Page 31 of Poseidon's Island Flower

I never knew my little brother would be so worried about me, but it was a great feeling to know that he was. I could have taken it a completely different way, felt less powerful, but I didn’t. I felt like my life mattered, that he still needed me.

Those thoughts of letting myself die beneath the surface of the ocean, as quick and brief as they were, sounded completely stupid now. I had to live for him, for Candice, but now I needed to take care of myself.

Too long had I hung back in the shadows making sure my brother shone above the rest. Now it was my turn to come into the light, and that was what I was going to do with Cy. Show him what kind of woman I was, that I fight for what I want, even if that meant helping to pull him out of whatever shy shell he was in.

I picked up my phone, staring at the last one-word answer he left me the previous night and typed.

Lani: “Hey Cy, so what brought you to the island?”

Chapter Ten

Poseidon

“Youcandothis,”I told myself as I peered into the mirror.

My blue post-it notes were lined up on the mirror again. This time it did not hold a schedule, nor did it have reminders of what tasks I needed done. This time there were questions to ask her and features to compliment her on. I had it all planned out, and now I could picture my entire mirror in my head and know what to say.

There would be no awkward moments.

Ha, right?

There would be plenty, but it wouldn't be because I didn’t know what to say.

Over the past day and a half, we had texted frequently. It took a while to learn how to use this “cell phone” that Zeus likes to play with. However, he mainly plays a game calledCandy Crush, which was extremely frustrating. There was no logic to it at all.

What was the purpose? When he did not win, he would throw it across the room, and it would crumble to pieces. Then he would fetch a new phone out of his room and begin playing all over again.

Zeus taught me how to use the screen, pull up messages, and a keyboard that was not in order of the English alphabet. Frustrating, all of it was frustrating. Why could they not put the letters in order?

On top of it all, the face icons called emojis. Why did she put a happy face in each sentence? Was she truly happy or was she humoring me?

Then, there were times when she’d procure a random picture with words. It was called a meme, Zeus told me. They made no sense at all, but Zeus found them hilarious and had to explain each joke after he finished wiping the tears from his eyes.

I ground my teeth in anger so much that my fangs were becoming dull. I didn’t want Zeus to laugh at the jokes that my mate made, I wanted to laugh. I wanted to see her humor and enjoy the jokes she made.

But I couldn’t, because I could not bring myself to the surface and keep up with modern technology or social technology. I really was a dead god. No wonder everyone thought Poseidon was useless.

Humans named their pets Zeus, and in some cultures today, they also named their children after him. They did it to give their offspring power while my name was given to goldfish.

No wonder Zeus had told everyone on the beach my name was Cy.

If I had just gotten over my fears, I could have stayed more closely connected to the human world. If I had been perceived as someone who was strong and confident, I wouldn't be in this difficult situation. I could have kept my name, and she would have thought strong, capable parents named me this because they thought I was important.

Fates, my head hurt.

When Lani gave me a last text of the day last night, she ended it not with a smiling face but with red lips, my face went bright red. Zeus, of course, saw and laughed hysterically at me until I left the main living room and huddled in the cave I had created in my room.

Despite his attempts to be helpful, Zeus didn’t seem to comprehend the pain his callous jokes caused to my soul.

Zeus continued with his constant proclamations, saying he wanted to help and become more available to the gods. That I was the first step in that direction and the only one that would let him. He appreciated that, as apprehensive as I was with it, I’d still agreed.

Athena continued to assure me that Zeus was being honest and forthright in his intentions. Unfortunately, Athena couldn’t help me much in the dating department since she was asexual, so Zeus was the god I would have to trust. Even if I didn’t completely trust him, it was nice to have someone to talk to and be able to rely on as I tried to become closer to my mate.

I held the pillow that carried my mate’s scent around the suite. Having her scent nearby calmed me and made me more at ease, just like Uriel’s touch. This was much more potent, however, and my heart raced, waiting for my mate to knock on the door to clean our suite the next day.

Humans did not understand how heightened a god’s sense of smell was, especially when it came to their destined one. Lani didn’t know that I knew she had been here before. And she had yet to divulge that information.

Which I would not ask for, not yet.

---