Chapter One
Immortal

I stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing every aspect of my appearance like I tended to do every day now.  My skin was naturally dark – not as dark as Eros or Zephyrus, but dark enough that I’d never have to worry about sitting hour under a hot sun or tanning bed to get the ideal complexion – but was marred by freckles that didn’t seem possible on someone like me.  When I was younger, I used to hate them, because Penny would tell me I was some freak of nature for having them, and that it was better to have flawless skin like her own.  But over the years, I’ve come to accept them, especially when Eros would make a comment that he thought they made me look cuter.  My nose was slightly upturned, giving it a button-like appearance that, sadly, tended to make me look younger than I actually was.  My hair was a dark chocolate brown, the same shade as my father’s, and hanging in loose waves that framed my face perfectly, except where the thick braid I had placed in it hung heavily from my part.  My eyes were a bright blue, almost unnaturally, but just subtle enough that they came off as just really pretty.

Nowhere in anything I was seeing could I see the goddess that I supposedly was.

I still couldn’t believe it.  There was nothing about me, except maybe my uncanny ability to judge people accurately, that suggested that I was born with an immortal soul rather than a normal mortal one, and I could just chalk my ability up to the fact that I was a reincarnation of a girl who once was a goddess.  Once I found out, I had always assumed that’s where it came from.  Sure, none of the other reincarnations had that ability, but then again, from what I understand, none of them were like me, anyway.  They had all been average girls, living their lives of love and loss without regret, or wishing they could be anything other than what they were.  None of them actually loved Eros, or felt any connection to Hedone. 

I understood that that’s what suggested that I had the other soul in me.  I had the qualities of Psyche that she sealed away, longing, like I did now, to lead a normal life, much like the mortals who used to pray for her guidance.  They couldn’t understand it, but somehow, they claim, the other soul developed a consciousness of her own, severing her connection to the mortal soul in order to become a separate entity.  And yet, Hades claims, we still has some connection to each other, such that I could still see the past lives as she lived them.  And while she was living the high life up on the surface, her immortal soul was down in the Underworld feeling envious.

If that were the case, I did wonder how much Psyche hid away in her immortal soul.  Yes, all these gods were chasing after the wrong soul, but the fact that Persephone felt sorry for the immortal soul enough that she wanted to do something for her made me wonder if perhaps her friendship with the queen of the Underworld wasn’t trapped inside as well.  Maybe I was fully Psyche, and the so-called mortal soul that was now threatening to terrorize my life was actually the mere piece of it, broken off to be reincarnated just so Psyche didn’t have to keep on living the same life anymore.

I questioned it all because I felt completely opposite of all the stories I’ve been told of her.  Maybe because it was new, but I felt like I loved Eros enough to never, ever, think of breaking his heart like his first wife did.  Even if I was absolutely miserable because everyone I knew and loved had passed on already, and because the people I wanted to help didn’t want my help anymore, I wouldn’t dream of leaving Eros’ side.  I certainly wouldn’t want to be reborn without my love for him.  The idea of being reincarnated and finding your soul mate time and time again actually sounded sort of sweet, but I couldn’t stand the thought of losing my memories of this life, of Mom and Papa and Nona and Papou, and Chryssa and Spyros, of Grandmom and Grandpop, of all my aunts and uncles and cousins.  And certainly of Maddie.  How the hell would I live without remembering Maddie?

Every day I stared at that mirror, and every day I didn’t see anything worthwhile that suggested I was anything but mortal.  I had seen gods, and I had seen how utterly beautiful they could be.  And I was too plain to be considered that beautiful.  Sure, I was destined to be considered pretty thanks to having Psyche’s soul – whichever one I had – but beauty was always in the eye of the beholder.  People like Papa and Eros and Zephyrus would believe me to be beautiful (even if Zephyrus was taking an interest in redheads as of late), but others would find the exotic beauty of my sisters to be way more beautiful.  I didn’t let it affect me; I never cared how I looked until Eros entered into my life, and as long as he still thinks I’m pretty, I didn’t care.

Although I was starting to question that idea as well.

I jumped when someone knocked on my door, waiting for an invitation to enter.  I wasn’t used to people being polite – Penny and Phoebe tended to barge in on me, regardless of my privacy, whereas Mom and Papa had learned early on to allow us to come to them unless it was extremely important.  But I knew who it was, even if her knowing startled me.  “It’s open,” I called for her.

