Similar to how Zeus could travel and arrive in a lightning strike, or Poseidon could travel through water. An alternate form of transportation only a few of the most powerful gods possessed.

  I cleared my throat at the figure in a pair of yoga pants that outlined her tight yet generous heart shaped ass. I could tell even from behind that she had a symmetrical hourglass body, neither top or bottom heavy, with a delightfully sharp curved waist at five foot five.

  She spun around, and she had a healthy pair of C cups verifying my thoughts, and at five foot five she was average in body type a little skewed toward the lush side. She had gorgeous slightly wavy raven black hair that shimmered in the sunlight, and wide dark gray eyes. Her face had soft exotic beauty, she was Asian in descent and quite a stunning beauty, a deceptively soft and fragile exotic beauty that engendered an urge to protect in any man that wasn’t an asshole. She was flawless, of course, as a goddess, with very fair skin. She was also equal in power to mine, a tier-one goddess, and no one to be underestimated despite her disarming beauty.

  She also looked disgusted, as she lifted her hands and blasted me with her power. Darkness billowing, and shadows rising, and I felt a powerful telekinetic hit be absorbed by my shields.

  “Umm, did I do something to offend you?” I asked cautiously, even as I stayed on the defensive. I couldn’t make sense out of her attacking me, and I knew if I focused on defense we’d be at a standoff. Her power was impressive, but so was mine.

  She snarled, “You killed me!” then she blasted me again, “I won’t let you do it again.”

  Oh, someone’s been telling tales. Our hidden enemy no doubt. I strained to absorb her attack, redirect it and absorb it into Tartarus where it could do no harm. At least, not in the part of it I put it in.

  “You’ve been deceived, I was a puppet of Nate back then, and I’d had no choice.”

  She tried to add a witch spell to her attack, but the wards crushed it out of existence before it could reach me.

  “Liar! Equals can’t be compelled, and I’ve seen the way you treat your allies.”

  She blushed slightly after saying that last, and I got the idea there was more than disgust in her eyes.

  I frowned, she’d been spying on us? Fuck. Shadows were everywhere, and I might not have felt her power, and the wards wouldn’t have detected it because I didn’t think of it as a threat. I’d have to fix that, right after this, whatever it was.

  “They can, if their power is overwhelmed and there’s none left to defend your mind. Your power will always choose survival over all else, even if it has to sacrifice your mind temporarily. I have a feeling you’re not interpreting what you saw correctly either, they’re my family, not just my allies.”

  She clearly didn’t believe me. It was probably sexist, but I also thought she looked amazing while angry.

  The loud crack of a rifle shot rolled over us, while a bullet bounced off my charm.

  “I see you brought allies of your own.”

  Natasha appeared behind me, her power rising and shielding me further.

  A frustrated look went over the Japanese beauty’s face, and she disappeared in a swirl of darkness.

  “Hi, baby. I think our enemy somehow found the new Nix and poisoned her against us. She seems to think I’m the fount of all evil and she blamed me for killing her past self. She didn’t even try to destroy the house or hurt the others, I got the impression she was here to save them and you, from me.”

  Natasha snorted, “Then she isn’t paying attention.”

  I grinned, and used farseeing, scanning in the direction of the rifle shot. But either she’d picked him up on the way out, or the shooter had fled after the first shot. Regardless, they were long gone either way.

  “Let’s find out who she is.”

  I cast a quick illusion spell of her, in perfect detail, then snapped a picture. I forwarded the picture to both Bruce and Mark. I was fairly sure Mark could get the FBI to run a facial recognition on it. I also sent in her height and a brief description of what’d happened.

  “Thanks for rescuing me, it’s clear she waited until you and Mandy were gone before attacking. I also need to fix the wards.”

  We headed inside to do that. It was another power I didn’t use, generally sticking to farseeing, instead of peeking through shadows and darkness.

