Of course, I didn’t need that last one anymore, my mantel of beauty would ensure my clothes, hair, body, and everything else was always flawless. Which was pretty awesome, in my opinion. Beyond the idea of vanity, it was just damned convenient. Never having to shave my legs or armpits again, or groom my landing strip, or pluck my eyebrows. Okay, it was a bit of a shallowly vain thrill as well, I looked damned good. I always had, but never at my full potential constantly.

  I took off the charm bracelet and put it in my pocket, then smiled as I took it out and put it around my neck. A few muttered words, and I was staring at an illusion of a mirror hovering in the air. It looked amazing, I really loved it. It was jewelry, but it was also a work of art. I replaced my other two regular charm spells that I usually had going at all times, the first of which was a UV filter that acted similarly to suntan lotion, not that I needed to be worried about sunburns anymore either, or skin cancer. The last one embarrassingly enough was a linked spell to my smartphone, I was always leaving the thing places and the spell would lead me straight back to it, even if someone had picked it up.

  Dad laughed, and I pouted at him as I dismissed the mirror.

  “You like it then?”

  I went around the desk and hugged him, Amber too who didn’t look like she’d ever let go.

  I nodded as I stood and took a step back, “Thanks. I love it, dad. The box too, it’ll look great on my dresser and is the perfect size to hold charms,” the box and old charm bracelet disappeared in a little globe of golden light, and I blinked.

  “Totally did that on purpose,” I bluffed, badly.

  Dad snickered, “It does take some getting used to, having all your desires that your power can give you instantly seen to. You get used to it and learn to hold your power back in those moments. I assume they’re on your dresser?”

  I closed my eyes and used farseeing, and they were, in the exact position I’d been imagining.

  “Yep. So, lightning man. I have a rough plan to fix things and ruin his day, but I could use your advice on… roles.”

  I started to explain my idea, and I was shocked to see such an evil grin on my father’s face. I wanted to stay, spend time with everyone but I really couldn’t afford to linger. I wanted to get to know Amber especially, but she wasn’t ready for that kind of thing anyway.

  So, after dad dispensed a little advice on the fuzzier parts of my plan, I kissed his cheek and said my goodbyes.

  It was… a little disturbing, because I knew I’d only make it back here if I succeeded. I mean, the idea it might be the last time I saw the place, my family, the people I loved, was disturbing. I pushed those worries away the best I could, I didn’t want to dwell on the negative possibilities.

  My plan would work. I’d make sure it did.

  I might just get an extremely yummy boyfriend out of the deal as well, but I still had to set him straight first. I frowned for a moment and paused at the back door. Except he had no reason at all to trust me, and he seemed a bit too pessimistic. Even freeing him was an exchange for Amber and freeing the other innocents, and to help me with revenge. Not exactly selfless on my part, was it?

  He hardly knew me, and on top of the things I knew he was assuming, he probably thought I was going to try to seduce him as leverage, or some other equally disgusting game. There was no reason to believe he’d believe me at all, if I told him I wasn’t a slut or cheater. I mean, that’s exactly what a cheating slut or player would say, and he didn’t know me.

  I blew out a breath. I’d have to live with him thinking of me as a slut a little longer, we needed to get to know each other better first. Both before he’d believe anything I said, and on my side before he’d even be worth the trouble of sorting out. Sure, he was hot, the possessive type, and he felt like a good guy, but there could be another deal breaker in there. I hardly knew him, and all hot nice guys with a possessive streak weren’t my type, obviously. Or I’d totally be mated by now. Life was more complicated than that, he just had my minimally required traits that I absolutely had to have in a boyfriend, and was really hot on top of that, but he could turn out to be a shit boyfriend or a bad option.

  I snorted. Apparently, my plan to prove I wasn’t a seductive slut to use people… was to seduce him then. But, intent totally mattered, and I wasn’t a cheater, slut, or a liar.

