Zeus (Contemporary Mythos Book 6)

I’d taken a risk locking her in the cell with me, but I knew she’d protest about it at first only to give in to the idea, maybe even enjoy it. It was as if I knew her without knowing her. Knew what she needed versus wanted. Knew how to hand her Olympus itself but not knowing—if she wanted it.

Without dampening the power as I’d been doing since we met, I flashed lightning in my palm, frying the surrounding cameras and blanketing us in darkness. Red washed over our skin as the single emergency light sprung to life in the corner of the room.

She slammed her palm on the door, the only lock available from the other side. “Zane, what the hell are you doing?”

I stepped forward, pressing my forearms to the door on each side of her head, smiling down at her. “We really need to stop meeting like this.”

“Zane.” She pressed a hand on my chest, sending a surge down my arms that had nothing to do with my lightning power.

Any other woman would’ve flown into a panic being locked in a room with a man she claimed to hate. Any other woman may have even slapped me. But not Keira. No. Because this was yet another segment in our game, and she was ever the willing participant. And it’s what kept me coming back time and time again.

“You’re right. We need to talk. And what I need to tell you can’t be seen or heard by anyone else.” I rolled my bottom lip past my teeth.

Keira ducked under my arm and walked to the opposite side of the room—standing her ground, open to what I had to say, but showing me, she wasn’t going to make it easy.

I’d be disappointed if she did.

“Well? It’s not as if I’m going anywhere. What do you have to tell me?” She folded her arms.

Might as well come right out and say it.

Clasping my hands in front of me, I locked gazes with her, the emergency light giving her cheeks crimson shadows. “My name isn’t Zane Vronti. It’s a name I use as a cover along with the lawyer job.” I took a step forward. “My real name is Zeus. And I’m King of the Greek gods.” Another step.

She didn’t say anything at first, pressing her ass against the wall behind her, her eyes searching my face…and then she burst out laughing.

“Fuck, Zane. I’ve heard a lot of ego complexes, but this has to take the cake.” She flicked her wrist. “You think you’re a god, now? And not just any god but a god-king?”

“I am, Keira.” The lightning sparked over my arms, circling them.

Just believe so we can move on from this.

I’d never been so close to begging in my immortal life as I was at this very moment.

She gasped and shook her head, her gaze falling to the electricity coiling around me. “No. No, this must be some kind of trick. Zane, how dare you—”

We don’t have time for this.

Growling, I ported across the room, appearing in front of her. Taking her face in my hand, I gently forced her gaze to mine, sending a series of tingles from the lightning rolling over my knuckles into her cheek. “I. Am.” The lightning took over my eyes, pulsing in them, making me see in black and white. “I could port us to Mount Olympus, right now, if I wanted, and fuck you on my throne.”

Her bottom lip trembled as she looked up at me, a mixture of fear and lust washing over her features. “But you won’t.”

My power fizzled, and I blinked, recoiling an inch. “Excuse me?”

“You’re so used to getting your way, to everyone and everything around you doing your bidding without hardly flinching. You want me to ask.” She tightened her jaw.

The lightning pulsed again, reacting from the sheer confidence and balls this woman had.

“Where is this coming from?” I narrowed my glowing eyes at her.

Most importantly, I needed to know because…she was right.

“No. You finish explaining this first.” She rested her hand on my forearm, my power reflecting in her light eyes as she stared at me. “How?”

Scraping my callused fingertip over her skin, I kept her gaze. “You’re having a hard time not believing it, aren’t you? There’s a reason for that too, Keira.”

Silence.

She licked her lips as her gaze dropped to my mouth. It was one thing to feel my power when she thought I was a mere mortal, but now to see it? Feel it? Have it standing right in front of her?

“You’re part goddess.” I hovered my mouth near hers but made no move to kiss her.

“What?” She spat, her forehead crinkling.

“Did your parents ever tell you, you were adopted?”

She gripped the sleeve of my jacket, wrinkling it, pulling it taut over my arm. “Yes, but—they were older. They’ve been gone for years now.” She frowned, letting herself slump against the wall.

“Your birth mother is a goddess.” I cupped her chin, lifting her bewildered gaze to meet mine.

She balled her hands into fists and beat them against my shoulders. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

Her expression suggested otherwise. It was as if my words were the most sense she’d heard in some time but couldn’t process why.

“Her name is Oizys. She’s a goddess of specific emotions—misery, depression, anxiety.” I kept my hand on her face, caressing her cheeks with my thumbs.

Her gaze dropped, and she palmed her forehead. “Please step back, I need to—this is all too much.”

As she requested, I slid away, willing my power to dissipate.

Anger suddenly flushed her face. “Wait a minute. How long were you going to wait to tell me this? You were just going to let me marry you without knowing it meant signing up to be a Queen or a goddess or whatever the hell this entails?” Her chest pumped, her breaths increasing.

“I figured telling you too soon would have you running for the hills. Doesn’t this make your decision easier?”

Frustration twisted at my gut.

