Goddess of Love (Goddess Summoning #5)

Goddess of Love (Goddess Summoning #5) Page 30

"I 'm a fucking idiot!"

The words exploded from Griffin as he tossed the unbalanced ledger across his desk. For hours he'd been locked up in his office by himself, fuming. Then when the fumes had fizzled, he had been left with the stark, cold truth. He'd rejected the woman he loved with all his heart and soul. And why had he done something so asinine? Because he found out she was a goddess. And not just any goddess. The woman he loved was the Goddess of Love. Venus. Aphrodite. The woman men had been immortalizing for thousands of years in song and poetry and art. But he had rejected her. Griffin cringed, remembering the look of hurt on her face when he'd let his shock and fear explode as rage and rejection.

He had to figure out some way to make it up to her - to apologize to her - to win her back. Then he'd be a man about it and deal with the fact that the woman he loved was a real goddess. That she wouldn't age or die - that she had unbelievable power.

"She should have blasted some sense into my thick head!" he muttered. Actually, on second thought, he was probably lucky she hadn't.

So now what? How did he start cleaning up the mess he'd made? She'd said she was returning to Olympus. He groaned and rubbed his temples where the same headache had throbbed for hours. It wasn't like he could call her.

Or could he?

She was a goddess. So she heard the prayers of mortals. Didn't she? It was at least worth a try. He cleared his throat.

"Venus?" he called to the air. "Are you there? Can you hear me?" He swallowed and started again. "Venus, Goddess of Sensual Love, Beauty and the Erotic Arts, I ask you to hear me."

Nothing happened. Okay, he'd try it another way. "Venus, I'm sorry. I love you. Is there any way you could forgive me for being such a fucking idiot?" He paused. "Could you shake something if you hear me?" Still nothing. Obviously he wasn't going about this in the right way. So how the hell did one go about summoning an ancient goddess? He didn't have a clue. Then he sat up straighter. He didn't have a clue, but he knew someone who did! Venus had said that Pea had used a spell to evoke her aid. He'd get Pea to give him the spell! Griffin glanced at the wall clock. Shit! It was almost two in the morning. He'd have to wait. But as soon as his shift was over he'd go directly to Pea's house and camp out on her front porch if necessary until she agreed to help him contact Venus.

The goddess would forgive him. She'd have to. He wouldn't stop trying until she did. Minutes later when the station's alarm shrieked Griffin was actually relieved. At least he'd be kept busy for the next few hours - it would make time seem to pass faster. Like a well-oiled machine, he and his men flew into action. As Griffin pulled on his forty-plus pounds of equipment and moved quickly to the engine, his lieutenant handed him the rip of paper that had the address of the fire printed on it. Griffin climbed into the driver's seat, his mind working as smoothly as the big engine he drove. The fire was at the Twenty-first Street Borders Books and Music. The good: one, the store was close, so they'd be there in minutes; two, it was two o'clock in the morning, so it was closed and there should be no lives in jeopardy. The bad: one, it was one of those huge two-level stores, so the fire could be large; two, it was a store filled with books, which meant lots of fuel for a quick, hot fire. It could go up like a torch. Before he sighted the store he knew he'd been at least partially right. It was a huge fire. By the time they pulled up in the big parking lot, the entire front of the store was engulfed in fire. Flames shot out of the windows, shattering the plate glass.

As always at the scene of a fire, everything began to happen in double-time. The men piled out of the engine. Griffin barked commands. The police that were already there started moving the watching civilians back while the hoses and ladders were quickly put into position.

"Captain!" Griffin looked up to see Robert running from the ladder truck over to him. "Nineone-one dispatch radioed. A cell phone call just came from inside the store. The night watchman is trapped near the rear offices."

"Follow me around back!" Griffin snapped. The well-trained men knew exactly what to do. They grabbed the proper equipment and jogged after their captain.

"Break it down," Griffin said.

Robert and J. D. went to work with the axes. The steel door folded like a flower under the strength of their blows.

The escaping ghosts of black smoke rushed out at them.

"Which office is he trapped by? Where?" Griffin asked Robert.

"Don't know. His phone cut out. Nine-one-one got the manager on the line and he says the whole rear of this thing is office and storage space."

"So he could be anywhere," Griffin said. It wasn't a question - there was no need for anyone to answer. "All right, let's go in. J. D., Robert go right." He glanced at the rookie, who looked pale, but who met his eyes calmly. "Bennett, you come with me to the left. Keep your masks on - it's smoky in there. Let's go!"

