Page 17

CHAPTER 16

RIVER

“I have no idea who any of these fuckers are,” I said, my eyes narrowing on the space between Nova and the Titans who’d come by to pay a visit before we left for the Earth realm. The same bastards who were taking up way too much space in our temporary home, stopping me from reaching for Nova and pulling her onto my lap.

Nour and Ramsey’s place was sizable, including the fenced, half-acre back yard—but even with the back doors open, it felt cramped. There were the ten of us, four of our allies, and then the fifteen Titans. It felt like incredibly too much, and I didn’t enjoy being so far away from Nova. In fact, after everything we’d been through, it made me notably anxious.

I felt like someone was going to come by and pluck her out of existence without warning. I watched as she took a sip of her coffee, her promise ring glinting under the sun as she laughed at something. The oversized shirt she wore with leggings somehow only made her sexier, and the way her hair was pulled up on top of her head made me want to undo it, to string the strands through my fingers. To hold her hair as I bent her over…

I inhaled sharply, stopping that train of thought.

It had been far too long since I’d had my hands and mouth on Nova. Far too long since I heard her moan my name and watched her bend to my will and magic. Far too long since I watched her come and break in pleasure. I had to pull on all my control to continue acting rationally, knowing now was not the time for anything like that.

“Well, that’s my father,” Volkan volunteered as I sized up the individual he was speaking about, not particularly happy that he was here. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen Perses, and naturally I understood he was an ally, but I was also aware of how he’d betrayed Volkan. I may not have known the demi-titan for very long, but I took the happiness of our team seriously—and that included him now.

“And the other three men sitting with him are Atlas, Cronus, and Prometheus,” Nour filled in. After greeting everyone, they had made themselves comfortable in a corner to the left of the property and seemed very entertained on their own. While there were only fifteen of them, it was very clear that there were distinct groups within the Titans. These four appeared, and acted in accordance, to what reminded me of your average businessman, down to how they were dressed.

“What about the ones talking to Nova?” I asked. Our woman was surrounded by a group of individuals, mostly Titans I didn’t recognize, but a few that I did.

“The one with blue hair wearing fishing boots is Oceanus,” Volkan said. The older man did, in fact, have blue hair, and while there was no fishing pole in sight, he reminded me of an old sea captain. A quality that stood in high contrast to the Egyptian sector.

“And the one to his right is Themis,” Nour said. “I haven’t heard much about her, even in our studies, but she doesn’t seem particularly friendly.” That was an understatement. The severe looking woman was dressed like she was about to walk into a legal battle and was staring down at Nova with a critical and analyzing look. Not that my butterfly noticed it, but it did make me feel defensive.

“Then there’s Hyperion,” Ramsey said, taking a drink of his coffee. “Titan of heavenly light or something. I’m sure it’s not hard to guess which one he is.”

No, it wasn’t, because he was actually glowing. Despite being a smaller individual—around Nova’s height—the glow that surrounded him made him appear much larger. He was friendly enough but gave the distinct impression that he liked showing off.

“And we’ve already talked to Theia.” Volkan nodded to a woman with bright blue hair that laughed at something Nova said, before adding. “As well as Rhea.” Both women looked familiar enough from our first meeting with the Titans, but more importantly they were clearly very fond of Nova. It wasn’t surprising that she’d already gained their friendship despite how all of this started out. My butterfly tended to have that effect on everyone.

“Be right back!” Nova called out, drawing all of our attention. We watched as she left her group, jogged up the steps to the deck, and said something to the group gathered there before slipping inside. I knew she was going to get another damn cup of coffee, and I couldn’t find it in me to stop her. She had a lot going on, so this time…this time I would let it happen.

The need to watch out for her wellbeing had grown into a full fucking obsession. I would have tried to curb it, but she didn’t seem bothered by it.

“Sitting up there are Coeus and Phoebe. They’ve been together since the start of it all,” Nour said. “In fact, it’s my understanding that they’re one of the only couples who hasn’t been involved with others. Of course, they are siblings…so there’s that.”

I shook my head, trying to put that concept from my mind. I obviously didn’t have the same perspective as gods who’d been alive for thousands of years—but it still seemed real fucked up to me. I knew Nova not only felt the same but had brought that up to Anubis and Osiris—which was objectively funny.

