by Lisa Oliver
You’ll Know In Your Heart
The Gods Made Me Do It #7
By Lisa Oliver
You’ll Know in Your Heart (The Gods Made Me Do It #7)
Copyright © Lisa Oliver, 2019
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Cover Design by Lisa Oliver
Background and model images purchased from Shutterstock.com.
First Edition December 2019
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author, Lisa Oliver. [email protected]
No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the internet or any other means, electronic or print, without permission from Lisa Oliver. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights and livelihood is appreciated.
You’ll Know in Your Heart is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All trademarks are owned by the relevant companies and are used for reference purposes in this book only.
Table of Contents
Author’s Note
Chapter One (part one)
Chapter One (part two)
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Epilogue
About the Author
Other Books By Lisa/Lee Oliver
Dedication
To Amanda and Carla, thank you for helping polish my words.
To Phil – thank you for all your research help.
And to every person that reads this page, know that you are loved, you are special, and that you mean the world to me. Always.
Author’s Note
Readers who have been following my Gods series will remember Baby has turned up in both Artemas’s story, and the book about Hades. Rather than try and slot this story, into those timelines, I decided to start this from when Baby was found by Hades in the Pits and just write it from there. My excuse is you have to remember that time passes differently in the Underworld, so what might appear months down there, might only be a week on earth – Lol, please just accept the timeline in this story works as it should.
With regards to Baby’s mate, (because of course he does have one, otherwise this book wouldn’t exist), “Owen” is described as a Native American/Inuit spiritual being. For the purposes of this story he is the supreme deity which has been known by many names including Kitcki Manitai, or Tirawa Atius – The Great Spirit, or the Creator of the Heaven’s and Earth. Because of the amazing diversity of names, myths and legends among over five hundred different nations, rather than cause offence to any, I chose to create Owen. You can read more about this here - https://www.powwows.com/native-american-religion-and-spirituality-common-threads-unique-beliefs-and-too-many-misconceptions/
The one thing that holds true for all nations is the belief of living in harmony with the land, taking only what is needed to survive, giving thanks for the gifts offered by all life forms, and their beliefs about death as part of a longer journey. Many nations believe there is energies in all things, and Owen does too. Those concepts resonate with me deeply.
For more information and if you want to do your own research you can start with this site that hosts a number of different links for you to explore like I did - http://www.native-languages.org/religion.htm
As always, I hope that any references I make to places or events in history are equally regarded in a fictional light. My stories are fundamentally about love, and Baby and Owen need a lot of that as you will see.
Thank you all for accepting my quirks and for letting me know how much you enjoy my stories.
Hugs,
Lisa
Chapter One (part one)
Somewhere deep in the Arctic Circle
Owen tugged at his cuffs, making sure his shirt showed a regulation one inch from the bottom of his jacket sleeves. He ran his fingers over the cufflinks, the embossed symbol on them as known to him as the nose on his face. Reaching up, he touched the ends of his hair, making sure not one lock was out of place, and then ran his fingers around his waistband ensuring his belt buckle was straight and that his pants fell exactly as they were intended by the tailor.
“Do you really feel a suit is the correct attire for visiting the Tulsa pack, sir?”
Owen kept his face expressionless as he used his senses to check the back of his jacket and the shine of his shoes. “This is an important meeting, Caruthers. I want my intended to appreciate from the first time he sees me, how seriously I plan to take our mating.”
“One would assume,” Caruthers continued in his snooty tone, “that if your intended was as important to you as you claim, then you wouldn’t have allowed him to run amuck between Aphrodite’s palace, the Underworld, and every place in between.”
“I wasn’t ready to meet him before, and I doubt, given his age, he was ready to meet me.”
“And you think he’s ready now? Tell me, oh wise lord and master, how is his behavior any different than it was a hundred, two hundred, or even five hundred years ago?”
Owen allowed himself a sigh. His and Baby’s intended mating had been a bone of contention between himself and his companion for a very long time. “My intended needed a chance to live life, experience all life has to offer before settling down and having a family. I understood and respected that. He is a late in life god, one of the last ever raised before this current crop of infants. It was important he had a chance to experience freedom as an adult before I made myself known to him.”
“And how do you think he’s going to feel, sir, when he finds out you’ve watched him pretty much from the day he was born, and yet never did anything to ease his despair, or help him come to terms with his fathers’ indifferences. Himeros only wants him hanging around now because he’s a sexual magnet for anyone with a pulse.” Caruthers was right behind him, straightening his collar at the back, and Owen resisted the urge to smack the man around the head. Caruthers deserved it, but a man of his station would never do anything so petty, especially to an underling.