  Chapter Five

  Natasha

  I took a deep breath as we all gathered in the living room. I wanted to kill the bitch that dared attack him, but he seemed really calm and confident, like he didn’t consider her a true threat at all. It was undermining my anger, mostly by turning me on, he was so… Gary. It was hard to stay angry at a woman when all I wanted to do in that moment was suck him off. Mostly how his confidence hit me, but also to reassure myself all was well, a life-affirming need to connect to the man that was in danger.

  I considered and dismissed the idea that it was her soft fragile beauty and slightly lush allure that did that, the woman had been stunning after all, but that wasn’t it. It was the fact she had gone after him, and that she was clearly reluctant to hurt the women he loved, that she wasn’t a danger to the rest of us. That he believed that she believed she’d been trying to save us, which of course endeared her to the idiot I loved.

  That’s why his possessive anger and protective instincts were so calm, no other reason would explain it as he finished updating the wards with a cool confidence and calmness that eluded me in the moment. I did my best to think rationally about it, if she was a victim of our hidden enemy, perhaps we could turn her into an ally and make it backfire. I mean, if she really cared about the idea that he was abusing four women that she didn’t know at all, and she tried to save us as well as get vengeance for her past life while trying to protect her current one, then the young lady obviously had a moral center and empathy in her. That she wasn’t evil, just… tricked, misguided, and naïve.

  That if she knew all the facts, she’d be on our side, not the side of our ambitious enemy who only wished to rule and pursue power over all others.

  But to do that, we’d have to capture her first, and then convince her of the truth somehow. The young woman was obviously new to her power, just got them in the last few days given the date of the old Nyx’s death, and our enemy had thoroughly mind-fucked her and sent her in our direction.

  “We need to call an emergency meeting, who knows if you’re the only target our enemy sent her after. You’re also determined to save her?”

  He nodded, “If we can, family first, but I don’t think she’s an evil-minded person. I suspect she was told I had you all in my thrall, and that I was responsible for her last death, and possibly that I had plans to rule and dominate the gods. She spied on us, through shadows, a hole in our wards I just repaired. I have a feeling she saw me dominating all of you, in what would appear to be a cruel way, her not knowing your appetites, and assumed it was true. That it verified it all in her head, because what four women would willingly and wantonly debase themselves in such ways to a single man.”

  We all grinned cheekily and raised our hands.

  He snorted, “You know what I mean.”

  Mandy said, “We do, freaks like us are rare, finding five in the same spot seems like lightning striking the same spot five times. Logically speaking, it’s far more likely the four of us are in your thrall. I could see how she could make that mistake, especially if she didn’t hear what we were saying.”

  He nodded, “That power doesn’t work with sound transmission, which is the reason I never use it.”

  Both our phones went off, and I tilted my head as I read it.

  “Okay, looks like Bruce beat us to it, after getting your photo. He ordered an emergency meeting for four pm, in just two hours, at the Marriot.”

  He said, “So how do we handle this. The one responsible is going to be calling for her death to cover their asses, either that or manipulating one of the others to do it.”

  Mandy said, “You mean Tatiana is going to use Steven’s anger and instability against him to get him to do it.”

  He laughed, “Pretty much, but I don’t want to get so married to the idea our enemy is Tatiana that we miss something important. She is the likeliest suspect, given what we know about her, but Steven and Bruce are just as ambitious to rule, and we can’t blindly trust in the idea of what Teresa and Freda appear to be. That they’re a lot more like us than like those three.”

  I sighed, “What do you suggest?”

  He said, “That when we figure out who she is, you and me handle it, or if they push we’ll let Bruce come along, since he’s in charge of policing. I mean, bringing along other gods would be a mistake.”

  Mandy nodded, “You don’t want Steven or Tatiana anywhere near her, when she’s rendered helpless.”

  He nodded, “Yes. I’m not sure I trust Bruce, but he doesn’t seem like one to strike from the shadows. He’s super arrogant and a warrior, not a sneak or assassin, while I see both Tatiana or Steven being capable of that. It’s still a gamble, and if he kills her then he kills her, but I think it’s our best chance to turn it around and make it blow up in the face of whoever is responsible.”

