Fangs and Fennel (The Venom Trilogy #2)(47)

His jaw dropped and a laugh boomed out of him; he roared with it until his eyes ran and he actually went to one knee. “Oh, gods. Alena. You are nothing of what we expected.”

What we expected. Chills and horror collided as they raced through my synapses. “What do you mean?”

Smithy stood and crooked a finger at me. “Come on, let’s have a chat.”

I stood unmoving. “Why would you help me? Your wife is working with Hera to have me killed. And you’ve been hiding in plain sight all this time, pretending to be a werewolf. Why?”

The words hovered in the air between us, and he gave me a slow nod. “How can I put this? The pantheon is complicated at the best of times. Yes, I gave my wife what she wanted, and she gave me what I wanted.” He smiled, the grin all wolf and lechery. “That being said, now that I know what she and Hera have been up to, I don’t necessarily agree with it. While I can’t go against my wife, exactly, I can give you some ideas. And yes, I hid in plain sight. Gods get bored too, you know. It’s the bane of a long-lived life.”

I wasn’t buying it. “I ask you again, why? You gain nothing but an angry wife if you help me.”

He squinted one eye at me. “You know why I took the job as second-in-command at the SDMP? I’m bored, Alena. The world is boring. And then you showed up, and things started happening.” He smiled, and I realized for the first time he was a rather handsome man. I didn’t even mind the scars.

Our eyes connected again, heat simmering between us in a way I didn’t expect. I flushed and looked away, not liking the flash of whatever it was that zipped between us. I had enough on my plate with my craptastic soon-to-be ex-husband, a taboo cross-species growing relationship with Remo, and Theseus making a bid on my life to be dabbling in this kind of tension with a Greek god.

“So I make things interesting? That doesn’t seem to be much reason to put your marriage and life on the line.”

Smithy snorted. “Please, like all marriages within the pantheon, it’s for show. Why do you think I jumped at the chance to get back in her bed? Unlike her, I don’t stray.”

My eyes involuntarily shot to his, and he slowly nodded. “I respect your stance on trying to get a divorce, even though it won’t happen. You’re as trapped as me, Drakaina.”

I lifted my chin. “I have a hearing again tomorrow. I’m not giving up.”

That smile crossed his face, and I found myself staring. Well, this was not a development I’d expected.

“I wouldn’t expect you to. The real heroes don’t.”

“I’m not a hero.”

He shook his head. “A hero’s journey is rarely one where they see themselves as such. Do me a favor. Trust Eros. He’s on your side, as I am. As Zeus is, even if he’s doing nothing but partying it up at his house out on Olympic Drive in the Highlands area.”

I lifted both eyebrows and his mouth twitched up.

Smithy rubbed his jaw. “Not exactly subtle, I know. He’ll probably hide if you show up, but it might be worth a visit.” Smithy winked. “In case you need to talk to him.”

I opened my mouth to thank him, and he closed the distance between us. I held my breath as he dipped his mouth and let it hover over my lips. “If I weren’t married, Alena, you would be in trouble for a whole different reason.”

That was all he said. He stepped back and turned away from me. I blurted out the question I couldn’t help but ask.

“Did you know what I was from the beginning? When you first caught me?”

“No,” he called over his shoulder. “No, I didn’t. Nor did I realize you’d rolled me at the gate until after. And even then I didn’t understand. It’s been too long since we’ve seen a real monster, Alena. And maybe it’s been too long since we’ve seen a real hero. You are changing the rules, even if you don’t know it.”

He slid into the SDMP pickup truck at the curb and pulled away without saying anything else. My heart bumped against my rib cage, and I made myself walk down the steps to Tad’s beater of a car. I was out on the human’s side of the Wall in a matter of minutes, and while there were officers watching, they waved me through.

Another few minutes and I was on the highway headed south to my bakery.

“What in the name of all that is made of sugar and spice just happened there?” I couldn’t wrap my brain around Smithy, Hephaestus, whatever his name was. He wasn’t a werewolf, he was hiding in plain sight. Just like Zeus working for the local Blue Box Store. I lifted a hand to my lips. He hadn’t kissed me, but he’d wanted to.

And I think I might have wanted him to as well. Not that I would have. It was bad enough that Remo and I had kissed . . . a curl of guilt spooled out of me when I thought of Remo. Like I’d been unfaithful to him. When in reality it was Roger I was married to. I put a hand to my head as I drove. “Seriously, you are messed up,” I whispered to myself. I did my best to focus on what Smithy had said. He would help me. And he told me to trust Ernie.

“Ernie, if you can hear me, I’m sorry. I’m going to the bakery, and I’ll whip you up something as an apology.”

A puff of feathers all but exploded in the seat beside me, and the fat, smiling cherub stared up at me. “It’s about time. What changed your mind, girlfriend?”