Flint’s at my side in a flash, his arms wrapped protectively around me, as his eyes search for an unseen threat.
“We need to get to the palace. Now.”
The streets are empty as we make our way to my childhood home, and the feeling of dread grows within me. I want to take the time to show Flint everything I love about Pacifica, but with each flick of my fin and each deserted storefront, my panic grows.
I can tell that Flint is bursting with questions, but he doesn’t ask a single one, remaining by my side as we race through town. A conch sounds in the distance, causing us to pick up our pace even more, but when the palace finally comes into view, I jerk to a stop.
There on the balcony of the castle, stands Bay flanked by two trident wielding guards. Her hands are shackled but her face remains proud and stoic. I gasp when an equally bound Shad is escorted out to stand at her side.
“Bay and Shad,” my father’s adviser announces, his voice amplified by magic. “You stand before Pacifica by order of King Tryton. You are both charged with endangering the welfare of a royal, Princess Maren, who is presumed lost at sea. What say ya?”
“Kiss my fins, Marlin,” Bay grits out.
Laughter bursts from me, drawing the stares of people gathered nearest and shocked gasps mix with murmurs of disbelief. Cries of It’s the princess! and Princess Maren is back! ripple through the excited crowd.
I reach a hand back for Flint, and pull him along. We swim above the crowd, not stopping until we reach the balcony where Bay and Shad are being held.
“You just couldn’t stay out of trouble, could ya, Bay?”
“Says the girl who couldn’t be bothered to answer her shell phone,” she says with a quirked brow.
My cheeks heat. “Um, about that. I might have lost it trying to save a baby dolphin.”
Bay shakes her head and grins, breaking her shackles off with ease, before throwing her arms around me.
“You can tell me all about it later,” she whispers, before pulling away. “What the shell are ya wearing?” she asks, eying Flint’s T-shirt with disgust. Her eyes flick behind me to where he hovers, wearing a shirt of his own that reads Happiness comes in waves. Her eyes light, and she pins me with a knowing look. “It appears that you’ve got some explaining to do.”
I roll my eyes and flick my tail, bringing me closer to Shad.
“Princess,” he says with a bow. “Your timing is impeccable.”
I laugh before turning my angry gaze on the nearest guard. “Get these cuffs off of him, ya codfish, then take us to my father.”
Shad doesn’t wait for the guard to release him. Instead he breaks them just as easily as Bay did. “Didn’t realize we were going rogue,” he says with a wink, and it’s then that I catch sight of his eyes. One of his amber-colored eyes is now a bright green. My own widen in response. I dart a glance at Bay, noting her own mismatched stare, and realize she’s got a few secrets of her own to spill.
“Stop,” Loire screams as she swims onto the balcony with Caspian on her tail. Her eyes widen when she sees me floating between Bay and Shad, and she sags in relief. “Oh, thank cod! I didn’t really have a plan beyond yelling stop,” she admits before pulling me into a hug.
I laugh as I hug her back, and when I pull away, I stare into icy blue eyes. “Looks like we all have some catching up to do,” I say, ignoring her blush. “But first, I need to see my father. I’ve figured out what’s wrong with the water. It’s time for Pacifica to rise. We must do our part. There is no longer any doubt that our fates and the humans are tied together. It’s time my father sees that.”
Epilogue
Maren
It took almost a week to convince my father and his advisors to do what was right, but in the end, it was Flint and his love of the ocean that made them see reason. His insight and counsel proved invaluable in swaying my father to our side.
A knock sounds on my door, pulling me from my reverie. I glance up in time to see Flint stride into the room.
“Are you ready?” he asks, his eyes bright with excitement.
He’s taken to life as a merman like he was made to live under the water. I glance down to his strong legs, now covered in scales, and smile. Shad and the other shark surfers were shocked at how easily the partial shift came to him, but we assume he has his human heritage to thank. All of Pacifica is dazzled by my mate. The people are enraptured by his tales of living amongst the humans. Shell, he’s even managed to worm his way into the hearts of my friends and their mates, balancing out Caspian’s stiffness and Shad’s recklessness. But the thing that has given me the most happiness is Flint’s connection to the sea creatures, a trait of mine that transferred with our mating.
“Are we taking Bruce?” I ask, glancing at him over my shoulder.
He nods. “He’s waiting right outside on the balcony.”
Flint found a great white shark caught in a commercial fishing net on his second day here. He freed the beast, not knowing that even merpeople were wary of the predators, and named him Bruce. The shark has been his loyal companion since. Though it may take the people of Pacifica a bit more time to get used to seeing the shark in their midst, my connection to the sea creature has assured me of their safety.
“I can’t believe we’re finally doing this,” Flint says, holding my hand as we cross to the balcony.
