Nor had I forgotten the distraction, and when my head snapped in her direction the lushly ripe and inviting demoness had shifted and had a snarl on her face as she leapt up into the air. She didn’t get very far though, and at about ten feet up my lightning slammed into her. Her body locked up including her wings, which also started to smoke as she fell back to Earth.

  Janice started to heal Jason’s bleeding wound, while Nicole darted forward and clawed the distraction Empusa that I’d just electrocuted silly, and she slit her throat deep. Almost disturbingly, I found her just as attractive in her monstrous form, there was something beautiful about her steel tipped feathers and even her silver beak on a hawkish beautiful face.

  At the same time the last one was gaining some height after her swoop attack, but Caroline was no longer holding a sword. How’d I forget she could summon weapons? An arrow streaked up into the sky from a compound bow, and the Empusa let out a pained shriek and pumped her wings even harder as her body shook.

  I focused on building another conduit up to her, but then stopped as I saw the river of blood falling from her chest. Caroline had made a heart shot, and a second later the Empusa fell from the sky. The demoness was dead before she hit the ground.

  “Nice shot,” I said admiringly.

  Caroline said to me, “Thanks, but shit. I can’t believe I almost fell for that. Thanks for the wakeup call, and here I thought we’d be protecting the newbie’s back.”

  I nodded back to her.

  Ginny sighed, “We have the blessing which dulls their seductive abilities, if I’d have realized you were caught, I’d have slapped your arm.”

  Janice sighed, “I was just an idiot. I was protected, but for some reason I was thinking she was going to talk to us. So I supposed the distraction worked on me without being mesmerized by her nasty body.”

  Jason grunted, “We all assumed with six of us they wouldn’t try the seductive path. Anyway, the compound is ours, and there’s no one left to call Hazel, so let’s finish the mission before she gets back from wherever she is.”

  “Good point.”

  We took off at an easy jog to circle the house. The building that came into view looked like a small prison. I don’t know why I was expecting something like a stable, a building that kept monsters penned up would have to be made of some kind of reinforced concrete, or stone and steel. There weren’t even windows on the thing which made my stomach twist a bit, and I tried to harden my heart at what I might see in there.

  Not that monsters were fluffy and kind, but couldn’t they have arranged for barred windows or something? Maybe a lot of it was just heartless economic considerations, either way I was not impressed at all by my stepmother, on any level.

  The only entrance looked like pure steel doors with riveted frames. There was also a key lock on the door. I also spied steel points at the top of the door, and suspected it was some kind of modern portcullis if the monsters ever managed to damage the doors.

  Caroline said, “I can get this.”

  Yeah, it seemed war’s children were the strongest, though I hadn’t truly put my strength to the test yet when I had electricity thrumming through me.

  “Wait, look up.”

  Caroline frowned at the steel points, and I saw her eyes widen in realization, probably when she imagined it falling on and impaling her head as she kicked in the door.

  I added, “I suspect it’s rigged to fall automatically if the doors are damaged. There’re no guards after all, so how else would it drop if the monsters started to break out?”

  Caroline asked, “Anyone know how to pick a lock?”

  Nicole said in her screechy voice, since she was shifted, “The keys may be in the house. Hazel always goes in there after letting one of us out, before we leave the compound on a mission. Probably so the keys will be available if another shows up needing inside. She never knows when Lillian might show up. Somewhere close to the backdoor entrance. She’s never in there long, just a few seconds.”

  Janice said, “Jason and I will check it out.”

  Jason looked annoyed at being volunteered, but he jogged off after Janice. I didn’t really like Jason but working at the superstore had taught me I didn’t have to like everyone I worked with to work with them well. He wasn’t a bad sort as far as I could tell. He just had his opinions on what should happen, and everyone else’s were stupid in his eyes.

  Caroline mock scowled at me, “That’s twice now. You’re going to give me a complex.”

  I laughed, “You’re welcome.”

