" In other words, there is no magic wand, or whatever, that you can wave over me that wil guarantee that I make the right decisions. Even if it means my mistakes might cause others a lot of misery." Lina knew she sounded exasperated. What was the use of being a goddess if she was stil fal ible?
Demeter's expression was kind. "Wisdom does not come with immortality, Daughter." The Goddess emphasized the word to reinforce to Lina the role she must play. "It comes with experience. And you have had many years of excel ent experience in your life. Listen to your intuition. Use your mind. Believe in yourself. If you do make a mistake, learn from it." The glass began fil ing with murky wisps of cloud-like tendrils, obscuring the Goddess's face. "Return to Hades with my blessings, Daughter." Her voice faded and her image disappeared. Lina sighed. Basical y, she was on her own.
"I hope Persephone's having an easier time at Pani Del Goddess," Lina grumbled. The instant she spoke, the vapor within the glass bal began to swirl again. Then, as Lina watched in amazement, the cloudiness cleared to reveal a scene that caused her stomach to tighten with an unexpected wave of homesickness.
Lina bent closer to the oracle, total y engrossed in what she was seeing. Pani Del Goddess was definitely having a good day. The little bakery was fil ed with customers. Actual y, Lina blinked in surprise, it was packed. She peered though the magical orb, counting the familiar faces and realizing that they were in the minority. She didn't recognize most of the customers.
They certainly looked happy. There was a lot of talking and laughing going on along with - Lina blinked again, then her face broke into a pleased smile - they were eating what she was sure she recognized as Pizza alia Romana, the pizza that had summoned Demeter. There were also several new signs placed along the wal behind the pastry cases. In bold script one read PIZZA DEL GIORNO - Pizza of the Day - QUATTRO STAGIONI - Four Seasons, with al your favorites: tomatoes, artichokes, mushrooms, olives, three cheeses and prosciutto. Another proclaimed the vino del giorno - wine of the day - PEPPOLI CHIANTI CLASSICO RESERVA. It was the third sign that confused Lina. Al it said was TUBS OF AMBROSIA CREAM CHEESE LIMITED TO
THREE PER CUSTOMER.
Ambrosia cream cheese? What was that?
Then Lina gasped and felt her face flush hot as she watched herself saunter through the swinging doors from the kitchen and enter the bakery. Lina shook her head back and forth, back and forth, back and forth in a repeated motion of denial.
What had Persephone done to her? She wasn't wearing one of her wel -tailored business suits. She had on a little silk wraparound skirt that was bright fuchsia and a flowy short sleeved shel the color of honeydew melons. The skirt was short. Very short. And fuchsia! She didn't even own anything fuchsia! The shel veed dangerously low to expose Lina's deep cleavage. Openmouthed, Lina stared at her own body. The long length of leg that the skirt revealed was tanned, as was the rest of her body - which, in her opinion, Lina could see entirely too much of. And she had lost weight.
Lina narrowed her eyes and studied herself. No, maybe she hadn't actual y lost weight. She looked toned and healthy. Her curves were al stil there. They were just tighter and more wel -defined. And her hair was different. It was longer - a couple of inches longer. How could that be? Hadn't she only been gone a day or so? Lina looked again. Yes, it was definitely longer. It rested on her shoulders in messy, indistinct curls, giving her a naughty, windblown look. A man waved at Lina's body and she responded with a saucy smile and a toss of her hair. The man
- merda! He wasn't just a man, he was an incredibly young man - hurried over to the object of his attention. Lina gaped as she watched herself flirt outrageously with a young, handsome, young, muscular, young man who was quite obviously very wel acquainted with her. He couldn't have been much older than twenty-five.
The young handsome man bent and kissed Lina's body's mouth. Right in the middle of the bakery. Right in front of everyone.
"I don't F-ing believe it." She was too shocked to curse correctly in Italian or English. Persephone laughed and spun playfully away from her suitor. For a split second she looked up and winked. Right at Lina.
Lina gasped and jerked back like she'd been slapped. At once the glass began to swirl and become cloudy. The image of Pani Del Goddess dissipated like smoke.
"Problems with the oracle, Goddess?" A deep voice spoke from behind her. Lina whirled around to find that she was facing a man. An amazingly beautiful man.
"Persephone! I did not realize it was you."
"Hel o," Lina said breathlessly, her shaking hand covering her pounding heart. Who was this gorgeous man?
A name drifted enticingly through her mind like an erotic whisper - Apol o. Lina fanned her hot face and tried to pull herself together.
"You startled me, uh, Apol o."
The God lounged against the side of a large boulder. He was wearing a short leather tunic that was carved with a chest plate that met an unusual looking skirt-like wrap slung low around his muscular hips. But the "skirt" in no way made him appear effeminate. Except for a pair of sandals the rest of his body was bare. Very bare. Apol o was made of long, golden lines of muscle. His smile was smooth and attractive. Lina couldn't help staring. Actual y, she thought staring was probably required in her particular situation.
The God nodded his head at the oracle. "Talking to Demeter?"