  Mandy said, “Good thinking, that is the least risky, if you have to take one of the others with you. It’s you she challenged, so you have the right to face her in self-defense and determine her fate.”

  I said, “We’ll pull that card, if we have to.”

  Gary nodded in agreement, “I think I’d like her to be an ally if we can swing it. She took pains to protect the rest of you even though you’re her potential enemies under my control. To me that says everything, she’s also young and I got the impression a bit sheltered and innocent. She looked disgusted when she told me about spying on me and knowing the truth of what I did to you all, but some of that disgust was turned inward.”

  Mandy tilted her head, “You think she has the same kink? Like Nyx does in the myths, the desire to be ravished and taken without mercy? To drive men to surrender to their darkest instincts?”

  He shrugged, “Yes. But I think it was something she didn’t know about herself until very recently. The darkness I wield brought out my possessive and protective instincts, along with the dark lust. I was always this way, but not nearly so intense about it before I woke up a god. I’m not sure how that helps or hinders us, but I definitely got the impression she was disgusted and hated me and was disgusted at herself at the same time, because she saw the attraction of it while she judged it.”

  I bit my lip, “It could go either way. Being deeply and emotionally involved in it like that will either keep her from being able to see the truth, if she violently rejects that new need in her herself, or if she accepts it as a valid lifestyle choice in the bedroom, then she’ll be more inclined to accept our proof of your innocence.”

  The inevitable thought happened, and I crushed it before it could set in completely. If she truly was like us, then maybe she could not only be a casual ally but also be recruited into our family. I didn’t want to share Gary further, but she was young, idealistic, and hopeful, and also a tier-one goddess. I couldn’t dismiss the attraction of combability, power, and beauty that had, if we had three tier-one gods in the family, our enemy would never dare challenge us again. I’d also thought six of us would be the absolute limit last month, leaving the option of grasping one more opportunity, and I’d decided to keep my mind open for just one more. So, it wasn’t entirely out of left field, if such a prime opportunity was dropping in our laps if we put the effort in.

  She was also stunningly sexy and elegant, exotic even, which I hadn’t forgotten, though it was the first time I was considering that alluring and fragile beauty from the angle of family and relationships. It was also too soon to even think about, first we had to find her, catch her, and convince her of the truth. She also had to accept her new nature, and to come to accept and like all of us.

  That was a whole lot of ifs, that might not happen. She might not even survive our enemy’s machinations, despite our best efforts. Plus, it felt a bit… too calculated, mercenary even, and I did have to watch my own ambition in it, since family was the largest ambition in my life. But really, that was the initial draw of opportunity, her power, principles, and beauty joined with ours, but it certainly wasn’t enough to close the deal in my head, and it would only get her in the door so to speak. She’d have to fit in, and we’d have to come to respect and care about her. In short, it wouldn’t be worth it just to have her power added to our family. The true goal as always for me was love and family.

  I also kept it to myself, it was clear Gary’s mind hadn’t gone there at all. Although I did see the speculation in Mandy’s eyes, of course our ever calculating the future possibilities goddess of wisdom had come to a similar conclusion, but like me was keeping it to herself for now. Even making the goddess of darkness an ally at a distance was a fairly dubious hope given the current circumstances, so it would keep until it was truly a possibility before I spoke of it out loud.

  Regardless, we had a tentative plan for the meeting, which was good enough to keep Gary and I on the same page, even if our enemy threw a few curve balls we weren’t expecting.

  I reluctantly said, “I have a class starting that I should really make, I don’t want to skip one on the second day, and it’ll be over before the meeting.”

  Reluctantly, because I really wanted to suck his dick. My mouth was watering for it, but it wouldn’t be the first or last time I’d put off a potent desire to give him pleasure with my body that approached desperation. I could see that he was just fine, no life-affirming sex required, and if anything, he was invigorated and bemused by the assassination attempt. A fact which was as annoying as it was hot. He was far more vigilant with our safety than his own.

