Ernie flitted back to the table, drinks in each hand. He handed Zeus the beer and handed me a fluted glass that sparkled with something bubbly. “Beer for the boss, champagne for the lady.”

I took the drink but didn’t sip from it. Thinking about what Zeus could tell me in front of Ernie, I weighed my options. Not that I believed him that Ernie wasn’t on my side . . . but I was quickly learning that not everything was as it seemed. Just as Yaya had said.

“Tell me about my grandmother. What is the curse on her?”

Zeus nodded, his eyes sparkling with approval. “Well, after she and I had our tryst, Hera was as usual peeved.”

Ernie snorted. “Peeved is a bit light of a term, don’t you think?”

“Well, the details don’t matter now. Hera is always peeved about something.” He rolled his eyes, and I thought about Roger cheating on me. How it had sent me into a flurry of self-doubt, anger, and shock.

I put the drink down and glared up at Zeus, thinking that perhaps all men—and male gods—were alike. Obviously Zeus thought nothing of stepping out on his wife. Neither did Roger. Were they all just primed and ready to hump anything that smiled at them?

“I’ve been cheated on, and if all she got was peeved, I think you got off light. In fact, I think perhaps you deserve whatever you get.”

“A lifetime of penance, eh?” He shook his head. “Please, you have no idea what it is to be tied to someone you haven’t loved in years. Someone who doesn’t even love you but is such a territorial bitch she won’t give you up.” His words so closely echoed Roger’s, I felt like I was talking to my husband for a split second.

I slapped my hands on the table. “I do know what it is to be tied to someone I can’t get away from, so don’t you talk down to me. You might think of yourself as a god, but you aren’t any different than any other stupid man who thinks he can cheat and has all the reasons and excuses to do so.”

“You’re a child who doesn’t understand life,” he shot back. “People who are happy don’t cheat. If you got cheated on, maybe your husband wasn’t happy. Ever think about that?”

“Or maybe he’s just a damn asshole!” I shouted, shaking all over. I was so angry that I didn’t even care that I had just sworn for maybe the first time in my whole life. Mostly because I worried a part of what he said might be right. What if I’d put more time into my marriage and less into my business? Would Roger have strayed then?

There was a moment of stunned silence, and slowly the tension fell.

Zeus grimaced and waved a hand at me as if to wipe all the words away. “The point is, Hera was not happy. Since she can’t really do anything to me, she always punishes those I’ve dallied with. In an effort to scare them off from this goodness.” He slapped at the small beer belly that edged out over the top of his pants.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. My yaya. What was the curse?”

“That she and her family would never find real love. And if they ever stepped back into the supernatural world, they would be destroyed. Which is why Flora let herself get sucked into the Firsts.”

“Oh, is that it?” I drawled even as my heart skipped a beat. “Destroyed? That’s it?”

Zeus’s jaw dropped, but he covered it by taking a sip of his beer. “You’re taking this rather well.”

“Listen, I’ve faced more in the last few days than any good girl should ever have to deal with in her entire life. What’s a curse of a loveless life and ultimate destruction added to it?” I leaned back in my seat. “Will you help me with Achilles?”

Ernie’s head whipped from side to side, looking from me to Zeus and back again, but he said nothing.

Zeus shook his head. “No. Not my area anymore. ‘No dabbling’ is my motto now.”

“Not even a suggestion?” I leaned toward him, wondering if I could work my siren magic on him the way I’d done on Officer Jensen. That slow unfurling of power within my belly curled up through me.

Zeus laughed softly. “Won’t work on me. But nice to see you’re falling into your role as a monster.”

I jerked back from him as if he’d slapped me. Ernie shook his head. “That wasn’t nice. She is a good girl.”

“Good girls get fucked over, Ernie. You know that.” Zeus stared at the cherub. “Either she embraces what she is now, or she’s going to die. Achilles will kill her. End of her story.”

I pushed out of the booth. “Thanks for all your help.”

“You aren’t leaving, are you?” He seemed genuinely surprised. He slid out of the booth, following me.

“My brother is being held by Achilles. I can’t leave him there.”

Zeus’s face went a careful, neutral blank. “Your brother?”

“Yes.” I frowned. “Does that mean something to you?”

Zeus cleared his throat and leaned over the table. “Don’t try to save him. That’s Achilles’s style. Hold a hostage, use them against his enemy, and kill the hostage right as you step onto the stage. To send you into a rage that will make you sloppy.”

The music faded into a buzz. “No, that can’t be, he won’t kill Tad just to make me angry.”

“It is. That has always been his style.”

Ernie shook his head. “His methods could have changed. He hasn’t faced a monster like Alena for years. Maybe he’s got a new trick up his sleeve.”