  Nicole looked startled when I approached her and touched her face, brushed her beak curiously with my fingertips, and then started to tease her neck. Then she kind of closed her eyes and let out a contented warble sound, so I kept doing it.

  I’d been curious, and it also told her that her monster form didn’t disgust me in the least. Her wings were as soft as gossamer, and she let out a little shiver as I ran my fingertips through them. Which gave me ideas, her body was all human after all, save the wings and head.

  Ginny asked teasingly, “You two need a room?”

  She’d probably picked up my libido kicking up a notch or two, and I bet Nicole had picked up my arousal as well with her sensitive nose, because she was warbling sweetly for me.

  Well, something to think of later, no time during a mission, and Jason and Janice were already returning with a keyring in their hands.

  Nicole opened her eyes, and said, “The silver one, the gold ones are numbered and are for the cells.”

  “You’re kept apart?” I frowned.

  Janice moved to unlock the door.

  Her wings gently brushed my body in affection, and I wondered how long she’d wanted to do something like that but had held back because she thought I wouldn’t want her touch in that form.

  “Yes and no. The cells are all in an outer square corridor with keyed gates, that’s how Hazel gets us out. On the other side of our cells there’s a door that’s lockable from the inside of our cells that we control. If we choose, we can open it up and join the others in a central yard of sorts, where we fuck and fight, get out our frustrations. Of course, those doors are secured before we’re let out, and if we refuse to lock them then we’re punished.”

  Ginny asked, “Isn’t breeding more controlled than that?”

  Nicole shrugged with her wings, “Unapproved pregnancies are terminated, which manages our numbers.”

  I felt sick at the thought, and anger surged. I got angry a lot faster and easier these days. This life could be seriously messed up, even though in some ways it was the happiest I’d ever been. No wonder, with three amazingly sexy and warm mates that were more insatiable than I was at times.

  Her lovely golden flecked green eyes softened, “Don’t get angry, master. I am content and yours now. It’s a hard life, but better than death or not being born in the first place.”

  I did my best to calm that anger, but the random thought of them being whipped to make it easier to be kept in place, and how scarred my Nicole’s back had been rose up in my thoughts to feed those flames. The fact I couldn’t fix it at all just made that anger harder to push back, with that depressing edge of impotence to it.

  “That may be true, but with just a little more effort it could be better. We ready to get on with this?”

  Jason peered at me closely, and then nodded, “Sure, go get your two mates.”

  I nodded, and just the four of us went inside. Jason and Caroline would stand guard outside and warn us if Hazel came back. Plus, it was better with just the four of us. I wouldn’t feel at all weird about claiming other mates in front of my Janice, Ginny, and Nicole. But it would’ve been awkward as hell in front of Jason or Caroline.

  The first thing I noticed was the scent, it was clean in there which I didn’t expect. Although, monsters were also human, and many of them probably had a keen sense of smell. They weren’t animals penned up, they were sentient people, monster or not. Of all the things in my new life, including a crazy ass queen of the gods that wanted to kill me for existing, this part was the hardest to accept. I couldn’t fix it either, any plans to go on a quest and free the monsters or at least give them better accommodations and no whippings wouldn’t go anywhere, and it’d make enemies of every god or goddess that kept some.

  All I could do was treat mine the right way.

  The second thing was the lighting. It wasn’t dim or dismal at least, but it wasn’t bright or cheery either. It was very neutral in brightness, neither dim or bright.

  I lost the fight with my rage as the first thing we saw in the reinforced cement hallway was a weapons rack that were loaded with tranquilizer guns, cattle prods, and Taser pistols. The ones that looked like handguns that the police used. Nicole’s words came back to me, if they didn’t close the inner door so they could be let out on a mission they were punished.

  We came up to a cross hall pretty quickly, right past the weapon racks, that went left and right to circle the outside, and another hallway straight ahead about ten feet to another steel door.

  Nicole said, “They never use it, but that steel door goes to the central open room.”

  I nodded, “Let’s get moving.”