“It is something we will discuss, along with many other subjects, I imagine, once I’ve offered the introduction.” I will not fuss with my cuffs anymore. They are already perfect. “I did believe, with Sei having more offsprin
g and with a mate this time, that he might offer Baby some of the comfort and reassurance the young god obviously needs. I might have made an error in that judgment, but then Sei was always too lenient with his sons and always too keen to see them as shadows of himself, rather than individuals in their own right.”
“Another aspect that is going to be difficult to overcome with your intended.” Caruthers’ tone was bordering on a sneer. Owen’s palm itched. “How is he going to feel, being cooped up in this ice palace, with no other inhabitants for miles around?”
“If we need another abode, I will secure one.” Owen let out his breath slowly, centering his mind, allowing his spirit to flow out, touching every part of his domain. All is as it should be. He allowed himself a smile. “It is time. Please make sure all is arranged as I ordered, for my mate’s arrival.”
“You have to get him to accompany you first,” Caruthers said as Owen’s molecules broke down and his body soared on the Artic winds.
Chapter One (part two)
The Underworld – the Pits.
Baby sighed as he settled into his deck chair, taking in the wink offered to him from a friendly demon with a smile and a wink of his own. He knew his uncle’s demons wouldn’t touch him – they wouldn’t dare, which is why the noise, the dust, and the incredible heat really didn’t bother him. He leaned back, opened a magazine, which was more for show than anything else, and forced his body to relax.
Life was a bitch, although in his case, the bitch in question was his father Himeros. After his - gods he was still embarrassed to think about it now - breakdown in Silvanus’ waiting room, Baby vowed to be stronger, to stand up for himself and stop allowing himself to be manipulated. He knew, oh yes, he knew that if Artemas had even the slightest inkling about what Himeros had been doing, his older brother would have been on that man like white on rice and the pissant little god wouldn’t have walked for a month. But Baby didn’t say anything – he was too embarrassed because gods how come he couldn’t see Himeros’ overly affectionate nature for what it truly was – a way to get back at Poseidon, now that Baby’s other father was mated and had new offspring of his own.
One of the damned souls let out an unearthly scream. Baby chuckled and turned the page of his magazine. It was noisy in Aphrodite’s domain as well – but the noises were of a different kind. All sighs and gossip, lust and passion. Everyone determined to be the prettiest, the most desired, and the one others lusted after the most, at least in Himeros’ clique. It had taken a while for him to realize, longer than Baby cared to admit, that the only reason Himeros kept him around was because he saw getting pregnant as some sort of achievement over his brothers Eros and Pothos. A symbol that Poseidon wanted him – that he was desired by one of the greatest lovers in history, at least for a brief while.
But it was all show, the prettiness that is. Underneath Himeros was a viper, a snake with fangs longer than the curly bangs he played with when he was trying to gain someone’s attention. The pouting, the play acting, Baby could ignore all that. But the insidious way Himeros would come to him at night, when all he was trying to do was sleep, whispering plots, ways that Claude and Poseidon could be parted sickened and unnerved him.
Having hung around Claude and Poseidon for a while, Baby knew one thing above all else - that pair was solid. Both men were equally protective of each other and their off spring, and if Himeros was too stupid to see how much of a commitment Poseidon’s living with Claude was, in a pack on dry land for fuck’s sake, then Himeros was no more intelligent than the pile of rocks some hapless soul was trying to climb about twenty yards to Baby’s left.
Neither one of my fathers can get to me here, Baby leaned back in his chair, the magazine resting on his knees. Poseidon never visited his brother in the Underworld – Baby wasn’t sure if it was an unwritten law, or cast in concrete, but Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus never interfered in each other’s domains. As a god in his own right, even one without a domain, Baby could travel through all realms at will. Probably because no one thinks I’m a threat to anything except a resident virgin, and there’s not likely to be one of those here Baby thought with a sigh. But then he gave himself a mental shake. I am not here to dwell on my problems. I’m here to forget about them for a while.
Baby might have dozed. Lord knows sleeping itself would be impossible in the pits, but all of a sudden there was a huge boom, louder than any thunder Thor could make, followed by the sound of horses galloping. Hmm, Baby squinted half an eye open. Uncle is visiting his minions, but who on earth is that with him?
Of course, Hades saw him almost immediately which was totally understandable. There was nothing that went on in the Underworld that Hades didn’t know about. But rather than drive on by, leaving Baby to cope with the churn up of dust from his carriage wheels, Hades pulled on his steads’ reins and forced his carriage to a standstill.
