Page 18 of Achille's Earth Angel
Alex held up his hands. “Okay, okay, I believe you. It’s still up to Ange though.” There was an awkward pause and then he changed the subject.
“So, have you seen any more signs of Epaphras or Gronk?”
Achilles hesitated, his eyes narrowing. “I did find a dead goat on the beach yesterday. Don’t mention it to Ange, it wasn’t a pretty sight. I took it out and fed it to the sharks.”
“Why don’t you want Angel to know?”
“You really want to know?” His eyebrow shot up in question.
Understanding flooded Alex’s brain and he flushed. “You’re messing with me, right?”
“I don’t mess with people; I just tell them the straight truth.”
Alex grimaced. “That’s disgusting.”
“Epaphras is messing with me, as you put it, not Angel. I don’t believe he would actually hurt her now that his father knows what he’s been up to. But that doesn’t stop the sea pup from taunting me,” Achilles growled. “He doesn’t like being thwarted.”
“Who doesn’t like being thwarted?”
With their backs to the house, the men hadn’t seen Ange coming down the flagstone walkway. They looked uneasily at each other.
“We were just discussing the possibility of Epaphras and Gronk coming back,” Alex confessed. “Achilles doesn’t think he will try to harm you again, but that doesn’t mean he might not try to cause mischief.”
“Mischief? In what way?”
Achilles decided to be honest but leave out the worst details. “I found one of the goats dead on the beach yesterday morning. I disposed of the carcass for you.”
Ange frowned. “Then we need to move them further away from the beach.”
“Probably wouldn’t hurt,” Alex added.
There was an awkward silence while Ange stared at them as if they were keeping something from her. Her gaze sliced to first one man and then the other. Finally, she settled on Alex. “What brings you out here today?” She held her hand up to her forehead to block the rays of the fading sun over the water.
“I was just checking in to see how things were going, and if there had been any more trouble. Are you getting your dad’s paperwork figured out?”
Ange shrugged. “It’s pretty simple as far as I can tell. The house is paid off and the farm is free and clear. I just have to decide if I want to sell it and return to Athens, or keep it.”
“Why would you want to go to Athens?” Achilles asked.
“I like the city.”
Her answer was curt and Achilles didn’t like the tone of it. Something had turned his Angel from steaming hot to ice cold that first night. At first, he’d thought she was just tired and grieving. But her attitude hadn’t changed over the last three days and he was getting concerned. He’d given her the space she seemed to need, but now that he’d told Alex of his intentions, he intended to court her properly.
They were all startled when Hercules suddenly appeared beside them, his smirking face serious for once.
“How did you do that?” Ange sputtered. “You usually come from the beach area near the forest’s edge.”
“I only come on foot when Achilles is with me because he can’t just appear where he wants to go,” he replied with a brief chuckle. Then his face sobered and he spoke to Achilles. “Zeus wants to see you. He’s not happy.”
“When?” Achilles question was short and clipped.
“Yesterday, if possible,” Hercules replied honestly. “I tried to put him off but Poseidon finally told him what happened with Epaphras, and about us being there, and now he is breathing fire.”
“Hmm...I don’t see that your tail has been singed.”
“It wasn’t for lack of trying,” Hercules complained. “I had to dodge three thunderbolts just to get out of the room and give him time to cool down. You know how he is when he loses his temper.”
“Yes, I do. Which is why I won’t be going right away.”