  We turned to the right, and the first cell we came upon was a Taura, in a tiny ten by six cell and there was barely any room for him to move. The cot barely looked big enough to support his whole body, and it took up two thirds of the cell. The only other thing in there was a chest presumably for clothes. At a guess, they were forced to go to the central room and risk a fight or screw just to use the bathroom or take a shower.

  He glared balefully at us, but otherwise didn’t move or make a sound. I suspected he feared we’d use a cattle prod on his ass or something, and I wasn’t dumb enough to tell him I wouldn’t, even if that was true. The last thing we needed was a bunch of monsters making noise and freaking out.

  I kept going, and each of the cells were identical. At each one, I cleared my mind for a second and read the blessing. It’d take a little longer, but I wanted to get the two most compatible, which meant getting more information from the blessing than vague feelings.

  By my vague feelings, fully half of the females in the building were compatible mates. Which was oddly high, but I figured it was down to their monster halves. That submission required would make them obey me, so only personality traits that were contraindicative on the woman side would disqualify them. Point being, the dominant submissive thing seemed to skew those odds quite a bit.

  Most of the monsters were in human form in their cells, or at least close enough to pass for humans with odd hair choices at the salon and colored contacts. I’d guess the more exotic monsters weren’t used all that often, save the Taura I suppose, so that they could move among humans relatively unnoticed in a world that had forgotten the supernatural was real.

  When we got back to the beginning, I sighed, and said doubtfully in a playful way, “I’m not a pervert.”

  Ginny laughed, fully understanding why I’d said that. No doubt she’d checked my compatibility with them as well. While Janice gave me a questioning look.

  Ginny explained for me, “The two most compatible were the scarlet redheads with brown eyes.”

  Janice went through her thoughts quicky, then her eyes widened, “The twins with the biggest tits in here?”

  I snickered, “Yes. And yes, like every other guy born on this world or elsewhere, I have a twin fantasy, but they really are the most compatible.”

  Janice snickered, “Like we won’t enjoy them too?”

  Huh, that was a good point.

  They were hot, with bright scarlet red hair with gold and silver highlights, and extremely light brown eyes the color of amber. Their faces looked runway model hot, with severe cheekbones, flawless skin, and pouty blowjob lips. They had heart shaped double D breasts and heart shaped juicy firm asses, with a lovely hourglass waist. They were both lush at five foot seven, even more so than my Ginny but only slightly so.

  Nicole smiled, “They’re formidable. Winged lionesses in their other form, full shape change. Eight hundred pounds of muscle and claw, and stronger than normal lions, and the wings not only allow them to fly but make them light on their feet and incredibly fast. No active power, but they really don’t need one. Their golden-brown wings match their fur so well they’re hard to see when pulled in. Umm, Dawn and Aurora. Dawn is frolicsome, and Aurora is kind of… well I won’t say unstable. But she can be tempestuous.”

  “Isn’t that a sphinx? Lioness with bird wings?”

  Janice shook her head at me, “The sphinx had a human head, on the body of a lioness with bird wings. They’ll have lion heads in their other form. The sphinx was also a creature, created from a human woman who crossed the wrong god, not a monster at all.”

  “Right, maybe we should add history classes to my training. I expect more than half the stuff I remember from high school Greek legends is wrong anyway.”

  I shook my head, “Oh,” I turned to Ginny, “How does Caroline feel about monsters?”

  Ginny raised an eyebrow, and I guess she hadn’t noticed.

  I explained, “I couldn’t help but notice. The petite light brown haired and blue eyed one, same body type as Nicole, she’s totally compatible with our ally. I don’t know if she’d be interested in that, but there are worse things than a dedicated and protective woman who’d age with her and never betray her. As long as she kept her sexually sated and maintained that dominant role, that is, and is willing to risk death to claim the love of her life the first time.”

  Nicole said, “Bree. She’s half snake when transformed, the bottom half, and has poisonous fangs when transformed too. Kind of like a Lamia, but different since she takes human form too.”

