“Come on,” she begged, batting her eyelashes.

It was a little overdone, but what did I know about seducing a man? Definitely not my area of expertise, which was why I was watching and she was doing.

“It’ll be fun,” she assured him. “I swear.”

She reached out and took the hands of the guy sitting across from her. He was plain and lanky, more than a little awkward–he hadn’t grown into all of his parts yet. Some were too big, some were too small. He was all out of proportion.

He wouldn’t have been my choice, but he seemed healthy. He would do.

A girl had never touched him this way before. Except in his dreams. Through the top of his T-shirt, I could see the red creep up his chest, then his neck, and finally his face. She was so very close now. He wouldn’t last much longer. I could feel it. But to my surprise, and barely-contained fury, he shook his shaggy head stubbornly.

“I don’t get it,” he said, yet again.

Deep down, he wanted to do it. I could tell. He wanted to make the girl happy. He wanted her to keep touching him. So why was he resisting?

“You’re telling me that I just repeat what’s on the screen and suddenly, like magic, I get into any fraternity in the country?” he continued dubiously. “That’s not even possible. It doesn’t make any sense. I haven’t even been accepted to any colleges yet.”

“I already told you.” She tried her best to sound casual. The best lies were casual. “Some rich, old nutjob created this scholarship program. He was totally obsessed with Greek mythology or something. I don’t know the details. I guess he figured that by making up this game, he would get seniors to learn something. Anyway, he was super important, and he donated piles of cash to schools all over. He can make things happen. Trust me.”

Damn. We needed a better lie. That sounded weak, even to me. Then again, it’d worked so far. But each person we used it on seemed to resist a little more than the last.

Still, she wasn’t giving up. She couldn’t. We needed him. So she smiled and slowly slid her hands up and down his legs. His blush deepened.

“I . . . it still seems like a prank to me,” he confessed.

“Hey, I’m just trying to do you a favour.” She changed tack quickly, going on the offensive. Brilliant.

“Is this why you’ve been acting weird lately?” he accused suddenly, avoiding her smoldering gaze. That couldn’t have been easy. “This . . . program?”

“Yeah,” she lied. “To do this thing, you have to really get into it. You know, do some acting. You can’t just say the words. I mean, anyone could lie and say they said some stuff just to get the scholarship money. So, the real trick is, after saying the words, you actually have to play the part of the god you choose. You have to act it out. For real. It all has to be documented.”

“And you have to get other people to join,” he guessed.

Sharper than I’d given him credit for. Hopefully that wouldn’t make things harder for us. He was the last one, and waiting was driving me crazy.

I turned to look at Zeus next to me. Turned, and tilted my head up. Way up. Even in this mortal body, he was enormous. Overgrown.

“This is taking too long,” I said. “Just let me use my powers on him.”

“You know you can’t, Hera,” Zeus rumbled, as he watched the conversation mere inches away from us.

“You didn’t argue when I used my powers to make us invisible to him,” I pointed out, waving my hand in front of the mortal’s face.

The poor guy didn’t react. He saw nothing. I could’ve punched him right in the face, and he wouldn’t have seen it coming. Frankly, a part of me was tempted to do just that. Very tempted. I had many virtues. Patience wasn’t one of them.

“He has to recite the oath of his own free will,” Zeus reminded me. “Just let Athena do her thing.”

He was right, of course. I’d known that before I’d even opened my mouth. I was just angry. I hated waiting. I never had to wait. Queens do not wait.

I turned my attention back to Athena, who was still caressing the mortal, listening to him babble about some mortal nonsense none of us could care any less about.

“Can’t you hurry this up?” I demanded.

To her credit, Athena didn’t even react. She kept her focus on the mortal, smiling slightly, letting her eyes captivate him. She was so patient. She never rushed. She never gave in to emotion, not even anger. I envied that about her.

“He’ll give in. Don’t worry,” Demeter assured me. “Just be patient.”

I gritted my teeth. Not that she could see, stuck as she was behind Zeus and me. I wasn’t a fan of optimism. In my experience, it led inevitably to disappointment, and I really couldn’t stand disappointment. But Demeter was my sister. And I loved her. Even when she was annoying me.

“Look, what’s the worst that could happen?” Athena said. “You say some stuff, nothing happens, I’m a big liar, you never have to talk to me again. Ever. But if I’m right? Major payoff. It’s so worth it.”

It was a winning argument. I watched his defences crumble. No one could lay a siege like Athena. From the mightiest stronghold to the smallest mortal, it was all the same to her. Minor obstacles next to her vast intellect.

“So, I just say these things?” he asked, reading the screen again.

“You just say those things,” she agreed. “Your life will never be the same. I promise.”

I smiled.

With one last, nervous look at Athena, the guy recited:

I, of my own free will,

Invite and invoke the most ancient of gods

To inhabit my flesh

To take me as their instrument

To use me as their tool

To do with me what they will.

A cat, which had been sitting petrified on the bed, staring at me, let out an ear-splitting scream and dashed between Zeus’s legs and out the bedroom door.

“Oh, no! Don’t be afraid, kitty!” Demeter’s voice trailed off as she ran after the terrified animal.

The mortal had gone deathly pale. “That was weird,” he whispered.

He was spooked. But Athena was quick. She got up from her chair and stood behind him, pressing against his back, her hands ever-so-nonchalantly resting next to his neck, fingertips gently stroking.

“Exciting, isn’t it?” she breathed softly in his ear. “Keep going.”

Even I believed Athena’s performance. Damn, she was good. But, then again, that’s why we’d chosen her for this.

“Yeah,” he squeaked. He took a moment to collect himself and deepen his voice. “Sure.”

He continued reading:

By the River Styx,

By the deepest hells and highest heavens,

By all that was, is, or ever shall be holy,

Take me.

Use me.

Do with me what you will.

There was a clap of thunder. It was so loud and close that the house actually shook. I worried that the mortal might run off before we were finished.

Sure enough, he jumped out of his chair.

“What was that?” he demanded, his eyes wild.

“I don’t know,” Athena lied. “Must be some kinda storm.” She let a grin slowly spread across her face. “Kinda freaky, eh?”