I don’t think I was out for long, when I woke up in the passenger seat of a hot pink Audi driving down the interstate.

  “What the hell happened?”

  Ginny said angrily, “The house blew up and the concussion wave sent me and Hazel flying. You didn’t go nearly as far, already lying on the ground. Anyway, we got lucky, Hazel got knocked out on your neighbor’s Acura when her head smashed through the windshield, while I did a controlled tumble across their lawn. The Taura was killed in the fire, since the explosion originated from the back of the house. I think the Taura must’ve broken your gas line when he smashed through your back wall, we’re extremely lucky to be alive.”

  I nodded, the five-star headache had me squinting. The headlights of the oncoming cars felt like sharp daggers stabbing into my brain.

  “That was too close, and lucky. Why are you angry?”

  She scowled, “What were you thinking? Hazel is incredibly strong.”

  I shrugged, “I didn’t know that. I also had to do something, we were dead if we ran, or if we fought. I figured if I bowled her then over then we could’ve gotten into the car and run for it that way. On foot we were dead.”

  She blew out a breath, “Fine.”

  Shit, it was never a good thing when a woman said fine.

  “Baby?”

  She said, “Don’t you baby me. You’re not wrong, but it was still suicide. We wouldn’t have gotten far on foot, but maybe far enough to intercept a car on the road.”

  I was getting the idea she was angrier about the fact I almost died, than anything I really did. She was just scared of losing me, so I changed the subject.

  “So, can you tell me now, who is her goddess, and who is my philandering one. They already pretty much know where I am.”

  She frowned thoughtfully, “Not a good idea. We lost them, and we’re heading about forty miles out of town. We don’t want to give away our direction. Plus, your mind will be stronger and better guarded once you come into your power, right now you’re little better than a human that way, and she might even pick up your thoughts if you think her name. Better you don’t know it yet.”

  “Will all this go away once I have my power?”

  She shook her head, “You’ll have to prove the cost of killing you is higher than she’s willing to spend, as far as resources, allies, and her people and monsters. Even then, she’ll want you dead and look for opportunities, but she’ll stop actively hunting you on a daily basis and hope you let your guard down or do something stupid she can capitalize on.”

  “That’s so comforting, good thing I have a gorgeous and stubborn demigoddess to keep me on my toes.”

  A little compliment never hurt, when a woman was angry at you.

  She shook her head, “It’s a way of life, you get used to it. Even Aphrodite has her enemies, though it’s rare when she crosses with the one after you.”

  “So… Hazel?”

  She sighed, “Hazel isn’t so bad, but she’s never been an ally. I’ve ran across her a few times, and we’ve chatted as neutrals at best because our missions didn’t conflict. It’s her ally and fellow champion that’s as bitter as her goddess that’s the more dangerous threat. Lillian makes Hazel look downright tame. Hazel isn’t a manhater either. That was really lucky, and I hate surviving on luck. The Taura must’ve damaged your electrical too, some kind of short, or the gas wouldn’t have eventually caught fire and exploded. Another few seconds…” she trailed off angrily.

  I put my hand on her leg and squeezed lightly, “We’re both still here, and hopefully this…” my mind scrambled for a moment, “Janice can teach me how to fight.”

  She nodded, then sighed, “I’m also angry at myself, I thought we’d have the time. Another few hours and we’d have woken up and been gone. We’re almost there. She’s not going to be happy when we show up at four in the morning.”

  “But she’s an ally?”

  She nodded, “Yes, but she’s prickly. Janice also doesn’t like men that much. She’s had a bad dating history I won’t get into. She’s not a manhater or anything, but men don’t impress her all that much and she’s short on trust. So try not to let her piss you off, we need her. Hestia’s also my mom’s closest and strongest ally, they really get along well.”

  “So, not a virgin?”

  She giggled, “No. That was a twist of a male dominated Greek culture of thousands of years ago. Strong females stood apart, and the huntress, wisdom, and Hestia is the king’s sister and equal in power making them very strong women.

