Plus, I had five mates, maybe six if Abigail agreed to join us, to take care of those frustrations.

  I turned to Katerina, “That was… thank you, love. You’re a wonder.”

  Katerina grinned, “So are you.”

  Hali said breathlessly, “That was really fucking hot.”

  Yeah, my mermaid just summed it up pretty well.

  She got dressed when I did, and we shared another of those full body hugs I so guiltily enjoyed. I figured that would’ve been over the line, hugging her platonically while we were still naked, that is.

  Chapter Seven

  The dinner table was full, between Levi and his seven mates, me and my five, and Jack and Shannon had showed up as well to discuss and make plans over dinner. The rest of Jack’s mates were with the coven, and he wouldn’t be staying here like we were because of that, but he’d come fast if an attack happened. The sixteen of us fit around the twenty-person table just fine, it was fitting in the eight babies that was a challenge for our hosts.

  We’d already been shown where we were staying, it was a pretty nice and large bedroom, with an in-suite shower. It also had a bed that would fit six, and maybe even seven in a pinch. I’d been happy about that, and a bit curious at the same time. Who has a guest bedroom that can fit a polyamory family in it? But then I’d learned that was their first custom bed before Levi had added his sixth and seventh mates and had needed an upgrade to comfortable fit eight.

  It was just after six as we dug in. Janice put out a hell of a spread with Nicole as her helper. A couple of large roasts, two large pots of mashed potatoes, carrots, string beans, corn on the cob, and rolls.

  Jack said, “The hardest part of what happened when she attacked me was none of us are really good with a sword. None of us in my family fight hand to hand, all our magic and power is better from a distance. Anyway, I’ve been looking for a way around my greatest weakness, which of course is that my power is completely worthless outside of running away. Even if we’d had time to summon my solid swords blades, which we hadn’t, she’d have taken control of them as soon as her shield took down my controlling spirits.

  “I think the best I can do personally is use something other than metals or earth. Bonnie and the witches were able to make all wood spears out of petrified wood. I can control those with spirits. Obviously, those dead will be stripped from the wood at the last second, but by then they’ll be going close to Mach one and impossible to dodge. They’ll eat a lot of her power to stop, I think.”

  He waved at Shannon, “Shannon can help our defense,” he looked at me, then Janice and Hali, “While you three try to take her with a sword. Shannon’s shadows would be perfect as a ground defense, redirecting any explosions away from your body. At least, until she runs out of power. Bonnie and Elena can be on defense and support as well. I don’t want my witch mates anywhere near this and they have a coven to take care of.”

  I replied, “That was one of our major issues. We can take her three on one, I’m confident of that, but not if we’re constantly on the defensive.”

  Shannon nodded, “Even with me there, if you get too close to the shield and she pulls you into the earth with my shadows present I can move you right out, once you’re out of range of the artifact.”

  Levi asked, “Any ideas on the issue for Nicole, Zarya, and Lynn?”

  Nicole said, “We might just have to abandon that idea. Metal tips… the weapons just become hers when they hit her shield.”

  I nodded, “Maybe. Hali managed to block them all with water when she tried that, then collected them in a solid stream that sent them all back into her face pushing her power down further. It’s a matter of diminishing returns I suppose, but with Maris, Hali, and Elena doing so it could help wear her down. On the other hand, Jack’s petrified wood spears sounds like a much better alternative.”

  Jack said, “I wish they could fight too, but Nicole’s right. It’s not worth the power expenditure just to have them in the battle. Mobile metal weapons are a liability, and the drain will be too much on our side for that. Plus, if they really start to annoy her then she might become willing to spend the power to break your shield. She could rip them apart with a thought at that point.”

  I looked at my twins, they didn’t look happy at the idea of sitting out a fight where I’d be in danger, but I could see in their eyes they knew to be at the fight would make it more dangerous for me.

  “Alright, we’ll give up on that then.”

