Very careful.

  Not to end up dead.

  Chapter Two

  Gary

  The extravagant mansion outside of Cabo, Mexico was little more than a hellish prison in my mind. Ten bedrooms, game rooms, servants, it was all mine on paper, my home. When in reality, it was just where Nate chose to park my ass when he didn’t want me underfoot. At the moment I was sitting out at the pool and wondering how I’d come to this for the millionth time. I’d been a prisoner for over half my life now.

  It should’ve been impossible, I was a tier-one god like Nate, his brothers, sisters, and my sister. But he’d managed it. Certain powers were automatic. Blocking being seen from afar for instance, worked just fine without thinking about it. Another automatic power was to deny compulsions from your equals or lessors.

  But I’d been a god for a month, in hiding and Nix reborn was running amuck and starting trouble with Nate, the king of the gods, and various others. I’d just wanted to lie low.

  What I hadn’t known was that automatic defenses could be defeated, even though it worked without the need to focus on the desired result. Only protecting someone else near me from compulsion would require a focused thought or desire.

  Regardless, he and Brandon had somehow found out I was reborn already and in hiding. They’d found me, attacked me without warning. I hadn’t been ready for it, and I’d been foolishly convinced I was safe if I just kept my head down.

  Nate took me down hard with a sucker punch lightning bolt that had scrambled my brain, and Brandon attacked me physically. If I’d been ready, I’d have been a match for him, but I simply didn’t see it coming. I hated myself, for that.

  His compulsion didn’t work the first time, but that just made him hit me with another blast of lightning, cook my skin and heat my insides. Make my power as a god work hard, just to keep me alive.

  Nate had to almost kill me, before his compulsion took, but it took. Just one, he’d compelled me to follow all of his orders. It was easier that way, then he went on to give me rules, about not paying attention to compulsions that counter his orders or wishes. He’d also forbidden me from revealing I was under compulsion, and not to talk about it unless they already knew, so a part of it was secrecy.

  Once I’d recovered, he could give me orders in mixed company, without compulsion, and make it look like I was a willing ally, not a captive and puppet. That’s also when he forced me to team up with him, to take down the new Nix. We never did learn the girl’s name, but she stood no chance against two tier-one gods and the god of war.

  I wasn’t even really angry about it anymore, after twenty-one years the impotent anger had just turned to bitterness. Life sucked as a puppet, and I felt guilty for each and every poor bastard that I’d stuck into Tartarus that didn’t really deserve it. Except Brandon, but that asshole had gotten out seven months ago.

  My powers weren’t really all that different than other gods, I mean the ends, I had all the usual ones that all gods had. It was just I used darkness, not that golden crap, which was the opposite. My personal power was darkness and entropy, and of course Tartarus was a plane of darkness and a part of me as well. It was the power of destruction, draining life, energy, and force. A counter to the that golden power most of the gods wielded as well.

  In truth, I found witchcraft far more useful to day-to-day tasks. Destruction hardly ever came up, and jailing people in Tartarus wasn’t something I’d do for kicks either.

  I supposed that led to one more thing. My mantel was primordial, which meant it didn’t influence me a bit like it did for gods with mantels associated with emotions, principalities, or vices. I didn’t feel the need to destroy things, or to suck the life out of people. In fact, I kind of hated who I was, though that was probably more about being Nate’s unwilling bitch than anything else.

  Feeling a bit hot I dove into the pool. It was mid-December, but Cabo was right near the tropical line, and it was still damned hot out some days, though the average temp was seventy in the winter. A good workout also helped work off some frustration and energized me a bit. I hated wallowing in the misery of it, but I’d give anything to put all this behind me and walk free. I knew that Nate would never let me go, and who could I trust to help me? Not that I could even ask for help, that was forbidden too.

  The surge of power nearby took me by surprise and I stood up in the pool and looked that way. All I could do is feel her really, the aura of a tier-one goddess, but one I’d never met before. Which didn’t seem very likely, did it? The aura wasn’t moving closer either. She’d stopped at the ward lines that guarded the property and would tell Nate if anyone visited me.

