Pandora's Mistake (Fate of Eros #0) (The Fate of Eros Series) (6 page)

The jar was gone. Someone had stolen it! It wasn't in her usual hiding spot, so she had searched every inch of the cave.

She had been given that jar the moment she first opened her eyes, as a present celebrating her birth. It was the one piece of Mount Olympus that she had taken with her and losing it felt like losing an arm.

She had been so careful, how could this be happening to her?

Did Epimetheus find it? Was he angry...or worse, was he going to open it? What would happen if he did?

Pandora woke, grasping her pounding heart with her right hand.

She blinked as her mind adjusted to her surroundings.
It had only been a dream. Everything was okay.

But she didn't feel certain of that. She wished Epimetheus would allow her to light a torch in order to check. Darkness frightened her because someone could be standing a foot in front of her and she'd never know. She'd have to rely on her sense of touch. She waited and listened to the sound of Epimetheus snoring before searching. She wanted to make sure her hysterics hadn't woken him. Once her ears were greeted by the noise of his deep breathing, she clawed through the furs beneath her.

She couldn't disappoint Zeus. She thought about Prometheus, chained to that mountain, screaming in pain. She swallowed roughly. That's what happened when Zeus got angry.

She sighed in relief when her fingers touched the jar. She hugged it tightly to her chest and the smell of the clay reassured her. A jolt ran down her body. It was the same electrical sensation she experienced while taking a bath the other day. It startled her.

She shivered as the sensation of Prometheus' lips pressing against hers greeted her. The jar had disappeared from her arms and been replaced by him. She didn't even bother to question how he had escaped the mountain or found her inside the cave. She closed her eyes and could smell the sweat and ashes surrounding him. She opened them and saw Prometheus sitting in front of her. He was free from his chains and the raven was nowhere in sight, but they were both on top of the mountain. She giggled as her heart pounded.

"Pandora." Prometheus whispered her name, but it wasn't his voice saying it: the melodious voices from inside the jar spoke. Of course, she had touched the jar, and last time that happened, it had spoken to her. This was a hallucination.

Prometheus stroked her hair. She froze. "Leave me alone."

Prometheus kissed her again. She wanted to pull away, but the desire to be with him was too intense. She moaned as their lips touched. Their tongues soon entwined with each other. For the first time, she felt his strong arms wrap around her body. Her lower belly pooled with lust.

She shoved him away. "Go away!"

The evil spirits inside the jar were even worse than she originally thought. They could read her mind and tempt her with what she desired most.

"I know how to help you," fake Prometheus whispered, pulling her close and kissing her forehead.

"I will not discuss this with you." Pandora shoved him away again, her voice firm. "I'm not even supposed to be with you. I'm Epimetheus' wife and therefore I must not kiss anyone else, but him. I shouldn't even imagine kissing you."

"I can change all of that." Fake Prometheus stroked her hair. "I can give you everything your heart desires if you'll agree to help me."

"Never!" Pandora shouted, hoping that she wouldn't wake Epimetheus. Was she shouting in real life or just in her hallucination?

"Zeus lied to you," fake Prometheus told her. "If you open the jar, your life will change for the better."

"Stop it!" She became so desperate to make the hallucination go away that she closed her eyes and clawed at her skin. "I'd rather kill myself than do as you say."

The melodious voice chuckled in her ear. It turned dark and vicious. "We can do this the easy way, where you get what you want once you free me or I can force you to open the jar against your will and face every terror inside it."

Pandora screamed as a shudder passed through her body. She couldn't control one of her arms. It was reaching for the jar that had now replaced Prometheus again and grasping the lid. Hundreds of beetles crawled out from inside it and over her body. Their tiny legs tickled her skin. She was turning the lid.

She clawed at her shoulder harder with her other hand, ripping into her skin as violently as she could. She had to regain control of herself. She closed her eyes in order to concentrate.

It took her a moment to realize that Epimetheus was shouting at her and telling her to shut-up. She opened her eyes and was greeted by pitch blackness. The hallucination was gone and the jar wasn't in her arms anymore, even though she couldn't remember putting it away. She reached under her furs and felt the smooth clay resting under there.

