Reign of the Goddess

by Clara Hartley

  “Again.” Hera sneered. “She’s like an annoying little weasel. We can’t seem to catch her no matter how hard we try.”

  “We will,” Agness said. “In time. The alternative would be death. We can’t have that.”

  Hera faltered. In that instant, Theo saw fear in her eyes. She acted like she had a good head on her shoulders. Commanding. Put together. But just like the rest of the goddesses, she worried for her own safety. The realm was disintegrating, and if they didn’t do something to fix things soon, they’d all be doomed.

  This isn’t Cara’s fault, Theo thought. He ground his teeth together, withholding an outburst.

  “We put these vassals to death,” Hera said. “We don’t need them. Our mercy has only proven to make us suffer.”

  Suffer? Theo found that term laughable. Was that how Hera described running around like tyrants? The goddesses had not known suffering in hundreds of years.

  “Now Cara is gone, and we’re nowhere closer to solving what happened with the chiasma.”

  “Finding her doesn’t mean you’ll find the chiasma,” Devon said. Theo was the largest of his peers, but he always thought that Devon had more courage. “Stop using our goddess as a convenient excuse.”

  Theo noticed Maxwell standing in the crowd. The old man tried to hold it together, but his distress was evident in the contortion of his features. No man could stay cool at the thought of losing a son.

  Hera narrowed her eyes. “What other explanation could there be?”

  “My daughter…” Theo turned to Aphrodite, who sat in the shade next to her blood family. She had joined the goddess in their expedition. She had her arms wrapped around Ares. The goddess of love had no words left to say, for once. Theo saw the goddesses as a group of lost sheep. They had been secure in their petty wars, but now that they all faced the threat of death, they didn’t know what to do. “Who was she with? A man had accompanied her.”

  The goddesses fell silent. They looked at each other for answers, but no one had any.

  “We don’t know,” Hera finally admitted. “He might be her servant. Someone she found to serve her, since she doesn’t have her vassals with her.”

  Theo grew disgusted at that notion. Someone else? Cara only needed them.

  Or, at least, that was what Theo wanted to believe. If Cara had relied on only them, the goddesses would have her now, and she’d be dead. Him and his peers had been useless in that fight.

  He should be thankful that Cara had someone else with her.

  Jealousy made that difficult.

  Agness shook her head. “He seemed too powerful to just be one of her servants. I think he’s something more. Something dangerous.”

  “We’ll figure it out once we get to her again,” Hera said, spinning to face Theo. “For now, we have to take care of them. They’re a thorn in my side. Kill them.”

  Theo struggled against the magical binds that kept him in place. It was too early for him to die. He had a lover to protect, and the need to keep her safe grew in him like wildfire. But the binds were too tight, and the magic the goddesses placed on him was too strong to overcome.

  Was this it?

  Theo had gone through years of training. Growing. Learning. Protecting. He’d given up so much to become who he was today. Was it all for nothing? He thought he’d found meaning with Cara, but in her time of need, he’d let someone else whisk her away.

  Hel stepped from the crowd of goddesses. For the goddess of death, she was aptly dressed. Her entire being was covered in black. Her hair was long, reaching down to her waist, the color dark and ominous. She wore a dress that draped toward the forest floor. Her nails were long. Sharp. Like the claws of a predator. Black powder surrounded her eyes. Eerie red eyes scanned past the four of them. “Which one first?”

  Hera shrugged. “We can go from largest to smallest. Does it really matter?”

  Theo stared daggers at the goddess. She ignored him.

  “Our goddess isn’t dead yet,” Hansel said in a controlled voice. “You’re not allowed to kill vassals until their goddess has perished. That’s a law. We’re under Cara’s protection.”

  Hera sneered. “The law doesn’t apply to me. Even then, Cara doesn’t have any rights here. She’s an anomaly. A monstrosity. Nothing protects you. You four are stray vassals as far as the law is concerned.”

  Hel glanced at Hera for affirmation.

  “Go ahead.” Hera flicked her wrist.

