Fantasy Lover

Chapter 6

"You worthless piece of..." Julian let out a string of curses that would make a sailor blush.
Grace's eyes widened. She didn't know what startled her most, Julian assaulting the unknown biker or the language he used.
As he pummeled the biker, the man fought back, but his fighting skills were nowhere near Julian's.
Forgetting Selena, Grace ran toward them, her heart hammering as she tried to think of what she should do. There was no way she could get between the two men. Not at the rate they were trying to kill each other.
"Julian, stop it before you hurt him!" the biker woman cried.
Grace froze at the words.
How did she know Julian's name?
The woman danced around as if trying to help the biker thwart Julian. "Honey, watch out, he's going to... ouch, that had to hurt!" The woman cringed in sympathetic pain after Julian hit the biker in the nose. "Julian, stop hitting him like that! You're going to make his nose swell. Ew, baby, duck!"
The biker didn't duck, and Julian caught him one hard blow to the chin that made him stagger backward.
Totally befuddled, Grace looked back and forth between the woman and Julian.
How could they possibly know each other?
"Eros, baby. No!" the woman shouted again, waving her hands around her face like a bird about to take flight.
Selena moved to stand beside Grace.
"Is that the Eros Julian was trying to summon?" Grace asked.
Selena shrugged. "Maybe, but I never thought of Cupid as a biker."
"Where's Priapus?" Julian demanded as he grabbed Eros and forced him back against the wooden railing above the water.
"I don't know," Eros said as he struggled to loosen Julian's two hands from his black T-shirt.
"Don't you dare lie to me," Julian growled.
"I don't know!"
Julian tightened his grip as two thousand years of pain and rage swept through him. His hands shook while he held Eros in his fists. But worse than his desire to kill was the unrelenting questions that screamed through him.
Why had no one ever answered his summons before?
Why had Eros betrayed him?
And how could they have done this to him, then walk away and leave him to suffer?
"Where is he?" Julian asked again.
"Eating, belching, hell, I don't know. I haven't seen him in forever and a day."
Julian pulled Eros away from the railing. All the wrath of hell was branded into his face as he released him.
"I have to find him," Julian said between clenched teeth. "Now."
A muscle in Eros's jaw twitched as he brushed his hands down the front of his T-shirt to straighten it. "Well, shaking the shit out of me isn't going to get his attention."
"Then maybe killing you will." Julian reached for him again.
Suddenly, the other bikers started for Julian.
As the men closed in, Eros ducked Julian's blow and whirled to stop his friends.
"Leave him alone, guys," Eros said, grabbing the one closest to him by the arms and pushing him backward. "You don't want to fight him. Trust me. He could rip your heart out and feed it to you before you hit the ground dead."
Julian scanned the bikers with a glare that dared any of them to approach him. The cold, lethal look terrified Grace and she held no doubt he could do just what Eros said.
"What are you, crazy?" the tallest one asked as he raked a disbelieving stare over Julian. "He don't look like much to me."
Eros wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and gave a half-grin as he saw the blood on his thumb. "Yeah, well, take my word for it. The man has fists like a sledgehammer and the ability to move a hell of a lot faster than you can dodge."
In spite of his dusty black leather pants and torn T-shirt, Eros was incredibly handsome, and lacked the worn-out look of his companions. His youthful face would have been very pretty if not for the dark brown goatee surrounded by a three-day growth of whiskers, and the military cut of his hair.
"Besides, it's just a little family squabble," Eros said with a strange glint in his eyes. He patted the biker on the arm and laughed. "My kid brother always did have a nasty temper on him."
Grace exchanged a stunned, disbelieving gape with Selena.
"Did I hear that?" she asked Selena. "Surely he can't be a brother of Julian's. Can he?"
"How would I know?"
Julian said something to Eros in ancient Greek. Selena's eyes bulged and the smile faded instantly from Eros's face.
"If you weren't my brother, I'd kill you for that."
Julian's gaze shot daggers. "If I didn't need you, you'd already be dead."
Instead of becoming angry, Eros laughed.
"Don't you dare laugh," the woman said angrily to Eros. "You better remember he's one of the few people capable of carrying out that threat."
Eros nodded, then turned to the other four bikers. "Go on," he said to his friends. "I'll catch up later."
