Charity shook her head, “It was also a pleasure. They’ve been a constant roadblock and thorn in our sides for getting into health care. It was really nice being on the winning side for once and shutting them down so hard using their own prejudice against them. As to the implant, yes please. A thinking computer will make it so much easier to submit court documents.”

  She headed inside, and we headed home.

  Chapter Six

  The outdoor couch was comfortable, as Aubrey, Lianne, and Misty snuggled with me after lunch. We’d had steaks and corn on the barbeque, along with portabella mushrooms. It was a nice day, and our other two mates had already gone back to work in the house.

  I was relaxed, but I was also farseeing Mandy as her and her team got ready to take down one of the minor Norse war gods down hard. The little shit was planning to harass and eventually beat one of my gods to the edge of death. A fairly harmless one, Carver was the new Hypnos and a tier four god.

  In his last life he’d been a sick bastard that Mandy had put down shortly after Nate’s death.

  Regardless, I was watching just in case Matthew or another tier-one god got involved when we reversed the coming battle. Mandy was more than capable of taking down their minor war god as a tier-two, but she wouldn’t stand a chance if they did escalate. So I’d step in with Lianne.

  Aubrey said, “I’m registered for the summer semester, which is soon.”

  I nodded, “Until then you’ll have to deal with being my cook, sexy eye candy, and knocked up mate.”

  She snickered, “Why do you think I have makeup on, sir?”

  Lianne smirked, “I love being his eye candy too, but I don’t think he realizes that he’s ours.”

  Aubrey smiled, “Just wanted to let you know I was on it,” she turned to Lianne, “You always look amazing, Lianne.”

  Lianne shifted slightly in my lap to claim a kiss from Aubrey, while Misty started to teasingly massage the back of my neck. Talk about distractions.

  The eye candy game and play was only half joking. It was also half true, they all made an effort to look good for me. They seemed to enjoy it, and I didn’t think it made me shallow. Of course, we weren’t nearly only that, which was the point and part of it that made it a game. But we were also that, my ladies were very sensual, and they all enjoyed seducing my senses.

  “You’re both stunning. All three of you, actually.”

  Misty grinned.

  “Okay, it’s starting, if Lianne and I have to go it’ll happen fast. Mandy won’t be able to hold off a tier-one for more than a few seconds.”

  When it started, it all happened really quickly.

  Mandy teleported to the location, and she’d taken Darrell with her as well as a few tier threes to round out squad. I suspected all of them together would be enough to hold off a tier-one for at least a few minutes if they worked and shielded as one. The Norse god already had ours on the ground, and he was delivering punishing kicks to the torso laced with power.

  It was all so stupid, a waste of time and the mindset of a brutal past civilization, but it was the world I lived in. I had to protect my people. I stood up and pulled Lianne to her feet, wanting to spare that second of response time if I was forced to act.

  Darrell took point and raced forward so fast the ambusher had no chance to avoid or even defend from his attack. No more than our tier-four victim had against his tier-three power. Darrell sucker punched him in the back of his head, putting the god down hard on the ground, and he followed that up with a potent stream of fire that lit the bastard on fire.

  The intent to punish, the enemy wanted to brutalize and punish, beat down our god to the edge of death, but not over. So it had been decided our retaliation would be in kind, which was why Darrell hadn’t just taken the bastard’s head.

  All while Mandy used her power and teleported out the victim, easily overcoming the enemy god’s teleport suppression while also preventing his escape, presumably to our law enforcement base where he could be healed quickly.

  I had a split-second warning, as the enemy tier-one keeping an eye on his troublemaking lackey decided to counter with another escalation. It wasn’t Matthew, it was a woman by the name of Lucia, who was the rebirth of Hel.

  The gloves were also off, since Lucia intended to kill both my tier two war gods as well as the three with them. I’d respond in kind.

  “Shield,” I said, and Lianne enhanced my shield, as both Hel and I teleported at the same moment.

  I appeared between the spot she’d chosen and my gods who were in formation around Darrell who was still punishing the attacker with flames. Yeah, it was a little horrific, the smell of burning flesh, but that troublemaker god would be thinking twice before starting shit with us again.