  “It was the same kind of petty male thinking that made our goddess weak and without morals of any kind in the stories, who was petty and fucked around betraying her husband in the stories, instead of the truth. The truth of course isn’t much different from that, but the shade of the interpretation is glaring. She is pleasure, so of course she’s fucking around, but it’s her mantel and doesn’t make her petty or lacking integrity. It’s just, there’s nothing wrong with that at all, but narrowminded human men wrote her badly in history based on their values and where and what they thought women should be.”

  “I get it, I think. And the goddess after me?”

  She smirked, “Think militant man hater and you won’t be far wrong. She’s more than that of course, no one is all bad. She’s just got a blind spot that makes her petty as hell in those instances. You just happen to be standing in that spot.”

  “Demons, isn’t that dangerous? To use them I mean.”

  She nodded, “For humans, not for a goddess.”

  Right.

  “So, are you still fine?”

  She snicker-giggled, “Afraid? I’ll be alright. I failed, and almost got us both killed with that assumption. Your smaller mistake just made me take it out on you.”

  I sighed, “Clothes? I kind of look ridiculous. You look fantastic though.”

  She really did, despite it being the same clothes as yesterday there wasn’t one wrinkle and they looked and smelled like they’d just come out of the dryer. Her power no doubt. My clothes on the other hand didn’t match at all. I’d thrown on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, which while they didn’t look bad it looked stupid with my black dress shoes on for work. I hadn’t had time to hunt down my sneakers, with the minotaur’s brother breaking my house.

  “I have a couple of weeks of clothes in the trunk. Never know what might come up, or what kind of clothes I’ll need. I’ll go shopping for you when the stores open, while you’re being trained. Your wardrobe needed to be updated anyway. Can’t be wearing cheap superstore clothes when we represent the goddess of beauty.”

  I laughed, but at the same time I got her point. I supposed I’d have to swallow my pride and let her spend the money. At the same time I swore to myself that it wouldn’t always be like this. But it was an ego thing, I wasn’t happy at all with how things were. I couldn’t defend her, and now I couldn’t even pay my way. Hell, I didn’t even have a house, and I had less than two hundred bucks to my name, and no job. I’d never felt like a deadbeat boyfriend before, but at that moment all I had to offer my future mate was integrity and a long fat cock. Sure, I was protective and possessive too, but that protectiveness was just a feeling and an impotent one at that given my new world.

  All I could do was pay attention, and figure things out.

  Chapter Six

  Janice lived far outside of the city in a rural area. My first impression was one of a warm hearth and home as we pulled onto her driveway. The large multiacre property was well manicured, and there was a large garden on the side of her house. The house itself was a generously sized two story four-bedroom ranch, and it was painted a bright off-white color with light blue window shutters. There were bushes and trees scattered around and all of them looked well-manicured as well.

  There was a large cement patio with a park bench, the steps leading up to it were on the opposite side of the front door, so it’d be necessary to walk around it. In front of that was a small multi-colored stone area which had a lot of bushes and decorative objects such as a windmill, a life size dog that almost looked real, and a smattering of other smaller animal decorations. There was also a wood deck out back, that I could just barely see the edge of as we pulled into the driveway on the side of the house.

  There was a second building on the property, which was relatively small and one story.

  Ginny pointed at the latter, “That’s her dojo and it also contains a small altar room to Hestia. She teaches self-defense classes to women, as well as deeper martial arts classes for those that wish to master the art and master themselves, of either sex. Let’s go wake her up.”

  We got out of the car, and we headed toward the house. We were almost there when the door opened and Janice stepped outside. The first thing that was surprising to me was she was young. Very young, around nineteen in appearance. I’d expected her to be older for some reason, and perhaps in this case looks were deceiving. Hestia was said to have the power to restore youth. She also moved with the same grace that Hazel had, like a lioness stalking prey.