"You sure?" the tall one asked, sliding a nervous look to Julian. "We can hang if you need us to."
"Nah, it's all right," Eros said with a dismissive wave. "Remember, I told you I had to meet someone here? My brother's just pissed at me, but he'll get over it."
Grace stepped back as the bikers walked past her. All of them except for the stunning woman. She folded her arms across her leather-clad, amply endowed chest and eyed the two men warily.
Oblivious to her, Selena, and the woman, Eros walked a slow circle around Julian, looking him up and down.
"Keeping company with mortals?" Julian asked as he raked an equally cold sneer over Eros. "My, Cupid, has Tartarus frozen over while I was away?"
Eros disregarded his angry words. "Damn, boy," he said in disbelief, "you haven't changed a bit. I thought you were mortal."
"I was supposed to be, you..." Julian went off again into a cursing frenzy.
Eros's eyes flashed. "With a mouth like that, you ought to hang out with Ares. Sheesh, little brother, I didn't think you knew the meaning of all that."
Julian grabbed his brother by the shirt. But before he could do anything more to Eros, the woman threw her arm out and held up her hand.
Julian froze as still as a statue. By the look on his face, Grace could tell he wasn't pleased.
"Let go of me, Psyche," Julian growled.
Grace's jaw dropped.
Psyche? Could it be?
"Only if you promise not to hit him anymore," Psyche said. "I know the two of you haven't been on the best of terms, but respect the fact that I rather like his face as it is and I won't stand for you damaging it any further."
"Let... me... go," Julian said again, stressing each word.
"You better do it, Psych," Eros said. "He's being nice to you right now, but he can break your hold even more easily than I can, thanks to Mom. And if he does, you will get hurt."
Psyche lowered her hand.
Julian released his brother. "I don't find you amusing, Cupid. I don't find anything about this funny. Now, where is Priapus?"
"Hell, I don't know. Last I heard, he was living it up in southern France."
Grace's head buzzed from her newfound knowledge. She looked back and forth between Cupid and Psyche. Could it be? Could they really, truly, be Cupid and Psyche?
And could they really be related to Julian? Was such a thing possible?
Then again, she supposed it was as likely as two drunk women conjuring a Greek love-slave out of an ancient book.
She caught Selena's delighted, eager look.
"Who's Priapus?" Grace asked Selena.
"A phallic fertility god who was always portrayed as walking around with a hard-on," she whispered.
"Why does Julian need him?"
Selena shrugged. "Maybe he's the one who cursed him? But here's the fun fact. Priapus is Eros's brother, so if Julian is related to one, there's a darn good chance he's related to the other."
Cursed into an eternity of slavery by his own brother? The very thought made Grace ill.
"Summon him," Julian said darkly to Eros.
"You summon him. He's p.o'd at me."
"P.o.'d?"
Cupid responded in Greek.
Her mind overwhelmed by it all, Grace decided to interrupt them and get a few answers.
"Excuse me, but what is going on here?" she asked Julian. "Why did you hit him?"
Julian gave her a droll look. "Because it gave me a great deal of pleasure."
"Nice," Cupid said slowly to Julian, never once looking Grace's way. "You haven't seen me in what, two thousand years? So, instead of a friendly, brotherly hug, I get slugged."
Cupid smirked at Psyche. "And Mom wonders why I'm not closer to my siblings."
"I'm in no mood for your sarcasm, Cupid," Julian said between clenched teeth.
Cupid snorted. "Would you stop calling me that godawful name? I never could stand it, and I can't believe you would use it, given how much you hated the Romans."
Julian smiled coldly. "I use it only because I know how much you despise it, Cupid."
Cupid clenched his teeth and Grace could tell he barely restrained himself from striking out at Julian. "Tell me, did you summon me just so you could beat the crap out of me? Or is there a more productive reason for why I'm here?"
"Honestly, I didn't think you'd bother coming since you ignored me the last three thousand times I called."
"That's because I knew you were going to beat me." Cupid pointed to his swollen cheek. "Which you did."
"Then, why did you bother coming now?" Julian asked.
"Honestly," he said, repeating Julian's words. "I assumed by now you'd be dead, and that it was some other mortal who just happened to sound like you."
