"Don't mention it." Lara felt a twinge of guilt. Was she saving herself at this girl's expense? No, she had to save herself in order to save the rest of them.
She opened the pantry and studied the boxes, cans, and bottles. She spotted a bottle of maple syrup from Vermont. It looked like it had been bottled locally. Maybe they were in Vermont. "Where does this food come from?"
The cook shrugged as she scraped a heap of scrambled eggs onto a platter. "It arrives every week. The gods have provided a way for it to come from the mortal plane."
"Right." Lara needed to be on hand when the supplies arrived. If she could get a message to the delivery man, then she might be able to save all them.
She set the bottle of maple syrup on the counter. "Who wants pancakes?"
"I do, I do!" Kristy and Vanessa waved their hands.
Another maiden rushed through the kitchen door with a tray of eggs, bacon, and toast. "Oh my gods." She set the tray down and pressed a shaking hand to her chest. "I think it's happened."
"What?" Vanessa asked.
The maiden motioned to the tray of food. "I was taking Calliope her breakfast in the temple, and her room was empty. She wasn't there."
Kristy, Vanessa, and the cook all gasped.
"Are you sure?" Kristy whispered. "She wasn't with one of the gods?"
"No." The maiden shook her head. "I asked the guards, and they said she ascended last night."
There was another gasp.
Lara walked toward the maiden. "What do you mean by 'ascended'?"
The maiden's eyes filled with tears. "She ascended to a higher plane. Calliope has become a goddess."
"May tine gods be praised," Kristy whispered.
"Really," Vanessa added. "That is so cool. I hope I can be a goddess someday."
Lara shuddered as a chill skittered down her spine. She recalled how weak Brittney Beckford had looked the night before. She covered her mouth as bile rose in her throat. She had an awful feeling that Brittney Beckford was dead.
Chapter Twenty-three
When the guards arrived for breakfast, the cook informed them that Lara had volunteered to work in the kitchen. The tall guard with the squeaky sandal appeared to be in charge. He carried a clipboard with him and gave out assignments. He told Lara that she would be on guard, duty that afternoon from one to four. After that, she could return to the kitchen to help prepare supper.
"Yes, master." Lara set a plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon in front of him and noticed the puncture wounds on his neck.
As she served the other guards, she noted more wounds. Apparently, Athena didn't like to limit herself to a single Chosen One. She preferred the five-man buffet.
Lara stayed in the kitchen to help prepare and serve lunch, then shortly before one in the afternoon, she accompanied one of the maidens to the temple to do guard duty. It was the maiden who had stayed up late the night before, crying.
As they crossed the compound, Lara surveyed the surroundings, now more visible in daylight. There was the temple, the villa-style dormitory, and the kitchen, all enclosed by a stone wall. A thick forest loomed on the other side of the stone wall.
"What a pretty forest," Lara said. "Maybe I'll take a walk there later."
The maiden halted with a gasp. "You can't leave the Elysian Fields! It is forbidden."
Somehow that wasn't too surprising. "There might be some berries I could pick to make us all a nice cobbler."
The maiden shook her head. "You can't go into the forest. Apollo says there are ferocious beasts there with great gnashing teeth!"
Lara stifled a snort. She was a lot more worried about Apollo's gnashing teeth.
The maiden shuddered. "Apollo says that if one of those beasts captures you, it will drag you to Hades."
"Well, we wouldn't want that to happen." Lara sighed. These girls were so brainwashed, they couldn't even detect sarcasm. She followed the maiden into the temple.
The maiden led Lara around the thrones to a hallway in the back. There were three doors on each side of the hallway. Two doors were painted red. Rooms for the Chosen Ones, the maiden explained.
Lara noticed one of the male guards standing in front of a purple door. That had to be Athena's room. Kristy and Vanessa were sitting on red cushions in front of a golden door. They stood when Lara and the maiden approached.
"I hope you left us some lunch," Vanessa said. "We're starving." She and Kristy headed off to the kitchen.
Lara sat beside the other maiden. She pushed her cushion against the wall so she could lean back and stretch her legs in front. Her new position earned her a frown from the other maiden.
