Heroes aren't meant to act like their villains -- or fall in love with them. The elements touch everyone on Earth -- Fire, Water, even Light -- but every so often someone becomes more attuned to their elemental leaning and develops true power. When an evil Elemental known as Thanatos arrived in Olympus City, it saw the rise of its first hero -- Zeus. But the death toll caused by defeating Thanatos changed Zeus, who by day is young detective Danny Grant. It's been six months since Thanatos terrorized the city at the start of Lovesick Gods. Danny should be used to his duty behind the mask, but the recent past haunts him. His girlfriend left him, he snaps at the barest provocation, his life feels empty -- he needs an outlet, any outlet to pull him out of his depression. Enter notorious thief Malcolm Cho, the Ice Elemental Prometheus. There was a time when Danny welcomed a fight with Cho, filled with colorful banter and casual flirtations that were a relief compared to Thanatos. Even as a criminal, Cho had recognized the threat Thanatos posed and promised to help Danny stop him, but the day Danny needed Cho, he never showed. Cho was the reason so many people died that day -- including Danny's mother. Danny decides to teach the man a lesson and fan the fire of their attraction into something more. At worst, he'll get some no-strings-attached sex out of the deal and finally blow off steam; at best, he'll get Cho to fall in love with him and then break his heart to spite him. Danny doesn't expect to fall for Cho in the process, and he certainly can't predict the much darker threat on the horizon.

Lovesick Gods

I’m broken, Danny thought, but he’d just scare John if he said that. “I’m sad and angry all the time and nothing”—almost nothing—“seems to make it go away. It’s making me careless, dangerous when I’m out there as Zeus. But if I try to talk it out, I’m going to end up screaming.”


Danny opened his eyes with a sigh, but he couldn’t look at his father. “What am I supposed to say, Dad? Mom and Rick are gone because of me. I hate myself and sometimes I don’t even know why I…”


“Danny, listen to me,” John said when Danny didn’t speak. “Rick and your mother are not dead because of you. None of what happened was your fault. You did everything—”


“Can you stop lying to me, Dad?” Danny finally turned to him.


“Lying?” John’s brow scrunched in confusion, his teal eyes bright in the dim light of the hallway. “What are you talking about?” 


Chapter 73