Grace watched as all emotions left Julian. It was almost as if Cupid's hurtful words had killed something inside of him.
The words, also seemed to take some of the steam out of Cupid as well.
"Look," he said to Julian, "I know you blame me, but what happened to Penelope wasn't my fault. I had no way of knowing what Priapus was going to do when he found out."
Julian winced as if Cupid had slugged him. Raw, tormented agony glowed in his eyes and on the lines of his face. Grace had no idea who Penelope was, but it was obvious she had meant quite a bit to Julian.
"Didn't you?" Julian asked, his voice hoarse.
"I swear to you, little brother," Cupid said softly. He glanced to Psyche, then back at Julian. "I never meant for her to get hurt, and I never meant to betray you."
"Right," Julian sneered. "You expect me to believe that? I know you too well, Cupid. You delight in wreaking havoc on mortal lives."
"But he didn't do it to you, Julian," Psyche said, her tone pleading. "If you won't believe him, then believe me. No one ever intended that Penelope should die that way. Your mother still mourns their deaths."
Julian's glare hardened. "How can you even stand to speak of her? Aphrodite was so jealous of you that she tried first to marry you off to a hideous man, then kill you to keep you from marrying Cupid. For the Goddess of Love, she certainly has very little of it in her for anyone other than herself."
Psyche looked away.
"Don't you talk about her that way," Cupid snapped. "She's our mother and deserving of your respect."
The grim anger on Julian's face would have scared the devil himself and Cupid shrank before it. "Don't you ever defend her to me."
It was only then Cupid noticed Grace and Selena. He did a double-take as if they had just popped into the group. "Who are they?"
"Friends," Julian said to Grace's surprise.
Cupid's face turned harsh, cold. "You don't have any friends."
Julian said nothing in response, but the strained expression on his face touched Grace deeply.
Seemingly unaware of how biting his words had been, Cupid casually moved to stand beside Psyche. "You still haven't told me why it's so important that you get a hold of Priapus."
Julian's jaw ticked. "Because Priapus cursed me into an eternity of slavery, and I can't break out of it. I want him here long enough to start pulling off parts of him that don't grow back."
Cupid's face blanched. "Man, he had balls to do that. Mom would've killed him had she known."
"Do you honestly expect me to believe he did this without her knowledge? I'm not that stupid, Eros. That woman couldn't care less what happens to me."
Cupid shook his head. "Don't start on that. When I offered you her gifts, you told me to shove them straight up my back orifice. Remember?"
"I wonder why?" Julian asked sarcastically. "Zeus cast me out of Olympus just hours after my birth, and Aphrodite never bothered to argue. The only time any of you ever came near me was to heap some form of torture on my head."
Julian leveled a killing glare at Cupid. "There's only so many times you can kick a dog before it turns vicious."
"Okay, granted, some of us could have been a little nicer to you, but-"
"But nothing, Cupid. None of you ever gave a damn about me. Especially not her."
"That's not true. Mom never got over you turning your back on her. You were her favorite."
Julian scoffed. "Which is why I've been trapped in a book for the last two thousand years?"
Grace ached for him. How could Cupid just stand there, listening to this and not do everything within his power to save his brother from a fate worse than death?
No wonder Julian cursed them.
Suddenly, Julian grabbed the knife from Cupid's belt and slashed his own wrist.
Grace gasped in horror, but before she even finished making the noise, Julian's wound healed up without so much as a tiny bead of blood.
Cupid's eyes widened. "Holy shit," he breathed. "That's one of Hephaestus's daggers."
"I know." Julian handed the dagger back to Cupid. "Even you can be killed by one, but I can't. I have been completely damned by Priapus."
Grace saw the terror in Cupid's eyes as he realized the full depth of Julian's sentence. "I knew he hated you, but I never thought he'd stoop this low. Man, what was he thinking?"
"I don't care what he was thinking. I just want out."
Cupid nodded. For the first time, she saw sympathy and concern on Cupid's face. "All right, little brother. First things first. Hang tight and let me go find Mom and see what she has to say."
"If she loves me as much as you say, why not summon her here and let me speak directly with her?"
Cupid gave him a duh-stare. "Because the last time I mentioned your name, she cried for a century. You really hurt her feelings."