  Gary nodded, “I have my own as well, Mandy?”

  Mandy sighed, “I should get back too.”

  I spared a moment to give them all a warm teasing kiss.

  We split up and returned to our classes, me and Mandy to our separate campuses, and Gary back in the home office.

  The conference room in the Marriot hadn’t changed in the last three weeks. Same twenty seat table, the chairs quite comfortable around a long table with rounded edges. Going clockwise around the table from the head, was Bruce, Freda, Teresa, Tatiana at the foot, then me and Gary together, and last but not least Steven. There were two to three empty seats between each of us, giving us all a little space.

  Bruce looked livid, an emotion I’d never seen on his face before. He was usually arrogantly relaxed to the point of looking careless. He was handsome, with a muscular medium build at six foot one, with blonde hair and blue eyes the color of the ocean.

  Freda looked suspicious and a little worried. She was five foot three, with dirty blonde hair and light brown eyes, and a petite curvy body. Teresa was stone faced as usual, and on the sumptuous side at five foot seven, with light brown hair and light gray eyes.

  Tatiana looked a little annoyed and bored, with the usual arrogant entitlement pasted on her face. She was a statuesque woman at six feet in height, with black hair and green eyes. Steven had black hair and dark brown eyes, with a medium build and a ruggedly handsome face.

  Steven smirked, “You look angry, Bruce.”

  Bruce scowled, “Three fucking weeks I thought this shit might work. You know I didn’t believe the ones that sit at this table could be responsible for compelling the humans to attack their mansion three weeks ago,” he waved at us, “Because no one at this table could be so fucking stupid as to poke the humans like that. Now I’m wondering if I’m wrong. Which one of you did it?” his eyes sweeping the room.

  Steven shook his head, “Did what, exactly?” clearly annoyed and defensive, but that could be because his spies hadn’t picked up what happened yet, and he hated being at a disadvantage.

  Bruce said, “The new Nix was reborn two damn days ago. In two days’ time, she mastered her power, learned witchcraft, decided Gary was her enemy, spied on Gary and Natasha, and finally earlier this afternoon tried to assassinate Gary personally. None of us adapted that fast, it was all too quick out of the gate, she had help, and she’s had her mind led down the primrose path. One of you did it.”

  Yeah, he was furious. Furious enough to make general accusations without proof, which either meant he was the guilty one, or he’d actually really bought into our vision of a new and better government for godkind and tossed away his ambition save running the enforcement arm which he was suited for. I didn’t really believe the former option though, Gary was right, Bruce was a warrior, not an assassin.

  Steven snorted, “You don’t actually think one of us is going to confess, do you? We all agreed to the new setup, how do we know it wasn’t someone else?”

  Bruce waved that away, “We all know we wouldn’t be here together if it wasn’t for them. His death would shift the power of this council and make it possible for one of us to attempt to seize power, with a reasonable chance of success. Don’t play the idiot.”

  Tatiana asked, “And how do we know it wasn’t you?”

  Bruce spat back, “Because I’m not the one acting in shadows.”

  Tatiana scowled back, “Are you accusing me, Bruce?”

  Bruce snorted.

  Steven shrugged, “The best plan seems to be to capture the new Nix and question her closely on the identity of who wound her up. What do we know about that?”

  Gary waved, “All we know for certain is she thinks I was responsible for the killing of her last incarnation, and that she believes I have the entire justice council under my thrall. She also seems to believe I’m carrying that grudge into her new incarnation and am a danger to her personally, so there’s an element of mistaken self-defense on the table. I’m not sure what other poison was fed to her mind to turn her into a weapon against us, but I suspect I was also blamed for the death of Nate by betrayal. She clearly didn’t believe Nate had me under compulsion, plus it was something our hidden enemy would do, blame me for their own actions.”