Out of Patience Aphrodite Read online

  Out of Patience Aphrodite

  The Goddess Chronicles

  S.E. Babin

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  Epilogue

  Hermes

  Abby & Hades

  1

  I was huge. Massive. I looked like a terrifying velociraptor who managed to accidentally swallow a small city. I waddled around moaning like King Kong and ate like I’d been on a two-year hunger strike. Except...I hadn’t. Baby Draco was burning through my reserves like an arson fire, so I compensated by eating everything in sight. At all times of the day.

  I was also annoying my friends. Very much. As in I could see the silvery rage in Clotho’s eyes every time I spoke, and I could see her lips move as she counted to ten. She was ready to murder me and scatter my limbs across the countryside. I couldn’t say I blamed her. In my defense, I wasn’t quite myself. I hadn’t been for the past 6 months. Olympus was in chaos, although Hera was working overtime to get it back to the glory days. My husband was gone. Actually, no. He wasn’t gone. He’d just forgotten me and our entire relationship and was currently playing kissy face to that monster, Persephone.

  Good times, am I right?

  I sighed and rubbed my hand over the small city currently resting on my bladder. Baby Draco kicked happily causing me to grunt and pee a little. I loved that baby, but I was tired of wondering if I was going to embarrass myself every time I went into public. Peeing a little every time he kicked was super uncool.

  “Goddess, you should try to sit up straight. Slumping is only making it harder on your bladder,” the angel next to me said in between bites of his rocky road ice cream.

  I slid a side-eyed glare over to Raphael. For some reason, he didn’t go back to Heaven with Gabriel and Uriel.

  Lucky, lucky me. Now, don’t get me wrong. He was super pretty to look at it and, for the most part, pretty quiet too. But he was a constant reminder of God, the deity who had taken everything away from me. If you couldn’t already tell, I wasn’t the biggest fan of God right now. In fact, if I got the chance, I hoped to choke him lifeless. As soon as humanly...or magically possible.

  Raphael had grown a little chattier as he spent more time here with us and was starting to make a whole lot more sense in the mundane world. Normally he just spouted prophecy.

  “Rafe,” I said and grinned as I watched him cringe. My nickname rubbed him the wrong way, but he tolerated it even when he could probably zap me into oblivion. Goes to show you how patient he was. To tell you the truth, I kind of liked the guy. When he wasn’t telling me what to do, that was.

  Plus I was slowly befriending him in order to try to wrest information out of him about his father. I suspected he already knew this and was merely tolerating my best efforts. I was about as subtle as Gene Simmons in full makeup, I knew.

  “You should know it isn’t wise to tell a pregnant woman what to do.”

  Raphael met my glare with a serene smile. “Merely a suggestion,” he said. “If you shift, you will move the baby from your bladder.”

  I shifted, only to find to my utter consternation that the angel was right. “Shut up,” I muttered.

  A small smile played around his mouth, but he said nothing further. He snapped the newspaper he was holding up to his face and proceeded to ignore me. I snorted in amusement. I didn’t want to talk to him anyway.

  Clotho came into the living room holding two steaming mugs.

  “May you be blessed with harems of well-oiled men and much fertility,” I said with fervor as she handed over one of those mugs. A manic smile stretched my face, and I realized maybe I didn’t need another cup of coffee.

  Clotho shook her head at me, but a small smile peeked out from the side of her mouth. “You’re welcome,” she said, sitting down next to me on the couch. I held my mug away from me so it wouldn’t slosh as she sat because I had enough trouble moving around these days that I couldn’t shift away from her.

  “You’re like a slug,” Clotho remarked. “Stuck there in slow motion.”

  I sipped my coffee and glared at her.

  She reached over and patted my knee. “How is it today?” she asked. She raised her mug at Rafe, who continued to ignore the both of us. I had no doubt he was listening to every word we said.

  Clotho asked me this every day. I usually lied to her every single day.

  She knew it. I knew it. But there was nothing to be done. If I let her into the depths of my despair, it would drag both of us down into the mire. Every single day I sat down and came up with another plan.

  Another plan that ultimately failed.

  I had not been able to get back into Heaven. Uriel and Gabriel had not responded to my pleas for help. Not that they would, considering who they worked for. But...they’d helped me last time, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask again.

  The man himself had also refused to answer my requests for parley. I guess God had what he wanted. Me pregnant with potentially the most powerful being in Creation and his son back. In some odd twist of Fate, Hades was back in the Underworld with Persephone, but he was also back in Heaven with dear old dad. How he’d done it, I had no idea. The Fates didn’t know either.

  All I knew was that right now, the man in the Underworld was not my husband. Not really. Even though it broke my heart any time his name was brought up or any news from Olympus about him reached us. My real husband was in Heaven, suffering under the wrath of his tyrant father.

