Painted Blind (21 page)

“That doesn’t make sense,” I said. She could send me anywhere in the world. Why would she pick a mountain that was only 15,000 feet when one nearby was double that?

“It’s only the meeting point. Yes, it will be difficult to get there, but we’re led to believe the second leg of the journey will be harder. You’ll either climb higher with Aphrodite’s messenger or you’ll be taken through a portal.”

“Whose kingdom is it?”

“Apollo’s.”

I shook my head. “Theron said the messenger would lead me to a woman, not a man.”

Titus’s expression grew darker. “There is another possibility, but Eros is hoping he’s wrong.”

“What is it?” I was pressed back into the seat then by the forward thrust of the jet as we took off.

He refused to answer, even when I commanded him. “I won’t worry you unnecessarily,” he said. “The most important thing is that I get you to the location on time.”

“We have a whole week. It will only take a day to fly to Nepal.”

“It’s primitive country we have to travel through. There are few roads, and once we reach the last village, we’ll be on foot the rest of the way.” When the seatbelt sign clicked off, Titus stood. “I’ll show you to the stateroom, so you can rest.”

Still wary of him, I asked, “Does the door lock?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, but before you lock yourself in, get some food from the refrigerator up front.”

My stomach was full of pancakes. “Maybe later.” When he tried to usher me down the aisle, I simply waited and made him pass in front of me. It obviously frustrated him. If I was his mistress and he my servant, then I was supposed to go first, but I wouldn’t turn my back on him. He pointed out the shower, sink and toilet as we passed, then stepped inside the stateroom so I could pass from the tiny hallway into the room.

There was a queen bed and compact, latching cupboards on either side. The headboard was mahogany, and the cupboards, while made of vinyl, matched the color and the grain. Just over my shoulder, a flat screen television was mounted to the wall, and Titus informed me that the stateroom had Bose speakers and a built-in video library of over a thousand movies. He showed me another compact refrigerator, which was stocked with water, juice and soda pop. “Can I get you anything?”

“No.” I had my bag slung over my shoulder. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, I locked him out then fell onto the bed more tired than I should have been.

Aphrodite was cunning to send me on a long journey. Over two months into her tasks, I was weary, but I couldn’t abandon my resolve to see Eros. At his name my thoughts brightened. It was his jet and his bed. What were the chances they hadn’t changed the pillow cases since his last flight? I threw the covers back, hugged a pillow to my chest and inhaled deeply. It smelled of laundry soap but not Eros. Disappointed, I lay back and pictured him as I closed my eyes. Thanks to his sketch, I could see him perfectly in my mind.

“Someday soon,” I promised him. “I will see you again.” I knew he wasn’t there to hear me, but it didn’t matter. The steady hum of the jet engines lulled me to sleep.

When I woke, it was strangely quiet. I had been jarred from sleep, but I was too groggy to remember exactly why. The window blinds of the stateroom were closed, and with the overhead lights off, it was completely dark except for a strip of emergency lighting which led to the door. Freeing myself from the blankets, I stumbled to the door and was nearly blinded when I opened it. Sunshine blazed through the cabin windows, and the jet was still. We were on the ground. I gathered my composure in the bathroom, where I splashed water on my face and rinsed my mouth. Then I ventured out. Titus was not in sight, and the cockpit door was open. One seat was empty. Sitting sideways in the other seat was a man with graying hair, who was reading a paperback novel.

“Hello?” I said.

At the sight of me he stood. “Well, hello. This is a change.”

“What do you mean?”

He shook his head as if he’d misspoken, but he continued anyway. “I don’t often get to greet my passengers.” The pilot was mortal and couldn’t see a veiled Olympian.

“How long have you been flying for Erik?”

“I’ve never met Mr. Savage, but I’ve been flying for the company over twenty-five years. This beauty…” He gestured around at the plane. “…rolled off the line almost ten years ago, one of the first of its kind. It’s a joy to fly.”

