Page 5 of Generally Hospitable
“The one?” My stomach clenched as I realized who she was talking about. “The one who cheated on you with Lilith, broke your heart and started your reign of terror?”
She nodded slowly. “That would be him.”
I gripped her hand as tightly as she held mine. I needed her to be strong. “We can beat him,” I told her. “But only if we do it together.”
“You have already lost, little Goddesses,” the cheating bastard said. “You lost the minute you entered this room.”
I tried to step forward, but my feet were stuck to the ground and I couldn’t move my legs. We were flies in his trap. I reached out from my mind for my people. For help of any kind.
No one answered.
Pandora’s flaming sword flickered as the arrogant fake God suffocated all hope.
“No,” I said defiantly. I yanked Pandora to get her attention. “He can’t win.Wecan’t let him.”
She blinked at me. “We?”
“Yes,” I told her. “We.”
I saw a light spark in her eyes. It was dim, but it was there. Hope. I resisted the urge to cry out. It wasn’t gone. Not yet.
Chub Chub Wang aka Decatalian aka the old gaslighting cheating dickbag was about to go down. I had to believe it. I had a life now, and I wasn’t about to lose my happily ever after in the final act.
We would win.
We had to.
CHAPTER TWO
As I stoodwith my feet rooted to the ground, the stillness made me very aware of the ice-cold blood coursing through my veins. The chill sent a shiver through me as it forced me to face the bleak reality of our situation.
We were screwed, and that scenario wassoooonot working for me.
In battle, I always went in with a healthy fear. I’d learned fast that there was a thin line between success and failure when lives were on the line. Right now… I just felt fear. I wouldn’t describe it as healthy. However, if I was going down, I would go down swinging.
I’d been methodical as an actress. I memorized my lines and blocking to the point I didn’t have to think about it. I could take any performance to the next level since I wasn’t worried about the particulars. So far, I’d used the skills I’d had as an actress to guide my new life as a Demon Goddess. Amazingly, I was still alive. Not sure how much longer that would be true, but I was going to stick to what I knew.
My theme song used to be, “Let’s Get the Party Started.” It was now “Staying Alive.” I’d gone from Pink to Bee Gees out of necessity.
Glancing around the room as Decatalain waxed poetic about how he was going to brutally kill us and take over the Darkness, I looked for an exit. The room was large, ornate and ugly. The sheer amount of gold, bronze and silver was dizzying. The floor was a white marble studded with what I guessed were real jewels—super-sized rubies, sapphires and emeralds. The floor alone had probably cost more than a small country. Twelve crystal chandeliers hung overhead sparkling like diamonds. Tables, chairs, couches and settees were dotted all over and done up with golden brocade fabric. Gaudy was the word that came to mind. It was unclear if this had been my mother’s décor choices, or if the shit stain talking at the moment had done some redecorating. Didn’t matter. If I got out of here with my head still attached to my neck, I was going to torch the entire castle.
I could feel that my magic was severely muted. My fire sword had been snuffed out as had Pandora’s. It was shocking that a random Demon could best two Goddesses. That scared the heck out of me. It made no sense. While the deranged Demon might be certifiably insane, he was powerful. It was a terrible combination. Popping the bastard like a tick wasn’t on the table. Getting out of here and regrouping was the only plan that came to mind. It was a weak plan—and probably impossible, but it was something. Pandora stood next to me as still as a granite statue. It was difficult to know what she was thinking, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. Staying alive was the priority… thank you, Gibb brothers.
Unsurprisingly, Chub Chub Wang had a lot to say—violent jerks usually did. None of it was good. He was like the bad guy in a high-stakes action movie who needed to monologue his every move before he performed the dastardly deeds. In the movies, the villain would share all his secrets then get blasted to kingdom come. The problem was that this wasn’t fiction. The room wasn’t a set. There was no special effects team present.There was no director to call ‘cut’. Not even a crappy craft service table loaded down with high-carb snacks and wilted salads was anywhere to be seen. Everything was real.
I stared hard at the man who took maniacal glee in describing how he planned to end the Goddesses of the Darkness. Did he have any weaknesses besides his chin? I was sure there wasn’t going to be time toget to knowthe asshole and assess his deficiencies. Decatalain was fixated on ending us. While handsome, the Demon’s voice was just a touch too high and had a barely discernable nasal quality that made me itchy. What the hell Pandora and my mother had seen in him was beyond me. He was repulsive. Didn’t matter. They’d clearly seen something and… now we were here. Here wasn’t the place I wanted to be.
There was no way out, aside from the hatch through which we’d entered the throne room—no windows, no doors… nothing. And the opening I’d commanded had disappeared… of course. Every crappy horror movie had a room with no doors. Well, not all of them, but this one did. Sadly, it wasn’t a movie. I wasn’t playing a part and it was looking iffy if the two Demon Goddesses of the Darkness were going to live to see tomorrow. No sequel for us. How in the hell was this my life?
We were trapped in a safe room of sorts. However, it wasn’t remotely safe for Pandora or me. The only way in or out seemed to be by transporting. That mode of transportation wasn’t going to fly if our magic was absent. For a hot sec, I idly wondered if I were to try and transport, would my legs come with me? Or would I end up just a stump with arms? I almost laughed at the absurdity, but when the batshit crazy Demon began describing how he was going to take a shit down my throat before decapitating me, I figured I’d better pay attention. Knowledge was power and seriously gross right now.
“The time for change has arrived! I am the future and you are the past,” he bellowed then chuckled like he’d made a good one as his voice bounced off the walls and echoed ominously through the cavernous room.
“You actually banged that?” I muttered under my breath.
Pandora’s response came back at me with her lips barely moving. “You were married to Slash the Rash Gordon.”
The brilliance of her harsh and accurate comeback could not be denied. She had me there. I’d been married to the sex-crazed, cheating asshole of a rockstar who had the maturity of a fourth-grade boy for three months back in my early twenties.
