Sometimes, especially in moments like this when the loneliness seemed to hold her in its grip, she wished that he had never come, that she had never learned the truth about who she was. What she could do. Sometimes she wanted nothing more than to slip back into being plain old Emily Quartermaine again. Except that there was nothing plain about being Emily Quartermaine and if she was honest with herself she would admit that she had simply exchanged one set of craziness for another. Whether you were talking about the Quartermaines or the Olympian Gods the fact of the matter was that Emily was destined to be blessed, or perhaps more appropriate cursed, with crazy relatives.

There was nothing normal about her life. Never had been. Never would be.

Emily sighed. No that was wrong. There had been one normal moment, even amidst the craziness.

The moment she had kissed Lucky. That moment, despite the fact that it took place on Olympus with Ares and Zeus watching, that moment had felt so right, so normal, so extraordinary in its ordinariness, as if kissing Lucky was as natural to her as breathing. It had been a kiss that had somehow managed to light fires in her that she didn’t even know were burning.

And now she couldn’t put them out. Which showed more than anything how pathetic she was. It had been two weeks sinces that kiss. Lucky was still with Liz. Lucky didn’t even remember what happened and that was better, really. Lucky loved Liz. They were soulmates.

He could never feel for her what he did for Liz, especially if he knew the truth. Knew who she really was. He’d think she was a freak. Maybe she was because she couldn’t stop thinking about Lucky and only a totally pathetic loser would be hung up on a guy who was so clearly meant for someone else.

Emily sighed again as she felt a drop of rain touch her head. Perfect. Right. So even the weather had decided to join this little pity party she was holding for herself. She frowned as the first drop was joined by another and another. Still she made no effort to get up.

“Umbrella?” Cupid handed her the large black umbrella which she pushed open.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Cupid settled down next to her, his legs crossed and his wings folded in on themselves. “You want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

Cupid frowned. “I am good at listening.”

Emily smiled. “I know. I just...I don’t know. I just wish things were different.”

“How much more different do you want things to get?” Cupid grinned at her. “It seems to me that things are quite different enough as it is.”

Emily laughed. “I guess you’re right.” She smiled at her brother. “Have I told you lately how much I love you? You make a pretty good big brother for a God of Love.”

Cupid blushed. “You’re not that bad of a little sister yourself.” His wings unfolded until one gently embraced Emily. “You want talk about it?”

“You know, I think I do.” Emily sighed, one soft final sigh and then began.

Jake’s

Carly Quartermaine bit gently into her lip as she pondered the pool table in front of her, lining up her shot. Despite her apparent air of concentration, Carly was bored. The last few months had been....well boring to put it simply. She had left AJ managing to take with her a huge alimony settlement as well as ample child support. She was a free and independent woman.

Fat lot of good it did her. Jason had taken off at the end of the summer, murmuring something about not wanting to endanger her or Michael which she knew translated into he was dumping her. Again. Since then she had been at loose ends. She loved her son but being his mother wasn’t enough, would never be enough for her. Carly burned for something, for power, for charisma, for someone to set her on fire and help her burn.

She doubted that she would find someone like that at Jake’s but it beat sitting at home or worse listening to Bobbie go on and on about Roy. Carly shuddered as the stick slipped a little, the only thing more boring than her own life was her mother’s.

She’d take Jerry over Roy any day, but then she had always had had a soft spot for scoundrels and rogues. The kind of guy that she could take and twist around her little ....

“They don’t stand a chance, do they?”

Startled, Carly looked up and into a pair of sparkling brown eyes. “Excuse me?”

The stranger gestured to the pool table. “The balls.” His grin deepened. “You seem to know what you’re doing.”

“I’ve had some practice.”

“I’m sure you have.” The man raked his eyes over Carly. “Too bad that you’re not quite good enough.”

“Excuse me?” Carly stared at the man, not sure whether she was insulted or intrigued by his arrogance.

“I was hoping to play a game or two, but the competition doesn’t quite seem to measure up to the level I was hoping for.”

