“You look amazing, you don’t like them?”

  Amelia shrugged, “I prefer dresses similar to what you have on, or a skirt and blouse, in my personal life. Something warm with sex appeal, but still proper and elegant. This is just to intimidate the competition and look like a scary bitch.”

  I giggled, “Perfect. We’ll hang in the waiting room?”

  She waved, “Here’s fine, if you want, just don’t talk loud if I’m on the phone,” then got up and returned to her desk.

  It didn’t take long, maybe thirty minutes, as she changed her message to a referral and apologizing that she was no longer taking new cases. She also made three phone calls to other lawyers to give them a heads up, and she sent out several e-mails, including to the real estate agent giving notice she was moving out of the rented office in three months. Long enough for her to finish off those last two cases, and probably to avoid any penalty clauses.

  We shut down the lights and she locked the door, then she teleported all of us to her Brownstone mansion just on the other side of the Maryland state line, where she packed a bag. It still tickled my funny bone, now Gary was using Tartarus to lug around clothes for four goddesses.

  She also looked stunningly sweet and elegant in a conforming mauve dress up top, that showed just a hint of her creamy caramel cleavage, and went down to just above her knees with a slit up the left side to her hip. She was utterly gorgeous, so she fit right in.

  She looked calm, reserved, and a bit shy, but also happy to be there.

  “So, where to for lunch, hotness?”

  Vicki grinned, “On a Friday… nothing special comes to mind, but I do know this place that has amazing fish and chips and all you can drink wine at lunchtime in Mexico. It’s a pretty decent Chardonnay, not top shelf but not eight dollars a bottle either. Oh, and the waitresses are young, gorgeous, and topless.”

  Gary snickered, then blushed as we all stared at him.

  Amelia said coyly, “Fish and chips sounds good, I haven’t had a good one in ages, and I love an endless wine glass.”

  The slight blush on her cheeks told me she’d also like the distraction of half-naked women but would be mortified to admit it.

  Gary wrapped his arm around Amelia firmly, and also grabbed my hand in a way that warmed me to my toes, “Take us there, Angel.”

  Vicki actually blushed, then took us to the restaurant, which was a wonderful and fun time. The waitresses were all gorgeous and great eye candy, but Vicki hadn’t been exaggerating about the wine or fish and chips just to feed her lascivious side, it was the best I’d ever had.

  I realized almost immediately that Amelia would be uncomfortable being the center of attention, unlike the rest of us who’d been okay with it for the speed dating getting to know you conversations. The other goddesses were no slouches either, so I was able to lead the conversation in a way that took the pressure off, telling a lot of stories to her about us, so she could get to know us, while interspersing the right number of questions to draw her out a bit without totally destroying her comfort zone.

  There was no reason to rush the relationship, and there were other ways to build trust with body language and treating her in a way that made her comfortable. Which was the most important aspect of any relationship, really.

  She was exotic and severely beautiful, but she was also adorably shy of nature, despite the fact she’d be similar to us in bedroom if or when we got her there, if not nearly as vocal about it. Well, maybe not on that last, they say it was always the quiet ones that were loudest and wildest in bed, didn’t they?

  We had a wonderful time.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Gary

  The living room couches were rather plushy comfortable in the two-bedroom suite we’d rented for the night. It was almost checkout time, coming up on ten-thirty, as well as the moment we’d finally be taking down Nate and setting him straight on some things.

  Amelia was a goddess, both literally of course, but also exotically beautiful, ladylike and coy, and really and truly honestly sweet and accommodating of nature. Not submissive, that was in the bedroom alone I was sure after the last twenty-four hours, she just naturally looked out for the comfort of others. Smooth caramel skin, pouty lips, and lustrously curly medium brown hair with a hint of red in it.

  Her body was truly fantastic, petite at five foot four and mostly svelte and graceful, save her generously rounded C cups which were deliciously large on her frame. She was gorgeous, and she had a tight pear-shaped ass to die for. She even dressed like a lady, as did all of them in truth, casually elegance and sexy appeal, despite how naughty they were behind closed doors they were in general ladies in public.

