Sirenz - By Charlotte Bennardo Page 0,60
myth?”
I bit back a retort.
Persephone shifted her purse to her other arm, nearest me. “Why does everyone think they know my story? No one ever asks me.”
“But your mom’s trying to get you back, right? And Hades stole you away.”
Persephone blushed. “Hades is devious, but he couldn’t trick me into being with him if I didn’t want to be.”
When she said his name, her lips curled into a lascivious smile. I looked away. What was that phrase Shar always used? TMI!
“Don’t you ever get tired of going back and forth between your mother and Hades?” I asked.
She laughed merrily. “It’s like a vacation. When I get sick of Mother, I go to Hades, and when he angers me, I go back to her. Staying here in the summer suits me fine. If they both want to believe the other one keeps me a prisoner, why should I enlighten them? But let me make this simple for you.” She flicked an unpleasant glance at my baggy black cargo pants and matching turtleneck, which Shar had picked out. “I knew what I was getting into when I swallowed those pomegranate seeds. I wanted to sleep with Hades, but it’s always easier to let men and mothers think they’re controlling the situation.” She smiled slyly.
TMI! TMI!
“You wanted to be with him,” I repeated doubtfully. And he’s cheating on you! Or trying to!
“Absolutely!” she murmured throatily. “You’re too human to see his appeal. Yes, he’s unpredictable, unruly at times, and not to be trusted, but then, none of the gods are. Who do you think gave the Trojans the idea of the hollow horse? It’s what makes him so enticing. He’s dangerous.” She chewed her bottom lip, examining me shrewdly with her stormy eyes. “I know about his little escapades. He’s frustrated.”
She leaned in confidentially. “Unfortunately, Zeus made us agree that we can’t see each other on the mortal plane, even when I take short trips up here in the winter. Whenever I sense Hades here, I have to avoid him. Few dare to disobey Daddy Zeus.” She admired a Wall Street type walking by, talking on his Bluetooth. “Nice, but not as hot as my bad boy.” She turned back to me. “So, as far as Hades is concerned, I allow a fling here and there.”
I tried to control the churning in my stomach. If Persephone allowed Hades an occasional dalliance, why should the piteous mortal Shar—not that she was doing anything to get Hades’ attention—bother her so much? Unless Hades had something else in mind for Shar. My brain raced through some potential scenarios, none of them good.
Persephone stopped talking for a moment to pull her dog, a tiny black Shih Tzu, out of her bag. She kissed it on its nose.
“Anyway, I know how hard it is when you only have your pets to keep you company. Sure, they’re cute, but they can’t compare. My poor Hades has only Cerberus. Isn’t that right, Minty?”
“But your mother—” I started, intending to spill the details about how Demeter had been trying to push Shar on Hades, but Persephone finished my sentence for me.
“Mother wants whatever makes me happy—as long as I stay with her.” It seemed this wasn’t the first time this subject had come up. “She doesn’t like my husband, she doesn’t like my clothes, and she wants to run my life. Does your mother do that to you?”
She didn’t wait for a reply. “No one understands me,” she said, shaking her head with a theatrical air and lifting up the little dog, its long hair tied up with a crystal studded ribbon, so that it faced in my direction. She spoke to it in a sickly sweet voice and waved one of its tiny paws at me.
“Hades and I have an understanding in one regard—our playmates. How else are we supposed to amuse ourselves while we’re apart? Isn’t that right, Minty?”
She settled the whining dog in her arms before turning her attention back to me.
“Tell me,” she said, her tone still saccharine but now with an underlying sharpness. “Do you think Minty is a good name for her?”
I looked into the little dog’s eyes. I had no idea why she named it what she did, and I didn’t care, but I did feel sorry for it. Somehow I didn’t get the feeling that this was a beloved pet, despite the crystal bow and manicured paws.
“Minty and I go way back, don’t we, my pweshis?” Persephone prattled softly into its ear, never