Carly felt the steam blowing out her ears. “Look Mister...”

“Strife. My name is Strife.”

“Look Mr. Strife.”

“No just Strife.”

Carly stared at the young man for the first time. He was dressed in black leather, leather pants and leather jacket with a black silk shirt. His hair was black, a little long for her taste, but still it contrasted nicely with the paleness of his skin. Not handsome in the conventional means, not a stud like Jason, but still there was something compelling about him, something that drew your attention, a hint of power underneath the surface.

“So do you know how to play the game .... Strife?” Carly’s voice lowered just a fraction on his name to give it a husky tone.

Strife bit back the smile that was about to break out on his face. He was here. Finally. His goddess was looking at him with something like....lust..okay at least interest in her eyes. Okay, keep it cool Strife....don’t blow this one...he groaned inside as he felt an unfamiliar flutter in his stomach...damn it Cupid was always the one with the smooth words for the ladies...he was just...just Strife. He didn’t know what to say. Still this was Carly who he had adored since she had first started getting into trouble as a teenager. He was the God of Mischief and she was mischief personified.

They belonged together.

Strife took the cue stick from her hand and laid it across the pool table as he moved closer to her. “I know how to play your game.” He let the words sink in before taking a step back. “Unfortunately I don’t play with amateurs.”

“Are you saying that I’m an amateur.” Carly was still struggling with the be insulted or be intrigued issue and didn’t notice the somewhat unholy glint in Strife’s eyes.

Strife shrugged keeping his tone cool and clamp down on the wide smirk that covered his face. If he knew one thing about his goddess it was that nothing turned her on more than a challenge. He didn’t need Aphrodite or even Cupid to tell him that playing hard to get was the only way to play Carly. Look how long she had chased after that Morgan idiot. He sighed inwardly again at the thought of how much time his beautiful goddess had spent chasing the brain dead moron who could never appreciate her anyway.

Strife’s gaze raked Carly over. “No I would say you were definitely a professional...” His eyes gleamed as they took in her short dress and low cleavage. “Just not at pool.” He finished dismissively as he turned his back on her.

Carly’s jaw dropped. No man had ever turned his back on her. Not once. And now this...thing in front of her had done so not just once, but twice. How dare he dismiss her. She was Carly Roberts and she wouldn’t be dismissed as if she was a nobody. She shrugged silently as stared at the stranger’s back, noticing absently the ripple of muscles that were outlined by the silk material. Okay even if her name was really Caroline Spencer she still wasn’t going to be dismissed as if she was Robin Scorpio. None too gently she poked the stranger in his shoulder. “Excuse me.”

“Yes?” Strife turned cool as ice, trying to put a lid on the inferno just being near his goddess was creating in him. He was so close. So damned close. He had her attention now. He knew it. She was in his web. Now all he had to do was reel her in.

“I believe this was my pool table.” She lowered her voice to a husky whisper. “And I like to keep what’s mine.”

He ignored the sudden rush to parts of his body and focused instead on the game. If he gave in too fast he’d be no better than that sap Tony.

“Didn’t your mother teach you to play nicely with others?” Strife turned his back on the blonde beauty again as he attempted to line up his shot.

“Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” Carly shot back.

Strife stifled a giggle and kept his voice steady as he turned back to Carly. “You would be surprised what my mother taught me.”

“What? To swing from a vine and pound your chest?”

“More like to know what I want when I see it....” He let his voice trail off suggestively. “And not let anything keep from getting it.”

For the first time Carly noticed the dark velvet of his eyes and the curious fire that burned in them. Staring into them for she could feel herself began to get lost in their depths and.....

“So do you want to play or what?”

Carly shook her head. “Excuse me?”

Strife grinned recognizing the look of interest. “I asked if you wanted to play. You win....the table is yours.”

“And if you win?”

“I’ll let you figure that one out on your own.”

Carly hesitated a moment, some long forgotten voice warning her about the wisdom of becoming involved with a stranger.

