Maria rolled her eyes. “Eat all you want, my darling, just clean up after yourself. That is all I ask. Goodness knows you have the time!”
“I don’t recall anyone asking Michelangelo to wash his dishes in between painting the Sistine Chapel,” Apollo muttered. “Anyway, Helen, how was school? Is the outside world coping without me?”
“Oh yeah, everyone seems to be doing fine. No one has bothered asking about you in days,” I said, spreading some extra peanut butter on my toast corners. Apollo pretended not to care. It was in his DNA to adore being adored.
“Well, this house arrest is the best thing that’s happened to me in years,” he said. “I’ve had no distractions, so my creative output is off the charts. I just wished this place had a recording studio, like my flat in Hackney.”
Apollo carried on talking about his “creative output” to no one in particular while he assembled a ginormous sandwich.
“I haven’t spoken to Aphrodite in a few days. Have you?” I asked Maria once Apollo disappeared with his snack.
“No, and I’d rather keep it that way. That one is in a mood fouler than Medusa’s face,” she said.
It must have been tough for Aphrodite. Not only was she confined to the house, but she couldn’t use the internet just in case she tried to go viral again.
Better her than me. How long could I go without Wi-Fi before smacking my head against the wall? Two or three days max, if I was honest.
TWENTY-EIGHT
An almighty thud shook me out of my sleep. It came from Aphrodite’s room above mine. What on earth was she doing now?
The time on my phone said it was just after midnight. I clamped my pillow over my head and tried to get back to sleep, but it was no use. I heard crash after crash, then Dad’s voice. He and Aphrodite were arguing. At this hour? I had no choice but to march upstairs and remind them that some of us needed our beauty sleep.
“Guys, can you please argue another time! I have school in the—”
I cut off abruptly at the sight of Aphrodite’s room. Every single item of furniture was upturned and the contents of her walk-in wardrobe littered the floor. In the centre of the chaos stood Aphrodite. But not like I’d ever seen her before.
She hovered a few feet above the floor. It was as though she was illuminated from the inside out. Her eyes shone white, and when she opened her mouth, white light poured out. Her dark hair stood on end, coiling towards the ceiling. She seemed to generate pure electricity, the air crackled with it.
Whoa. It was terrifying.
“It’s no use, Aphrodite,” Dad shouted. “You know I can’t let you leave the house.”
Aphrodite raised her hand, flinging a wooden chest of drawers across the room. It crashed against the wall, splintering into pieces.
“Silence!” Aphrodite shouted, and her voice boomed from every corner in the room. “You’re weak and useless. A pathetic excuse for a god,” she spat. “You thought you could imprison me in this house? I’ve kept my powers sharp by practising over the years. Your little spells can’t stop me!”
Aphrodite lifted both arms, as though she was pushing a heavy weight above her head. Cracks appeared on the ceiling, followed by a whooshing sound as cold wind circulated around the room.
I looked up. “Dad!” I yelled. “She’s taking off the roof!”
“Helen, get back downstairs!” he shouted. “It’s not safe!”
Suddenly the room filled with a blinding white light. I closed my eyes and stumbled out of the room and down the attic stairs. Eros and Apollo were there, cowering behind me.
We heard a loud crack, then gusts of freezing cold night air flooded the house. I crept back into Aphrodite’s room. An expanse of inky purple sky came into view, exposing us to the chilly night air. The roof of our house was nowhere to be seen. I looked up and saw clouds swirling in the sky above.
Where the heck was our roof?!
“Dad, what has she done?” I shrieked. He paced up and down the room, careful not to trip over the roof debris.
“Quiet, Helen,” he snapped. “I need to think!”
Typical Dad. Our roof had been blown into oblivion but he needed to think? There was no way the neighbours didn’t hear that. I expected to hear the sirens of a fire engine any minute. How on earth would we explain this?
And more importantly, where was Aphrodite?
I saw a blur of white from the corner of my eye. Aphrodite hovered in mid-air, right where our roof would have been. I crept over to her while Apollo and Eros stayed behind me.
“Helen,” Eros said, grabbing my shoulder. “Let’s give her some time alone. She might still be angry.”
“We don’t have time, Eros.” I said. “What if the neighbours come outside and see Aphrodite floating over our house? The Council would find out and then we’ll lose everything.”
Dad was still muttering to himself in the corner. It was up to me to talk Aphrodite down from the roof.
I shivered in my dressing gown and walked closer to the glowing white apparition hovering several metres above me. “Aphrodite, what did you do with the roof?” I asked. “Do you reckon we could … y’know … get it back?”
But she wasn’t paying attention to me. She swayed in the air, making a strange choking sound. Was she sobbing?
“I just want to be free,” she said, in between convulsive sobs that shook her whole body. My fear of her softened a little.
“But it’s only thirty days, Aphrodite. Then you can leave the house, and—”
“I’m not talking about the house arrest! I want true freedom,” she said. “There was a time when entire nations worshipped me for my powers. I want the world to know what I can do. And all he wants to do is stop me,” Aphrodite said, throwing Dad a filthy look. He was too deep in concentration to notice. “I just want to make the world a more beautiful place,” she continued. “It’s my reason for being.”
“But you can make the world more beautiful, Aphrodite,” I said. “You just can’t be famous for it. That’s the deal, right?” Aphrodite was silent, but I could tell she was listening.
“Do you know how lucky you are? I wish I had a fraction of your powers. You have everlasting life, for goodness’ sake!” I said. “And you’re willing to throw that away over a bit of fame?”
“You’ll never understand what it’s like,” Aphrodite snapped. “Walk in my shoes for just one day, and you’ll never want to take them off. The feeling of being adored … it’s utterly intoxicating.”
It was infuriating. Aphrodite had so much already. And if she insisted on pursuing global fame and adoration, it would tear what little family I had left apart.
Tears of rage filled my eyes. “Then go! You’ve destroyed our home, so why won’t you leave?” I was done with her.
Aphrodite’s eyes met mine. The light glowing through her body had faded.
“You know my mum is dead, Aphrodite!” The words stuck in my throat as I spat them out. “Why would you want to take away my only other parent?” I cried. “You. This family. You’re all I have left,” I said, tears rolling down my cheeks.