Goddess of Love (Goddess Summoning #5)(79)

"I already kind of asked him that."

"Kind of?"

Venus looked chagrined. "I told him my work was in Rome and Greece and I couldn't leave it to move to Tulsa."

"And?"

"And he doesn't want to leave his family. His sisters and his mother depend on him. He said we could have something called a long-distance relationship."

Pea curled her lip. "Ugh. Totally not acceptable." Then she brightened. "But it would be acceptable if he knew who you really are. I mean, you can zap yourself back and forth from Olympus to here, right?"

"Yes."

"So can't you zap him, too?"

"Of course. But you hate zapping. Maybe he will, too."

"Please," Pea scoffed. "He's a guy. He'll be fine with the zapping. And truthfully, if Vulcan has to zap me around so that he and I can be together, I'll take a Xanax and let him zap away."

"Xanax?"

"Ambrosia in a pill."

"Oh, good." Venus nodded thoughtfully. "So you believe I should tell Griffin the truth. All of it."

"I do. Actually I think it's the only answer."

"What if he doesn't like the idea of being loved by a goddess?"

"Come on, Venus! What man wouldn't like the idea of being loved by a goddess? Especially the Goddess of Love. He should be overjoyed."

"Well, being overjoyed certainly sounds reasonable to me."

"When are you seeing him again?"

"Later today. He's going to be on duty, but he said if I come by this afternoon we could have dinner together in the park beside the station. That is, if no one sets anything on fire that he has to put out."

"Perfect. Tell him who you are then. He'll be at work for the next twenty-four hours or so. Isn't that how their shifts go?"

Venus nodded. "He said they're usually on for a day, and then off for two."

"So tell him today, and he'll have time to get used to it before he sees you again. Easy-peasy."

"Do you really think so?"

"Absolutely. I mean, am I not the most mundane mortal you've ever met?"

Venus smiled at her friend. "You might be."

"So if I can get used to loving an immortal, anyone can."

"You know, you're really very wise."

"I know. Now, you have a class to teach, and I have interviews to conduct. This evening you'll figure things out with Griffin and I'll..." She paused and waggled her eyebrows. "...with Vulcan."

Venus laughed. She turned to leave Pea's office to head to what she was quickly considering her classroom, but was brought up short by the little mortal's next words.

"You know you could return to Olympus at any time now, don't you?"

Venus glanced back at Pea. "I - I haven't really given it much thought. I guess maybe I can."

Pea's smile was warm and filled with the love she felt for the goddess. "Of course you can. You were only trapped here until you fulfilled my wish for happiness and ecstasy. You've made sure I've been blessed with both in quantities I'd never imagined."

"Oh, Pea. I didn't bring those things to you. I just helped you find the way to discover them yourself."

"Thank you, Venus, Goddess of Love," Pea said.

Venus tilted her head in regal acknowledgment. "You are most welcome, darling." Then the Goddess of Love took her bag of vagina diagrams and, smiling, hurried to the classroom in which she would hold court.

Vulcan stood in front of the pillar of fire, hands on his hips, and he threw back his head and laughed joyously. He had found her and she loved him! She knew who he was and she accepted him. Never again would his life be a solitary pit of loneliness, where he'd simmer the eons away by himself. Instead he would be with Pea. He would love her and have children with her and watch her grow old and...

Vulcan came to an abrupt halt. He would watch his mortal love - the mate of his soul - grow old and die. Then he would be right back where he had been before he'd ever loved her. No! It would be worse. His centuries of loneliness had been bad enough before he knew her. Now they would be unbearable.

"No!" he shouted, and the fire flamed high and hot in response. "I will not live without her." But what choice did he have? He could turn her into something - an ever-flowing brook or a meadow of eternally blooming wildflowers. Vulcan shook his head. "I cannot do that. Pea cannot abide zapping," he muttered, disgusted with himself for even considering it. "Plus, it wouldn't really be Pea, and we wouldn't actually be together." No. Changing Pea wasn't the answer. So the answer must be that he had to change himself. Not long ago he had been eager to become a cold constellation to escape his existence as an outlander, which was why he'd turned his attention to the modern mortal world to begin with. He'd meant to discover a mortal man who would be willing to take his place as God of Fire for eternity. Vulcan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Who was it Venus said she loved?"

A name seemed to whisper from the pillar of fire: Griffin. Yes! That was his name, Griffin. The God of Fire raised his hands and shouted a command into the pillar of flame, "Let me see the modern mortal Griffin!"

The order snaked from Olympus, sizzling down the invisible thread from one world to another, until it came to rest at Tulsa's Midtown Fire Station. Vulcan called a chair over to him and settled in to observe the mortal man.