Goddess of Light (Goddess Summoning #3)(79)

At the mention of the author's name Artemis' face changed. It seemed to soften, and her cheeks flushed a delicate pink.

"Oh. My. God! You really like him," Pamela said.

"He... he reminds me of someone," Artemis whispered.

"You like him because he reminds you of someone? Who?"

The goddess's eyes flashed, and she looked more like her usual haughty self. "It is my concern not yours who Eddie reminds me of, and I do not like him simply because of that. He recognized me. He is a mortal from a modern world that no longer honors the gods and goddesses, yet he knows me and worships me. That pleases me."

"Huh," Pamela said.

She motioned for Artemis to sit on the bathroom counter while she looked through her makeup bag for her concealer. For a while she worked silently on the goddess's face, covering the dark circles under her eyes and brushing some bronzing power over her face to help bring back some of her natural color. Then, just because Artemis was so damn beautiful, she highlighted her eyes with some shimmery shadow. It was like touching up a painting that had already been completed by a master, she thought.

"Hippolytus," Artemis murmured.

"What's that?" Pamela said.

"Hippolytus wasn't a what - he was a who. Eddie reminds me of him."

"Was he an author, too?" Pamela asked, adding just a touch of blush to the goddess's high cheekbones.

"No. He was a warrior. Son of Theseus. He was tall, strong, and almost as beautiful as a god. Eddie's body does not remind me of my Hippolytus. It is in his devotion that I find the similarity."

"You talk about Hippolytus in the past tense. Is he dead?"

"Yes," Artemis said shortly. "Killed mistakenly because of his devotion to me. I was the only woman he could ever love."

"I'm sorry," Pamela said.

Artemis met the mortal woman's gaze. She was surprised to recognize understanding there. "You've lost a love, too."

"He didn't die physically. It was just that I found out that the man I believed in didn't actually exist."

Artemis nodded thoughtfully. "In a way, that would be even more difficult to bear. At least Hippolytus no longer walks the ancient earth. It would be a painful burden to see him and to know that he is only the shell of what I believed him to be."

"You do understand," Pamela, said.

"Yes." Artemis smiled sadly. Then she turned and looked in the mirror and her smiled widened and became authentically happy. "You have performed a miracle!"

Pamela laughed. "Absolutely. It's called Borghese, Mac, and a little Chanel added in for good measure. The modern woman's miracle workers."

"Thank you, Pamela," she said sincerely.

"You are welcome, Artemis." She looked at her own still-rumpled reflection. "Now I'm going to have to perform a similar miracle on myself. And I'm going to have to hurry."

Artemis slid from the counter. "I will tell Eddie I detained you. He will not be upset at having some time alone with me before you join us."

"Artemis," Pamela called. With her hand on the doorknob the goddess turned to look at her. "May I ask you one question? Even if it is a little personal?"

The goddess shrugged one smooth shoulder. "You deserve a boon for the miracle you worked. I have no powers with which to thank you, so I will gladly answer your question."

"I admit I don't know my mythology very well, but everything I remember ever reading about you, about Artemis, said that you are a virgin goddess, totally untouched by any man or god. I was just wondering if it's true."

For a moment Artemis looked shocked, then perplexed, and then she began to laugh.

"Well, I didn't mean it to be funny," Pamela muttered, a little embarrassed by the goddess's reaction to her question.

"It is the storytelling of men at which I laugh, not you. They branded me as the virgin goddess because I refused to shackle myself to one mate. I take love where I will. I decide who and where and when. My real pleasure comes from my freedom. My favorite lover is the forest, my oldest companions my handmaiden nymphs. But I can assure you that I am no virgin." She left the room, and her musical laugher floated after her.

Chapter 26

Pamela was surprised to realize that Apollo was avoiding her. She was also surprised to realize how much his avoidance bothered her. She still caught him looking at her, but the moment she tried to meet his gaze, he turned from her and became very busy with whatever workman was near. He even avoided her during their lunch break. She sat with Eddie and Artemis and watched them flirt outrageously while she gobbled down one of the excellent gourmet sandwiches Eddie's genius cook made for everyone. Apollo had only paused long enough to grab a sandwich and send her a brief, distracted smile before he rejoined the architect over near the site where workers had already begun staking out the ground for the bathhouse.

Not that she wasn't busy herself. Today they were choosing the flooring, and it had turned out to be a major event. At first Eddie had wanted a horrid reproduction of the tacky fake stone flooring that was so nauseatingly abundant at The Forum. Thankfully, from her perch atop the dais where she stood regally, holding a bow in her hand instead of yesterday's vase, Artemis shook her head and said a quick, "Oh, no, Eddie. It is dreadful." And that was that. The laminated fake stone was instantly vetoed. Then Pamela had told the three representatives from the natural stone manufacturers to bring forward samples of their best marbles. And the deluge began. Eddie had been instantly enthralled with the different colors and varieties of the stone, and he kept moving from one outrageous sample to another, becoming more and more infatuated with each one and insisting that they choose a different color scheme for each room.