Zeus (Book One of The God Chronicles) Read online

  “I don’t know, are you saying you will?” I could hear the laughter in his whisper.

  “Yes.”

  “Sorry, I’m not feeling comfortable; I think that’s what it is. I’m going to cover my lower half up, if that’s alright.”

  I heard quiet groans of protest, and when I looked up, he had wrapped a towel around his waist. He lay back down in his original position and winked at me again.

  “Pick you up at eight then? And I can spend whatever amount of money I deem necessary?”

  “Sure.” I sighed in relief. And then I realized what I’d agreed to. Angry prickles bit at my insides. He’d somehow managed to get me after all.

  I didn’t know what Zeus had planned for our date, so I dressed up. I figured it was better to be overdressed than underdressed. I had a cute white dress I’d completely forgotten about in the excitement of buying a new one. It had a tank top bodice and came a little past my knees in a pencil-style skirt. It was formfitting, but not so tight that it left nothing to the imagination. I chose a pair of red heels and necklace to offset it. Once again, I wore my hair down and curly, the way I liked it when I went out.

  At eight on the dot there was a knock at the door. Zeus stood on the other side, wearing a suit of impeccable taste. He’d also worn a red tie, which matched my shoes. He may have been driving me crazy lately, but I couldn’t deny he was extremely attractive.

  “Good evening.” He smiled and held his arm out for me. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I took it and walked out to the car with him.

  “Now, I was tempted to bring a limousine to pick you up, but I thought it might be frowned upon.”

  I laughed at his confession as he opened the door to his convertible for me.

  “Well, thank you for the consideration.” I smiled as he closed my door gently and got in the car. With a turn of the key, we left the complex.

  “So what are we doing?” I asked, tired of being kept in the dark.

  “That’s for me to know and you to find out,” he replied.

  Every now and then he’d look over and smile at me, soft music playing on the radio. I realized we were heading for the Strip as traffic increased around us. More lights glowed in the night air, and soon, pedestrians were crossing every which way in front of us.

  “We’re not going to the club, are we?” I asked, uncomfortable at the prospect.

  “No, actually. Is that okay?”

  “Yes,” I breathed out a sigh of relief.

  Secretly, I was afraid we would end up flying somewhere like Paris. I’d seen that once in a movie. The girl hated the guy but finally agreed to go out with him. Then he took her on this huge, expensive date, and she fell in love with him right away. If Zeus was hoping for the same reaction, he was greatly lacking in judgment. If I so much as saw a runway, I would dive from the vehicle.

  We pulled up to The Bellagio and Zeus paid the valet to park his car. I released the air that I suddenly realized I’d been hoarding and relaxed into the seat. Instead of a resort employee opening the door for me, Zeus came around and swept it open with as much style as possible. I accepted the arm he held out for me and we strolled inside. It was breathtaking. My eyes scanned high and low while we walked through the front lobby, wondering what we were doing here.

  Finally, we came to a restaurant called Picasso. I could tell right away that it was one of the finest restaurants in the city. There were several awards hanging on the walls, but my breath caught when I saw the artwork.

  They were all Picassos. Zeus graciously let me stop in examine them more closely. I knew they weren’t originals, but they were very good replications. I wanted to stand and stare at them the whole night, but it would be rude. Still, I had to apologize to a couple for standing at their table too long while I surveyed the canvas on the wall next to them.

  We were seated at a table in the corner so we could be by ourselves. My menu didn’t have any prices on it, so I knew nothing would be cheap. My stomach twisted uncomfortably, but I knew I’d agreed to let him spend whatever amount he wanted.

  “What do you think?” Zeus asked quietly, studying me.

  “I think it’s amazing,” I said truthfully. “I also think you shouldn’t have gone through this much trouble for me.”

  “It was no trouble,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I have a couple of friends here, so I can get in whenever I want. I thought, since you were an art student, you would enjoy eating here.”

  “There’s only one problem,” I whispered. “I don’t know what to eat!”

  Zeus laughed and opened his menu. “I’ll tell you what’s good. Just be warned—it’ll be everything. The chef here can do no wrong.”

  I laughed in return and started asking about certain dishes.

  What followed was one of the largest, most delicious meals I’d ever had. He’d been right—everything was delicious. The chef even came out to ask us how it tasted. I’d never had an experience like this before. It was almost eleven by the time we stood to leave.

  “Thank you for dinner,” I said as we left the restaurant. “It was a nice date.” I was surprised to find that I meant it. My anger from before had greatly dissipated.

  “The date’s not over yet,” he said smiling. “The best part is yet to come. Do you trust me?”

  “No.” I laughed nervously. I really didn’t trust him all that much—he had a lot to make up for.

  “Well, too bad. You have to wear a blindfold for this next part.” He pulled a piece of cloth out of his jacket pocket, and I eyed it hesitantly.

  “Why?”

  “Don’t worry, it will come off. I want our next destination to be a surprise.” He smiled reassuringly.

  “What the heck, go ahead.” I threw caution to the wind and decided to go with it. It couldn’t be much worse than him showing up naked in my art class—unless, of course, I ended up dead in a dumpster. I grinned inwardly as I imagined the “I told you so” I would be missing from my parents if that were to happen.

