by Ashlyn Chase
“But…their mates broke my law! I had to do something to keep the humans quiet. And how many times can I go around musing people? The last human I offered the honor of becoming a muse turned it down! I have just about had it with my children not listening to me!” She jumped down and stomped around her throne.
Misty stepped forward. “If I may be so bold, Goddess…”
“You may not! Just because you’re the muse of modern parenting doesn’t mean you can tell this Mother what to do. I just need to be obeyed. Can you make that happen?”
“With your gift of free will, I’m afraid not. However, I have found a good explanation delivered in a calm, nonthreatening way, with respectful two-way communication, helps a great deal.”
Gaia took a deep breath, letting it out in a whoosh and slumping. “Fine. I’ll try it your way.” She climbed back up and perched on the edge of her throne, leaning forward. “Children, I made the law for a good reason. If humans learn of paranormals in their midst, they’ll feel threatened and try to kill you…or worse. They’ll want to capture, experiment on, and try to use your powers for themselves. In fact, we’ve already had that happen, and naturally, I had to straighten out that mess.” She pointed. “You remember that, Wolfensen. Right?”
“Indeed,” Nick said respectfully.
“Cameron?”
“Yes, I do.”
“And Ruxandra—wait, what is your last name now?”
“Morgan. My husband’s last name. He’s still human, by the way. You didn’t have to ‘muse’ him.”
Luca leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “Isn’t your husband Kurt, the wizard?”
“Yeah,” she whispered over her shoulder.
“The human wizard.” Gaia laughed. “What some people lack in imagination they make up for in foolishness.”
“Hey!” Ruxandra didn’t have a chance to defend her choice. Luca reached over and clapped his hand over her mouth.
“What I was going to say, Mrs. Morgan, is that during the whole lab-rat debacle, you were also instrumental in stuffing that cat back into the bag.”
“What cat? What rat? We had werewolves, shifter bunny rabbits, and a merman.”
Gaia let out a long-suffering sigh.
“Perhaps I can help after all,” Karma said.
Gaia glanced over, hoping Karma could get this trial back on the rails. “Speak, Sister! And please say something useful.”
With an unrepentant smirk, Karma launched into her speech. “Goddesses, shifters, and vampires of this kangaroo court, I see, as perhaps no one else does, the joy and misery people bring to one another’s lives. In some cases, these lives are very long. And what is life without love? Even a short life is worth living, especially if there is love.
“Love is the best part of life. You, my dear sister, knew this and capitalized on it. To continue the species, you created the mating instinct and tricked people with love to trigger it.”
Mother Nature smiled and leaned back in her throne. “Yes, that was a brilliant trap I set, wasn’t it?”
“Of course!”
Karma was stroking her ego. Ordinarily, this would be a welcome change, but the sly expression on her face said she had something else up her Chanel sleeve.
“The thing is, dear Gaia, you made sure almost no one was unaffected, and you even created some unpleasant emotions, if sexually healthy people weren’t gettin’ any.”
“Yes, yes. I know all this. Your point is?”
“My point is…” Karma whirled on her and rudely pointed right at Gaia’s face. “You’ve fallen into your own trap! You, my dear, bitchy sister and goddess of all, need to get laid!”
The entire court gasped, followed by a few barely suppressed snorts and giggles.
Gaia sprang to her feet and clenched her fists. Her face heated with fury. In the next split second, she could strike her sister down with a lightning bolt. Or she could wrestle herself under control and model the behavior she wanted from her children.
Fuck. That. Shit.
She disappeared. Popped herself right out of the court and onto her planet Earth to think. She had a lovely view of Lake Louise in western Canada. If she wanted to, she could stay here all day.
Unfortunately, she had to be mature. Damn it. And she suspected her sister might be right. She’d never thought to make herself or her deities immune to the sex drive she’d given every other species. In fact, the gods would have been really bummed out if she’d done that—they were such a randy bunch. Especially Zeus! What a man whore!
She took a few deep breaths, remembering the few times she’d experienced sex. Yeah, it was awesome…kind of. The actual loving was wonderful. It was the best part. Birth, however, sucked. If she hadn’t made it painful, overpopulation would have become a huge problem much sooner.
She had given birth to some of the gods and Titans. The Giants nearly killed her, and that was when she’d sworn off sex. How many centuries ago was that? Or was it millennia? Oh, wow. She hadn’t had sex in several thousands of years!
Maybe Karma was right. She needed to get laid. But how? She was related to most of the gods. She couldn’t just pick some random human and risk falling in love—then revealing her big secret. That was what the paranormals were on trial for right now! Mother Nature knew she could be a bitch, but she refused to be a hypocrite.
“Fuck. I’m screwed, and not in the good way.”
* * *
Dr. Aaron Samuels was just finishing a heart transplant when the fingers of his right hand began to shake. He immediately pulled his hands away, took a deep breath, and tried again. When the shaking reoccurred, he looked up at his colleagues, another less experienced but very competent surgeon and two OR nurses.
“Can you take over for me, Erik?”
