by Noah Layton
‘I’m in the city for work and thought I’d drop by and surprise you,’ he said, ‘and to just check up to make sure you’re looking after yourself right.’
‘Of course,’ James grinned, looking back at his father. He was only an inch or two taller than his dad, but his father made up for it with the control with which he conducted himself. He had never been in the military but his stance and posture was one so resilient and firm that anybody walking by him in the street would think so. Arthur had grown up in an environment where things had been scarce, but he had desired abundance; as a result, his whole image revolved around wholesomeness. Dark hair, a perpetual beard and worn, piercing eyes all framed a white, toothy smile that made anybody looking at him feel welcome; including James.
Which, unfortunately, made it impossible not to invite him inside.
As Arthur entered the apartment James scanned the place quickly. The bathroom door was still closed, and fortunately the girls weren’t making a sound.
Not yet, anyway.
‘You need to clean up in here, bud,’ Arthur said. ‘You know the best way to keep yourself in that habit?’
‘Nope.’
‘Get a woman in your life. They keep you along the right track. They give you a reason to work for in the first place.’
You don’t know the half of it.
‘Yeah, you’re probably right. Soon as I find one I’ll get right on tidying this place up.’
‘Would’ve thought you would already have that covered.’
‘Why d’you say that?’
‘Well, that hug spoke for itself. I wouldn’t wanna arm wrestle you any time soon. You been working out lately?’
‘Oh, yeah. A lot, actually… I guess.’
‘So you’re half way there,’ Arthur laughed. ‘The muscles will help you get a girl. Tidying this place up will help you keep one.’
James looked over to his unmade bed, his eyes drifting down to the floor that he set his feet down upon every morning when he pushed off from the mattress, to see Elena’s lacy red bra in a heap. Trying his best to head over to it casually, he kicked it under the bed and out of sight.
‘I was gonna ask how college is going, but why don’t we do that over some lunch.’
‘You don’t have to do that,’ James smiled. ‘I know how busy you are.’
‘True, but I’m never busy enough for you, man. Throw on a jacket and some shoes.’
‘You got it. Do you mind if I meet you downstairs?’
‘I’ve got a call to make anyway. See you down there.’
The moment James had shut the door behind his dad he sprinted to the bathroom, swung the door wide and ushered the girls out into the apartment.
‘Sorry about that, but if my dad saw you two he wouldn’t know what to think.’
‘He seems to have the right idea,’ Elena said. ‘Having a woman in your life is always a wonderful thing.’
‘Yeah, but two?’ James said, raising an eyebrow.
‘Twice as wonderful,’ Arifa winked.
‘With you two that’s true, but I don’t know how he’d react. I’m going for an early lunch with him. Are you two okay looking after yourselves for an hour or two?’
‘Please, we spent eighty years stuck inside our own private dimensions,’ Arifa said, ‘I think we can find a way to occupy ourselves.’
***
Twenty minutes later James was eating breakfast with his dad in a diner not far from the apartment. They both ordered bacon and eggs with muffins, a meal that had been a staple of Saturday mornings before James had left for college.
‘Is yours okay?’
‘Pretty good,’ James replied. ‘Nothing to the ones you used to make, of course.’
‘Sweet talker,’ Arthur laughed, taking a large gulp from his cup of coffee. ‘So how are things at college?’
‘Uhh…’ James started, taking up his own coffee. ‘Challenging at the moment. It’s my final year and everything, so I guess I’ll need to see how it goes.’
‘Mm. Just remember that I’m a call away if you ever need anything. I know you’re independent and can survive on your own and all, but I’ll always be around. That’s what I’m here for, after all.’
‘I know, dad… This isn’t like you.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean… We don’t talk like this usually. I’m not trying to be meta or anything but we’ve never exactly been emotional people.’
‘I didn’t raise you to freak out at little things. I don’t say that in a selfish way, but emotions get in the way of logical decisions.’
‘That’s been a little difficult lately,’ James muttered to himself.
‘Plus…’ Arthur continued. ‘You’ve got a point. I guess it might be down to the fact that I had a dream about your mom last night.’
James had just taken a bite out of a strip of bacon, stopping mid-chew.
‘About mom?’
They had rarely spoken about his mother since he had become a teenager. She was a distant memory, existing only in snippets and perfect soundbites that threaded through from images that James couldn’t be sure were even real.
‘Yeah.’
‘What happened?’
‘Nothing. That’s what was so memorable about it. You and I were in the living room back at the house, same age as we are now, and your mom was there with us. We were just watching TV and talking. That was all.’
‘Do you miss her?’
‘Every day. You know I do. I know you do too. I try not to think about her too much. I know that sounds terrible, but before she died she told me not to waste too much time thinking about her. She was always selfless like that. Oh, she wanted us to mourn, but she wanted us to live our lives. But her having said that just made her seem more wonderful, and I can’t help but still thinking about her whenever a woman passes by wearing her perfume, or a song plays that she used to hum.’
Arthur looked to the side for a moment, dwelling on the past before returning to his meal and eating greedily as if he had said nothing at all. Meanwhile, James could do nothing but set down his cutlery and stare across the table at his father.
