by S. E. Babin
Fortuna had come to visit me a few weeks ago. Her deal was called in. I knew it would happen eventually. She had done me some massive favors over the months I’d spent with Abby. I’d never told my friend who made the deal with the Goddess of Luck, and I never would.
However, our deal was soured a little bit when I discovered she was the one who orchestrated the leap which resulted in the loss of my immortality. To say I was pissed would be a massive understatement. So, since she had violated the terms of our agreement, I’d insisted on forging a new one. I’d contacted the goddess of contracts and we’d sat down for hours and hammered out a new one.
I agreed to work for Fortuna for a period of five years. If she was able to figure out how to restore my immortality, and she was successful in returning it to me, I agreed to work for her for the period of one century. Fortuna was furious about the five years, but she couldn’t argue too much considering my now drastically reduced life span.
So things, all considered, were good. Except for the sheriff who kept coming in and disrupting my business. He was handsome as sin, but he had two massive things against him. He was an arrogant jackwad and...he was human.
Time would tell how that worked out.
Hermes
I don’t know how it happened, but I’d accidentally become a farmer. After the events of what the Olympians now refer to as Abpocalypse, I quietly retreated back to the home in Tennessee and spent the next several weeks rebuilding it how I wanted it. I had to keep a low profile to ensure none of the other Olympians found out about me. It was bad enough that so many knew, but after all of the things we’d been through, I figured they would keep my secret.
It was lonely out here, but the hard work was fulfilling. I rarely used magic. Maybe one day I’d come back to it, but right now, all I wanted was the sun on my shoulders and a good steak and beer at night.
It didn’t hurt that there was a certain black-haired beauty down at the local feed store. Buying ten horses ensured that I’d be visiting her quite often. Considering I knew jack shit about horses, those visits were sure to quadruple.
I also didn’t know much about human women, but I figured that would be part of the fun.
Abby and Hades were good to their word. They did not try to foist ruling on me, nor did they contact me for anything other than a friendly chat or a question on how something worked.
Abby still sucked at politics.
Thank the gods she had Hades.
Abby & Hades
Clotho had known I would lose my shit if she told me I’d have to give birth twice in a matter of months. So she conveniently left that truth out when she made all her gloom and doom statements all those months ago. Fortunately for us, all had turned out well. Except for the second labor. Hades was never going to hear the end of that.
We turned out the same little beautiful boy, but the main difference is he wasn’t rapidly aging. He was an adorable little handful who rarely slept through the night and whose smile stole our hearts.
We enjoyed every single diaper change. Every single temper tantrum. Every single...okay I’m totally lying. Diapers were the worst.
But we wouldn’t change it for anything.
And ding dong, God was dead. Draco imploded Heaven with a whispered word of power and enough magic to power a nuke. Let’s hope he had no memories of his time with us before.
Because that was going to be years of expensive therapy and parent issues.
Clotho assured us he was no worse for the wear, but she was insisting on taking him when he came of age. I told her she could bite my ass and she reminded me she could still kill me. But then I told her I would fire her as Chief Oracle to my court. That settled her down a little bit but not much. It would be an argument for a later time.
Hera had settled in as my first in command and she delighted in bossing me around. She also had her eye on our resident messenger goddess, Iris, a pretty little thing who seemed to have her eye on Hera, too. That was an odd turn of events especially with Zeus roaming around the castle somewhere. He couldn’t leave, which was a huge relief, but he was still a giant pain in the ass.
Ares was my Chief Strategist so he spent most of his time fighting with Hera, and pretty much anyone who disagreed with him. Gabriel became his Captain at Arms and one of his best friends. Who knew Ares could actually have friends who didn’t want to kill him??
Rafe had quietly left the court a few months earlier. Turned out he was a tricky little trickster and hadn’t even given me half of the nephilim names he had. I forgave him because we kicked angel ass. He thought it would be best in light of the events in Heaven to track them down and try to properly train them on using their power. As soon as Heaven went kablooey, Rafe’s powers were restored.
And...Keto, who had been suspiciously absent from the party, had been restored as well. Turned out he was so messed up, he’d been living in a tower in a mountain in the Himalyans recovering. Considering I risked life and limb to heal him from damage he sustained months ago, I didn’t ask too many questions about his new injuries and he didn’t volunteer much either.
Dionysus and Ariadne had moved in, and he’d become my chief Sommelier. I didn’t even know what that was, but Hades thought he’d be perfect for it. Turned out it had to do with wine so I agreed with him.
As far as me and Hades? We’d merged Olympus and the Underworld into one massive kingdom. We no longer collected souls. We allowed them to pass wherever human souls passed regardless of what they did or did not do in life. One crime on Earth did not deserve an eternity of suffering. We were glad to be rid of it, Hades especially. And the sadness he’d always carried with him lifted off his shoulders. He smiled more. He laughed more. He made more bacon in the buff.
Things were great. But they weren’t perfect. The Olympians were still assholes, so I usually had to field off at least one assassination attempt per month. But it was becoming pretty comical so I dealt with it the best way I knew how.
The last attempt had resulted in an injury to my son, so a royal decree was sent down that the next person who attempted to assassinate the king or queen would be condemned to sing karaoke in a cage at the queen’s whims for the next four hundred years.
The attempts stopped abruptly, so that was a bummer. I’d always wanted to keep an Olympian as a pet.
And...there was one more thing.
“Hades?” I asked my husband as I curled against his side.
“Mmmm?”
“How would you feel about more kids?”
His chest rumbled against my cheek. “Can you promise me we won’t get stuck in an alternate timeline and almost all die?”
“Ummm, no?”
“Well, gotta decline.”
I smacked him on his leg. “What would I tell you if I said you had no choice about it?”
He abruptly stiffened. “Abby?”
“We’re having a daughter,” I whispered.
Hades fell silent, although I could feel his heart beating a hundred miles an hour. “A little girl?”
I nodded. “Clotho told me.”
He pulled me tighter against him. “We have to think of a better name next time.”
“Draco means Dragon, you jerk.”
I felt him smile against my hair.
