3 Chapter 3: Party Pooper

Shaye

2 Years Later

Nerves swirl in my gut, but I keep my hands at my sides. I can't believe I'm here rubbing elbows with higher demi-gods and even a few gods are crashing this party.

How did Deirda even get us an invite? I weave through the throng of drooling demi-gods who are hovering over Thor, Isis, and Athena.

I take a quick peek at them through the masses, and my heart flutters at seeing them in the flesh. Not that I'm fangirling, but I've only heard about them, so it's exciting to see them in the flesh. Even if I do consider most of them hypocrites.

I move past the overcrowded living room into the kitchen for a drink. Music thumps through the mansion, rattling the windows.

"Come on." Deirda grabs my hand, her grip strong. "Wait until you taste the spiked punch. I heard Thor brought mead all the way from Valhalla."

A thrill buzzes through me. I shouldn't care for the gods. Most of the time they sit up on their high horses in the heavens, scowling down at us. Hell, I don't even know which one of them is my mom or dad. One of them could even be a half-god who got chosen to be elevated to Olympus for all I knew. So not many demi-gods had their parents reach out to them. Because demi-gods searching for their parents is forbidden still, I've always secretly hoped that my mom would come claim me, damn the rules. That they would sweep me up in their arms and tell me they'd been searching for me this whole time. It's a far-fetched dream, I know. But a girl can dream.

"Aren't you so excited?"

"Of course, we're both here to have a good time." I smiled at my friend. "And I want to meet this new beau of yours."

"Adrian is so handsome. And he's one-quarter god to Askelpios, god of medicine." She lets out a squeal.

"You've only known him what, a day?"

"Yeah, but we connected like that." She snaps her fingers. "Can you believe that? And he's already messaged me seventeen times. If that doesn't show his interest, then I don't know what does."

"As long as he treats you right, I don't care if he's full god or only human." Most of my days are spent at University studying ancient history for my teacher's degree, and there aren't many gods or demi-gods on campus. Maybe spending so much time with normal people has left me feeling human. Less concerned about the status of whatever my bloodline brings.

Deirda pouts, her golden lip ring shining in the fluorescent lights. "Easy for you to say, you're more than my one-eighth deity."

"You're making that up."

She sighs at me. "Can't you just tell people that. It's all about status, you know that with this crowd."

Yeah, bragging rights is what she means. Once a demi-god discovers, if at all, their true patronage, they pass that shit along to everyone who listens. Have plaques hung up on their walls so future generations can say they were one-sixteenth divinity.

"And I already told you." A mischievous glint glows in her sea-green eyes. "I'm psychic about these things. Gotta feeling one of your parents is super powerful." She fluffs up her midnight black hair, the curls falling all the way down to her waist. My friend is beautiful, of course, since she has Siren in her blood. Not exactly god-status, but she has a hypnotizing way of luring guys to her.

"Sure you are." A pinch hits my chest because a stubborn part of me still refuses to admit my mom is like the majority of the goddesses who can't be bothered with their offspring. But I know zilch about her. She could be a demi-god and craves the intrigue of being a goddess, so she lets everyone believe that. I grab a beer from the open ice chest, bypassing the golden mead. Don't trust the gods not to screw with us to amuse themselves and have the alcohol turns us into pigs like Circe did to the men who bothered her.

"Yes, and when Adrian and I have children, they will have the benefit of his higher divine blood count." She heaved the ladle of mead into her cup before passing it along to the next person in line.

"Cheers," I say and raise my beer can to hers.

She taps back with her cup. "You're not going to at least have a sip?"

I let my magic swirl the water aspect of my beer for a moment before answering her. "Sure, I'll have a taste."

I let a drop of the fluid touch my lips, then lick it off. Her drink is super sweet and definitely addictive, but I hand the cup back to her.

"Good, right?"

"Just don't have too much of that, okay?" I say.

"Oh, don't look now but that guy in the corner is totally checking you out."

I gave up on men since Nelos. No word, no letter. Just there one day and gone the next. I'd returned back home after him not answering my texts or phone calls for weeks to surprise him. To tell him I changed my mind and wanted to marry him. That I couldn't do this without him.

But he wasn't there. His foster parents told me after graduation, he bailed. Skipped out of college when the team revoked his contract. And instead of coming to California to be with me, he left everything behind. No word or forwarding address.

Nothing.

His absence stung like a gaping void in my chest that nothing could fill. I cried for weeks, months after that. The only thing that sustained me was my studies, but even those felt lackluster after I lost my heart, my soul shattered.

And no guy I have ever met has affected me like he did. Then I got angry. If he wanted to ghost me, then I could do the same.

So I threw away everything that reminded me of him. Erased his phone number and refused to look him up online or ask about him. He could be married to fucking princess of some remote island and I wouldn't know. And I told myself that I didn't care either.