  Curious, I swam to the edge of the pool and jumped up, pushing off to get out and then up to my feet. I grabbed the towel off the chair and wrapped it around my middle, then put on the flip flops to walk through the grass and to the edge of the property.

  The first thought entering my mind as I saw her for the first time, was that she had to be trouble. She was stunning, even for a goddess. Straight dark brown hair that was dark enough to look black in low lighting, but it was currently scintillating in the sun. She had seductive dark chocolate eyes, long eyelashes, and a very generous full bottom lip on the edge of pouty, the top one smaller making them look slightly bowed.

  Her dark tanned skin looked like silk perfection, and her beauty was classic, with strong cheekbones on an oval face that lent a soft sophistication. Her body was mostly athletic looking at five foot six, with a flat stomach, thin waist, and toned legs. The only exception to that was her rounded double D breasts giving her an extremely hot top-heavy look, with her slim hips and barely there waist, they looked almost lewd on her body.

  It made me wary, because the crazy hot scale applied to gods even more than humans, and she was possibly the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Granted, at the level of beauty in goddesses, personal taste had a lot to do with it, but it was more than just physical beauty.

  Her aura was powerful and added even more to her sex appeal, as if her beautiful face and killer body wasn’t enough on its own. She also looked perfect, as if she’d just come out of makeup for a show on the WB.

  She tilted her head as she watched me approach, and her eyes looked me over with surprised curiosity on her face. She smiled then, if tentatively, and waved cutely. Damn, and I thought Nate was dangerous, this woman was trouble with a capital T.

  The closer I got, the more I searched for a flaw, and I just didn’t find any. She was exquisite, not a hair out of place, or a wrinkle in her short jean shorts. Her crop top looked more like a curtain, given how far away from her bared flat stomach it fell, straight down from the end of her breasts, with two small straps holding the loose tube of white fabric up. It didn’t expose any cleavage, but all it really covered was her huge breasts leaving her upper chest, shoulders, and arms bare, as well as her abdomen.

  She bit her lip, and when I was about ten feet away she said, “You’re his puppet, aren’t you?”

  I froze in shock, then shook my head and walked another five feet.

  “Who are you?”

  She beamed, “Sorry, I was just… shocked when I saw you and forgot my manners. I’m Natasha, you’re Gary, right? Your aura is… intense. So are you? I mean, it’s obvious now that we’ve met, isn’t it?”

  I snorted, “Trouble. What makes you think that?”

  She frowned, “Trouble? I suppose that’s true in this case, I plan to be trouble for Nate. As far as why, you haven’t summoned him, and you came over to me so I wouldn’t have to trip the ward lines,” she waved cutely again along said ward line, “Also you don’t look like a jerk.”

  I snorted, “I see. So why are you here, Natasha?”

  She bit her lip, “To get Amber, but now I’m thinking I need to get you free. I think you’d be… perfect for my plans. You’d let her go, and others like her, if I freed you, wouldn’t you?”

  I shook my head, “Perfect for your plans?”

  She nodded, “I mean, you do want justice don’t you, for him keeping you as a slave the last twenty-two years? I could use the help, need the help actually.”

  “I see, plan to rule in his stead?” I asked knowingly.

  Her honestly amused giggle surprised me, “No way. I have things to do, and my mantel isn’t suited for it at all. I think I could trust you, but right now you’re his, so I won’t be sharing my plans with a puppet or a stranger. Suffice it to say he’ll really hate it, but his ass will still be in the throne when I’m done with him,” she made a cute face, “Anyway, if you join me, and we come to trust each other, I’ll give you the full plans. We really can’t kill him, that would make things worse. But trust me, the dead don’t suffer, and it wouldn’t be justice at all.”

  I smirked, “Alright, so you free me, and I free Amber, was it?”

  She scowled, “The goddess of inspiration and dance, that’s serving her twenty second year for being snide to Nate. That Amber.”

  Touchy trouble, but I had been a bit flip. The goddess must be important to her in some way.

