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Chapter1

The Morning of October 31st the previous year

The day of Arawn and Fate's Halloween Celebration

Looking in the mirror, she carefully brushed mascara through the eyelashes on the side of her face that was glowing with life and vitality.Returning the wand to the tube, she placed the makeup in one of the many etched glass cups atop her dressing table and sighed, "I can't believe Ari and Faye are havinganotherhuge party.It was just a year ago that they finally made everything official.And that took centuries of poking and prodding and listenin' to one of them complain about the other and vice versa to accomplish–but we finally did it."

"And lookie there, it only took both of them being kidnapped by Erebus, a big ass battle with the hordes of Hell, and Ari vanquishing Magoth to avenge his family and his people in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert to make them both admit the inevitable.Those two take stubbornness to a whole other level."

"They damn sure do," Hel chuckled."But getting them together was just another day in Paradise–whatever that may be.I couldn't be happier for my favorite cousin and one of my best friends in the whole damn universe, however…" Turning so the lifeless side of her face was reflected in the mirror, she gave a single bat of all that remained of the translucent eyelid before leaning in closer."I don't know how either of them thought they could pull the wool over my eyes.Can you believe how adamantly they denied their connection?”

“And for so long.”

“Exactly!You and I knew from the moment we saw those two lock eyes that they were meant to be.I didn't need a memo from The Powers That Be to tell me what was as clear as the half alive-half dead nose on my face.I didn’t have to use it, but I do have the glowing orb that is the All Seeing Eye of Metis, for Goddess' sake.”

“You sure do, my dear.”

“I still can't believe the Titan of Wisdom, aka Athena's mother, gave me such an amazing gift, but I am sure to thank her every damn day."

"She's one of the best Titans.Hands down, a real keeper.No doubt about it.I mean, come on, some of them get all uppity, stomp around, and make a fuss at the drop of the hat, but not Metis.She has true class.I just love her."

Another bat of her eye and the Norse goddess of Helheim swiped a bit of moisturizer on the dead flesh that more resembled ancient parchment than an eyelid, then dotted it with pink glitter."I don't know how many times I wanted to bop Ari and Faye in the back of the head for bein' so damned stubborn."

"You can say that again,"came the sarcastic retort from her alter ego."But they’re together now, and all is right with the world.Their happily ever after is one for the ages.So, I gotta ask, why in all that's holy are they havin' another huge shindig?I like a party just as much as the next Dragoness but come on, enough is enough.Are they gonna do this for every holiday?‘Cause we both know that could mean a soiree every single day and twice on Sundays if they are even entertaining the idea of being all-inclusive."Pausing for less than a beat of their combined hearts, she added,"Oh, crap, I bet this party is for Fate to show off those Mating marks and that big ole rock Ari slipped on her finger for the umpteenth time.After all, they've been on their honeymoon for a year.I bet she’s run out of strangers to tell about their fairy tale Mating."

"Sure, they’ve been away for over a year, but they had a lot of making up for lost time to do, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, I know.”

“Yeah, we just need to be thankful they took off to parts unknown.Can you even imagine if they had stayed anywhere near Earth?All that everlasting and eternal love powered by an Omnipotent Being and a god in L-O-V-E floating through the airwaves would’ve turned the entire universe on its head.”

“HA!Even worse, Cupid would’ve been out of a job for the whole damn time.Think about it.All Hell with a capital H and two l’s would’ve broken loose.”Carys laughed out loud, the sound a gravelly rumble that sent tickly tingles up and down Hel’s spine.

“For real!”The goddess laughed along.“And then we would’ve had one pissed off goddess of Love.Remember all those centuries ago when that son of hers had extra time on his hands?”

“You know I do,”Carys snorted with amusement.“How could I ever forget that panicked call from Zeus?He was freakin’ out because Mr.Sexy Cupid Man was messing with the natural order of everything just for something to do.”

“My favorite was when Cupid had the dolphins Mating with the penguins.”

“Yeah, that one was good, but what about Anson, the King Anaconda and Bethanne, the Queen Bee Hummingbird?All of Zapata Swamp was in an uproar when a half ton, thirty-five-foot Snake came slithering through the tall grass like he owned the joint only to be greeted by a six-centimeter, two-gram flittin’ and flutterin’ Hummingbird in full-on heat in the middle of December.”

“Oh shit, I had forgotten that Anson got all the way to the Swamp before anyone knew what was happening.”

“I will never forget.Just hearing the god of Sky and Thunder, the almighty King of the gods of Mount Olympus losin’ his ever-lovin’ mind made my list of top ten funniest things ever.He was so freaked out that he forgot to block the visual on his mental call.Witnessing all those long silver curls mussed up, tangled and flying in every direction was the best.I wish we’d thought to get a picture.We could’ve posted it on Ghoultube.”

“Oh crap!That sweet little Feydragon, Em and her boyfriend, Nostradamus would’ve loved that.Talk about going viral.”

“You know it.”Carys was laughing all over again and almost as hard.“Then, Odin got involved and I wanted a big box of movie popcorn mixed with milk duds and a large diet coke with crushed ice and a straw.”

“No shit.”Hel was still chuckling.“I still can’t believe that Zeus hadn’t even talked to the All Father before reaching out to us.Not only was his plan completely asinine and more than a huge pile of elephant shit, but he broke protocol in all the wrong ways.”

“For real,”Carys hooted.“Like you and I could’ve just sent a few of the souls from Helheim up to ‘scare’ the lust out of a King Anaconda and a Queen Bee Hummingbird.As if.”

“Yeah, well, thankfully, Freyja got involved and reversed everything.Being the Norse Goddess of Magic definitely has it perks.”Hel nodded, smiling so much that even the deteriorated muscles of the cheek on her dead side ached.“I still wish we could’ve been a fly on the wall when Aphrodite caught up with Cupid.Now, that’s the picture I want for my album.More than once over the centuries, I have wondered how she punished him.It’s not like she could’ve taken away his toys, sent him to bed without his supper, or grounded him.”

“For sure, but we’ve got loads of good memories and don’t need pictures to recall the details,”Carys assured, pushing images of Ari’s nuptials to the front of Hel’s mind.“The most recent being Fate’s Mating Ceremony and that ring she’s wearing.”

“And what a ring it is," Hel sighed wistfully.“Ari went above and beyond to show the whole damned universe who Fate belongs to.He is such an Alpha, even though he’s been denying it forever.”