your next god! We're getting bored, Persephone!' I mustered up a dirty look to throw at the commentator, then handed the goblet back to Aphrodite.
'Dionysus,' I said, and moved back to where Dionysus was sitting, on the other side of Athena. I was unsurprised to see him once more in tight leather pants, a white shirt mostly open and only half tucked in. He had one ankle crossed over his knee, and dark sunglasses on.
'Drink from the cup of wine and see if you shall be tested,' he drawled, and leaned forward lazily with a goblet. I took it from him, for the first time knowing what to expect the liquid to taste like. Sure enough, it was a rich red wine, and freaking delicious. Before I'd realized what I was doing, I'd downed the whole damned glass. I licked my lips as I drained the last drops, and was just exclaiming how good it was, when I realized I wasn't in the hall any more.
That wasn't normal wine, I realized, spinning on the spot, panic flooding through me. I was in a forest. Except the trees around me stretched up so high that I couldn't see their tops, the light from the sky just streaking through gaps in the foliage. As I blinked around, I realized I could see little wooden structures high in the branches. I inhaled deeply, the smell of damp earth magnificent to me. Before I'd noticed I was doing it, green vines were snaking out of my palms, the lure of so much nature around me irresistible.
Then a low snarl snapped my attention to the nearest huge tree trunk. The gnarled wooden bark seemed to swirl and move in front of me, and I squinted at it. A wave of dizziness washed over me, as something black and lithe stalked from behind the tree trunk. Wings unfurled from its back, and I blinked furiously as the world tilted on its axis.
I felt drunk. Out of control drunk, not happy, silly drunk. I tried to focus on the thing now prowling towards me, and a flash of red above its back came sharply into focus all of a sudden. It was a glowing stinger, on the end of a scorpion tail. My conversation with Hedone earlier sprang into my mind, about winged cats with scorpion tails but I couldn't remember what they were called. A new disorientating wave of dizziness pounded over me, and I actually stumbled. Somewhere in the distance I heard a loud gong, then a voice rang out.
'Ten minutes, starting now!'
Ten minutes for what? I'd known before that I was here for something important but now... I struggled to piece together the last few minutes, but I could feel my memories slipping away as I stared at the huge black cat approaching me. He didn't look friendly. Maybe he lived in this forest? A woozy calm was settling over me, and I held my hand out, a green vine stretching towards the cat. He bared his teeth, and my vision wobbled again. A laugh bubbled from my lips. He was quite cute really, with his feathered wings and slinky steps.
Run!
The desperate thought pierced my cheerful haze, anxiety and fear smacking me in the chest so hard it was like I had been electrocuted. My feet started to move and I staggered backwards, my emotions flipping so far in the other direction that I was now too scared to take my eyes from the beast. There must have been something in the wine that was causing me to believe this thing was cute, because in reality it was damned terrifying. That bastard Dionysus had drugged me. My vision still swam, but I was sure the cat's teeth were growing, and its dark eyes were beginning to glow. There was no way I would be faster than it was. If I was its prey, I was in serious shit.
But its wings... They looked soft to touch, and were an ombre of reds. They were beautiful. Something that pretty wasn't dangerous, surely? My feet slowed.
It snarled again, dropping its shoulders low and pawing the ground and I felt another shock in my chest as the placid calm was dislodged.
Of course its damned dangerous, look at it! Now get the fuck out of here!
Before the lethal calm could take me again, I turned and ran for the tree behind me. I heard the thing roar, and praying I was far enough ahead that it couldn't reach me