She was snuggled into my side, and once again I was playing with her hair and teasing her lower back and upper ass with my fingertips.

  She said, “I have a message for you, from Aphrodite. Though it could probably wait until morning when you see Levi.”

  “What about?” I asked curiously.

  She replied, “You two were right, Hades dutiful daughter is after Jack and also both of you. She’s powerful, but not powerful enough to guarantee a win against any of you, much less all three without those weapons. Hades really doesn’t like his children that don’t come to heel, he also doesn’t care for his brother’s children. So, expect an attack at some point soon.”

  I nodded, “That’s about what we figured, or feared at least.”

  She replied, “The part you didn’t know is what’s in it for Hephaestus. With the sword and shield she has a chance against all three of you, if she can pick you off separately, and none of you would have a chance against her alone. Anyway, that’s about Aphrodite, unfortunately.”

  I frowned, “I don’t follow.”

  She smiled, “Hephaestus doesn’t care for his mate at all. That was the angle Hades had to take to get his agreement. Your city has become a bastion for Aphrodite’s children, a son each of Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon all there keeping them safe willingly and fiercely. Let’s just say the goddess of love hasn’t exactly been subtle about her joy in you three. That’s Hephaestus’s drive behind this, destroy you three and Aphrodite’s influence will be greatly compromised, and her children will need to go back to hiding and keeping low profiles, will no longer be protected.”

  “So, out of spite.”

  She shrugged, “The gods, children, and politicians, they’re all spoiled and want what they want, and spite leads them often. It’s why I don’t get involved.”

  The truth struck me then. Power corrupted both man and gods, but it was Hestia’s mantel that prevented her from being drawn into those games out of spite or jealousy. She was home and hearth, there was no room for such petty things in her heart or in her power. It also explained why she’d left Olympus, it must not be easy to want to be the ease and comfort for many gods who would never accept it.

  I was just a mortal, it was probably in truth far more complicated than that, to the point I couldn’t truly comprehend it, but I was fairly sure my thoughts were correct and that it was at least a major part of it on the most basic level. Regardless, I pushed that down and continued the conversation.

  “Right, so if we win then we’re only safe until they come up with the next stratagem.”

  She smiled, “Exactly, life is messy, and it never ends until the end.”

  I nodded, “I knew that already, it’s just a little overwhelming sometimes.”

  She kissed me softly, “Take it day by day, and stay vigilant. What draws your enemies is also your strength. There’s not much the three of you can’t deal with together, and none of you have so much pride you won’t retreat. It may be a long time before their next gambit.”

  Right, if we survived this one. Not that I was worried in my goddess’s presence, but I knew I would be as soon as I woke up. On the other hand, there was a comfort in knowing the score and what was really going on. At least there were no nagging doubts as to her purpose, mission, or the reasons behind it. Although, I wouldn’t discount the idea there could be more surprises in store.

  I moved back a bit and pulled my goddess onto her stomach. Then I straddled her middle, my cock resting between her lovely and petitely warm rounded ass cheeks. Then I started to massage her. I was no expert of course, but I had pretty good hands for an amateur.

  Katerina had also given me tips the other day when I’d massaged her in bed, as ever my demigoddess of pleasure wasn’t shy with the directions. Which I treasured, because it only made me a better lover, and in the end it was all about them and their pleasure for me, to be their ease and warmth, hearth and heart.

  Hestia sighed decadently, “This is new.”

  I smiled, “My pleasure, love.”

  She sighed delightfully, “You’re spoiling me. You can stop, when you wake up.”

  I laughed, “Fair enough.”

  The massage didn’t quite last that long though. I could read my goddess’s needs pretty well now, and we wound up making love again just a few hours later…

  That Tuesday the dawn’s sunlight filled the clear sky with pinks and purples, and we were all in the backyard, save Katerina who didn’t fight at all. It was the second half of our morning spar and train, I’d already sparred with Hali who kept me on my toes and was wickedly good with a sword.

  At the moment, I was working with Zarya and Hali with Lynn as we continued to round out their training. Maris was just thirty feet away, lazily floating in the river yet not moving downstream at all despite the current, which would look more than a little odd if you were a human, fortunately my wards and her magic would keep her hidden from prying eyes.

  I wasn’t sure how she did it, but once again Maris picked up the threat before it hit the outer wards.

  Maris said in her bubbly voice, “Master, danger coming. I can feel the power of her artifacts and earth power.”

  I ordered, “Go tell Katerina, get her to send that text, then get her in the water. You can help to counter her powers, but your primary responsibility is Katerina’s life as well as your own.”

  Maris flowed up out of the water and toward the house in a rush. Hopefully my allies would get to us quickly, but if not that second order was just in case we had to flee.

  “Shift, and get up into the sky, you two. Be wary of earth attacks shooting up at you, while you try to get a shot on her.”

  My twins said softly, “Yes, master,” and they shifted into their monster forms, and took off into the sky. Their silver beaks and steel tipped feathers shining in the morning light.