  Hel nodded. She stopped in front of Theo and held her fingers in front of him. Theo heard that the deaths Hel caused weren’t painful. She worked by sucking the souls out of her victims slowly. It’d feel just like falling asleep.

  He still didn’t want to die, however.

  There was much left to accomplish, more to see, a whole life to live. He was supposed to spend an eternity with Cara. Vassals were supposed to live as long as their goddesses, and his short time in Haven seemed like a sliver of nothingness compared to what could have been.

  “Please,” he said.

  He was surprised he’d begged. He hadn’t done that in a long time. His pride usually didn’t allow it.

  Hel ignored his plea. He felt her taking away his soul, sucking away his life force and releasing it into nature. That was how Hel normally funneled away the lives of her victims. She returned their life essences back to the universe, where they belonged.

  There was no pain, but the turmoil in his heart threatened to tear him apart. He should be more gracious. Trying to accept his fate, he closed his eyes. He focused on the faint sound of the leaves and the soft whooshing of the cold wind.

  He needed to be at peace.

  The sucking stopped.

  Theo frowned. He opened his eyes, wondering what had caused Hel to stop. The goddess of death had turned her attention in the other direction, and so did the other goddesses. The sun above glowed brighter. Brighter than Theo had ever seen it. The heat that surrounded him was scorching.

  “We’re getting you out of here.”

  Cara?

  Small fingers worked over the invisible binds behind him. Theo spun as soon as he felt them disintegrate. Cara was behind him.

  She looked like perfection.

  Gorgeous red hair fell around her shoulders. Her eyes were the same bright green. She didn’t look any different, but her hardened expression told him that she’d gone through a lot. What had she suffered when he couldn’t protect her?

  Theo wanted to pull her into a tight embrace. To tell her that he was sorry that he couldn’t be with her. It had only been slightly more than a week since he’d last seen her, but that short time had stretched on like forever.

  But Cara had the others to save.

  How had she grown so much? When he first met her, Theo wasn’t convinced that Cara could be a goddess. She’d stumbled and tripped and fallen over everything, said the wrong words at the worst moments—she couldn’t even do her hair right. She had none of the grace and poise a goddess should have.

  “Ah, fuck it,” Cara said.

  Theo bit his tongue. Maybe she didn’t have the elegance most goddesses did. But she was awesome in the beginning and had grown so much without him even noticing.

  Cara worked quickly over his peers. They were all released in no time at all. None of the goddesses interrupted her as she tried to free them. Fenrir purred when Cara neared him, welcoming her. The other goddesses were busy fighting someone else—the man who’d been with Cara earlier. He distracted the goddesses, shooting fireballs at them, and tore their attention away from Cara and her vassals.

  “What’s with the sun?” Hansel asked, covering his eyes with the back of his hand.

  “That’s Apollo,” Cara said. “He’s the person fighting and keeping the goddesses occupied.”

  Apollo spun, and ten fireballs shot from his palms, hitting a plethora of goddesses in their chests.

  “Apollo?” Theo frowned. “He’s one of the old gods.”

  “Is he? Explains a lot.”


  “What’s he doing with you?”

  “Saving you guys, apparently.” Cara gave Theo a sideways glance. “And he’s also the chiasma.”

  “What?” the four of them asked in unison.

  Cara allowed them a lingering look, as if to let the information sink in. Then she sniffed. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m only repeating what he told me. I don’t really get it either. It’s kind of crazy. Still have a bunch of things to ask him. But—”

  An arrow made of light shot at Cara. Surprisingly, she dodged it by pivoting to her left in a split second. She’d saved herself without requiring any of their help. “Let’s go and speak someplace safer.” She squeezed Theo’s hand tightly, then dragged him along. Her wings fanned from her back, and she sped onward at a speed Theo wasn’t used to.

  Theo’s jaw dropped. To keep up, he used his magic to lift a rock from the ground and rested it on the soles of his feet, using it like a hoverboard.