Nona still opened the door a little cautiously.  At her house, she had a habit of knocking then entering if she assumed that we were descent.  That’s generally how she managed to catch me hiding in my room reading all the time.  But this wasn’t her house, and I wasn’t supposed to be following her rules of socialization.  Papa had informed her when she arrived that I liked to hide in my room to avoid filming, and she, for the most part, respecting that desire.  I was just glad she knocked first, which generally clued Eros in that he needed to turn invisible, and fast.  My grandmother certainly wouldn’t approve of me having my boyfriend up here without my parents’ knowledge.

Nona had the benefit of aging well like my father did.  Her hair was still dark, although it was starting to turn grey right around the edges.  She currently had it pulled back into a rather severe bun, which was her normal style.  I had only seen her with her hair down once or twice, and I wondered all the time why she didn’t wear it like that more often.  She looked so pretty.  Her skin showed the most signs of aging, dark but with wrinkles caused by too much sun exposure and laughing around her eyes.  Her eyes, despite being dark, were always full of life and judgment, taking in literally everything she was seeing to make an informed opinion.

She glanced around the room once to see where I was, and she frowned at me when she spotted me in front of my mirror, unable to jump away fast enough before she came in.  “Oh, agapi̱ménos, what are you doing?  You don’t need to spend so much time in front of a mirror!”

I did manage to grab my brush.  I brandished it at her.  “My hair was annoying me, so I thought I’d give it a brush,” I told her.  “You’ve always told me that having wavy hair was a blessing, but it can be so annoying sometimes, Nona!”

She relaxed, comforted by the explanation.  Of course I was scrutinizing myself, but it wasn’t because I found anything wrong with my appearance.  I was just looking for the part that suggested I was born a goddess, but naturally, I couldn’t tell my grandmother that.  Even if she was Greek.

“I’m just checking up on you, agapi̱ménos.  You seemed out of sorts at breakfast this morning.”

I wanted to remind her that I was ‘out of sorts’ since she got here, but I had been trying to put on a brave face since school started back up so that no one would run to the press and try to make a story out of my misery. But luckily, I always had an easy answer.  “Yeah, I know; I’m sorry.  It’s just what with Penny there…”

She held up a hand.  “Say no more; I understand completely.  Normally, I’d be delighted to have yet another great-grandchild, but not from that télos.”

I laughed.  “Nona, isn’t it against grandmother regulation to be calling your granddaughter a slut?”

“In the case of Penelope…certainly not.  She’s married, Psyche, and yet she still acts like she’s not.  It’s disturbing.  Phoebe’s child I could respect more, only because she at least has class enough to stick to one man.”

“She still flirts with other guys.”

She waved me off.  “I’m her grandmother; I can tell when she’s merely flirting for the camera.  She only has eyes for her Nathan, and that’s how it should be.”

“Yeah, well,” I said a little uneasily.  “Penny’s never really been that traditional, if you know what I mean.  To be honest, I think I’d have been more worried if she did find someone that she actually loved enough to be faithful with.  We might have been disgusted that she married someone older than Papa, but it wasn’t unexpected.”

She shook her head.  “I honestly though I thought your father to raise his children better than that.  He can’t blame it on not having enough time; I know he’s always managed to make time for his girls even when he was rising in success.  I mean, you turned out all right, Psyche dear, so he had to be doing something right.  He spoiled Penelope entirely too much, methinks.”

“Can you blame him?  Penny was his first child, after all, and by the time I came along, he already knew which mistakes not to make so I wouldn’t turn out like her.”  Of course, the other reason I was more sensible was because I was the reincarnation of the goddess of sensibility, but I still couldn’t say anything about it.  I had a feeling I wouldn’t have turned out exactly like my sisters had I not been born with Psyche’s soul, but I would have been more interested in being a socialite.  Just…one that was taught to be ethical by her father.

“Oh yes,” Nona said, smiling slightly in a way that I just knew I wasn’t going to like what she was going to say next.  “At least we don’t have to worry about you when it comes to love.  I always thought taking your time to find a good relationship was far better than to jumping into one for the sake of being in a relationship.  Your Eros is certainly poof of that.”

I had forced Eros to meet my grandmother shortly after she and Papou arrived unexpectedly.  He had been a little hesitant at first – he knew the stories of her being worse than Papa – but naturally agreed to it.  Nona had the same reaction as Mom at first, thinking him to be rather hot despite her age.  But then she started watching him, because she immediately realized that he did look like the sort of guys Penny and Phoebe (before she met Nate) would bring back to her house when they were visiting.  Eros didn’t notice at first, but sort of starting freaking out a little when he did.

