Pandora studies the dais in the center of the room, a round stage that is a foot or two off the ground. Not high, but high enough to ensure everyone in the space can get a good look. “When the lights go down, it’s rather magical.” I don’t exactly mean to speak, but her curiosity is practically shouting and I want to hear those thoughts racing behind her big, dark eyes.
“The lighting is fascinating.” She eyes the ceiling, where the water reflections from the cleverly hidden trough circling the edge of the room paint glimmering ribbons of light against the black.
“You’re going to hurt Hades’s feelings talking about the lighting when there’s so much else to look at.” A playful edge works its way into my tone. “Did you know the first time he brought Persephone here, he fucked her on that throne right there?” I jerk my chin at the gleaming black throne positioned against the wall opposite of us. It’s empty now, and will remain so tonight, but it’s a showstopper. I don’t know if he meant to create this place as the polar opposite of my father’s domain—all gold, all the time, the tackier the better—but it’s hard not to compare the two.
Thankfully, my brother has subtler taste.
“For a place that boasts no media, everything that happens in this club seems to find its way to the upper city.” Pandora’s lips twist, though the curiosity in her eyes doesn’t dim. “I’m not going to fuck you on that throne.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. “Honey, no one is allowed on that throne except them. It sits empty on the nights they aren’t down here.” From the rumors I hear, it sits empty more and more often lately. It’s enough to make one wonder if their honeymoon period has worn off so quickly.
The lights dim a bit and the small amount of chatter from the people gathered dies away. We all watch a pair of white men step up onto the dais. I’ve never seen them before, but that doesn’t mean anything; I don’t spend much time in the lower city as a general rule, and it is amateur night, so they don’t work here. They obviously know each other, though. They move in the easy way of a couple who’ve done this before enough times to know the steps by heart.
“I don’t understand.”
I tear my gaze away from the dais to refocus on Pandora. “What’s there to understand?”
“I’ve been in Olympus long enough to know the way things work here.” She tucks her long dark hair behind her ears. One curl immediately breaks free, and I find myself catching it and smoothing it back. Pandora shivers, but doesn’t move away. She narrows her eyes at the dais. “The upper city is very focused on their thin veil of purity. Then people act like this the moment they get a chance. It’s hypocritical.”
“How naive.” I shift a little closer and lower my voice so I’m speaking directly into her ear. “Power is a game. The shape of it might look different in other cities, but don’t pretend Olympus is unique in its hypocrisy.” Purity and innocence were two things my father tried to beat into my bones. He should have known it was a lost cause from the moment I turned fifteen and laughed in his face when he told me to change my dress before a party. My sister is more like our mother; she wants to believe the best in people, even when she knows better.
Me? I take after our bastard of a father. I’m stubborn to a fault and I will do whatever it takes to reach my end goal. It’s a silly twist of fate that it took me becoming Aphrodite for our goals to align, and by that point, he was dead.
What I do, I do for Olympus.
Even if he wouldn’t approve of my methods.
“It’s different,” Pandora whispers. “Everything about this place is different.”
“Not so different.” It’s difficult to remember that I need to keep a careful distance between us, to not push her too hard. Seduction is an art and I’m normally very good at it, but there’s something about Pandora that overrides my normal strategic instincts. “We’re human, you and me. No matter how different cultures dress it up or don’t, humans are…earthy.”
She turns her head, kissably close. “Earthy.” She shivers. “That’s one way to put it.”
I have a plan. It’s a very good plan if I do say so myself. I fully intend to edge her to the point where she’s panting after me and will do anything I ask. It’s worked in the past with other people.
But with her breath ghosting against my lips, the thought of maintaining the distance between us is abhorrent to me. Unnatural. “I’d like to kiss you.”