We find Dionysus in his French villa, sipping rosé.
Mac actually knows the satyr who guards at the gate. He makes up a story about us being the entertainment and they wave us through.
“Good luck,” one of them calls after us. “He’s been in a mood.”
We pull up the driveway and pile out of the van. I pat Dodi’s hood and say thank you.
Dionysus’ villa is a sprawling vineyard with a mansion that looks more like a palace at its core.
“Is it like, really quiet?” Shauna asks. She turns into a pixie and goes to stand on Tina’s shoulder.
“I thought there would be an orgy,” Tamika says, distractedly studying her nails. “Mac, you made it sound like this would be the absolute definition of excess.”
Mac looks confused. “I don’t understand. Dionysus is famous for his non-stop parties.”
“Should I go check it out?” Trevor asks.
I nod and check on Cassie. She’s still asleep, but she’s breathing and she’s no longer paper white. Her eyes flutter open when my palm briefly rests against her forehead.
“Mavis,” she says softly. She struggles to sit up, but I push her back down.
“Cassie, you need to stay here and rest.”
She frowns. “Where are we?”
I consider lying, but if something happens to the rest of us and she needs to get to safety, it will help if she has some idea of where she is. “France,” I say. “Dionysus’ vineyard in France.”
“A party?” she asks, her eyes lighting up.
“A fight probably,” I correct her. “We’re still looking for Val and Edie.”
All the color drains out of her. “Edie,” she says softly. “She’s gone.”
I don’t like hearing that word out of Cassie’s mouth. “Edie isn’t gone. Just missing.” And then I can’t help myself. “Right, Cassie? I mean, have you seen something? Is there anything the rest of us should know?”
Cassie frowns and then her eyes roll up into her head. “The ones we love will return, though altered in spirit. Beware, for they bring death.”
Cassie blinks and her pupils return to their correct place. The two of us stare at each other in horror for several long moments.
Finally, I say, “They’ll be back. That’s the important thing. Sure, they’ll be messed up after an extended stay in Tartarus. But we’ll fix them up and…” I have no solution for the ‘they bring death’ part of the prophecy.
“Tartarus?” Cassie asks in a small, defeated voice. “Boy, am I tired.”
“I’ll explain it all when you’ve rested. Get some sleep.” Stepping back, I close the door.
“Dodi? Can you keep her safe?” I ask. Dodi immediately shuts her door and flashes her lights twice. She even puts on the air conditioning. I pat her hood. “If anything happens, drive her far away from here, okay?” She gives a soft beep of confirmation.
Trevor appears back in front of me. He looks confused.
“Well?” I ask.
“He’s in there.”
“How many guards?” Tina asks. “Who else is there?”
“None and no one,” Trevor tells us.
“I don’t understand…” I say.
“That bloke is seriously sitting in his big arse house by himself.”
“Just sitting where?” Tamika asks.
“The wine cellar.”
“Well, that at least makes sense,” Mac says.
“Should we go in?” Tina asks and I realize that everyone is staring at me.
“Yes, go,” I order and we all make for the front door. Trevor leads us inside and down a flight of stairs.
To call it a wine cellar doesn’t do it justice. The walls are lined with bottle upon bottle of wine, the full length of the basement of the mansion. In the center is a sitting area, brown leather couches and a humidor. A man sits on one of the chairs, smoking a cigar and sipping wine.
No, not a man. A god.
I step forward. “Dionysus, sir…”
Shauna snickers and from Tina’s shoulder I hear her mutter, “She did not just call him sir.”
I clear my throat. “Dionysus. I am the daughter of...Hermes,” I spit out the words. “You were with him last week when he opened a portal to Tartarus.”
He finally looks up at me. Like all the gods, he’s achingly attractive. He’s really rocking the hipster vibe, long hair pulled back into a ponytail, just enough facial hair to give him a roguish look.
“Have you come to finish the job?” he asks.
“No, we…” I look at Tina who motions with her eyes that I should keep going. Before I can, Mac cuts in.
“Dionysus, I don’t know if you remember me. I was there that night. I didn’t know who you were then, but I’m a huge fan of yours.”