“So, you understand their, um, uniqueness.”

He gave me a wide smile. “I’ve aged twenty years since I started flying for them, but Aaron hasn’t aged a day. For the longest time I thought I was flying an empty jet all over the world, fully stocked, no flight crew, no passengers, but I came to understand I carried important cargo I simply couldn’t see.”

“Well,” I said. “You can see me. I’m like you.” Out the front windows of the cockpit I saw blue sky, beach and waves crashing onto the shore. “Where are we?”

“A privately-owned island in Hawaii. When traveling west, we usually layover here for fuel. The jet could make it all the way to the edge of Asia without stopping, but fueling here means one less government to deal with.”

“Do I have time to look around?”

He escorted me to the cabin door. “We’re scheduled to take off in an hour, but I won’t leave without you.”

I thanked him and made my way down the steps. There was no airport, just a landing strip. Across a small yard stood a cottage about the size of my dad’s house. I started toward it. Before I reached the steps, the door opened, and Titus appeared in the doorway. “I wasn’t sure if the landing would wake you.” He gestured me inside. “Eros sent instructions for me to feed you well. Supplies have to be flown onto this island, but a delivery was made for us today.” From one of several grocery bags on a nearby table, he withdrew an orange and tossed it to me. “You’re thinner now than the last time I saw you.”

“Are there macadamia nuts in there?”

“Yes.” He pulled out a large can.

“Toss it here. I’ll eat the whole can.”

“You will not.”

“Yeah, I will. I love these things.” I set the orange aside. “Eros knows better than to send only fruit and nuts.”

At this Titus grinned. “One entire bag is full of meat—beef jerky, pepperoni sticks, canned chicken, even sardines.”

“Really?” I elbowed him out of the way and dug through the sack. “The sardines are for you.” I didn’t eat anything that smelled that bad. “But this,” I said, drawing out one giant bag of pepperoni sticks, “is mine.”

Upstairs the cottage had three bedrooms, each with a balcony. The sea-facing windows showed a long stretch of sandy beach and a rocky shore beyond. The inland-facing windows opened on a towering mountain scene. Though jagged and rocky, the mountain was green all the way to the top with leaves and vines swaying in the breeze. I preferred this view to the seaward one, and I wasn’t alone in this opinion. This was the largest of the bedrooms, and upon opening the closets, I found casual men’s clothing in sizes to fit Eros.

People might think it odd that someone who had enough wealth to buy a private island would not build a grand mansion on it, but that wasn’t Eros’s style. This cottage, like the upstairs rooms of his Olympian mansion, was a place of solace and peace. The furnishings were expensive I was sure, but not lavish like Aphrodite’s palace. Eros did not build mansions to entertain guests. He found places he liked, and he lived in them.

By the time I boarded the plane, the engines were humming again. Titus had already stowed the food in the compartments of the cabin, and all that was missing was me. As soon as I was seated, we taxied to the far end of the runway, turned around and barreled ahead full speed. Through the window, I watched the trees next to the short runway whiz by, and I clutched the edge of my seat wondering if we’d run out of pavement before we made it into the air. A moment later I felt the nose lift, and we sailed effortlessly over the sea. Able to breathe easily again, I turned to Titus, who was fiddling with an electronic gadget.

“What’s that?”

“A GPS device. The target coordinates are already programmed in. I need your cell phone.”

It was futile to protest. We were at sea, and I didn’t have service.

He plugged my phone into another, larger one and downloaded my contacts. “Keep this satellite phone with you at all times. I’m programmed into your speed dial. Just press and hold number two.”

“I know how to use speed dial.”

On the seat next to him was a stack of documents. “I have our passports, visas, maps and all the climbing permits we need. We have a reservation at a hotel in Kathmandu tonight and a car to take us as far as the road goes. Two of Eros’s men are ahead of us. They will find us lodging in the villages along the way and secure a yak for the journey.”

