Melancton nodded. "I had wondered if that would happen."
"The Satyr Moon is in days. Days. I can't get it up. I'm a satyr who can't perform."
Melancton stayed silent a long moment then clapped a hand on his shoulder. "We will figure it out. There is time. The Fates are often cruel, but even they would not send a nymph to you without a way to break the curse of the Satyroi, and the one from Pan as well."
Adonis hoped so. He really did.
10
Sage tossed and turned under the covers. She'd been given the largest room in the inn with the balcony that overlooked the street, but she couldn't fully appreciate her time there. Too much flitted through her head. On the other hand, Daphne was becoming a fast friend, and would also prove a wonderful mentor to help her ease into her life as a nymph in the twenty-first century. Once left alone, however, Sage's thoughts wouldn't quiet.
After checking in with Darcy to make sure she didn't call the cops and report her missing, as well as discreetly ensuring her roomie wouldn't be out and about that night while something nefarious remained afoot, Sage had turned the television on and flopped into bed. She'd watched two cheesy romance flicks on one of those channels that went all in for Christmas movies every year. Shocker there—they were already showing them nonstop, and Halloween hadn't even passed yet! But she couldn't enjoy how cheesy and predictable they were, or the snow that was clearly some kind of soap suds that clung to everyone walking through it.
Through it all, Adonis hadn't come to check on her. Didn't call. Didn't send someone else. Nope. He'd completely removed himself from her life, and good riddance.
Dragging a pillow over her face, she screamed into it and then flung it back against the headboard. Why did it gall her so much? It wasn't like they were dating. All she had wanted was a little spontaneous no-strings sex between two consenting adult supernatural beings. She had been willing to wait a few days and help him out. Then he'd gotten annoyed with her because he had a paranormal performance problem. Tried to use that to cancel out his other problems.
He was so…confusing. One moment he seemed jealous she had slept with Calix. The next, he had zero interest in her. He had stepped in front of her to face off with Melancton, who had been quite intimidating, but then hadn't even talked to her after her outburst to be reassuring or apologetic about his behavior. He'd done…nothing.
Sage had literally no business getting her feelings hurt over it. Then again, she'd been drawn to him, to that spot in the woods. It wasn't the first time she'd been out there specifically. Why was she being pushed in his direction in a time when he'd need someone like her the most only to have him dismiss and confuse her?
It didn't make sense.
"No, it doesn't make sense, does it?" The woman's voice in her ear was airy and as soft as rose petals. A floral aroma overcame her senses as Sage was ripped from her bed, shrieking as she landed on her backside in the middle of a rose garden. The moon shined brightly above along with stars, clearer that she'd ever seen them in her entire life. "I can give you what you want, and in return, you can help me too."
Sage turned and gawked at the gorgeous blonde woman leisurely lounging on a bench beside a pond covered in lotus flowers and lily pads. Her long and wavy golden tresses had even more flowers woven into them. She wore a pale pink or maybe mauve silk dress that draped over one shoulder and pooled at her feet.
"Who are you?" Sage climbed to her feet, feeling inadequate in the borrowed pajamas Daphne had provided her. They were basically a pair of thin, mint-green shorts and a tank top with butterflies on them. Even dressed in normal clothes, she would feel inferior next to this woman. "And how did I get here?"
The blonde lady sat up straight and clasped her hands together in her lap. "I am Aphrodite, and this is one of my hidden gardens in the mortal realm." She extended a delicate hand to wave it around. "You are here because I flashed into your room and extracted you here. I needed to have a chat and didn't wish for interruptions."
Of course she was Aphrodite. She looked like she would be Aphrodite. Why hadn't Sage considered that immediately? She might even be in awe by this moment if she hadn't been snatched out of bed by a goddess in the middle of the night. Rude. "Not to offend or anything, but I have no idea what we would have to discuss. I don't know you, and I don't need your help with anything."
"Oh, but you do!" Aphrodite giggled and clapped her hands together, rising to her feet. Naturally, she was tall and lithe with a perfect hourglass figure. No wonder Adonis had been so enraptured by her, and so unimpressed with Sage. She could never compete with such beauty. That thought pooled like sour milk into her gut. Getting upset or even jealous over a guy was not how she saw her week going.
Patience getting low, Sage