Griffin always thought entering a burning building was like entering a living beast. It had a personality. It breathed and changed. It was as unpredictable as a wild animal. This one was no different.

That the flames hadn't reached the rear of the store yet mattered little. The heat was there. The smoke was there. The danger was there.

Griffin moved to the left, ignoring the growl of the fire that was moving ever nearer. He kept visual contact with Bennett, and every few minutes had J. D. and Robert checking in. The damn place was a maze of filled-to-overflowing bookshelves and cubicles. He was getting ready to check another office, when a cry down the hall ahead of them called his attention forward. It sounded like someone was pounding on the far door.

"Capt, that door looks like it opens to the bookstore," Bennett said.

"Yeah, stay close." He took off jogging down the hall.

The heavy door was locked. Griffin used the handle of the axe to pound twice on it. Two desperate knocks instantly responded.

"We got him," Griffin called. Then he put his face close to the door. "Can you hear me?" he shouted.

"Yes! Help me!" came the muffled response. "I'm trapped and the fire's in here!"

"Step back! I'm breaking down the door."

"Hurry!" the watchman cried through the door.

"Let's do it," Griffin told Bennett.

They wielded their axes quickly, but the door was stubborn and it took several strokes before they jarred it enough for them to pry it open just wide enough for Griffin to squeeze through. He walked into an inferno of flame and smoke and heat. The watchman had stepped away from the door, but overcome by smoke, he'd collapsed in a heap against the wall. Instantly Griffin took off his oxygen mask and fitted if over the man's nose and mouth. Then he lifted him in the traditional fireman's carry and moved back to the partially open escape door, trying to breathe shallowly.

"Here, take him." Griffin passed the awkward weight of the unconscious man through the narrow opening to Bennett. "Got him?" he called.

"Got him, Capt.!" Bennett grunted.

"Get him outta here. I'll be right behind you."

"Roger, Capt!"

Griffin watched him disappear into the smoke. He started to squeeze through the doorway, and then all hell - literally - broke loose. The explosion threw him at least ten feet. He landed on his back. The air was knocked out of his already strained lungs. Still he struggled to gather himself and regain his feet. Then a noise much like the screech of a dying bird pulled his attention up just in time to see the railing of the curved metal staircase come loose and hurtle in slow motion toward him. He couldn't move. He couldn't do anything except brace himself for the impact of the twisted, melting metal.

Pain seared the left side of his body. Then, thankfully, blackness took him into its cool darkness....

Vulcan was deeply asleep. So deeply that he thought his mother's voice was just part of a dream.

"Vulcan, you must awaken."

In his sleep he sighed, pulling Pea closer to his naked body.

"Son. Awaken."

Vulcan frowned, beginning to move groggily toward consciousness.

"Vulcan! Now. Wake up!"

The God of Fire opened his eyes.

"Finally. You always have been a heavy sleeper. I don't know where you got that - neither your father nor I could sleep through the dropping of a pin."

"Mother?"

"Yes, yes, yes, it's me, Hera, Queen of Gods - your mother. And I insist you awaken."

Vulcan carefully extricated himself from Pea's still soundly sleeping form and sat up. Sure enough, his mother was standing in Pea's bedroom, her ivory-colored robes glistening as if they held a light of their own.

"Mother, what has happened?"

"There's a fire. You must go."

At the word "fire" Vulcan was already moving. Instantly he called the garb of an ancient Roman warrior to him.

"Yes, you are wise to prepare for battle. Come with me." Hera took his hand and the two of them disappeared.

When they reappeared it was in the middle of fiery chaos. They were inside a burning building. The flames could not harm Vulcan, and automatically he added his own protection to his mother's aura. He would never allow fire to harm the Queen of Gods.

"Look there." Hera pointed to a spot of burning rubble that the main area of flames was just about to engulf.

A weak movement caught Vulcan's sharp eye.

"Griffin!" he cried, and strode to the fallen mortal's side, flinging back the flames that were in his path. When he reached him, Vulcan assessed the damage quickly. With one hand he flung the iron railing off the man's body. Griffin's eyes fluttered and then opened.

"Who are you?" he gasped. Then his gaze shifted and his eyes widened when he saw the beautiful woman standing in a halo of light beside the...

"A goddess!" Griffin said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes," said the man who knelt beside him. "And I am a friend of Venus. Be still, breathe slowly. I will get you free of this inferno."