  Hansel burst into action. He used his control of the wind to propel himself forward. He kept a watchful eye on Cara, and when she extended her red wings to move faster, Hansel aided her, weaving the winds so that they helped push her along. The color of her wings matched her hair wonderfully. Theo had to tear his gaze away so that he wouldn’t get too enraptured.

  He couldn’t wait to have time alone with her. Then again, he was certain he’d have to fight the other vassals for her attention.

  The five of them moved as quickly as they could, running across the leafy forest and putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the goddesses.

  Soon, they were far enough away that the goddesses had no way of finding them. Theo was panting when they settled down. All of them were. As a goddess and her vassals, they were supposed to have better endurance than common bodies.

  But the sun above was killer.

  Damn this heat.

  It didn’t help that they stood at the edge of the forest. The canopy here was thinner and gave them little protection from the sun. Despite the wind that Hansel created, the heat wouldn’t subside. Theo pulled his fingers across his eyebrows. They were drenched with his own sweat. Ugh.

  Cara dragged a hand through her red hair. “What’s with the goddesses? Why are they attacking me? Is it because of what I did? Don’t they—”

  Theo grabbed her by her shoulders and crashed into her lips, eager to taste her. Ash and blood. The flavor of her tongue had changed. Why? Theo’s stomach twisted at the realization that Cara had changed so much. He’d never have the old her back again. But he loved the old Cara and would learn to love this one even more. He continued ravaging her tongue. He knew he wouldn’t be able to have much of her for long. He sensed hunger from his comrades.

  Liam proved him right by snatching Cara away.

  “Guys,” Cara said. “Let me—”

  “Where the fuck did you run off to?” Liam said, part angry, part lustful. He took her mouth before Cara could answer. Watching Liam kiss her like that made fire rise in Theo. They needed shade. Somewhere quiet to consummate their reunion.

  Theo stepped away from Liam and Cara. He summoned his powers—earth—and crafted a shelter over them, leaving Fenrir waiting outside. He tried to make the structure look as natural as possible, like a cave, so that their enemies would move past them should they accidentally cross paths. Theo left a small opening in his structure of rock, just enough light so they could see clearly. Hansel filled the structure with his powers, sending wind through the dark, enclosed interior. The wind licked the sides of the walls Theo had set up, cooling their surroundings. Theo brushed his fingers over his brows again. The cool interior provided them a good reprieve from the sun.

  It’d been too long since his eyes feasted upon Cara. Her red wings made her look glorious.

  “I missed you,” Cara said once Liam allowed her to breathe. Liam had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. “Too much.”

  “Us too,” Theo replied. “We were worried sick.”

  Cara hooked her arms around Liam’s shoulders. The four of them crowded around her, eager to have a turn. There wasn’t enough of Cara to go around. Theo’s body thrummed with desire and need and joy.

  She was back with them.

  And he couldn’t be any more thankful.

  Nine

  Cara

  I was back with my vassals.

  I thought I wouldn’t be so stressed out after finding them again, but the four of them weren’t going to let me catch a break. Theo ogled me with fuck-me eyes. My stomach twisted.

  Should we really be doing this when everything was going to shit?

  Maybe it was just a way to cope.

  Liam ran his tongue over his upper lip in a sensual manner that got my panties in a bunch. I mentally slapped myself for being this thirsty, but he looked amazing with his hair down like that, and it’d been so long since I ran my mouth across his skin.

  Apollo was probably still somewhere battling it out with the goddesses.

  Well, fuck him. As the chiasma, he’d brought too much pain.

  The girls at the morgue.

  The massacres.

  He wasn’t a good person, and I shouldn’t trust him.

  But my vassals…

  I loved and had missed them so much. Seeing them again made me feel like I’d returned home. Tears pricked my eyes as I accepted Liam’s kiss. Theo had created a structure around us, blocking us from the sun, giving us the privacy we needed. And the cool…

  Oh goddesses.

  The cool.

  It was so nice to be able to relax in it after all that running about. Hansel had filled the insides of the enclosure with his cool air, and I loved him even more for that. I needed to kiss him too. I needed all four of them to smother me with kisses, and I’d do the same for them.