  Her carriage and attitude though not nearly as bold as Natasha’s on a personal level, was nonetheless extremely similar in their magnificent bearing. She was every inch the lady in public and mixed company.

  Regardless, we’d been all been eager to get to know our newest council member and the woman that was dating us all before diving in with both feet, while the rest of us just kind of planned to live the life we hoped for and had taken the quick plunge.

  Point being, we’d spent most of the night out with her in the living room, forgoing both our afternoon and nighttime orgy. Of course, I’d still had to take care of them all, and Vicki twice to sate her nature and mantel, but that had amounted to an hour or so in total away from the group chat for quickies in the other room. Amusingly enough, Vicki also had a quickie with Natasha and Mandi for her third and fourth times as the drink never stopped flowing, but otherwise Natasha and Mandy hadn’t gotten with each other at all that night outside of cuddling sweetly on the couch. We’d gone as couples too, so there were always at least two of us getting to know our exotic and sexy caramel goddess.

  I wanted her of course, said every man on the planet, she was just that hot, as were most goddesses but she had an exotic appeal to her. Regardless, that could wait until she was ready, and just like Natasha and I had our dates I planned to woo her and take her out soon. Of course, until things settled down and we all had the bond going for our safety, they’d be group dates and not one on one dates.

  Point being, seer or not, I wasn’t taking her for granted, and I planned to spoil her out of the bedroom just like the others, as much as possible in a group situation. Ironically, I had to say she was the only normal one among us, most people usually dated before jumping straight to the sexy times.

  We’d packed, and I took a moment to move all the stuff back to Tartarus. They all looked amazing in dresses, jewelry, and their hair was all done up. I mean, they’d look amazing soaking wet in a gunny sack, but it was obvious to me as they came out of the bedroom that they’d all let Natasha use her power of beauty on them. They were all stunning and looking completely flawless, not just their normal deadly beauty, but at their fullest potential. Like they’d spent the day getting their hair done, nails and makeup, then primped in a mirror for hours. Even their dresses looked not only amazing, but professionally tailored to fit their bodies like a glove.

  I guessed they wanted to look good for stepping on Nate’s neck. Hopefully that’s exactly how it turned out.

  “Do we know exactly what we’re walking into?”

  I shook my head, “He has a Villa in New Mexico, and a damn throne room if you can believe it. Anyway, six days ago I’d have said for sure that he just had four tier-three guards, along with Brandon, Aria, and Gregory, the tier two’s he has under compulsion. Maybe a couple of more visiting gods, but that would’ve been it.

  “But he knows I escaped five days ago, so I can’t say what if any changes to his security he’s made. Likely the other tier-one gods would laugh if he asked for their help, so maybe no one new, and of course Brandon is already on ice.”

  Natasha interjected, “Teresa and Freda may be there to witness, I know dad was going to ask them to. The others probably have physical spies to keep an eye on his activities, so they may come visit when they figure out what’s going on.”

  Teresa and Freda were the rebirth of Demeter and Hestia, respectively. The others she referred to were obviously Tatiana, Steven, and Bruce, who were the rebirths of Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, respectfully.

  None of them really got along with each other or trusted each other, in fact Natasha and I were the odd ones, two tier-one’s teaming up and dating like we were, in the hopes of finding love, companionship, and eventually family. Either of us could’ve betrayed and killed the other a million times the last five days, that kind of trust was rare, but she’d earned mine and I’d sooner die than betray her.

  Freda was a sweetheart, but not long on trust when it came to the other tier one gods. Teresa was a bit standoffish, but not a bitch, so there was that at least. Tatiana and Steven tended to be assholes like Nate, and Bruce wasn’t abusive or all that bad outside of being extremely arrogant.

  They were all a bit wary of Nate, as the only god outside the rules in an official way. So between our team up and them probably feeling safer with Nate on a leash, I didn’t think we had much to worry about from then.