  I sighed, “I remember.”

  She nodded, “Anyone else that doesn’t deserve to be there too.”

  “Okay, and we can talk about me helping, that sounds tempting but only if your plan is sane. I’m not getting myself killed.”

  She smiled and tilted her head alluringly, “That’s fair, so I guess we’ll have to spend some time together then?” The sparkle in her eyes made me feel both wary and insanely attracted to her. I was fairly sure she was flirting with me, but I had no idea why. Was she really attracted and manipulating me, or just manipulating me because she wanted my power on her side?

  Trouble, but damned tempting trouble.

  “Okay, Nat. The problem is…”

  She interrupted, “Don’t call me that, ever. A gnat is a bug, a little bug, and it’s not attractive at all. If you can’t bother to say my whole name, call me Tasha.”

  I smiled, “Okay, Natasha it is, or maybe trouble.”

  She giggled, “So… the problem?”

  I said, “I can’t really explain it, or ask for help to escape.”

  She nodded, “But you can obviously answer questions. So he locked you down a bit but left some things open. Did he order you immune to compulsion after setting his?”

  I shook my head.

  She grinned, “Good. I assume he said to ignore any orders that conflict with his?”

  I nodded, “Yes.”

  She smiled, “I can work with that. All I need you to do is trust me. I want Amber back, and we’ve both been wronged by Nate. We free you, you free Amber, and then we go have some fun together and get to know each other before I divulge my makeover plans.”

  I nodded, “That’s all fine in theory, but how are you going to free me. It’s not possible.”

  She said, “That’s where the trust comes in. Some of our abilities are automatic, but they can be suppressed by our own will. All you have to do is embrace your power and want me to be able to compel you. That should lower your resistance to an equal of power. To get around Nate’s orders I’ll need to compel you twice. If I try to free you with the first order, his orders will kick in and you’ll be forced to fight it.”

  I blew out a breath, “So, I just need to trust you, a total stranger, trouble and gorgeous in a blinding package. Nope, nothing could go wrong with that.”

  She smiled and bit her lip, “You think I’m gorgeous?”

  I laughed, “Like you don’t know? So, what’s stopping you from ordering me to release Amber. I mean, you’d have to trust me to release her, once I’m free. Why would you trust me?”

  Our world was full of betrayals, and she was far too alluring for my judgement to be sound.

  She shrugged, “If you went back on your word, then we’d be enemies, and you’d be a liar. You’d have both Nate and me hunting you, if separately. It also makes no sense, you have no reason to hold her or betray me. If I save you then you’ll owe me a debt of gratitude, and we have that whole vengeance thing that binds us. Plus, you’re pretty cute too, you know. If you decide to leave after freeing Amber, well then you wouldn’t have made a good partner in my quest, so that’s fine too, if you’d rather… hide.

  “As for why I wouldn’t betray you even with access to compel you, is the same reason. Nate is my enemy, and if for no other reason I’d free you to deny him you as a resource.”

  I scowled, “Fine. Give me a minute.”

  It was a horrible idea to trust her beauty and smile, her reasonable words, but I’d been a slave half my life, and I was pretty desperate to be free. Worst case, I’d become her slave instead, or I’d still be Nate’s after she orders me to release Amber. So… why the hell not? I had very little to lose, and a whole lot to gain, on this longshot.

  I’d also never considered what she’d said as a possibility, but now that she’d said it, the idea resonated. My power obeyed me and delivered the end result of my focus, so of course I should be able to lower the shields protecting my mind from compulsion. I’d just never considered it before. Of course, in all but my desperate situation, it would be insane to do it.

  “Alright, hit me with the first one.”

  She said smugly with sexy authority, “My will is Nate’s will, my orders his orders.” I know, sexy authority was a horrible description, but she didn’t sound commanding. She’d practically purred the words at me with seduction dripping from her honeyed tones, and I was half hard even as the compulsion settled on my mind.

  “Okay, go ahead,” I prompted.