She tried not to think about Apollo's dead carcass on the other side of the door. At least they were safe from him during the day.
Where was Jack? In his death-sleep at the townhouse on the Upper East Side? She recalled how he'd told LaToya there were usually dead bodies in the basement, and she'd thought he was kidding. That rascal. He was so different from the vampires here.
Athena and Apollo considered humans nothing more than walking meals, foolish and easily controlled. Jack had always treated her with respect and kindness. He truly cared about her feelings and her safety. Had he spent the night desperately searching for her?
She thought back to how he'd been with Mario and Gianetta in Venice. They were mortals, but he considered them family. He'd showed respect and affection for Father Giuseppe. And he'd tried so hard to please her that night with the ice cream, the gondola ride, and the serenade.
He was such a good man. And she missed him so. He could make her laugh. He could make her hot. He made her feel beautiful and smart and cherished. He was the perfect man, except for the little Undead problem.
Was it crazy to fall in love with a vampire? Or was it even crazier to refuse him because he was a vampire? It wasn't Jack's fault that he'd been transformed. He had been attacked. Hadn't he suffered enough? It would be too cruel to reject him and make him suffer more.
Apollo rejected girls simply based on their hair color. But wouldn't the real God judge people according to their hearts find not their looks? Would Love reject anyone for being different?
A sensation of peace settled on Lara like a warm blanket. She knew what she had to do. She couldn't reject Jack. She couldn't bear to hurt him. Even if it meant the total upheaval of her own life, she would rather take the pain upon herself than cause him to suffer anymore.
It was the way of love. And she loved him with all her heart.
She closed her eyes and remembered how he'd made love to her in the bell tower. What a sexy man he was, her vampire Casanova. She couldn't wait to see him again, to let him know that her mind was made up. She belonged with him forever. Please, Jack, find me soon. She imagined how happy he would be, how he would make mad, passionate love to her.
The other maiden poked her in the shoulder. "Don't fall asleep. It is forbidden."
"All right," Lara grumbled as her romantic dream fizzled away. "Do we really have to sit here for three hours? This is so boring."
"Shh!" The maiden glanced at the guard down the hall. "Don't speak like that. He'll hear you."
"Okay. My name is Lara. What's yours?"
The maiden gasped. "Stop that!" She glanced again at the guard. "We cannot use names."
"Let me guess. It's forbidden?"
"Yes," the maiden hissed. "Behave yourself."
"Okeydokey." Lara decided to call this girl No Name. No, Miss Forbidden was better. She couldn't recall seeing her photo in the case file. "What college did you go to?"
Miss Forbidden shot her an angry look. "That life is over. We do not speak of it. I realize you are new, so I won't report you, but you had better learn to curb your tongue, or you'll end up in Hades."
Lara reluctantly agreed that she needed to behave. She didn't want to draw attention to herself. "I'm terribly sorry. I really do want to serve the gods." She pointed at the bronze doorway at the end of the hall. "Whose room is that?"
"It is the Most Holy Sanctum," Miss Forbidden whispered. "When Zeus comes, he stays there."
"Zeus comes here?" Lara figured he was another vampire. And he stopped by to mooch a free meal off of Apollo. "That is so exciting."
"I know!" Miss Forbidden's eyes lit up. "He comes by every few weeks to visit his children, Apollo and Athena. But of course, he usually lives on Mount Olympus."
"Of course. What does he look like?"
"No one knows," Miss Forbidden whispered. "He never leaves the Most Holy Sanctum. Apollo selects a Chosen One for him. And the next morning, the Chosen One doesn't remember him. He works in mysterious ways."
"Right. So how many gods drop by?"
"A few." Miss Forbidden smiled. "One time Hermes came to visit, and he chose me."
"How … wonderful for you." Lara couldn't see Miss Forbidden's neck since her long reddish blonde hair was in the way.
Lara spent the rest of the guard duty trying to glean more information from Miss Forbidden. Then she returned to the kitchen to help Cook prepare supper for five guards, eight maidens, and the new Chosen One, Aquila. It couldn't be a coincidence that Aquila was chosen just as Brittney Beckford disappeared. Apollo must have known she was about to die. That bastard. He actually had these girls eager to become his next victim.