  I didn’t hesitate, and neither did hel, as my lightning bolt leapt from my hand she released a blast of fire that made Darrell’s power look like a candle next to a roaring bonfire. The crazy bitch would’ve killed her own god with that attack, as well as at least three of our gods, and put Mandy and Darrell on their asses

  The power laced energies met in the middle and annihilated each other, releasing a potent explosion that rolled back over both of us. My shield enhanced by Lianne took the backwash easily and deflected it away from our people, but Lucia had little trouble as well.

  I felt the urge to shift and tear her throat out, but I suppressed it. Because it’d be nigh impossible to keep Lianne and I inside the same shield with our power combined if I did so.

  I suppressed her teleportation as the two of us lunged forward as one, while Mandy rocketed in a circle around the small battlefield. I timed the release of another lightning bolt to her sword strike, but Lucia dodged our goddess of war as she released flames at Mandy, who ducked most of it and rolled through it. As a result however, Lucia took my lightning bolt straight to her back, a thick rope of energy coruscated around her shields powerfully.

  I focused a little more of my power into offense, and then followed up with a second one before it faded, as a fireball from Darrell flew over my shoulder and crashed into her shields, all while Mandy rolled to her feet and darted in with a sword strike.

  It was essentially a tier-one god against a tier-one and three tier-twos. The four of us striking at the same time overwhelmed her shields. She shook violently and cried out, as my lightning electrocuted her body. Her scream was horrific, but it didn’t last long as Mandy spun around, her sword screaming as it cut through the air, and then parted Lucia’s head from her shoulders.

  I hissed, “Retreat now!” as I knew Matthew and another of their remaining four tier-one gods were about to escalate to my escalation. I wasn’t sure if we’d lose that fight, but some of us would die if we stuck around to find out. In their minds, they’d also declared war, which wasn’t what I wanted. On the other hand, if it had to happen better now when they only had four tier-ones, instead of the eight they’d have in a couple more months.

  Idiots.

  Darrell must’ve decided the gloves were off and we were at war, because he took the original attacker’s head with a casual sword swipe right before we teleported out, a split second before the enemy arrived.

  I immediately used my power to block farseeing over the entire camp.

  “Misty, call in the council. I want them all here in thirty minutes, or sooner if possible.”

  Misty nodded, “Working on it.”

  Mandy asked, “What’s the plan?”

  I sighed, “We’re at war. We also won’t accept surrender until two more of their tier-one gods are gone. At that point, they’ll have six when their entire pantheon is present, I don’t believe they’d be dumb enough to restart the war in a couple of months if we do that. Matthew is a hard target, because he just might be stupid enough, any one of the other three will do.”

  Mandy chuckled, “I see.”

  I shrugged, “We bugged out seconds before they arrived with the next escalation. Two tier ones, and every god they could get their hands on at their HQ in those few seconds. So we’d have been in a real fight we might not have won.”

  Mandy asked, “You were farseeing their location?”

  I replied, “Something like that, yes.”

  Gary teleported in with a swirling sphere of shadows, and then grabbed onto Mandy, which was a good distraction that turned her mind from it. If anyone could figure out how I was getting my intel, then the goddess of Wisdom would be it.

  Gary growled, “What the fuck happened?”

  Mandy smacked his chest, “Don’t be like that, he just saved my life. Not to mention Darrell’s and the rest of the team.”

  “I’ll explain everything when the others get here, I don’t want to go over it six more times. Suffice it to say we’re at war and on high alert until its done. None of us should be alone. We also need to act quickly and go on the offensive, before they try to smoke us out before we’re ready, by attacking our people currently scattered all over the world. You’re also crazy for teleporting in blindly.”

  Gary shook his head, “So much for your plan deescalating things.”

  I took the high road and ignored that. I could take criticism, even misplaced criticism. It was all out disrespect that I could no longer allow as ruler. A subtle difference that had been beyond Nate’s grasp.

