by J. S. Scott
“I still can’t believe he’s my father.” Talia’s face turned broody. “I never even got to know him.”
“You will know him in time. He’s not dead,” Athena said with authority. “We will rescue him.” She didn’t want to mention to Kat and Talia that she wasn’t sure he’d be the same Kristoff who had entered the demon realm. The Evils were masters of torture and they needed to get him out of the demon Hell he was held captive in as soon as possible.
“Do you know that for sure?” Kat asked hesitantly, hopefully.
Athena wasn’t one hundred percent positive, but she was fairly certain that Kristoff was alive. “He’s no good to the Evils dead,” she mused. “He’s their prize, a bargaining tool should they need it, and a very valuable source of power Goran can tap. They wouldn’t kill him.” They’d just torture him until he was nothing more than a captive shell. But she wasn’t about to share that with the hopeful women sitting at the table.
“Every one of us is part of the prophecies. Kat can get us into the demon realm, and I can restore power to the Sentinels once they lose it from entering the Evils’ sanctuary uninvited. You can take away their excess power.” Talia hesitated before adding, “We have everything we need, except for our mates’ approval of the plan. Drew refuses to even consider letting me participate in a rescue effort.” She pushed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose as she tipped her head up to look at Athena.
“He must,” Athena insisted. “It’s fated, and there is no way to escape fate. If Kristoff is going to survive, everyone will be needed.” Absently, Athena reached out and touched the top of Talia’s head, granting the female perfect vision. “You need to be able to see without glasses.” The spectacles disappeared, as she fixed Talia’s sight. “You’ll need every asset you can get. If you lose your glasses, your ability to see and recognize Sentinels who need you will be hampered in the battle.”
Talia and Kat both gaped at her, the former groping at her face for her glasses as she sputtered. “What the hell…can you really fix my vision that easily?” She continued to trace a finger along the skin where her glasses had rested just a moment earlier. “Is this permanent?”
“Can you see?” Athena asked bluntly.
“Yes.”
“Then I guess I can,” Athena replied arrogantly. “You’re still human. You just have magical qualities now that you’re a radiant. I’m perfectly capable of performing what humans might consider a miracle. And yes…it’s permanent. When I do something, I do it properly.” It hadn’t taken a lot of insight to tell that Talia wished she could see without the glasses. She had pushed them back onto the bridge of her nose every time her head rose. Athena had seen her impatience with the spectacles almost immediately. She had used the excuse of greater effectiveness in battle, which was actually true, but had really wanted to help the female with her sight. Talia and Kat had both been kind to her all day.
The two women marveled over Talia’s perfect sight for a few minutes before Kat asked quietly, “Can you make me thin?”
Athena eyed the voluptuous redhead with the hopeful look on her face. Although she’d love to give these women anything they wanted, she couldn’t. “I can’t. It would make my Sentinel very unhappy. Zach is very fond of your body just the way it is. You’re healthy and happy. You need to let go of the image that you think is the quintessential female.”
Kat sighed. “Zach says the same thing. But it’s hard not to want something you wished for your entire life.”
“Wish for something else,” Athena told her with a smile. “You’re beautiful just the way you are.”
“I already have everything I want. My gorgeous hunk of a husband loves me and spoils me rotten. I guess I just want to be perfect for him,” Kat admitted.
“You already are,” Athena assured her. “If I touched a hair on your head to change you, he’d be devastated.” She looked at Talia, who was still shaking her head and blinking her eyes in shock. “I think Drew will forgive me for my gift to you.”
“He will,” Talia said in a rush, as though she was afraid Athena would make her vision blurry again. “He knows how much I hate my glasses, and I have a hard time with contacts.”
Athena nodded. “We all need to be at our strongest. Rescuing Kristoff won’t be easy.”
“Drew and Zach don’t want us to go, but Kat and I have already decided that we’re making a stand on this issue. We have to go after Kristoff, even if our husbands are angry,” Talia confessed.
“Like hell you are!” Drew’s low baritone came out of nowhere, the timbre of his voice irate.
Athena turned to see Hunter, Drew, and Zach standing near the kitchen door.
“Not happening,” Zach affirmed. “There’s no way we’re letting our wives willingly go into the demon realm. Absolutely…not.”
Athena frowned and sent all three of the Sentinels who had just joined them a hard bitch slap without ever leaving her chair. She watched as the three men’s head jerked to the side simultaneously. She stood and crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m ashamed to admit that you three are my Sentinels right now,” she informed them loftily. Coming to a halt right in front of them, she was tempted to smack them again as she saw the stubborn defiance in their eyes. Hunter hadn’t spoken, but she could hear his thoughts, and every one of them was a vow not to let her go on their rescue mission. He was just as obstinate as his brothers…maybe more. Although she respected all three of the men in front of her, they had to see sense…now. These men were blinded by mating emotion, and they needed to come into reality.
“What the hell was that for?” Hunter asked as he rubbed his jaw.