  He tied the blindfold loosely around my eyes, making sure not to tie my hair in it.

  “Alright, here we go.” He took my hand and squeezed it as he began leading me forward. It was odd how comforting his hand felt in mine, and I found myself squeezing back.

  We didn’t leave the resort as far as I could tell, but we did walk through a few doors. Finally, we stopped, and he let go of my hand.

  “Are you ready?” he asked, excitement burning in his voice.

  “I guess so,” I said, still not sure what was going on.

  I felt his arms encircle me and his fingers work at the tie of my blinder.

  “Close your eyes before it comes off,” he said. His warm breath washed over my face. Soft fingers traced over my cheek and through my hair, causing my breath to catch and goose bumps to form on my arms. “I want to see your expression when you see everything.”

  “Okay,” I laughed and closed my eyes. The blindfold fell away, and I could hear his footsteps moving a few paces away from me.

  “Alright, open your eyes.”

  There were paintings everywhere—Monets, Picassos, and all sorts of other fine works. I gasped as I took them in, turning in a circle to see each of them. They were beautiful. I couldn’t decide where to start first.

  “Do you like it?” he asked from behind me.

  “I love it!” I turned to face him, a smile spread across my face. “Where are we?”

  “Still in The Bellagio,” he explained. “This is usually closed right now, but I managed to convince them to let us in. I thought you might enjoy it more without all sorts of people in your way.”

  “This is . . . Not what I expected,” I said honestly.

  “What did you expect,” he laughed.

  “I’m not sure. I didn’t know what to expect from a man who had to get naked for me to go out with him.”

  “Hey now,” he said, acting hurt. “You were the one that made it difficult.” He clutched a hand to his chest like I had mor
tally wounded him.

  “Yeah, well . . .” I didn’t want to ruin our date by calling him out on his actions when we first met.

  “Listen,” he said, moving closer to me. “I really am sorry about that. I was a jerk and I know it. Thank you for helping me realize I’m better than that. And you’re worth more than that.”

  “Oh,” I said embarrassed. There was a little awkward silence.

  “So, do you want to see the rest of it?” He held his arm out for me again, ushering the uncomfortable feelings away. “There are a few more large rooms like this one.”

  “I would love to,” I said. It wasn’t like me to hold a grudge for so long. I decided that despite his piggish behavior before, he was a good guy. I finally found it in myself to forgive him and get to know who he really was. And if it turned out he really was a jerk, well then, I knew how to take care of him. I reached out and took his hand instead of his arm, blushing at the grin he gave me.

  “Show me the rest?”

  “I’d love to,” he replied.

  Chapter Eight

  I awoke the next morning in my own bed, cuddled into the covers with a stupid grin on my face. I was kind of amazed at the wonderful time I’d had. Zeus had shown me the rest of the gallery, stopping at each work to explain it in detail. I had wondered at how he obtained his vast knowledge of art. My smile grew as I remembered the tight way he’d held onto my hand the rest of the night, gripping it tightly and never letting go until he brought me home.

  And that was it. When it was time for our date to end and we were back at the apartment, he walked me to the door, wished me a goodnight and left. No kiss or anything. It had been somewhat shocking, especially after he’d pretty much asked me to sleep with him the very first time we’d met.

  I sighed, feeling content. I was sure he would call soon. I’d given him my number on the car ride home, more than happy to go out again. If he’d gone through so much trouble for a first date, he’d want a second, right?

  I stayed in bed for a little while longer, until I absolutely had to get up and get ready. I laughed when I caught myself already checking my phone for messages.

  Overall, the day went quickly, but I couldn’t stop checking my phone. I shouldn’t have been so excited to get a call from the man who had tormented me my first couple of days here, but I couldn’t help it. He had really improved his image on our date. It meant something that he had catered to what I loved, instead of being merely some lame first date that any girl could have enjoyed. The fact that he’d even refrained from kissing me goodnight had also impressed me. It made me feel like he really wanted to get to know me and was trying to make up for being inappropriate before.

  By the time I got home, he still hadn’t called. I was beginning to feel obsessive. Putting the phone down was hard, but I did it. I spent the night adding another coat to the latest layer on my painting and went to bed discouraged.

  If I’d known I would follow that basic pattern for the next two weeks, I would have never gone on the date in the first place. He never called. Every night I would work on my painting, do homework, call my mom, or whatever else I could think of. I wasn’t moping because he hadn’t called—I was fighting the urge to go down to his precious resort and punch him right in the nose. I felt like I’d been played, like this was his way of getting back at me.

  Finally, I decided to go down there. He wasn’t going to have this power over me. I didn’t want him ruling my emotions. He was going to find out exactly what he had missed out on by letting me get away.

  I slipped into my tennis shoes and headed for my car. I took the roads parallel to the Strip in order to avoid traffic. Rehearsing in my head what I would say to him, I pulled into the front entrance of Tartarus.

  “Leave it here,” I snapped at the valet. “I won’t be long. If you’ve got a problem with it, then you can take it up with Zeus—I’m here to see him.” The poor valet appeared shocked, but nodded his head and started waving the other cars and cabs around mine.