  Levi suggested, “One other possibility, or two. What if our water wielders dropped a solid stream on her head? The water wouldn’t split if they stopped controlling that stream at the shield’s aura edge. I mean, it would just continue to fall straight. I was thinking that might enable me to get in lightning strikes, using it as a conduit. Plus, it’d be damned distracting for her if gallons of water were dumping on her head, and it might give one of you an opening to use your sword.”

  “We could try it. It wouldn’t hurt to practice either. I’ve never fought walking on shadows before.”

  Shannon winked.

  Hali said, “We might be able to use magic to freeze it as well, to encumber her.”

  Jack asked, “You said two possibilities?”

  Levi frowned, “I can throw a ball lightning without power past launching it from my fist, instead of the smaller hits I send through a power conduit. I don’t think her shield will stop natural lightning. The only catch is it takes a full two fifths of my power to do it, so it should also drain about two fifths of her power to protect against. The problem with it is it needs to happen before Janice, Evan, and Hali engage, carrying metal swords next to ball lightning is a bad idea. It will also exhaust me, and for all we know the artifacts can defend against it. So, it’s a gamble.”

  I nodded, “Yeah, I tried to kill her fast and it didn’t work out for me very well. How about we make that plan B if the three of us need to back off for some reason. It would be easily defended against. All she has to do is lift a wall of earth out of the ground to occlude your shot. I get that lightning is instantaneous, but she could raise one when she feels you blowing that much power to prepare it. Our best bet is to wear her down slowly, three on one with support, defense, and Jack’s spears. Oh, and your lightning shots through a waterfall.”

  Levi sighed, “You’re probably right, but with a little timing our water support or Bonnie could blast through that wall, and I could release at the same moment before she can raise another one. But we’ll hold it in reserve, as our last option.”

  Shannon said, “I’ll stand near you when we arrive, and pull our three heroes away a split second before you launch it. If as you say, it comes down to it.”

  Jack said, “I’ll also provide mobile armor for all our support, Elena, Bonnie, Levi, Maris, and myself. It wouldn’t help Janice, you, or Hali, and probably mess up your fighting skills when the spirit pulls you one way while you wanted to go the other. It’ll also keep us all in the sky except for our melee fighters, which will be safer for all of us.”

  “Shannon?”

  Jack made a face, and Shannon said, “His power interferes with mine, and I can protect myself.”

  “Alright, so if he attacks here, before Jack, Shannon, and Elena show up we’ll have to go with the original play. Ground fighters and water support, Levi’s new electrocution through water idea, and we’ll have to dodge the ground explosions until they arrive.”

  Levi said, “I can agree with that, it’s what we’ll have to do.”

  Lynn asked, “What will we be doing, master?”

  I gave that a moment’s thought, then said, “Help Nicole, Dawn, Aurora, and Claire get Ginny, Carmen, Katerina, and the babies out of here. Just in case the unthinkable happens, and we wind up retreating again. We don’t want a house full of babies and Aphrodite’s demigoddesses to complicate matters when that time comes.”

  Carmen smiled, “He’s got a point, we’re all worthless in a fight, sir.”

  Levi nodded at me in thanks, then at the twins in trusting confidence, “We’d appreciate the help, and it never hurts to have an oh shit plan in place. The five of you should be able to carry the ten of them. Aurora and Dawn can easily accommodate one person carrying two babies on their backs, and you’ll be safest exfiltrating by sky.”

  Janice said, “Sounds like we have a plan. Hopefully it’ll be a long time before our enemies come up with another danger capable of taking even one of us on.”

  “From your lips to our goddesses’ ears.”

  Carmen giggled, as did Hali.

  Levi looked at Jack, “Any word on where she might be staying yet?”

  Jack shook his head, “The dead I control make great spies and scouts, but they really can’t feel magic so they can’t just search for wards and only check those houses. I’ve got a bunch of them searching every damned house in the city and surrounding areas, in a growing grid pattern. The bitch of it is, is that they could’ve already found the right house, but our daughter of the earth was out at the store at the time, or out for some other reason. I haven’t given up, but it’ll take time. For all I know dear old dad has her living at home, and only sends her up when she attacks. There’s no guarantee she’s even on the mortal plane right now.”

