She said, “If it’s one of the PC companies trying to sabotage us, they’re being smart about it. The hacker is an independent, and I can’t trace it back to whoever hired him, not without breaking the law myself.”

  She rolled over sensually, and sat up, then started to apply more illusory suntan lotion to her illusory body, the evil vixen. She giggled at that thought.

  I sighed, “Send it to the FBI, maybe they can check his bank accounts and figure out who paid him. At the very least, arrest him for it. They tend to take corporate espionage seriously.”

  Misty nodded.

  “The FDA has also officially closed the case in our favor, as we suspected they would after that meeting. Umm, I think that fear campaign you speculated on is starting as well. A blogger with anti-supernatural leanings just did a podcast on it. He’s not rabid about it, but his guest was, and it’s worse than we thought.”

  “How so?” I asked.

  She sighed, “Well, he didn’t just play up the magic in our bodies angle, which sounded paranoid enough. He said the computer was essentially in the mind, and an outrageous invasion of privacy. He suggested the idea we wouldn’t be reading people’s minds was naïve, and he suggested we may even be planning to use that data to tailor subtle brainwashing and population control to the individual level.”

  I snorted, “What does he think, we’re the government?”

  Lianne giggled at my joke. It was a fairly well-known conspiracy theory, that the government was doing those kinds of things. Tin foil hat crowd. There was some truth to that on a widespread social level campaign, but targeting individuals and mind control was ridiculous.

  Point being, it was ridiculous. At least there was a motive for government to do that kind of thing, control the population. We would’ve already sold them the product, so what exactly would we gain by trying to control anyone? Of course, logic very rarely was involved in such emotionally driven arguments.

  Faith interjected, “Well, we could do that, but we’d have to reprogram the A.I.s first. The AIOS would never betray their owner’s privacy or try to influence their opinions.”

  I shrugged, “We probably wouldn’t have sold any to the tin foil hat crowd anyway, given he’s not wrong about the A.I.s being in our thoughts.”

  Misty nodded, “Yes, but I think it’s just the first step. They start with introducing the idea to the outliers, and then make enough noise that the mainstream media will do a report on it. If they see that enough times in the news and social media, it will influence the main segment of the population. People will believe anything if they see and hear it enough.”

  I smirked, “So in order to debunk the brainwashing fear, we have to counter brainwash the population with social media to prevent the enemy’s social media use from brainwashing the mainstream population against us using their fears?”

  Misty blinked, then chuckled, “Exactly. No brainwashing with the implants, we just need to brainwash the truth into them via other means, that it’s safe and we’re not evil. Though I believe the politically correct term is social engineering, brainwashing is so last century.”

  “Alright, seriously, as amusing as this conversation has become, how do we counter it?”

  The fact we had reason and truth on our side was almost immaterial, perception trumped reality.

  Faith said, “Well just do interviews and put out our own meme campaign with the truth. It won’t be entirely effective, but eventually it will just go away.”

  Lianne nodded, “There was a fervor about privacy when some tech companies started to track their users web usage in order to target ads and influence through social engineering. In the end, when nothing horrible happened and out of simple convenience that mostly just went away. People shrugged it off and kept using Facebook, Google, and other social media sites because everyone else was and it was a convenient way to keep in touch with friends. Most people in our time wouldn’t even understand now what those people were thinking back then, it’s convenient to have targeted ads.

  “It might slow us down a little, but the convenience of having instant and comprehensive access to the internet, music, television, movies, banking, games, security access, virtual interactions, and more, will settle those fears in the long run. We should also stress security, no one is going to be stealing their implant and getting their passwords like they could with a phone or computer, no one’s going to spoof their payment system when an A.I. is the gateway guardian. If anything, their privacy will be enhanced by moving to our product. Not from our A.I. but that A.I. will guard them zealously, the danger in losing privacy is to other humans who will take advantage of them.”

  Misty said, “That seems likely, and we should stress her last point in our ad and meme campaigns. The A.I.s are guardians of privacy, not breeches of it.”

  Cerise said, “Misty, Faith, and I will handle it.”

  “Perfect, but keep me updated. Anything else going on?”

  Faith bit her lip seductively, and gave me a subtle come fuck me look, which told me she was feeling a bit itchy.

  I was more than happy to step into the breach…

  Chapter Nine

  A few days passed, and nothing much had changed.

  The Norse gods were still trying to get their shit together, as Gregory and Patricia set up a joint rule and tried to get things under control. None of the Norse gods had been attacking the Egyptians or us anymore, so I supposed they were doing a decent job in keeping their gods in line so far.

  The strain on my council was already causing problems. They were still looking for me and were convinced I’d attack them if they split apart at all. So Natasha had cancelled all her appointments and Mandy was missing her lab. Kaya was missing her government service in Japan. Gary was the only one really working, since he could run the businesses with his implant from anywhere.

  Otherwise, they were constantly together, at HQ, which was also limiting their sex lives, another pressure point.

