Page 82 of Hex
“Fenny!” Sage’s squeal is loud as fuck and that monster of a dog’s ears—the size of a small building—perk right up. I hope to the goddess he’s got an invisibility shield around it because, if not, those surfing anthros out there are about to lose their waves.
As soon as they reach each other, Fenny lies flat against the sand, turning onto his back and letting his massive tongue loll out as Sage climbs his mammoth body so she can scratch his underbelly. She looks like a flea on top of him and if he weren’t a fucking beast, I’d be more than a little jealous at how quickly she dropped me.
“Looks like your chosen likes my kid better than you.”
One day soon, I’m going to punch this cocky asshole, but that day is not today.
“Fuck off,” I mumble, but try my hardest not to put any venom into it.
“Easy, Conquest. No need to be so aggressive.” Loki’s smug face is just like his tone: annoying.
“What’s up, fire god?” Slash does a weird hand slap with Loki and I realize they’re closer than I ever thought. “Glad we caught you. We need a favor.”
I shake my head, thinking Slash could have been a little more subtle, but time is of the essence so I suppose skipping the pleasantries isn’t so bad.
“Two visits in so many weeks…I feel loved and wanted.” He leans in and winks at me, trying to get under my skin. “I feel needed, Conquest.” Then he shifts his gaze to Sage before looking back at me. The insinuation is clear, and even though I fucking know that chaos is his middle name and getting a rise out of people is his favorite game, I bite.
“Don’t even fucking think about it.” My molars ache under the pressure of my jaw.
With a hand over his heart, Loki bows his head, his gaze never leaving mine. “You wound me, demon.” Then, before I can roll my eyes at his theatrics, he turns to Slay and bellows. “How may a god help you?”
Fucking prick.
It turns out, Loki did put a cloaking spell on Fenny. And on himself. And his fucking mansion, including a long deck extending from the second floor right into the ocean waters.Inside the house, there’s a full-fledged kyn party going on led by a mermaid DJ sporting temporary legs.
We all refuse the faerie wine, even Slash, who’s eyeing it like it’s his long-lost best friend. Instead, we focus on the plan we’re putting in place, despite the twenty-five-year-old house music banging on the other side of the bay windows.
“I never liked Rafi. I get being an asshole, but integrity is key, no matter what.” I never thought I’d agree with Loki but here we are.
“I can’t think of a single kyn who appreciates him—well, appreciated. Maybe that’s why he did this?” Pierce, who always tries to find the good in everyone, is psychoanalyzing the Dei of Spirits but coming up short.
“Nonsense. That poor bastard was power hungry with a tiny dick and an envy complex.” Loki dismisses Pierce’s suggestion that maybe we just didn’t understand Rafi. Fuck that. Again, I’m with Loki and it’s really starting to scare the fuck out of me.
“Loki? How can I fix this?” Sage, who's been staring at the horizon from the safety of my lap, hasn’t spoken until now. She’s been quiet, listening, thinking, and no doubt amplifying her circumstances in her head and seeing only doom and no solutions.
Loki sucks in air through his teeth, nodding like her question is a tough one. I want to punch him for not making her feel better, but at the same time, we need to stay on this side of reality to avoid any unwanted surprises.
“I won’t sugarcoat it, this is just about the worst situation you could find yourself in.” I’m about to rail Loki for that bucket of ice water he’s just thrown at Sage but she places a warm hand on my heart and rests her head on my shoulder. It has its desired effect and I relax back into the chair. She wants unfiltered information and she’s less afraid of the truth than I am.
“I get that, but it was an accident. Also, he was holding my best friend hostage and doing goddess knows what to her.” As Sage’s breath hitches at that, standing beside me and leaning on the rail of the deck, I hear Slash growl. “She won’t talk about it but I know, Iknowshe went through Hell.”
“Not to mention he was holding me and Pierce hostage, too. Which, according to amendment fifty-two section eight of the code of Moirai, ‘It is strictly forbidden to impede the Liege from executing their soul-seeking duties.’” Slay memorized the whole fucking code of law just for this moment and I fucking love him for it. I bet he’s grumpy because he hasn’t slept in days.
“You could use that, indeed.” Loki stares out at the ocean as though the waves will give him the answers he’s seeking, when a dark-haired kyn steps out from the party inside and brings us all drinks. The only one spiked with faerie dust is Loki’s, but I’m guessing it barely has an effect on him, just like the other gods.
“What about the lamia and hydra? Oh, and the gorgons? They don’t join the spirits without cause.” Slash is right and it’s been fucking with me for a while. Since when do monsters act outside the orders of their Dei?
“Regina…” Loki’s voice takes on a dreamy tone that I do not like. “She used to do this thing with her—”
“Please don’t!” I beg.
“Her nails or her tail? I once fucked one of her daughters in…Brazil, I think?” I close my eyes and fight the urge to rip off my ears as Loki and Slash trade sex stories about lamia.
“Can we focus?” Slay brings us all back to the important shit.
“Right, yes. Regina does not take too kindly to her kyn working with other Dei. When she’s not at the table of the Thirteen, she travels a lot, going from home to home across both worlds. It is entirely plausible that she doesn’t know what’s happening. Or…” Loki’s dramatic pause is deafening because I have a feeling I know what he’s going to say.
“Or she sanctioned it,” Pierce finishes off the sentence and I die a little inside. If she’s in on it, this means the threat is much bigger than a scorned ego. This is a coup and we’re pawns in a much riskier game of war.