  The others started to teleport in, at a distance because they were sane, and they started to walk in. It gave me some time to run some scenarios and plans through my ruling mantel, as well as ask myself some questions about the enemy. I wanted Gary with me for the hunting team, but my power didn’t trust him enough to have him at my back. Honestly, neither did I personally. Jealousy could make people do really stupid things. So, I adjusted, and the alternate wasn’t much better.

  His insane jealousy was one of the things his family loved about him, but right now it was a real pain in my ass.

  The seven of us entered the command building, and the only others there were Lianne, Mandy, and Darrell. Mandy briefed them all on the mission, and then I filled in the blanks, which took a good ten or fifteen minutes, despite it all happening in about twenty seconds.

  I nodded, “Regardless, my intent is to take down two of their tier ones which should be enough to end the war. That will back off even their aggressive warrior nature and restore peace. Half their tier ones will be dead, and they’ll only have six in two months, just over half what the rest of the pantheons have. I have no intention of allowing a bunch of our gods and theirs die either. No large battles. We’re going to take down Matthew and one of the others, then step back and take stock.”

  “Gary, Freda, Teresa, and Natasha will stay here and guard our military force from farseeing, which Mandy and Darrell are about to call in. Just in case. If this place is attacked, Gary and Natasha will be on offense, Teresa and Freda on teleport and suppression, as well as witchcraft to help out.

  “The hunting team will of course return if this place is attacked in mass, but its far more likely they’ll be attacking our people out there to draw us out, but if we’re lucky we’ll win before they’re ready to start doing that. Let me be clear, the four of you are tier-ones, but Mandy is in charge here and will be dispatching response teams if necessary. Obey her orders and stick to your assignments.

  “Nadia, Kaya, Lianne, Darrell, and myself will be the hunting team. Nadia on spells and teleport suppression, while Kaya, Lianne, Darrell, and I take down the target. Any questions.”

  Including Nadia instead of Gary seemed a bit counter-intuitive, because I trusted Nadia even less than I did Gary. But jealousy would react in the heat of the moment, while Nadia wouldn’t risk her life in the face of sudden unexpected opportunity. She was a schemer and thought everything through carefully, and I’d see her betrayal coming a mile away when she talked her way into the decision, whereas Gary just might stab me in the back on a jealous and angry impulse that I’d have trouble seeing coming.

  Nadia asked, “We’ll be acting as assassins?”

  I nodded in agreement, “Yes. We’ll strike only when we hold the advantage, and retreat if that balance of power is about to shift. If Viktor were still around, my plan wouldn’t work. But trust me, my goal is to get us all to the other side of this with little to no cost in lives. They have three fifths of their pantheon at present, so if I ordered an all-out attack we would easily win. But at a high cost, up to ten percent of our people.”

  Nadia raised her hand, “I completely approve of the tactic, just wanted to clarify.”

  The only one not onboard with the plan was Gary, his expression was furious. No doubt since I was leaving him behind and taking one of his mates. I suspect the only reason he wasn’t yelling at me was Natasha’s hand on his shoulder and the fact Kaya would hand him his ass if he suggested she was too weak or helpless to handle it.

  At the moment, Matthew, along with Britt, Gregory, and Patricia were arguing about tactics and how to bring the war to us. Attacking them all would be extremely messy, especially since they were in HQ and surrounded by tier two and three gods. Plus, I didn’t want to kill all of them, even if it wouldn’t be messy and likely cost some lives on our side, their pantheon would be uncontrollable at that point.

  “Until an opportunity presents itself, we’re all here for the long haul.”

  Gary said, “Their HQ is as shielded from farseeing as ours is.”

  I nodded, “It is. Yet I know for a fact Matthew, Britt, Gregory, and Patricia are all in the command HQ in Iceland. When the time comes, we’ll have to act fast, because it won’t come until the four of them agree on an attack plan and tactic.”

  Mandy said, “I’ll initiate our emergency measures, and start calling in the reserves.”

  Gary frowned, “How do you know that? This is ridiculous, and all your fault.”