  I stormed into the front lobby, which closely resembled the casino except there was a large front desk instead of slot machines.

  “Where is Zeus’s office?” The girl standing behind the counter jumped at my demand. She pointed towards a pair of closed, dark-brown doors, off to the left side of her station. She looked just as stunned as the valet had been, but didn’t argue either. For that I was grateful—I already felt bad for yelling at both of them. If someone slowed me down before I got there, though, I wouldn’t be able to go in and deliver my rant.

  Making a beeline for the doors, I took in a couple deep breaths, my hands forming fists at my side. Angry tears were trying to form, but I pushed them back down. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

  “Who, exactly, do you think you are?!” I yelled as I burst through the doors. “We had a great time and then you never called! Is this your way of getting back at me? Do you feel superior now? I should have—” I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Zeus’s face—like the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders. There were deep worry lines creasing the corner of his eyes, and his hair looked like it had been run through with a rake. The stare he was giving me plainly displayed surprise mixed with guilt.

  “Oh,” I said softly, my fire having suddenly burnt out. “I’ll come back later, I didn’t mean to—”

  “No, Karly, please stay,” he sighed. “I owe you an explanation, you’re right. Please sit down.” He gestured to a pair of chairs next to a window. Despite being on the ground floor, the window showed an amazing aerial view of the Strip.

  “It’s a video feed,” he explained, noticing my confusion. “It shows the view from my room. I felt like the office needed a little bit of pizazz. You can only spend so much time in a dark office before you lose your mind.” He smiled weakly as he got up from his desk and moved towards the chairs. I followed him there, still confused as to what his explanation would be.

  His office was dark. It was decorated in rich brown colors, with giant bookshelves lining the wall behind his desk. Between the doors and his desk was a large rug, which depicted a map of ancient Greece. There were similar paintings hanging on the walls. The ceiling was vaulted, giving the room an open feeling, but the lack of lighting added to the darkness.

  We settled into the arm chairs in front of the window-like screen.

  “I did mean to call you,” he began. “But I didn’t want to seem too eager by calling the next day.”

  “Two weeks was too long,” I said, not able to stop the ice creeping into my voice.

  “I know,” he shot back, growling a little. “Just let me finish, okay?”

  “Okay,” I conceded.

  “I decided I would call you back in three days. That seemed like a good time. But then things got . . . messy.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “My . . . uncle, Kronos, sent a message to me.”

  “You weren’t joking when you said your family was into Greek names,” I said, mostly to myself. Zeus still smiled at my comment, but continued on like I hadn’t interrupted.

  “He feels I’m not fit to run . . . uh . . . Tartarus. He wants to take control of it from me.”

  “But didn’t you start it? I mean like paying for everything, getting it all set up, all that?”

  “Yes, I did.” He slid a hand over his face, the tired demeanor growing.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound very fair,” I said. He laughed a little at that.

  “You’re right, it’s not very fair,” he chuckled. “He won’t stop until he gets it, though. That’s the problem. He’s not a very honest man either. I worry about what he’ll do to get it. This is where the messy part comes in.” He slouched over in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. There was silence while I waited for him to continue, and he studied the screen in front of him.

  “What do you think he’ll do?” I asked after a few moments.

  “It’s not what I think he’ll do, it’s what I think
he’s done.” He turned towards me, one hand raised to his chin, pulling on the short hairs there. After a minute, he turned back to the pretend window.

  “My friend, Niki, was supposed to come for a visit. She’s like a little sister to me, and I haven’t seen her in a long time.” He ran a hand through his hair and returned to resting his elbow on his knee. “I’d thought she would be here about a week ago, but she hasn’t shown up. No one knows where she is.”

  “You think your uncle kidnapped her?” I gasped. “Zeus, that’s a huge accusation! Are you sure you want to accuse him of that?”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done something like that,” he grumbled.

  “Then why isn’t he in jail?!” I couldn’t believe he actually thought his uncle would be so nasty and evil over a casino.

  “He has been, for a long time. I guess he got out.” Zeus shrugged his shoulders and then stood up. “Anyway, that’s why you didn’t hear from me. I was trying to find a way to deal with my uncle and figure out what happened to Niki. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I will, though. I do want to go out again; I’ve been busy, that’s all.”

  “Hold on a second,” I said standing up. “What are you going to do about your uncle? How are you going to find out if he has Niki? Don’t you want to talk about this some more? It all sounds like a really, really big deal!” I looked at him in shock. How could he be so calm about this?

  “Zeus,” I began again, softer. “I think you might be in shock. Normally, people have already gone to the cops with stuff like this. I know he’s family, but I really think you need to talk about it some more, with someone who’s not me—someone who can actually do something about it.” He wore a small grin as he met my gaze, so I walked over and placed a hand on the side of his face. His eyes closed and he sighed deeply.

  “This is a big deal,” I said softly. “You need to get someone to help you.” He opened his eyes and stared into mine, taking my breath away. I loved their golden brown color. They were unlike anything I’d ever seen. I felt his hand cover mine and pull it towards his mouth.