  On the other hand, they might fear Nate less than the gods of Love and Darkness joining forces and getting into politics, even if only lightly. We were betting that was true, and even if it wasn’t that they’d be too wary of betrayal in teaming up with another just to kill us even before we got out of line. Hopefully they’d just keep a wary eye on us looking out for treachery, since we weren’t going to get corrupted in this, because none of us wanted the responsibility of rule, it should be a wash.

  Of course, there was no telling what people might do at times, so we’d see.

  Amelia said, “That’s probably the best we can do, I assume we’re only responding to threats, and if pigs start to fly and Nate agrees without a fight, we won’t be hurting anyone?”

  I snickered, “Yes, that’s the plan in a nutshell. We won’t take down Nate until he disagrees in a violent fashion. We should also be able to ignore the four tier-three gods, as they’re there to shield him from gawkers and stupid gods showing up without an appointment or invitation. They likely won’t challenge the five of us with me and Natasha there.”

  Amelia said, “Alright, let’s get it done then.”

  The others all nodded, so darkness billowed out around us all as I took us there.

  The villa was about a hundred yards in the distance, or the gate to the vine covered wall was anyway. This was as close as I could get us, since any closer and Nate was blocking farseeing. It really wasn’t a good idea to teleport anywhere you couldn’t see.

  The five of us started forward, Natasha and myself in the lead holding hands, and Mandy, Vicki, and Amelia behind us. We were all hyperaware at that point, and I think if I was surprised by a squirrel right now my darkness just might kill it. I wasn’t about to let that bastard blindside me again with a lightning bolt sucker punch, and especially not the ladies with me.

  I could feel the powerful protection from lightning and air that Natasha had up. Witchcraft wasn’t a match for our power, but it came damn close when a god’s power was powering it. Still, if we fought with Nate I was on defense, her on offense. My darkness could swallow his attacks, negate them with the power of entropy, while none of the others really had a defensive shield outside of witchcraft and their aura. A god’s bright golden aura could be used as a shield, but it wouldn’t be pleasant. Like blocking a knife with your arms, it would hurt a whole lot since our aura and power were part of our souls.

  Vicki said, “We probably should’ve brought some wine.”

  I snickered, and Natasha giggled.

  Mandy said, “Nate will have felt us by now.”

  I said, “I know, and Natasha and I are in range too. You should feel them soon, and it looks like Freda is here already. Also the seven I said to expect, minus Brandon of course. Aria, Gregory, and the four guards. I don’t feel anyone else, which is weird. I’d expect a few visitors to be here.”

  Amelia suggested, “Perhaps your escape, Brandon being missing, and the return of the goddess of love has him so far off his feed that he cleared his schedule, or perhaps he has everyone he could find out looking for you, instead of waiting here for you to show up. He could also be trying to hide his worry, he’d see it as a weakness, and not want other gods around that he doesn’t have under his thumb.”

  Mandy nodded, “All good points and I totally agree, Amelia beat me to the punch. Nate rules us all through fear and power, and abuse when he can’t be bothered to do it right. He won’t want any witnesses to this confrontation, and he sure as hell won’t trust anyone at all to watch his back without compulsion. He must hate that Freda’s there, but he probably doesn’t dare to offend her.”

  I sighed, “Unless she’s been compelled, and he got her like he got me. Be wary of that possibility.”

  Natasha cast a detection spell for it on the spot.

  We took several more steps and were close to halfway to the gates when I felt things change.

  We stopped, and I said, “He’s coming out, must be expecting a fight then. He’ll have safe access to his full power in open sky and he won’t hesitate to use destructive lightning. Freda’s following at a safe distance, either a good sign she’s not his puppet, or a bluff.”

  I knew I was stating the obvious, but sometimes that was a good idea in a potential combat situation, and the ladies were graceful enough not to tease me about it. Plus I was nervous, especially with the women I was coming to care about so near.

