Ophelia

Bonus Chapter

**Aidon's POV**

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I fling my arm lazily off my bed and slam my fist down on my alarm clock. Whatever mortal decided that it would be okay to create these abominations deserves to go to Hell. I gently rub my fingers as I stare at the shattered pieces of glass, now loosely scattered on the top of my nightstand. Picking up a piece and running my fingers over it, I close my eyes once more. I need to at least stop breaking them. This is my third one this month! Struggling to pull off the blankets and wishing to succumb to the warmth it wrapped me in, I swing my legs off the edge of my bed. I rub my eyes slow, before I stretch to wake up all of my muscles.

I stumble out of bed and head to my kitchen to make coffee. Erik's door is still closed, so he must be sleeping. Poor kid, it must be hard having to watch over me. I know I don't make it easy for him. I reach for the pot of coffee, strong fingers gripping the handle as I reach for my only mug. I got it from some souvenir shop while I was in Athens, and it had a horrendous reproduction of a scene of Hercules and the Nemean Lion etched into it. Tracing the engraved lines, I shake my head. Damn Hercules. That man always let everything get to his head.

I watched as the coffee poured out of the lip of the pot, slowing down time to appreciate the way the liquid flowed and landed in the mug. I wish we had this in the Underworld. It would make everything much more tolerable. Erik stirring about in the kitchen brought me back from my thoughts. "Ιππόκαμπος, have a good sleep?" All he does is nod as he gets himself a glass of water. You would figure that from him having been born from it and dealing with it every day of his life that he would get sick of it, but that wasn't the case. He lived for it.

"Hey, are you okay? Do you mind putting us back in normal time? I don't want to wait a century for this glass!" I try my best to scowl at him, but it is impossible to. I sigh and nod as the time around us speeds up.

"I might be late today, so don't wait for me to start work okay? Also we have a new girl starting today. Richard asked if we could help her out. No funny business okay? I will try my best to get there on time but no promises." I laugh as he salutes me, before briskly heading back to my room.

♡

I dry myself with my towel as I watch my tattoos flex. I silently admire the pieces of art, appreciating the tales behind them. I was running late due to the fact that I had a long meeting with Aphrodite, which consisted of her mainly rambling on about the latest Olympic gossip.

"Can you believe it? That moron thought that armwrestling with Ares would prove something! With Ares!" I recalled her shrieking and laughed heartily. She always means well, but she also can't help but stick her pretty little nose in anything and everything. Contrary to prior belief, we aren't always at war with each other. Sure, there are a few people that couldn't stand each other, but when you have a family as large as ours it is nearly impossible to like every single person. Aphrodite and I are the closest, and I love having our weekly meetings just to relax and catch up with her. She knew when she was pushing it, and she was easily tolerable. I appreciated both.

Looking back in the mirror, I decide to wait to shave. Who am I supposed to impress anyways? I think to myself bitterly. I decide to wear one of my suits today, adjusting the tailored cuffs so everything looks in place. I quickly comb my hair back and spray on some cologne, before heading out the door. I put on a pair of my suede shoes, scowling as I think about my ruined leather ones. Taking in a breath to compose myself I pray that today will be a smooth day. Is it ironic for a God to pray to another God? One that they have no relation to? I laugh as I walk to the garage and as it opens I feel the smile grow on my face. Waiting for me was my baby, my black Maserati Granturismo Sport. If I'm going to live with the mortals, I may as well enjoy my time here, no?

♡

I nod at Tim as he greets me. He has been here longer than most of the artifacts I gathered, and he is always pleasant to deal with. I head down the corridor and hear soft laughter in the room before me. I pause for a moment, unsure of what to do. Do I just barge in? Do I wait until it becomes quiet before going in? Why am I so nervous? I look down at my clock and groan when I notice the time. There is no time to delay so I open the door, my heart stopping as I look at the scene before me.

Erik is where he usually sits, on that stool that looks so uncomfortable that your back hurts just to think about it. Beside him is the most average girl that I have ever seen. Her hair is dark, and in a high ponytail. I slow down time to take in all of her features. I study her face, admiring her tanned skin, what catches my attention is her grey eyes. She has a few loose hairs from the ponytail that shape her face, and she has a small birthmark on her collarbone. I look back to her face and look at her full lips, before time speeds up. I clear my throat to compose myself and put my game face on, my guard instantly going up. I try not to smile as I notice her practically gawking at me, and I somehow manage to form a sentence. "Is there something on my face or...?" I ask, partially to startle her but also to make sure that I don't actually have anything on my face.

Her cheeks blush as she looks away from me before I remember that I have seen her before. Where? I look to my shoes and the memory floods back. "You," I growl. "Do you know how expensive those shoes were? Do you? You can't walk a whole ten steps and I am supposed to trust you in a museum?" Her eyes begin to water and I instantly regret raising my voice.

Erik turns to face the girl with a look of total confusion. "What?" Erik questions, scrunching his nose as he tries figuring out what I am talking about. I shoot him the look and he begins to laugh. "Oh man, no way. This is her isn't it? The one from last night? The one who saved us from having to see those god-awful shoes again!" He turns to point to me before continuing on his little rampage. "You have no right to be rude. What would your father say? Or better yet, what would your sister say? You know how Aphie feels about how pretty women deserve to be treated". He turns to the girl and I growl. Don't bring Aphrodite into this you idiot! You know that hers is the only opinion that matters and I don't need to hear about it right now! I catch him say her name, but I quickly forget it as he finishes with "they weren't even that nice if you ask me".

I scowl at Erik, and sensing that my eyes have darkened I can tell that they know I mean business. I involuntarily clench my jaw, and unfold the fist that I accidentally made. I give up on the situation and sigh in defeat. "So who exactly are you?" I ask the girl, trying my best to keep up my appearance.

"Well I-I'm Ophelia Maddix, Professor Evans coordinated this placement for me" she stumbles out. Who the hell is Professor Evans? Do I even know a Professor Evans?

"Oh, Richard!" I nod as I realize that she wouldn't have used his first name with me. "He mentioned that you were into the statues, I imagine that that is the reason why you are here. I'm Aidoneus Eliades, I am the most well-versed, uh person, in this field. Erik you've obviously met, he is a companion of sorts of mine, and he is also... studying I guess." I wonder if that is an okay enough introduction, wondering why she makes me feel like I have to impress her. As she continues to stare at me curiously. "Oh, call me Aidon, everyone else does." With that, I continue to walk through to my office. Closing the door, I lean against it.

Today was so not going to be a smooth day. So much for praying to that other God.

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A/N: I will be posting a preview for my new book "Carved from Marble" tonight, and I will also be posting a preview for my other new book "Inflorescence" on Saturday after I update Ophelia! So check those out when I post them!