Dionysus perks up at that. Just like a god. They love to be worshipped. “Where are my manners?” he asks. “Sit. Drink. For tomorrow we may die.” Glasses appear on the coffee table; each fills with liquid before our eyes.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Shauna says, flitting off Tina’s shoulder and landing on the table by a glass.
Dionysus’ lips twist into an almost smile. “Here, little pixie, this is the finest dessert wine ever bottled.” A smaller glass appears before Shauna and she takes a gulp.
“This is…” She grins. “Maybe the best thing I have ever had in my mouth.” She glances at Tina. “Second best thing.”
Dionysus focuses on me. “I think for you, a deep pinot noir. Something with a lot of complexity.”
“Thanks, but we really just want to talk,” I tell him.
“If you are in my house, you will drink,” he tells us, no room in his voice for argument.
Soon we each have a glass in our hands. I really don’t want to drink mine. I need my head straight, but Dionysus’ eyes are on me so I take a sip. It’s the most delicious wine I’ve ever drank. I never understood when people would say a vintage has notes of grass or honey or cherries, but I can taste every flavor and can’t help but take one sip after another.
Trevor appears before me. “Mavis, you are all getting drunk.”
I pause and realize that as much as I drink, my glass never empties. I blink hard. Gods are just the worst. I look around. Tamika is sipping on a dark red, while Mac has some kind of sparkling wine. Griff is actually drinking out of a tankard. Knowing him, it’s probably honey mead, the bear shifter drink of choice.
I slam my glass down on the table. “We know you have Pandora’s Box,” I tell him. “We need it back.”
He laughs. “Why would I have it?”
“Hermes told us—”
“Hermes!” He laughs. “Why did I let him talk me into helping him reopen the portal to that awful place?”
“It wasn’t your idea?” Tina asks, eyeing me.
Dionysus shakes his head. He raises his voice into a falsetto. “Oh, come to Florida. Help me check on Tartarus, what could go wrong?”
I look around. Everyone is still glugging down wine like there is no tomorrow. “Guys, I think we’ve drunk enough to be polite. You can stop now.”
“No!” Shauna says, then in her tiny pixie form actually gets inside the glass. She treads through the wine while drinking.
I look at Tina but she just shrugs and mutters, “She’s a free soul. What can a girl do?”
Mac and Tamika still sip their drinks, either to piss me off, or they just don’t care. Blessedly, Griff has put down his tankard.
“It was Hermes’ idea to open the portal?” I ask. Of course it was, the lying bastard.
Dionysus nods. “He wanted to check things out, see what was happening. We hadn’t checked in on that world in eons. That’s why he wanted the seer. With her ESP she could communicate with…” He pauses. “Well, that idea went to shit real fast.”
“It doesn’t matter. How can we open the portal back up?” I ask desperately.
“Doesn’t matter?” he asks. “We poked the bear.”
Griff lets out a low menacing growl.
“And you know what happened? Pan died. A god.” Dionysus chugs from his never-ending glass of wine. “We have been safe here for thousands of years. We’re immortal. Even killing Zeus took a nearly impossible series of events. But Pan was dispatched as easily as crushing an insect.”
A shiver goes down my spine at that. I’d sorta been burying the information about a god dying, telling myself it didn’t matter and if it truly had happened—good riddance. It does matter, though. Something that can kill a god as easily as crushing an insect would destroy the rest of us without even trying.
“Who has the portal now?” I ask, desperately. One wild goose chase after another.
There’s a sudden voice that fills the room and I realize it’s coming from the intercom on the wall.
“Boss, we have a problem up here—” It’s the satyr who was at the gate when we came in, I realize. Before he can say more, there’s a horrific choking noise and the line goes dead.
Dionysus stands, glass in hand. “If you will excuse me. It’s time for me to face my demons.”
He stares past us at the cellar door.
“What’s happening?” Mac asks.
“I don’t know, but let’s be ready to fight.”
Tina moves to my right and Griff to my left. Shauna does drunken loop de loops in front of us. Out of the corner of my eye I see Mac reach out and grab Tamika’s hand. She doesn’t stab him for his effort, but instead holds it back.
“Where’s Trevor?” I ask just as he bursts through the closed door, his ghost form moving easily through the solid wooden object.
“Guys, we’re in deep shit—”
The door explodes into a thousand shards raining splinters down on us.