Justice Loses Her League Page 2

  That had come out of left field. When we first brought Justice here, Lodon had appeared, brought us up to this tower, and acted like he was honored to meet his daughter’s mates. He’d not said a word about not formally mating until just a few minutes ago.

  “I have limited experience with full-blooded gods,” Ajax said—which was far more experience than I had—“however, what I do understand is that everything about them is excessive. Their emotions, their actions. They do not have the ability to—or, more likely, they choose not to—keep themselves in check like we do. Like humans do. So when an impulse strikes, they act on it without considering the consequences of their actions. I know we all do that sometimes, but gods do it every single time. And when they want something, they will resort to whatever means necessary to get it. Their motives are rarely pure.”

  “They sound like a fun bunch.” Maybe I didn’t want to meet my mother after all. Maybe her reason for handing me over to my father and stepping out of my life wasn’t altruistic like I’d convinced myself.

  “Oh, I’m sure they are fun. It’s the emotional side of things they are lousy at. Probably why they started leaving this realm to procreate with humans all those years ago. They needed the human side to temper their borderline inhumane side.”

  Huh. I was no longer excited over the idea of staying here for a few days.

  “So where are we going?” Ajax asked when we finally reached the bottom floor of the tower. When we arrived, we’d landed in an alley next to this building. As if he knew we were coming, Lodon had immediately swept us inside. We’d been here for twenty-four hours, and none of us had seen the outside of the Ivory Tower.

  “Let’s go for a walk, get some air, check out the land of the gods.” Lodon had been ensuring we were all fed while we waited for Justice to wake up, but it had been simple stuff like soup and salads and lots of fruit. “Maybe we can find a pizza and beer joint.”

  Ajax barked out a laugh and pushed on the knobless door, which paused for a split second before automatically opening for him. No idea what mechanism made them function. There was no electricity; all the lights functioned via magic. Apparently, there was no automatic temperature regulation either, because every window we passed was open, letting in a balmy, comfortable breeze. And they didn’t practice medicine the way the humans did, either.

  After we’d laid Justice’s unconscious body onto the bed, as Lodon directed, he’d stood over her, held out both hands palms down, and closed his eyes, murmuring something under his breath. He’d begun to glow like a nightlight, sparks popping off his skin. Then he’d lowered his hands and covered her still-bleeding wound, and her body had given an involuntary jump, but she hadn’t woken up. Which was probably good, because I had no doubt gunshot wounds hurt like a bitch.

  Lodon pressed both hands against her wound for a long time, his eyes closed, his breathing steady. It was probably only a minute or two, but it felt like an hour.

  When he finally pulled away, his skin tone was about five shades paler and he was unsteady on his feet—and Justice wasn’t bleeding anymore. A thin layer of pink skin had already grown over her wound.

  Non-altruistic he may be, but that god had just saved my mate’s life, and I would be forever grateful to him.

  “Interesting,” a voice said from our left. I spotted Lodon, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, studying us. “I assumed it would be the other one who would come speak to me.”

  “Rafe?” I asked. “We weren’t looking for you.”

  “No?”

  I shook my head. “Just wanted some air. And maybe a bar. Do you all have bars here?”

  He snorted. “Of course we do. Before we go, let me re-dress you so you do not stand out quite so much.”

  “Re-dress—?”

  Lodon waved his hand at Ajax, and Ajax’s outfit of blood-splattered camo pants and tight black T-shirt instantly morphed into more like what Lodon was wearing: a toga.

  I started laughing—at least until Lodon gave me the same treatment. Then I scowled. “Not exactly my look, man.”

  “It is if you wish to wander about the Realm of Gods,” Lodon said.

  “Okay, thanks, I guess. Now, if you’ll direct us to the nearest bar, we’ll get out of your hair.”

  “It would be best if I accompanied you,” Lodon said. “Come.”

