Page 52 of Loved By Aphrodite

“Boys,” Aphrodite interrupted, her voice cutting through their bickering. She gave them both a pointed glare. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about than your petty squabbling.”

With that, the group prepared to leave. Hermes opened a shimmering portal to Olympus, the familiar golden hues of the divine realm spilling into the room.

Hephaestus glanced at Aphrodite and muttered under his breath, “This better not take all day.”

“Don’t worry, Heph,” Eros flashed a grin as they stepped through. “I’ll keep things entertaining.”

“Not helping,” Hephaestus grumbled as they all disappeared into the portal, Olympus awaiting them.

Chapter 13

Hephaestus

After walking through the portal, they once again found themselves inside the divine hall. The rest of the Council of Olympians were already there, gathered around the table as the last grain of sand in the timer slid into the bottom glass bulb.

“Well, Aphrodite,” Poseidon began. “Have you come to take responsibility or bring us the culprit responsible for the chaos on the Upperworld?”

Hephaestus cursed silently. If only they hadn’t wasted so much time squabbling, they could have come up with some sort of plan or tried to persuade one of the other gods on Poseidon’s side to join them. Hera or maybe even Athena might have been amenable, if they pleaded their case properly. But now, there would be no bargaining or reasoning.

“Yes,” Aphrodite answered, her voice loud and clear. “It’s me?—”

“No,” Hephaestus interrupted. “She had nothing to do with it. It was all me.”

“Don’t.” She grabbed his arm. “You know that’s not true. It was all love magic, so it was me.”

“Which one of you was it then?” Poseidon asked. “Or was it both?”

“No—”

“You can’t—” Hephaestus said at the same time.

“It was me.” Eros stepped forward. “It was all me.”

“No!” Aphrodite protested. “You can’t?—”

“Heph is right, Mama.” He nodded at Hephaestus, the corner of his mouth tugging up. “It’s high time I took responsibility for my actions.”

“Now that’s a first,” Apollo muttered under his breath, which earned him a glare from Eros.

“Is this true?” Poseidon’s eyes narrowed at the god of love and desire. “How did you manage this?”

“It was through a phone application.” Eros explained how Winged worked and how he and Matt Anchises came up with the concept and turned it into an app, leaving out the part where he accelerated the launch just to bring his mother and Hephaestus back together. “However, it went haywire. Something went wrong with the programming, and the magic became unruly.” He gestured toward Aphrodite and Hephaestus. “Mama and Hephaestus had no idea it was me, and have spent the last few days trying to fix everything.”

“And why did you do this?” Athena asked. “What was your purpose?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Funsies?”

“I beg your pardon?” The goddess of wisdom said. “Do you have any idea how much havoc you’ve caused? The entire world ground to a halt because of your application.”

“Really?” Eros sounded bored. “I always thought they said ‘love makes the world go ‘round.’”

“Insolent child!” Athena slapped her hands on top of the table. “You must pay for what you’ve done.”

“I agree,” Hera said. “The app may now be defunct, but you’ve already destroyed many lives. Couples and families have broken apart thanks to you. You need to be punished for your crimes.”

Eros muttered something under his breath that sounded likehypocrite, but Aphrodite sent him a glare that had him pressing his mouth shut.

Poseidon raised a hand. “As I said in the previous meeting, the culprit must be made an example of, or else other divine beings will see the council as weak, which we cannot afford right now.”

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