“What?” She growled, dragging her hands through her hair and shaking her head. “You cannot be this dense, Zane.”

“I’m not sure what the hell you have to be angry about. You thought you were marrying into an inheritance when it’s more than that. A queendom. Godhood.” I ran a hand over my beard, trying to hide the irritation and confusion punching through my veins, the lightning sizzling under my skin. “Immortality, Keira.”

Her eyes widened, lips parting ever so slightly. “I honestly can’t believe you. I just found out you’re Zeus. The Zeus. And I’m part goddess, and you expect me to what—say hell yeah, let’s do this?”

I scratched the back of my head, wincing like I’d been mentally slapped. “It would be preferable?”

“Oh my—” She turned her back on me, pressing her forehead against the door with a stifled scream.

“I don’t know what you expect from me. This—I’m not used to this.” King of the Gods—reduced to a stammering fool. Bile would’ve worked up my throat if my body were capable.

This is what I got for having mortals eating out of the palm of my hand for nearly my entire life. Especially. Women.

She whirled around. “Doing what? Holding a civil conversation? One that doesn’t involve innuendo and jabs?”

Ouch. I adjusted myself, feeling like I’d been kicked in the nuts with her foot never leaving the ground.

“Trying to convince a woman to be with me. To not only explain what I could offer but show her.” I clenched my fists, reining in my power. It wanted to light up the whole fucking room.

She dropped her hands at her sides. “And there we have it. It always circles back to you.”

I opened my mouth, and for the first time in my unnatural life…nothing came out.

“Open the door,” she huffed, pointing behind her and keeping her gaze fixed on the floor.

“Keira, we don’t have a lot of ti—” I started, crossing the room to her, the anger scraping my spine, puncturing it.

The corners of her jaw bobbed, her eyes glistening. “Open the goddamned door, Zane.”

“Fine,” I growled, waving my hand at the door, making the metal slab slide.

Without another word from either of us, she stormed to the hallway.

What the actual fuck just happened? The polar opposite of what I thought would, that’s for damn sure. I offered the woman a kingdom, the chance to be an immortal goddess and she says it’s about more than that? What the Tartarus else is there?

Sitting on the edge of the metal table, I dropped my face in my hands. Tiredness tugged at my brain again, and I glanced at my watch, sighing at the time left until my kingly demise. Rounds. I hadn’t done rounds in weeks. Sparking life back into the room—the lights and cameras—I ported to a live concert being held in Buffalo, New York. Walking amidst the crowds of people in stadium seating, I remained invisible to all mortals and immortals alike.

My son, Apollo, blazed onto the stage, fronting himself as the lead singer of the band Apollo’s Suns. He definitely inherited his cunning and ego from me. In all the years he’d been performing, I’d only watched him once. He did exactly what I expected him to—danced shirtless, focused on the women, and used his Fates-given gifts to inspire the masses. At least he was doing his job.

He strutted out on stage with his guitar strapped to his back, asking the audience how they were doing, referring them all to the city name itself. But unlike the last time I’d watched him, he stretched his hand behind him and welcomed someone else on stage. A blonde woman in ballet attire with one of the most radiant smiles I’d ever seen. His goddess and newly appointed leader of the muses, Laurel.

Observing the two of them, I rubbed my chin. Overseeing the muses had always been Apollo’s favorite part of his duties. He’d been focused on himself since he was a teenager and the little ass drove me mad. And one run-in with this woman…changed everything. They didn’t even have a fated bond—plopped into each other’s paths, both missing a part of themselves they hadn’t known they’d lost.

Huh.

Apollo curled Laurel against him, kissing first the side of her head, followed by a practical make out session for all eyes to see. Grimacing, I snapped my gaze away, peeking now and again to ensure they weren’t licking each other’s faces any longer before I continued to watch. I’d seen my son happy, but never like this—slaying the Python, the victory at Troy, after Eros lifted that idiotic spell, so Apollo was no longer in love with a damn tree. He had countless women he pursued, but all ended in tragedy. If I had to take a step back and look at the bigger picture—his experiences could’ve been entirely my fault. Who else did he have to emulate? Who else did he have to admire? Rubbing the back of my neck, I tore my eyes away from the stage.

The crowd roared with applause as Laurel spun in circles on her toes, and Apollo danced around her, playing guitar. Something told me I’d never need to worry about these two slacking on their godly jobs. There was so much inspiration floating in the air, it almost had me spinning damn circles. But my son performed one of the most selfless acts for this once mortal woman, gave up his leadership for her to make it her own.

I wasn’t my son. And my leadership wasn’t one I could give up. It had to be supported. Understood.

Snarling, I ported to the next location. Los Angeles, California. My daughter, Aphrodite, sat in front of a vanity, staring at herself in the mirror. She lifted her hands, conjuring her powers in her palms, but it resulted in crackles and pops versus its full force.

“I don’t understand it,” she snapped, throwing a hairbrush into the mirror, cracking it.

Shit. I’d never seen her this angry.