Though Julian's stance and face were rigid and cool, in her heart, Grace suspected Julian must have surely suffered just as much as his mother.
If not more.
"I'll consult with her and be with you shortly," Cupid said, draping an arm over Psyche. "Okay?"
Julian reached out and grabbed the necklace from Cupid's neck. He jerked it off with one hard tug.
"Hey!" Cupid shouted. "Careful with that."
Julian balled the chain up in his fist and left the small bow to dangle out of his hand. "This way, I know you'll come back."
Looking greatly peeved, Cupid rubbed his neck. "Just take care of it. That bow is dangerous in the wrong hands."
"Have no fear. I well remember the bite of it."
The two of them exchanged a look of wary understanding.
"Later." Cupid clapped his hands, then he and Psyche vanished in a puff of golden smoke.
Grace took a step back, her mind whirling. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard and seen.
"I have to be dreaming," she whispered. "Either that or I've watched one too many episodes of Xena."
Grace stood still as she struggled to digest all she had seen and heard. "That couldn't have been real. It had to have been some sort of hallucination."
Julian sighed wearily. "I wish I had the option of believing that."
"My God, that was Cupid!" Selena said excitedly. "Cupid. The real thing. The cute little cherub who hands out hearts."
Julian scoffed. "Cupid is anything but cute. As for handing out hearts, he's more likely to rip them out."
"But he can make people fall in love."
"No," he said, tightening his grip on the necklace. "What he offers is an illusion. No power from above can make one human love another. Love comes from within the heart." There was a haunting quality to his voice.
Grace met his gaze. "You say that as if you know."
"I do."
She could feel his pain as if it were her own. She reached out to touch him lightly on the arm. "Is that what happened to Penelope?" Grace asked quietly.
His eyes tortured, Julian looked away from her. "Is there some place I can get my hair cut?" he asked unexpectedly.
"What?" Grace asked, knowing he was changing the subject to keep from answering her question. "Why?"
"I want nothing to remind me of them." The grief and hatred on his face was tangible.
Reluctantly, she nodded. "There's a place in the Brewery."
"Please take me there."
Grace did. She led him and Selena back into the Brewery to the salon.
No one spoke again until after the beautician had him firmly planted in the chair.
"You sure you want me to cut this off?" the woman asked as she raked adoring hands through the long, golden locks. "It sure is gorgeous. Most men look like crap with long hair, but it really becomes you, and it's so healthy and soft! I'd love to know what you use to condition this."
Julian's face was impassive. "Cut it."
The petite brunette looked over her shoulder at Grace. "You know, if I had this to run my hand through at night, I think I'd be a little ticked that he wants to whack it off."
Grace smiled to herself. If the woman only knew. "It's his hair."
"Okay," she said with a wistful sigh. She cut it to his shoulders.
"Shorter," Julian said as she pulled back.
The beautician looked skeptical. "You sure?"
He nodded.
Grace watched silently as the beautician cut his hair into a becoming style that curled around his face, reminding her of Michelangelo's David.
If it were at all possible, he was even more dazzling than before.
"How's that?" the woman asked him at long last.
"It's fine," Julian said. "Thank you."
Grace tipped the woman, then paid for the cut.
Looking up at Julian, she smiled. "Now, you look like you belong here."
He snapped his head to the left as if she'd slapped him.
"Did that offend you?" she asked, concerned that she had inadvertently hurt him somehow. Heaven knew, that was the last thing he needed.
"No."
But inside, she knew better. Something about her innocent comment had wounded him. Deeply.
"So," Selena said slowly as they headed back into the crowd in the Brewery. "You're the son of Aphrodite?"
He cut a sideways glare at her. "I'm no one's son. My mother abandoned me, my father disowned me, and I was raised on a Spartan battlefield under the fist of whoever was around."
His words cut straight into Grace's heart. No wonder he was so tough. So strong.
She wondered if anyone had ever held him lovingly in their arms. Just once, without demanding he please them first.
He walked on ahead of them. Grace watched the sinuous way he moved. Like a deadly, sleek predator. He had his thumbs tucked into the front pockets of his jeans, and seemed oblivious of the women who gawked and sighed as he passed.