"It is too late, my son."

Griffin's eyes shifted from the god to the goddess who stood so serenely beside him. Amazingly she smiled and called him by name.

"Griffin DeAngelo, I am Hera, Queen of Gods."

"Hello, Hera." Griffin thought he said the words in a normal voice, but a raspy whisper was all that managed to escape his mouth.

"You must listen carefully to me, Griffin," she said. "We have little time. You see, you are dying."

Griffin thought he should feel fear or, at the very least, shock at her words. Instead he was surprised that a sense of peace enveloped him.

"The watchman...is he saved?" Griffin whispered.

"He is," Hera said. "You did well."

Griffin sighed. If this was to be his end, then at least he'd done his job, and done it well. Grayness began to tunnel the edges of his vision. He thought about his sisters and his mother, and he felt a knife of sorrow for the pain he knew his death would cause them. Then he thought about Venus, and how sorry he was for what he'd said to her. But she was a goddess...maybe she would somehow be able to know how he felt...even after he died...

"Not yet, Griffin DeAngelo! I command your spirit not depart yet!" Hera shouted. Griffin's eyes shot open and, almost against his will, he blinked his vision clear.

"Mother, I can carry him from here. Surely we can..." the god began, but Hera lifted her hand and commanded silence.

"It has gone too far. His body has been too gravely damaged. Forgive me, mortal man, I misjudged the time Fate had allotted you. I meant to provide you with more of a choice in this."

Griffin wanted to tell her she was forgiven, but his voice was beyond obeying him. The goddess turned to the god.

"There is only one way to save him, my son. You and he must switch souls. In doing so, you will become mortal and, with the aid of my power, there will be enough of your immortal essence left to heal his broken body and survive. But you will then be mortal - in all ways. Do you understand?"

Vulcan nodded. "I do, Mother."

"Do you understand that if you do this you will live one mortal life and only one, here in the modern world, and that when you die your body will return to dust and your spirit will descend to the Elysian Fields."

"And I will spend that life with the mortal woman I love, and when she, too, dies, will she be allowed to enter Elysia?"

Hera bowed her head. "I give you my sacred oath that her spirit will find a home there."

"I understand and I agree."

"Very well, my son."

Hera approached Griffin's fallen body and knelt beside him. She touched his face. He thought how cool and soft her hand felt. "Listen well, mortal man. My son is Vulcan, God of Fire, husband to Venus, whom I believe you love. He can save your soul and your life, but in doing so he must take possession of your body and your mortal life. You, in turn, will become him - one of the Twelve Olympians, God of Fire. You will retain your soul and your memories, but for eternity you must guard the sacred forge and the pillar of flame. You will become the God of Fire. Do you understand?"

With a mighty will, Griffin forced words through his damaged body. "Does Venus know?"

Hera shook her head. "No."

"If I say no, I die?" he rasped.

"You will surely die, but you should know you have nothing to fear from death. You have been a good man. I can assure you a warrior's afterlife in the Elysian Fields."

Griffin's fading eyes turned to the god called Vulcan. "My sisters..." He gasped. Vulcan dropped to his knees beside Griffin. "I know of your sisters. I would cherish and protect them as if they belonged to me. They will never know that I am not their beloved brother."

"Your oath on that," Griffin said.

"You have my oath."

Griffin closed his eyes and whispered, "Then I agree. I will exchange souls with you."

Griffin heard Hera begin a chant, the words to which he couldn't understand, but the power of them pushed against his skin with more insistence than the flames that threatened them. And then he felt an enormous tugging, as if he had been caught in a terrible tornado. He opened his mouth to scream and scream and scream...and then he knew only the utter blackness of a night more complete than any he could have imagined as nothingness engulfed him. CHAPTER THIRTY

The ringing phone woke Pea. Groggily, she muttered, "Vulcan, hand me that, would you?" Then she remembered he was an ancient god and he probably didn't know anything about a ringing phone. She opened her eyes, expecting him to be smiling at her, perhaps a little confused, but sexy and rumpled and warm beside her.

He wasn't there. Except for Chloe, who was blinking sleepily at her from the end of the bed, she was alone in the room. Frowning, Pea reached for the phone.

"Hello?"

"Is this Dorreth Pea Chamberlain?" a tense male voice asked.

"Yes."

"Miss Chamberlain, this is Robert Thomas from the Midtown Fire Station."