A woman swept through the door with wide eyes once she spotted Aphrodite’s chest heaving at the broken mirror. “Ma’am. Sorry to disturb you, but you have a visitor?”

“Who?” A scowl morphed over Aphrodite’s face, an anguished one.

The woman remained in the doorway, using the door as a makeshift shield. “All he said was to tell you it’s Heph.”

My daughter’s face softened, brightened even, before she wiped an invisible slate over it, ridding it of all emotion.

“Tell him I’ll be right out.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The woman quickly retreated.

Aphrodite swirled an arm around her, appearing in a tight light pink dress. After fanning her hand at the mirror, repairing it, she leaned forward and primped herself. I cast my eyes away as she adjusted her cleavage. A smile tugged at her lips before she scurried out the door, her demeanor changed on a whim.

Heph as in Hephaistos? Seriously? That dopey oaf? Did not. See. That coming.

I hesitated at first before snapping my fingers, and porting to Pensacola, Florida. Hera whisked through an apartment living room, walking back and forth from the bedroom to the kitchen and back again as if flustered. Observing her, I folded my arms.

She suddenly halted near me, squinting, her finger aimlessly searching the air. “Do you think after all this time I couldn’t sense you and your little invisibility trick?”

Fuck.

Making myself visible to her, I kept leaning on the counter with crossed arms. “Hi, Hera.”

“Zeus.” She lifted her chin, standing regal and posh as ever. “If you came here to—”

I lifted a hand and shook my head. “No. You deserve to be happy. And clearly, that wasn’t with me.”

Her jaw fell open, and she slow-blinked like I’d blindsided her. “I—I mean, we could have been. You realize that, right?”

“I honestly don’t think so, my dear.” Rubbing my chin, my eyes heavy, I lifted my gaze to hers. “We were never right for each other. Just convenient at the time.”

“Olympus. You look like shit, Zeus.”

“I’ve got a lot on my mind. You kind of left me in a situation.” I smirked and adjusted my cufflinks.

“Situation? You haven’t picked a new Qu—” She stopped short and placed a hand over her opened mouth. “Did you meet someone?”

The last thing I wanted to do was talk about Keira. I decided to go on rounds to distract myself from the entire fucking thing.

“Take care of yourself, Hera. And if you need anything, all you have to do is ask.” I pushed off the counter and slid a hand in my pocket. “You’ll always have a spot on the Olympian Council. Whatever the shit good it does in the modern age, but it’s still yours.”

“I—” Hera pressed a hand to her chest. “Thank you.”

Grimacing, I ported outside. I didn’t know where I intended to go next, but I couldn’t stay there anymore. This whole new dynamic I suddenly decided to try on myself already had my asshole hurting.

Sighing, I ported to Denver, Colorado. The Bulldog gym, to be exact. My son Ares sparred with his also newly formed goddess wife, Harmony. I was still bitter he didn’t ask me to turn her and went behind my back to Hades instead. But could I really blame him? And even still, when I first met Harmony, I had to lay down the law. I was her leader, and she had to realize there were consequences for pussy-footing around. She wasn’t only good for my son, she was good amongst the war gods, period.

Ares leaped from the mat with a snarl. “I still can’t believe what that maláka said to you. He’s lucky I didn’t bash his teeth in on the spot.”

And he hadn’t?

“Ares,” Harmony started, curling her hand over his bicep. “Breathe. We’ve talked about this, remember?”

Ares’s lip bounced, and he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her to him. “You’re right. What would I fucking do without you, gatáki?”

“We’re in this together, war god.” She cupped his face and kissed him.

The kiss soon turned ravenous, and they dropped to the mats. Smirking to myself, I let my gaze fall to my feet.

My one legitimate child was the only god who could ever overthrow me if they tried and also…the most like me.

Against my better judgment, I appeared in Keira’s apartment. The room was pitch black save for the light beaming from a computer monitor. Keira sat at the desk with her nose inches from the screen, chin resting on her hand.

I could’ve done this at any moment—appeared invisible and watched her. So, why did I send my enforcers to do it?

Bia could read minds. Yes. That was the obvious reason. Yeah.

Peeking over her shoulder, I spotted several windows and tabs open in her browser, her hand feverishly working the mouse as she bookmarked websites, jotted notes, and scanned endless text.

And what had she typed repeatedly into her Google search bar?

Zeus.

She…was Googling me. It was ego-boosting yet altogether nauseating at the same time. The internet was an absolute rabbit hole of hell when it came to information about me.

Grimacing, I turned away from her. This was wrong—spying on her, invading her privacy because I could. It was as if I were cheating in this elaborate game we’d created between the two of us. I winced, the realization hitting me like a thunderclap.

Fuck. Me.

I held my head low as a slight grin pulled at the corner of my lips.

All this time, and she was the one who ensnared me. And I hadn’t a fucking clue how she did it.

After placing a single kiss against her head, one that’d feel only like a passing breeze to her, I whispered, “This is it, Keira. It’s either you or no one. And it’s completely your choice.”

And with that mind-boggling revelation…I disappeared.