Goddess of Love (Goddess Summoning #5)(21)

"By Hera's freezing tits I am not eccentric!" At Persephone's knowing expression Venus held her hands up in mock surrender. "What? The curses? Do you mean the curses?"

"You really should try to stop using them."

"I don't see why," she muttered.

"Would you please just trust me on this one? You need to fit in because you can't fulfill the invocation oath from the psychiatric ward of a hospital."

Venus's smooth brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Just try to keep a low profile. Follow Pea's lead. She'll help you."

"I'll be perfectly fine," Venus repeated, giving her a gentle push toward the portal. "Go on. You don't want to make Demeter angry."

"All right." Persephone moved reluctantly to the portal.

"If anyone asks after me I prefer you tell them I'm vacationing in the modern world."

"Don't worry. This is no one's business but yours." Before Persephone stepped through the glowing sphere she said, "Oh, and go easy on questioning people about how often they masturbate and whether they look at their genitals. Modern mortals don't usually share that information with strangers."

As Persephone and the glowing orb disappeared, Venus muttered, "They don't talk about mast***ation and their genitals? No wonder this world needs my aid."

At that moment the sky opened and belched cold February rain upon the Goddess of Love.

Venus materialized in the shadow of the large oak in Pea's front yard. She'd been right when she told Persephone she'd have no problem finding Pea. It was like the little mortal was drawing her with an unbreakable chain, which was a good thing because it saved Venus from searching all over Tulsa in a nasty storm to find her. As it was, she was thoroughly miserable: shivering, wet and totally disgruntled. In retrospect Venus realized that she could have commanded the raindrops not to touch her, but wouldn't that be engaging in the kind of eccentric behavior Persephone had warned her against? Or did that just apply to genital issues? It was all so confusing. What she knew for sure was that Pea's little house looked warm and inviting with its wide front porch and its lights blazing cheerfully. Well, she reminded herself, this is my mortal. The woman who invoked my aid. There's no need for me to be hesitant. She should be overjoyed to welcome me as her guest. Holding that thought, Venus ran through the mud puddles to Pea's porch, thankful the generous roof held off the horrid cold rain. She took a moment to toss her hair back, knowing that even though it was wet, it still looked slick and sexy. She did grimace briefly when she glanced down at the silk knit sweater that was peppered with unattractive rain spots and her exquisite new black crocodile boots that were muddy and wet. At least the clothing Persephone had called jeans held up well in the torrential downpour. The Goddess of Love pinched her cheeks, chasing away the cold paleness that had lodged there, and put a brilliant smile on her face. Then she knocked on Pea's door.

Maniacal barking practically vibrated the walls. What type of beast did Pea own? Cerberus? One could only imagine. The door cracked and Venus recognized the frizzy tufts of Pea's out-ofcontrol hair. Had the girl not taken her advice and purchased the coconut oil?

"Yes? Who is it?"

"It is I!" Venus proclaimed. When the mortal didn't respond she added, "Venus, Goddess of Love." When she still didn't respond she said, "Your goddess. Remember? You invoked me at the restaurant."

"I have my phone in my hand and my finger on the quick dial nine-one-one button, which I can push any second."

Venus's brows drew together. "That sounds lovely, darling. Could you do that while I'm inside, too? It's rather wet out here."

"What do you want?"

Venus stifled a frustrated sigh. "To fulfill your desire for happiness and ecstasy, of course. Didn't we already discuss this?"

"How did you find me?"

"Well, that's an interesting story. I believe that your invocation and my acceptance of it has somehow bound us together. You drew me here - so here I am."

"I'm really sorry, but I think you should go away."

Venus suddenly felt very near tears again and her words broke on an unexpected sob. "But it's cold out here and I don't know where else to go."

The crack in the door got bigger. Venus could see that Pea's hair was down and in wild disarray all around her shoulders. And, worse, she was wearing some kind of nightwear that was a sweet pink color, but was also one piece and had feet attached to it. The Goddess of Love decided it made the mortal looked prepubescent.

"Don't cry," Pea said.

"I'm not." Venus sniffed and wiped her eyes. "It's just that nothing has gone the way I planned today, including you."

"Okay. You can come in. If you say you won't mug and kill me."

"I don't know what 'mug' means, but it doesn't sound polite. And I certainly don't want to harm you, let alone kill you."

"Well, then you can come in," Pea said reluctantly. Standing aside Pea ushered her into the foyer of the neat little bungalow.

Relieved, Venus stepped into warmth that smelled like baking ambrosia. Then an angry ball of rather chubby black fur growled furiously at her.

"Manners, Chloe!" Pea said sternly.