“You came to Australia to help stop the fires,” I tell him, accepting a hand onto Bruce’s back. “And I swore to help you. I will always be by your side.”
“Until the end of time,” he agrees, before urging Bruce forward.
I laugh as we race across the ocean toward our destiny. Together, we will bridge the gap between merpeople and humans. Like the land and seas we are forever tied together.
About Bam
Bam Shepherd is a part time author, full time badass, who currently resides in Oklahoma. She’s a semi-pro lip sync battler. A little bit hippie. A lotta bit hood. When she’s not creating worlds she spends her time being bossed around by a tiny army that she created, gardening and canning (even though she thinks she’s too young for those to be legitimate hobbies), and listening to 90’s rap. If she’s not creating magical worlds of her own, she’s falling into someone else’s.
You can find out more about Bam and her books at
www.bamshepherd.com
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Hades’ Goddess
A Gods and Monsters Short Story
Mila Young
>
Chapter One
Hades’ large form was on top of me, him buried deep inside of me, I writhing with desire, but I couldn’t forget. Forget about saving the world, forget about looking after the humans every damn day. Forget about who I was now.
I let my eyes roll back in my head and moaned.
“Fuck, Elyse,” Hades bit out when I closed my legs around his hips and he rammed into me harder and harder. My body shifted across the mattress until we ran out of it. His hand was fanned open behind my shoulders, his fingers curling around my neck. He held my head up and stopped me from toppling over the edge as he rode me good.
“More,” I whispered, and he obliged. Repetitively.
It wasn’t the first time I’d come undone and it sure as shit wasn’t going to be the last. I didn’t want it to be. But the way Hades handled me, hard and fast, with enough gentleness to remind me what we were now in a real relationship, I knew I was in for a treat tonight.
It was always a treat with him. After having defeated Death, and Hades finally admitting he loved me, life was now beyond bliss… a dream and fantasy.
“Lie on your stomach,” he growled, pulling out.
I moaned in protest and did as he asked, so he could get the fuck back in. When I was on my stomach, he ran his hands down my back, pressing with his fingers, getting to the tension I harbored there. I groaned as he kneaded the stiff muscles.
Saving the world made for a lot more aches and pains than my normal training did.
I was just getting lost in how good it felt with Hades’ hands all over my body when his dick found my entrance like a homing missile—yes, it was as cliché as that—and he speared into me. I cried out as he buried himself deep into my sex, my legs closed and the full weight of his body suddenly on me, pushing buttons I hadn’t even known I had.
He’d never been this forceful before. Hades never ceased to surprise, both in sex and as one of the men I was in love with.
“Let go,” Hades growled in my ear, as if I had some kind of inclination to hold on to something at this point. But when he said it—whether it was his gravelly voice in my ear, the command, or the way he was fucking me—I let go.
I orgasmed, screaming, convulsing, adoring every single second, holding on to the pleasure thrumming through me.
Hades pumped into me harder and faster and this time, it was for him. I could tell when he focused on himself rather than me. We’d done this so many times, I knew him inside out.
He thrust deeper and deeper.
And then he twitched and jerked inside of me and he was there, groaning loudly, his body stilling from his own orgasm, shuddering on top of me.
“You’re my undoing,” he gasped, his head against my neck, his breath hot against my ear.
It was good to know there was something out there that could still get to Hades. He was invincible at his very worst. Even when he’d been in the shittiest place emotionally, he had been a tough nut to crack.
And he was far from in that place now. Now everything was okay between him and his brothers—at least, as okay as it was ever going to get—and we were together because he’d accepted that he loved me after all. And I loved him, and I had for a long time too.
Hades rolled off, his dick slipping out of me even though he was still hard. I swear, the gods could really carry on forever. Ha! Eternity had so many definitions, both literally and figuratively.
When he collapsed next to me, he pulled me against his strong body. He had the deepest dark eyes I could fall into and escape, sharp cheekbones, raven hair, and the kind of look that had me swooning. Our skins were slick with sweat, but I didn’t care. This was the part I couldn’t get used to. Hades and I had been together for almost a year now, since he’d decided to give in and love me as much as he wanted to, and I still wasn’t used to the way he held me after sex instead of disappearing on me; the way he cared about how I felt or asked about my day. I loved it, but I was always a little unsure, worried that it would disappear again or that it was too good to be true.
“Better?” he asked.
I nodded against his chest. “Much.”
I’d been so stressed when he’d come over. Since I’d been dubbed the Goddess of Sanctuary because I was a descendant of Zeus himself, had his blood in my veins, I’d been taking the whole saving-mankind thing seriously. As a goddess, I couldn’t exactly take a vacay, especially since I lived among the humans. Except, I didn’t feel like a goddess… on the inside, it was just me.
