Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Chaperone Blues

Dion

"Dionysus!"

Hera called my Greek name through my mind, but I was too busy having fun drinking and seducing multiple women to bother answering her summons. Let her seethe in her temple on Mount Olympus for a while I was enjoying my dinner. The candle on the tables flickered. Not a good sign. If I ignored Hera, as I always did since Ariadne, she'd leave me alone. Soft violin music played in the background of dozens of conversations.

I sipped my wine as the three attractive women with low-cut dresses continued giggling at my joke that had the lamest punchline ever. One of them brushed her hand up my thigh under the cream-colored tablecloth. Another ran her hand in my chestnut hair, pushing it out of my eyes. If my wife, Ariadne, were still alive, she'd flog these women for flirting with me. I smiled despite the pain her memory caused.

As the reincarnated Pandora, Ariadne had been a beauty and enraptured me the first time I saw her. She was abandoned on that miserable island after saving her lover from the Minotaur. Together we were happy, and I was content for the first time in my life. Decades and empty promises later, Zeus had refused my plea to make her immortal. His refusal spurned me into becoming the god of debauchery and madness. Fitting. Before her death, I was the god of spring, the bounty of earth, of wine and drunkenness. I was a happy god and full of vigor and love, sex, and all that. Now I occupied my days with alcohol and mindless sex, but neither filled neither my heart nor soul yet I kept trying.

"Who wants another glass?" I pushed aside those painful memories that I couldn't do shit about anyway.

Hera popped in front of me with a scowl. Her dark hair was pinned back in a loose bun with curls falling around her attractive face. She wore a modest white dress that made me think of a 1950's nurse I'd once dated. Except Hera had bigger hips and smaller boobs.

"You've had enough, Dionysus," she said in a stern voice like she was my mother.

I leaned back in my chair, my biker jacket squeaking, and hiked my boots onto the table. "Nope, I haven't even started."

Hera huffed, flicking her fingers at the humans beside me. Her magic, the scent of rose and myrrh clashed with the cooked lamb and hummus. The three women with me blanched and took off to the bathroom as if Hades himself had come for a visit.

"It's Dion now," I said.

Hera scrunched up her nose.

Good, I pissed her off. Check that off the to-do list.

"Pandor-"

"Stop!" I roared, my boots slamming back onto the floor.

Everyone in the restaurant turned my way, but I flung out my magic like a sprinkle of rain, influencing every mortal's mind that it was a clang of dishes and not me. Life was too complicated to allow mortals to know we actually existed.

"Don't ever speak that name or my wife's. Both women are dead." I saluted the air with my wine, then took a gulp.

Hera crossed her arms, regally. "Her descendant has arrived."

"Good for her." I shook my head. "Don't expect me to play nursemaid to the whelp. Pay for one of the other gods to babysit or watch her yourself. I'm done."

"How dare you defy me," Hera said in a threatening tone, glaring at me.

"Not my problem. I'm done being yours or any other gods' slave." I was sick of everything the gods had to offer. I'd gotten nothing from them except misery.

"She must be trained in her magic." Hera's face softened, her voice pleading as though she was changing tactics to placate me. "Earth is first. If she doesn't master that, none of the previous Pandora's matter."

I snorted. "Sorry, I'm out of the mortal-training business."

"You're the god of wine, bounty, and earth, she must learn from you."

"Already told you, I'm not interested."

Hera continued, "Pandora's offspring must master all four elements to survive. You are one of the gods whose power revolves around earth magic and the best chance she has at success."

"I played the part of pawn too many times," I slapped my hand on the table not bothering this time to shield the human's minds. "Never again."

I'd done my service and the other gods had dangled immortality for Ariadne before me. What a fucking lie. I finished my wine and stood. People around us murmured, staring our way, but Hera clapped her hands and a magical barrier went up around us. The humans blinked, then returned to their dinner and conversations as though nothing had happened.

"If you just would meet her," she implored, "you'd change your mind."

"So, there's something about this girl? Best I stay the fuck away from her then."

It was Hera, who'd tricked me into going to that island where I first met Ariadne. Love hurt too damn much, and I wasn't about to rip out my heart again. For a thousand years, I was a raging drunkard drowning my grief. For another thousand, I wandered through the drugs the world had to offer. I'd only begun putting pieces of my shattered soul back together this century.

