Page 53 of The Call of Monsters
Pavlina let out a little growl.
“Excuse me, did you just say my girlfriend stinks? I’ve eaten wolves before.”
Wolves must differ totally from any of the fiction I’d read because that didn’t piss Skoll off. He just laughed and held up his hands.
“Shifters go by their noses. Vampires smell blood. It’s how we know if someone is a friend, foe, or prey. Your girlfriend doesn’t stink by any means, but I would know by being around her she’s half demon and royalty to boot.”
Roman’s eyes glowed red for a minute, and he flashed his fangs again.
“Her blood smells like it would taste amazing, but don’t worry, I have no intention of biting her. I have my own supply of rich blood to eat.”
A spark flew off Demos.
“Watch how you talk about my mate’s blood and keep those fangs to yourself.”
Serafina called fire to her hand, but it differed from my fire.
“Watch how you talk tomymate. He was paying her a compliment. Roman only feeds from Amduscias or me. He doesn’twanther blood. All of us came because we want this alliance to work. None of us want you as our enemies. So, stop being so fucking sensitive and overprotective. Barbatos is bragging about his daughter to anyone who will listen. If River has a problem with what we are saying, I’m sure she’s perfectly capable of voicing that herself, mmkay?”
Okay, I liked Serafina. I wasn’t sure about her Vampire and wolf mates, but I liked her. My father wouldn’t have allowed any of them to come here if her Vampire boyfriend couldn’t control his blood lust, and the wolf was going to wolf out and rip throats out.
I had so many questions for her. She’d been managing this multiple partner thing longer than I had. Did they like to argue as mine did? Did she have any tips for permanently ending the feud between Pavlina and Demos? Did she know whose baby she was carrying? Did her mates care about that? I had a feeling mine would if we ever had the baby discussion. I was so not ready for little baby Minotaurs, Krakens, phoenixes, or demigods, but maybe one day I would be. I’ll bet they’d be stinking adorable.
I changed the subject because I knew the Underworld needed this alliance too, and I didn’t know the first thing about the Fae's.
“Have you been to the Fae realm?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. It’s quite lovely, and I have siblings there now. The Fae have an entire culture revolving around honor and deals. They have fantastic music, television, and food. They may be willing to trade, but I’m not sure any of them will want to immigrate here unless they find out they can have children with Olympians. They are fiercely family-oriented.
“I’m not sure if you’re aware since they raised you human, but certain supernaturals don’t mix with humans because their children end up powerless.Youtechnically shouldn’t have powers unless there were something latent in your DNA. Most supernaturals can mix with each other but are too snobbish to do it. I’m carrying Amduscias’s child, and the baby is quite healthy. We are all excited to see what powers they may have between him and me. Not all supernaturals feel that way, even among the Fae. Olympus might open their gates, but it’s hit or miss if the supernatural community will come here.”
I was learning so much about the supernatural community. Maybe it was time for Charley to do that spell on me to find out what was lurking in my genes that I didn’t end up human. I didn’t regret it. What I could do was totally badass, and I embraced that shit. What if there was something else about me?
Tryphon just yawned.
“If they’ve read anything about the Greek Gods, they probably won’t want to come. Dionysus and the others will have to start a massive social media campaign to save face after everything they did the last time they mingled with another realm. I get they’ve changed, but no one else knows that, and apparently, they are still teaching classes on them if River could take one.”
“I dropped out of school in middle school and grew up on the street. I got my GED and got my degree after that. I still know a good bit about the Greek Gods,” Serafina said. “You aren’t lying.”
“Vampires don’t care about that nonsense,” Roman said.
Serafina pulled him into a kiss.
“You spent a long time in prison, love. Vampires could read about them now in fiction and movies. So could the wolves. You liked the Percy Jackson movies, Roman. Remember?”
Roman just scratched his nose.
“You’ve shown us so many movies since we got out of prison. Ilikedthe Percy Jackson movies because they were fun. Skoll and I started reading the book, but only for entertainment.”
This conversation just got weird. Skoll and Roman were a little scary, and now I find out they were into YA books. They were both massive and gave off this vibe they could kill me at any minute, and they were into fucking Percy Jackson.
“Still, it stands to reason other Vampires and wolves got interested in the Greek Gods at some point too. Tryphon is correct. Despite everything that is taught about how Olympus is paradise, and it’s quite pretty here, they are going to have to do a massive PR campaign if they want people to get over their past.”
Hephaestus finally joined us. He plopped next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“That part is handled. I finally found out what mysterious business my mother wants to start. She wants to run a PR firm for businesses and celebrities. She’s already offered to do damage control for things that happened in the past. The Olympians are committed to making this work, Hera included, even if she wants to leave.”
“How are negotiations coming?” I asked.
