Page 4 of Locking Down Qetesh

"Pfft, no thanks. What's the point in only living once if you're not going to die?"

"I couldn't tell you." At this point, I'd reinvented myself more times than I cared to count. It was less of an issue now that the world was more accepting of the gods in their mix. Or at least, the paranormal members of the world were. Humans still had no idea that we lived among them, but I had very little to do with them unless they found out about Jinx. And if they knew about Jinx, then they knew about the world of gods and paranormals anyway, it wasn't the kind of thing people could just stumble across by accident.

"You're coming on Friday, right?" Ella asked.

"Of course I'm coming," I promised. "I'm your Maid of Honour, I'm not going to skip the Bridal Shower."

"Good, because Nadia would be sad if you missed it."

I laughed. "Nadia? You're really going to say that your fiancée would be the one to miss me at your Bridal Shower?"

Ella grinned. "Oh, and you'll finally get to meet my brother. He's just moved back to town for a job. My parents are thrilled, naturally."

"Hopefully not to the point of overshadowing the wedding."

"Oh, no, not at all. My brother would never want that. He's a good guy, you'll like him." The way she looked at me made it seem like she was thinking about more than just a friendly situation, but I was going to have to disappoint her there. It was highly unlikely that I'd say more than three words to her brother beyond the two of us being introduced.

"I look forward to meeting him," I said.

"Good." She leaned back in her chair and let out a contented sigh. "I can't believe I'm going to be married in just over a month."

I laughed. "That's because you've only been dating Nadia for a year."

"Yeah, but when you know, you know. Right?"

"I couldn't tell you."

"You're a love goddess, you're supposed to know stuff like this," she countered.

"Allegedly," I said. "But I never claimed to be an expert on love, and anyone who thinks I am one needs to take a moment to actually think about it, because I am really not."

"You'd be a lot more convincing if you weren't the reason I met my future wife."

"It's not that I've not learned anything over the past few thousand years," I pointed out. "It's just that I'm not an expert. Now some of the other love gods? They really know what they're talking about."

"I'll refrain from judging considering I've not had any conversations with them knowingly. Maybe when you get married, I'll finally get to chat with some."

I laughed. "I'm not going to get married."

"So you keep saying, but I don't understand why. Do you not want to fall in love?"

"It's complicated," I murmured.

She frowned at me in a way that made me certain she wanted to ask a lot more questions. Ones that I wasn't able to answer. It wasn't that I didn't know why I didn't date, it was just that the answer wasn't exactly an acceptable one given my status as a goddess of love, sex, and all things related. It would be much better if I'd just been able to keep being known as a nature goddess and not had to worry about the rest of it. But if there was one thing I'd learned over the past few thousand years, it was that there was very little opportunity to choose what humans believed I was the goddess of. It wasn't like I was the only god in that position either. It was a common phenomenon, even if it could be frustrating at times.

Ella moved on to talking about the wedding, and I let her. As much as I wanted to avoid the complications of love myself, I did enjoy hearing others talking about it, especially when I'd done something to help them find it. And I was going to enjoy every minute of her wedding knowing that I'd helped her and Nadia meet.

Chapter 3

JACOB

I wasn't entirely sure about how sensible it was for me to go to Qetesh's Lock and Key party. I was curious about precisely how it was run, especially considering it was hosted in the hotel I was supposed to be managing, but dating and I didn't seem to mix, even if there was a yearning within me to meet someone. Which had only gotten stronger since my sister had announced that she was engaged.

I fiddled with the black ring on the right finger of my middle hand. I didn't usually wear it around the hotel, there was no need to when the likelihood of someone seriously trying to flirt with me was slim. But this was different. I was heading into a dating event, and it was safer to wear it.

Even before I entered, I could feel the buzz coming from the room. From what Qetesh had said about the event, there would only be about forty-six people in attendance, but they were certainly doing what she said they would and making the noise for it.

I paused at the entrance, surprised to find that the hostess was waiting at a table just within and not mingling with the guests. She looked the right balance of classy and professional, with a playfulness thanks to the flowers decorating her dress. Which made a lot of sense now that I knew she considered herself to be a dryad over a goddess. I should have responded better to that revelation, but not having met many gods before, I hadn't really given much thought to that kind of thing.

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