  Well, hell. Not that I was opposed to hanging out with the guy—he had saved Justice’s life, after all, and he was her father. It was more that he made me a little uncomfortable, and I’d hoped to just chill with Ajax, maybe even admit to him that I wanted to find my mother while we were here, see what he thought about that idea.

  Ajax started to follow the guy, and I fell into step with him. This place was a weird mix of a downtown area like Chicago and a small country village in northern England, combined with oddly shaped buildings.

  We wandered along a cobblestone path in front of rows and rows of storefronts, some of which reminded me of a Renaissance festival, while others looked like something out of The Jetsons.

  There weren’t any vehicles. Everybody walked or teleported. As we headed down the cobblestone path, all of a sudden, this hole would open up in the atmosphere. People dressed in togas would step out, the hole would seal itself, and the people would carry on toward their destination. I did notice a few who had the same nauseous reaction to the trip as I did, which made me feel a little better about myself.

  “Here we are,” Lodon said, waving at a building with no walls. Just pillars wrapped in gauzy curtains, holding up the roof. A two-sided bar was situated right in the middle, where a stunning man and woman tended to their customers while flipping bottles into the air and laughing and teasing one another. There was music in the background—not upbeat, not haunting, not even particularly pleasant, and yet it was oddly luring.

  I’d initially wanted someplace quiet and with few other customers where Ajax and I could lounge at a table in a corner, but as soon as I heard that strange melody, I knew this was the place.

  Lodon led us along the side of the structure to the back of the bar, where there was a breathtaking view of a body of water that was bluer and larger and more spectacular than anything I’d ever seen before.

  “Find a table,” Lodon instructed, “and I will get our drinks.”

  Disappointed because I’d wanted to get up close and personal with those bartenders, who, if it were possible, were even more gorgeous and fun-looking than the ones out front, I followed Ajax to a table next to the half-wall that no doubt kept inebriated customers from tumbling into the water.

  I glanced over the edge and let out a startled “holy shit.” Ajax stepped up next to me to peer down at the mounds of what looked like ancient shipwrecks strewn across the rocky shoreline. Broken planks of sun-bleached wood were thrust between jagged rocks; a ship lay on a small bit of sand, flipped over like a beached whale. Ragged flags with sigils I didn’t recognize flapped weakly in the breeze.

  With a grimace, Ajax grabbed the front of my toga and pushed me into one of the seats. He dropped heavily into the one next to me.

  I opened my mouth to ask, because clearly he knew more than I did, but Lodon arrived with our drinks and began doling out pint glasses full of—I hoped—beer.

  “They don’t normally serve pizza,” he said, “but I managed to convince the kitchen staff to give it a try. They’ll bring it out shortly.”

  “Thanks,” I said. That was considerate of him. I sipped at my drink and then smacked my lips. “Damn, that’s the best beer I’ve ever tasted.”

  “Careful,” Lodon warned, his gaze darting to the bar. “She may have added a touch of ambrosia. I think she noticed you watching her.”

  I glanced at my beer. “What does that mean?”

  “Ambrosia is an aphrodisiac. And those bartenders are sirens.”

  “Ooooh, that explains the shipwrecks,” I said. And the beguiling music. I studied the male tender. “I thought sirens were girls.”

  “Sirens can shapes
hift into anything they want to be. Those two and the two out front are all lovers, have been for as long as I can remember, and they thrive on teasing their customers. Stay long enough and they will inevitably start making love right there behind the bar. Sometimes all four of them at once, although that tends to incite orgies and something always gets broken when that happens, so they do not do that often anymore. If you come back tomorrow, this one will be the shape of a man, and that one, a woman. Or the next day, they will both be men. Or women.” He shrugged. “They keep it interesting.”

  I’ll say. Although I supposed being fated mates with three other demigods meant my life would forever be interesting, too.

  “Tell me,” Lodon said, “who are your parents? The parent who is a god, I mean.”

  Ajax studied the man for a moment and then said, “My father is Ogun.”