She touched her side and arms. Maybe the whole thing was a dream, but she could feel the wetness of her blood from where she scratched herself.

She laid down, her eyes wide. She was desperate for a fire-desperate enough that she might even risk lighting one and getting beaten by Epimetheus.

"I can help you rescue him." A tiny voice whispered in her ear as she settled herself down over where the jar was buried underneath all the furs.

She flinched and hummed to herself, blocking out all other noise, even Epimetheus' snoring. After a short while, she drifted back to sleep. Her dreams were filled with nightmares, but the jar didn't speak to her again.

Prometheus woke in the middle of the day. His abdomen was already spasming from the raven pecking his side. His forehead was covered in sweat.

Before his eyes had adjusted to the light, he felt someone pressing a spoon to his mouth. The liquid that ran down his throat wasn't water-it tasted meaty. Someone had boiled lamb and was feeding him the broth. It sent delicious warmth through his chest and into his belly.

With all his suffering, he never noticed his empty stomach, but he knew he was hungry. It felt good to eat. He hoped he didn't vomit later. His eyes adjusted and he saw a pot with pieces of lamb inside boiling nearby. There was a fire underneath it.

Because of the leaves still on the branches, he knew whoever was cooking had cut down the branches hastily. It must have been from a tree already on fire. He supposed that was a loophole that would allow humans to have fire without hurting him.

He locked gazes with Pandora. An excited shiver ran through him. He shouldn't have been surprised to see her, but he figured that she was the type of woman who would run home and tell Epimetheus about the kiss they shared. Epimetheus would not only beat Prometheus when he found out, but he'd probably ban Pandora from ever seeing him again.

He looked down at her arms and sucked in his breath. Scratches decorated her skin like a wild animal had ripped into her. He longed to run his fingers down her wounds and kiss them gently, but the chains didn't allow him to move his hands. She caught him staring and crossed her arms to cover it up.

"Did Epimetheus do this to you?" Prometheus asked.

Pandora swallowed and looked away. "No."

"You don't have to lie to me," Prometheus said. "He's my brother. I know how he is."

Pandora met his eyes. "I'm not saying he's never hit me. This time was just…
different.
"

"Did you tell him about our kiss?" Prometheus nervously sucked in his breath.

"No," she whispered.

"Don't ever tell him. He'll be angry if he finds out."
I don't want you to get hurt.
He left the words unsaid.

"I know." Pandora clenched her fists. "He killed a man yesterday."

"For doing what?" Prometheus growled, angry that his brother was killing humans even though they had no way to procreate. He had made his brother promise to protect them when he was first locked up.

"For touching my chest," Pandora whispered.

As much as Prometheus wanted to stay angry with Epimetheus, he felt himself wishing that man was alive again instead...so Prometheus himself could kill him for touching Pandora.

Prometheus narrowed his eyes. "You know, it's strange the way you have gotten yourself stuck between Epimetheus and myself. We are both possessive of those we care about and you're taking advantage of it."

"What do you mean?" Pandora asked.

"Don't play coy with me." He stared in fascination as she dipped the spoon in the broth again, but this time, she fed herself. Her full lips devoured the spoon in a way that made him hard, even with all the pain he felt. The quick peek of pink tongue as she licked the broth from her mouth made him want to grab her and kiss her.

"Everything you do," he continued. "From the way you eat to the way you move is dripping with seduction. Zeus knew neither my brother nor I could resist a beautiful human."

Pandora blushed and stroked her hair with her free hand. "You think I'm desirable?"

Prometheus narrowed his eyes. "I think you're dangerous. You were probably in on Zeus' plan all along."

Pandora rolled her eyes and picked up the spoon to feed him more broth. "Just drink your broth and stop making things up."

Prometheus swallowed a gulp in an exaggerated manner. "The only reason I trust you to feed me is because I can't be poisoned; I'll regenerate."