Of course she ignored it, just like she had ignored every other good piece of advice it had ever given her. She smiled at the stranger even as she picked up the cue stick.

“You’re on.”

Strife considered it a sign of his self-control and maturity that he didn’t explode with pleasure right then and there.

He watched her lean over the table and set up her shot, the butterflies in his stomach taking flight as he approached his goal.....

It wasn’t until his body began to shimmer and the flash of white light enveloped him that he realized that it wasn’t butterflies.

“Damn you Ares.” Strife yelled as the image of his uncle replaced the far more welcome view of his goddess. “You couldn’t have waited fifteen minutes?”

“No.” Ares stopped and then turned to Strife. “Fifteen minutes?”

Strife grinned. “What can I say? When you got it, you got it.”

“Fifteen minutes?”

“Like I said....”

“Fifteen minutes?”

“Shut up Unc....”

Lucky Spencer frowned as he stood in line next to his girlfriend waiting for the group ahead of them at the Golf N Stuff to finish their attempts at getting the plastic purple ball up the castle ramp. His eyes followed Emily who stood quietly nearby staring off at the bright lights that dotted the fanciful golf course. He was worried about her. She’d been so quiet these last few weeks, not her usual ebullient self. Worse than that, she’d seemed to be avoiding him. He’d gone to the mansion repeatedly over the last few weeks only to be told that she was off with one of her new cousins or at the library studying. It was as if she knew he was coming and arranged to disappear.

Of course she was here now and she seemed to be enjoying herself. They’d had dinner at Kelly’s and then come here to play miniature golf. He’d suggested the outing to Nikolas earlier in the day and mentioned casually that he thought a night out would be a good break from the studying for Emily.

He hadn’t expected Nikolas to leap at the chance to ask Emily. And considering how much effort she was putting into avoiding HIM, he hadn’t expected her to say yes to Nikolas. He watched as his brother said something that made Emily smile and he felt something akin to acid burn in his stomach.

“They make a cute couple don’t they?” Liz smiled as she linked her arm through Lucky’s shoulder. Lucky’s hand came around her waste absently even as he frowned slightly.

“Couple?” He shook his head. “Nik and Em are just friends.”

“Friends? Where have you been Lucky?” Liz grinned. “Those two are on the edge.”

“The edge of what?”

“Falling in love silly.”

Lucky stood stock still. In love? Emily in love with Nik? Of course he knew that she had been infatuated with his brother but he really thought that she had gotten past that. And Nik? Nik couldn’t be in love with Emily. Emily wasn’t Nik’s type. Nik’s type was jaded...sophisticated....like Katherine. Or Gia. Not someone pure and innocent like Em.

His frown deepened as Emily laughed and Nikolas joined in, his arm going around her. When after a second, Nikolas took off his jacket and draped it around Emily’s shoulders, Lucky felt his hand clench around the handle of the golf club in his hand.

Liz watched the exchanged and smiled to herself. By the end of the night she would have Lucky convinced that Nikolas and Emily were meant to be and his little infatuation with the poor little rich girl would be over.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Emily thought as she stared at Lucky giving Liz a lesson in miniature golf. Who in their right mind needed a lesson in miniature golf? It wasn’t like it was brain surgery. There was a ball. There was a club. You hit the ball with the club. God, she thought to herself, I bet Michael could play miniature golf without a lesson. She watched as Lucky’s hands came around Liz’s waist to steady her and gritted her teeth. Maybe Liz knew what she was doing after all. Maybe she should try.....

Emily shook her head. She couldn’t do it. Not even for Lucky could she pretend to be that insipid and that stupid. It wasn’t in her nature. She was a Quartermaine for God’s sake.

“Not to mention an Olympian.”

Emily turned in shock at Strife’s voice. She frowned at the God of Mischief who was definitely in his Strife mode, complete with black leather and studded color.