  It was also even more complicated than that, since getting together would make my plan more… effective. At least as far as trust and binding us together more securely in our mutual goals. My intentions mattered, but so did the facts, so I’d see what happened.

  It would still work as wary allies, but it’d all be so much better and surer if I could have my cake and eat it too.

  Chapter Four

  Gary

  The doubts were growing with every second as I waited in the backyard for Natasha’s return.

  So I’d jumped to conclusions earlier, but it’d been totally reasonable. What twenty-one-year-old woman still called her own father daddy? Natasha apparently, but playing the odds it’d been far more likely they were a kinky couple. I mean, her dad had double digit lovers, and she was the goddess of love. But yeah, I’d stuck my foot in my mouth pretty hard on that one.

  Still, did she even have a plan? Or was she making it up as she went along? I wasn’t sure leaving wouldn’t be the best choice. Did I really need revenge, enough to flirt with death? A lot of stupid gods tried to take on Nate, and all of them were either in Tartarus or dead. Of course, the idea of just leaving made me feel like a coward, even though I knew she’d manipulated me toward that before, by suggesting I might want to hide.

  I shook my head, feeling like an idiot, because I didn’t want to lose her respect, which was probably just me falling for her impeccable act and seductive aura. It was what it was, and it was probably the smart thing to leave. Still, I did want revenge, and to be honest I wanted to spend more time with Natasha, even if that was obviously the dumbest thing I could possibly do. She was so damned tempting, and worse, I knew she’d destroy me if we got together. My cock didn’t care about the emotional fallout though, it just wanted to add Natasha to its list of conquests.

  I mean, I wasn’t a shallow guy most of the time, but the idea of plowing the goddess of love and pleasure was a powerful fantasy for any man or god. There in lied the trouble, and her power to seduce, manipulate, and drive the people around her to stupidity.

  I sighed. So, part of the reason I was still standing there waiting, was I wanted to know what her plan was before I either committed or bailed. That only made sense, but to do that I’d have to earn her trust and give her time to manipulate me. As she said, she had to get to know me and come to trust me, before she’d share her plans fully with me.

  The second reason… I felt grateful. Truly grateful, no matter her reasons for doing it. She’d freed me from hellish enslavement, and from being forced to do things I didn’t agree with and that harmed my conscience.

  I owed her a chance, no matter how slim the possibilities she was fully on the level.

  She was stunning on a beauty, body, and chemical level to me, and she seemed nice enough honestly. I just wouldn’t share, and I didn’t see how the goddess of love and pleasure could be any less than free to love at a whim. It was her mantel, and clearly, I was an idiot.

  But no matter my argument to myself to leave, it always came back to those few things. I owed her a debt, releasing an abused woman wrongly imprisoned by me wasn’t enough to pay back what she’d done for me. I’d have released Amber and the other innocent victims of Nate anyway. So a debt owed, and I really wanted to spend more time with her. The vengeance part too, to a small extent, but if I was being honest, it was my draw to her and my gratefulness that was the real reason I kept standing in the backyard as I waited.

  Damn, when she came out the backdoor, she beamed at me like I was the center of the universe. I was such a moron, because even as my mind rejected that possibility, my libido and heart completely ate it up. She was magnificent, and god or not, apparently I was just a very stupid guy and glutton for punishment.

  But at least I wasn’t a coward.

  I smiled back, couldn’t help it.

  “So, I’m forgiven already?”

  She arched an eyebrow, but then winked, “Well, it was an honest mistake, and you didn’t look judgmental about it either. We hardly know each other, so let’s fix that and then figure out where we are with the plans and all that. You ready?”

  I asked, “Anything you can share at all?”

  She tilted her head cutely, “Not more than I already have. That he’ll still be breathing and sitting on the throne, and that he’ll absolutely hate and despise it.”

  I nodded, and took a deep breath, “But you do have a solid plan?”

  She stuck her tongue out, “Pessimist. Of course, not every little detail, it’s complicated and we may have to deal with a few unexpected twists and turns, but the core of the plan is very solid. It’s only the steps where a little deviation might be needed. Which is normal, plans don’t survive contact with life.”