"What time is it?" Pea asked the question without thinking.

"Five a.m., ma'am. Uh, I'm calling on behalf of Griffin DeAngelo."

"Griffin!" A horrible sense of foreboding flushed her body. "Has something happened to Griffin?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm afraid so. The captain has been injured on the job. He's at Saint John's, getting ready to go into surgery. His one request was that we call you and have you come directly to the hospital."

"I'll be right there."

She hung up and grabbed the jeans and discarded sweater that were lying over her vanity chair.

"Vulcan?" she called. No answer. "Vulcan!" This time she yelled his name. Pea hurried through the house. Had he gone back to Olympus? Why hadn't he woken her first? And why had he left in the middle of the night?

She threw the T-Bird into gear and gunned it out of her driveway. Griffin was hurt. Of course he'd had her called. Clearly he understood she was his link to Venus. So she needed Vulcan to get word to Olympus that Venus was needed back here ASAP. But where was Vulcan?

Pea's stomach felt sick. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. She rushed through the emergency entrance of Saint John's Medical Center and almost ran straight into a soot-covered fireman.

"I'm Pea Chamberlain. They called me for Griffin DeAngelo."

"Right this way, ma'am."

Pea followed the somber young fireman into the bowels of the ER. A nurse stopped them.

"This is the woman the captain's been asking for," the fireman explained.

"Then come with me, miss. You must hurry. They're taking him to surgery. You'll only have a moment with him."

"How is he?" Pea asked, as she hurried to keep up with the nurse.

"It's not good," the nurse said, without looking at her.

She led her to a glass room that was alive with people. Pea was glad everything was happening so fast. If she'd had time to think she might have gotten sick or, worse, fainted. She would have never recognized Griffin. His face was black and bloody. His lips were cracked and swollen. The left side of his body from his waist down was tented, and she thought he had tubes and wires coming out of every unburned surface on his body.

"Two minutes, miss," the nurse said.

Pea made herself approach the head of the small ER bed. "Griffin? It's me. Pea."

His eyes fluttered twice and then opened. His blue eyes met hers and she felt a shiver of something...something she couldn't quite identify. She moved closer to him. His swollen lips began to move. Pea leaned forward.

"...love you, little one..."

She gasped as the truth slammed through her. "Vulcan!" She gasped. Relief relaxed his face. He smiled and closed his eyes with a contented sigh.

"I must ask you to leave, ma'am. We're taking him to surgery."

Numbly Pea let them show her to the surgical waiting room. She sat on an overstuffed chair and nodded automatically when a fireman asked if she wanted coffee. Griffin wasn't Griffin. He was Vulcan. Of that she had absolutely no doubt. But how had it happened? Suddenly she felt claustrophobic.

"I - I have to get some air." She ignored the concerned looks of the fireman as she ran from the room, down the hall and rushed out the automatic doors, where she leaned against the side of the hospital, drawing in deep breaths and trying not to throw up.

"You love him very much, don't you?"

Pea looked up to see an exquisitely elegant woman standing in a little halo of light beside her. She reminded her of Venus, even though she looked nothing like the Goddess of Love.

"If you mean Vulcan, then yes I do. I love him very much," Pea said. The woman nodded her head. "I knew it. You are his eternal love - the true mate of his soul. I am Hera."

Pea didn't need a schoolbook knowledge of mythology to know who this goddess was, she only needed the instincts of a woman. "You're Vulcan's mother."

The goddess smiled. "I am. And I owe you a debt of gratitude, Dorreth Pea Chamberlain. Before Vulcan knew and loved you, he was only partially alive. You saved him from eternal loneliness and more. You have given him a happiness I never thought he would know. I find his immortality a small price to pay for such a blessing."

Pea wasn't sure she'd heard the goddess correctly. "His immortality? What does that mean?

What happened tonight?"

"My son is not the only immortal who has been observing your modern world. I knew Griffin DeAngelo had become beloved of Venus. Tonight DeAngelo was dying. I saved him by having my son take his place. Vulcan breathed the one remaining spark of immortality that clung to his spirit into his mortal shell. Now Vulcan is Griffin - a mortal man. He will live one mortal life. And Griffin has become Vulcan, God of Fire, for eternity."

Pea's body began trembling. "He remembers? He's still Vulcan?"

"In all but body, yes he is."

"And he'll live?"