“Oh don’t worry,” Strife waved his hand towards Lucky, Liz, and Nikolas. “They can’t see me. Only you can see or hear me.” He waved his hand in front of Liz. “Didn’t anyone ever tell this chick that when it comes to make up less really is more?”

“Stop that!” Emily hissed as Strife stuck his tongue out at Liz.

“Emily?” Nikolas turned and Emily groaned. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, really.” She smiled at Nikolas even as her eyes followed Strife as he blew on the ball making it move a few inches over so that Lucky missed his shot.

“Are you sure? We can always leave you know. I doubt that the lovebirds over there will miss us.”

Nikolas’s words made Emily ache because she knew they were true. Lucky wouldn’t miss her. Probably didn’t even notice she was there with his precious Liz there.

God she was being a bitch Emily thought ruefully to herself. Up until a few weeks ago Liz was her best friend and now she wanted nothing more than to see her strung upside down from the nearest tree smothered with honey and fire ants crawling all over her......

Strife grinned. “Okay if you insist.....” She watched in horror as he closed his eyes as if to conjure....

“NO!” Emily’s near scream caught everyone’s attention as three pairs of eyes focused on her. Funny how she only noticed Lucky’s blue eyes as he stopped in mid-swing to stare at her. “I mean.... that is....look I....I need a new ball. I lost my ball so I’m going to go over and get a new cousin...I mean ball. Okay. A new ball. Yep that’s what I’m getting.”

“Em?” Lucky hesitated. “You holding your ball.”

“I am? Oh, of course I am. I knew that. I meant that I need a different colored ball. Purple isn’t my lucky color you know. In fact I hate the color purple. Bad luck. Almost as bad a color as black.” Emily glared at Strife who grinned back at her. “I like the color white. White like feathers. White is good. Black bad.” Strife looked downcast. “Okay black not bad just wrong. Horribly wrong.” Emily shook her head, aware that they were all staring at her and she was babbling like an idiot. “I’m going to go get a new ball. Something bright and colorful. Orange maybe. Orange is a good color.” Taking a few steps backwards, Emily turned and walked as fast as she could towards the main building.

Once she was far away enough from the others, Emily stopped and turned to face Strife, who had zapped in behind her. “What in the hell are you doing?”

“It was your idea. Personally I think it was a good one.”

“It was a thought. I didn’t mean it. My God if I sit here and wish someone to the North Pole would you send them there.”

“Depends.” Strife contemplated the question. “Santa is pretty particular about who he entertains. I’d have to say no if it was one of your brothers although I’d love to see what effect playing nursemaid to Rudolph would have on the moron...I mean Jason.”

Emily stared at him. “What do you mean San....no wait. I’m not going to ask. I really don’t want to know. All I want to know is what are you doing here? And I thought I made it clear to both of you that I didn’t want you reading my mind....”

Strife grinned. “Unc sent me.” A frown crossed his face. “Took me away from something I had planned for the evening. As for reading your mind, you know you’re not exactly keeping your dislike for the Tammy Faye wannabe a secret. You’re practically shouting your thoughts. Can’t help but pick them up.”

Emily’s anger disappeared. Strife reminded her too much of Raoul at times like this for her to stay angry. “I’m sorry your plans were interrupted.” A smile crossed her face. “Dad...I mean Ares sent you? He’s worried about me?”

“Of course he’s worried about you. You’re his daughter aren’t you?”

This time Emily’s smile reached her face. “Of course I am.” She looked around. “Where’s Cupid?”

“Olympus.”

”Olympus?”

An unholy smirk from Strife. “Yep. Seems like Bliss got himself expelled from school.”

“Expelled from school on Olympus? What did he do to get himself expelled....”

When Strife told her, Emily stared at him open mouthed.

And then burst out laughing.

“Emily?”

Embarrassment crept over Emily’s face.

“Emily? You okay?” Nikolas’s voice was hesitant.

“Nikolas I....”

“Did you get your ball?”