“Of course,” the surgeon said. He jumped right in and finished attaching the final artery.
Aaron surreptitiously glanced at the nurses’ eyes. Facial expressions could be hard to read in the OR since everyone wore masks. However, after years of working together, these nurses were like reading a book. Their eyes spoke of concern for him and possibly fear for the patient. When they glanced at each other, he saw an unspoken agreement. Without words, they managed to communicate something like “Did you see that?” and “I sure did.”
As soon as the other surgeon had finished closing the patient’s chest, Aaron strode off, hastily removing his bloody gloves. Without a word to anyone, he went straight to the hospital administrator’s office.
The woman’s door was closed, but he smiled at the secretary and asked if he could go in. “It’s important.”
She buzzed her boss.
“Dr. Samuels is here and would like to see you. He says it’s important.”
When the secretary gave her okay, Aaron hurried into the inner office and closed the door behind him.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Marge. This will only take a moment.”
“Of course, Aaron. What can I do for you?”
“I will be speaking to my director as well, but I’ll need a leave of absence immediately. My hands began shaking in the OR. Erik took over for me, and everything is fine with the patient, but obviously, I’m not fine. I need to speak to a neurologist.”
“Has this happened before?”
“Once. I chalked it up to fatigue. Tom finished for me that time. I don’t want to push my luck.”
“No. You shouldn’t. I’m glad you spoke up, and I’m glad you’re going to get someone to look into the problem. I’ll place you on leave of absence immediately.”
“Thank you.” As Aaron shook the woman’s hand, the look on her face spoke of pity. He hoped to hell there was nothing happening to him that would elicit that look again.
* * *
Someone joined Gaia, but she didn’t look up.
“Sister…”
&
nbsp; “Go away, Fate.”
The quiet deity chuckled. “If I had a nickel for every time someone made that wish…” She gracefully moved next to Gaia and rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Then what do you want?”
“It’s what you want, Sister—and how I can help.”
Gaia glared at her for a moment, then realized Fate was sincere. Her posture sagged. “Fine. Sit down. But I’m not sure you can help.”
“That’s a start.”
“What is?”
“Just letting someone in. You need to talk. I imagine you feel the weight of the universe on your shoulders every single day.”
The powerful goddess of all snorted. “You think?”
When Fate remained quiet, Gaia decided talking it out might not be a bad thing. “You promise to keep everything I say private, just between the two of us?”
Fate smiled. “I promise.”
“Good.” Taking a deep breath, she was about to launch into her usual diatribe but stopped herself. This was different. She wasn’t scolding stupid paranormals. She and her sister were just talking. With a snap of her fingers, two lounge chairs appeared.
“Thank you,” Fate said. As soon as the two were comfortably seated, Fate snapped her fingers and produced a tray with two coconuts with straws and tiny colorful umbrellas sticking out of them.
“What’s that?”
“Refreshment.”
Mother Nature took the coconut and sniffed the contents. “This isn’t my coconut milk.”
“No, darling. It’s something humans invented, but give it a chance. It’s yummy.”
Gaia shrugged. She had to admit humans occasionally had brilliant ideas. Perhaps this was one of them.
She took a sip. She tasted the sweet tang of citrus fruit and something else… It had a certain zing to it. “Mmm, you’re right. I hate to admit when my children have improved upon my original creations, but this is delicious.”
“I’m glad you like it. Go ahead and take a long, slow sip. It can really warm and relax you on its way down.”
Mother Nature did as suggested. “Mmm.” Gazing out over her lake, she noted the beautiful snowcapped peaks in the background and the sparkles the sun created as it played upon the surface of the blue water. It almost looked like another of her creations that man had improved upon…diamonds.
She sighed. “Yeah, I guess humans aren’t that bad. I’m just so used to their screwing up everything I’ve done for them. But not all are like that. I understand there are even some who are trying to protect my beauty, even though most of it is cordoned off in national parks.”
“Yes, Sister. There are groups of people committed to keeping your gifts, your beauty, and the very balance that sustains them, knowing your forgiveness and resources have limits.”
“Ha! It’s my patience that’s limited.” Her straw made a gurgling sound as she reached the bottom of her drink.
Fate handed her another coconut filled with the same liquid, then settled back in her lounge chair and tucked her hands behind her head. “You have outdone yourself in places like this.”
“Thank you. I know.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone special to share this with?” Fate asked.
Gaia turned away from the scenery and scrutinized her sister’s face. “What are you getting at?”
Fate stretched and adjusted her hands behind her neck, closing her eyes. “Nothing. I’m just saying it must be lovely for the humans you and I have brought together. You created them to want love, and I’m the one who makes that love happen—when they let me. You should see the bliss on their faces as they stare into the eyes of their beloved.”
Mother Nature nodded. “Yes. I had the best of intentions…once.”
“How’s your beverage?”
Mother Nature took another sip. “It’s delightful. What is it called?”
“Its name is Bahama Mama.”
“Oh, how nice—named after another mother. Well, it’s lovely. Thank you for bringing it. And talking to you seems to be helping. I feel much more relaxed now.”