  He’d told me about his father, who, used to bring along his favorite dog with he visited Ajax. Maybe those visits were what fostered Ajax’s unconditional love for all animals.

  Unlike my mother, Ajax’s father had been prominent in his life, helping shape him into the man he’d become as well as imparting wisdom about this side of his nature.

  But then the gods had started warring among themselves, leaving the humans and their demigod children unprotected back on earth. That was when the white man came and put Ajax in chains and sold him as a slave. Ajax hadn’t been in contact with his father since then. No idea if that was because Ajax was bitter or his father felt bad for disappearing at such a critical time.

  “Ah,” Lodon said, nodding. “I can see the resemblance now that you mention it. Good man, your father. Hotheaded, but then, most of us are.” He sipped at his beer. “He took your mother’s passing and your disappearance quite hard. But that is the price we pay for falling in love with humans, isn’t it?”

  Had Lodon loved Justice’s mother? The way she told the story, it didn’t seem so, but then again, she’d been looking at the situation through the eyes of a child.

  “Tell me about your godly parent,” Lodon said to me.

  “Can’t,” I admitted. “I’ve never met her.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Not once?”

  “Nope.”

  “Are you certain?”

  I furrowed my brow. “I think I’d know if I met my own mother.” What the hell was this guy’s problem?

  He finally leaned back in his chair. “That is highly unusual. We are not known for being particularly paternal; however, it is rare that we do not at least introduce ourselves to our offspring.”

  I shrugged, pretending I didn’t care, which Ajax let me get away with. “I was not even aware that I was a demigod until I was fifteen. Until he told me.” I nodded at Ajax.

  “That is when you learned you were fated mates,” Lodon guessed.

  “Yes.”

  “And when did the Italian one come along?”

  “Rafe?” I glanced at Ajax, who nodded. “Fourteen years ago.”

  Lodon sipped his beer and appeared to contemplate us. When there was nothing but dregs in his glass, he abruptly leaned forward, placed it on the table, and said, “That one. The Italian one. He will be the end of you all. If you let him.”

  And then he stood and left.

  Chapter Three

  JUSTICE

  “Would you like some water?” Rafe asked.

  Without waiting for an answer, he strode across the room to a small shelf, lifted a pitcher. and poured clear liquid into a glass before returning and offering it to me.

  His longish dark hair was mussed, his perpetual stubble thicker and scruffier than normal. There were new lines around his eyes that hadn’t been there before the attack. Before I’d been shot.

  He was still dressed in the T-shirt and cargo pants he’d been wearing when it happened. I had no idea whether that had occurred hours or days ago. Considering how healed I was, I assumed it had been days, at least. I tended to heal faster than your average human, but a gunshot wound was a pretty severe injury.

  I accepted Rafe’s peace offering and took a grateful drink. My side twinged only a little when I lifted my arm. Another day and I’d probably feel it only if I tried to do sit-ups or pull-ups, neither of which were on my to-do list.

  At the moment, there was only one thing on that list.

  “So now that they’re gone…” I started, watching him.

  He dropped wearily onto the side of the bed and rested his elbows on his thighs. “I did what I did to save your life.”

  “I get that, and I appreciate it, obviously. But I still don’t understand why this was your first choice.” I waved at the white on white-on-white room. “I never even knew this place existed, and you went straight to ‘take Justice to the land of the gods.’”

  “You knew it existed. You knew your father lived here.”

  “Sure, but I didn’t know where here was. I still don’t. Are we even on Earth?”

  “It’s hard to explain. Basically, we are in a different realm. Like a parallel universal, I guess. You can only get back and forth between the two realms through a portal, and only someone who possesses magic can summon one.”

  “Okay, I can accept that.” I didn’t recall getting here, as I’d been unconscious, but that was good to know so I knew how to get home. Or at least the process required.

  “But?”

  “Why did you involve my father? You know how I feel about him.”

