I sat on the large white sofa in my penthouse suite and Ares sat beside me, his arm across my shoulders. I emptied my third large glass of wine when my cell phone rang. The caller ID said, “Titan” so I answered quickly. “Have you got her?”

“Not yet. Hecate isn’t with Hades at the moment. Perses and I are pursuing a couple of leads now. This may take a day or two.”

“Alright, Titan. Do your best,” I told him.

“For you, my queen, anything,” and he closed the connection.

I told Ares, “It still feels weird when someone calls me Queen.”

“The title is appropriate,” Ares said. “What did Titan say?”

“He has contacted Perses and they are both looking for Hecate.” I rose to my feet and walked toward the guest room where Helios waited.

Ares followed closely and asked, “What are you planning?” I heard the worry in his voice.

“Talk, only. I have a thing or two to say to our resident witch.” I pushed the door open and stood in the doorway. Helios/Circe sat on the bed in a classic meditation pose. His eyes were open and he didn’t smile when he saw me.

“Circe, get out of his body.”

The laugh was hers. “Make me,” she said in Helios’s voice.

“You know I had to make that demand of you. Circe, what do you hope to accomplish?”

“Oh, no, little Athena. I am not going to make this easy for you.”

“Unless you tell me what you want, I have no way to accommodate you.”

“What I want is for you to die,” Circe said in Helios’s voice. I made myself remember who I was dealing with.

Where is Helios?”

“No free answers,” she said.

I walked closer to the bed, hoping to get a better feeling of Helios. I just couldn’t feel him at all.

“I will get answers from you,” I told her, my voice a low hiss.

Circe didn’t reply. She looked bored with me.

I whipped around and left the room. Ares watched her a moment longer and then followed me to the living room. I paced around the furniture. Something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Ares gave me another glass of white wine and I downed it in two gulps. He grabbed my glass and refilled it. I stumbled a bit and sat on the sofa.

“More wine?” Ares asked, noting that my glass was empty. I nodded and he filled it.

“Tell me what is in your head,” he requested.

I was drunk enough to comply. “I can’t feel Helios in there. What if she destroyed who he is? What if he can’t survive without her? Ares, I can’t live like this. You three, Eli, Bill, and you, forced me to open up and I did. Now, I can't go backward. But, my entire life is a complete mess right now. ”

“Circe knows that. She can’t win in a direct fight so she is battling you on a different front.” Ares poured more wine into my glass.

“I don’t know how to defend myself against her,” I confessed. “I am supposed to know how to defend against attacks, but I don't know what to do. I don’t know how to proceed.” Confessions I would have never made had I been sober.

Ares said, “She is trying to provoke you into action or to provoke you into acting recklessly. It may take a little bit of time, but we have to figure out what she is doing and why?”

“Answers will have to come from someone else because she won’t say anything. And she is inside Eli, so I can’t kill her outright, which is my first impulse. Eli would tell me to kill his body to destroy her. He would want me to do it simply to protect me.”

“We aren’t there, yet, Athena,” he said.

“I can’t do this alone, Ares,” I felt the tears start to fall and I really hate crying drunks.

“You aren’t alone, Athena. You have all the help in the world. You have strong supporters. You have Bill.” He moved closer to me and whispered,

“You have me.” He kissed a tear from my cheek.

I turned my head slightly and he touched my lips with his. The kiss was soft and lingering. I encouraged the kiss. I closed my eyes to better feel the blood coursing through my veins. The kiss ended and I opened my eyes to see Ares frowning at me, puzzlement written all over his face.

I couldn't keep him in focus. My head spun from too much wine drunk too rapidly. I put the heels of my hands over my eyes, but the spinning didn’t stop. “I need to go to bed,” I told Ares. He stood and picked me up. Slowly, it seemed, he walked toward my bedroom, the bedroom I shared with Eli. He laid me on the duvet and pulled my shoes from my feet. He spread the soft throw over me.