“Who are the two with them?” I asked, figuring I might as well get a grasp on everyone present. I had a compulsive need to be aware of everyone who even looked at my butterfly, let alone talked to her.

“Mnemosyne is the one with red hair, I think.” Ramsey frowned as the woman in question looked toward Nova in passing, offering her a cheerful wave. “And the other is Tethys. Titans of inspiration and the other of fresh water, or something like that.”

“Which leaves the two standing over there.” Volkan nodded to the far edge of the garden. “The first is Crius, my grandfather. We’ve met him. The other is Lapetus.”

“Is he a priest?” I asked, because while the first was dressed in casual clothing—jeans and a shirt with loafers—the second was wearing long garments that reminded me of Bayton in the Ethereal Sea.

“I’m sure he thinks he is.” Volkan chuckled. “He does something with morality.”

Fascinating.

“What’s fascinating?” Nova appeared out of nowhere, throwing herself down on my lap. I instantly caught her, pulling her tight against me. She managed in the process to somehow keep every drop of coffee in her mug as she placed it down alongside some food.

“That you made yourself food,” I answered, frowning. “I didn’t realize you were hungry; I would have made you something.”

“No, this is yours.” She flashed a bright smile. “I already ate a ton at breakfast. You didn’t eat.” Nour said something in response, grabbing her attention as I stared at Nova in surprise. She’d made me food? I swallowed back the emotion that brought forth because at this point, it shouldn’t have shocked me—but it did.

It was my job to take care of her, so when she did it for me, it felt fucking insane. Almost wrong. I could accept her doing it, but I would never get used to it.

“Thanks, butterfly.” I kissed the top of her head and began eating as she curled further against me, talking animatedly with Volkan, Nour, and Ramsey. I appreciated them not calling out how I was staring at her like an absolute fool. As long as she didn’t notice, I was probably in the clear.

“Why does River look freaked out?” Fox asked as he joined us. I narrowed my eyes at the blood mage but didn’t say anything. He knew exactly what was going on.

“Because I gave him food and he’s freaked out that I made him something to eat,” Nova explained easily, rubbing my chest to soothe the blunt explanation. It worked. I didn’t contradict her and continued to eat as Fox nodded in understanding before grabbing a seat himself.

I was halfway through my food before Nova darted out of my arms and across the yard, where Danu and Hecate were stepping out into the yard alongside their consorts, Anubis and Phorcys. When I first met Anubis I’d considered him a threat. An enemy. Someone who was far too interested in Nova. But at this point, after watching how he interacted with Danu, I had a feeling we were more alike than I’d originally assumed. I also respected that he seemed to care about Nova’s wellbeing, even if it wasn’t his job.

“Nova seems excited for the day,” Fox pointed out as I nodded, watching her bounce around the group. I had a feeling that she was amping herself up for everything to come. We’d done a lot in only five days, and there was much more to come—so I understood why she needed the boost of energy.

On my end, I had been giving her my healing magic every night so that she woke up feeling reenergized. It’s possible she didn’t need it because of her new power, but that didn’t stop me.

Besides, the amount of excess magic under my skin was eerie. It felt like a howling wind, and the two sides of the same coin for my magic kept flipping, threatening to topple me. I could control it, but even I had to admit it would take more effort than normal. I was much more likely to hurt someone, which considering the situation coming up may not be a bad thing. So instead, I gave Nova all the extra magic I could.

Two sides of the same coin —my thoughts went back to the House at that concept.

I couldn’t believe I’d stepped through the rubble and breathed in the air that had once been tainted with so much blood. I was happy to see it in ruins, and I was glad we’d sent word to the castle about the books left behind. I wanted to believe it would allow others to learn about their past, to make the same type of discovery that I had.

Finding out about my parents had answered questions I’d buried deep down, but it didn’t change what I’d gone through—what I’d had to endure. It did, though, provide me with a base of understanding and a true history, which made the past easier to process. It was important to me because soon we would have a family and kids of our own, and I wanted to be able to tell them my history and give them answers about my life, if they ever asked.