  Hali gave me a grim smile as she brandished her sword, and we moved away from the river but stayed in the back yard. Just in case this went south fast, I wanted a clear and close form of exfiltration. My sexy mermaid and river nymph could have us miles away in seconds once we’d hit the water. I was a lot more worried about my mates than I was about me, but I also had to admit Hali was almost as strong as I was, and I wouldn’t bet against her being more deadly.

  Our wards of course were already set. While they’d be worthless against her sword, they would be effective against her power. The sword we could block with our own swords, but her power could harm us greatly, or even just rip our steel swords out of our hands and run us through. So the power and magic protective wards I had around all of us were still very much critical in the coming fight.

  It also wasn’t lost on me this was the first fight I’d been in since returning to the human world where I was facing an equal. Sure, the other battles could’ve ended my life through deception, or if I hadn’t been vigilant enough.

  Point is, I’d been confident if I did everything right, I’d easily win those battles. In this battle I could do everything right and still lose. Needless to say, my heart was pounding a bit faster but steadily, and I felt my body become energized with a surge of adrenaline.

  The ground started to shake beneath our feet, and we both dodged to the side as the earth exploded where our feet had been. Most of her power use had been wasted, but some small amount of my power had been drained taking the edges of the earth explosion.

  More importantly, for the enemy at least, it’d split us apart, and as I regained my bearings she came in a rush, and I only had a split second to take her in and raise my sword.

  Hades daughter was about five foot six, with an athletically curvy body. She had long medium brown hair tied in a braid and cold brown eyes. She had a severe beauty to her face, defined cheekbones and was very thin.

  My sword whipped up in a block, and I almost died right there, as she put a surge of power into the hit. Controlling her own sword like earth, which hit me like a damned runaway train. Between the hit, and my wild jump to avoid my own sword slamming into my body, I went flying back about thirty feet and landed with a burst of wind at my back to steady me.

  Hali moved in for a quick exchange, obviously learning from my mistake she stuck to parries and dodges, and she didn’t even try to block the bitch.

  My power surged and storm clouds filled the sky. A loud rumbling thunder rolled over us while it released that razor hail. I used my magic after that instead of my power, to direct the frozen water blades at my enemy as I charged. I knew if I used power for it, the hail would disperse as soon as it got near her shield.

  It was a good idea, but it’d also taken me a hell of a lot of power, and she countered it as the ground heaved and a shield of earth rose up out of the ground to take the hits meant for her soft and silky skin. That’d taken her a whole lot less power.

  My twins shot feathers at her from in the sky, but that turned out to be more than useless, and a danger.

  The bitch smirked at me as she jumped back, and the steel feathers changed trajectory and came straight for me. I realized then that I was a fucking idiot, once the feathers left their bodies and my protections, the metal tips became easily controllable by her power over earth. Next time, if there was a next time, I’d have to shield the feathers themselves somehow.

  I was forced to waste more power with a sharp wind that caused the steel tipped feathers to miss us all by several yards. It was also about then I sensed Maris and Katerina leave the back door and run towards the river. It was only a matter of time before my allies arrived.

  Hades’ daughter was damned good with a sword, and wickedly fast as well displaying a deadly grace I couldn’t help but admire. With her sword and shield she managed to hold both Hali and I off. A lot of that had to do with the exploding ground around us, forcing us to constantly dodge and even freeing her up to get in her own attacks against the two of us.

  At least I was able to dodge and parry now, I never tried to beat her with strength again. Her control over her weapon with power made that a nonstarter. I also came far too close to being killed more than once.

  More than half my power had been burned off between the storm and the winds I was using to steady myself and help dodge her attacks. Not to mention the edges of her attacks hitting our protective wards, which made me need to pump more and more power into them.

  Lesson learned, I’d never be stupid enough to blow my magic on a storm again like I had, thinking to take her out quickly had been stupid. The only way to kill her would be to wear her down, and in that moment, she had a hell of a lot more power left than I did.

  We did discover Hephaestus’s shield was worthless against magic, but so was magic worthless against her earth power as she protected herself. It made her burn off some power to block the spells or block secondary effects like fire and water with an earth shield that rose out of the ground, but obviously it wouldn’t be ending the fight. Not unless she ran out of power.

  The fight was fierce, Hali and I working her in tandem while her explosions let her keep up. It was frustrating, without those explosions forcing us on the defensive we’d overwhelm her two on one. That’s when I made my second mistake.

  I attacked her in a fierce combination, and I ignored the rumble and vibration under my feet. Hali went for her back, as the earth exploded under me. I’d thought my shield would just take it, and if I stayed on the offensive that we could overwhelm her defenses in short order.

  Not completely wrong, if it was just exploding earth, but the ground congealed around me after battering my shields, and it started to suck me down into the earth. I kind of panicked at that point, since I’d die fast if I got buried in the ground, and I blew a huge surge of my power to fire an explosive wind straight down.

  The ground pulling me down shattered, and I went flying into the sky and away from Hades’ daughter. Worse, the huge blast of air had sent dust, dirt and debris flying in every direction. The debris pushed out with my air power faltered and spread around Hades’ daughter, like a wind break due to her shield. But it also hit Hali directly, which drained my power further, and sent her flying back several yards and onto her ass.