“
A yak
? Those big hairy cattle? We’re actually going to use one?”

“You’ll be glad when you don’t have to carry all your gear.” He looked up with a smirk. “I wouldn’t think someone from Montana would mind.”

“Cowboys ride horses, not Herefords.” Both passports were issued from the United States. I reached to inspect them, but Titus slid them away from my grasp.

“Yes, I’m American now,” he replied.

The time synchronized on two watches, our destination on the GPS device, and both satellite phones charged and working, Titus finally sat back and folded his arms.

We had a seven-hour flight ahead of us, and I wasn’t going to sleep. I still couldn’t believe I was stuck with Titus for the entire journey.

“I will never betray you,” he said finally.

“Whatever.” Words were cheap. I would find out on the mountain whether or not he could be trusted.

“Ask me anything. I will always be honest with you.”

“You won’t tell me what Eros suspects about the second leg of the journey.”

“When we get closer, I will tell you, but we need to focus on getting there first.”

Evasive, just like Eros. “I swear you immortals are all alike.”

“We are more moral and principled than the men of
your
world.” He was angry because he knew when I looked at him I saw one of Theron’s men.

“What happened when you returned to the Fortress?”

Titus folded his hands together and leaned forward on his knees. “I never made it up the stairs. Theron was waiting for me in the dark with a lead candlestick in his hands.”

Still unconvinced, I waited.

“He struck me twice, and I rolled down the steps to the marina before I managed to stand.” Defiance flickered in his eyes. “I’m a trained fighter, but Theron is fast and ruthless. As a general rule, when he disciplines us, we aren’t allowed to defend ourselves. We’re left to suffer with our injuries for a few days, and then he heals us. But I’d had enough. My father died protecting Aphrodite’s husband. When I fought back, it enraged Theron. By the time he beat me to my knees, I knew there was no going back. He was going to kill me, so I dove into the marina and swam for the mainland.”

“It’s salt water.”

“Yeah,” he said flatly. “It hurt.”

It still didn’t explain how he ended up here with me. “Why go to Eros? Why not Aphrodite’s husband?”

“Because of you. I knew about the contract.”

I remembered how he treated me that night. He tried to convince me to run away and abandon the tasks. “You refused his generosity.”

“Not exactly. When I told Eros about the contract, he didn’t believe me, but he sent someone to watch Theron anyway. Two months later when the magazines arrived, Eros went to see the delivery. That’s when he offered me service in his household.”

“But, you said no.”

“There’s a hierarchy among servants. No one is higher than the master’s personal servant.”

“Aeas?” I said. “He hardly seems like a bodyguard.”

“He’s not.” Titus gave me a crooked smile. “Eros needs a babysitter more than a bodyguard.”

His arrogance irritated me. “That’s your boss you’re talking about.”

“Not yet. I’ll get to that. Some of the serving class inherit their posts, like Aeas and me. Others, like Theron, serve under oath. Aeas’s and my loyalties are inherited by blood, but as the household was unkind to me, I have chosen to leave. It is my right. You are not of an Olympian household. No one will ever inherit loyalty to you. The only way you will have a loyal servant is by oath.”

“Now, why would anyone swear an oath to a mere mortal?” I guessed at the reason, but I made him answer anyway.

“Because Eros wants you back, and you need an immortal’s help. Once you marry Eros…”

“Only Aeas outranks you.”

“Exactly.”

If I was trying to paint a picture of Titus’s character, and I was, these few details were telling. First, he wouldn’t allow himself to be abused. Second, he wasn’t above pitting one master against another if he believed an injustice had been committed. Third, he was willing to risk his time and reputation with me if it meant a raise in situation for him later.

I still didn’t like him. He wasn’t at all like Aeas. I’d never have to remind myself not to take advantage of Titus. He would probably start ordering me around. “I’m sure there are trained fighters in Eros’s kingdom that he trusts more than you.”