Page 24

“Oh shove–er, sorry. Right,” I said to the Shadow Demon, who waited until Juniper was safely across the road and inside the building before dramatically dissipating into black.

“Fucking Hades...” I growled to no one, snatching the coffee and throwing it into the trash.

I didn’t like how this was turning out; my brothers were slowly falling to this witch’s charms, unconscious or not. She was a powerful witch, re-animated and without a care for the social contracts of our supernatural society. I wasn’t on the council, but I wasn’t used to being treated like that.

You like it, you dirty dog.

I growled at myself.

And now a Shadow Demon was prowling around. None of it was coincidental. And my brothers would be worthless here, all beginning to trail after her like lost puppies.

Like you used to with–

No. Fuck her.

Besides, there was only one person I trusted to get a more accurate picture.

But before I could disappear into the ley lines of the Earth, a man came out of the coffee shop’s interior, with an expression as ugly as his face.

I snorted.

Fucking werewolves.

Yet something niggled at the back of my mind.

And then he confirmed it by following Juniper across the road.

Oh no, that wouldn’t do at all.

Vampyric speed had me across the road, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, and shoving him up against a back alley before he could so much as piss himself in fear.

“What the fuck? Who are you?”

The stench of fear coming from him was intense, making an unpleasant cologne with the wet-dog smell that already permeated my nose.

“Why are you following that woman?” I demanded, cutting straight to it.

His eyes widened even further.

“Does she have a whole fucking supernatural swat team now?” He squawked, his voice an octave higher than it should be.

My eyes narrowed, and I grinned.

“So you’ve met my brothers.”

His face paled even further.

“Please, just let me go. I’m sorry.”

My grip on his neck loosened, but only minutely.

“If I catch you lurking around her again, I’ll ensure you’re buried so deep your soul won’t even reach the Underworld.”

His eyes bugged out. “You can’t–”

I let my magick swirl around us, dark and old and full of vengeance.

“Get the fuck away from me,” I hissed.

The wolf dropped to the ground, practically on all fours in his effort to get away.

As he scuttled off, a niggling sense started at the back of my mind, blooming into the seedlings of paranoia.

This wolf had been sniffing around Juniper, to the point that my brothers had already warned him off. Clearly, I would have to discuss this further with them, to make sure we were all on the same page.

Especially when it came to enforcing the consequences, should he persist in his ‘hunting’.

As I disappeared to meet with Diana, one thought cut through the muddle in my head, making my already cold blood turn to ice.

Juniper had to die in order for Pride to find her in the Underworld. What if she hadn’t just died?

What if she’d been murdered?

And what if her murderer had never faced justice?

I needed to talk to Diana.

The birds sang sweetly as the perfume of lavender and hyacinths hung in the air.

Hyacinths.

Fucking hyacinths .

My patience snapped as I found her, sitting in her perfect garden with her perfect tea outside of her perfect cottage.

“Oh boy. What is it now?” she deadpanned.

“Cut the shit, Diana,” I snarled. “I’m not a precious goddess, but I can hear the murmurs. I can feel the rumblings. You sense it too.”

She sighed, letting the porcelain tea cup clink on the delicate plate as she set it to the side.

“You know, you used to be so polite and charming—dapper, even.” She stood and glided toward me, her dress trailing perfectly behind her. I resented every perfect blonde curl piled high on her head, and the pink blush of her cheeks, and how her eyes–

“Fuck, Clio really did a number on you,” she whispered.

I drew back as if she’d struck me.

How dare she mention that backstabbing bitch. I wasn’t a goddess, but I was an ancient vampyre with the boosted magick of a sin. I couldn’t kill Diana, but gods could I make her hurt.

Like everyone made you hurt.

My hands clenched into fists as I shoved the rage down, down, down.

You deserve it. You’re nothing. The only thing you have left is to control the raging

monster inside of you.

“Gluttony.” Diana’s hand landed softly on my shoulder, her magick soothing mine down. Despite her bluntness, I knew Diana meant no harm. She was one of the few who knew what had happened with Clio.

“I told you dating a Muse was a bad idea...” She sighed and gently drew me down to the chair across from the one she’d been sitting in.

I wouldn’t let myself be distracted. Not even by badmouthing my ex-lover.

“Diana. The rumblings. Is Hades due to return soon?”

For a moment I wondered if she even heard me; she picked up her teacup and took a sip, her eyes closing as she relished the herbs.

I gritted my teeth and waited.

“Hades’s absence might be why there are rumblings, and they’ll simply cease when he returns,” she said simply.

I clutched the arm rests of my chair. “And that will be...?”