  It was a monumental fuck up, not only hadn’t it worked, but it’d drained a crapload of power in my panic, and I’d managed to hurt my own mate and ally as well.

  The accounting of my screw up also wasn’t done yet, because several spears of stone launched from the ground at me. If I hadn’t been a demigod of storms and wind I’d have been screwed, with my trajectory set flying through the air I’d be dead. I was able to dodge though, twisting my body and with another fierce wind that changed my trajectory wildly and sent me back to the ground.

  I spared a darting glance at Hali, who was fine thanks to my shield, and her beautiful face was as cold as ice and filled with barely restrained insane rage. Clearly, there was something wrong with me, because her rage filled and violent stare at our enemy turned me on. Her classically and stunningly beautiful face had the promise of death in it.

  We started to circle her as I took stock. That last mess had cost me almost twenty five percent of my power, clearly taking her direct attack had been a dumb ass thing to do.

  She’d been drained as well, from all the rising earth shields out of the ground. Her control of the feathers, and trying to pull me into the earth. The way she enhanced, strengthened, and guided her sword attacks and shield blocks also took a toll on her power.

  But not nearly enough thanks to my two mistakes which had taken a whole lot of power. She was at a little more than half her power from what I could detect, and I was at maybe twenty percent. My magic was also running low and would need to be recharged. If either of those ran out, then my wards would fall. It was my power that protected us all from harm, but it was my witch magic that contained and weaved it around our bodies.

  That was when I made my third mistake, although it wasn’t nearly as costly as my first two mistakes. I decided to take a completely defensive stance, in the hopes to conserve my power so it’d last long enough for Levi and Jack to show up. But a good offensive was a good defense, and that decision freed her up to go fully on the offensive.

  She as usual came for us, but we just dodged and moved away and kept dodging and diving every time the earth rumbled beneath our feet. It seemed like the right choice, I was sure at that point she was using a lot more power than I was, but at the same time it wasn’t quite two to one and I would run out before she did.

  Just, hopefully not before my allies finally got their asses there. It felt like we’d been fighting for a long time, but I knew it’d been less than a couple of minutes, adrenaline, anger, and fear distorted time, or at least the human perception of it.

  I think we frustrated her, and that’s when my twins struck. Or tried to. They went into a low dive and strafed her in quick succession from behind. Despite only being twenty feet or so from her when releasing their feathers, they all stopped just short of her body and fell to the ground. My twins must’ve been frustrated, but it was a lesson learned, and next time if there was one, I’d make sure their attacks were effective.

  Regardless, that’s when the earth shook beneath my feet and I dove away like always. But… I’d gotten too predictable in my evasions of exploding earth, and me going strictly on the defensive had allowed her to focus on that defense exclusively while she went on the offensive. I knew my error as soon as I landed and rolled, right onto ground that once again exploded under my feet. It was a little less than last time, because I immediately blasted air down and jumped back at the same time before it could get a grip on me.

  I’d also been a lot less panicked, so I’d only used about half the power it’d taken to escape last time, but it was still a drain.

  Point being though, I was right at ten percent, and then a few more percent got taken off as all the steel tipped feathers on the ground rose up and raced at me from every direction. The wind circling me like a tornado shield for just a moment caused them to miss my body by inches, but they were coming around again.

  Before I could blow even more power deflecting them again, water swirled around my body and froze, and I heard the steel tips dig into the ice wall. I’d felt he surge from Hali, so it was definitely her saving my ass.

  Then the ice melted suddenly and completely, and it raced for the bitch in a powerful stream of water carrying all the feathers. The water parted around her once it got near her shield which kept her safe from power, but it also sent all those feathers slamming into her shield, arms, and torso. Of course, her own shields protected her life, but it did drain her power considerably.

  Just not enough, she was still over thirty percent, and I was hovering at about seven now.

  I wasn’t sure how much longer before my allies got there, but I suspected even with Shannon’s quick way of travelling it’d be too long. I just had seven percent of my power left, and I wasn’t about to die for pride. I’d fucked up, made three mistakes, four if I included not protecting my twins’ feathers from her power once they’d left the wards I’d set up.

  Regardless, it was time to get the hell out of there, and to live to fight another day.

  “Retreat!”

  My twins immediately disappeared higher into the sky and headed along the river. As for me, I gave the bitch the middle finger, as I felt a surge from Maris. A strong wave of water surrounded me and Hali, and it pulled us away and into the river. Then we were gone.

  It was just a half an hour later when we returned the house with our allies. The house was gone, rubble, torn down, broken, and shaken apart. It felt horrible, how much I’d put into that place, it made me sick inside to see it destroyed. My mustang and Ford Expedition were also crushed into balls of twisted metal. Damned bitch needed to die.

  Levi patted my back, “Been there, you can rebuild even better.”

  I blew out a breath, and then nodded. It was scarce comfort, but it was some comfort. I’d decorated the house, but I supposed I’d have a chance to start from scratch and build it my way from the ground up. There had been a few things that annoyed me about it, that I wished I could change but couldn’t. Plus, if we were going to build a huge family four bedrooms wasn’t going to do it.