20. Events in Crete

Jaz sat at one of the tables in his café, his phone out on the table in front of him. He was waiting for a call. He'd been waiting for the call all night. A tap on the door made him look up. The shutters were down on the windows so Jaz approached the door.

"Who is it?"

"Jaz, it's me." He recognised Sage's voice.

He unbolted the door and pulled it open. Sage stood awkwardly on the mat, clenching tightly on the strap of her handbag.

"I've been waiting for you to call me."

"I thought about calling, but..."

"But?"

"I wanted to see your face."

Jaz made tea. As the water boiled, he watched Sage. She couldn't keep still. Her fingers kept drumming against the counter or pulling at the threads of her hoodie. Her gaze was darting about the place like a ping pong ball. Jaz sighed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Since discovering my boss is some immortal god, you mean?" Sage's voice was more snappish then normal. She started scratching her neck and Jaz saw that the skin was red raw.

"Not everyone calls Aphrodite's curse obsession. The Romans called it proclivitas – the addiction."

He set the cup of tea down in front of Sage. She reached out and they both saw how her hand trembled.

"If I'm an addict, am I fired now?" Sage smiled, trying to keep her tone light.

"Do you still want to work here? Even though you know I'm not... normal."

Sage gestured for Jaz to sit down across from her. They sipped their tea. Sage sighed in relief, the warm liquid easing the feeling of ants crawling beneath her skin. She drank more, ignoring how the tea burnt her tongue. Once the cup was empty, she finally looked up at Jaz and saw the uncertainty in his gaze.

"Thank you for the tea."

"You're welcome."

The sat awkwardly, the sound of a ticking clock filling the silence.

"Are you a god?" Sage blurted at last. Jaz bit his lip.

"I was born mortal. I was just an average human, well almost average. Unlike most, I at least had the advantage of being born royal."

"A prince?"

"Err... something like that."

"When was this?"

"Hmm... I don't know exactly. For a long time, I lived outside of society. I didn't keep track of time."

"Give me a rough estimate."

Jaz smiled at her tone.

"I saw the city of Troy. I didn't see it's fall but I heard about it, from people who had."

Sage digested this. Learning about Ares had been unsettling enough, but discovering that somebody she'd trusted (and known most of her life) was also... immortal. For some reason it felt worse. Tears pricked Sage's eyes and she tried to brush them away.

"When I brought Ares here, did you know what he was?"

"Yes."

"You called him Zorg."

"I didn't want you to know. I wanted to keep you out of this."

"Well screw you!" Sage got to her feet. Tears were falling more heavily now. "You lied to me!"

"Yes."

"I trusted you! Christ, Jaz. When my shitty parents lied to me, I got over it. I relied on you!"

Tears gathered in Jaz's eyes.

"I lied because I care about you, Sage."

Sage grabbed her bag. Her tears were coming fast and furious now and she couldn't see clearly.

"I have to get out of here."

She was nearly out the door when Jaz spoke up.

"The addiction will get worse, the longer you try to stay away from what you desire."

Sage froze in the doorway.

"I'm heading back to Ares now." She replied, not looking up.

"We both know that Ares isn't the one you're addicted to."

Sage's head snapped around and she stared at Jaz. He met her gaze. "I've seen suffers of obsession, Sage. You've been with Ares since being struck and yet you look like shit. You're trying to go cold turkey. So why are you pretending?" Jaz folded his arms. "Who are you really obsessed with, Sage?"

The door closed but Sage hadn't passed through it. She remained standing on the shiny floorboards of the café.

Her twitchy fingers clawed at the sleeves of her jumper, making holes in the material. Jaz's gaze softened sympathetically. "If you don't tell me, then I can't help you."

"You can't tell Ares." Her voice was only a whisper.

"Why not?"

"He'll kill him. He'll kill Ezekiel just like how he killed Adonis." Sage's voice cracked and her gaze spun wildly, as if she suspected Ares to appear out of a coffee machine.

Jaz puffed out his cheeks.

"Ezekiel? As in the Mad Dog? He's your obsession?"

Sage nodded. She darted forward, reaching for Jaz's hand and clenching tightly onto it.

"Please, Jaz. You have to help me."

"Help you, how?"

"I need to be with Ezekiel. But if I try to be with him then Ares will kill him. You have to help me get rid of the war god."

"Get rid..." Jaz's eyes widened. "You want to kill Ares?"

"I don't want to. But it's the only way." Sage's expression was wretched and pleading. "Please, Jaz. You're an immortal. You must know a way."

"I do."

Jaz and Sage gasped and spun around. Neither of them had heard the door to the café open. Sophia's expression was fierce. She'd come for Jaz's tea – but she'd heard enough of their conversation. "I know how to kill Ares."

