Goddess of Light (Goddess Summoning #3)(65)

"Wait!" the officer said, his small eyes glittering. "Don't I recognize you as one of the stars of Zumanity?"

Pamela held her breath while Artemis raised one slender eyebrow.

"I am the star of Zumanity" she said.

"This is Diana, my fiance's sister," Pamela said. She didn't look at Apollo, but she could feel the tension in his body as he stood there silently beside her.

"You know, I caught the show for the first time just the other night." He rocked back and forth on his feet. Sweat popped out over his upper lip. "It was really something. You were really something."

"I suppose it is rewarding to know that I pleased the masses," Artemis said.

Pamela grabbed her elbow and took Apollo's hand and began leading them both past the officer. "Well, we really should be getting back to our rooms. I can't imagine how we took a wrong turn and ended up here."

"Next time be sure you're dressed properly when you leave your rooms," the officer said to Apollo as Pamela rushed him past. Then he tipped his hat to Artemis. "Pleasure to meet you, Diana. I can't wait to see the show again."

Pamela could feel the growl that rumbled through Apollo's body.

None of them spoke until they turned the corner and were walking through the casino's lobby. Then Pamela let loose Artemis' arm. She tried to pull her hand from Apollo, but he just tightened his grip on her. She frowned at him.

"I want you to let me go." She lowered her voice so that the people who were nearby wouldn't overhear her.

"I don't plan on ever letting you go," Apollo said.

Artemis sighed dramatically.

"Stay out of this," Apollo ordered his sister. "You don't understand what it's like to be in love."

"In love! Oh, please. I realize that I'm just a human, but I'm not a moron. No matter what your sister thinks." She glared at Artemis, who curled her lip back at her.

Pamela met Apollo's gaze again. Her eyes were no longer glassy with shock. Instead they glittered with outrage.

"How can you possibly say you're in love with me? You pretended to be someone you're not. You used me as some kind of observation experiment. And I suspect you worked some kind of weird spell on me!"

Several people turned and looked curiously in her direction.

"Let me explain," Apollo said.

Pamela started to shake her head, but the god touched the side of her face. She froze.

"Please," he whispered, hating that when he touched her fear suddenly overpowered the anger in her eyes. "You must. I already told you that I won't let you go. Once given, I never break my oath." His hand left her face and briefly touched the coin she still wore around her neck. "I've pledged my protection to you. You have nothing to fear from me."

"Excuse me, sir," a casino worker approached them.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to put your shirt on."

"We're just on our way to our room," Pamela said, pulling Apollo toward the hotel elevators.

"Such fuss over a little bare flesh," Artemis said, following her brother.

"I want everything explained to me," Pamela said as they entered the elevator.

"It will be," Apollo assured her, still holding her hand.

"It will be boring," Artemis muttered.

"You're not helping," Apollo and Pamela said together.

Chapter 22

"So you're telling me that the whole thing was nothing more than a misdirected spell?"

Pamela was sitting in one of the chairs in the living room area of her suite. Artemis lounged across the couch, and Apollo, who couldn't seem to sit still, was currently pacing up and down in front of the picture window.

"It's technically not a spell. It's an invocation ritual. Very ancient and very powerful. As Apollo said, it shouldn't have been possible for all of the required elements to come together as they did - "

"Except that Bacchus obviously had his hand in it. He must have manipulated events," Apollo finished for his sister.

"Manipulated - that is an excellent way to describe it." Pamela's look clearly said that she wasn't thinking of the invocation.

"No! It's not like that. Our feelings weren't manipulated, only the events that brought us together were."

"You lied to me," Pamela said.

"I didn't. I am a healer and a musician."

"Actually, he is the healer and the musician of the ancient world," Artemis chimed in.

Pamela drew in a sharp breath. "My ankle! You did something to my ankle that night in the rain."

"It was broken. I simply healed it."

Pamela stared at him like he'd suddenly sprouted horns and a tail.

"And the slot machine jackpot?" she asked.

"Your desire for the purse was great; it pleased me to grant that desire."

She thought his smile made him look like a little boy whose hand had been caught fisted full of cookies and trapped inside the jar. She automatically wanted to smile back at him - he seemed so normal. Then she remembered how it had felt to have her flesh twist and melt into something not human, and her resolve hardened. Her next question erased the little-boy smile.

"And the sex? What kind of magic did you use to get me in bed with you?"