Page 20 of Shadowed Spirits

CHAPTER 11

IZZY

Itug on my black skater dress in my seat, trying to make it cover more of my thighs. I didn’t realize how short it was. The black dress with dark purple lacy trim at the collar, sleeves, and hem must’ve shrunk in the wash because it wasn’t always barely long enough to cover my ass.

Giving up on pulling it down, I flop against the high-backed purple velvet dining chair. The dark wood table is massive, with twenty-four matching chairs. With obsidian walls, black and white floors, and dark furniture, the dining room should feel dim and oppressive. But light fixtures casting an inviting purple glow are interspersed through the large space, keeping it from feeling like a dungeon.

Levi is sitting to my left, next to his brother at the head of the table. Bishop and Cain are to my right. Luca is across the table from Cain, with Archer on his other side. Seph is sitting directly in front of Levi, with two empty chairs for her other mates between her and Luca.

As much as I’m enjoying waiting for the mysterious other people to join us, I’m not. I’m hangry, tired, and don’t want to people any more today. My short nap earlier didn’t do much toalleviate my bone-deep exhaustion. With a sigh, I ask Levi, “Who are we waiting on?”

“Us,” an unfamiliar, loud voice answers instead of Levi. I turn to look at the opposite door and see a large blond man with close-cropped hair and eyes the color of a lightning strike striding into the room. He’s followed by an equally massive man with shoulder-length ocean blue hair and deep blue eyes. They both make a beeline for Seph and give her lingering kisses.

Following the two huge dudes are two other bulky guys and three dainty women. One of the men has the same black and red eyes as Hades and Levi, with black hair streaked with navy and a close-cropped beard. The woman holding his arm looks like Seph, with golden blonde hair and dark gray eyes.

The other man has gray hair down to his shoulders and a matching full beard. His eyes look like molten silver, constantly swirling and changing. The first woman he’s holding hands with has white-blonde hair, that flows around her shoulders, and spring green eyes. On his other side is a woman with navy hair down to her waist and dark blue eyes speckled with what look like stars.

“Cool,” I comment dryly after I assess the horde of newcomers. The blond guy’s announcement doesn’t really help me any. “And who are you?”

He cocks an unimpressed eyebrow as he looks down his nose at me. Well, buddy boo, I’m not super impressed by you, either. “Shouldn’t you know, earth dweller?”

“Oh boy.” I close my eyes briefly, praying for patience I don’t have. When I open them, I tiredly rub the crease between my eyebrows, no closer to finding diplomacy I’ve never possessed. Snark it is, I guess. “So, here’s the thing, my dude. Today, alone, I’ve been under arrest for a crime that could lead to all my family and mates being executed, learned Hell was real, been transported to a different realm, almost got my dumb assmurdered by the ruler of the underworld, and found out I’m apparently not fucking human. So, how ’bout you cut me some slack and just tell me your freaking name, okay?”

The blond guy is gaping at me, but I don’t have it in me to feel bad. I’m sure he’s some important somebody or other, but I’ve had a long day. A long life, really. While I want to make Seph happy, no part of me wants to be involved in a dinner where I have to try to impress strangers.

Before the blond dude can respond, Hades cuts in. “I didn’t almost murder you, earthling. There was only a forty-three percent chance I would’ve killed you.” Seph softly groans at him before placing her head in her hands.

I, however, find him hilarious. “You raise a good point, not-so-kind sir.” I tip my imaginary hat at him, much to his amusement.

“Zeus Jove Kyrios! I did not raise you to speak to guests like that,” the woman with white-blonde hair chastises who I assume is the blond man.

Zeus looks kind of like a kicked puppy as he hangs his golden head and mumbles, “Sorry, Mama.” When she doesn’t say anything in response, he looks up from where he’s standing behind Seph. His mom arches an expectant eyebrow. He turns to me. “Uh, I apologize, earth dweller?”

“It’s fine.” I still don’t particularly like the guy, since he was an ass, but I don’t want to get in a fight with the god of the skies who’s known for smiting people with lightning bolts. I have no idea if my defensive dome would work against godly lightning, and I don’t really want to find out.

The seven newcomers get settled in their seats around the table. I stare at all of them curiously before Hades starts introducing them. “Earthling, meet Seph’s other mates, Zeus and Poseidon. Next to the two wolves are Saturn and his wife,Demeter. Across from them is Rhea, her mate Cronus, and Cronus’s other mate Ops.”

Saturn is the man who has eyes like Hades, and the woman who looks like Seph next to him is Demeter. Cronus is the other guy, Rhea has white-blonde hair, and Ops has navy hair.

All the people from Greek and Roman mythology are very messed up and do incredibly morally corrupt things, so I’m not super excited to be sitting across from a bunch of gods and titans.

“Nice to meet you,” I tell them reflexively, before realizing something. “Aren’t you guys all super related to each other?”

Zeus chokes on a sip of water from the silver chalice in front of his plate. Once he stops hacking up a lung, he looks at me incredulously. “Are you asking if I’m fucking my daughter, like human lore says?”

Well, when he puts it like that, my question sounds super rude. Oh well. “Uh, yeah, I guess so?”

Bishop squeezes his hand where it’s resting on my thigh and pinches the bridge of his nose with the other one. “Jesus Christ, Izzy.”

“You can’t be mad at me about this one.” I twist toward Bishop, ready to defend my totally not rude question. “He said I should know who he is, I assume because of Greco-Roman mythology. Going off those stories, everyone at this table, other than our group, is getting it on with their siblings or children. It’s a reasonable question!”

“According to mythology, you’re banging your great uncle, so you’re included in our incest fest,” Hades supplies unhelpfully.

“We don’t even know if I’m related to Seph. Besides, I haven’t banged him, so don’t include me yet,” I say for absolutely no other reason than I clearly hate myself. I’m sure everyone at the table totally wants to know about my lack of a sex life. “But… we’re not related, right?”

Hades snorts. “No. No one at this table is having sexual relations with their sibling or child, earthling. Saturn and Lua are Leviathan and my parents. Demeter and Iasion, fates rest his soul, are Seph’s parents. Cronus and Rhea are Zeus’s parents, and Cronus and Ops are Poseidon’s parents. None of us are related to the others in any way, other than mating.”

Zeus turns white as a sheet, like he just saw a ghost. I briefly check over my shoulder to see if Aggie’s there. When I see she’s not, I face forward again and find Zeus’s lightning bolt gaze trained on me. “You’re my great-granddaughter?”

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