  Ginny laughed, “I’ll go ask her. If this works the goddess will be pleased, nothing turns her on like her champions playing match maker. Especially without her asking.”

  Yeah, if the look in Ginny’s eyes was any indication, I’d just done more than turn on the goddess. She looked a little breathless herself, as she moved off toward the exit.

  I nodded, “I’ll get started in the other hallway.”

  I wasn’t sure how I really felt about it, the idea I’d just passed on. Men weren’t matchmakers, but then I was the champion of the goddess of love, so maybe I just needed to suck it up and accept it as a new duty. The blessing could come in handy for more than just myself after all, and I had felt empathy for Caroline last night when she’d described the breakup with her Antonia. As half gods as well, the monsters would live just as long save violent death, and as I’d already proven with Nicole, they’d make good mates and could control their killer instincts as long as dominance was kept.

  For a monster mate, dominance meant sex, not violence. Well, that and a firm hand and lots of orders.

  Nicole whispered in my ear, “This one is Dawn, master. They have no active power as I said but their strength is formidable regardless. So assume your cock is about to milked very hard in the tightest pussy you’ve ever felt. Don’t die.”

  With that bit of dubious advice, I approached the cell. Dawn was already looking me over with an intrigued look in her light brown eyes. A direct challenge seemed crude, like an asshole’s pickup line at a bar, but it was what it was.

  “I will conquer you and take you as my mate, take you from this place to a better life. If you don’t consent to that challenge, and shift, I’ll leave your ass here.”

  She smirked, “Strip first, then I’ll tell you if we’re going to fuck,” and she winked at me with a salacious smile. Her voice had a musical quality to it, not exactly seductive, but it held an edge of sensuous pleasure to my ears, “After all, I don’t want to be stuck with a mate with a… small prick.”

  I had nothing to be ashamed of, and it was time to get naked anyway, so I stripped off and stood proudly with my dick sticking up and out at full mast with a knowing smirk of my own. It was weird in a way, but not that weird for me. I had more faith now, especially in the blessing. Sure, I didn’t know much about her besides having the face of a model and a lushly inviting body, but I knew she was compatible as a mate on all levels. I’d have to make the effort to get to know her to form that truer and deeper bond, but I already knew I’d like what I found out about it. It wouldn’t be perfect, but it’d be close enough that with the work and compromise we’d be very happy together.

  Nicole had called Dawn frolicsome, so I assumed she was a little like my vivaciously vibrant Ginny, just with the added dimension of playful mischievousness in it. Something close to that anyway, and the blessing reinforced that idea. Not to mention her teasing challenge about my cock size.

  She licked her lips playfully as she gazed heatedly at the length and girth of my cock, as well as my defined chest and six pack. She started to strip out of her leathers. Her tits sprung out and bounced as they were let loose. They were huge, supple, and though slightly sloped from the pure weight of them they were perter than they had a right to be. They looked even bigger hovering over that tight flat stomach and her thin as hell waist. Crudely put, Dawn and her sister were all tits and ass, though her toned and lovely legs deserved a mention as well.

  As if to erase any doubt she felt the same pull toward me through the blessing that I did for her, her sex was gleaming of wetness in the light, and her labia were fat and juicy, the kind that made me want to suck, lavishly lick, and teasingly nibble for hours, and a very lovely shade of pink.

  She said, “Damn, this is going to be fun. It’ll almost be a shame if you lose and I have to kill a man with such a perfect cock, but at least I’ll get to play with it first.”

  I nodded to Janice, who found the right numbered key and opened the cell. I moved inside, might as well make use of the small bed. I’d found release that morning, but that plus to my stamina would be countered by the fact it was my first time with Dawn. Plus, if Nicole was right, and I had no reason to doubt my petite sexpot, Dawn would have extremely strong floor muscles milking my cock to make it harder for me to hold back my pleasure.

  And damn, was she right.