  At least that’s what I told myself, because if Hades was really back in his own world with his own wife and the man in Heaven was merely a holograph or something, I think I’d just curl up and die. And I couldn’t do that. Not when I was only a few weeks away from giving birth.

  So every day I woke up, drank too much coffee, peed too much because of Draco, and silently plotted how to take over the world. Because I was pretty sure if I wanted to get my husband back, that was what I was going to have to do. It was Pinky and the Brain, minus the Brain. “What am I going to do today?” I whispered to myself, only to hear Clotho reply,

  “Take over the world.” She ruffled my hair. “Except first, you need breakfast and a shower. Not in that order. Shower first.” She pointed to me and then to upstairs.

  I glared at her again because that was all that I’d been good for lately. She shrugged and looked over at Rafe. “She needs a shower, right?”

  Rafe snapped the newspaper down, studied me, and nodded vigorously.

  “I hate you both,” I muttered, but I stood up anyway. They were right. I was pretty overcooked. I grunted with the effort and almost fell back down. With a burst of magic, Clotho steadied me.

  I put my hand on my lower back. “Six more weeks,” I murmured. “Six more weeks.”

  “Shower first. Worry about imminent birth later.” Clotho wiggled her fingers in a shooing motion.

  I only had six weeks to go before the baby was here. Six weeks to figure out how to get my husband back, how to take care of a baby, and how to destroy God and everything he ever loved.


  I stripped off my clothes, turned the knobs on the shower and waited for the water to heat up. This was my favorite and least favorite part of the day. Maybe I should say days considering my showering had gone on a downhill slide since Hades disappeared. But now, with the water cascading in a rush and only the noise of my thoughts, tears began to slide down my face. It was the only time I was alone which is why I didn’t like it. Other people in my house filled the silence and kept me somewhat sane. I undressed quickly and stepped under the hot spray of water.

  I tried not to notice the enormous swell of my belly because every time I looked at it, I knew I was under a ticking clock. This baby was coming whether I wanted it to or not. I tilted my head up, allowing the water to run down my face, hoping it would cleanse me of my grief. I had tried everything I knew, reached out to everyone I could and yet, my husband was still trapped. Had been trapped for months. I was running out of time and options.

  After standing under the spray for so long, I washed my hair with a honey scented shampoo and scrubbed down quickly. Stepping out, I wrapped a towel around me, scowled at my reflection in the mirror and opened the door to my bedroom.

  Artie sat on my bed reading. Her gaze flicked up to me and back down to the book. This was universal speak for hurry up and get dressed, we have shit to discuss. I sighed, not wanting to talk, but I dressed in an old pair of yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt that said, Walk Tall and Pretend you Know Things. It wasn’t up to typical Abby dress code, but it fit and that was really all I cared about right now.

  I laid down beside her on the bed. Artie shut the book and lifted her hand to stroke my hair.

  “We all hear you crying,” she said gently.

  I stiffened. I hadn’t known that. I thought I’d been quiet enough. “Sorry,” I murmured.

  “Don’t apologize. I just want you to know that we care. We want to help.”

  I rolled and put my face into the pillow. “There’s nothing you can do,” I mumbled through the cotton.

  “There’s always a way.”

  I snorted and turned my face to her, studying the once vivid violet eyes that had dimmed as mortality began to rage through her veins. She was close to being fully mortal now. I could see it in her eyes, the color of her hair and the downturn of her mouth. There was still a thread of magic attached to her that I could sense, but it was nowhere strong as it used to be. It would only be a matter of time. Months, maybe even weeks until Artie was forced to remain on Earth permanently. “You’re such an optimist.”

  Artie shrugged one thin shoulder. “There is a solution to every problem. Always. Whether the solution is ideal or not is another thing. I can’t continue to placate you, Abby. You have very little time before you are forced to refocus your thoughts from Hades to the baby. You won’t have a choice.”

  I stared at her. “What are you trying to say?”

  “I’m saying maybe there’s a time to give up. A time to know you’ve been beaten.”

  I sat up abruptly, pushing damp strands of hair out of my face. “You? Of all people, you’re the one to come to me with this?” I felt like my heart was ripping in two.

  “I’m the most obvious choice. I’ve been beaten.” She gestured to herself and picked up a hank of normal brown hair. “Look at me. Everything I once was is slowly being leached out of me. If anyone knows what it feels like to be beaten, it’s me.”

  Tears filled my eyes. “I’m not giving up on him.”

  She sighed. “And what will you do when the baby comes? Will you continue to pursue this madness?”

  I blinked and swallowed hard. “If saving my husband is madness, then I will gladly be committed to the asylum. He is everything,” I hissed. “I will not forsake him because it’s difficult.”

  She pinched the space between her brow. “This is not difficult,” she said sadly. “This is world-ending. World-breaking. The results of this battle could tear our worlds apart. It is no longer you saving your husband, Abby. If you take God on, there’s the very real possibility this will destroy both Olympus and the Heavens.”

