My Life From Hell (The Blooming Goddess #3)

Out Of The Frying Pan, Into The Fire (Part 2)

The sound of a whistle brought my focus back to the game. Oizys had the ball, with Prometheus keeping close, trying to get her safely to the net. They worked seamlessly, passing back and forth, trash talking their opponents in tandem.

I was jealous. Bitterly, bitterly jealous. It burned in my chest and I had to swallow several times against the metallic taste of bile in my mouth. I wanted to run into the middle of the field and scream, "It's me!" I couldn't stomach watching them anymore.

The only bright spot was that the game ended shortly after. Pretty much everyone cleared out, until it was just me watching Kai and Prometheus play some one-on-one. More aggressive than friendly.

I drifted closer to them. My mind emptied of everything except the highly pleasing image of the two guys before me. Not that I'd ever admit this but, truthfully, I'd be hard pressed to say whether Kai or Prometheus was better looking.

A vague thought nudged its way into my brain. Some story about Prometheus and truth ...

Processing ... processing ...

I grinned in triumph it came to mind. Aletheia, the Spirit of Truth. Prometheus had crafted her out of clay and brought her to life. If he could go to her now, could she reveal the truth about me? It was worth a try.

I steeled myself to go speak to Prometheus, one friendly acquaintance to another. "Can we talk?" I asked him.

Kai snatched his shirt up off the ground and slung it around his neck. My mouth went dry,

"Can it wait?" Prometheus asked.

I tore my gaze from Kai. "No. Now."

Kai cupped my hip with his hand. "I'm going to get changed."

I didn't want him listening in on this. Plus his touch, with his shirt off like that, made me lose my train of thought. "Good idea," I said and waved him off.

He blinked dumbly at me for a second, then he left.

Prometheus laughed. "That was code for 'you were supposed to follow.'" He jogged off toward where his own shirt lay on the ground.

Whoops. I called toward Kai's retreating back in a lame fix. "My heart won't be complete until I'm with you." Oh. My. God. It was like I was possessed and this gibberish was just spewing out of me. But it was just my instinctive recall of how Persephone and Kyrillos had interacted.

Kai turned around, jogging backward. "I will burn until I see you again."

I gave him a weak smile and sashayed off, trying not to gag. What a difference seventeen years and a waaaay better girlfriend made.

I trotted after Prometheus. "Do you know who I am?"

"What?" He picked up his shirt and wriggled into it.

No wonder Festos kept trying to get that second date. I stared pointedly at the sky, and tried to stop objectifying my best friend.

"What's wrong, Persephone?"

Well, that answered that question. "I thought maybe you were mad at me or something. Since you were pretty cool when you saw me with Oizys."

He looked at me oddly but his eyes were kind. "Wouldn't do to have people suddenly thinking we're best friends or anything at this stage of the game."

"Course not." I guess I wasn't able to keep the hurt off my face. I knew that Persephone and Prometheus weren't friends like Theo and me. Sigh. With me stuck here, and in the face of that horrible deal Theo had struck with Felicia, yeah, I wanted more from Prometheus as compensation.

I wanted us.

"Not like you were supposed to sweep me up in your arms or anything," I teased, wishing exactly that. Even if only for one of his millisecond hugs.

"Definitely not part of our deal," he joked back.

Deal. Yeah. Right. That's all this was to him. A business arrangement.

Prometheus patted me on the arm. "Feeling nervous?"

I forced myself to stop moping about our lack of a friendship, and focus on getting the truth spirit here so Theo would remember me. "It's not that," I said. "I need you to help me put one more piece into place."

"Prometheus."

I shivered at that low voice. Hovering in mid-air beside us, was Thanatos.

Death.

Appearances were slightly deceiving. Thanatos looked like a winged baby. But no one would be cooing over him unless they were a serious psychopath. He was too pale, too self-composed, and he gave off the creepiest vibe of any being I'd ever encountered.

I took a step back.

Thanatos spared me the briefest of glances before he spoke to Prometheus again. "My Lord has a task for you."

"We—" I plucked up the courage to speak in Thanatos' presence.

"Are done," Prometheus finished in a hard voice, that would have anyone convinced of how little he wanted to be around me.

It's just an act.

He followed Thanatos away without a single look back.

I sighed.