Page 55 of The Goddess is Awakened
“I’ve taken the liberty of asking around and I have at least fifty men and women who want to try out. Professor Norwood teaches one of the shifter classes and she’s agreed to coach. She was a competitive cheerleader for years and knows what she’s doing.
“Amanda Smithson is an academy alumnus, and a highly sought-after designer. She said she’d design us some banging uniforms for free if the cheerleaders gave her some attention on social media as thanks for everything the Academy of the Profane did for her career. I’ve taken care of getting enough people to try out, the coach, and uniforms. I just needyouto pull some god strings with the board and make it happen.”
I just sat there with my mouth open. I told the twins to put out the word we might be getting a dodgeball team around seven at night. We were currently between breakfast and the first class of the day. Several of the hours that spanned between those involved sleeping. I tended to only sleep a few hours a night, but the sheer number of people Matilda managed to contact in so short a time should have been fucking impossible.
I looked to George for some help. It took alotto discombobulate me. George just grinned and shrugged.
“You’ve been Matilda’ed. Just give her what she wants.”
“It’s easier,” Mags said. “She’s very thorough and does all the work before she asks for something.”
“I’m going to do it because I agree with everything you said, I’m just stumped abouthowyou accomplished all of that in the time you did when you and everyone else you talked to should have been sleeping for the majority of it.”
Matilda just tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder.
“A girlneverreveals her secrets.”
I hadn’t spent much time around this twin. There wasn’t much I could teach her since I wasn’t a Hellhound. Seemed like I didn’t need to. Matilda didn’t seem to mind a fucking thing that her twin sister was a god. Naturally. After seeing her in action, I had no doubt this girl was either going to end up CEO of her own company or president on Earth or in Hell.
It wouldn’t even shock me if she did all three before she turned thirty. I didn’t say that shit lightly. People asked me for things all the time, but they never did all the hard stuff. And she was grateful. Her face lit up when I said I’d make it happen. Matilda turned to march out of my office promising to whip the cheerleaders into shape.
George stayed behind and gave me a small smile.
“Thank you. Cheerleading means a lot to her. It’s just as important as ballet. She didn’t want to go pro because our babysitter did and told us how short the careers are and that they can end at any time, but she was sad to stop when she graduated high school.”
I snorted. I’d do alotto impress George because she accepted me for me. The other gods held the whole Death thing against me, so I’d never been with one. I’d had relationships with mortals where they liked the god thing a little too much or I shapeshifted and hid a key part of myself. I wasn’tplanningon falling for her, but here we were.
“I didn’t do this for you. Making sure your familiar had a place here was totally to curry brownie points. I didn’t know she was dating your twin, but I did know she’s been with you since you were born. I don’t say this a lot, but frankly, your twin is scary as fuck. I only sleep a few hours a night and I’ve figured out a lot about what all gods are capable of, but I couldn’t have pulled off what she just presented me with in so short a time. Sheearnedit, but if your sister ever sets her sights on world domination, no one is going to be able to stop her.”
George threw back her head and laughed.
“Matilda thinks minions are annoying because they can’t think for themselves. She doesn’t want to rule the world by herself. Matilda eventually wants to place herself in a position so supernaturals can’t do what they did to Hellhounds, basilisks, and energy vampires again and humans can’t hurt everyone else.”
“And I’m guessing avenge her twin sister if a man gets stupid?”
“Oh, she’s not a god, but she’d fuck someone up worse than my dad or Loki would. Her revenge would be epic. I’d do the same for her.”
“Noted.”
And I didn’t doubt that in the slightest. I’d been around twins. There were twins who were gods. It didn’t matter if you were divine, supernatural, or human, there was a bond there not even a god could recreate.
“Speaking of Hellhound justice, I’ve invited four guys I’m crazy about to my dorm room tonight to take off my necklace and show them I’ve been lying to them about what I am for months. They could end up hating me and telling the entire school. I’m excited and scared as fuck at the same time.”
I’d never been an eighteen-year-old college student, but Icouldhelp with this.
“I’ve done what you’re doing before. Not with a necklace and not for the same reasons. Being in a relationship with my creations is a little too incestuous for me. Some gods don’t feel the same, but it’s definitely a big no for me. Every time I’d mingle on Earth as a god because I got lonely, I’d sometimes meet someone I cared about, but then the neighbors would start with the death cults because they thought it would impress me and shit got weird. Some gods are into the whole cult thing, but it's always made me uncomfortable.
“So, I’d do what you are doing and hide. I told someone the truth once. She wasn’t upset with me and understood why I was hiding after I explained it to her. Keep in mind, these wereverydifferent times. There were constant territory disputes. If you had a prime piece of land, someone was always trying to kill you for it.
“We were living on fertile land right next to a water source. There were woods nearby with ample game to hunt. We were prime targets. Shebeggedme to reveal myself to deter rival tribes, and I said no because I thought I could keep everyone safe, anyway.
“I can sense unnatural death most of the time, but sometimes, it’s like the fates are fucking with me and don’t want me to know. One of the kids wandered off. I was hiding with wolves and they view kids as precious. Things were harder back then and a lot of people didn’t grow up. We made damned sure to protect the young.
“I left with the pack’s best trackers. They waited until we were gone and ambushed the village. I sensed it and portalled there straight away, but I was too late. It was an ambush, and they had slaughtered everyone. What is it you college students say? My revenge was epic.
“Anyway, you don’t have to worry about rival tribes or death cults. Those boys adore you and you can handle the campus mean girls. If Lindsay Krauss bothers you again, talk to Dexter Nevermoon. That boy reminds me alotof Loki when he was younger. You can do this. If they can’t accept you for who you are or why you hid it, then they aren’t worthy of worshipping you.”
“That sounds mortifying. I don’t want to be worshipped.”