Which I found hilarious, considering he was a freaking god and all, and she was a mere mortal.

But considering Eros was nothing like this hot Greek beach guys around her house, Nona warmed up to him enough that she was hinting at us going out several times a week.  It made me glad that my grandmother did approve of my boyfriend, just because I didn’t want her making derogatory remarks about him when he was within earshot like she tended to do with Donald.

Plus, Nona was one of my favorite relatives, and I wanted all of them to like Eros.

Of course, the problem wasn’t specifically with my grandmother’s approval of my boyfriend.  The real problem lay with my boyfriend himself.  Ever since he found out that Psyche – his wife Psyche – hadn’t been reincarnated in me, and that she was out of the Underworld now, he had been extremely distant.  It used to not take a lot for me to capture his attention, but now, even when I had it, half the time I couldn’t get a straight answer out of him.

Even when I kissed him, he didn’t see that into it anymore.  Sure, he’d kiss me back, but there wasn’t as much feeling in it.  It was worrisome, especially considering I seemed to fall in love with him more with each day.  I didn’t like seeing him this way.  I mean, I didn’t want him to devote all his attention to me, but I wanted some response out of him.  To see him so distant make me wonder if perhaps he’s been lying this entire time, and it was just my soul that he was in love with.

I didn’t bring it up, though, terrified of his answer.  When he was ready to talk, I would be there, but until then, I knew I had to just give him his space.  Bugging him about it just might make things worse.

Luckily, he was only distant when we were alone.  When I forced him to be around my family, he was his normal, cheerful, acting-like-he-was-in-love with me self, which I was grateful for.  It was bad enough I had to deal with his distance, but I didn’t want my family asking questions about it as well.

I had asked Zephyrus about it, but he was just as baffled as I was.  “I suppose it makes sense, though; he’s been lead to believe that there was only one soul he should have been looking for, and it turns out there’s two of you.  And that the one that you currently have isn’t the one he’s been chasing for hundreds of years.  I’m sure he’s just confused about it right now, and he’ll come to his senses eventually.  I was a little surprised to find out myself, but not overly so.  I can tell you from experience that you are nothing like the first Psyche.”

I had, naturally, told Maddie about what had happened, although several days after the fact.  She had been understanding why it took me so long once I gave her the story, since she knew I needed a couple of days to fully understand what was happening myself.  She had been awestruck at the idea that I was a goddess.  “That’s just ridiculous, Maddie.  There’s no freaking way I’m the goddess.  I don’t feel like a goddess.  I feel like a mortal.”

“That’s because you didn’t know you were a goddess, and you just tricked yourself into assuming what a mortal felt like,” she said excitedly.  “This is so cool.  I’m best friends with a goddess!”

“Maddie!”

“Okay, okay, we’ll focus on the fact that you’ve accidentally released a mentally unstable spirit who wants revenge on you, apparently.  But you got to admit, the idea is pretty good.”

I rolled my eyes.  “For you, maybe, but you’re not the one whose supposedly the goddess over here.  You’d be freaking out if that were the case, trust me.”

But the fact that she was so excited about the prospect of me being a goddess was heartening.  She didn’t get mad or jealous – she got excited.  It was so typically Maddie that I couldn’t help but feel a little proud that I was her friend.

We did discuss what we were going to do about the first Psyche, and even got Zephyrus in on the conversation.  Maddie, of course, chimed in that she was going to everything she could to help, even if there wasn’t much she could do about it.  She was just so eager to help me in some way, because, as she put it, she wanted to prove her worth as my best friend as I was dealing with this nonsense.

I felt bad for two reasons – one that there really wasn’t much she could do for me, and two that I couldn’t exactly return the favor.  Maddie was mortal, and she didn’t have to deal with jealous mothers or vengeful spirits in order to be with a boyfriend.  She might get the jealous mother, but those are much easier to deal with when they’re mortal, and can’t make you go through a series of insane trials.

Or, as the case may be, she merely had to deal with the goddess of dawn, who really didn’t give a shit who her son ended up with, to be honest. 

Nona patted my knee.  “I do have eveything’s fine for you, agapi̱ménos.  With everything that’s going on in your life right now, I’m a little surprised you haven’t lost it yet.”