Besides, I liked being a hero. At least, I had the for the first couple of months, when I’d felt like I was finally fulfilling some purpose. But it was a little bit like cleaning up a house full of kids. Every time I took care of something, another thing popped up. Sometimes I just wanted the world to stay saved for a little while, instead of having to jump from one crisis to the next.
But that was why the humans needed a hero, right? If they were fine on their own, my entire bloodline wouldn’t have been needed.
Hades had come to find me freaked out and stressed and he’d distracted me in exactly the best way he knew how.
He ran his hand over my back, tracing invisible patterns with his strong fingers.
Something fell in the living room and someone cursed in a voice I didn’t recognize. Hades and I both stiffened.
“Stay here.” Hades shot out of bed like lightning. The only people who appeared in my apartment were the gods I was dating, Heracles when he was back from his world tours, Persephone when she wanted to gossip, and Zeus when he was being full of crap.
And none of them sounded like that or pushed shit over. I sat up in bed and reached for a shirt, finding Hades’. I pulled it over my head and dragged it down my body. The fabric fell mid-thigh.
A moment later, Hades stomped into the room looking pissed off. I knew his scowl so well and it was still attractive as fuck.
“It’s for you,” he said as if it were a phone call. Behind him, another god entered the room. I could tell he was a god because of the way he walked and the dull glow that radiated from him. My guys didn’t have that unless they’d recently spent a lot of time on Mount Olympus.
Which meant Hades never had it.
“Who are you?” I asked, sitting on the bed and pulling a pillow to my chest.
“Hermes,” he said in a deep voice, his chin high, proud. He wore a white tunic and leather sandals. His hair was blond and a little curly, and his face had the air of someone who might be full of shit, but he was not altogether unattractive.
Right, the messenger of the gods. Those sandals were supposed to have wings he could fly with—did they just appear when needed or were they metaphorical?
“Why are you in my house?” I asked.
Hermes glanced at Hades. “Not very respectful, is she?”
“You’re on her turf, buddy, not the other way around. Spit it out so you can piss off.” He stiffened, wearing a gruff expression.
Hermes raised his eyebrows and held up his hands. “I forget what a grouch you are, seeing that there are never messages to deliver in your neck of the woods.”
Ouch. Hades’ temper flared, his brow furrowing, his eyes narrowing, but he bit his tongue, not saying a word, and looked at me with eyes that were filled with dark thoughts.
Hermes went on, seemingly oblivious. “You are hereby invited by Divine Decree to join the gods and goddesses for dinner.”
“What?” I asked at the precise time Hades spat out, “Bullshit.”
Hermes looked annoyed more than anything. “She’s a goddess. They want to see her. Trust me, I wouldn’t be down here unless I had a reason.”
“On Mount Olympus?” I asked.
“The gods don’t go to Earth unless there’s a reason, either,” Hermes said, as if that were supposed to be an answer to my question. I supposed it was.
“When?”
“Tomorrow night,” he said.
“That it?” Hades asked almost immedi
ately.
Hermes nodded.
“So get the fuck out of town.”
Hermes rolled his eyes at Hades, then disappeared into a puff of air.
“Was that necessary?” I asked Hades.
He shrugged. “The guy’s a dick. Take my word for it.”
I didn’t argue because I couldn’t. Hades could be a real dick too, but it didn’t seem like the right time to bring it up. Besides, I had bigger things to worry about. A dinner? On Mount Olympus?
“Why would they want to see me?” I asked.
“You’re a goddess now.” Hades raked his hand through his dark hair.
“Do I have to be worried?”
Hades hesitated just a moment. “Of course not.”
But I wasn’t sure I believed him.
Chapter Two
I was so nervous, I couldn’t eat. I wasn’t sure I could get a single thing past my throat all night. And then the gods were going to be pissed I wasn’t eating, thinking I wasn’t taking care of myself. They were inviting me for… something. I had no idea what. When it came to the gods, nothing was straightforward. They all came with complications and hidden agendas. So, if I was invited to Mount Olympus, I struggled to believe it was for a simple meet and greet.
It felt like I was going to throw up.
“Calm down, sweetheart.” Ares moved to my side, tall and powerful. His shaved hair had started to grow, and I liked his new look. I stood in my apartment with Heracles behind me, tying a white tunic to my body with a rope that crisscrossed over my torso to eventually hang down my side. It was sexy and sultry and just the right amount of everything else that I needed to look like a real goddess.
My hair and makeup had already been done. Persephone had helped with that—my dark hair was pulled back and tied up in a high ponytail so that it spilled down my back. My makeup made my face look fierce and feminine at the same time.
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