"Yes. My son will live a long and happy life. You and he will have many children. I will be a grandmother and great-grandmother over and over again, and for generations the spark of the God of Fire's spirit will shine in the DeAngelo family."

Pea began to cry. The goddess approached her and touched her face. "My son chose wisely."

"What about Venus and Griffin?" Pea said, wiping her eyes while she still tried to comprehend the enormity of what the goddess was telling her. "What will happen to them?"

"That, my sweet mortal daughter, will be up to the new God of Fire and the Goddess of Love."

A commotion in the parking lot interrupted Pea's next question for the goddess. The two of them glanced behind them in time to see four distraught young women hurrying toward the ER entrance.

"Griffin's sisters. The oldest and most reasonable is called Sherry. Speak with her first and the rest will follow her lead," Hera said. "Now go to them. You will soon be a part of their family."

"You aren't leaving, are you?"

"There is nothing more for me to do here, but do not worry. I will return often to visit my grandchildren." The goddess raised her hand regally. "May my blessing stay with you eternally."

Hera silently disappeared.

Pea drew in a deep breath, willing herself to be calm. Vulcan would be okay. She had a goddess's word on it, and that was good enough for her. She met the four girls as they got to the ER doors.

Pea picked out the woman who looked the most in control of herself. She had long, dark hair and Griffin's startling blue eyes. "Sherry DeAngelo?" she asked.

The four women stopped short. "I'm Sherry DeAngelo. Who are you? Do you know what's happened to our brother?"

"I do. He's been in an accident." The women gasped, and the one who was clearly the youngest started crying. "They've taken him to surgery, but he's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay. I promise."

"Who are you?" Sherry asked.

"My name is Dorreth Chamberlain, but everyone calls me Pea. And I'm the woman your brother loves. He and I are going to be married."

All four sisters gave her mirror looks of confusion. Pea smiled. "I know it seems odd. You probably thought he was in love with Venus, the beautiful blonde, right?"

They nodded in tandem.

"Well, it's a long story. Actually Venus is a good friend of mine. But our little soap opera isn't what's important right now. What's important is getting Griffin well. Come on. Let's go together to the surgical waiting room; we'll talk more there...." And Pea led the confused sisters into the hospital while she hurriedly concocted a reasonable "Griffin and Pea" love story. Well, one thing was certain - her overactive imagination was certainly going to come in handy. Maybe she even had a future in writing fiction....

"Goddess, Zeus and Hera send word that they will see you now." The nymph bowed low as Venus swept past her.

Where was Vulcan? It had been a full day. She'd sent word to his realm that his parents had agreed to hear their petition this evening during the gathering of the immortals in the Great Hall. But had Vulcan deigned to send her a response? Even a brief message via nymph or satyr or wood sprite saying that he'd be there? No. How totally annoying. Of course if she were being honest with herself, she would admit that everything in the past twenty-four hours had annoyed her. The opulence of her temple bothered her. Her servant nymphs got on her nerves. The wine was too warm. Or too cold. Prayers from her subjects had stacked up until the very air around her was filled with a deafening cacophony of irritating sound. But all of that chaos could have been borne if her heart and her spirit hadn't been pining for Griffin.

Venus had to admit it: She missed him dreadfully, and it had taken all of her will to go on about her divine duties and not rush directly back to Tulsa and confront Griffin again. Give him another chance. Try to show him that she hadn't changed, she hadn't misled him, she was still the woman he'd fallen in love with. But she hadn't gone back. She'd stayed in Olympus and pulled her pride around her like an expensive robe.

The Goddess of Love did not chase after any man.

The Goddess of Love did not bear insult well.

The Goddess of Love had pride and dignity.

Venus's sigh was soul deep. "The Goddess of Love is miserable," she muttered. The Great Hall of Olympus was crowded with glittering, golden immortals and exquisite nymphs of all types dressed in diaphanous scraps of clothing. Venus even recognized several lesser deities, like Hebe, Goddess of Youth; Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow; and the Muses and Graces. Persephone gave her a saucy wink as she walked past her, which Venus tried her best to return with good humor.

Well she supposed she should be pleased that apparently all of Olympus was there. Everyone could witness the dissolution of her marriage with Vulcan. It would save her having to repeat herself over and over again.

Maybe after this was finished, she would return to Tulsa with Vulcan. She'd only been away from Pea for a day, but already she missed her mortal friend. No, she corrected herself gloomily. Vulcan and Pea would want to be alone. They would probably begin planning their wedding. And she was happy for them - really she was.

