Eris (The Lost Goddesses #4)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

E ris managed to get Enzo out of the car and into a bed before he completely passed out. They would sleep at Rom's apartment near his ship dock in Ostia for what remained of the night and the following day, supply the ship, and set sail.

Eris was too wired to sleep. The last few days were a blur, and she couldn't quite believe she had a way to finally break her curse. She went to the apartment's small bar and poured herself a drink. She paced the apartment before sticking her head into the bedroom. Enzo was sprawled out and fast asleep as if a group of immortals hadn't turned his life completely upside down.

Satisfied that he was out cold, Eris grabbed her phone and went outside onto the balcony. The sea and sky were still dark, and she let the roar of the waves calm her. As a daughter of Nyx, this was her time. She just hoped that others would be awake too.

Eris dialed Thoth's number and hoped he hadn't abandoned it on some bookshelf in his house of many corridors. Kema was good at making sure he kept it with him, but Thoth was the oldest of them all and rarely gave modern technology much attention.

"Eris? Is everything okay?" Thoth asked, his voice distracted.

"Yes, but I need to talk to you. I'm sorry if I woke you up," she replied.

"I wasn't asleep. I'm tracking a new stage of the procession. The stars are moving again, and it's most fascinating," he replied.

"And I am here helping!" Hermes's voice echoed through the line.

"Helping? I thought you were just bored because the women were sleeping," Thoth said, droll as ever.

"What lies! I'm interested in stars!"

Thoth cut him off. "Apologies, Eris. You were saying?"

"I have found a way to break my curse," she said, tears clogging her throat.

"How?" Thoth demanded, all distraction gone from his voice. Having Thoth's attention was like standing in front of the sun.

"I ran into the Fates..." Eris said, and the story tumbled out of her, including Enzo and his grandmother.

"This is great news, Eris," Hermes said once she was done. "What has got you so worried about it all?"

"Two things. First, my curse doesn't have any effect on Enzo. I thought my control was getting better, but it was only because I was in his bar."

"Proximity. Have you tested how far the range is on it? If he gives you a force field, maybe don't stray too far from him," Thoth said, and Eris could just about see the wheels in his head turning.

She said, "His grandmother figured it out before I did. Enzo went into the apartment next door, and instantly, the curse started affecting the electricity."

"It would still be wise to test it because you want to know the precise distance you can get from him," Thoth replied.

Hermes made a scoffing sound. "She's going to be stuck on a sailboat with him. They are going to be plenty close."

"I'll still measure it, Thoth, just to be sure." Eris rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "There was also something else Bianca and Enzo said that has been troubling me. They said they could feel something inside the palladium. Do you know anything about that, Hermes?"

"It was always meant to be Athena's blessing to the city. Is that what they were feeling?" he asked.

"I don't think so. They made it sound like a part of her was trapped in there. When you went looking for the gods, did you find her at all?"

"The strongest leads I found were in Constantinople and their cult to Sophia, or Lady Wisdom. I don't know how a part of her could be trapped in the palladium this whole time. Athena was in the pantheon during the Trojan War and a long time afterward," Hermes replied.

Thoth interrupted him. "Athena's real origins were always mysterious. Zeus just turned up one day with her and said she had come out of his head. While I can believe all his wisdom went to her because he could be dumb as a dung beetle, I always thought the story was rather ridiculous. Hermes is too young to remember this, but when the Myceneans were rampaging their way into the Aegean, they would ceremoniously marry Zeus off to the local feminine deities to make them all one big happy family. In time, humans remembered this as him having multiple affairs. Don't mistake me, he did that too. But there were some local goddesses who were too powerful and too smart to marry him. In Cyprus, for example, Aphrodite chose to become his aunt. Perhaps something similar happened to Athena? She did turn up unexpectedly as his daughter during a campaign through the Aegean after Thera's volcano blew. Hmmm, something to consider in more depth," Thoth said, getting lost in his own thoughts.

"Nothing I learn about Zeus surprises me anymore," Hermes grumbled. Eris remembered a time when he had done his best to honor and love his father, but those days were long, long gone. Zeus's curse had shattered his mind for decades, and even though that curse was broken, Hermes wasn't the same man anymore.

"I suppose once I get the palladium back to Troy, we might find out what magic is inside of it. If she's still living, it might also bring Athena out of her hiding place," Eris said, staring out at the water. The sky was starting to lighten, dawn's light whispering over her skin.

"I will think on this some more and send a message to Isis to let her know your movements. In the meantime, you should rest. You are going to have an interesting journey ahead of you," Thoth said, and they rang off.

Eris watched the dawn break before going back inside, curling up on the couch and trying to sleep. It would be the last time she slept on dry land for a while.

When she finally drifted off, it was thinking about all the things she would do when her curse was finally lifted. She only had to survive a sea voyage with a man she was fiercely attracted to. It didn't matter. She wouldn't risk jeopardizing or complicating her mission.

Only breaking the curse mattered, and not the way her heart skipped whenever Enzo looked at her. She had survived thousands of years alone. She could survive a few more weeks.