She laughed. “Whenever he can pry himself off his wife, and whenever his daughter pries herself off her mates. Did you know she has at least three, possibly four?”

She gave me a pointed look, but I had no idea why.

“I didn’t realize Persephone was so...recently taken with her husband,” I grumbled back. Persephone’s fear and rumored distaste for her powerful husband wasn’t exactly a secret.

“Love springs eternal!” she trilled happily. “Oh, stop glowering at me!”

I wasn’t glowering and rearranged my face into something that was hopefully more neutral.

She sipped on tea, as if the world wasn’t potentially falling around her. And maybe it wasn’t. I wasn’t a god or goddess, after all.

“It would be nice for Wrath to show his face,” she finally said.

Whatever I was expecting to come out of her mouth, it wasn’t that. Fresh pain stabbed in my gut, an open wound that still bled whenever it was poked.

Diana’s clear, sea-green eyes met mine, giving me a goddess’s full attention.

“Gluttony, Wrath’s death wasn’t your fault. Clio being a conniving cunt wasn’t your fault. Many don’t blame her for moving onto Apollo. Quite a catch.”

My hands shook as I balled them into fists. I didn’t want to hear this. Not now.

Stuff it down. Stuff it down.

“I’m a fucking goddess, Gluttony,” Diana said mournfully. “You don’t need to impress me. No impressionable little sins here.”

I blinked and she was suddenly in front of me, kneeling. Her hands lightly rested on my thighs. “It’s ok, Gluttony.”

Fuck her.

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. The pressure of always holding it together for my brothers, the trauma of my past...holding it all in for so long wasn’t healthy. But what choice did I have?

“Wouldn’t it be nice to see a fucking flower without having a meltdown?” she asked.

Fucking goddesses!

It was like a damn bursting.

The shaking exploded from my hands to my arms, chest, and legs.

I wouldn’t cry.

I wouldn’t cry.

An odd gasping sound escaped my throat, not unlike that of a wounded animal. Diana pressed herself against me, and it was tempting to just let it all go and sob, sob, sob...

“There now. It’s alright,” she cooed against, her voice sweet.

Too sweet.

Disgustingly, sugary sweet.

My paranoia kicked into overtime.

She’s avoiding the question. Don’t let her manipulate you.

Diana was a good person as far as goddesses went. She cared about humans, anyway. That alone was atypical for a god or goddess.

I pulled away sharply, forcing myself under control.

“You are attempting to distract or manipulate me,” I growled, pushing her arms away.

Her smile was as radiant as the garden around us. “Who says it can’t be both, darling?”

I stood, taking deep breaths. The verbal sparring felt good; normal, even.

Don’t let that distract you either.

“I am not a god or even a demigod, just a lowly fucking sin.” I finally said, exasperated. “But I thought we were f-friends.”

I stumbled a bit on the word, my throat closing up. I hated appearing weak, being vulnerable. Ever since Clio–

“Gluttony. You are letting your paranoia from a failed relationship color how you see the world,” Diana answered.

Something in me shriveled and died. Once again, I had bared my soul and opened myself up, only for a woman to dismiss me and stomp all over it.

Her teacup was on the way back up to her face, and that was the only reason I saw the slight shake of her wrist. It was quick–merely a blip of a movement that a human would likely not even notice.

“And because you’re my friend, G, I’ll let you in on a little secret,” she began again, trailing off with relish.

Glancing over my shoulder, my stomach sank at the look of glee on her face.

“What?” I asked, trying to breathe through the dread.

“Apollo is dead.”

Whatever I thought she was going to say, it certainly wasn’t that.

“Dead?” I echoed, a bit dumbly. I shook my head. “Clio?” I asked. My ex was a vindictive bitch after all, but didn’t see her as a cold-blooded murderer. The gods and goddesses had a stake in that territory. She’d left me for Apollo, after all.

“No, surprisingly. Hades’s new daughter, Melinoe. He killed a lover of hers, I guess.”

I blinked. As I said, the gods had a proclivity for murder that couldn’t be helped.

“Ah,” I said, not sure what else to say.

But the death did remind me of my true purpose here.

“How did Juniper die?” I asked pointedly.

Diana went still, before shrugging her shoulders. “Seems like an awfully personal question. Have you asked her?”

I pushed the urge to growl back down in my throat. “I know you know, and I can just ask one of my brothers, but her safety is my concern and if she is in immediate danger I need to know NOW!”

Diana blinked at my vehemence, hot magick stirring in the air.

“Calm down! Some werewolf strangled her and buried her, but it isn’t like he’s just going to waltz into–”

I didn’t sit around to finish the conversation. I had to make sure I alerted the others to our little ‘dog’ problem.