In her mind, she could just imagine what he must have looked like in his day, wearing battle armor.
Given his arrogance and moves, he must have been a fierce fighter.
"Selena," Grace said quietly. "Didn't I read in college that the Spartans beat their sons every day just to see how much pain they could endure?"
Julian answered for her. "They did. And once a year, they held contests to see who could endure the harshest beating before crying out."
"And a number of them died from the contests," Selena added. "Either during the actual beating, or later from the wounds."
It all came together for Grace. His earlier words about being trained in Sparta and his hatred for the Greeks.
Selena passed a sad look to Grace before she spoke to Julian. "Being the son of a goddess, I imagine you can take quite a beating."
"Yes, I can," he said simply, his voice devoid of emotions.
Grace had never wanted to reach out and hold anyone as much as she wanted to hold Julian right then.
But she knew he wouldn't welcome it.
"You know," Selena said, and by the look in her eyes, Grace could tell she was trying to lighten their moods. "I'm kind of hungry. Why don't we grab a burger at the Hard Rock?"
Julian drew his brows into a deep V. "Why do I constantly feel as if all of you are speaking a foreign language? What is 'grabbing a burger at the Hard Rock' supposed to mean?"
Grace laughed. "The Hard Rock Cafe is a restaurant."
He looked aghast. "You eat at a place that advertises its food is hard as a rock?"
She laughed harder. Why had she never thought of that?
"It's really good. C'monn, I'll show you."
They left the Brewery and headed across the parking lot to the Hard Rock Cafe.
Luckily, they didn't have to wait long before the hostess called them to be seated.
"Hey!" a guy said as they neared the hostess. "We were here first."
The hostess gave the man a cutting glare. "Your table's not ready yet." Then, she turned a pair of goo-goo eyes at Julian and smiled widely. "If you'll please follow me..."
The woman swung her hips like nobody's business.
Grace looked drolly at Selena as she silently indicated the girl's actions.
"Don't knock it," Selena said. "It got us in here in front of ten other people."
The hostess showed them to a back booth. "Now you just stay right here," she said, touching Julian lightly on his arm, "and I'll make sure your server comes right over to you."
"What are we, invisible?" Grace asked as the hostess left them.
"I'm beginning to think so," Selena said as she took the booth facing the back wall.
Grace slid into the opposite seat. As expected, Julian sat next to her.
She handed him a menu.
"I can't read this," he said before giving it back to her.
"Oh," Grace said, embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that. "I guess they didn't teach ancient soldiers to read."
He stroked his chin with his hand and looked a bit peeved by her comment. "Actually, they did. The problem is, they taught me to read and write ancient Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Egyptian hieroglyphics and other long-dead languages. In your own words, that menu is Greek to me."
Grace cringed. "You're not going to let me forget the fact that you heard everything I said about you before you appeared, are you?"
"Most likely not."
He laid his arm across on the table.
Selena looked down from her menu and gasped. "Is that what I think it is?" She reached for his hand.
To Grace's amazement, Julian let Selena lift his right hand into hers and look at the ring on his finger.
"Gracie, have you seen this?"
Grace sat forward to where she could see it. "Not really. I've been a bit distracted."
A bit distracted, yeah, right. That would be like calling Mount Everest a bump in the road.
Even in the dim light, the gold shone. The top of it was flat and had a sword surrounded by laurel leaves engraved into it and inlaid with what appeared to be rubies and emeralds.
"It's beautiful," Grace said.
"It's a friggin' general's ring, isn't it?" Selena asked. "You weren't just a run-of-the-mill soldier. You were a friggin' general!"
Julian nodded grimly. "The terms are equivalent."
Selena let out an awed breath. "Gracie, you have no idea! To have a ring like that, Julian was someone of major importance in his time. They didn't just hand those out to everyone." Selena shook her head. "I am impressed."
"Don't be," Julian said.
For the first time ever, Grace envied Selena her Ph.D. in ancient history. Lanie knew so much more about Julian and his world than she could ever hope to.
But she didn't need that degree to understand how terrible it must have been for Julian to go from being a commander of men to being enslaved by women.
"I bet you were a great general," Grace said.
Julian turned his attention to Grace and the raw sincerity he'd heard in her voice when she'd said that. For some unfathomable reason, her compliment warmed him.
