Chapter Nine

 

 

“She can fly!” Drakon said to the others as soon as we were safely within the tree.

“What's this now?” Straton turned to scowl at us.

Damn the man; he was even beautiful when he scowled.

“We were attacked by some of Kadmos's men in the forest,” Drakon explained. “I was battling of two of them when two more snuck up behind us. Pandora beat on one with a fishing pole and then floated up to kick them both in the head.”

“Since when can you fly?” Akylas asked.

“Since when can you fight?” Praxis added.

“And what else can you do?” Erastos had a sexy, speculative gleam in his eyes.

“Tinker Bell taught me to fly,” I said. “I had to do some meditation and focus on happy thoughts.”

“Can I fly if I think of... happy things?” Erastos purred.

“No, because you're not a goddess,” Drakon dropped the other bomb.

“You're a goddess?” Praxis eyed me up and then huffed. “Should have known. I mean, just look at her.”

I smiled brightly at him. “Thank you.”

“We knew she was made by the gods,” Akylas reminded them.

“Yes, but being a goddess herself is a little different,” Drakon muttered. “We were made by a god too, but we're not magical.”

“If you're a goddess, why didn't you defend yourself when Epimetheus sent you away?” Straton was more skeptical.

“I just found out that I'm a goddess,” I said. “And I'm only the Goddess of Hope. I have magic, but so far, all I've learned to do with it is fly.”

“Hmm,” Straton murmured to himself as he paced, and the other men watched him carefully. Finally, he nodded and went upstairs to his room.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I'm not sure.” Drakon's hand slipped into mine as his gaze drifted to the ceiling.

“And what is this?” Erastos looked at our clasped hands with interest.

“I'm not denying the way I feel for Pandora anymore,” Drakon declared. “And I don't think any of you should either.”

“Straton is going to lose his mind,” Akylas noted, but he also looked intrigued.

“We don't have to tell him right away.” Drakon smirked. “We could keep this between the five of us and slowly ease him into it.”

“Into what?” Erastos looked from Drakon to me. “Are you saying what I hope you're saying.”

“Well, I am the Goddess of Hope.” I smirked.

“All of us?” Praxis gaped at me. “Truly?”

“Why not?” Drakon asked them. “There is no one here to ostracize us or criticize us. If we want to share one woman, what's to stop us?”

“Uh, Straton, as I said,” Akylas huffed.

“He'll come around,” Erastos murmured as he slid up to me. “To be with you, I would risk far more than Straton's wrath. The only reason I've held back till now is that Straton insisted that it would be an abuse of our power over you.”

“And he said we'd end up fighting after you picked one of us,” Praxis added.

“But if you're willing to be with us all,” Akylas said with a smile, “then his arguments hold no weight.”

Straton's footsteps on the stairs silenced us, and Drakon eased his hand out of mine. But the men smiled at me encouragingly, and I smiled back. My heart was pounding wildly in my chest with my excitement.

“This is for you,” Straton said as he walked over to me. He held out a short, slim sword in a sheath. “I'm proud of you, Pandora. You've only begun to train, and you've already defended yourself with skill and innovation.”

I accepted the sword with a sigh of pleasure. It was beautiful, with a silver handle engraved with flowers, and light in my hand. I unsheathed it and admired the thin but sharp blade.

“It's wonderful,” I whispered. “Thank you, Straton.”

“You've earned it.” Straton nodded.

“Where did you get that thing?” Drakon asked as he leaned closer to inspect the sword.

“Kadmos's hold. It was full of what appeared to be stolen property.” Straton grimaced. “It seems that the Captain wasn't just transporting Epimetheus's goods, he had a side business. I knew we'd need more weapons, so I commandeered a few pieces.”

“They're pirates?” Akylas growled. “And you didn't tell us?”

“It doesn't matter now.” Straton shrugged. “They are our enemies either way, and they've no one to pirate anymore.”

“That explains why they were so furious to be confined to this island,” I mused. “I can understand some anger, but their reactions were extreme.”

“That's true,” Straton agreed. “I hadn't thought of that.”

“Yes, the 'I'm going to kill you, you rancid bitch' was a bit much,” Erastos drawled.

We all stared at him a moment before we burst into laughter.

“What else did they have in their hold?” I asked Straton with a lifted brow.

“No,” he said, and then went even sterner when the others began to smile. “No; we are not going looking for trouble.”

“Please,” Praxis rolled his eyes, “it's an island, it's not like we can hide from it. Trouble finds us.”

“Might as well confront it first,” Drakon added.

“Dear gods, help us,” Straton murmured.

“Strat, we have a goddess with us,” Akylas waved his hand toward me. “How can we possibly fail?”