I gave her a smile.  She really had no idea…  “I’m fine, Nona,” I insisted.  “I’ve spent the last eighteen years dealing with Penny and Phoebe and their antics, even if all of this is the worst they’ve been.  But I’ve just come to expect it from them, and I’ve learned to deal with it.  Phoebe, I can forgive, of course.  She’s getting married.”

“But must she publicize it as she does?” she mused.  “Most of us are quite content to have small ceremonies with close family and friends who are merely happy for us.  We don’t need the entire world to witness the event.”

I shrugged.  “Phoebe grew up in a different environment,” I pointed out.  “She’s used to the exposure, and she knows that people want to see her wedding, as well as the reception, because they can’t attend themselves since they’re no one important.  And considering how happy Nate makes her, I guess I can sort of see why she’d want the while world to share in her happiness.”

“Well, I suppose as long as you don’t do anything as foolish…,” she commented.

“God, no.  I mean, I do plan on having a rather large wedding, but more on the scale of what Chryssa had.  Possibly more insane if Eros’ family gets in on it.  I might not be able to escape the publicity, now that I think about it.  He is Aphrodite Acidila’s little brother, after all.  But still, it’ll be a fun sort of large wedding.”

“It’ll be a Greek wedding, and that doesn’t count,” she scolded.  “That’s how weddings are supposed to be.  That’s how your father should have gotten married, but your mother had her American traditions, and since she was the bride, we felt we had to uphold them.”

“Mom would have been delighted with a Greek wedding.”

“She would have, yes, but those parents of hers had a very specific idea of how her wedding should go, and since they were paying for everything…we were just lucky they liked the idea of an exotic wedding and had it in our village.”

“I remember Mom mentioning that.  Mom had to beg and plead and eventually give up being able to make most of the wedding decisions just so they could get married in the same church you and Papou did.”

“Oh yes.  I used to question his choice in marrying her, but that just proved she was a keeper.”  She winked at her as she smiled at the memory.

‘She did eventually convince me to come out of my room so I could sit with her and Mom, since Papa clearly still had to work despite the fact that his mother was in town.  She had been, ever since the news that Penny was pregnant managed to reach her.  She was immediately on the phone, demanding that Papa get her and Papou to New York as soon as possible.  This made Penny mad beyond reason, but naturally, Nona didn’t care in the least.

The problem at the moment, though, was the fact that we were currently surrounded by brain dead girls who happened to be getting excited about a certain wedding that was approaching.  I was a little surprised that Nona was actually interested in being filmed for the special, and I heard Phoebe mention is the confessional room that she knew her grandmother disliked her…but she was glad she was there to show her support.  Nona wasn’t there for her, though, but to keep an eye on Penny, but she was happy to play the part of the excited grandmother.  Because, in a way, she was.

I was sitting beside Phoebe for some reason, mostly because she insisted.  Ever since Penny made her announcement, Phoebe was acting like I was her favorite sister, going so far as to actually listen to my concerns.  She knew it annoyed me a little, since it seemed to fake to me, so it surprised me that she more or less left me alone because of it unless it was for the cameras.  To be honest, I hadn’t realized how disappointed Phoebe had been getting in Penny since they started filming the show.  She finally expressed her annoyance when Penny made a move on Eros (and continued to do so every time she saw him), and when she made the announcement just because Phoebe was getting more attention, Phoebe just decided to give up on her.

I actually had a theory that Phoebe had a taste of what being nice was like when she was being possessed by Hedone, and just wanted to feel it again.

Phoebe was currently talking animatedly about the decorations she wanted for the reception, pausing every now and then when Nona snorted at the idea.  She wanted it over the top, naturally, and Nona understood that.  But there were some ideas that she just simply couldn’t approve of, which forced Phoebe to quickly change her idea.  It was generally minor anyway – a type of flower that she wanted, or a certain color.  Phoebe somehow got excited at the idea of a more traditional Greek wedding, which was the main reason she was willing to take Nona’s advice on the matter.

Penny, for her part, sat as regally as she could in an armchair, a hand on her pronounced baby bump.  There was actually two reasons she made the announcement – one was to get attention back on her, since everyone likes a celebrity baby better than a celebrity wedding, and the second was because she was actually three months pregnant already, and she knew she wasn’t going to be able to hide it anymore.  In fact, the whole reason she thought of the reality show to begin with was the showcase her pregnancy.  Unfortunately for her, the producers decided to do the wedding special before she was able to make her announcement, and thus she was stuck playing second fiddle to her sister from time to time.