"I held my own."
"I bet you kicked major butt," she said.
Julian smiled. He hadn't thought about his victories in centuries. "I did put a major hurt on a couple of Romans."
Grace laughed at his use of her slang. "You're a fast learner."
"Hey," Selena said, interrupting them. "Can I see Cupid's bow?"
"Oh, yeah," Grace said. "Can we?"
Julian took it out of his pocket and set it on the table. "Careful," he warned Selena as she reached for it. "The golden arrow is loaded. One prick and you'll fall in love with the next person you see."
She pulled her hand away.
Grace picked up her fork and used it to drag the bow over to her. "Is it supposed to be that small?"
Julian smiled. "Didn't you ever hear the phrase 'size doesn't matter'?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "I don't want to hear it from a man as large as you."
"Gracie!" Selena gasped. "I've never heard you speak that way before."
"That was extremely mild considering what the two of you have said to me the last few days."
Julian brushed her hair back over her shoulder. She didn't flinch this time.
He was making progress.
"So, how does Cupid use this thing?" Grace asked.
Julian let his fingers slide lightly through the silken strands of her hair. Even in the dim light, it shimmered. He longed to feel it draped over his bare chest. To bury his face in it and let it caress his cheeks.
Shuttering his gaze, he imagined the feel of her body surrounding his. The sound of her breathing in his ear.
"Julian?" she asked, shaking him out of his reverie. "How does Cupid use this?"
"He can either shrink down to the size of the bow or he can make it bigger to suit his purpose."
"Really?" Selena asked. "I didn't know that."
Their waitress came running over to them, pulling out her pad and ogling Julian as if he were the daily special.
Inconspicuously, Julian slid the bow off the table and returned it to his pocket.
"I'm so sorry I made you wait. Had I known you hadn't been helped, you better believe I would have been here the minute you sat down."
Grace frowned at the young woman. Damn, couldn't Julian have five seconds without some female throwing herself at him?
Does that include you?
She paused at the thought. She was just like all the others. Staring at his butt, drooling over his body. It was a wonder he could stand being anywhere near her.
Scooting over in the booth, Grace promised herself that she wouldn't treat him that way.
He wasn't a piece of meat. He was a person and he deserved to be treated with respect and dignity.
She ordered for the three of them, and when the waitress returned with their drinks, she also brought out an order of buffalo wings.
"We didn't order these," Selena said.
"Oh, I know," the girl responded. She smiled at Julian. "We're backed up in the kitchen, so it'll take a few extra minutes to get the food out. I thought you might be hungry, so I nabbed these. If you don't like them, I can get you something else. But don't worry about it, they're on the house. So, would you prefer something else?"
Oh, the double entendre was thick and made Grace want to wrench the strawberry-blond hair out by its roots.
"These are fine, thank you," Julian said.
"Oh, my God, could you say something else to me?" the girl asked, practically swooning. "Oh, say my name! It's Mary."
"Thank you, Mary."
"Ooo," the girl crooned. "That gives me chills." With one last hungry look at Julian, the girl left them.
"I can't believe this," Grace said. "Do women always do this to you?"
"Yes," Julian said, his tone edged by ire. "That's why I hate going into public places."
"Don't knock it," Selena said as she reached for a buffalo wing. "It definitely comes in handy. In fact, I say we take him out more often."
Grace scoffed. "Yeah, well, if that little critter scribbles her name and number on the bill before she hands it over, I might have to hurt her."
Selena burst out laughing.
Before Grace could ask anything else, Cupid sauntered into the restaurant and approached their booth.
The left side of his face had a light bruise where Julian had struck him. Cupid tried to appear casual, yet she sensed his tension, as if he were ready to flee at a moment's notice. He quirked a brow at Julian's short hair, but said nothing as he sat down next to Selena.
"Well?" Julian asked.
Cupid let out a long sigh. "You want the bad news, or the really bad news?"
"Oh, let's see... how about we make my day special, and start with the worst, then work our way up?"
Cupid nodded. "All right. At worst, the curse will most likely never be broken."
Julian took the news better than she did. He merely nodded in acceptance.
