“Really?” Well, that might be a nice change. Ever since I’d returned from my trip abroad, I’d been bored. More so than usual. What was the point of having inherited all kinds of magic only to have nowhere to use it?

“I see danger ahead for you,” Frieda added.

“Sweet.”

“You sound just like Enyo when I try to caution her about her choices,” Frieda complained.

My sister could see the future and often used it to nag us. You’d think after almost four decades of knowing each other, she’d have learned we didn’t like the easiest road. I wanted a challenge, whether it be in business or pleasure.

“Excuse me for craving some action.”

“That action might get you killed,” she grumbled.

“Now you’re talking. Is this the kind of danger I can blast to bits?” I’d been practicing my aim, seeing as how I’d recently had reason to invoke combat magic. I dared anyone to tell me it wasn’t awesome that I could shoot lightning from my fingertips.

“I swear, I don’t know why I bother.” Frieda sighed.

“Admit it, you called because you miss me.”

“Miss what? You bullying me to leave the apartment? Mocking my clothes? Telling me a dozen times a day to get laid?”

“You whine, and yet look at you now. Living in a different country, getting railed on a daily basis. The only thing you still need to work on is your wardrobe.” How I had a sister who thought it was okay to match flowered leggings with a striped shirt was beyond me.

“I see you’re going to be contrary, so I’m going to hang up now, but with just one more caution for you to ignore. Keep in mind that evil sorceresses who try to rule the world often end up dead.”

“Do you think I could be evil?” I asked, perusing myself in the mirror by my main door. I wore a cute jogging outfit—not that I jogged—in a light pink with “Juicy” spelled out in glittery letters across my butt.

“Aren’t you already?” was her sour reply.

My lips curved. “No, but I could be.”

“I don’t know why I bother. Bye. Oh, and say hi for me.”

Before I could ask “Say hi to who?” she’d severed the connection, but I didn’t mind. According to her, today was about to get interesting.

“Jinx!” I called my dog, who, of course, didn’t deign to reply. She really hated it when I treated her like a dog. Apparently, she thought herself above not only her own kind but humans too.

I found her in my bedroom, lying atop my pillow, shedding hair on it. Every night I changed the casing for it lest I choke on a strand. It had happened before, usually at three a.m.

My dog didn’t look at me, the human who dared interrupt her nap.

I crooned, “Does baby want to go for a walk?”

Boing. My dog sprang to her feet, her poufy body hiding her short legs. Her tail wagged frantically as she smiled. Yes, smiled. Jinx did love her walks.

“Let’s put a harness dress on. What do you think, polka dots or flowers today?” I had several drawers in the front hall dedicated to outfits for my dog, from adorable frothy dresses to a rubber-ducky-covered raincoat with matching booties. Jinx eschewed my suggestion of a very bright red halter dress with matching leash and chose instead a pink vest studded with rhinestones. Despite the sun, the fall weather had arrived with a sharp wind, so I wore a warm sherpa coat and ankle-high black boots. Like I said, I don’t jog.

We exited the apartment building to bright sunshine, my sudden squint making me wish I’d brought my sunglasses. I breathed in the fresh air of the outdoors, marred by the distinctive reek of cigar smoke. Rare nowadays, given most people had moved to vaping.

A glance showed a figure in a pea coat over slacks, with neatly coiffed hair and a freshly shaven jaw. The gentleman cut a rather elegant figure, though, and had to be new to the neighborhood since we’d never met. Yes, I was nosy enough to want to know who lived on my block. Annoying people were subtly encouraged to move, like that shrill priss who used to live across the street and thought she could lecture me on the joys of veganism. She crossed a line when she started in on my beloved Jinx, claiming some bullshit about pet ownership was akin to slavery and should be abolished. She even dared to unclip the leash and tell my dog to run free.

At the time, a less-than-impressed Jinx glanced at me, and I’d shrugged and said, “Your choice, baby.” Baby chose to chase the annoying twat before returning to me with a smirk. Slave my ass. If anyone held the upper hand in our relationship, it was my dog.