  Rafe shook his head. “I didn’t involve him, not intentionally. I only meant to get you here because I knew a god, a full god, could save you. I didn’t think it through beyond that. When we stepped through the portal, your father was waiting. I don’t know how or why. He was just there.”

  That was something I’d file away to ask my father about later. Although I was in no hurry to see him again, I had no doubt I would get so lucky. “Now, explain why he is so intent on us not formally mating.”

  Rafe’s entire body went rock hard, and not in the I’m-about-to-feel-real-good way.

  “So clearly you know something I don’t. And I’m betting Malcolm and Ajax don’t either,” I said.

  Rafe turned, pulling his leg up onto the bed so that he faced me. “I don’t suppose you’d take ‘it’s complicated’ as an answer?”

  “Nope.”

  He dragged in a breath and let it out slowly, like he was preparing himself for a speech. “Okay, I don’t actually know why your father does not want us to formally mate.”

  “But you have a suspicion,” I guessed.

  “I know that the gods sometimes do not play well together. There is a lot of backstabbing and cheating. They do not have fated mates like we do—”

  “Why not? I mean, we’re half gods, and humans don’t have fated mates, so where’s the concept come from?”

  “It comes from the gods, ironically. When they started slipping over to the human realm and producing children who would eventually become demigods, whoever was in charge at the time decided we were a more suitable species than either gods or humans, and wanted to ensure that we procreated appropriately. So they created the Fates, whose jobs are to assign fated mates to all future demigods.”

  “Wait, Fates? Like, a different being from gods?”

  He shook his head. “They are gods, but their purpose is to assign mates to demigods.”

  “That’s all they do, all day long? Spy on us and try to guess who we will be best matched with?”

  “I don’t think that’s quite how it works. They are very deliberate in their choices.” He looked up and caught my gaze. “They had a reason for deciding we should be together.”

  I swallowed. The intensity in his stare was making me… well, it was getting me all hot and bothered and yet uncomfortable at the same time. Not at all the way I had grown accustomed to feeling around him.

  “So, demigods born before the Fates stepped in—what happens to them? Do they never get to fall in love?” I had meant to ask a question that might cool this strange sensation going
on between us, but all I’d done was ratchet up the intensity.

  “They can still fall in love. But they aren’t fated to be with anyone in particular.”

  “That’s interesting. Okay, back to cheating and backstabbing.”

  A small smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and my heart rate kicked up. This attraction I felt to my three men was like a living, breathing thing that was never going away, and the fact that I’d nearly died had only accentuated it for some reason.

  Or maybe it was because we were here, in the land of the gods. Whatever it was, I suddenly wanted to get laid, explanations be damned.

  “I don’t think my story is your most pressing concern,” Rafe remarked.

  I glanced at his lap. Yep, there was a definite bulge there. He probably wasn’t excited about explaining himself in general, but now that he could tell I was horny, he was most definitely willing to change gears.

  And I was about to let him.

  “Please tell me you have a condom in your pocket,” I said. I needed to start carrying them around myself, just in case. Of course, that would have hardly mattered at the moment, since I was wearing this pale, gauzy toga with no pockets, and my clothes were nowhere to be seen.

  He reached into one of the many pockets in his cargo pants and said, “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  I licked my lips. “Come here. I need you.”

  His eyes flared, but he hesitated. “You’re wounded.”

  I touched my side where the bullet had taken out a chunk of skin and sinew. It was tender but not painful. “You’ll have to do all the work, but I promise to enjoy it.”

  His grin widened. “Oh, I can handle that.”

  He crawled up the bed until I was caged between his arms and his knees, and then he lowered himself to press his lips to mine, but not to lay on me. I twined my arms around his neck, threading my fingers in his hair.

  Pulling away, he trailed kisses down my neck to my chest, tugging at the loose neckline until he could get to one of my breasts, which he greedily sucked into his mouth while I arched and bit my lip to keep from crying out. I had no idea how thick the walls were, but the windows were open, and I wasn’t keen on whoever was outside knowing we were having sex.