"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 god-awful 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."