Given that neighbor didn’t learn her lesson and kept haranguing, a few minor spells led to her breaking her lease early. I wondered if it was the roaches or the food constantly rotting in her fridge that led to her snapping.

The gentleman standing at the bottom of my stoop smiled in my direction and my tummy fluttered. What a handsome specimen. He had a matching sexy, deep voice too. “Lovely afternoon, isn’t it?”

The weather. The inane conversation starter used by people around the world. “We don’t have many left before winter.”

“Indeed, we don’t, Ms. Grae.”

I stiffened. “Excuse me? How do you know my name? Who are you?” My suspicious side immediately wanted to know because this was obviously no chance encounter.

“Not going to guess?”

“I don’t play games.”

“No, you’re usually very direct. A commendable trait.”

“You speak as if you know me.”

“Because I do. You and I are closely linked.”

At that claim, I snorted. “What kind of lame line is that? I don’t know you.”

“True, and yet that doesn’t negate the fact you and I are bound. As are your sisters.”

The mention of my siblings had me narrowing my gaze. “Is this your way of saying you’re my daddy?” I eyed him up and down. “Damn, you must have been a toddler when you impregnated Mom.”

His brows rose. “I am not your father.”

“Is what Luke wishes Vader had said,” I mumbled.

“What? Who is this Luke?”

The way he spoke niggled at me. Like, who didn’t know the infamous Luke and that line from the movie? Somebody who’d not been exposed to any kind of media. Which was impossible if you lived anywhere on Earth these days, unless… “Are you going to keep playing word games, or are you going to tell me who you are?”

“Can’t you guess?”

I crossed my arms.

“I’m the god of monsters, but you may call me Typhon, seeing how you are going to help me retrieve my magic.”

I blinked at him then took my time sizing him up. Tall, well over six feet I realized. I stood on the stoop and still wasn’t eye-to-eye with him. Broad of shoulder, clean-shaven, impeccably dressed. Had to admit, he cleaned up nice. The last time I’d seen Typhon we were in Ariadne’s throne room, and he wore a billowing cloak that covered him head to toe, concealing his face.

“You don’t look like the god of monsters. Aren’t you supposed to have several heads?”

“I can take a monstrous shape if needed, but given humans are easily frightened, this form tends to cause fewer problems.”

I cocked my head. “How do I know you are who you say you are?”

He arched a brow. “Do you often have men introducing themselves as gods?”

“Yes,” I pertly replied. Then I added, “Usually, they’re claiming to be a god in the bedroom.”

“In my day, people didn’t pretend lest a true god smite them,” he grumbled.

“Welcome to the modern age.”

I went to step past him, and he growled. “Where are you going?”

“To walk my dog.” A dog who’d not barked at him, as she normally did with strangers. On the contrary, Jinx acted like a little lady, standing by my side, looking aloof and adorable.

“I’m not done speaking with you.”

“Then make an appointment. I’m busy.”

“I’d hardly call walking a mongrel busy.”

“Excuse me, I’ll have you know Jinx is a pure-bred Pomeranian. Her parents were show dogs. She’s got an impeccable pedigree.”

His lip curled. “She’s barely snack sized.”

“Talk about eating my dog one more time and I won’t be responsible for what happens,” I snapped. I didn’t tolerate insults about me or my sweet dog.

“Exactly what do you think you can do? I’m a god.”

“Former god. Given you haven’t regained the power Ariadne stole from you, you’re barely a step above human.”

That brought a mighty glower to his handsome face. “You are trying my patience.”

“And you’re wasting my time,” was my sassy reply. I wiggled my fingers, meaning to teach him a lesson, but rather than giving him a super wedgie, I found my thong riding up my ass crack. Ouch.

My lips parted. “What just happened?”

He smirked. “Have you already forgotten whose blessing you carry?”

My lips pinched, mostly because I didn’t want to admit it had slipped my mind that, technically, my magic came from him. It could be confusing, seeing how my mother filched my and my sisters’ power from Ariadne, who, in turn, had stolen her magic from the monster god.