  I expected betrayal, she could literally command anything of me now, without compulsion. She’d usurped Nate’s authority and all of his previous orders, so I’d have to obey her as much as I had to obey Nate in that moment. I was already resigned to the fact she was about to order me to free Amber and to come with her.

  She purred, “You are no longer compelled.”

  I blinked, and I think I laughed in shock. It sounded unhinged in its relief. I gaped at her in disbelief as all my mental chains fell away. She’d been right, I’d have had to fight that second order, if she hadn’t set the first ahead of time.

  Trouble, sexy and beautiful, and extremely clever. She was getting more dangerous by the second, as well as more tempting.

  She giggled, “You thought I was lying? Let’s get out of here, can you leave the ward without Nate knowing?”

  I shook my head, “No, it’ll tell him if I leave,” I waved, “My luxurious prison.”

  She sighed, “No help for it then. He won’t be able to see where we went, or who freed you. But we shouldn’t linger long at our first destination just in case. He’s not stupid, unfortunately. No more than thirty minutes there, I think. I also think you should walk out, otherwise his wards will get a taste of my magic and mantel.”

  “First destination?”

  She said, “Mark’s house, to release Amber. I need to talk to him for a few minutes. Then we’ll go somewhere else and release the rest of the ones that don’t belong there. I trust your judgement, that you won’t let out the ones that deserve what they got.”

  I nodded, “Fair. You’re Aphrodite reborn, aren’t you?” I practically accused. It had been twenty-two years since her death, and it would explain why I’d never met her before. I didn’t imagine any god could avoid Nate’s notice for over two decades, much less a tier-one god. He’d also made a point in introducing me to all the other players, which of course was a veiled threat. A look at who is my ally kind of thing, to keep the other tier-ones in line. So I was sure Nate was unaware of her.

  She grinned, “Yes. This is going to be fun, trust me.”

  I groaned a laugh at the trust me comment, and then looked down at myself, “Maybe I should get dressed first?”

  She chuckled warmly, “Oh, I suppose. If you must, Gary,” she bit her lip and looked me up and down with regret, as if mourning the loss of my muscled chest and athletic form in nothing but a bathing suit and towel, then winked teasingly at me.

  “Trouble,” I accused, and I heard her flirty laughter as I turned and headed back to the house. Nate wouldn’t be aware of anything happening until I crossed the ward line and left the area, but I wasn’t about to dither and trust in that too much. I ended up a slave for over twenty years because I’d been too confident that I was safe, and I’d underestimated him. I wouldn’t do that again.

  So, I moved quickly and used witchcraft to dry off. I also gathered all my clothes with my power over darkness, and my toiletries and personal hygiene stuff. I mean, Tartarus made a fantastic closet on the go. The realm was internal to me and my magic, so I could keep the inmates separate, and keep various things in a separate area they couldn’t get to. Like, a stock room or something.

  It also was time to release those people, like Natasha had released me. I’d always felt guilty about jailing Nate’s political rivals and people just unfortunate enough to draw his ire being their only crime, but there’d been very little I could do about it as his puppet. I was excited to see the end of that, so I had no reason at all to not go with the dangerously beautiful and sexily alluring goddess.

  I was also feeling foolishly disappointed. She was the goddess of love, who had of course been infamous for her appetites in past lives. Not that I was judging, that was who she was, but I wasn’t the sharing type. Still, I might have some fun flirting with her, and working against my prior jailor, but I’d have to keep that firmly in mind. If I let her seduce me into bed, she could easily have me in knots and wrapped around her little finger. She was powerful, seductive, clever, and I’d lay odds extremely intelligent as well.

  After all, she had recognized my plight easily, from very little clues, when no other gods had. I’d have to be on my toes, the problem was just looking at her drained forty IQ points and made me want stupid things.

  She also seemed sweet and fun, a genuinely good person, which was a dangerous thought for me to have.

  In short, she was the total package, but far too rich for my blood. The old goddess of love had been trouble too, after all. I just wasn’t good at games like that, never had been, even in college. I was too possessive to deal with empty hookups very well, or promiscuousness. I didn’t judge them, but they weren’t for me.