Page 18 of Monster Whisperer
“Hades can take care of himself, and I don’t like how evil spider woman looks at you.”
“Cerberus thinks he needs to protect me from Pavlina.”
“What did you do to piss off the Black Widow, River?”
“I think she’s hitting on me.”
“You are her type. Don’t worry. She won’t eat you if she’s into you.”
“I guess that’s comforting? I will see Kimon now.”
When I entered the prison, Kimon and Tryphon were arguing at his pool. Kimon was covered in rotted fruits and vegetables.
“I need to clean this off, Tryphon! It’s disgusting. Let me use your fucking pool!”
“This is a sacred pool! Only my pet is allowed in these waters. You will befoul my water with all that nastiness on you.”
Oh, god. Tryphon was serious about me getting in there naked with him. And Kimon really needed to shower. I had a pretty big shower in my apartment that could be big enough for a minotaur, but did they take showers?
“I’ve got a shower in my apartment if you can use it.”
Have you ever seen a bull smile before? It’s a little weird.
“Thank you, baby bird. Care to hop in there with me?”
Tryphon hissed and bitch slapped Kimon with his tentacle. I heard scrabbling and realized Pavlina had come up behind me. My rule, if I would take over this jail, was that the cell doors would be unlocked now that I knew Pavlina and Demos would not kill each other. I guess Hades took care of that already.
“Men. Am I right, River?”
“It’s okay. Hades agreed to bring everything I asked for, so hopefully, you’ll be a little more comfortable here.”
Demos flew in and landed on Pavlina’s back. I guess those two were getting along better now. Or, maybe not.
“Get off me, you overgrown pigeon. I’m not a perch.”
Lord, help me. I not only needed to keep them from getting killed in the ring, but I also needed to stop them from killing each other.
“You can perch on me, Demos. I believe I was promised a shower.”
“Yes, right this way.”
“Be careful, River. Kimon is dangerous, and Demos hates you,”Cerberus said.
“It’ll be fine, Cerberus.”
I knew this could be stupid. They were monsters, and I just watched Kimon kill a giant king. But I led them to my apartment.
Chapter 13
Demos
I
would not perch on Kimon. Please. The only reason I landed on Pavlina was that she was taking up most of the hallway with that big, spider body of hers. Still, I was tired of staying in my cell. I might have forgiven Pavlina, but that didn’t mean I wanted to stay out there and chat with her.
I had mixed feelings about River. Sure, she was pretty, and she was trying to help us, but there was no point in any of us getting attached to her. Demeter would take her away just like she’d taken everything else from us. I would kill that fucking Goddess one day. It wasn’t like she could kill me.
That was probably the top reason they had chosen me for Persephone’s bodyguard. Pavlina and I didn’t know each other when I thought she fucked my girlfriend. We had to take different shifts guarding our queen because we would have torn each other apart. Persephone had been trying to mediate for years, and this little half human slips in when things go to shit and gets Pavlina to admit what really happened.