What I’d not known until now was my magic couldn’t be used against him. “Is this your way of saying you’re immune to me?”

“Is that a problem?” he asked in that deep voice of his.

I wanted to say yes, but in actuality, this was kind of interesting. A man I couldn’t punish or magic into obeying. But the fact he could fuck with my powers did leave me with an interesting question. “If I can’t use your own blessing against you, then does that mean Ariadne can’t either?” Ariadne being the twatwaffle I’d recently gone up against with my sisters. She’d escaped into some portal to another world rather than give back what she stole.

“Correct. So long as I’m stuck with this”—he pulled loose his tie and undid the top button of his shirt to show me a metal collar around his neck—“she has access to my powers, but can’t use my magic against me.”

The ugly thing gave me a chill. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be cut off from my source of power. To have someone siphon it from me, making me weak.

“Well, at least you don’t have to worry about her anymore. She’s gone.”

“For now. She will return to finish what she began, unless we find her first.” His ominous prediction was a reminder that Ariadne planned to kill the monster god and permanently take his power.

“Sounds like a you problem.”

“Don’t be so sure of that. We are bound, you and I.”

I laughed. “No, we’re not. And I can prove it.” With my chin lifted, I walked away, because if there was one thing self-important people hated, it was being ignored.

Chapter Two – Typhon

The disrespect boggled the mind. Here was a woman who’d been gifted part of his magic, who bore his mark—making her his to order around—and yet she ignored him. She sauntered off, her heart-shaped buttocks swinging, with that ridiculous poof ball she called a dog.

Walked away from a god.

He scowled before taking long strides to catch up. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the park. Jinx needs her walk, don’t you, baby?” She offered a sweet smile to the hairy rat on a leash.

“We were in the midst of a conversation.”

“Which I ended because it bored me. Now run along.”

She should count herself lucky he lacked his powers or, in that moment, he would have smote her. “We are not done. Far from it. You will assist me in dealing with Ariadne.”

“I already did. Ariadne is gone from this world. Yay. And you’re welcome.”

“She took my power with her,” he reminded her.

“Which I already said is a you problem,” she countered.

“She will return which is why it’s imperative we find and stop her.”

That made the witch pause, and she cast him a sidelong glance. “Will she come back? I mean, she fled because my sisters and I were about to whoop her ass.”

“Ariadne will want revenge.”

“Ooh, sounds exciting.”

He stared at her wondering about her sanity, liking her attitude while hating it at the same time.

She smiled. “What? I’m bored. Who knew fighting an evil twat would be so energizing? I kind of hope she comes back so I can really fuck her up.”

“You might have taken Ariadne off guard, but she won’t be so easy to defeat the next time,” he warned.

“Again, assuming she returns. Could be the place she fled to is nice.”

“Doubtful. The pleasant worlds would never allow someone like her to stay.”

“But you have no way of knowing for sure. Could be she’s stuck like you were.”

A reminder that he’d been imprisoned in a barren dimension, a victim of betrayal, until recently.

“I highly doubt she went somewhere she can’t escape.”

“Says the guy who was stuck for… how long?”

“Only because she cursed the only exit.” He felt a need to defend himself.

“Whatever. I don’t know why you’d assume she went somewhere shitty.”

“Because there are few dimensions closely aligned to ours that are easy to slip in out and out of.”

“How many is a few?” she asked.

“Maybe five or six. But most of them she’d have ignored. Like Tartarus—”

“The prison for gods,” she interrupted.

“Actually, it is the home of the titans, who happen to be the only ones who are any good at keeping gods incarcerated. I can’t see her going there. Nor would she have gone to Elfenland.”

“Never heard of it.”

“It used to be the home of the fae.”

“Why used to be?”

“The fae played with things best left alone, leading to their near extinction. The only ones that remain alive were those who fled.”

“Okay, so she didn’t go to Elfenland. You said there were a few. Surely not all of them are shit?”

