from the plant, particularly the flowers, formed a shield around the servers. “It’s powering the app and protecting it at the same time.” He grabbed the vine closest to him and yanked on it, breaking it off. However, seconds later, the limb grew back, thicker and stronger. “We can forget about literally hacking away at them.”

“Maybe I can do it.” She held her hand over one section of the vines and closed her eyes. The vine directly under her palm twitched, but settled back in place. “Ack!” She clucked her tongue. “I thought I could do it since it is a kind of love magic, but not the same as mine. It’s part organic, so I don’t have full control of it.”

Damned Eros.He really was too smart for his own good. “So, we’re back to square one.”

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