Pandora clenched her teeth. "Everyone isn't after you! Sure your punishment was harsh, but what else was Zeus supposed to do when you stole from him? Couldn't you have tried to talk to him instead? Maybe he treated you this way because you were being unreasonable."

Prometheus glared at her. "Why do you defend a man who hates your kind so much? Zeus wanted to destroy the human race, but I assisted him during the war of the Titans and he agreed to let you live, but he made you weaker..."

Memories slammed through Prometheus' mind as he told her the story.

*** *** ***

Prometheus stared unhappily at the clay he was shaping in his hand. No gold flecks shined at him. Instead, it was filled with silver. The color glowed lifelessly like the moon. He wanted the rich, golden sparkle of the sun, but Zeus thought it was too much. Humans shouldn't be as pretty as gods. It was bad enough that they sparkled at all. They should know their place, beneath the Olympians.

The Fates had predicted Zeus overthrowing Cronus and that was a big part of the reason he succeeded. Prometheus knew that frightened Zeus. He didn't want humans to be able to tell the future like the Fates could. They'd be able to foresee the destruction of the gods and possibly even cause it, so Prometheus had taken that away from them as well.

Humans worried about what lay in their future. Before, they were able to see the consequences of their actions, but now they were frightened by the unknown. It was a giant blank slate of possibilities in their heads.

He had already seen men ganging up on one another to beat each other into bloody masses. They did it for a leg of lamb because no one was certain that there would be food for them tomorrow. They fought for everything that was available today. They felt no security for tomorrow. Prometheus knew he'd have to do something drastic to fix it.

Two hands covered his eyes. Everything went black as he felt a pair of breasts press against his back.

"Guess who?" three husky female voices whispered in his ear. Her breath was warm.

He pulled the feminine hands off and turned to face Hecate. He gazed into her eyes and saw love. She was holding a torch. In this form, her body looked athletic and slender. Her eyes glowed with life and stamina. She could go all night and that might be just what he needed. He grabbed her by the hair and crushed her lips against his. Their lips caressed each other as Prometheus moaned with desire.

The dogs that had been following Hecate and hiding in the shadows growled at the two of them. Hecate snapped her fingers, which they knew was the signal for them to be quiet.

Soon, Hecate and Prometheus were gasping for breath. Their passion made their hearts pound as if they were running a race.

Hecate pulled away. Her hair was messy and her lips were swollen. Prometheus devoured her with his eyes. He liked looking at the aftermath of his lust.

"Wait," Hecate giggled. "I haven't told you the good news."

Prometheus wrapped his arms around her waist. He didn't want to talk. He wanted to play. He pressed his erection against her and waggled his eyebrows.

She pushed him by the chest. "Hold on! You can at least wait to listen to what I have to say."

He pulled her closer and kissed up her neck. "No, I can't."

Hecate chuckled, allowing him to pleasure her for a moment before putting some distance between them. She paced in front of him.

"When we first betrayed Cronus, I felt horrible about it." She swallowed roughly. "To see his belly ripped open so violently, by his son of all people! The look on his face was unlike any I've ever seen. He trusted us and we snuck Zeus inside his palace anyway.

"Worse are his screams in Tartarus. He curses us daily for what we've done. He's become an animal; I don't even recognize him anymore. He tears at gods and humans alike with the claws that are his nails, trying to devour them. He sees the face of his children in all of them!

"But while I was thinking of helping him escape, I was talking to Hades. Hades said I was the perfect goddess to guard the Underworld. When I shapeshift, I can make eyes appear in the back of my head if I want to. I'm strong and I'm loyal; he could tell I was thinking of helping Cronus escape. But he wants me on his side instead. The Olympians believe in me, which is more than I can say for Cronus. They think I am powerful enough to make sure no one goes in or out of the Underworld without Hades' permission. Cronus never trusted me with anything."

Prometheus shrugged, wishing they weren't talking about this. "Cronus wasn't so bad. You've just forgotten how much freedom he gave us. Zeus locked him in Tartarus and it has driven him insane, but that's not his fault."

Hecate's eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead. "Are you kidding me? He was eating his children!"

The spirit dogs burst into feverish barking in response to her passion.