“I just hope she doesn’t overdo it,” Nour said before standing up to make his way to Nova. Sitting here with the three of us had been the longest he’d been away from Nova since waking up this morning.

Last night, our group had hung out in the back yard to give them some space, especially once Ramsey told us how the visions were affecting him. Keeping myself away had been a real test of my control, wanting to touch Nova while she’d been making such perfect fucking noises, but I could see the difference in Nour today.

“Alright, we need to get on the road. Which means this party or brunch is sort of over!” Nova called out from the deck, and all the Titans gathered in the center of the back yard. “Let’s talk about the game plan really quickly.”

With a snap of Hecate’s fingers, a dome went over our heads, offering privacy and secrecy.

“We’re about to go to Earth to gather an army of magic users. Hecate suggested that we start in Washington and work our way out from there, so that’s the plan,” Nova explained. “I would appreciate it if at least half of you stayed here to work with the gods that plan to help us.”

“The other half of us plan to go gather allies around the realms while we can,” Cronus explained.

“Lorcan is also doing that, so that works perfectly,” Nova said.

King Desmond, Lorcan, and their group were either heading toward the Druid realm or were already there, according to our correspondence. I hadn’t realized there were potential allies there, but I also trusted that they would pull their weight in all of this.

“Make sure everyone stays in contact.” Nova’s face suddenly turned serious. “I have a feeling it won’t be long before we’ll need to call everyone together.”

Everyone nodded in understanding, our family having made it outside to listen as well. She flashed a big smile and clapped her hands, and an echoing thunder rumbled in the sky. “Alright, let’s do this shit. Go team!”

In a poof of magic, the Titans and our other allies disappeared, leaving just our group. In a switch of energy, Nova groaned dramatically and laid on the ground, causing me to smirk.

“What’s wrong, baby girl?” Cassian asked.

“I feel like the ten of us are the kids in the group project that are doing all the work while everyone else benefits,” she grumbled, but then she smiled. “Except the class project is saving the world—objectively pretty cool.”

I chuckled at that analogy because she wasn’t wrong—except that while I appreciated that she’d included us, Nova was very much the star of the show. I tried to share as much of the burden as possible with her, but at the end of the day, a lot of it was on her. I fucking hated it.

Around ten minutes later we were prepared to leave, and this time I could tell that Nova wasn’t nervous in the least about portalling. She offered us a bright smile before closing her eyes and listening to Volkan’s directions. I settled into the moment as her magic wrapped around us, and in a blink—a literal blink?—

We were in Washington.

The familiar damp, cool air hit my nose, and I caught myself from crashing onto the ground as Nova fell into me, my arms locking around her to stop her momentum. The pavement under our feet was slick, and the sky was pouring down sheets of rain. We’d been transported right into a fucking monsoon.

I let out a sound of frustration as I tried to cover Nova, but her delighted laughter made my chest relax. We moved ahead through a very familiar front gate, the wards that Rowan made washing over us. The front door opened in response, giving us shelter from the rain.

“Holy shit!” Nova stared up at me with a big smile. “I didn’t know my magic would slam so hard into the other magic here! I don’t know if you guys can taste it, but there is so much more magic on Earth than ever before. I didn’t feel it like this in the Horde or the God realm. It’s saturated…it’s beautiful. I wonder if this is why it feels like so much of the magic has disappeared from the world? Maybe it never disappeared at all, it was just kept away. The entire Earth feels different. It feels alive.”

She was nearly out of breath, her eyes watering, looking emotionally overwhelmed. I couldn’t completely understand what she was saying, but I could sense a power difference—the air felt heavier, and there was a note of older magic. Magic that I usually only sensed in other realms like the Horde.

“Wow,” Nova breathed out, not waiting for a response. “I…that’s just…crazy.”

I could have stared at her beautiful awe-filled expression forever, but a noise down the hall pulled my attention.

The place appeared well maintained despite us being gone for months in Earth realm time, and it made me wonder why it wasn’t more dusty. Stale. Had someone been coming by to maintain it?

“Someone is here,” Everett confirmed.

When a figure stepped into the hallway, the lights grew brighter because of Nova’s magic and revealed one of the last fucking people I would have ever expected.

“Claudia?”

John’s mother.