Dream catcher

Athena

Silas

Rory, Dante, and I moved through space and time before crash landing in a forest.

"If I weren't a vampire, that landing would have hurt like a bitch," Dante said, getting to his feet.

Rory and I stood up and looked around.

"Where are we?" Rory asked.

Good question.

"It's about time you arrived," a firm melodic voice said.

We spun around to see a woman dressed in a white dress, wearing a helmet and holding a spear.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The woman took purposeful steps toward us. "Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and War. And many others if you have the time to hear, which you don't. You have a serious issue running amuck, and you need to correct it."

"What issue?" Rory asked.

Athena cast her gaze on Rory. "Abigail, aka Lethe."

"Who the hell is Lethe?" Dante asked.

Athena snapped her gaze to Dante. "Lethe is one of Eris's brats." She held up her hand to stop us from talking before lowering it. "Before you ask, Eris is the Goddess of Discord and Chaos. She had several children, which caused too many issues. Lethe is one of them. She causes forgetfulness. If you remember, you had a gap in your memory until they returned."

"That would explain why a few of us couldn't remember anything for a while," I said.

Athena nodded. "But Lethe carries the Tempus curse. Anyone she touches will receive it."

"But I'm not cursed. Only Dante carries the curse. What about Rory? Abigail touched him."

"Abigail cursed Rory until she made a mistake and bonded his blood with yours. Your blood broke the curse. It's one reason Rory changed."

"What's the other reason?"

"That pain in the ass wasn't poisoning him."

We lifted our brows in surprise.

"If Eris's brats can't curse someone, they will poison them. Why Zeus needed another child is beyond me. We were perfectly fine without her."

"We?" Rory asked.

"Eris is my sister."

We stared at Athena. Did I hear her correctly? Did she say the goddess of discord is her sister?

"Unlike Persephone, who enjoys sending her charge and mates on a never-ending quest, I don't have the time or patience for it. I prefer to attack and wipe out my enemies."

"I'm so confused," Rory said.

He wasn't the only one.

"A little information would be nice since you dragged us here," Dante said.

Athena towered over us and leaned into Dante. "Let me break it down for you, Chachi. The supernatural community has five rulers. Each ruler has one goddess to oversee them and two mates to protect them. Zeus assigned each goddess to one to ensure the rulers didn't go on a power trip. He assigned the ruler of protection to me." Athena glanced at me as my brow raised before returning her gaze to Dante. "When the five rulers unite, they will restore peace and harmony to the supernatural community. Two rulers have claimed their positions. Silas is the third."

"So, if this is true, how does Silas claim his position as a ruler? Telling us about the rulers doesn't tell us how Silas gets to the next step. Better yet, how the hell do I get of this damn curse?"