  Nate Green was six foot one, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a medium body type with an athletic musculature. About fifty feet behind him Freda came out of the gate with a wary look on her face. She was on the petite side at five foot three, with a perfectly average body type in proportion to her height, with proud B cups and lovely hourglass curves. She had a cute face, dirty blonde hair, and light brown eyes.

  Nate boomed commandingly when he came to a stop, still twenty feet away, “So have you come for false vengeance. You shouldn’t have betrayed me.”

  Right, first rule of politics, if you’re going to lie and bluff, go outrageously big. No doubt he’ll call me a liar, if I accuse him of compelling me and breaking our laws. All to give our witness reasonable doubt. Well, I was fairly sure she wasn’t compelled at this point.

  “Nice try, Nate. We’ve come to set some things straight, but our intentions is for you to be sitting on your throne at the end of the day. You made me your slave for twenty years, and even now you hold Gregory and Aria in your thrall. Oh, by the way, we freed Brandon as well, though he was so crazy we had to stick him in Tartarus until the trial.”

  Nate hissed, “Lies. I trusted you, allowed you into my home, and you dared to betray me. Then you fled, when you failed to kill me.”

  I smirked, “Oh. Well, then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if we headed inside, and our neutral observer can cast a spell to detect compulsion?”

  Freda waved a hand, then smiled tightly, “No need, I already did that an hour ago, and I know he’s full of shit. You should’ve heard the bullshit he’s been spouting at me the last hour about your perfidy. I was just enjoying him trying to dig his way out of this hole, and I wanted to watch you kick his ass.”

  Nate spluttered and turned red in the face.

  I grinned, “So, Nate, ready to talk? Or shall I put you at our mercy first?”

  He did something with his power, and Gregory and Aria appeared by his side in a flash.

  Gregory had bulging muscles in his arms and chest as any blacksmith might, he had the body of a linebacker at six foot four, with dirty blonde hair and gray eyes.

  Aria was a stunning light brown haired beauty with light blue eyes. She was five foot seven, with a lissome body save her generous C cups.

  Nate grated out, “I rule our kind, nothing will change that. It is my right by mantel.”

  Natasha said, “A mantel you betray when you act against the dictates of true justice. We will see you repent and agree to our conditions going forward, or you will fall.”

  He said, “You stupid slut, this is all your fault.”

  I snorted, “Sure, blame the victim because your misdeeds finally caught up with you. You stole her aunt out of petty spite, I believe you were warned you’d pay a price if you did so. It’s come due, today, and you’re not going to like it. She freed me, and we freed everyone you wrongfully compelled me to jail in Tartarus. Will you hear our terms? Or will you attack us outclassed.”

  Natasha snorted too, and added, “I’ll proudly bear the blame for exposing what a piece of crap you are, Nate. I’ll even admit it, it was me. I freed Gary, I returned my aunt to my father, you piece of offal.”

  She sounded really angry, which was kind of hot, but I couldn’t let that distract me in the moment. There was too much going on, and it was about to get even crazier.

  The ground rumbled mightily, and fifty feet to the side Steven seemed to be ejected from the very Earth. Hades reborn, and he had black hair and dark brown eyes, with medium build and a ruggedly handsome face.

  A waterfall appeared out of nowhere to become Bruce, Poseidon reborn, with blond hair, blue eyes, and a wide build with a very muscular body, like a body builder. He was almost pretty of face.

  A moment later a flashing bubble of golden light appeared, and Teresa was here, Demeter reborn. She was five foot seven, and lush and ripe with a classical beauty, but her face was cold.

  A second flash of golden light brought Tatiana, Hera’s rebirth. She was statuesque, a severe beauty and had quite a body, with jet black hair and bright green eyes, but the bitchy distrustful look mixed with disdain kind of ruined the effect of her hotness.

  Tatiana asked, “Well?”

  Freda replied, “Nate has proven himself a liar and to have broken our highest laws set by himself no less. I can confirm both Aria and Gregory are his compulsion puppets. I can’t prove Gary was his puppet at one time, but they state it is so with only the word of a liar to gainsay it.”