  “Ready. Where are we going?”

  She grinned, “It’s a surprise,” then teleported us with an expanding golden bubble flash.

  I looked around in shock, “Vegas?”

  She winked playfully, “Sure, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Plus there are tons of fun things to do together, and I’m really sorry but I need to do a little shopping. It’s colder here, and I need to upgrade from college girl to love goddess anyway.”

  I sighed, “So, our get to know you date is clothes shopping? You do know men hate that, right?”

  She cocked her hip and tossed her hair, but she was being a ham about it. Despite that, it was incredibly sexy and sensual if a little over the top, more so than I’d have imagined. Then she fluttered her eyelashes at me, but I could see she was trying not to laugh at herself.

  “Please?” she wheedled.

  “Does that usually work for you?”

  She pouted, and I chuckled.

  “Fine, I could use a jacket myself, it’s a little cold for just jeans and a t-shirt.”

  We could use magic to stay warm in even shorts and t-shirts, but we didn’t want to stick out too much either.

  She looked over her shoulder, then her eyes widened, and she took off at a light jog.

  Curious, I followed, and was a little amazed when she stopped and picked up a dead and fading lily.

  The wonder in her eyes, as the lily turned green and flowered in her hand was absolutely mesmerizing, because I was almost sure she was unaware of her effect on me in that moment. It was adorable, the wonder and excitement in her eyes, but then she turned and intercepted a couple walking down the street.

  She held it out to the woman, a dark golden blonde woman in her late twenties.

  “For you.”

  The woman hesitated for a long second, and then took it with a smile, which didn’t reach her eyes. I could tell she was a bit closed off and upset in the moment, and the man at her side looked at her almost awkwardly.

  Natasha winked at them both, “Enjoy your time in Vegas,” then walked over to me with a smug smile on her face and twinkling eyes.

  Damn, mesmerizing didn’t cover it. She was hitting my heart almost as hard as my libido, and that was saying a lot. She was… either a master manipulator on a level I’d never met, or truly an innocent soul full of joy and warmth. It was… confusing.

  “What was that about.”

  She took my arm with a girlish smile and pulled me into a walk, then kept my arm and I honestly didn’t want it back. Her scent and warmth were as devastating as her beauty.

  “I’m still learning. I did tell you I just got my powers this morning, didn’t I?”

  I blinked, “No, you left that part out.”

  Damn, maybe she was what she appeared to be, and I considered that, even as my inner pessimist called me a sucker.

  She giggled, “They’re on their last nerves and legs around each other. They’ve been married for about ten years, loved each other epically from the moment they met. Fairy tale kind of relationship, every woman dreams of. Until she kept not conceiving, after they’d stopped all contraceptive use starting on their wedding night. It’s been a long ten years, a lot of heartache, heartbreak, and frustration, many doctors and clinics, letdown after letdown and tortured by hope. It hurt their marriage, and following clinical instructions killed their sex life. They came to Vegas as a last-ditch effort to… reignite their love and capture the past, break through the walls and hurt.

  “I just… helped.”

  “The Lily?”

  She shrugged, “My blessings are a gift, they must be accepted. Full understanding is not necessary, but she knew it was significant, when she took the lily from my hands. It’s also implicit in the flower itself, lilies stand for love and fertility, as well as devotion and purity.”

  “Huh. So, shopping and fixing couples.”

  She giggled, “You love it.”

  I snorted.

  “What blessing?”

  She smiled, “Love and fertility. Let’s just say the first will ensure an explosive reignition of their love and passion, and the second they’ll figure out in a few weeks when her period is late.”

  I nodded, “That’s sweet.”

  She shrugged, “It’s my mantel, but I did enjoy it, me me, I mean.”

  “I don’t know what that’s like, my mantel has no influence on me, but I know what you’re saying.”