She was also thoroughly depressed.

"Venus, Goddess of Love, and Vulcan, God of Fire, we shall hear your petition now." Zeus's voice boomed across the enormous room.

Venus began picking her way to the raised dais, which held the two glittering thrones on which sat the king and queen of Olympus. Discreetly she let her eyes sweep the room. Where was Vulcan? She could do this without him, but if she did it would seem mean-spirited and disrespectful. Unless he was there to show that the dissolution of their marriage was mutual, no matter how she put her request, it would appear that Love had discarded Vulcan. His name would be spoken with even more disdain. Perhaps she should wait for him and ask to come before Zeus and Hera another day.

No, Vulcan wouldn't want that, and neither would Pea. And what did Vulcan care about what the immortals thought of him? He'd found his love. Pea was all that mattered to him. Venus stopped before the dais and curtsied low with such fluid grace and beauty that she called the attention of everyone in the room to her.

"What may we do for you, Goddess of Love?" Zeus asked. Then, with a frown, he added, "And wasn't the request for petition made by you and our son?"

"It was my lord," Venus said. "But it seems Vulcan has been detained, so I will present the request for both of us."

Zeus snorted, but Hera responded with a gracious, "Go ahead, Venus. We will hear your request."

Venus lifted her chin and spoke in a clear, confident voice that carried throughout the Great Hall.

"It is no secret to any of you that my marriage to the God of Fire has been an unusual one, and it is that marriage that is the subject of our petition today." Venus paused, waiting for the curious whispers to fade. "Vulcan and I have been good friends, but we married under false pretenses. Ironically our marriage has lacked love. We would now like to rectify our mistake. Marriage should be based on more than convenience, so Vulcan and I ask that - "

"You stand witness to the recommitment of our marriage."

With the rest of the crowd, Venus gasped with shock at the interruption. She looked around the enormous room until she caught sight of Vulcan's tall figure making his way toward her. Surely she'd misunderstood his words. She looked up at him as he joined her before the thrones of his parents.

"Vulcan, what are you talking about?" She kept her voice low for his ears alone. He smiled at her, but instead of answering he faced his parents and bowed to them.

"Zeus, Hera," he said. "Thank you for hearing our petition today, and forgive me for being late."

"That's quite all right, son," Hera said, beaming a smile at her favorite child. "Go ahead with your request. Your father and I are ready to hear it."

"Venus was quite right. We started our relationship together in a loveless way. But now I would like to rectify that. If Venus will agree, I want to recommit to our marriage, and this time it will be a real marriage."

He ignored the disbelieving whispers and the sarcastic laughter that was the response of the watching immortals and turned to Venus. Then he further shocked her by taking her in his arms. When he spoke he didn't lower his voice. The entire Hall could hear what he was saying, but his words were confidently spoken and they seemed to brush her soul with the depth of their passion.

"Who knew Love could be intimate with loneliness?"

"What? I - I don't understand, Vulcan," she whispered.

Again he spoke from his heart to her, but he made no attempt to speak quietly. "You've been lonely, wife."

Numbly, not understanding what was happening, she automatically replied the same words she'd spoken days earlier during a bizarrely similar conversation. "I have. We should have never married. We've both been unbearably sad. Friendship can only be an addition to, not a substitute for, true love." Venus held her breath, hoping against all reason that she knew what his next words would be.

"And neither is waiting and searching. Is there any way we can reconcile? How can we make this better for both of us?"

When she heard the familiar response, from the night of the masquerade party, Venus began to tremble. And suddenly the Great Hall seemed to fade around them, and it was replaced by an Oklahoma night when the man who looked into her eyes had been wearing a different kind of mask.

"Is it you? How did this happen?" she whispered.

And then he did lower his voice so that Venus alone could hear him. "It's easy, my goddess. I found the courage to accept your love."

With a glad cry Venus threw her arms around Griffin's neck and melted against him as he lowered his mouth hungrily to hers, and Vulcan, God of Fire, formally and officially, possessed Venus, Goddess of Love, with Mount Olympus as his witness. The Great Hall exploded in pandemonium. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Venus realized that the noise around her was made up of joyful shouts and cheers as the Olympians acknowledged the glimpse they had been given of true love. But that was something she would consider and be glad of later. Just then she was too busy feeling her soul leap in joyful acknowledgment that it had been granted the miracle of living for eternity with its mate.