Grace narrowed her eyes at Cupid. "How can you do this to him? Good Lord, my parents would have moved heaven and earth to help me, and yet here you sit without even an I'm sorry for him. What kind of brother are you?"
"Grace," Julian said with an edge to his voice. "Don't challenge him. There's no telling what consequences it might bring."
"That's right, mort-"
"You touch her," Julian said to Cupid, interrupting him, "and I will take that dagger at your side and cut your heart out with it."
Cupid slid farther away from Julian. "By the way, you left out some really important details."
Julian gave him a shuttered glare. "Such as?"
"Such as the little fact you slept with one of Priapus's virgins. Man, what were you thinking? You didn't even bother to remove his robe from her when you took her. You knew better than that. Why would you have done such a thing?"
"If you recall, I was rather angry with him at the time," he said bitterly.
"Then you should have picked one of Mom's followers. That's what they were there for."
"She wasn't the one who killed my wife. Priapus was."
Grace felt her lungs seize at his words. Was he serious?
Cupid ignored his hostility. "Well, Priapus is still raw over it. He seems to view it as the last insult where you're concerned."
"Oh, I see," Julian growled. "Big brother's mad at me for daring to sleep with one of his consecrated virgins while I was supposed to just sit back and let him murder my family on a whim?" The fury in Julian's tone sent a shiver up her spine. "Did you bother to ask Priapus why he went after them?"
Cupid rubbed a hand over his eyes as he let out a ragged breath. "Yeah, remember when you routed and defeated Livius outside of Conjara? Livius called out for vengeance against you right before you beheaded him."
"It was war."
"And you know how much Priapus always hated you. He was looking for an opening to go after you without fear of retribution, and you gave it to him."
Grace looked to Julian, but no emotions whatsoever showed on his face.
"Did you tell Priapus I wanted to see him?" Julian asked.
"What are you, crazed? Hell, no. I mentioned your name and he about blew a gasket. Said you could rot in Tartarus forever. Believe me, you don't want to be near him."
"Oh, trust me, I do."
Cupid nodded. "Yeah, but if you kill him, you'll have Zeus, Tisiphone, and Nemesis to deal with."
"Do you think they scare me?"
"I know they don't, but I really don't want to see you die that way. And if you'd stop being pig-headed for three seconds, you'd realize it yourself. C'mon, do you really want to pull down the wrath of the big man?"
By the look on Julian's face, Grace would say he really didn't care one way or the other.
"But," Cupid continued, "Mom pointed out that there is a way to break the curse."
Grace held her breath as hope flitted across Julian's face. They both waited for Cupid to elaborate.
Instead, Cupid trailed his gaze over the dark interior of the restaurant. "Do you believe people eat this sh-"
Julian snapped his fingers in front of Cupid's face. "How do I break the curse?"
Cupid leaned back in the booth. "You know everything in the universe is cyclical. As it began, so shall it end. Since Alexandria caused the curse, you have to be summoned by another woman of Alexander. One who also needs you. You must make a sacrifice for her and-" Cupid broke off into laughter.
Until Julian reached across the table and seized his shirt in his fist. "And?"
Cupid knocked his grip away and sobered. "Well..." Cupid's gaze slid to Grace and Selena. "Would you excuse us for a minute?"
"I'm a sex therapist," Grace told him. "There's nothing you can say that will shock me."
"And I ain't about to leave this booth until I hear the juicy tidbits," Selena said.
"All right, then." He looked back at Julian. "When the woman of Alexander summons you, you can't put your spoon in her jelly jar until the last day of your incarnation. Then, the two of you must unite carnally before midnight and you must keep your bodies joined until the sun rises. If you withdraw from her at any point, for any reason, you will immediately return to the book, and the curse continues."
Julian cursed and looked away.
"Exactly," Cupid said. "You know how strong Priapus's curse is. There's no way in hell you'll ever make it thirty days without boinking your summoner."
"That's not the problem," Julian said between clenched teeth. "The problem is finding a woman of Alexander to summon me."
Her heart hammering nervously, Grace sat forward. "What does that mean? A woman of Alexander?"
Cupid shrugged. "Well, she has to have Alexander in her name."
"Like a surname?" she asked.
"Yes."
Grace looked up and caught Julian's tortured gaze. "Julian, my name is Grace Alexander."