“I doubt she went to Hades.”

“Wait, there’s an actual Hell?”

He snorted. “Yes, but it’s not a place where souls go when they die but rather a hot cesspool for demons.”

“Does this mean there’s a Heaven too?”

“Heaven is a place of endless skies and clouds, with the only solid place being the Garden of Eden, a dangerous locale where even the most beautiful flower is deadly. Not a place Ariadne would go, just like Nullarcana, a dimension that hates magic and hunts those who have it. They’re the ones who created this collar.” He tapped it.

“Doesn’t sound like she’d be staying in any of those places. But from the sounds of it, there are more.”

“There are two planes similar to Earth, but they are very proactive about preventing intruders, so she’d have avoided those.”

“Assuming she knew where she went.”

“Oh, she knew,” was his dark response. “She most likely planned her escape well in advance.”

“I wonder if she knows what world she dumped my mom in.”

“Most likely yes, since she can’t just open a portal to nowhere,” he remarked. He’d been there when Ariadne tried to thin those fighting against her by opening a doorway and shoving the triplets’ mother through.

“What are the chances she sent my mom somewhere nice?”

“Doubtful, but I wouldn’t worry about Apate,” he murmured. Apate, the triplets’ mother, being the goddess of deceit and powerful in her own right.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that your mother is very resourceful.”

“You speak as if you know her.”

“Before my incarceration, we were acquainted.”

Deino’s lip curled. “Oh gross, you slept together.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “No. We are friends, nothing more.”

“Seems like more than friends. After all, she had triplets for you and even had the balls to steal some of your magic from Ariadne to give to us.”

“This is more a case of like sticking together. We are both gods. Ariadne is not. She is a thief. A pretender. She can’t be allowed to succeed.”

“I hate to break it to you, but hasn’t she already? I mean you were imprisoned how long?”

His lips pressed flat. “I am aware of the shame. My weakness is no excuse.”

“How much of your power does Ariadne have?”

“A good portion of it. But not all. I still have dribbles. You and your sisters have some too.”

She eyed him before saying, “If we’re carrying your magic, why haven’t you taken it back to strengthen yourself?”

He put a hand to the collar at his throat. “So long as I wear this, Ariadne will just take anything you give me.”

“Are you sure you don’t want Frieda to try and remove it? Heck, I’ll give it a shot if you want.”

He gave a violent shake of his head. “No. Given Ariadne is no longer on this world, I don’t know what will happen. Could be it severs my power permanently, kills me, or the snap of it could cause an explosion.”

“Or is that what she wants you to think so you don’t try to remove it?” she countered.

“This parasite metal isn’t from this world. I don’t know how it will react and, as such, would prefer to not take a chance. I didn’t survive my incarceration to die from being rash.” He noticed during their conversation and stroll they’d reached a park. The dog didn’t seem impressed by the other canines or the grass.

“So you want to find Ariadne to sever the contact between you hopefully without rebound.”

He inclined his head. “When your sister released Bacchus from his collar, he didn’t seem to suffer ill effect, so I am hopeful.” Bacchus being Ariadne’s husband, a god who’d also had his power stolen.

“I still can’t believe he jumped into that portal after my mom.” Her nose wrinkled.

“They were lovers before he met Ariadne.”

“Frieda says you banged Ariadne too.” Deino glanced at him from under lashes.

He winced. “Not one of my finer moments. Blame a weakness of the flesh.”

“Fair enough. I get it.” She crouched to talk with her dog in the stupidest voice. “Okay, little sweet baby, you go do a tinkle, and if you do a number two, I’ve got a treat for you.”

“What are you doing?” he asked with a hint of incredulity.

“Cheering on my favorite girl so she’ll do her business outside instead of on my shag.” She continued singing in that strange, high-pitched voice.

“You let your dog rule you.” His mouth rounded. “A thing not even the size of your head.”

“Excuse me? My head is not that big.”

He glared at the dog. “You.” He pointed. “Defecate.”

The fluffy creature stared at him.