  With them, I could be myself. I could forget about the dreadful responsibilities, the destruction of the world, and all those terrible things. They were a good distraction.

  “Attention here,” Liam said when he noticed me wandering. He grabbed me tightly around the waist and pulled me closer toward him. “I want you all to myself.”

  “Fuck you, Liam,” Devon said. I thought I heard him growling. “She’s for all of us to share.”

  The possessiveness Liam showed gave me jitters. “Back off,” he said. I wasn’t sure if he could hug me any tighter. His mouth ravaged mine, the kiss mind-bogglingly insane. My brain fogged over from Liam’s intensity Liam.

  Devon grabbed Liam’s shoulder, tugged him back, and punched him in the face. I jolted at the sight.

  “Don’t punch each other,” I said.

  Hansel took that opportunity to step in. He came from behind and placed his hands on my arms. “They’re being idiots.”

  Theo shook his head.

  I wanted them to have me. The tension in the air was so much that I could feel it prickling my skin. Hansel pushed aside my hair and planted a kiss on my neck. That small action sent thrills down my spine. He played at the hem of my shirt then lifted it up, revealing my belly. Theo swooped in, resting his hands on my waist and planting his lips at a spot next to my belly button.

  “Did you think of us, Cara?” Hansel asked. “I did. Every day, I just wanted to see you. Every single waking moment.”

  I nodded. “Yeah.” My response was weak and breathy. I wasn’t certain it sufficed.

  Theo pulled the top of my pants down, exploring my body. Devon and Liam had stopped their little fight. They’d obviously lost me to Hansel and Theo, so they watched with miffed expressions from the side.

  Theo’s hand wandered up my blouse. He cupped my breast. Softly, he reached underneath my bra with his thumb and brushed my nipple. The gentle action sent tiny shock waves through me. I shuddered and backed into Hansel. Hansel wrapped his arm around me. I could feel his arousal pressing into my backside. He began rocking his hips against me.

  I felt so small when between them both. My vassals were so tall.

  So needy.

&
nbsp; They needed me now, just as I lusted after them.

  “Cara,” Hansel said. My name left his lips in a plea. He stuck his tongue out, licking my earlobe. “I’ve been longing to please you again.” He dragged his hand down my body, trailing the curve of my waist. Theo unzipped my pants, and Hansel took that opportunity to tuck his fingers past my underwear. He found my center, already soaking wet for him. The moment his touch trailed over my folds, my hips bucked backward.

  Hansel clasped his arm around my waist, keeping me still. He made a shushing noise. One that sounded like warm liquid that danced across my skin.

  “No,” I said.

  But I really meant yes.

  A big fucking yes.

  I quickened the movement of my hips, encouraging Hansel to take me. He dipped his fingers into my pussy. He knew exactly how to please me and found my sensitive spot almost immediately. Hansel rubbed his digits back and forth.

  Kneading…

  …and kneading…

  I thought I might explode.

  I arched my back, and a hiss came from between my teeth.

  I called Hansel’s name, and in that moment, my eyes locked with Liam’s. Jealousy surged from him, the emotion cold enough to turn my stomach. Liam looked ready to rip me from Hansel, claiming me as his own. There was an animalistic quality in the way he studied me. Primal. Savage. It caused adrenaline to spike through me.

  As Hansel’s digits punished my center, Liam wouldn’t stop gazing into my eyes, his green pupils burning from his desire.

  I climbed and climbed.

  Oh god.

  The pleasure was unbearably good. This shouldn’t be real. My entire body was numb. I held on to the tension inside my belly, not wanting it to end, but it grew too tight and had to unravel eventually. I tried to escape the intense feeling, but Theo pinned my hips against Hansel, pushing me against him. He bit my hip, right above my bone, stinging me sharply.

  “We’ll have our way with you for as long as we can,” Hansel whispered in my ear.

  The promise sent my toes curling.

  Our rutting didn’t last long, however, and Hansel couldn’t make good on his promise.