  She was lissomly athletic at five foot nine, with generous heart shaped C cups that fit her frame perfectly. Otherwise, her feminine curves were gentle, and she obviously had a toned musculature beneath her deceptively soft looking skin that only showed when she moved. She sighed, and turned around and went inside without a word, showing me her tight little pear-shaped ass above her impossibly long and toned legs. She’d been in a pair of black yoga pants and a red halter top that showed plenty of toned and flat midriff as well as half her cleavage. In short, save her generous C cups, she had a tightly athletic and lissome dancer’s body.

  Her hair was a bright reddish-brown color that looked rich and flowed down her body in voluminous waves to her ass. Her eyes were a gray color, with flecks of green. She had slightly bowed lips. The bottom lip was just short of pouty and the top one full, with strong cheekbones. She had that innocent fresh-faced classic beauty of the girl next door, her beauty neither severe, nor delicately soft like my Ginny’s.

  It seemed more and more likely all demigoddesses were hot, because Janice was no exception. I followed my Ginny inside, keeping my eyes above her neck and the piercing gaze that left her gray green flecked eyes. I felt an immediate attraction for Janice in a way I hadn’t for the equally beautiful Hazel, and I had the sinking feeling that was the blessing informing that reaction. Was I really compatible with this cold and dismissive woman?

  Besides her beauty, her eyes, facial expression, and controlled stance all spoke of sharp intelligence and a constant thinking awareness. That was my first impression anyway, beautiful, sexy lissome body, and a cold measuring intelligence that spoke of constant vigilance and awareness of her surroundings. She was as impressive as Ginny, if in a vastly different way in looks and personality.

  Ginny said, “Sorry to wake you?”

  Janice looked me over dismissively, not with a haughty look, but one that was far from kind, and then turned to Ginny, “I was asleep. Hestia woke me and said you two were on your way. What trouble did you bring this time?”

  That look kind of annoyed me, and it made me hope that she couldn’t see how much she’d impressed me in the first moments of our meeting. And not just the shallow chemistry that I suspected might be one-way interest at that point, but her cool poise, intelligence, and confidence. Still, I wasn’t here to claim another demigoddess, and I could resist her pull in that way and just focus on getting trained.

  It was strong though, stronger than a usual instant chemical attraction I sometimes had with a woman I’d just met. The same instant pull and need to claim Ginny had me wanting Janice. Almost like she was made for me as much as Ginny was, and I blamed the blessing of the goddess for those insights, because she sure as hell wasn’t interested in me.

  Ginny said, “This is Levi Cox, my mom’s new champion and my potential mate. It hasn’t been two days since he learned about our world and what he really is. He needs to find his power, and he’s being hunted by Lillian and her goddess. Don’t name them.”

  Janice snorted, “I know better than that,” she looked me over again, and sighed, “Fine, I’ll start his training tomorrow. Are you sure his powers are martial in nature? My training won’t help at all if it isn’t, and we’ll just be wasting our time.”

  Ginny nodded, “Given his father, it almost has to be.”

  Janice said to Ginny, “You should be safe here, unless you were followed. They won’t be able to sniff him out with power while under Hestia’s welcome of home and hearth. Of course, they know your allies, including me, so we’ll stay vigilant. They might guess he’s here when their attempts to trace him by power fail. Take the usual guest room, there’s still a few hours before dawn,” she turned to me and studied me like a bug under a microscope, “The training is not easy, you’ll need that sleep.”

  I said, “Thanks.”

  She laughed in my face, and then turned around and headed up the stairs.

  “Was that funny?” I asked, when she disappeared into the master bedroom.

  Ginny shrugged, “I guess she doesn’t think you’ll be thanking her tomorrow. The training isn’t typical training, it will push you to trigger and release your power.”

  I nodded. It was awkward as hell, talking to a woman about another woman was never a good idea, at least that’s how I’d been taught. Never mind my promised mate that I just met less than twenty-four hours ago about another woman, but I didn’t think there was anything to gain by hiding it, and I could use her advice. It was obvious the old rules didn’t apply there, but it still bothered me.