  Shannon patted his shoulder, “We’ll find her.”

  “Is that likely?”

  Jack shrugged helplessly, “It’s what dad does. I expect if I went when he beckoned the first time then I’d be living down there too, and only up here on missions. He wants his children to be his champions and on a short leash, and he tries to end those that aren’t. That I can control his dead really chaps his ass too, and it’s probably why he hasn’t given up.

  “I wasn’t interested when the fury showed up. I already had Maggie as a mate and a future of my own, plus the last thing I wanted to do was champion the lord of the underworld. But yes, to answer your question, it’s likely she lives down there and is only up here for missions. The only question is if he’s dragging her back and forth, or if killing me, you, and Levi compromises a mission and she’s up here for the full duration. I hope it’s that second one. That would let us track her, and eventually go on the offensive. If we could catch her without her weapons, we’d squash her like a bug acting in concert.”

  That was just true, she was a match for any of us one on one, but together or even just alone with our mates supporting us she’d have to get really lucky to win.

  Levi nodded, “Ares is like that too. Me and Evan lucked out that way. Though Evan totally wins on that count.”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  Levi chuckled, “Your old man trained you thoroughly before releasing you on the world. My father isn’t demanding like Jack’s, but all he does is soak up my beer.”

  Janice replied, “He did arrange a deal with Aphrodite on your behalf.”

  Levi shrugged, “You’re right. He did look out for me in a way, just not nearly as directly.”

  We moved on from that, and just got to know each other a little better. Jack and Shannon left right after dinner, and I couldn’t blame him. I’d be nervous about leaving four of my mates and a coven exposed, though I was sure he’d had shields around them and dead spies keeping him apprised of the situation by the second.

  Also, with Shannon around he could be home in seconds.

  It wasn’t too much longer before we retired to the guest room for our usual six-some and some sleep. That night started out with the five on one shock and awe pleasure campaign until everyone got to enjoy the insanely intense pleasures of being loved on by five others. Then I made love to them all before we dropped off to sleep, while the other four broke into two loving pairs as well which swapped in all combinations. I still hadn’t told Maris and the twins I loved them, but I was just as sure they knew. There was no way it wasn’t all over my scent, just how much they’d come to mean to me the last few weeks.

  Then I spent a glorious three days holding my goddess in my arms, making love to her, ravishing her, spoiling her with massages, and just talking and enjoying being in her presence. The nights with my goddess were truly indescribable, and they always left me feeling recharged and ready to face the world’s challenges once again. She was my goddess, my lover, and my ease and comfort.

  Lightning coruscated wildly the next morning during false dawn and our usual workout. It was the moment I realized what those spikes were for, they were part of Levi’s training regimen and nothing but targets and lightning rods in one.

  Maris was actually working with him that morning since they’d be teaming up in the fight, dropping a stream of water from above, that lacked any kind of power for the last ten feet or so to the spike. It seemed to work just fine, the lightning electrified the water stream and then grounded out in the spikes.

  Hali and I were double teaming Janice with sword work, the latter had wanted to become familiar how we fought together as one, so she could complement us and not get in our way when it was three on one against Hades’ daughter. It wasn’t perfect. It’d take months for the two of us to learn how to fight seamlessly with Janice like we did with each other, but it was better than nothing.

  Of course, Hali was my trainer, had forged me into the master swordsman I was, and we already fought together as one as I knew her style just as intimately having faced it for years. Nothing proved that more than the way we we’d worked together during the attack yesterday morning. We might’ve even won if it hadn’t been for my mistakes, but it was a live and learn thing. Hades’ daughter was a unique threat, so a learning curve was natural. She wasn’t to be underestimated either.