  Lianne glared.

  I reminded myself if I killed the idiot, then it would turn all my current allies on the council against me. Assuming I could even do it, before Natasha, Kaya, and Mandy kicked my ass.

  “It revealed their true intent. How do you think it would’ve gone if I’d continue allowing their sniping attacks. We have war now and hold all the advantages, instead of in two months, when we’d have been outnumbered and our losses would be staggering even if we could win. Stop talking, you sound like an idiot. If my tactics and decisions were wrong, and this wasn’t all the enemy’s fault, don’t you think Mandy would be speaking up in your defense?”

  Gary turned red in the face, and Mandy blushed as she fled the room for her office, so she could start making those phone calls. Which was damning to Gary’s point of view.

  Which of course, just made him hate me even more. Well, I didn’t have to be liked, I had the love of my four ladies, my family. I just had to rule and guide, I didn’t have to make friends in this room. I’d rather have, but you can’t fix jealous stupidity. Still doing better than Zeus or Nate ever did though, at least I had their willing cooperation through common interests and ideals, most of them, anyway.

  Gary angrily returned to the original question, since his attack on my rule had failed so totally, “You didn’t answer the question. How could you possibly know that, I can’t even see them through shadows. They’re suppressing farseeing and behind powerful wards.”

  Nadia said, “Do you have spies or bugs in their camp? That is my area, and it would be overreaching. I’m not aware of any assets in the enemy camp, people or otherwise.”

  Natasha sighed, “Now’s not the time for this, we need to stand together. He seems to know a lot of things without explanation, this is hardly the first time, and it’s the worst time to be at each other’s throats. Let’s bring it up in council, later. After the war is behind us. Whatever is happening, would’ve been worse, this is probably why he’s here, and the fates are backing him. To get us through this with minimal losses.”

  Gary glared at the love of his life, “Fine, but there will be an accounting.”

  Well, I guess I could keep my secret a little longer, but there was no doubt it was going to come out. It was ironic perhaps, that my secret power would be coming out because I’d overplayed that hand trying to save Gary’s miserable life, along with others. Zeus or Nate would’ve ordered a mass attack to keep it hidden, and won, but the cost in life on both sides were unacceptable to me. Especially mine, of course, I was far more concerned about my own pack, my own pantheon, but I’d hate to see the waste of life on the other side too, on the say of some idiotic and aggressively bloodthirsty half ass rulers.

  Damn Viktor anyway, for going insane. Of course, with his partial omniscience out of the picture, mine would serve to kick their asses. At least, that was the plan.

  My secret just wasn’t worth that many lives. Even if we won, we might become too tempting a target for Karim and the Egyptians. We were already down three tier ones with Stephan being reborn, Bruce in Tartarus, and the goddess of light wanting nothing to do with us. I just couldn’t afford to lose anymore, and that meant using my powers to their full extent to navigate it.

  Freda said, “Natasha is right. This is after-action stuff, right now we need to focus on what’s ahead and getting out of it. When it is time, I’ll support you in finding the answers Gary. I want the answer to that question too, but right now we have bigger problems.”

  Gary swallowed his anger, barely.

  “So we’re just waiting?”

  I replied, “Not for long. They’re aware of their precarious position but confident they can overcome it with a bold strategy that dictates the war. Two of them are going to gather forces and attack here, Gregory and Patricia. Their hope is to kill all the law enforcement gods and tier two runners of it, before we can call in our war gods not suited for such duty but suited for war.

  “I’d guess you have about fifteen minutes before they organize and pass on a simple strategy, and teleport in, but our ranks will swell slightly before that. I’m going to try my best to take out the other two before that happens.

  “Matthew and Britt are heading for Mark’s house… in about thirty seconds, alone. So don’t interrupt me anymore, we don’t have time for it. They know he’s the reason all of their encouraged attacks were thwarted in the past, and they’re convinced his power was behind us managing to outmaneuver and kill Lucia as well. Which is wrong, but it’s what they believe. They plan to take out who they see as their most dangerous opponent as far as winning the war, if not a battle.