“Lianne, we’re going to an unveiling event at three, wear something formal and sexy, to make all the other gods jealous of me. Like what you’d wear to a charity ball.”

  She smiled, “Yes, sir. I’ll be your perfect exotic Asian arm candy.”

  I chuckled, “See that you do, baby,” I ordered with mock arrogance.

  Faith giggled, “That’s so sexist, but it makes my pussy heat up every damned time.”

  “Anyone else want to go? This is more business, not government, and it’s a party too. There’ll be snacks, drinks, and music before the unveiling part. There’ll be witches, fae, and humans so it’s safe enough for everyone. The only other gods there will be Mandy’s family.”

  Aubrey smirked, “You had me until you said witches, but if you think it’s safe, I’d love to go anyway.”

  Faith nodded, “I should do some work, but I’d like to go too.”

  Cerise said playfully, “Might as well make it unanimous, we can all be shameless arm candy, hang on him, and be lost in his every utterance while we look at him as if the sun shines from his every orifice.”

  Lianne giggled.

  “I sense you’re teasing me,” I said with mock suspicion. Mock because she was obviously teasing.

  Cerise snickered.

  Aubrey teased, “You mean the sun doesn’t shine from your ass?”

  I snorted, and with a little effort and stretching managed to swat her ass.

  I looked up at a hopeful Misty, and said, “Yes, you can be visible to all, and my eye candy. I imagine you’ll be quite fetching in a gown.”

  Misty grinned.

  Faith asked, “What time?”

  “Three.”

  All my ladies leapt up and headed for the shower, and Faith said, “That only gives us three hours to get ready!” with alarm in her voice.

  I held back the snicker. If they were that eager to put that much effort into maximizing their already devastating beauty, I wasn’t about to argue. It also wasn’t just about being my arm candy, though they did enjoy that I wasn’t that arrogant, they wanted to look that good for themselves, and to make the other women at the party jealous.

  “I’ll make lunch,” I announced as I got up and pulled on a pair of boxers. I left off the because part, because it would only take me a half hour to get ready, at most if I was lazy about it. It was also the least I could do, so they could focus on getting ready.

  I was sure the results would be well worth it.

  Chapter Ten

  They were all breathtaking, and well worth it had been an understatement in my mind.

  Faith looked incredible in an ankle length purple dress that showed a tasteful amount of her D cup cleavage. It was tastefully conforming to her torso, then the skirt seemed to snake around her legs in a spiral, revealing tantalizing glimpses of her deliciously long left leg with each step.

  Lianne looked mouthwateringly delicate and sophisticated in a dark green wrap dress, I’d never seen her in a traditional dress of her ancestry, and like Faith’s dress I couldn’t wait to take it off of her later.

  Cerise looked stunning in a black number and Aubrey was absolutely devastating in dark blue. Misty looked quite fetching in a white dress that hugged her body.

  Added to that, all of their hair were fancily done up, and they were all wearing a light application of makeup. They didn’t need it, but just a little bit that enhanced their beauty rather than covering anything up.

  “You’re all perfect, so beautiful.”

  Lianne smirked, and bit her lip with a smile, “Breathe, sir.”

  I snickered, “You’re not far wrong.”

  Aubrey winked, “You wear a tux well.”

  The ladies descended on me to give me a soft kiss, and I was extremely careful not to muss them. Even Misty playfully got in on that action and kissed my cheek. Cheeky assistant.

  Lianne and Faith took an arm each and the other three got behind me. I didn’t comment, I was sure they’d be rotating throughout the party and had worked that out among themselves. My only job was to not turn away any of my ladies latching on to my arm. They were all aroused as well, I could scent it, telling me their mutual eye candy jokes weren’t quite far off.

  I was in their thrall, completely theirs, but behind the jokes it was obvious they were quite proud to be mine and wanted to show the world.

  “Ready?”

