Page 42 of Monster Whisperer
“Never touch me again.”
She broke into a peal of laughter and broke away from me.
“Yes, I think I can make that happen in three days. I’ll send someone for you. Please dress appropriately. You will see a God. He may be an ugly God, but he’s still a God. Are you good now?”
“Yes, thank you so much.”
“Good. I’ll expect you to succeed and not meddle in my fights anymore. Demos looks just fine to me.”
I just shrugged.
“He rose out of ashes and looked a little weak. What do I know about phoenixes?”
Demeter glared at Hades.
“Exactly. What would your new dog know about monsters? Really, Hades, you must be getting desperate. Ta ta for now. Dog, I’ll expect you ready to leave in three days.”
“Bitch,”Cerberus growled.
“What did you say to her, baby bird?”
“I’ll bet it was good,”Pavlina said.
“My pet can do anything. I’ll bet you have a plan,”Tryphon said.
As soon as Demeter was gone, Hades turned to me with intense eyes.
“Tell me, River. What was that show about?”
“I just got an audience with Hephaestus. Suck on that.”
Hades just chuckled.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
My father wasn’t from Hell for nothing.
Chapter 32
Kimon
H
a! My baby bird outsmarted a Goddess, and believe me, many humans and demigods had tried back when they ruled Earth. They usually ended up cursed, either for no good reason or because they got close. Poor Medusa didn’t deserve what happened to her. I just had this feeling in my enormous monster heart that baby bird would get through this without a single curse on her. We didn’t know what her father was, but I would bet all my drachma it was something Demeter hadn’t dealt with before.
Hades was still standing there, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe it.
“I knew you were putting on some sort of show when all the monsters started attacking you, but I couldn’t hear you when you were whispering in her ear. What were you thinking touching a Goddess? The Gods and Goddesses have cursed people just for what they think is an insult in their temple.”
My baby bird just smirked.
“I needed her to think I was desperate enough that I would risk it. She thinks I’m getting a weapon to kill you.”
We all groaned. She knew her myths, but she apparently didn’t know everything, especially about Hephaestus and his legendary weapons.
“River, Hephaestus only makes one weapon per hero. He will not make you a knife that will send me to the pits of Tartarusandsome sort of key for these collars. Demeter is cunning. She will want to see the weapon Hephaestus made for you. You must get a blade and give her updates on why I’m not in the pits yet.”
My baby bird’s face spread into this devious grin like this didn’t even faze her. Gods, I was falling deeper for this woman and wanted to keep her here if we ended this. I didn’t want her father to claim her and take her back to Hell. I wanted to take her to my home in the Elysian Fields and spoil her rotten.