Knowing she was pregnant made it all the more disturbing that she’d get trashed every chance she got.  That was the main reason Nona came to Winchester – because she wanted to keep an eye on Penny and make sure she didn’t do anything that would make the baby come out deformed or worse.  Now, at six months pregnant, Penny hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol, and the only reason she wasn’t bitching about it was because people were chalking it up as her being a surprisingly good mother.

Mom and Nona had already talked about Mom and Papa seeking custody of the baby, considering we all knew Penny would be a horrid mother, and we questioned the ability of Donald being a good father as well.

It was sort of funny how Penny insisted that the baby was his, despite the fact that she boosted about never consummating the marriage.  Now she claimed that she was lying, and we couldn’t tell if she was saving face or not.  From the way Donald was acting, I was actually lead to believe that it was his, to be honest, although I was the only one who thought that.  But I was watching him carefully, since he would know something was up if he never touched her, and I could judge from the way he acted when no one was watching what he thought.  But he never broke the happy and pervy mold, so I was inclined to believe that she was at least telling the truth about consummating the marriage finally.

It was disturbing to think about.

I wasn’t entirely sure how she managed it, but Penny still managed to look slutty even when pregnant.  I felt sorry for the baby, I really did.  To have this as its mother…

My sister deserved all the annoyance that was coming to her.  I glanced at her glowering instead of glowing, and I shot her a smile that was just as wicked as the ones she tended to give me.  She looked angry at this.  “So, Phoebe, how’s your dress coming along?” I asked sweetly, since someone had just asked how they were going to work around Penny’s pregnancy.  That was her chance of being in the spotlight again, and I knew how to destroy it.

Phoebe seemed to realize what I was doing as well.  She glanced at Penny out of habit before shooting me her practiced beatific smile.  “Oh my gosh, Psy,” she said excitedly.  “It’s turning out so beautiful!  They said that I could go in for a fitting at the end of the week.  Thank you so much for talking me out of my original vision!  This one turned out so perfectly!”

Actually, it wasn’t just me that talked her out of it.  Mom, Nona, and I all staged an intervention, and luckily, she was at her stage where she was willing to listen.  Mom and Nona sort of laid into her about it, while I calmly pointed out that it didn’t have to be that frilly to be pretty.  We sat her down to look at wedding dresses, and she ended up falling in love with a rather modest (for her) dress that Papa ended up commissioning for her, with a few personalized touches.  But just to piss off Penny, she assigned the intervention on me alone.  Mom and Nona thought it was hilarious, so they never said anything.

Penny glowered further.  “You know, I didn’t need any help picking out my wedding dress,” she said, straightening as much as she could.  “I knew what my vision was, and I stuck to it.”

“Penny,” Phoebe said dryly, making a point to use her hated nickname.  “Your dress put strippers to shame, and you only had about forty-eight hours to find it.  Didn’t you have to get yours off the rack?”

The rest of her posse gasped and twittered amongst themselves while Penny slowly turned red.  Phoebe was slowly making this wedding out to be in revenge, and had made a point to ask Papa to commission some famous designer for her dress once she made the decision.  Papa was happy to do it, of course, even if he didn’t pick up on the animosity between his two oldest daughters.

“No,” Penny said hotly.  “I had mine designed years before my wedding to prevent just that.  And I didn’t even need to get it fitted!  Unlike you, who probably went up two dress sizes in the last three years.”

“Are you seriously going to turn this into a pissing contest?” I asked annoyed.  “Because you know, I have better things to do than hear you guys rag on each other.”

She turned her gaze on me delighted.  “Oh yes, go run away, Psy.  Then I can’t remind you of what a cow you turned out to be.”

“Girls,” Mom said tiredly, like she didn’t really want to break up the conversation, but felt obligated to say something.

I stood.  “I’ll have you know that I am not one to judge a person based on their appearance,” I shot at her.  “To be, you’re butt ugly, despite being the thinnest in the family before you managed to get that demon in your belly.  Who the hell cares if you’re not a stick?  Size doesn’t account for who you are.”

Penny stood as well, although with some difficulty.  “Spoken by a true cow,” she hissed at me.

I sighed.  “Speak for yourself, Penny,” I said in the same tone Mom used.  “Gee, look how fat you’ve gotten.”

“I’m pregnant, dipshit.”

“You’re still fat,” I pointed out before turning on my heel and exiting the room before she could make another comment.