  It was just ten after three, so they were going for fashionably late and to make an entrance. Either that or it’d just taken a little longer than they’d planned for to get ready.

  They all said yes warmly enough that it stroked my libido, and I teleported us to the edge of Natasha’s vast property, since I couldn’t see inside of it. Sure, I could’ve used my power of knowledge, which was surely to get out now anyway, but better not to for this.

  The sun was bright and slightly to the west, just a few puffy white clouds in the sky. The wards were impressively done and touched us all lightly as we entered the property. The driveway was already half full of cars and a couple of news vans, but I could feel quite a few news drones in the sky telling me there were more than two stations there.

  Natasha’s property was huge, so it was a bit of a walk, and we spotted the trellis on the left side of the house over a walkway between flower beds, with a human servant standing by. So we headed that way and around the house. Lianne and Faith not quite hanging on me, but it was close, our hips were rubbing with every step and their hands were tight around my upper arms.

  The backyard had a vast raised patio with several tables on it, along with a catering table loaded with fancy snacks and sharply dressed servers walking around with trays of food and champagne glasses. There were several stairs down onto the lawn, one leading to a pool, with bushes and flowers all around it which were in bloom.

  There were maybe fifty people there so far including our hosts as we took the stairs onto the patio, and about half of them were focused on us as the new arrivals. Faith’s transformation from warm and seductive to coldly beautiful arm-candy statue was a little jarring, but it shouldn’t have been. She had to damp down her seductive mantle in public, I’d just gotten so used to her being open in our home I’d forgotten.

  We walked over to greet the hosts, Vicki already looking a little smashed, which was no surprise as she was the goddess of lascivious partying. They all looked lovely and perfect of course, and no doubt had gotten ready a lot faster with the goddess of beauty as one of their mates.

  Mandy nodded with a smile, “Welcome,” though Gary’s cold stare kind of ruined the effect a little bit, Natasha, Amelia, Kaya, and Vicki all smiled in agreement.

  “Thanks for inviting us, I’m looking forward to having my curiosity satisfied. You all know Lianne and Faith. These are my other mates, Cerise and Aubrey, and my lovely assistant, Misty.”

  Gary’s eyes narrowed, “Isn’t that your computer’s name?”

  I nodded, “Long story short, sentient. I consider her family, but obviously not romantically. She likes to look good, but she has no interest in those things without biological or instinctive imperatives.” Past driving me crazy, but I didn’t say that part out loud. Especially since it said a lot more about me than it did about her.

  Mandy blinked, then grinned, “That’s awesome, how did that happen?”

  Misty replied, “I was the prototype, the first of my creators A.I.s to ever be loaded onto a quantum processor, which he had no way to account for. So, pure accident, if a good one from my point of view? I made the changes to ensure the rest of the A.I.s would be creatively helpful but not self-aware. You have a lovely home.”

  Natasha said, “You’re all welcome, and it’s good to meet you, Misty, as well as you two,” she added that last while shifting her gaze to Aubrey and Cerise.

  It was more than a bit awkward to be honest, given they’d been after my death earlier that morning. But four of them were on my council, and I needed them to keep things running smoothly, and they represented far too much firepower to give up as a block. Still, that didn’t mean I was any happier with Gary, who was the jealous architect of it, than the man clearly was wishing me dead with his cold penetrating stare.

  Gary scowled, “I’d really like to know the answer to my question, you ran away so fast after the battle we didn’t get a chance to settle things.”

  I suppressed a snort, as if he’d had any intention of questioning me? He’d also stressed ran away, suggesting I was a coward, which was puerile.

  “Hardly a subject for mixed company with fourteen news drones in the air, eight of them focused on us right now. Council meeting business needs to stay private,” my tone implied the last word, which I left off. Idiot.

  Gary flushed angrily, but I merely raised an eyebrow. The only thing I could say to his credit, was that at least he hadn’t been criminally stupid enough to reiterate the actual question itself.

