Chapter 28: Trap Likely

The inn keeper didn't bother looking at her when he answered her question, "It's a dream Eros and I had once. I thought I'd keep it going in honor of his memory, but it's harder without him. I'm not exactly suited to other forms of love…" So many things were confusing about what he'd said that she wasn't even sure where to begin.

"His memory? Where is Eros?" She realized he was always Ares' right-hand man, perhaps his best friend. Dark's mind went back to that night at Tali's club when they'd both dressed up a Brad Pitt's version of "Interview with a Vampire". She could still see those two goofy men, looking every bit of ridiculous for being so large in costumes so delicate.

The inn keeper's steps stumbled, almost imperceptibly, "You didn't hear Asteria sent his dead body as a warning to the Olympians…? It was her official declaration of war. And she chose him because he'd chosen no side. He allied with no one. She wanted everyone to know that wouldn't be enough to save them, to push the last few scared gods to her side. I suppose there's something honorific about being chosen like that, being deemed important enough by one as powerful as Asteria…but I just can't seem to find the strength to see it." He paused for a moment, lost in whatever swell of thoughts plagued him, "If you didn't hear about it, you must have been somewhere strange after all. I'd heard the rumors that the Titans took you, but I confess I wasn't inclined to believe them. I mean, there's no way you'd survive that. No one would, probably not even Asteria."

He was wrong, as they all were about who and what the Titans were. And Dark would never find the words to convince him of that, not here, not now. Maybe if he could actually see them, as the others had, he would understand. Asteria had done her job well, weaving the lies and fear so no one would ever trust them when they returned. But the time Dark had spent with them was eye opening. They'd never harmed her, though Coeus was the sole exception to that rule. They could have killed her, for the three months she spent in a coma, they could have killed her, defiled her, done terrible, horrific things. But they kept her clean and fed, kept her in a warm bed with coverings not a dungeon. They were not monsters, Asteria was.

His head swiveled to her slightly, completely unaware of the conversation in her head, "Angel, right? That's your name?"

Dark simply nodded once. She didn't care to correct him when she wasn't even sure she could trust him. And what did it matter what he called her, anyway? Whatever purpose he had for taking her wherever they were headed would probably be the same, whether he knew she was Angel or Dark. They were interchangeable to most everyone, it seemed.

"I'm sorry to hear about Eros," she insisted, watching his profile from the corner of her eye, "He was always nice, maybe a little too flirty but nice." He smirked at her small laugh. She hadn't heard about what happened with Eros while she was gone, but she supposed Ares' comment in the arena suddenly made more sense. Oh gods, not another one. Apparently, Cue hadn't been the only casualty.

"I assume you two were close," she pressed, but he breezed over the implication.

"Well, I was sorry to hear about what happened to you, too. Eros told me what he knew after the involution. It's funny as soon as I saw you standing in the entryway, I knew exactly who you were. Not because of your glamour or the triggers I lay all around the border of the land, but because you feel like her. The second I felt you enter the inn, I thought you were Asteria. Your aura, your power, your iciness. Not to mention you feel like walking, talking temptation thanks to Tantalus. At least, to me you do."

Dark bristled, and she swore she could feel Poseidon rolling his eyes at Imeros' flirting. "Anyway," he continued, shaking off whatever feeling had passed over him, "This place was our dream, a place for people who couldn't find love, lonely souls, lost souls, people who were never lucky enough to connect to anyone." His voice was clear, but Dark could still pick up the remnants of sadness.

"And you are? You keep saying 'our,’ but you still haven't told me your name. It's not very polite for a host…"

"Imeros," he peeked over, seeing that she wanted a bit more than just his name, Imeros cleared his throat, "You could think of me as the god of sex. Erotic love. Some think it's our baser nature, but every successful relationship I've ever seen thrived in my department. Eros and I worked fabulously together. But Eros was the one who really got these people to connect with one another. I can make them happy for a time. I can even give them release. But deep, abiding love? Fulfillment? It's a bit too much for me to handle alone." She and Imeros seemed to have that in common.

"What is it you're going to show me?" Dark noticed they had moved away from the lifeblood of the town square into a more isolated part of the land.

"You won't believe me if I tell you," he gritted his teeth, "You have to see it."

Dark felt the ghost of a hand on her shoulder, sending chills up her spine. A warning, a reminder. Poseidon must have squeezed between the wall and her body, so she shifted slightly, pretending to warm her arms so he could have more room. They turned down a dark walkway, headed towards the back edge of town, where all that muck lay just out of sight.