‘Wow… That’s probably the most open you’ve been with me the whole time I’ve known you. Not that that’s a bad thing, of course, I actually appreciate the whole stoic-father thing… But still…’
‘I don’t know, son. The thought of your mom just brings out a more sensitive side, I guess.’
‘That’s one of my clearest memories, y’know? When I saw you get angry at grandpa for telling me those stories just after mom passed.’ James returned to his meal.
‘Oh, yeah… Y’know I always felt bad about that. Not because of your grandpa passing a little while after, but because it was the same stuff that your mom always used to talk about back when we met in college.’
James had attempted once again to dig into his food, but a fork full of scrambled eggs ended up hanging dangerously from the prongs halfway to his mouth, eventually slipping off and onto the plate completely.
‘… What did you say?’
‘Back in college, after a few dates, your mom finally decided to open up about her family. She talked all about her parents, your grandparents, and how they used to talk about being descended from people who could speak to gods, who made dealings with them in previous centuries. She always joked about it, asking where all the money had gone if they were really related to gods.’
James froze up completely, staring his dad in the eyes.
‘What’s up?’ He asked. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
That’s why… That’s why I’m alive.
He wanted to tell his dad everything. He wanted to tell him that his mom was right, that he was currently living with two goddesses, that he had killed two monsters and was hunting down an evil god… But what good would it do? Why bother interrupting his father’s perfect image of his mother, of his father’s wife?
‘Nothing,’ James said, shaking his head. �
��It’s just nice to hear stories about mom.’
‘I’ve got a few others that I don’t think I’ve told before. Wanna hear ‘em?’
‘Yeah,’ James smiled, finally managing to eat some food. ‘Yeah, I’d like that.’
Chapter Twenty-Two
Enjoying the Show
‘Ahh, he finally answers the phone!’
After saying goodbye to his father, James had returned to the apartment to find the girls still naked, wrapped up beneath the sheets of his bed, indulging in each other’s bodies in his absence.
Completely and utterly insatiable, he thought, just as his phone rang. It was none other than Jake. It felt like it had been age since they had spoken. He had only been absent from college for a couple of days, but it felt like an eternity.
‘Sorry, man. I know you’ve been calling. I’ve been down with the sickness for days.’
‘We’ve been worrying like crazy about you, man. Lauri’s freaking furious. How’re you feeling?’
‘Better, actually. I should be back at college soon, hopefully.’
‘Well I know an even better way you can make it up. Party tonight. Can you make it?’
‘I, uhh…’ James looked over at his goddesses, still running their hands over each other in bed. ‘Can I call you back? Just give me five minutes.’
‘You got it.’
James hung up and crossed to the girls, stretching out in bed between them, where they gladly welcomed him.
‘Ready for another round, master?’ Elena asked.
‘Always,’ James smiled. ‘I’ve been invited to this party tonight, but I don’t know if I’m gonna go.’
‘A party?’ Arifa replied quickly, propping herself up excitedly on her elbow. ‘I haven’t been to a party in literal decades. I mean I haven’t done a lot of things in several decades, but a party is pretty high up on my list of priorities.’
‘Woah, woah,’ James said. ‘Who said I was bringing you two?’
‘You seemed to be getting used to the idea of being with us in public yesterday,’ Elena pointed out. ‘How is this any different?’
‘Because there’ll be people I know there. It’s different. Who knows what they’ll start saying at college. I’ve got another ten months till I graduate, and that’s enough time for a lot of rumours to be spread around.’
‘Rumours about a guy with two hot girls that are totally dedicated to him?’ Arifa said. ‘I don’t see how that makes you look bad.’
‘No, but it’d make you two look bad.’
‘I have zero interest in the opinions of humans,’ Elena replied. ‘None of the goddesses do.’
‘But still… People will ask questions.’
‘It’s just one night,’ Arifa pleaded. ‘Come on. Ascevious has been weakened, his soul is still split in two, and we’ve already killed both of the beasts that are at his behest. We can take a night out to have some fun.’
‘All of the time I spend with you two alone is fun,’ James smiled as they snuggled up to him.
‘So this’ll be no different,’ Elena said.
James looked between them, realising that they had a point. He exercised the idea for a moment, considering the thought of walking into a party with the two of them on his arms.
With only the slightest amount of reluctance, he pulled out his phone once again and texted Jake.
I’ll see you tonight. Text me the address.
***
After spending the rest of the day lounging around with the girls, lounging being synonymous for a few things that meant shutting the blinds in his apartment, the three of them headed out for some more clothes and wound up back in James’s living room. He sat with his feet up on the coffee table, caught between watching TV and enjoying the sight of the girls trying clothes on.
‘Styles really have changed,’ Arifa said, pressing a pair of jeans to her legs. ‘Do I still have to wear a hat over my ears?’
‘The whole cat-goddess thing never caught on while you were trapped, unfortunately,’ James smiled. ‘Neither did the demonic wings, either. It’d freak people out, believe me. But maybe we could get away with it at a Halloween party in a few months.’
