“Correction, Helen; that’s my girl.”
I nearly breathe a sigh of relief when I realize Eros has joined us. He’s got a strangely indulgent smile on his face, and I can’t tell if he’s faking it or not. Just like I can’t tell how much of Helen’s enthusiasm is really her. Persephone does a beaming sunshine thing when she’s in public, and this kind of reminds me of that. But it’s less soft warmth and more lightning in a bottle. I get the feeling she might explode at any moment in frenetic energy that is as likely to harm as it is to entertain.
Helen waves Eros’s comment away as she pulls out a bottle of bourbon that’s outstandingly expensive. “She might be wearing your ring—it’s gorgeous, by the way—but you’re practically a brother to me, so that makes her family.” She beams at me. “I’ve always wanted a sister.”
I blink. “You have a sister. She’s standing right there.” I point at Eris, who’s wearing an ink spill of a dress and has her head close to a Black woman in a gorgeous—and tiny—red dress. I belatedly realize I recognize her as well. Hermes catches me looking and gives a cheery wave.
Helen snorts. “Eris isn’t a sister. She’s chaos personified.”
That surprises a laugh out of me. “I have one of those, too.”
“Callisto.” She says the name like she’s savoring it. “I wish she’d come around more. She seems interesting. You all do.” She passes me the bourbon and pours a glass of red wine without asking Eros what he wants. Helen presses it into his hand and rounds the counter to stand a little too close. I’d take it personally, but I get the feeling that it’s just how she is with everyone. She rakes her gaze over me. “You look outstanding. You always look outstanding.”
I glance down at myself. I chose my dress carefully tonight. It’s a deep-green wrap dress that makes my breasts look great and maximizes my curves. “Um, thanks.”
“Oh, I’m obviously not telling you anything you don’t already know, but it’s still nice to hear, right?” She waves it away. Someone knocks on the door before she can continue. “I’ll be back. Enjoy the party!” And then she’s gone, trailing glitter behind her.
I feel like I’ve just been tossed around by a tornado and deposited somewhere completely different than where I started. It wasn’t an entirely unpleasant experience, but it was disorienting in the extreme. I take too large a drink of my bourbon, but my nerves are in danger of getting the best of me. “Is she always like this?”
“No.” Eros shrugs. “When she entertains, she ramps up.”
Easy enough to read between those lines. She’s got a public persona the same way we do. From what I’ve observed, she likes people to underestimate her, and they see a happy, pretty fool and don’t look beneath the surface. I just hadn’t realized her energy level was so…high. “I see.”
Eros shifts close and pulls me into his arms. It feels horribly natural, as if we’ve been embracing much longer than a few days. I don’t tense and I manage to smile up at him as if deeply in love. The warmth on his face never ceases to set me back on my heels, but I manage to mask my response. He leans down to speak in my ear. “An hour or two and then people will drift off to other parties or clubs.”
Honestly, it’s not a big ask to play this role with him for a few hours. This party might be filled with people I’ve spent years avoiding, but Hermes is the only member of the Thirteen in sight, and so it’s still better than the events at Dodona Tower my mother insists on dragging me to.
I turn in Eros’s arms. He doesn’t let me go; he simply tucks me back against his chest and rests his chin on the top of my head. I don’t understand why this feels as intimate as the embrace, but I’m not going to break his hold just because my heart is racing as if I just ran up a flight of stairs.
And then my attention lands on the man across the living room, and I forget all about Eros. “That motherfucker.”
His arms tense around me, tugging me back a step when I would break free. “I didn’t know he’d be here.”
Orpheus.
The asshole whose selfishness not only broke Eurydice’s heart but put her literal life in danger. They were dating seriously before that night, and she loved him with everything she had. The breakup has hit her hard, but Orpheus hasn’t missed a beat in the intervening months. Every time I turn around, he’s making headlines in MuseWatch with his partying and hooking up with one gorgeous person after another. Current speculation is that he’s on the rebound and soothing the pain of a broken heart, but it’s bullshit.