  Plus, I was sure her magic had picked it up too.

  “You know how I felt almost driven to claim you when we met?”

  Ginny’s eyes widened, and then flickered up the stairs.

  I just nodded.

  Then Ginny… laughed. Long and hard.

  I said, “Please, gorgeous. Let me in on the joke.”

  She smirked, “She must be going crazy up there.”

  Her mirth had something to do with their long history, and perhaps Janice’s disregard of men somehow, but whatever it was it was an inside joke, and I wasn’t getting it.

  I tilted my head, “Would she know? She doesn’t have a potential love radar and fishing blessing.”

  Ginny bit her lip, “Good question. At the very least she’d have felt the powerful pull of your blessing, and she’s well aware of what that means. Of course, she can resist that kind of thing, unlike a human woman, especially her.”

  “Especially?”

  Ginny said, “All of us are resistant through our powers, but mystical energy is one of her gifts, she can sense powers and understand them. She’s also a healer with that energy and can use it to protect herself, block yours completely instead of just resisting. She doesn’t have Hestia’s ability to restore youth, but she’s aging even slower than the rest of us. I think she’s in her mid-twenties actually.”

  “Wait, even slower?”

  Ginny nodded, “Demigods aren’t immortal, but we’re long lived if no one kills us. Three to four times longer than humans, about three hundred years. It’s why we still look nineteen instead of twenty-one, you’ll only age a year in appearance every three, after we reach full growth of course.”

  “How do you feel about that?”

  Ginny tilted her head, then her eyes went wide, “Janice? I’d love to have her in the family. She’s loyal and a good friend, not to mention she totally kicks ass, and I suspect if she was getting laid well and often that she’d be far less of a bitch all the time.”

  I let out a startled laugh. I wasn’t sure if bitch really fit though, she wasn’t mean, just dismissive. Like she had a stick up her ass and was far too serious and constantly vigilant in her thinking and poise. Although, that was a first impression, for all I knew she was a bitch at times.

  Ginny winked, and took my hand as we headed up for bed. The room was not a typical guest room bare of anything but furniture and maybe a piece of artwork. It looked lived in, and well decorated. Janice may have that mystical energy thing, but she’d definitely inherited her mother’s instincts for hearth and heart.

  Ginny whispered as we stripped down to get in the bed, “Plus, the woman can cook.”

  I snickered and gave her a glare. Like I’d seduce Janice and claim her as a second mate because we couldn’t cook well. Still, it was a bonus, my male mind and stomach pointed out. My mind was also a bit in the gutter, I was truly tempted to go to her room and claim her right then, but I knew that was wrong and I’d never do it. Plus, she’d kick my ass and throw us out.

  But past that shallow chemistry, and slightly less shallow prompting from the blessing which at least ensured our long-term possible compatibility, my mind was also on the complications. Two women at once sounded hot, and of course it was, but it also sounded incredibly complicated. Loving and taking care of two women, making sure neither felt slighted or neglected in how I spent my time between them, and all the rest of it. Even if jealousy really wasn’t a problem like Ginny said, that didn’t mean it would be easy.

  But… it would be rewarding, and not just in our sex lives. I didn’t just want to fuck Janice, I wanted to know her, claim her as mine and protect and cherish. It was crazy by the social standards of my old life, as well as far too fast to be real if magic, gods, and powers hadn’t been involved.

  I’d have talked it over with my goddess, but I didn’t really have time. I was far too busy worshipping her and making love to her to worry about it, until dawn when I woke up to a new day. It was sweet, lingering, and so very hot. The loving and sweet joy in her eyes, from the gentle way I loved her and delivered my thoughts of worship was completely mesmerizing.

  I’d figure it out, and chances were that Janice would be too jaded to want to explore that possibility. Just because we were compatible didn’t mean it would happen, after all.