Gag.
But her power has warped her over time, making her nearly unrecognizable. Now, she deems everyone who is different from her as sinful and deserving of death. She’s a tyrant through and through.
Oh, and a major fucking bitch.
“If you hurt my brothers…” I trail off, allowing the warning to settle in the air like an invisible, poisonous gas. Instead of looking properly threatened, as she should’ve been, Athena merely laughs, the noise grating on my nerves.
“I missed this verbal sparring.” She pats my cheek condescendingly. “Haven’t you?”
Without another word, she spins on her heel and stalks into the living room, humming softly beneath her breath. Unlike me and Rebecca, she’s dressed in the opulent gowns we always wore when we were in the Realm of the Gods. The silver clings to her figure like a second skin, pushing up her breasts before tapering outwards at her hips. A diamond tiara sits snugly in her mane of blonde hair, the jewel glimmering in the scarce moonlight pouring in through the kitchen window.
“Fuck her,” I hiss, glaring at where she retreated to.
“Athena’s behind this,” Rebecca whimpers, and I turn towards my best friend to see the tears already drying on her face. Nothing but grave determination emanates from her gray eyes as she stares at me.
“Apparently so.”
But how? What happened during those last few days in the Realm of the Gods? How did we end up here with our memories gone? She must’ve received help, but I can’t even begin to comprehend who would be dumb enough to cross me. To be quite honest, I don’t know a lot of gods and goddesses. I have a tendency to avoid other people and stick with those I’m familiar with.
“Did you think…” Rebecca bites down on her lower lip. “Did you think I was involved?” The betrayal oozing from her voice is impossible to miss, and I instantly want to rebuke her claim, promise her that she was never a suspect.
But that would be a lie, and our entire friendship is based on trust.
“I thought you were behind this,” I admit after a moment, nodding my head once. Her expression shatters as if someone had thrown a rock in the serene pools of her eyes, rippling the water. “The fact that you’re dating my brothers? At the exact same time assassins were sent after me? And the fact that my brother had the number of the man who hired said assassins to kill me?” My voice rises in disbelief, and I can’t help but release a cold laugh. “Yeah, I was pretty damn suspicious of you, Beck. Especially when Desmond told me that you kissed him.”
“Wait. Hold on.” Her face has drained of all color, making her brown hair appear almost black in the ribbons of moonlight. “Assassins? Assassins have been after you?” She whips her head from side to side rapidly, almost as if she’s in denial. “That’s fucking insane. And yes, I’m dating your brothers. But I had no idea they were your brothers until last night, when they started talking about you. I only recently got my memories returned, but before that, I thought I was a hairstylist from Brooklyn.” I can clearly see worry etched upon her beautiful face. “And you think I kissed Desmond? Desmond?!?” Her voice rises to a screech as her nose scrunches in disgust. “Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew.”
Indignation flares to life within me, and if I wasn’t contained to the chair, I would slap her. “He wouldn’t lie to me,” I hiss. “He told me that you kissed him and that he didn’t kiss you back.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that he didn’t kiss me back,” a coy voice states from the entryway. A moment later, Rebecca enters the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear. Unlike the Rebecca tied to the chair, this one is wearing a tight black leather dress that accentuates her curves and knee-high boots.
My head whips back and forth from the wide-eyed Rebecca sitting in the chair to the sexy, brazen Rebecca leaning against the doorframe.
“What the fuck is going on?” I demand.
As I watch, a white mist engulfs the sexy Rebecca like fireworks have just been set off. Her features change and contort—her nose becomes longer, her hair turns a sickly color of platinum, and her boobs become fuller. Where Rebecca once stood, is now…
A completely unfamiliar goddess.
“What?” I screech again, twisting my head to see a similar expression of confusion on Rebecca’s face. If this is the main evil villain, I’m gonna be so disappointed. Shouldn’t it be someone who’s always been a part of my life? Maybe the cook who was jealous of me for years? That one girl I accidentally knocked into on my way through the palace halls?
Books don’t usually end with the antagonist being a fucking stranger.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“Just the girl who fucked Desmond,” she purrs, sliding a finger between the valley of her breasts. “Did he not tell you? When he thought I was Rebecca, he fucked me real hard. That man really has a big cock, wouldn’t you say?”
I know that she’s trying to rile me up, and honestly? It might’ve worked before. But this is a new me, a better me, and I simply throw my head back and laugh in her face. Rebecca does as well, and it’s not long before we’re both giggling, tears streaming down our cheeks.
“Do you really expect us to believe,” Rebecca begins around laughter, “that Desmond would lay a finger on me? Fuck you, bitch.”
Irritation briefly flashes across the goddess’s face before she decides to switch tactics. “And Arsin…I didn’t even have to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. All I had to do was strip down, and he was