  We also warned Janice not to try and block at all, and only parry and dodge the woman’s strikes. Her power over earth to increase the strength of her sword strokes wasn’t to be underestimated. That bitch hit harder than Aries’ kids.

  Then we all got cleaned up and headed into work. As usual, I dressed Hali and Maris for the day, both workout clothes and the sexy skirts and blouses they’d wear the rest of the day. It was what it was, and both of them breathlessly obeyed me in that way. It made them feel loved and cherished.

  It was right around ten that Wednesday morning when I got a hell of a surprise after arriving at my office after intermediate class. I had to shake my head to clear it, as when I opened the door the first thing I saw was that Abigail was back. She was also naked, writhing on the floor, underneath my gloriously sexy and bold Katerina who was on top in their sixty-nine.

  Katerina looked up, “Join us, love,” with a look of lust in her eyes, no doubt reading my lust and seeing the front of my sweat shorts start to tent.

  It was a hell of a sexy surprise, and I had no doubt the sexy duo had timed it perfectly, or at least Katerina had, because as soon as Katerina told me to join them Abigail started to keen in pleasure as she went over into orgasmic bliss.

  Needless to say, I manned up and did just that. While Lynn jumped Maris, and Zarya jumped Hali. It was a hell of a first break already, and I stripped quickly and stuck my cock in Katerina’s face on my knees, who was more than happy to get it sloppily wet with her mouth before feeding it to Abigail’s quivering sex.

  Damn, it felt so good to push into her, and feel her stretch out deliciously taut around my cock. The heat of her snugly silken passage drew a moan from my mouth, and Abigail let out a little gasp when I ground up into her while Katerina ducked her head down and started to swirl her tongue around Abigail’s clit.

  The first half hour of the break was wild and crazy, as I dumped two loads into Abigail, because the first one was embarrassingly short. Then I filled my Katerina as well from behind, as she licked out my bounty with her head stuffed between Abigail’s legs.

  There was still about a half an hour left of our hour break when we finished. As usual, Katerina closed the deal with sex before the conversation. Given she was Aphrodite’s joyous slut that kind of thing was a given, and certainly nothing to complain about. My twins, Hali, and Maris looked pretty damned sated as well and we were all hot messes. I cleaned us up with some magic, then sat on the couch with Katerina and Abigail flanking me. The former needing my touch and the latter needing to touch me.

  “So, you’re here…”

  Abigail blushed, “To stay, this wasn’t just a booty call.”

  I grinned and caressed her leg, “Good to know. You know things are a little crazy right now?”

  Abigail nodded, “I’m packed up in my car, and I’ll be with you from now on. You still…”

  I replied, “Of course, I want you in our family. I’m all in, and I can’t wait to get to know you. I can’t see any reason not to just go for it all the way, if you intend to put in the work too and get to know us all.”

  It was a little blunt, but why not put all our cards on the table. We were compatible, and we all seemed to want each other, this wasn’t just about sex. Katerina was also a potent lure for Abigail, besides the compatibility, and I just had to make sure she was ready for the long haul and effort involved. We had a lot of sex, but it was also a lot of effort maintaining that many relationships.

  She grinned, and then gave me a kiss, “I very much want to know you all, like I do Katerina. Though she’s changed and I’ll be getting to know her too, again.”

  Katerina smiled sensuously, “Welcome to the family, Abby,” then they both leaned across me and kissed. Which was hot to watch no matter how many times I’d seen that kind of thing between my mates.

  Abigail said, “So, obviously evenings and nights, and weekends once I have staff. But during the day I’ll be getting my business up and running.”

  I nodded, “That’s no different than our Katerina.”

  She smiled, “Yes, and like her I can be around for a bit during the day. I took your advice just in case this worked out, and it looks like I’m going to close on the property down the street in just a week. It’ll take time to put up the greenhouse and a field or two, before I can open up. Besides selling those vegetables on the side, I’ll also be providing fresh organic produce year around for our family.”