  Silence fell and I stared at my best friend in the world. Someone who stood beside me for everything, but who now appeared to be abandoning me at my greatest time of need. And the saddest thing about it was that I understood. I knew what she was doing and I couldn’t say if I was in her position that I wouldn’t have done the exact same thing.

  “You’re leaving, aren’t you?” I whispered.

  She nodded. “I am. But I want to know you are safe. I will be back after the baby is born provided you are still on Earth. Right now I’m not sure how much time I have left. The Fates have urged me not to use travel magic any longer. They aren’t sure if the magic will fail and trap me wherever I go.”

  My throat tightened. “Okay,” was all I could say. I reached over and grabbed her hand, interlacing our fingers. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

  She squeezed my fingers and pulled away. “Please walk away from this. If something happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to bear it.”

  “The prophecy hasn’t been fulfilled.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Stuff that stupid prophecy. It’s been nothing but madness since it was brought up. And how do we even know it’s true?”

  I knew it was true because I felt it in my bones. I said nothing as she slid off the bed. As she reached out for the door I whispered, “I don’t want this to be the end.”

  She stilled. “Everything has to end. This isn’t the end of us, but it’s the end of this story. I have no choice. I must be Earthbound. It’s the only way to survive.”

  She stepped out, leaving me lying on the bed drowning in my grief.

  2

  I was finally able to drag myself out of the bed and do something with the rat’s nest of my hair. I didn’t have the energy to do my makeup or make any extra effort. This was really the story of my life now. Just as I was about to step out of my bedroom, the doorbell rang.

  I rushed down the stairs and felt a smile pull at the sides of my mouth as I saw Hermes standing there. But the smile abruptly dropped off as I noticed the look on his face and how stricken Clotho appeared. She clutched repeatedly at the necklace she always wore and tears filled her eyes. I stroked my stomach, apprehension building in my veins as I stopped at the bottom. Both of their gazes found me.

  “What is it?” I whispered.

  Clotho’s hand reached out and touched my arm. It’s bad. I know it’s bad and yet, could there be anything worse than what’s already happened?

  Clotho opened her mouth and shut it. Her gaze met Hermes’. She shook her head once, her fingers slipping from my arm. Hermes shut the front door behind him. “Would you like to sit down, Abby?”

  I shook my head. “No. Just say whatever it is.”

  He swallowed hard. “Persephone is pregnant.”

  “Oh,” I whispered. “Okay.” I shouldn’t feel anything at all. Nothing. The Hades in the Underworld isn’t my Hades at all. So why did it feel like my heart was being ripped out and stomped on? “Oh,” I whispered again. “Okay. Well, that’s nice.”

  I gave Hermes a wobbly smile which abruptly turned into an ear splitting wail. I fell to my knees, clutched my stomach, and sobbed wildly. He loved her. Oh Gods, he loved her, and I was here all alone about to bear a child he didn’t even remember. And even if he wasn’t the Hades I remember, he’s still Hades, and he was mine. Was mine.

  Hades was mine.

  But he wasn’t any longer.

  I vaguely remembered Hermes’ strong arms circling around me, and I vaguely registered the pain ripping through my abdomen because the pain in my heart was so much more to bear. In those moments on my knees on the floor, my world imploded at first inside of me, then burst into glass shards, impaling all of my friends with my earth shattering grief.

  A new ruler was scheduled to come into the world. And it wasn’t our baby.

  It was Persephone’s.

  “Her water is broken,” I heard Herm
es whisper urgently. “She’s in labor.”

  Clotho muttered a string of curse words and all I could do was hysterically giggle before everything went black.

  I woke up in a haze of excruciating pain and frantic whispers.

  “Asclepius isn’t answering.”

  “Well try him again!”

  “He hates us. There’s no way he’s coming to assist.”

  “Make him!”

  “Olympus has no ruler right now.”

  “Abby is the ruler of Olympus!”

  “It’s not that simple. She abandoned the palace.”

  “Her husband was stolen from her right under her nose. Of course she abandoned the palace.”

  “Her sovereignty is no longer acknowledged.”

  An agonizing scream burst from me. My baby was coming. Right now. And I had the three stooges assisting in the birth.

  “Stop arguing,” I hissed, “and get me HELP!”

  I blinked rapidly and stared at Clotho, Hermes, and Rafe.

  “We haven’t had to birth a baby in millenia!” Clotho shouted.

  “You’re a Fate for crying out loud,” I screeched. “Don’t you have an emergency plan for everything?”

  She glared at me. “Not for babies.”

  I was panting, doing my best to breathe through the pain. “Then I suggest you find one,”I bit out.

  Rafe’s mouth dropped open.

  “Haven’t you ever seen a woman in labor before?” I snapped at him.

  He slowly shook his head and even with the pain, I snort laughed. Of course he hadn’t. God made everything look like roses up there and angels couldn’t have babies. He was the only one who could make them.