Page 67 of Crown of Olympus
Curiously, she blushed. “Ah, thank you. Just something Demeter’s been helping me with,” she murmured.
“Demeter? Since when do you hang out with my grandmother?”
She cringed, looking suddenly guilty. “After her trial… I reached out…”
Now it was my turn to wince. “Say no more.”
“I wanted to tell you… there are so many things I want to tell you?—”
“But it’s not your place, I get it,” I shrugged. Demeter’s secrets were her own. So were Aph’s, for that matter. “So how long did it take you to get out of Hermes’labyrinth?” I asked, taking a sip of the fruity wine she’d poured for me an hour ago. It was bubbly and sweet, and I found myself unexpectedly enjoying it.
Aphrodite groaned.
“Way too fucking long,” she moaned. “After you left me with the sphinx,” — she shot me a faux scowl — “Caelus answered his riddle immediately, while Aros snuck around behind her and fled just as Caelus answered.” Aphrodite laughed at the memory, and I grinned at the visual she painted.
“The sphinx was visibly distraught. She couldn’t very well leave and chase Aros down, and she was obliged to let Caelus pass for answering correctly,” Aph continued. “So, she took it out on Leander again — slashed him to pieces a second time.”
I snorted. “Karma.”
“Absolutely. Anyway, it took me a while to pluck up the courage to approach her after that disturbing display ofscathed,” she said, shuddering. “But I guess she took pity on me. My riddle was almost too easy.”
Curiosity got the better of me.What had hers been?
“What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?”
A frown tugged at my brow. “Well, a mortal, obviously… but she never asks the same riddle twice,” I replied, confounded.
“That’s what I thought too. But ‘mortal’ was correct, and I walked right on by.” She took a hearty swig from her glass. “But then I got to that hideous door knocker and the room of junk.”
“How long did it take you in the end?”
Aphrodite sighed, defeated. “Fifty-two hours.”
“Holy shit, Aph!”
“I know, I know — I’m useless at those kinds of puzzles.”
“One: you are one of my two best friends. Two: I don’t waste time on useless immortals. Three: you’ve breezed through every other challengeandyou still passed this one!” I scolded.
“My luck will run out eventually. I just hope I can help before then.”
“Help with what?”
Her eyes widened. “Oh nothing. I just meant to help you. You’d make a much better Queen than me. And I’d prefer to keep Poseidon and Ares’ asses off the throne — as much as I like Aros.”
“Oh, you do, do you?” I teased, fully aware that if she wanted him in her bed, he would be there in an instant. He was more than willing when it came to bedroom activities, and according to Charon, a frequent patron of Aetherion’s ratheropenalehouses.
Great. Now I’m wondering how Charon knows about those.
I wasn’t naive — I knew he wasn’t as closed-off as I was — but I still hated thinking about him in that capacity.
Gross.
“Aph, what’s it like?” I asked, my voice unsteady with apprehension.
“What’s what like?” She frowned.
“Sex.”