He stared back.

This was embarrassing. The god of monsters shouldn’t be losing a battle of wills with a dog.

“We are wasting time. We need to find Ariadne,” he growled.

“What’s with this ‘we’ shit?” she grumbled.

“You’re going to help.”

“Pretty sure I’m not.”

“Your mother owes me.”

“And? That’s her. Not me, or my sisters.”

“She had you for that express purpose.”

Her expression tightened, and a hard glint entered her gaze. “I am aware Mother didn’t have us out of some maternal instinct. I don’t need you shoving it in my face. And it also changes nothing. I don’t owe you shit.”

Frustration built inside him. There was a time when no one dared speak to him so disrespectfully. The witch saw him as weak. Less than a man. She wouldn’t help without the right motivation.

He couldn’t think of many things that would get her to change her mind. Threatening her sisters would be the quickest but could also backfire, as she was the type to plot vengeance. So what else might sway her?

“Help me and I will give you even more power.”

She eyed him. “I already have quite a bit.”

“But not enough to be immortal.”

He knew he’d surprised her by the slight stiffening of her body. She was careful not to show too much interest. “Immortality won’t help if I’m dead before I get it.”

“But if you succeed…” he teased.

“What are the odds of that?”

“I don’t know. However, the fact Ariadne fled rather than fought indicates she’s fearful we’ll manage to defeat her.”

“Or she’s gone somewhere she can shore up her defense and pick us off if we come for her.”

“The quest will be dangerous.” He wouldn’t lie about that.

“Not exactly a selling point.”

“If Ariadne returns before we find her, she will want vengeance on those who thwarted her,” he warned.

“Meaning me and my sisters.” She looked away before asking, “How are we supposed to handle her if you don’t know where she went?”

“There are ways of finding out.”

“Let’s say we do find her. She still has your magic, and while she might not be able to blast you to kingdom come, she won’t have a problem eradicating me.”

“If we can separate her from the armband that is linked to my collar—”

“Oh, just that?” she sarcastically retorted. “Easy peasy. Let me get right on that.”

“It won’t be simple, but your sister achieved it with ease for Bacchus.”

“Then why aren’t you asking her for help?”

“Alas, the journey we must embark upon is better suited for someone of your skills.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Who says I want to travel? Not to mention, you’re assuming I can replicate what Frieda did. Need I remind you that my sister acted in a moment of panic with no clue what she was doing?”

“A good thing you are the levelheaded sister who will practice ahead of time.”

She stared at him. “Practice how? You told me I couldn’t take off your collar.”

“There are other objects of magic you can attempt to drain.” The armband his collar controlled could only be removed by siphoning the magic holding it in place.

“You’ve got an answer for everything.”

“Of course, I do. I am a god after all.”

Her laughter rang out bright and cheerful and oddly pleasant despite the situation.

She shook her head. “You are something, Typhon. Let’s say I agree, how do I know you won’t go back on your word once you’re the monster god again? Who’s to stop you from killing me instead of paying up?”

At times he wished he had that kind of dishonor. “I can only give my word.”

“Trust isn’t something I give to just anyone.”

“Understandable, but I will mention, as someone who was betrayed, I would not ever do the same. If I want you dead, I will tell you so.”

“Gonna warn me before the smiting?”

His lips twitched. Surely, he wasn’t amused by this witch. “I always warn because the chase is part of the fun.”

Once more her laughter rang out. “Better be careful, or I might start liking you.”

“Does this mean you’ll help?”

Deino crouched to grab her dog and tuck it under her arm. “I’ll get back to you about it. I want to talk to Frieda about my future first.”

“She might not be able to see it if it requires you to travel to another dimension.”

“Perhaps not, but she can tell if I’ll come back.”

“When will you have an answer?” he asked as she once more dared to walk away.

She cast him a coy glance over her shoulder. “I’ll call you.”

Should he point out he didn’t have a phone? In his day, prayer was enough to get his attention. In his day, she would have never refused.

And even more disrespectfully, she made him wait.