To be honest, I actually didn’t like being alone nowadays.  I was terrified to be, actually, especially since it had been three months since I released Psyche, and nothing had happened.  In fact, my life had been extremely calm these months.  Sure, I had Eros acting like he wasn’t interested in me anymore, but I didn’t have Aphrodite breathing down my back, or Psyche trying to take over my life.  And that had be very worried.

Every time I’d find myself getting a little complacent, I’d start to worry about.  Because I knew what would happen if I let my guard down.  I didn’t want to have to go through this my entire life, so I sincerity hoped that something was going to happen soon.  Or else I might just snap.

But I didn’t have any choice in the matter right now.  I trudged back up to my room – Papa had a series of meetings he had to attend, so he went into the office rather than have any of his clients witness the insanity at his house at the moment – and prayed for the best.  Weekends were the worst at the moment; at least one weekdays, I had class to keep me surrounded by people. 

Luckily for me, despite his distance, Eros did seem to pick up on the fact that I wasn’t comfortable being alone at the moment.  He hadn’t been there when Nona had come in to inquire about me, which was a common enough occurrence.  He’d disappear for a while without warning, and an explanation when he got back.  But he would come back, and I was relived.  He was never really ever gone that long, anyway.

Before we found out about Psyche, I’d typically find him chilling on my bed, making himself completely available in case I wanted to make out with him.  However, after we found out about Psyche – which sadly consisted of most of our relationship – he was as I found him today; sitting in one of my armchairs, staring out the window, barely even noticing I walked into the room.  Sometimes I would try to walk about seductively to try to catch his attention, but considering I had no clue what the hell I was doing, I think it was a little lost on him.  Once or twice, he actually laughed at me, but I didn’t care, since it did sort of work.

But that was in that first month, and I’ve since given up trying.  Instead, I had just curled into my second armchair, and watched him until he realized that I was actually there.

Actually, it didn’t take him too long.  It was only about a minute before he turned to my doe eyes in surprise.  ‘I thought you were going to be trapped down there for a while,” he mentioned.  “Your grandmother typically doesn’t let you come up here, I noticed.”

I shrugged.  “I sort of had a final say in an argument, and the only thing I could do was walk away.  So I came up here.  What are you thinking about?”

He shrugged as well.  “Nothing much,” he admitted, but that was his usual response.  I figured he didn’t want to talk about it, but I kept asking anyway in case he did.  “Waiting for you, mostly.”

“What were you doing when I got up?” I asked innocently.  “I was surprised you were gone.”

He glanced down at me again.  “Work,” he said.  “There was something I needed to take care of, sadly, I figured you’d understand.”

“I thought the world went on with you gods no longer in control.”

“For the most part, it has,” he reminded me, “but sometimes nature needs a little help.  We do still have our uses, even if you mortals don’t know about it.”

Eros still refused to admit that my soul was the immortal one, still referring to me as a mortal.  But I think that wasn’t denial; he just knew I wasn’t ready to accept the fact that I might have the immortal soul just yet.

“Ah, okay.  So, you got the job done?”

He materialized an arrow and twirled it absentmindedly in his fingers.  “I’m an excellent shot, Psyche.  I’ve never missed my target.”

“You just sat on your own arrow rather than shoot Psyche, is that it?”

“I didn’t sit on it; I fumbled it and managed to stab myself,” he said defensively.  “That was the only time I ‘missed’ a mark, and I don’t count that, because it was stupid to begin with.”

“And you fell for her when you saw her.”

“Shut up,” he muttered half-heartedly.  “The point is, I made two people fall in love with each other who are supposed to be together, as is what I’m supposed to do.  So I got the job done.”

“Okay,” I said, resting my head against the armrest.  “You weren’t off secretly meeting some other girl, were you?”

He winced, which surprised me, and I rolled my eyes.  “Hedone’s been bugging me to see her,” he admitted.  “I stopped by for a quick visit.”

I grabbed a pillow that I was thrown on the floor and hit him with it.  “You can see your daughter, moron; that’s not cheating,” I told him.  “How’s she taking it?”

He shrugged.  “I think she’s a little confused.  She was lead to believe, like me, that her mother’s soul was completely intact when she was reincarnated, so to learn there’s two of you is a little jarring.  She’s still trying to figure it out.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for, Psyche?  You had no control in the matter.  You’re just a victim here.  It’ll be okay; I promise.  You’ll see.”

I wanted to believe him, I did, but it was just that after three months of nothing, I was worried that something huge was out there waiting for me.

Chapter Fifteen

Cupid and Psyche Chapter One

Chapter Two