“That was for being stupid and not thinking beyond the moment.” She glared at them as she paced in front of them. “You don’t want your women to fulfill their destiny? Fine! And then…what? The Evils overrun the Earth until there is no place you can hide? You’d have your radiants always running, always facing the danger of being captured in a world run by Evils? Do you think you’ll always be there to save them when you’re living a life like that?” She halted, her tone icy as she added, “That’s just pure stupidity, and I won’t have it.”
The men all stared at her incredulously. “Are you going to slap us again?” Drew asked curiously.
“No. I’m so irritated right now that I refuse to waste any power on trying to wake you all to reality. Leave my sight and don’t come back until you start using your brains,” she commanded, making them disappear with a wave of her hand.
Breathing slowly in and out to control her temper, Athena turned to face the women again. Both of them were gaping at her unabashedly.
“That was…interesting,” Kat said cautiously.
“What? You think I was too harsh?” Athena queried in a calmer tone.
Talia started to giggle, and Kat joined her a moment later.
“No, I think it was the truth. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Zach that astonished,” Kat snorted.
“I haven’t seen that expression on Drew’s face before,” Talia agreed with amusement.
“I might have sent them all a few images of what the world would be like if demons overrun the Earth,” she admitted, hating to play her Sentinels that way, but they really were being ridiculously foolish. “Just a little preview of what kind of life you’d all have in the future if the Evils aren’t contained.”
“Brilliant!” Kat exclaimed.
“Very savvy,” Talia agreed.
“Where did you send them?” Kat asked inquisitively.
Athena shrugged and sat back down. “They are currently discussing the error of their ways at Kristoff’s residence. Maybe it will remind them that the man who saved all of their lives needs us right now.”
The last thing Athena had wanted to do was lose her temper with her Sentinels, but the three men had to think fast and change their minds quickly. She didn’t have ti
me to cater to their fears. Things would get a whole lot worse for their mates if they didn’t wake up.
“If we save Kristoff and the balance is restored, what will happen to you?” Talia asked, her voice concerned. “If your mating with Hunter is just temporary, what happens after this is over?”
Athena rubbed her arms as a sudden chill washed over her body. “I’ll pass on to go to my final rest in the Elysian Fields,” she shared with the women. “After thousands of years, I think I’m more than ready.”
“What about Hunter?” Kat queried nervously. “I don’t think he wants you to go. Do you really want to leave? Can’t you make the deal permanent?”
“I don’t think Hunter wants me forever,” she blurted out without censoring her words. “It’s our choice whether the relationship becomes permanent or not. If we both agree, I can become Hunter’s radiant instead of leaving this dimension.”
“Um…Athena…no offense but I think you failed to notice the way Hunter looks at you,” Talia stated confidently. “I think he’d be shattered if you left him. I’ve never seen him care about anything except killing Evils. Now that I know why he did it, I feel bad that we lectured him about something he couldn’t control. But now it’s like he only sees you. He looks at you exactly the same way Drew and Zach look at us.”
Kat nodded enthusiastically in agreement. “Besides, I don’t want you to go,” Kat exclaimed mournfully. “Any woman who can handle three irate Sentinels like that would be great to have as a friend.”
“Definitely,” Talia concurred.
Friends? Athena found herself longing to be part of these two women’s circle. Instinctively, she knew she could trust them. “I’d like that,” she whispered, her tone slightly raw and vulnerable. She’d always had Kristoff as a true friend, but she ached to have female confidants, women she could share things with and exchange opinions with. After her night with Hunter, she had plenty of questions. But... “I can’t stay if Hunter doesn’t make me his permanent radiant. He doesn’t think he’s good for me.”
“What do you think?” Kat asked softly.
“He’s pigheaded and stubborn,” Athena noted. “His self-esteem is terrible, and he guards his emotions carefully. I doubt he’ll ever admit that I’m stronger than he is, and he’ll always try to protect me when I don’t need his protection at all.”
“But?” Talia prompted.
“But it’s really kind of sweet. I’ve never had anyone try to protect me before. Not even my father.” Zeus had watched stoically as she had been sent away, and she’d never seen him again after she’d been imprisoned. She’d disgraced him, disappointed him. “Hunter would always stand beside me no matter what happened.”
“You’re falling in love with him,” Kat said excitedly.
“Don’t be silly,” Athena said emphatically. “Of course I’m not—”
She stopped speaking as two sets of feminine eyes stared at her knowingly.
“We know the signs,” Talia assured her, and Kat nodded in agreement. “If you care about each other, make the relationship permanent. You want that, don’t you?”
Her emotions completely raw at the moment, Athena nodded slowly. “I do. Despite his sarcasm and defensive attitude, Hunter’s the most amazing male I’ve ever met. Being a stabilizer hasn’t been easy for him as a human or a Sentinel. Yet he did what he had to do to survive.”
“We were afraid we were going to lose him,” Talia said grimly. “Stay with him, Athena. He deserves his own piece of happiness and so do you.”
“How do I convince him if he doesn’t want it?” Athena asked desolately, her heart clenching with a yearning she didn’t understand.
“Tell him how you feel. He feels the same way, I guarantee it,” Talia replied.