"It's impossible." Jaz interceded quickly.

"No, it isn't. I've been using my money to bribe some of the best experts on the subject. There are people in the world who still believe in the gods."

"Whatever they told you is bull-"

"So there isn't a sword with the ability to kill immortals and Ares isn't in possession of that sword?" Sophia challenged.

Jaz's face drained of colour and Sophia laughed, his expression was confirmation enough for her.

"How do we get the sword?" Sage asked.

"Only Ares can summon it. But," Sophia's lips curled into a dangerous smile, "he'd do anything for you. If you asked him to show it to you, well... he'd never suspect your intentions."

Jaz reached out and touched Sage's arm.

"Sage you've never taken a life before. Are you really contemplating this?"

"If it means I can be with Ezekiel. Yes."

"And you?" He rounded on Sophia.

"He made me his servant. The bastard doesn't deserve your sympathy."

Jaz let go of Sage's arm. He didn't know how to dissuade them. "Let's get out of here." Sophia said, addressing Sage. Sage hesitated. She looked at Jaz, willing him to understand her.

"I have to do this, Jaz." As she spoke, she scratched at her neck – drawing blood. Jaz sighed in defeat. He leant forward and kissed Sage's cheek.

"Obsession it a terrible curse." He whispered. "Aphrodite will pay for doing this to you."

Jaz watched the two women leave, his chest feeling tight as he watched them go. His thoughts travelled back in time, to long lost days, spent as a guest in the royal court at Crete...

The sun beat down on the lush field and sweat dripped from the faces and backs of the servants. They clamped their mouths shut, trying not to throw up, as they struggled to lay out the body of their mistress. The queen of Crete, the once beautiful and lively Pasiphaë, was broken and bloody.

"The king is coming," hissed a servant, wringing his hands together anxiously.

"Quickly, put her legs together." One of the senior butlers advised, too revolted to touch her.

The other servants complied, though it wasn't easy. Pasiphaë's shattered pelvis made her stiff legs awkward to rotate.

"We should cover her with something."

"With what?"

"Anything. The court can't see her like this."

But it was too late. The king and his nobles surrounded them and stared in horror at the dead and naked queen. King Minos collapsed to his knees.

"Good gods what have I done." He gasped. He hands hovered over the queen's body. Her blood seeped into the grass, darkening the blades. The king's brother, Prince Sarpedon, kicked at the strange wooden contraption that Pasiphaë's body had been pulled out of.

"What is this thing?" He barked. A wheel creaked, having been loosened from the base. The servants all looked at the ground, their backs bowed painfully low. It was the butler who finally spoke up.

"It's a cow, your highness."

"Why is there a wooden cow here?"

The butler glanced wretchedly around, hoping one of the servants would speak up. But they left the burden entirely to him. "The queen wanted to clamber inside of it."

"Enough!" The king roared. He pulled off his royal cloak and used it to cover his wife's body. "Nothing about this is ever to be spoken." The royal court bowed their heads. The king struggled to stand, a broken man. Princess Psyche rushed forward to help him. She gripped the king's arm and helped him to his feet. "I did this," he sobbed – leaning on the young princess. "It was me who offended Aphrodite. I am to blame!"

The court filtered away, following their king as he was led away by the princess. Servants rushed off to retrieve a coffin and cart – leaving only the butler and Prince Sarpedon with the queen's body.

"Tell me everything." Sarpedon hissed, handing the butler a purse of coins.

"They say that King Minos offended the gods when he forbade the worship of Aphrodite, he called her the goddess of whores. Well the goddess has had her revenge. She cast obsession in the Queen's eyes, and made the queen fall in love with the king's prized bull."

Sarpedon rose a scandalous eyebrow.

"The queen desired a bull?"

"Yes, your highness. She bid that we make this wooden cow for her to get inside. She wanted..."

"Yes?"

"She wanted the bull to mount her, your highness."

Sarpedon put a hand to his mouth, hiding a wicked grin. "And it worked. The bull did mount her. It killed her in the process."

"The Queen died... making love to a bull..." Sarpedon struggled not to laugh. He pulled back the king's cloak and keenly examined the queen's broken body. "Well isn't this delightful."

"Prince Sarpedon-"

"Oh, it won't be 'Prince' for much longer. Soon, I shall be king." Sarpedon handed the butler another purse of coins. A heavier purse. "Take the body into the city and let the people know, how my brother was cuckolded by a bull."

Jaz rubbed his tired eyes, his expression grim. No sufferer of obsession ever died a peaceful death. That was what made it a curse. Loves cruelest curse.