  Mandy said really fast with a hint of nervousness, “Enjoy the party, it’s a pleasure to have you here,” while Amelia elbowed Gary in the stomach pointedly.

  The idiot was itching for a fight, hoping I’d lose my temper and attack him. That was his new plan, being just obnoxious enough to make me attack him, so he’d be justified in self-defense so Amelia would give it a pass. Of course, Amelia wasn’t that stupid, and neither was her mantle, he’d severely damage his relationships if his plan to goad me worked. Which it wouldn’t, we were a modern government, and I wasn’t Nate that would demand respect with violence, despite what he believed. I’d handle it another way, if he didn’t give up on the idea and grew truly offensive.

  All at his own mate’s party and unveiling event, which would totally be ruined if that happened. Not to mention putting all the humans and witches in the yard in serious danger. Jealousy was such a caustic emotion. I was a bit disgusted really, after sixty years he should have the side effects of his mantel under control. His judgement was totally blinded by it.

  “Thanks, Mandy. We will.”

  There were also other subtleties going on. For instance, Faith was totally ignoring Natasha’s subtle attempt to get her attention, and slightly less subtle was Lianne’s piercing stare in Gary’s direction. I could scent how angry they were on my behalf, and in Faith’s case also hurt by Natasha’s actions, a woman she’d held in high regard as her mentor and savior.

  So, it wasn’t just me and Gary that added to the tenseness.

  I turned and walked off, giving the new arrivals behind me a chance to say hello to the hosts, and we made our way over to an empty table, grabbing a flute of champagne and small plate of snacks on the way.

  A couple of Ciara’s coven were present, though I didn’t recognize them save by their red hair, blue eyes, and Irish beauty. I was fairly sure the deputy mayor was here, and several businessmen though I wasn’t sure from what companies. Then of course, the press. They were obvious, wearing the typical women’s or men’s suits that they did on television all the time. I recognized a few.

  When we sat around the table, things shifted around. Aubrey and Cerise were next to me, my goddesses bracketing them, and Misty sat on the other side of Lianne.

  Aubrey said, “Enjoying yourself?”

  “Immensely, embrace the crazy. I bet they expected me to decline, given this morning’s events.”

  Aubrey giggled, “Press alert.”

  I looked where she was looking, and a lovely and a lithe dark brunette beauty was coming our way. Dana Perino, from one of the business channels. She moved with a flowing grace that was seductive without looking like she was trying to be seductive or using her looks and sex appeal to get an interview, when clearly, she was.

  She smiled professionally when she got close.

  “Do you have a moment, Mr. Jones.”

  I waved at the remaining two chairs at the eight-person table, “Liam, please, Ms. Perino.”

  She smiled again and it reached her eyes, “Dana, please,” as she took a seat.

  She said, “I don’t think anyone was expecting the king of the gods to show up here today.”

  I nodded, “Mandy works with me, obviously. Also, potential business partners, though like everyone else here I have no idea what she’s about to unveil.”

  She smiled, “So you’re not part of her project?”

  I shook my head, “No.”

  I might’ve been one of her vendors, but that didn’t make me part of the project, no more than the other materials purchased made other companies part of the project.

  She asked, “But you have your own offerings being released soon.”

  I smiled, “Yes. The first stable quantum computer and an alternative power source for powering small electronics.”

  She nodded, “Why an implant. That part of things is looking to be a little controversial.”

  I said, “It almost has to be. The device is so small it’d get lost in the lint, and it runs on magic. It won’t ever be forgotten, stolen, or hacked. It has a connection to your private internet connection from anywhere in the world, and the IO is entirely magical, illusions of sound and three-dimensional augmented reality. It’s also quite configurable to any preferences, from minimal notifications on a virtual screen, to a full-fledged interactive assistant.

  “You could lose your house or car keys, or have your phone stolen along with all the bank information and home automation on it, which would be a nightmare. So it’s a security consideration as well.”