"Urn, yes."
"She is visiting Hera. I think the two of them are planning something new with which to plague Zeus." He dropped his voice to a conspirator's level and his eyes gleamed. "Gossip has it that the Thunder God is besmitten with a mortal maiden... again." Apol o scratched his strong chin in consideration. "I believe the hapless girl's name is Io." He shook his head and laughed, making his bril iant blue eyes sparkle mischievously. "I wil never understand Hera's temper. We al know Zeus has an appetite for beauty, yet he has chosen only one wife. She should not waste her time on frivolous jealousies."
Lina lifted one perfect eyebrow. "You don't consider fidelity in marriage important?"
"I believe finding pleasure is important, as you know very wel , Persephone." His look was intimate as wel as seductive.
Ohmygod. Had Apol o been Persephone's lover?
"I would be honored to remind you of any number of pleasurable delights, Goddess of Spring." He pushed himself from the bank and moved with a feral grace toward her. Lina's mouth went dry. He looked like he was going to take her in his arms. Lina lifted one hand out in front of her like a stop sign. Yes, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen, but she wasn't the type of woman who would kiss a stranger - despite what Persephone might be doing in her world. Apol o watched her body stiffen and her jaw clench. He was wel -versed in seduction and he knew how to get past a goddess who was dabbling in coy flirtation. In a fluid motion he changed his intent. Instead of taking her luscious young body in his arms he captured her outstretched hand and bowed gal antly over it. Like the consummate gentleman he was not, he kissed her hand lightly. Stil holding her hand, Apol o looked deep within her eyes.
"I have watched you frolic in the meadows as I have driven my chariot through the sky. Your body moves with more grace than the flowers that bend delicately in the morning breeze. We would make a good match, you and I - the God of Light and the Goddess of Spring." Lina almost laughed aloud with relief. Now here was something she was used to dealing with - a slick guy with a ready line. She batted her long lashes at the handsome God and sighed with an excess of maidenly delight. For good measure she even added a little Oklahoma twang to her breathless response.
"Oh, Apol o, I'm so glad you final y asked."
The God's lips began to turn up in victory, but her next words caused his expression to freeze.
"Imagine - marriage to the God of Light! I simply couldn't be more thril ed! Just wait until I tel Mother." She gushed, squeezing his hand and bouncing up and down like a giddy school girl.
"Marriage?" His deep voice had gone suddenly hoarse.
Lina beamed an innocent smile into his sapphire-colored eyes.
He dropped the Goddess's hand like it was a flaming torch and took a step back, retreating from her bubble of personal space.
"It is not wise to rush hastily into marriage." He cleared his throat as if the word marriage was stuck there.
She told her face to frown prettily.
A flash of gold over Apol o's right shoulder caught her attention and interrupted the pithy reply she'd planned. She glanced behind him and felt her mouth round in pleasure.
"Oh! They're amazing." Forgetting about the suave God she turned her ful attention to the four horses that had just trotted into view. They were harnessed to a golden chariot that blazed with such a bril iant light that it made her eyes tear. And the horses! They were the same blinding golden color with manes and tails of silver-white. The four slid to a halt, snorting and stamping their delicate hooves.
Apol o glanced over his shoulder. His consternation at the Goddess's mention of marriage vanished as he saw his escape.
"Yes, Hadar, yes. I come!" He returned his gaze to Persephone. He had meant to rush away, and considered himself lucky that he had such a ready excuse. Marriage? What had Persephone been thinking! But the rapturous expression that fil ed her beautiful face gave him pause. She was truly spectacular. Apol o felt a familiar heavy tightening in his loins.
"I did not realize you were interested in horses, Persephone."
"I love them," she said without looking at him.
"Come, I wil introduce you." He held out his hand to her. Absentmindedly, she took it and hurried eagerly toward the horses, pulling him with her. Apol o's brow wrinkled. It was as if she had forgotten about him. An odd feeling passed through the God. Never before had a goddess forgotten about him - especial y not a young goddess who had just tried to snare him in marriage. The four mares pawed the ground and blew through then-noses restlessly. With a flourish, Apol o presented them to Persephone.
"Persephone, Goddess of Spring, I am honored to present to you the mares that draw the light of the sun across the sky. They are Hadar, Aquila, Carina and Deneb," he said, pointing in turn to each horse.
Persephone dropped into a prima bal erina's graceful curtsy. "I am so pleased to meet each of you. Your coats are the most amazing color! You take my breath away." The effect of her voice on the horses was immediate. Four pairs of ears pricked forward. Hooves ceased their restless pawing. The mare who stood nearest to the Goddess stretched her muzzle tentatively in her direction, whickering like a colt.
"Oh, you beauty," Persephone laughed and caressed her.
Apol o felt stunned. He watched the goddess move from horse to horse, clucking and murmuring and whispering strange endearments to each of them. His mares, who were usual y aloof and proud, reacted to her with true warmth. They lipped her face and pressed close for her caresses. They al but wriggled and wagged their tails for her attention.