“No I ....” She saw Strife gesture towards the golf ball in her hand. “Yes I did. A new ball. Different color. Everything’s fine now. Let’s go back and join the others.”

She took a step forward hoping that Nikolas would follow her.

“So what color did you get?”

“Color? I....” Emily held out the ball for Nikolas.

“Hey. That’s pretty neat.” Nikolas enthused. “Maybe I should go get one.”

“What? It’s just a golf ball.....” Emily stared at the and then looked up at Strife.

“Mona Lisa? You made my golf ball look like the Mona Lisa?”

“I didn’t think the Last Supper would fit.”

A few minutes later Emily was still laughing as she and Nikolas approached Lucky and Liz.

Her laughter stopped when she realized that the other two were talking about her.

“So how long do you think Emily has been using again?” Liz’s voice carried across the night air. “I mean it’s obvious that she’s high and...

“And what?”

Liz stopped and stared in horror at Emily.

“Emily I didn’t mean.....”

“Yes you did. You meant exactly what you said.” Emily’s fury grew, fueled as much by what Emily said as Lucky’s silence on the matter.

“I was just concerned about you and...”

“Forget it Liz, okay? The only person you truly care about is yourself.”

“Emily you don’t mean that. You’re my best friend.”

Emily laughed harshly. “You don’t know the meaning of the word.”

She turned and started to walk away, only to find herself staring right at Strife.

“Want me to send her to see Uncle Hades for a while?” Concern tinged his voice. “Or worse yet I can send her to Aphrodite for a makeover?”

Emily stopped and shook her head blinking back tears as she managed to grin.

Strife grinned back. “Are you going to just run away?”

Emily closed her eyes. “No. I don’t think I am.”

She turned back and closed the distance between herself and Liz.

“Emily I knew that you couldn’t stay mad at me.” Liz began only to be interrupted by Lucky.

“Emily you know that Liz didn’t mean anything by it....” Lucky began.

Emily turned and glared at him. “Don’t. Don’t even try to defend her.” Emily turned to Liz.

“I just came back to make myself clear. You are not my friend. Maybe you were once but you haven’t been in a long time.”

“Emily!” Lucky’s voice was shocked. “You don’t mean that.”

“Yes I do.” She turned and started to walk away again.

“Let her go Lucky.” Emily gritted her teeth as she heard Liz’s voice. “She isn’t worth it.”

Emily stopped. “Yes I am.” She whispered softly. “I’m more than worth it.”

Closing her eyes she let herself extend her power for just a moment....just long enough to reach out and.....

She smiled as she heard Liz shriek as the sprinklers surrounding her came on with a sudden feriousness at the same time as every button or zipper or hook holding together her outfit suddenly broke.

A smile split Emily’s face.

Strife whistled. “I guess Bliss isn’t the only one with a wicked sense of humor.”

“Emily. Emily wait.”

Emily turned to find Nikolas gesturing to her.

“Emily don’t let what Liz said upset you she’s just being....”

“Herself?” Emily offered.

“Actually I was going to say she was acting more like Gia....”

“Close enough.” Emily and Nikolas shared a smile.

“You want to go for a drive? Maybe see if we can catch a late movie?”

“Nikolas....” Emily paused. “First you ask me to come play miniature golf and now a drive. Someone would think you wanted to be more than friends?”

“Maybe I do.” Nikolas replied softly. “If I did, what would you say?”

Emily hesitated, for a second she looked beyond Nikolas to where Lucky was offering a now wet and nearly naked Liz his jacket. Then she looked over at Nikolas who was waiting for her reply.

“I’d say a movie sounds fine.” Determined to forget about Lucky Spencer once and for all, Emily let Nikolas lead her away without turning back to look at Lucky.

After a second, Strife followed.

None of them noticed the cloaked figure that had been watching Emily all evening step out of the shadows or the truly evil grin as he realized that he had finally found his prey.

Next chapter: Bad Timing

Emily’s determination to forget about Lucky puts her in more danger than she can handle as things began to turn deadly.....