Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(94)

She passed once around the tree.

A soft breeze blew through the branches of the old oak, and the dry leaves whispered an autumn melody. Lina lifted her arms and twirled. She raised her face to the sky, letting the moon caress her skin. The night felt rich and beautiful and magic-fil ed.

She passed twice around the tree.

Lina pointed her toe and swung her leg forward. It seemed that she heard the humming of women's voices in harmony with the sound of the leaves. From the corner of her eye she saw familiar shapes join her in the dancing circle. They glittered and glowed and their wings made a melodic humming noise. Arms spread Lina leapt and twirled and reveled in the beauty of the night. She passed a third time around the tree.

Lina stopped. She was breathing hard and her breath showed in the cool air like little puffs of magic smoke. She looked around, but the nymphs that had danced with her had disappeared. Edith Anne waddled past her, sniffing curiously around the base of the tree. Cocking her ears forward, she peered up into the oak's branches.

"They're gone," Lina told her. "Come on, old girl. It's time for us to go, too." The dance had left her body feeling more alive than it had in two weeks. Maybe she should dance more. Anton and Dolores had questioned her several times about why she had suddenly stopped rol erblading along the river. Lina thought about it. She'd never rol erbladed - ever. But Persephone obviously had quite often. And she hadn't needed Anton and Dolores to tel her that. Her body was a ful dress size smal er. Her legs were fit and her butt was firmer than it had been when she was twenty.

Lina let herself back in her condo. Before she could change her mind, she walked straight back to her bathroom, kicking off her shoes and stripping off her clothes until she stood total y naked in front of her ful -length mirror.

She looked good, and not just for a woman in her forties. Except for the dark smudges under her eyes, her skin looked firm and healthy. She stil wore her hair as Persephone had worn it - shoulder length with loose, messy curls. Her br**sts weren't perfect and perky, but they were full and womanly. Her waist curved in nicely and her hips swel ed down to tight thighs and well -defined calves.

She smiled at her reflection. She was pretty and smart and sexy and successful - everything a man should want.

"It's past time you got over him, Lina," she told herself.

With a sense of finality, she clicked off the bathroom light and tucked herself into bed. She felt the mattress sag as Patchy Poo the Pud curled into his place near her hip. She heard Edith Anne sigh as she turned twice and then flopped down in her doggie bed. Lina closed her eyes and before she fel asleep she made a promise to herself. Beginning tomorrow she would start over. Persephone had been right - she was richly blessed.

* * *

Persephone had been brooding when she felt the stirring of her magic being used. As nonchalantly as possible, she excused herself from Hermes and Aphrodite's tiresome conversation. The immortals waved her aside and continued their argument about whether the Limoniades, nymphs of the meadows of flowers, or the Napaeae, nymphs of the glens, were the most beautiful. They didn't mind that the young Goddess of Spring was leaving the conversation. She was an expert on forest nymphs, yet she had been uncharacteristical y reticent and had had nothing amusing to say on the subject. They hardly noticed her absence.

Demeter did.

"Daughter, where are you going?"

Persephone paused and schooled her face into an aspect of innocent boredom before she turned to face her mother.

"Oh, Mother, you know I cannot bear to be indoors while the flowers are blooming. The meadows cal me."

"Very well , child. I expect to see you tonight at the Festival of Chloaia."

"Of course, Mother." Persephone bowed and left her mother's throne room. Demeter watched her daughter depart with a mother's sharp eyes. The Great Goddess was ready to admit to herself that exchanging the mortal for her daughter had been a mistake. Oh, her plan had had the desired effect. Persephone had matured. To Demeter's surprise she was even being cal ed the Queen of the Underworld, and the relatives of the dead had quit their ceaseless petitioning. But at what price? Since her daughter's return the Goddess of Spring had behaved in a more sober manner. She rarely hosted feasts and had stopped consorting with semi-deities. But she was also moody and distracted. Much of the young Goddess's sparkle had dimmed. Demeter worried about her. And she also worried about the mortal woman.

Carolina Francesca Santoro seemed to have taken up permanent residence as a nettle within the Goddess's conscious, and it was not a comfortable arrangement. Demeter could not forget the look of raw pain on the mortal's face when Hades rejected her. She had caused Carolina a great hurt, and that had not been her intention.

Then there were the disturbing rumors. The immortals whispered that Hades had gone mad. He would see no one. It was even said that he had refused to grant Zeus an audience when the God had entered his dark realm.

"Eirene," she cal ed her old friend to her side. "Something must be done about Hades."

"Again?" Eirene asked.

"Again," Demeter said.

Through her mother's oracle Persephone watched Lina dance around the oak tree. She smiled when the little nymphs joined her. Lina's body twirled and leapt with a grace that Persephone recognized as not completely mortal.

"Her body remembers," the Goddess of Spring whispered to the oracle. "It has been touched by the presence of a goddess, and it wil never be the same..."