‘Sounds good to me,’ Elena said, pulling off her lacy red bra and pushing her hands up beneath her large, round breasts. ‘You said humans still aren’t allowed to walk around naked or in their underwear, but what about just showing a little…’ She grabbed her huge mounds from either side and pushed them together, sending James harder and harder for the 9th time that day. ‘Like this?’
‘I think that’d be great,’ James said without a hint of sarcasm. ‘But maybe tonight cover up a little. Two girls is one thing, two girls who look like you bringing in the attention of everybody might make things even worse.’
Even worse, James thought, smiling. That fearless confidence that always seemed to rest within him was firing up. So what if they showed off a little, though? Now that he thought about it, what did it matter if they showed off their assets?
But there was something else on his mind, too.
‘I’ve gotta talk to you girls about something,’ he started. He told them everything that his dad had mentioned; his grandpa, his mom, and the stories about his ancestors.
‘It would explain a lot,’ Elena replied. ‘I told you that we have traded with the humans in the past, and in return we bestowed upon them certain abilities. Yours may have existed, dormant for centuries. That’s why I couldn’t detect it within you.’
‘I can’t believe it. Everything my grandpa told me about when I was a little kid… It was all true.’
‘It would appear.’
‘There’s one thing I don’t get, though…’ James commented. ‘What are the chances that it was me who just so happened to come into possession of the locket with the gods within them? Me of all people? Why not somebody else who didn’t possess the powers, who would have been ripped apart by those two moving through them.’
Elena raised an eyebrow. ‘It… Is a strange coincidence.’
‘Oh, come on,’ James laughed. ‘There’s at least a little fate going on there, isn’t there?’
‘What’s going on?’ Arifa asked.
‘Elena doesn’t believe in fate, but all of this weird shit that has happened to me seems to be the greatest series of coincidences that the world has ever seen. What do you think, Arifa?’
‘Oh, I don’t know… My people don’t really have a belief system about actions and consequences. We just kind of… Laze around, like I said before.’
‘The lady,’ James said, thinking back to Morgan’s Bazaar. ‘How the hell did I not think about this until now… She said all of this stuff about the locket, as if… As if she was waiting to give it to the right person, or something. You don’t think…’
‘Think what?’
‘I don’t know,’ James replied. ‘That she’s in on something, maybe.’
‘Think we should go check out this shop of hers?’ Arifa suggested.
‘No, not tonight. It’ll be closed now, anyway. The parts of Alerian and Ascevious’s souls are locked away inside me, Ascevious is weakened, and any monsters that are an immediate threat are dead. Let’s take the night off from saving the world.’
‘That sounds like a damned good idea to me,’ Elena said smoothly. ‘When must we depart?’
‘Not for another hour yet,’ James said, checking his phone.
‘Great,’ Arifa replied. ‘Plenty of time for us to put on a show for you…’
James was fast getting used to the idea that no amount of fucking would tire the girls out, and even with his godly powers he had met his match as a man with them. Sure, he could have had them both again, but at this point, in the build-up to the party, it was much more fun to watch the two of them pull off what little clothes they were wearing and wrap their arms around each other, pressing their firm, tight bodies together as they kissed passionately in the heat of the apartment. Elena picked Arifa up and placed her effortlessly on the couch
, running her hands between her legs and kissing up the inside of her thigh as Arifa laid her head back and bit the tip of her own finger in anticipation. As Elena finally reached the spot between her legs she gasped out, moaning lightly.
What was wrong with being fashionably late? James thought, picking up his beer and enjoying the show.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Party
James, Arifa and Elena took a cab to a quieter residential street a little further out of the city, arriving around 10pm. The build-up to a party was always a weird time; most people have ideas in their heads about how things are going to go down, about how conversations will go, about how the scene will be lit. James had done that whole routine enough times to know that wondering what it would be like was totally and completely pointless.
Still, though, as the cab pulled up with the three of them in the back, James couldn’t help but dwell on the attractiveness of what it would be like.
Or how badly it would go.
This was a night of relaxation, though, in the knowledge that things were safe for the time being; he had swapped his flaming axe out for a shirt that fitted perfectly to his toned, muscular torso, hair pushed back out of his face for the first time in years, and black jeans atop smart-casual boots. His hands were empty, but his forearms were adorned with two unbelievably attractive women that drew more than a few head-turns as they made their way up the path to the front door of the lightly buzzing house. They were both dressed in tight jeans and t-shirts, their round curves accentuated so much that more than a few girlfriends slapped their boyfriends on the shoulders for looking in the wrong direction.
Although James himself could hardly blame them.
‘Wait…’ Elena said suddenly, her eyes going wide and serious. ‘Wait…’
‘What is it?’ James asked, he and Arifa turning to look at her in confusion.
Elena’s eyes searched the space in front of her, but they weren’t examining the porch; they were lost in their own self-contained world.
And James knew that look.
‘No…’ He said. ‘You’ve gotta be kidding.’
‘No, I am sure,’ she replied. ‘There is another goddess nearby… Somewhere.’