"Tell me something," I said, leaning forward. "I begged Zeus, you, and several others who could grant Ariadne eternal life. You all snubbed me, and she withered in my arms." "So, what makes you think I would do anything for you any of you now?"

"Do this and I will owe you." Hera lifted her chin. "Zeus wants her dead. She's on her way here to Greece, protect her and-"

"Good luck with that." I put on my sunglasses and strolled to the restaurant's exit.

Behind me, Hera's shriek rattled the building.

Mortals screamed and many ran for cover shouting, "Earthquake."

A chuckle stuck in my throat as my vision went black for a split-second, then I was flung into a tiny bathroom with the roar of an engine under my feet. Fuck! I opened the door. Rows of orange seats crammed together in a tube. Sure enough, I was on a freaking plane. I tried to teleport, but my magic fizzled out. Hera! Shit, shit, shit. As a first-born god from a Titan, her power was stronger than mine. As I made my way along the aisle to a flight attendant taking orders.

"May I help you find your seat, sir?" she asked.

"Sure," I ground out. When I got back to Greece, I was going to clamp my hands on Hera's neck and squeeze.

"You're in first class, Mr. Dionysius." The flight attendant gestured to the front of the cabin. "This way."

Hera must have planted a memory of this woman helping me board the plane. The woman escorted me to first class. At least the goddess hadn't put me in coach, but I was still going to strangle her. I plopped down in the cushioned seat as the plane hit a bit of turbulence, vibrating through the floor. Across the aisle from me, a young woman looked like she was going to hurl.

What was her deal?

She locked eyes with mine and a jolt went through me. What was it about her? She looked like an ordinary human about in her twenties with a patchwork of small freckles dotting her nose and cheeks. Her hands clawed at the armrests, and her grey eyes were so full of panic that it made me want to comfort her.

"Do you want the shade on the window open?" the blond beside her asked.

The young woman squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. Something about her mannerisms reminded me of my Ariadne. Was this must be Pandora's reincarnation? She did have a different aura from everyone else. A shimmering silver where everyone else had oranges, yellows, or reds. But I couldn't let myself get too involved with her. Just get this flight over with and-

"Anything to drink, sir?"

The flight attendant pulled the cart with her and startled me. I hadn't even heard her approach because I had let myself become distracted by the human in the other seat.

"The strongest you've got." I winked, leaning back and taking up space with my long legs. I didn't care that Hera wanted me to escort the little nymph to Greece. I wasn't about to get cozy with the girl.

"Here's your whiskey, sir."

I took the cup from the stewardess.

Thunder boomed outside. So, Zeus was pissed. Almost made what Hera did to me worth it. Another peal of thunder crashed. Across the aisle from me, the woman's face went paler and a small whimper sounded in the back of her throat. Damn, I was a sucker for a damsel in distress. Guess it was the knight-in-shining-armor part of me.

"Have a drink." I toasted with mine.

"No thanks," she said, forcing a smile.

Her voice was melodic, and I bet she could sing like my wife had. My throat constricted and I looked away. It was better if I didn't get chummy with the Pandora girl anyway.

"He's cute," the blond nudged her friend, her eyes widening at me.

Instead of agreeing, she asked in a shaky voice, "Why isn't the medicine working?"

Sure she was gorgeous and I wanted to know more, but dating one of Hera's protégés wasn't on my list now or ever.

"I don't know," her friend answered. "It's too soon, but do you wanna try the second sleeping pill?"

If I was going to be stuck on this flight babysitting, the least I could do was relax and not worry about this girl having a drug overdose. I sent out a tendril of magic toward the woman. Her eyes fluttered and her breathing slowed. Then a bit of color came back into her cheeks. She was prettier now that she wasn't hyperventilating or trying to break off the armrests, and my heart skipped a beat.

I would not get attached to this human. Just get through this flight and walk away. I downed my drink in one gulp. Hera was a bitch, but I wasn't going to be her whipping boy ever again.

Throughout the flight, my skin prickled. I kept stealing glances at the young woman next to me. The warmth radiated off her, calling to me.

Her pull, even now as she slept, was getting stronger. But I wasn't going to give in. As soon as we landed, she was on her own. Sure she was hot as fuck but never in this world would I fall for her and be used by the gods again.

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