“Baby?” Hades looked shocked to see him, which was enough to make Baby smirk. Shocking a god wasn’t easy at the best of times.
He didn’t bother to get up. “Hey, Uncle, nice chipmunk you’ve got there. Is this a new fetish kink of yours, driving your potential bed mates around your domain so you can scare the pants off them instead of undoing a zipper like the rest of us manage to do?” Baby flicked the hair off his face, hoping none of his stress was showing on his normally clear skin.
“Show some respect.” Baby was surprised to see Hades jump from the carriage, holding out his hand for the little guy who was with him. Baby had to give credit to the chipmunk – his face wasn’t that green. “This is Ali, my mate. We met yesterday. I’m showing him around.”
Oh, my gods, another one. Baby flicked a page of his magazine. “Another mate? The Fates have been busy. Nice to meet you, Ali. I think I remember seeing you at Sei’s wedding. Don’t go telling my dads I’m here, there’s a good chap.”
“What have you done now?” Hades was huffing, and all of a sudden, the screaming and sounds of torment disappeared as Hades waved his hand. “You’re welcome in my domain of course, but why the pits? Why didn’t you come up to the house if you wanted to see me?”
Maybe because I didn’t come to see you. “I didn’t think you were here,” Baby shrugged to show it was of no importance to him either way. “Artie said you were busy mate hunting. But then, you’ve found him, so I guess there’s no need to go roaming the earth like a lost soul anymore.”
Baby knew he was being borderline rude, but it was his defense mechanism. Answer any uncomfortable question with snarky comments and most people tended to back away. Unfortunately, Hades wasn’t most people. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
Shit. Busted. Baby wasn’t going to go through another meltdown like he had in front of Artie and Silvanus. He could have kissed the little chipmunk when he spoke up.
“Excuse me. Not wanting to sound like a jealous shrew or anything similar, but why are you calling this dreamy looking guy Baby in front of me? I didn’t expect that from you, mate.”
The chipmunk’s got good taste in men at least, but Baby was more surprised when his uncle, who was known across all worlds as being a badass who never showed public affection to anyone, tucked his little mate under his arm, talking to him softly.
“I call him Baby, because that is what his family call him. I don’t think he has another name. This is my nephew, Poseidon’s son to the god of desire, Himeros. The sack cloth is a new look though.”
Baby flicked a look down at his clothing. It wasn’t as though there was anyone to dress up for in the pits.
“Sorry.” Now Ali looked embarrassed, scuffing his boot in the dust like he was a teenager. “I haven’t got used to the family dynamics yet.” Looking around, he added, “Weird place for sunbathing, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“Oh, hey, I get it.” Baby kept his tone deliberately light. “This place is the pits, literally, but it was the only place I could think of where I couldn’t do any damage.”
“Damage?” Shit wrong word, but it was too late. Hade
s was kneeling beside his chair. “Baby, what’s happening? What’s going on with you? You didn’t look like your normal flirty self at your father’s wedding, and this is the last place I expected to find you.”
Baby looked across the compound. Hades questioning him, with concern no less, was the last thing he expected. “I didn’t want to give the old man any trouble, did I. He’s looked for eons to find someone to commit his battered heart to, and for that someone to actually look after it. I wasn’t going to wreck his day.”
“Wreck it how?” Great, now Ali was getting in on the act. “You don’t seem the type to cause trouble for anyone.”
Baby managed another negligent shrug. “I can’t help it, can I? Trouble follows me. I make some random comment or give someone the eye – man or woman it doesn’t seem to make any difference – and suddenly there’s a fight, or a freaking riot. I don’t cause it. I never start anything intentionally. It’s not as though I can help who I am. It just sucks that’s all. I wish just once I could have someone non-family who could give me a hug and want to be with me without all the drama.”
Damn it, where did that bout of verbal diarrhea come from? Hades looked uncomfortable and Baby could relate.
“Baby, you’re right,” Hades agreed. “You can’t help who you are but sunbathing in the pits is a step too far. It’s not as though this realm even sees the sun.”
“I like this place.” Baby smiled. “Face it, no one’s got the energy or the drive to try and get into my pants down here. Your demons are too cowed by you to try anything with me. It’s one of the few places I can be left alone.”
“You could come up to the house,” Ali said shyly. “There’s barely anyone there. The chairs are more comfortable, and there’s plenty of food. Hades showed me an awesome library earlier. There’s even a pool.”
“A pool?” Baby grinned. It seemed his uncle was prepared to pull out all the stops in making his sweet mate happy. “That wasn’t there the last time I visited.”