The mares' reactions amazed him, but he was equal y surprised at Persephone. He had never seen this side of her.
She had been a goddess with whom he had flirted and had even enjoyed an occasional tryst -
always begun and ended at his discretion. He had thought she had no interests beyond growing flowers, frolicking with nymphs and hosting sumptuous feasts. Today she was different. She had not fal en wil ingly into his arms. His eyes narrowed as he thought about her actions. She had actual y toyed with him. She hadn't truly been interested in marriage. And now she appeared completely enamored with his mares.
She was magnificent.
Apol o was stil watching Persephone and trying to decide what could have caused the change in the young Goddess when a shril scream of rage split the air. His mares reacted instantly. They bowed their necks and shook their heads, answering the scream with squeals of anger. The God of Light spun around, ready for battle.
A huge black stal ion reared and pawed the air above him. Apol o recognized the wrath-fil ed creature as one of the dread steeds of Hades. His teeth were bared and his eyes blazed fire. Apol o's horses answered with their own show of rage.
"Stop it this second!" Lina's command dashed cold water on the horses' displays of anger. Apol o stepped silently to the side, intrigued by this new Persephone. Hands planted firmly on her shapely hips she marched from his golden mares straight to the black beast. He watched, eager to see what she would do next.
"Orion, what in the world is wrong with you?"
She positioned her body so that she could berate al of the horses together. Her back was turned to Apol o affording him an excel ent view of her very shapely rear end. He mused that it looked even rounder and more pleasantly inviting than when last he'd seen it. Or perhaps he had never before looked closely enough.
"And you four! What were you going to do, pick on Orion when he is clearly outnumbered?" She shook her head in disgust.
Five horses dropped their heads and looked like repentant school children. Orion took a halting half-step toward the object of his affection, stretching his muzzle out to her. She gave him one more hard look before capitulating.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, trying not to smile as he nuzzled the side of her face. Then she noticed that he had been outfitted with a bridle and an attractive saddle made of leather dyed as black as his coat Tucked into the crownpiece of the bridle was one perfect narcissus blossom. Lina felt a little thril of pleasure. "Did he send you to get me?" Apol o was irritated at the obvious delight in her voice. He? Surely she didn't mean Hades. One of the golden mares nickered. Persephone tilted her head at Apol o's horses.
"Looks like I have to get going. It was wonderful to meet al of you. I hope we see each other again soon."
The Goddess moved to the black steed's side and grabbed a fistful of mane, obviously preparing to mount and leave. Apol o couldn't believe it. She'd said good-bye to his horses, but she hadn't spoken another word to him.
"Al ow me to aid you, Persephone," Apol o said, moving quickly.
"How rude of me, Apol o. With al this" - she waved her delicate hands at the horses - "excitement I total y forgot about you. It was real y nice to meet you, too."
"Meet me." Apol o smiled suggestively at the lovely Goddess. "It is not as if we were strangers before today."
Persephone blushed an attractive pink. "Oh, of course not. I didn't mean... I'm just discombobulated."
Apol o threw back his head and laughed. "Discombobulated? From here after I am going to think of you as Goddess of Surprises rather than Goddess of Spring." He touched the side of her face gently. "And I wil think of you. Often."
Lina felt the warmth of his hand on her face. His body was so close to her that she thought she could hear his heartbeat - or maybe that was her own. His eyes were such a vibrant shade of blue, the perfect match for his sun-colored hair and his golden skin. Without realizing it, she leaned into him.
Orion snorted.
Lina jerked back.
Apol o smiled knowingly. Before she could refuse him, he took her waist in his hands and slowly lifted her onto the impatiently waiting stal ion's back, being careful to brush her body firmly against his own as he did so.
"When wil I see you again?" Apol o asked when she had arranged her seat and placed her feet in the stirrups.
"I don't have any idea. There's a lot I have to do." She nodded her head behind her in the direction of the entrance to the Underworld.
"You sojourn with Hades?"
Apol o's incredulous tone irritated Lina. "I am vacationing in the Underworld." Apol o laughed again. Orion's ears flattened to his head and Lina worried that he would bite the God.
"Vacationing with the dead? I have never heard of such a thing."
"I am finding that the Underworld, as wel as its God, has been vastly underrated. Have a nice day, Apol o." Lina nudged Orion. The steed spun on his back hooves and lunged forward into a gal op, eager to return home with his treasure.
"I wil be here every dawn, Persephone!" Apol o shouted after her. Lina leaned forward, grabbing two fistfuls of Orion's mane. She ignored the Sun God, concentrating instead on keeping her seat, even though Orion's gal op was smooth and a childhood in Oklahoma had taught her to be an excel ent rider. Apol o was handsome, seductive, and interesting. But she
- unlike Persephone - had a job to do and would not let distractions get in her way. Nor did she -
again unlike Persephone - want to create a situation that might cause embarrassment for either of them when their bodies were re-exchanged.
The breeze whistling past Orion's head brought with it the enticing scent of the narcissus blossom. Without realizing it, Lina's lips turned up in a wistful smile.