Imeros looked at her carefully as they drew to a stop, "Hide your energy. Your aura is too strong to be human, and it feels like hers." He looked her over once more, then knocked twice on a steel door. She checked her glamour and Poseidon's invisibility, then she did as Imeros asked and pushed her power further down. Dark looked up to see they were standing in front of a building the size of an old factory. It looked nothing like the quaint, pretty buildings they'd been walking through a moment ago. This building, and the others like it, hadn't been made for the inhabitants of this place. They'd been made for something else altogether.

The door slid open forcefully, a large, calloused hand appearing on the door's edge as it screeched. The new opening revealed several burly men with otherworldly eyes in all manner of shades. Gods. Her mind began to work the best plan of attack if this all went to shit. Who would she hit first and with what? Where would she bank, where would she stand? Her mind played with the different odds of overpowering and outmaneuvering them. It wasn't that she doubted how strong she was, it was the enclosed nature of the space. Close quarters combat wasn't the same as an open arena.

She studied their faces again but found none of them were familiar to her either, so she edged some fake nervousness into her demeanor. She was supposed to be human after all and they were eternal, all powerful, in her human eyes.

"Ros…what did you bring us?" One smiled at her in a way that raised goosebumps across her body. She felt Poseidon press against her back, sliding one arm around her waist and the other he ran under her arm and curled it, until his hand could rest on her shoulder blade. He was making them one body so he could step through the door and follow her. His chin rested on her other shoulder. She shivered at his chill, letting that play to her favor for the assessing eyes in the doorway. How the hell was she supposed to walk like this?

"A gift for her, as promised," Imeros hissed. Her. Trap. Poseidon's grip tightened on her shoulder, as if he too anticipated the likelihood of being used. But Imeros knew who she was. It wouldn't make sense for him to believe he'd betray her and live. And why help her recover? Though he said he thought she'd sleep for days…Perhaps there was a larger game at play? No, she steeled her nerves. It may very well be a trap, but it wasn't one Imeros laid.

Her. That small word held all the promise of vengeance, though she wasn't entirely sure she was ready to take on an entire building of gods if that's what this was. Even with Poseidon's help. Dark's senses keened, surveying the room beyond the door. A dance floor, a bar, some lounge areas towards the back, a few doors along the far wall. Lots of bodies. Dancing, drinking, playing cards, throwing darts. The place was rife with gods, crammed like sardines in a tin.

Another of the burly guardsmen gawked at her. It wasn't even her body and yet, it felt as oily as if it were, his eyes like groping hands across her. "Shame" was all he said and then Dark was moving slowly behind Imeros. She heard the screeching once more, then the latch of the door. She was trying not to stumble with the extra limbs wrapped around her, trying not to drop her power or reveal it, trying to look as weak as she could. Imeros grabbed her hand as they reached the dancefloor, threading their fingers in a squeeze that said, give me one moment longer and you will see.

Dark felt a trickle of cold water up her spine, arching gently at the sensation. It moved around her collarbone, up her neck, across her jaw, licking her earlobe, as it found its way to its destination.

I don't like it Poseidon growled into her ear. It was the oddest sensation of water and speech. Again, she realized how clever it was. Water could be more useful than she thought. Dark replicated the power, letting her own bead of liquid turn invisible and find his ear.

Which part don't you like? The fact that he's holding my hand, the fact that I'm practically giving you a piggyback ride? Or the idea that we're now in the middle of a trap?

All of it. She could practically hear his teeth breaking from gritting them so hard.

Don't worry, I'm sure we'll make it out of here and look on the bright side, I'll let you hold my hand at the next Bacchanalia…Suppressing her cruel grin was hard.

As if ignoring her, Poseidon began to enumerate the threats. The gods he recognized as well as the number of them he didn't. Most were unknown and therefore untested. It was hard to come up with a defensive strategy when you weren't sure of someone's power. Poseidon tried to summon his mist, but it recoiled. They wouldn't be portaling out of here.

Don't worry about strategy, he said quietly, if this goes left, run until you can portal, I'll hold them off.

And leave you to tell the story of me running forever? No, thank you.

A small snicker. Me? I wouldn't dream of it! But as lovely as that sounds, teasing you forever, I don't think there'd be much of me left to do it.

No. We leave together, she snapped, but he didn't reply. Imeros tugged her arm, "When you get inside, when you see her, you must bow deeply. You must appeal to her with truth and then you will see what I'm trying to show you."

Vague, convoluted, and suspicious. But as the door to the back room swung open, Dark's breath caught because she knew that face. And it wasn't Asteria's.