Rise of the Blood

had appeared in the sky as the sun went down.

“Where are the man and woman of the hour?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Tina and her fiance.

“Apollo and Serena?” Hermes asked. “Probably still,” cough, “freshening up.”

“I meant the bride and groom,” I said wryly, refusing to let him tweak me.

“Oh,” Uncle Hector answered, “they’ve gone on ahead to Delphi to meet with the set designers and dressers. It all has to be perfect for the big day, you know.”

Apparently, that was Serena’s cue to stumble into the party and collapse into Uncle Hector’s arms, her face drained of color, eyes rolling like a spooked horse.

Chapter Six

“Two things a man will always catch—a cold and a swooning woman.”

—Yiayia’s words of wisdom

Uncle Hector was trying to revive her when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my cleavage—there’d been no place else to put it in this dress, and I’d forgotten a cute little evening bag—and answered it.

Apollo.

“Tori, I need you. Not like it sounds. I need you down here. Now. Room 527.”

“Does this have anything to do with Serena in a dead faint?”

“Just get here. You’ll see.”

“Okay, we’re on the way.”

“No!” he said, an edge of…panic?…to his voice. “Just you.”

I looked at Armani, who was listening in.

“Go. I’ll try and get the full story here,” he said, looking toward Apollo’s leading lady.

I quirked an eyebrow. “Okay, but if you have to do mouth to mouth on her, you’re not allowed to enjoy it.”

His lips twitched. “Deal.”

I went. The number of times Apollo had come when I’d called, the least I could do was return the favor. Plus, the curiosity was killing me.

I raced to the stairs and down them, nearly flattening a man on his way up, who pressed himself against the wall to avoid a collision. I hit the fifth floor at a dead run. Of course, 527 was all the way at the end. And of course I didn’t have a single weapon on me. I kicked off the strappy sandals that would only twist my ankle in a fight and held one like a bludgeon, wedge heel out, ready to brain anyone who jumped at me.

The door was open, and I threw my other heel at it to knock it farther inward and see if it prompted any attack. The shoe hit with a thump, bouncing the door back into the inner wall and revealing an empty room. The clothes Apollo had worn earlier were thrown across the desk, which meant either he’d changed or—

“Tori?” he called.

The voice came from the bathroom, the one place I couldn’t see into from the doorway, because that door was firmly shut.

“Yeah,” I called back. “You decent?”

“Funny you should ask…” He didn’t sound like it was funny ha ha. “Would you close the door to the hallway and come in here a second. There’s something I need to show you.”

I stared at the bathroom door in disbelief. “Uh huh, I’ve heard that one before.”

“This is serious.”

I hadn’t really thought it wasn’t. Apollo wasn’t a practical joker, and if he wanted a woman in his bed…or bath…he certainly didn’t have to resort to trickery. It was just that the thought of what I might find…what would make a god call for my help…maybe I wasn’t that curious.

“Okay.” I closed the outer door and put my hand to the bathroom door handle. “Ready or not, here I come.”

I twisted the handle and the door swung inward. No inner alarms blared. My heart didn’t race, and my palms didn’t sweat. At least, not until I stepped in and saw Apollo, only half dry from the shower, holding a towel around his hips. Holding it there. Not snugging it shut.

Not only did my heart race then, but my mouth went dry. Not so my panties…no, I wasn’t going there. Suffice it to say there was a reason there were so many statues of Apollo and why he’d left such a string of tragic loves behind him.

“That what you want to show me?” I asked, nodding at the towel.

“It’s not what you think,” he said.

“Really,” I asked dryly.

He opened the towel.

He was right. It wasn’t what I thought. Or rather, it was exactly what I thought, just in a brand new, never-before-seen form.

I stared.

“If only you’d shown so much interest before I, uh, got wood. Literally.”

Because yes, it looked more like the limb of a tree than, well, a certain body part that shall remain penis. And at the moment, it appeared petrified.

With effort, I made myself look away, up to his face. “Okay, two questions to start. No, three. When did this happen, how did this happen and what does this have to do with Serena looking like she’d seen a… you?”

“Serena snuck up on me in the shower. As you know, we’d agreed to pretend to a relationship to take the heat off you and help promote the new film. I guess she decided some method acting was in order.”

Well, you couldn’t really blame a girl for trying.

“And the when?”

“Right about the time she appeared. When I spotted her, she had this…look on her face and something didn’t feel right. When I looked down to kind of check on things—” He swept his hand down over his petrified parts.

“Okay, I got it. You can put that thing away now.” His eyes sparkled just for a second, like the literal woody was almost worth my discomfort, and I couldn’t resist adding, “Though before we see about changing you back, maybe you want to sprinkle a little Miracle Grow down there.”

He froze with the towel only halfway around his hips. “I don’t really think I need the help, do you?”

Unwillingly, my gaze was drawn back to the part in question. “No, that might be too much of a good thing,” I choked out.

“I could demonstrate,” he said, waggling his brows at me.

“Down boy. I’d be worried about splinters. Anyway, how can you be so calm about this and how on Earth do you think can I help?”

“Remember how you once told me you’d save me back someday? Well, I’m calling it in.”

“So you want me to find out who’s doing this to you and get them to reverse it?”

“That’s the idea.”

“What about Serena?”

“What about her?” he asked.

I gave him a get real look. “Well, this all started with her walking in on you. Do you think that’s a coincidence?”

“Well, I did. I mean, as far as I know, she’s human. She doesn’t have the power to pull off something like this. And why would she?”