“Ares, don’t leave me alone.” I closed my eyes and I felt his eyes on me for a long time. He removed his shoes and lay beside me on the bed. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to his chest. He kissed the top of my head and said, “Sleep, Athena.”

The sun was high when I awoke. Ares slept in the bed beside me with his arms holding me close. We were both still fully clothed, except for our shoes and I took that as a good sign. I only vaguely remembered him carrying me into my room. I was more than grateful because I probably couldn't have made it on my own without falling down in a most undignified and un-queenly fashion. I moved and he let me get up.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

After showering, I put on a pair of blue jeans and a royal blue silk blouse. I dried my hair and then secured it in a single braid. I slid my feet into denim blue suede ankle boots before exiting the bathroom.

Ares still reclined on the bed and smiled when he saw me. “Good morning, your majesty.”

“Good morning. Anything from our guest?”

“Not a peep,” he said.

“Ares, thank you for last night.”

“We didn’t do anything,” he said.

“I know. That’s why I thanked you.”

He frowned for a moment and then said, “You were drunk and I didn’t want to take advantage of that. Contrary to what you may believe of me, I would never interfere in your marriage. I know how much you love Eli.”

“Again, thank you. Had you persisted, I don't think I would have been able to battle you off,” I said to him.

“I know that. I also know you are fighting too many battles right now. Had I taken advantage of you, today you would be exploding my head like you did Phobos, yesterday. It wasn’t pleasant the first time you did that to me and I don’t look forward to it ever happening, again.” He grinned in my direction.

“So you restrained yourself because you feared retribution?” I teased.

“Not feared. Expected.”

I shook my head and said, “Tamed at long last. What would Zeus think of that turn of events?”

He grinned, again. After a moment, Ares asked, “Are you feeling better today?

“Everything is always brighter in the morning.” I walked out of my bedroom and headed toward the kitchen and the wonderful aroma of coffee.

Leto worked at making waffles. I poured myself a mugful of coffee from the French Press and sat at the breakfast bar. Leto gave me a motherly look.

“It is almost noon. You have been using a lot of energy lately and not replenishing yourself.”

“I know. I feel better after twelve hours of sleep. But, now I am starving.”

“You need to use greater caution. You cannot allow yourself to falter at this time. Delegate.”

“I have spent the past 2000 years doing most things for myself. Delegating is most difficult.”

“That is the advantage a mother would have over you. They learn very early that doing everything for themselves is nearly impossible,” she said as she worked the waffle iron. “Having children means you have little helpers. I had Apollo and Artemis cleaning the house shortly after they learned to walk.”

“That’s a good point. I will allow you and Memory to run my household here at the Highrise. See? I can delegate.”

Leto gave me a look that said I was deluding myself and she was likely correct. “Eat. And when you have finished this plate of waffles, I’ll have another waiting for you.”

Not only did she give me a stack of four waffles, but she also placed six slices of bacon on the plate, too. I put on real butter and poured on maple syrup. Leto was correct. No one had unlimited resources and using energy meant that energy had to be replenished by sleep and food. I was not surprised that I was able to eat the four waffles plus four more.

Ares joined me before I finished my second plate of waffles and Leto gave him a plateful, too. I was apparently “borrowing” energy from my followers, because Ares slept twelve hours, too, and looked hungry enough to eat one of Eli’s horses.

“Where is Bill, this morning?” I asked Ares.

Leto answered, “He and Hermes went to meet a man named Capstone Hayden. Bill wanted to give Cap an update on the criminal investigation into the recent murders Circe committed.”

“I had almost forgotten about them in light of recent events.” Circe killed at least twenty-two people in the past three months and those were only the ones I knew about. There may have been many others.

I finished my waffles and it was time to get to work. “Ares, what do you suggest we do? A corporate brainstorming session? Beating the crap out of Circe?”

“If you could do to her what you did to Phobos, maybe that isn’t such a bad idea.”

“Eli is in there...”

Ares interrupted with, “And you don’t want to hurt him. But, Athena, he will still be alive.”