“Good. Now, I was wondering if I could offer you something…”
Gaia glanced over at her, skeptically. “Offer me something? What is it? A clone of me? Someone to hold the tectonic shelves together during the next earthquake?”
Fate chuckled. “If only I had that ability, Sister. But no, I was hoping you would allow me to find you a partner.”
Gaia sat up straight. “A partner?”
“Yes. More than just a quick lay. Someone to appreciate a sunset with. Someone to walk next to as you stroll along one of the beautiful beaches you made. Or just someone to listen when you’ve had a tough day. You seem much more relaxed now, and we’ve just been talking a few minutes.”
“Hmm, you might be onto something.”
Fate sat up, her eyes bright. “You’ll let me, then?”
Gaia took another long sip of her drink. “Okay. Whatever.” She wasn’t sure what exactly she was agreeing to, and she’d probably regret it. But for some reason, she was open to anything now.
“And while we’re at it, maybe you can be a little less harsh on the shifters and vampires for revealing their true nature to their human mates. I understand they wait until they can trust the person completely.”
Flapping her hand, Gaia slurred, “Zure, why not?”
“So can we go back and adjourn the court? Let the paranormals go with a stern warning?”
“You go. I’m gonna zit here and zulk.”
Chapter 2
Fate had adjourned the court and waited for the muses and paranormals to leave. Summoning the oldest goddesses, she quickly filled them in. “Goddesses! She agreed to it!”
Gasps all around were followed by a burst of laughter from Karma. “I don’t know how you managed it, Fate, but I can’t wait to see what happens.”
Fate pointed a long finger at her sister Karma. “You, stay out of it.”
“Why? I think it sounds like fun.”
“No, your job could easily get in the way. You know how you can be…”
“Oh, so you think I’ll be ironically vengeful just because our sister is bossy, arrogant, and rude?”
“Yes.”
Karma smirked. “I admit it’s tempting.”
“How about if we just run the candidates by you first? Then you can weigh in on the state of their karma—good or bad.”
Karma tipped her head this way and that as she considered her limited involvement. “Okay. I guess that makes sense. No need to make her regret her decision…” She mumbled under her breath, “…right away.”
“So, goddesses,” Fate said, “How do you propose we begin finding a suitable mate for the goddess of all?”
“Isn’t that your job?” Artemis asked. “I mean, I’m goddess of the hunt, but that’s for wild animals. The only thing I can contribute is the caveat that this person should be her equal. Someone she cannot bully. Someone she must come to respect.”
“Perhaps we should hear from Aphrodite,” Minerva suggested wisely.
“Excellent idea!” The remaining goddesses murmured their agreement and looked to the goddess of love.
“Oh dear,” Aphrodite began. “Some have had luck with blind dates. It’s not perfect, but at least she would have a chance to spend some time, one-on-one, with the god you choose for her.”
“I hear she likes Apollo,” Fate said.
Minerva crossed her arms. “I’ve also heard her call him a brownnoser. Think, everyone. If it’s one of the gods, then it isn’t very blind, is it? She knows them all.”
Fate nodded. “That’s true. But how do we get around that and still find someone who even comes close to being her equal?”
Karma giggled. “Who says only a god can stand up
to her? I think it would be an interesting twist to set her up with a paranormal.”
Fate grimaced. “Is this about karma again, Karma?”
“Busted. But wouldn’t it be perfect justice?”
Fate jammed her hands on her hips. “We’re not looking for justice. We’re looking for a mate who will make her happy. I think that will benefit us all. Not just you and your twisted sense of humor, Sister.”
Karma shrugged. “Oh well. You can’t blame me for trying. It’s what I do.”
“Maybe you can sit this one out,” Minerva suggested. “The rest of us can come up with a plan, and you can weigh in on the possibilities. Is that fair?”
“Fine. I’ve got things to do, people to punish and reward. I don’t just look for bad behavior, you know.”
“We know, Sister. Toodles,” Fate said and wiggled her fingers at Karma.
Karma disappeared, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“All right, now that she’s out of the way, what other ideas can we come up with? I’m willing to listen to any and all possibilities.”
“How about online dating?” Aphrodite said. “That way, she can pick from any number of men. I think the more control you give her, the more likely she’ll be to follow through.”
Fate scratched her head. “I hadn’t thought of that. That’s actually brilliant. However, I’ll have to set up her profile myself. You know how she feels about technology.”
The goddesses groaned.
Minerva smiled. “That makes sense. Let’s not bog her down with the details. We want to get this off the ground before she has a chance to rethink her decision.”
“Yes,” Fate agreed. “I’ll look at the questionnaire and ask her to write the answers with her favorite quill, but I won’t tell her what it’s for. I’ll just say I’d like to get an idea of what she would like in a man.”
“Perfect,” Aphrodite said. “I have a list of questions from some of the human dating sites.” She snapped her fingers and produced a sheet of paper with all the pertinent questions and room to write Gaia’s answers.
“Thank you, Aphrodite. Thank you all. I appreciate your ideas and feedback. I think this is going to go so well.”