Over the years, I've moved on and accepted those dreams with Nelos were just that. Dreams.

"That guy that kept staring at you is coming this way," she whisper-shouts in my ear to be heard over the music.

"Hey." A man in ripped-up jeans and a tight shirt that clings to all of his muscles stands in front of me. "Can I get you another drink? Have you tried the mead, it's super good."

Deirda nudged my back, practically shoving me into the guy. He's tall and cute with the darkest hair and lashes. I'll give him that, but I'm not looking to jump into the dating scene. And with demi-gods comes complications, major baggage, and attitudes. I'm not ready for such a commitment.

"Um...no thanks. Thor's taste in alcohol is way too sweet for me."

He nods as though considering or agreeing with me. "How about a dance then?"

I glance over my shoulder at Deirda for help.

She gives me a little wave and mouths, "Catch ya later." Before looping her arm with a red-haired guy that I assume is her Adrian, her latest boyfriend.

"Give me another now!" Thor roars.

The ground rumbles in response. Shit, another earthquake! Damn gods need to control their fucking tempers. It's a wonder their playground here in California doesn't break off and fall into the sea like Atlantis. Apparently, they feel this place is the closest thing to Olympus on Earth. I'd beg to differ. Two girls rush into the kitchen while the house shakes and come running back with a mug in each hand. I roll my eyes.

"So how about that dance?"

I shake my head but give him a smile. "Sorry, maybe another time."

"I'm one-eighth Hades, so you might want to reconsider."

He cocks a brow, and well, I'll admit there is something alluring about him. That dark, mysterious, bad boy thing, I guess. The epitome of my ex and look how that turned out. Fucked up, so there's that.

"No thanks. I don't do death deities." Or any. At his opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, I push past him. The mood here is clogged with too much ego and smoke and I need fresh air.

Outside, I find a marble fountain with nymph statues in the middle of it. Water has always soothed me. I stare up at the moon and finish my beer.

"It's rude to not be a part of the festivities honoring a god," a husky male voice says behind me.

"Yeah, well, I've never been one on proper etiquette." And the full-blooded gods condemn lesser gods and demi-gods like me for the slightest infraction. Best way to eliminate the competition (aka, demi-gods) is to kill as many as possible and throw the rest in jail to rot. I shiver. Another reason why I keep my distance from the godly kind.

The stranger steps up beside me, a tall man who radiates the kind of power I've never felt before. It ripples over my flesh, and I'll be lying if I say I'm not in the slightest intimidated. Sandy hair frames his face, eyes the color of the darkest pits stare down at me, lips pale as though he has no life running through his veins. He's wearing black shiny pants, a matching shirt and long cape, but each to their own in the fashion department, right?

"I'm Anubis. God of-"

"Look, if you want to chat, just be normal. Don't do the whole speech on a pedestal thing," I say as nicely as I can.

Anubis' eyes narrow. The waif of death radiates off him as he picks up the ends of my dark hair in his fingers. "Such an deep, beautiful color."

"Thanks." I jerk away, and my skin prickles with unease. Speaking with the Egyptian god of death doesn't exactly lend itself to smooth conversation. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt since he's trying to make small talk. "See you're not wearing your jackal head today. How does it feel being able to choose between two heads?"

He stares at me, almost taken aback by my question. Bet he hasn't been asked that before. With a shrug, he responds in a deep voice that seems to ripple the air around us, "I adapt."

I almost want to laugh at the irony of his response considering who he is.

His hand lowers to my shoulder, his dark eyes searching mine. "I'm curious if the tinge of blue hair color matches everywhere." His gaze is slinking down my body to the apex between my legs and back up.

"Whoa, you really have to work on your conversation skills and tame it back a bit."

His eyes narrow down on me, and he mumbles something under his breath. The only words I catch are demi-god, and I'm pretty sure the rest is an insult.

God or not, I dig in my heels and tilt my head back to face him. "It's the same color, and glorious and you'll never get a chance to see," I say with zero emotion in my voice as if we're talking about the best way to mummify a body rather than my pubic hair. Not sure why that's a conversation topic in the slightest, anyway.

"I doubt that." He leers, and a new expression lashes over his face, one of filth and disgust. "Show me. I insist," he murmurs, his voice floating on the wind like he's just cast a wish out onto the world.

"Fuck off." I swallow, shaking inside, but refusing to show him how much his words affect me.�

"Are you denying a god?" He arches an eyebrow. "You know what I can have done to you?"

Everything in me recoils at his words and I take a step back. Gods have free reign over us demi-gods. Refusing him will get me beaten, but I don't care. I'm not giving the god of death his own personal peep show.