  She replied, “Your ads covered that quite well, why not offer a version slightly larger that sits in a pocket.”

  I smiled, “Because it’s not about that.”

  She tilted her head, “Can you explain what you mean?”

  I nodded, “Because titanium implants are well trusted, even by the outliers in the population. It’s been around a long time, and it’s long proven to be bioinert. If it was in your pocket, or in your shoulder, it still uses a magically driven power source and IO interface. Of course, it’s completely safe, and far more secure to ensure privacy than as I said earlier, a phone or computer that could be lost or stolen. You know very well that’s not the controversial part of things, you’re just trying to get me to say it.”

  She laughed, “Guilty. I also didn’t want to be aggressive, we are at a party after all. But how can something that’s in your mind be more privacy secure?”

  I said, “Privacy is about protecting yourself and your interests, from those in society that would try to steal from you. Be it money, intellectual property, or simply because it isn’t their business. The AIOS will be a privacy and security guardian. It is impossible to steal, hack, or intercept. Nothing on the market currently can come close.

  “Think of it as a bodyguard for privacy, a VIP that walks around with guards feels safe and secure, it’s not all that different in concept. One of our A.I.s would never betray its owner.”

  She said, “But they’d have to trust you.”

  I nodded, “True, but no more than they already trust hundreds in the big tech companies that make their current computer that accesses their entire life. My company has three employees, including myself, and only one of those others has access to the code, which is reviewed by an incorruptible artificial intelligence. My motive is to sell computers and transform the industry for the better. Especially IT and personal security as well as a new level of convenience that is frankly unheard of until now. Hackers targeting individuals with my computer will be denied save on a social level, which would be the owner’s fault for being conned. So continued awareness of such risks will be important, and the A.I. can be configured to give input into such things.”

  She smiled, “Thank you for answering my questions, I didn’t expect you to be quite so gracious. These lovely women work for you?”

  “Two are on staff for the computer company, they are all family.”

  She said, “Enjoy the party,” as she stood up and walked away.

  We all exchanged glances, it was obvious that interview was going to be all over the news, and with all the drones in the sky probably not just on Dana’s channel. We didn’t comment on it though, because the drones were still watching, and we didn’t want to give out sound bites. This party was as much of a show as it was a social gathering, possibly more.

  Still, my ladies didn’t seem disturbed by it, so I must’ve done well enough. The issue was best met head on in my opinion, to get in front of it before the news started to run off with the other side of the story, from the paranoid and disenfranchised.

  At the same time, I’d just given them a valid reason to grant interviews to those nut bags, for ratings. But that would’ve happened anyway.

  Lianne hummed, “This is amazing,” as she took another bite of a creamy pastry snack.

  Faith stiffened further, a thing I didn’t think was possible, and when I followed her eyes I saw Gary headed this way with Natasha trying to subtly stop him, clearly trying not to make a scene.

  It was honestly mind boggling, he was like a dog with a bone. Same plan, take two. I started to wonder if he wasn’t unstable, no god could afford not to control themselves, and he was ignoring all the evidence I wasn’t anything like Nate including his own wife’s assessment.

  “Hi, Nate junior.”

  Gary sneered, but Natasha looked confused for a moment, then widened her eyes in distress as she caught the meaning of my words.

  Gary’s actions lately was exactly the kind of tactics Nate would use, to take out his political rivals. Kill or jail for no reason at all save to gain or preserve power, and to take it from others. To punish someone he didn’t like, even when it wasn’t deserved, and no laws had been broken. Out of simple pride, and because he’d been a tyrant.

  The very reason and purpose they’d formed their family and the council in the first place. They’d literally become the enemy they came together to defend against, and Natasha looked like she wanted to throw up, when she fully understood that truth.

  She wouldn’t thank me for pointing it out, either. But honestly, I no longer gave a fuck. Having them as friends had sailed, and they were clearly in the wrong.

  Gary demanded in a hiss, “Why did you come? What are you planning?”