  She said, “I’m majoring in psychology, I’ve always been able to see intuitively into people, and wanted to help people in that way. I jokingly considered couples therapy earlier today, but I may actually do that. It appeals to all of me, my mantel and my own morals and beliefs.”

  She was too good to be true.

  Well, maybe not. It was a thought I took back as soon as we arrived at the clothing store. A perfect woman wouldn’t drag me clothes shopping.

  It honestly wasn’t quite as painful as I’d been imagining.

  It didn’t take long for me to find a long black coat in the men’s section, and when I got back to her she already had a pile of twelve dresses and the store clerk was looking a bit harried. She didn’t dither, and she knew what she liked.

  The clerk said, “Ma’am, all of these dresses aren’t going to fit you. Most of them are too big.”

  Natasha waved that away, “Too big is fine, if I like a dress pattern and color, I can fix too big. I can’t fix too small. I don’t have a common body type either, so too large is actually better.”

  The man looked at her doubtfully.

  I waved and wiggled my fingers at him, and mouthed, “Magic,” and he got a nervous look on his face when he looked back at Natasha. It made me chuckle.

  It was true enough, there were witch spells to shrink clothing to fit perfectly, and I was betting her beauty power would do an even better job than that. She’d said better, because it would make the clothes look tailored to her shape, instead of the close enough to look right that clothes off the rack were.

  In less than five more minutes, she had twenty dresses in the pile, and the harried looking salesman carried them behind us as we raced over to the shoes area. She only gotten pairs of those, and four handbags. The store was expensive, but she didn’t even blink at the four-figure price as she pulled out her credit card.

  In the end, we were in the store for less than an hour. Sure, shopping sucked, but all men had to endure it, and Natasha wouldn’t be too bad that way, I’d decided. Even as I reminded myself I was an idiot. I was even carrying all of it, in Tartarus, so at least I didn’t look like a sucker carrying ten shopping bags for a woman, I just was one.

  “Just dresses and shoes?” I asked, almost wondering why I did.

  She grinned, “And handbags. I have tons of club dresses and casual clothes. Skirts, jeans, sweaters, halter tops, crop tops, you name it. Even a few cocktail dresses for fancy dates. But the one thing I don’t have is casual business dresses, and I think that’s going to be my new standard, at least outside of campus life. Professional, sex appeal, and just enough sophistication without it looking like I’m trying too hard or being pretentious. Like I said, I needed to upgrade my wardrobe from college girl to goddess, not buy an entirely new one.”

  “I see. Where to now?”

  She said, “We’ll check into a hotel, and I’ll get changed. I don’t want to go home, just in case, so we can stay here for a few days while we get to know each other. Unless you have something you need done, anyone you want to see?”

  I grunted, “I don’t know. My parents must be… in their sixties if they’re even still alive. Showing up at my drinking buddy’s house or an ex-girlfriend’s house twenty years later just sounds like a bad idea, those friendships are just over, I think. I don’t want to risk it for the same reasons, I’ll catch up with the parents once we’re done and it’s safe. My family is probably the first place Nate will look for me anyway. He doesn’t really know about you at all yet, so my doing it would be far riskier.”

  Assuming of course, that was even possible, but I didn’t want to keep throwing doubts in her face. I was confident as a rule, just not in people, only in myself. But I didn’t want to be rude either.

  She bumped my shoulder, and took my arm again, “Sorry about that. That can’t be easy, it’ll be a shock for all of you.”

  I nodded, me coming back from the dead, and for me them looking twenty years older.

  “Thanks. So goddesses should be in dresses? Isn’t that sexist?”

  She smirked, “Dresses are sexy, and I can wear what I want. Plus, they’re more convenient in ways.”

  I wasn’t sure, but I think she’d just implied easy access. The words weren’t said that provocatively, but her tone of voice had been leading and she’d given me a flirty look. I blinked, and tried to suppress that visual, she was too damned sexy, beautiful, and warm for my comfort. It felt genuine, which was worse in a way, because I’d never get to keep her.