  Freda and Teresa were just doing their usual thing, they didn’t fear me since they were staying out of it, and they were right. Nadia wasn’t stressed either, since she’d never worked an honest day’s work in her life as the daughter of a high ranking general in Russia. She was just hanging around, and content in her plotting out various strategies to seize power depending on how things played out.

  It was also their first normally scheduled day to do a jailhouse walkthrough with Amelia to judge those arrested since the last one, since the short war with the Norse gods. I was hopeful, that she’d read the truth in them when judging the others, with her power out and being exercised. Up till now, she hadn’t used it to read her mates at all. That was a few hours away, and I’d be watching that go down.

  If Amelia didn’t turn on them and knock some sense into them, well then I’d have no choice but to act. If they were so locked into their suicidal course as far as government, safety of our gods, and their own family which would eventually implode from resentment and loss of respect and admiration. All to cater to the jealousy and anger in the man they loved despite knowing it was wrong. Then they were beyond saving, corrupt as Nate ever was, and needed to be taken down. A necessary act that would gain me far too many enemies, from Mark, to Ciara’s coven, to… who knows who else.

  It was… insane, from my point of view, even if I understood why it was happening.

  As for us, we just focused on business, pleasure, and relaxing as much as possible.

  At the moment Lianne and I were about to teleport out to meet with Layla, who had requested a meeting at a neutral site.

  Layla was as stunningly attractive as she was taken, which was to say extremely. She was athletic, five foot eight, with straight black hair and seductive dark chocolate eyes. She had on a casual yellow summer dress with white sandals when we arrived at the meeting place, Yellowstone.

  I nodded in greeting, “Layla, to what do we owe the pleasure, and without Karim?”

  Layla sighed, “I persuaded Karim to let me negotiate and settle the debt between us, since it was me that you interfered with. He really despises you, so I thought it best to do this alone.”

  Persuaded was a bit of an understatement, she’d been on her knees and had him in hand, right on the edge, when she’d extracted his agreement for this with sultry teasing words. I supposed when you had a joint rule set up, and mantels that ensured a deep and unending love and commitment, that sex would enter into negotiations on ruling decisions.

  Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with that sort of thing, because I was thoroughly wrapped around my mates’ fingers when it came to family matters. I mean, it was really hard to say no to a woman when her lips were wrapped around your dick, especially with love and a need to cherish as part of the equation.

  I also knew what she was about to negotiate for as far as reparation for my misstep. This was business after all, and I had no compunction about using that power for business or rule, it was just family or friends I refused to use it for. Not that I had any of that latter, not really. My four mates and family were my only friends in this world. It was as they say, lonely at the top.

  I once had hope that the love and darkness trio, and perhaps their mates could be friends, since they were good people. But I was sure now that would never happen, even if Gary backed down and called it off, the best I could hope for was wary respect. Even Mandy, who had wanted to be friends with me just days ago, would back off on it. Even if it was Gary’s fault, they’d apportion some of the blame on me for the damage to their mating relationship, despite the fact I was truly an innocent victim in this.

  It was human nature, and I could live with it, and count myself lucky to have such a large and loving family. Everyone else would be cordial business associates at best, and political adversaries at worst.

  I should’ve included Misty in that, she was family, if not physically intimate, and the fifth I would name friend in this lifetime. It was enough.

  Anyway, I was glad she was handling it on her own, but I dared not show it, lest she misinterpret that as me not respecting her as a fellow ruler. She wasn’t a pushover, and it would be a mistake to make her think I thought of her that way, when I really didn’t. She just didn’t hate or distrust me, which honestly was the best I could ask for of any of my equal rulers on this world.

  “It will be good to put this behind us, what is it you require of me?”

  Her lips twitched, “The same thing Karim asked for, but I don’t mind if you use Mark to deliver the message. Alec has gotten worse since Gopal’s party, I suspect someone at the party overheard our conversation and it got back to him. So he doubled his efforts to plow his way through all our goddesses before he could be restrained, and increased the frequency of his practical jokes.”

  I snorted, that totally sounded like him. Part of that amusement was her using the word plow to describe his activities.

  “I’ll get Mark on it. If his friend is unable to reel him in, I will intercede personally.”

  She nodded, “Until we meet again, I shouldn’t tarry. We don’t like being apart.”

  I nodded in understanding, and she disappeared in a flashing red sphere.

  “Misty, send this conversation to Mark, and ask him to intercede before Alec starts a serious incident. He has the rest of the day to convince him to leave the Egyptian gods alone.”

  Misty replied, “Done.”

  We teleported back to the house, and Lianne pressed herself against me and started to kiss my neck while teasing the back of my neck with her fingernails. I truly had no idea what set her manic side off, nor did I care. Her lips on my neck always drove me crazy, and that time was no exception. I took her firmly in hand, and then took her in our bed, which was quite satisfying for both of us.