The vileness in his face sweeps into a smile that makes the beer in my gut want to come hurling out. "You can brag to all the others how I chose you tonight. It's such a simple act of submission. An honor, even."

I've heard stories both ancient and new of the gods. He'll want to humiliate me. Take as much as he can until I'm bleeding and broken. I'm not a fool.

"Don't waste your time on me. There are many groupies inside ready to give you what your dead heart desires." I lift my chin, bracing for his wrath.

He snatches my arm so fast I don't see him move.

And that terrifies me, fear sinking her claws into my chest.

"I said no." I wrench free. Damn this is escalating fast. My feet slip backward, and maybe coming out here was a mistake. Of course it is. Gods believe we belong to them, we're their playthings so coming to this party was the mistake of the century. I don't know why I keep listening to my friend about these parties.

"No one says no to me." His hand smacks against my cheek so fast and hard that I fall to the cement. Pain streaks over my face, stinging like hell.

Prickly threads of electricity snake around my torso, slithering everywhere.

A cry falls from my lips as I scramble to my feet, patting my body but can't stop the sensation coiling around me. In a heartbeat, I'm thrust upright and off the ground, his power holding me in place so I can't run.

"It's all you gods know, isn't it? No mercy, no empathy, and no ability to understand the word, no!"

My punches and kicks are only met with his laughter as he tugs at my shirt. The fabric rips, echoing in my ears. Buttons pop in every direction as my shirt rips to shreds and falls around me, leaving me in my skirt and black bra.

My blood goes cold, and I'm screaming for help. Except who'll help me from gods who are meant to be humanity's saviors?

His graveyard breath washes over my face.

"I will put you in your place, little demi-god. And you'll never forget me, I promise you that." With a flick of his hand, I'm flung backward until my back slams into a tree. Sharp agony tears through me as an invisible lasso ties my body to the tree.

Anubis stalks toward me, taking long strides, dark hair fluttering in the breeze. And behind him looms the enormous mansion, the lights from the upstairs party where no one looks outside, where the music is blasting. Where the hell is Deirda?

Tears sting my face. His body presses against mine and I can't move. I shove my hands against him with all my might. Panic squeezes my throat so tight I can barely breathe.

A shower of adrenaline runs through me and I involuntarily bite my lip. Fear is killing me. His body is crushing me. I feel the thick layer of nails start to dig into my skin. His hands press deep into the flesh of my ass and I feel his erection against my thigh.

I want to vomit.

"Stop!" I shout out a warning. But magic courses through me already like a raging river, it pulses faster and harder.

He doesn't even pause. His hands grope my breasts. A disgusting tongue is dragging along my neck.

My magic tingles along my body. The water from the nearby fountain ripples across the surface, and I can feel its connection inside me like a lapping shoreline, it crashes over me, then drags back out.

I call to the water, my energy connection, with a flick of my hand. I call to the thunderous pressure of it to thrust forward. I call to the elements that connect me to such purity and forge the water in my mind as a fire hose.

Except the water never comes.

Anubis' eyes widen suddenly. He jerks away from me in a shuddering move, his mouth dropping open.

"What did you do to me?" he growls.

I'm shaking uncontrollably, barely able to breathe let alone make sense of what he's talking about.

His body is trembling and his knees buckled out from under him. The moment he hits the ground, an explosion of water erupts out of every pore in his body, his mouth, eyes, nose, ears.

The burst of water sprays me from head to toe, and everything nearby.

His scream echoes in the darkness, piercing and terrifying. His body crumbles into a smoldering, black lump.

This time I scream, and the invisible binds holding me dissolve. I drop to the ground, falling to hands and knees, gasping for air.

Fear claws up my throat. Oh God, oh fuck. This isn't supposed to happen. I only wanted him off me.

"Anubis? Are you okay?"

Of course he isn't. I know he isn't, but I'm holding onto that thin thread that tells me he'll wake up. He's the freaking god of death. He can't die...

Shit, shit, shit! Gods aren't supposed to die!

A shriek rings across the night. Everyone from the party is staring at me from the window upstairs in the mansion, yet, I can't move. All I can do is stare in disbelief.

I killed a god.

I killed a fucking god!

Stumbling backward, I hug myself, my teeth chattering with fear.

A quake shudders the Earth beneath me, splitting the fountain. Water gushes out everywhere. Lighting streaks the black skies and a thunderous roar booms overhead.

Oh, fuck! I know what this means. My heart squeezes so hard in my chest that I feel like I'm going to die right now.

A figure descends from the heavens. Golden robes and a spear in one hand, he descends with a fierceness over his face.

Forseti, the god of justice.

He's powerful and intimidating and he's here for me.

The judge, jury, and executioner for all who dare to harm any god.

I am so dead.