Even if Hunter did care for her, convincing him that she wanted him more than she wanted eternal paradise was going to be a hard sell. Even though Hunter could read her thoughts, his sense of worthlessness was stronger than whatever he was picking up in her mind. And talking about her feelings didn’t come easy to her. It felt so new, so foreign to her nature.
Athena looked at the eager, optimistic looks on Talia and Kat’s faces, wishing she could feel as confident as they did that she could win Hunter’s heart.
“I think not only does he care for you, but he needs you, Athena,” Kat mentioned tentatively, her voice quivering with concern. “He seems happy. He’s smiling. I don’t want to see him go back to the way he was before.”
Athena nodded her understanding, remembering how playful Hunter had been this morning. She had experienced all of his memories, and he was changing. “I think I may need some advice.” The statement came out of her mouth without thinking. Usually she was the one dishing out wisdom while others listened. “I have no idea how to seduce a Sentinel,” Athena confided helplessly.
“If you’re his radiant, all you have to do is breathe,” Talia answered with a gentle laugh. “We’ll help you, Athena. Ask us anything.”
Trusting the women with her secrets, Athena took a deep breath and started learning as much as she possibly could about Sentinel mating.
The conversation lasted for hours.
“What in the hell is taking her so long to bring us back?” Hunter grumbled, annoyed that he’d been detained along with his two brothers. He hadn’t even said a word. Granted, he was thinking that there was no way in hell that he wanted Athena anywhere around the Evils. But he hadn’t actually said anything out loud. The horrifying mental images Athena had sent to him and his brothers of a world ruled by Evils had stunned him, kept him mute. She hadn’t held back, the blood and mayhem taking over their brains. Each one had viewed images of their mates in danger and being captured by Evils over and over again.
“She’s the boss right now,” Drew replied morosely, twisting the ring Kristoff had given him on his finger. “I never thought about how powerful she has to be since she created Kristoff and he recruited the rest of us. She doesn’t look or talk like a kick-ass goddess.” Drew shifted in the big recliner in the living room, a place where they had taken refuge after Athena had dropped all three of them on their ass in Kristoff’s kitchen with the last of her horrific images still rolling around in their heads. “How does it feel to have a mate who is more powerful than you are?” Drew queried Hunter unhappily.
“She’s fucking amazing,” Hunter answered honestly, not particularly bothered by the fact that Athena had some incredible skills. All he could think about was how she felt beneath him while he buried his cock inside her over and over again. Besides, the stronger she was…the more able she was to protect herself if he wasn’t near her. But in the demon realm, her powers wouldn’t do her much good if she was unable to slay an Evil.
“What the hell is wrong with you, dude?” Zach asked Hunter, shooting him a perplexed look. “Since when have you been content to sit around and not worry about killing something?”
Since I met Athena. She’s all I think about, all I obsess over right now.
It wasn’t like the instinct wasn’t there to go out and waste Evils, but a stronger compulsion had taken the place of murderous instincts: He wanted Athena. She was beauty and strength, innocence and seduction. The dick he hadn’t paid much attention to for over a century was suddenly in charge of his every impulse, and his desire to make Athena really belong to him was overwhelming. A temporary mating mark wasn’t enough. He wanted to watch the magical glow of his marking on her shoulder instead of a pale imitation. Dammit! He wanted to be close to her forever, have her right beside him. For a man who was a loner, it was downright uncomfortable. But there it was…his all-consuming desire, the thoughts that were currently overriding his instinct to go out and destroy Evils. Given a choice, if he couldn’t be with Athena, he’d take slaughtering Evils above any other activity on any given day. Problem was…he didn’t like the thought that Athena could never be his. “I want our mating to be
real,” he confessed to his brothers. “She’s all I think about now.”
“So do it,” Zach advised from his place on the couch. “It’s not like you can’t. It’s an option, right? If you both want the mating to be real and bond yourselves, you can do it.”
They could, but Hunter couldn’t even dream about that happening. Not with him. “Do you think she’d trade eternal paradise in the Elysian Fields with her fellow gods to stay here in a hell-on-earth to be my radiant?” She’d have to be crazy. His Princess might be eccentric, but she was smart. Athena would make the obvious choice.
“You’re actually falling for her.” Drew gaped at Hunter, astonished.
“Zip it, Irish,” Hunter rumbled. “A Sentinel doesn’t fall for a goddess.”
“Bullshit,” Zach interjected. “Is she still a virgin goddess?”
Hunter’s head jerked toward Zach and he speared him with a warning glance. “None of your damn business.”
“We’re your brothers. Everything is our business,” Zach retorted obnoxiously. “How was it?”
Gut-wrenching, earth-shattering, and life-changing. Hunter knew he’d never be the same again. “It was fine. Now shut the hell up.” He looked from one brother to the other, wishing he had Athena’s powers to smack them both again.
Drew and Zach looked at each other and smirked, a knowing expression on their faces.
“You obviously wanted her enough to seduce her,” Zach contemplated. “And she apparently wanted to be persuaded. She has enough power to zap you into oblivion if it annoyed her. I’m assuming it was mutual.”