  When it finally went down, it was ugly, and it gave me no satisfaction to watch Amelia rip them to pieces. Gary tried his line of bullshit reasoning with her that had worked on the others, but there was no fooling a mantel with false rationalizations. Mantels didn’t compromise, that was the whole point of them. There was screaming, and tears, and they all turned on him the second they realized Amelia was about to walk out of their lives. When she showed them contempt at their recent actions, and that they weren’t the justice centered people that she’d mated to twenty years ago, they all found their moral centers as I’d hoped.

  Against those odds, Gary didn’t stand a chance. The one thing stronger than his jealousy inspired hatred of me and my rule, was the pain and fear of losing his family. It was messy, ugly, and an end to their falsely justified attempts to dethrone me, there was no room for self-deception. Amelia straight out said they were corrupted, it wasn’t justice, and they were acting out of selfishness that put their family, their government, and every Greek god in danger.

  Mandy had always known, she’d just been too terrified to make the stand. Too afraid to go back to her old slutty life, loved and needed them too much.

  No pleasure, but also no guilt. It was all their fault. Gary’s for not controlling his emotions like a sixty-year-old man should be able to, and for being so shortsighted. Natasha’s fault for her moral cowardice, because she was the one that could truly see me.

  It was… ugly, and truly gave me no pleasure or satisfaction, though there was some of that latter in the fact I was still ruler, and that fact wouldn’t be changing just because Sara and the other fates weren’t backing me by word or deed anymore. I say by word or deed, because I was fairly sure they’d seen this ending and approved of it, they’d just had no need to interfere with it to make it happen.

  No, me holding back and waiting for sanity to assert itself, was all that had been needed for me to keep the throne.

  Anyway, their family ties and connections were damaged, their admiration, respect, and pride in Gary tarnished, which did effect love. I was confident they could get passed it and grow even closer in time. All relationships had rocky spots. It was also none of my business, save that it linked into my next point. I was also correct that this would partially backlash on me, unfair or not. None of them felt thankful to me at all because of their damaged relationship, despite me holding back on taking any action against them, which saved both some of their mates lives and their relationship.

  So… no good deed goes unpunished, right?

  Still, it was the best possible outcome, and as I’d already said, it solidified my rule independently. No one would dare try to unseat me now, unless I earned it of course, which I didn’t think would happen. I’d never overreached. This had also been inevitable. I mean, I had pretty much taken the throne and dictated the way the council would work moving forward, even if it wasn’t all that different than Natasha wanted in the first place, it had been on my terms, not theirs. It only worked because the fates were backing me, they’d been too afraid to go against them.

  So of course this test of my rule had been inevitable after we’d gotten through the war, but I could put it behind me now.

  Further, it would also make my rule more effective and my pantheon safer. I was a good ruler, being able to spot the shortfalls, how to make things better, and passing on orders through them. But alone I’d miss things, simply by not having enough time in the day to follow through on everything. I also couldn’t protect the gods alone. It would also take time away from my businesses and my family, trying to rule alone. Point being, I did get something out of my act of patience and short three-day sojourn in hiding. They might never be my friends, but they would support me and work with me, which in the end was the whole point. I couldn’t do it alone. Not well, anyway.

  I told the others what happened, then said, “Let’s go home.”

  They were all pretty excited and relieved the crisis was over, so much so it turned into a wild family orgy of sorts, which we really didn’t do during the days at all. Just every night. But that day we did, and it was a wild time. They could be overwhelming at times, in a very good way.

  The bed was comfortable despite being a bit soaked with sweat, and I was totally blissed out and sated, also surrounded by the sated scents of my mates and there was delightfully naked and nubile female flesh all around me as we cuddled in the after bliss.

  Life really didn’t get better than that.

  Misty said, “Mandy is calling,” as she appeared at the end of the bed, and then took a mischievous gander at my spent cock.

  I sighed, not about the call, about Misty’s cheekiness. She didn’t normally watch, but after accepting her always being in my mind it seemed silly to make her disappear each time I had sex. After all, the illusion of privacy had been shattered. She still did most of the time anyway, preferring her mischievous flirting to be slightly less base than pretending voyeurism.

  Misty winked.

  I just wanted to answer the call, and that was enough to open the line.

  “Mandy?”

  Mandy said, “Yes. Umm, I assume you’re aware?”

  “Yes, we already moved back home. Let’s never speak of it again.”

  Mandy cleared her throat nervously, and despite the awkwardness some of her usual excitability came through in her voice.

  “Well, I promised to invite you to the unveiling, for the project I needed the magical power devices for. The press will be there too. I won’t blame you if you decide not to go, but I do want you there as a colleague and possible future business partner?”

  But not as a friend. Which was fine, and only what I’d expected. We’d be cordial, but that’s as far as it would ever go. Which was probably for the best, a ruler couldn’t really be friends with those he ruled, it never worked out in the long term according to my memories on the subject. That didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy the company though, just that our interactions would not be of a deeply personal nature past asking after the kids.

  “Where and when?”

  Mandy said, “Three this afternoon, our backyard.”

  “See you then.”

  Mandy said goodbye and disconnected.