I nodded, stood from my bar stool, and paced around the kitchen. “All right, Ares. All right. But, you need to stay close. Don’t let me get angry enough to kill him while I am killing her.”

“Of course, I will stay close.”

“I will also need Apollo to heal him once I am finished. And I will need Memory to heal his mind if need be.”

“We will all be there to help you, Athena. That is why the lot of us are constantly under your feet... to help you when you need it.” Ares said.

“And I thought it was my charming personality,” I replied.

He shook his head and said, “No, that’s not it.”

“Whatever,” I said, sarcastically.

“I will summon Apollo and Memory,” Ares said. “Do you want to wait for Bill?”

“Yes. Anything to put this off as long as possible.”

I went out to the balcony to wait for Bill to return. Ships passed, clouds floated overhead, and the world spun. Everything was as it should be. Except it wasn’t. I thought about what life would be like without Helios. Would I go back to my former existence living without a love in my life, or would I move on to another? Was Ares a possibility? I shook my head to dispel the negative thoughts. I wasn’t ready to give Helios up for dead nor was I ready to replace him with Ares or anyone else for that matter.

It was two hours before we had everyone assembled. Bill and Hermes popped into my kitchen, and they were both all smiles. “Cap says ‘Hi,’” Bill told me. “He also said to catch the bitch.”

“Bill, we don't have to catch her. We have already done that,” Ares said to him.

“Yeah, I know. I’m just saying...”

The kitchen seemed to be the meeting place in my penthouse. And why not? The kitchen was the informal meeting place for many people across many countries. Leto and Memory made some delicious finger pastries and served them with coffee while we discussed what would happen in the guest room with Circe.

I told them, “To quote my partner, Bill, I intend to beat the crap out of Circe and by extension Eli. I don't know if it will work, but I am hoping to get her out of him. If she leaves him, I will finish her off, and then, Apollo, I will need you and Hermes to heal Eli.” Grave faces all around. No one looked forward to the next few minutes. I received no alternative plans, so I added, “Let’s do this.”

I walked to the guest room where Circe was held captive as if I was walking to my own death. My husband/Circe still sat in yoga fashion on the bed. No smiles greeted me or my entourage which consisted of Ares, Bill, Hermes, Apollo, and Memory.

“Circe, one more time I will ask you to leave Helios.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” she replied.

“I won’t,” I said and I hit her with my metaphysical fist. She fell over backward and off the bed. She hit the wall and blood flew out of her mouth as if she just vomited. I poured in more energy and blood poured from every pore just like it did with Phobos. She twisted and writhed, but I didn't release her from my grip.

I pummeled her for all the people she killed. I pummeled her for Demeter who she killed in Bill’s dining room. I pummeled her for injuring my partners.

I wanted her to hurt and bleed. I wanted her to feel the agony I felt.

Circe was at my mercy, so I ripped the imprisoning wall down and forced my way into the body that suddenly screeched in agony. I tore away muscle, bone, sinew, organs, and blood vessels. I didn’t know if I tore Eli or Circe. I only know that the creature before me slowly started coming apart.

The voice changed to Eli’s shrieks of pain and Ares shook my shoulders. “Listen. It is just Eli. Circe is gone.”

“No! She can’t be. I had her! Ares, I had her in my grasp. How could she get away?”

Ares answered, “She got away from you after you took her head in that basement in Eastover.”

“Dammit!” I swore loudly.

Apollo and Hermes stepped forward and picked Eli up off the floor. He bled from eyes, ears, and nose. Blood poured from pores in his skin. The tile floor under the bed was slick with blood. Quentin Tarantino couldn’t have made a bigger mess.

Apollo and Hermes immediately set to work to staunch the bleeding.

Ares stood close to me, ready to grab me if I interfered with the healers. “Ares, I still can’t feel him in my head.”

“I can’t either. He is shielding like crazy, probably to keep you from knowing what you did to him. Athena, he will heal. He will not die.”

“Yes, he’ll heal, but will he forgive me?”

I heard his voice, seemingly from far away. “I already have.”