Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“Feel free to enjoy it, lovely,” Arick’s voice reached out to us, sounding a bit more like his usual self.
“Arick, man, where the hell are you?”
Then, out of a cloud of swirling gray smoke, he appeared, making Nox gasp and move backward.
Whether that was from the magic itself or the man who’d created it was a toss-up.
Arick definitely was a surprising man. He was almost freakishly tall at about six foot seven, with a long, fit, thin body. While he was typically shirtless with his nipple piercings on display, he stood there just outside of his den in black jeans and a rumpled black tee.
His long black hair hung around his chiseled face; his strange, bright, grass-green eyes were on me at first but quickly moved toward Nox.
“A demigod,” he said, making my spine straighten. “How did you get in here?”
“What?” I asked. “I brought her in. She nearly got killed by a bolt of lightning on the doorstep.”
Arick’s chest expanded as he took a deep breath. On his arms, his tattoos started to pulse—a sure sign of temper. They moved ever so slightly at all times, so subtly that most people wouldn’t even notice. Depending on his mood, they might pulse, twirl, twist, undulate, or shimmer.
“That’s rude, old man,” Arick said, staring up at his ceiling, but clearly speaking beyond it. “Killing guests is uncalled for.”
“Arick…” I said, watching him closely. “You on something?” I asked. “Get your hands on some bad hallucinogenics?”
That was the main reason Arick was happy to have the demons at his parties. We brought the party drugs. That was the work Ace had settled on years back, bringing in a shit ton of money for the club, allowing the demons to live in relative luxury.
And while Arick did love the ‘shrooms and Molly—or whatever else we could get our hands on to bring to him—he never seemed to get truly fucked up off of them, no matter how much he took.
That said, we brought him the good shit. With the club busy with the whole ‘old gods’ thing, maybe he’d needed to branch out to less reputable dealers who gave him some bad stuff.
“I wish,” Arick said, sighing.
“Who are you talking to, then?” I asked.
“Zeus,” Nox said, making both of our gazes slide to her.
“Very good,” he said, nodding. “If you could put in a word with your mother to get him off my ass, you are invited to all my parties.”
“I, um, I don’t know, you know, my mother.”
“Pity. Word is Zeus actually listens to her. Imagine that, the one beautiful woman you can’t fuck,” he raged at the ceiling.
Lightning crashed around the house.
“Nice try,” he called.
“Arick, the fuck is going on?”
“The… gods,” he said, waving a hand out.
“They’re trying to kill you?”
“They’re trying to capture me,” Arick corrected. “They’ve always enjoyed their playthings.”
“You must be very powerful,” Nox said, watching Arick in an almost clinical way. “For Zeus to expel so much energy to taunt you.”
“Well, one must account for their egos,” Arick said with a shrug. “They do hate to lose.”
“He is powerful,” I told Nox. “Word is, the most powerful warlock around.”
“But magic has its price,” Arick said, watching Nox a bit too intensely. “Something it seems you’ve learned. Please, rest,” he said, waving toward the den. “We could use to catch up.”
She’d napped the whole ride, but she looked longingly at the den.
“Go ahead,” I encouraged.
Nox didn’t even hesitate. She moved onto the floor of beds, pulled the blankets over her, and closed her eyes.
She missed it, but as her eyes slid closed, Arick’s finger waved in the air, and then she was out cold.
“What’d you do to her?”
“Let her rest more deeply,” Arick said. “She’s going to collapse if she doesn’t get enough rest.”
“Do you know how to fix… whatever is wrong with her?”
“Is that why you’ve come to see me?” he asked, walking out of the kitchen and into his living room, finding the liquor, and pouring two glasses.
“No, but now that I’m here, I’m curious if you have answers.”
“I know about magic in general, but not how it applies to immortals,” he admitted, throwing back his whole glass, then pouring another. “Why are you here then?”
“Nox’s siblings.”
Arick’s green eyes flicked to my torn, bloody clothing.
“They’re delightful, I’ve heard.”
“Yeah, real pleasant company. Nox came across them torturing and killing humans. And she concluded that they weren’t being kept… in balance.”
“In balance, how?”
“By their sister.”
“Ah, Nemesis and her scales.”
“Yeah. Anyway, she suspected that their other siblings had… done something to Nemesis.”
“Ah, and have they?”
“Yes. We found her in a cave.”
“Locked up with magic somehow.”
“Yes. She was in this glass tank full of blue gel. And the glass itself sent me flying across the room. Would’ve killed anyone else.”
“Hm,” Arick said, thinking. “Where’s the witch? Or warlock?”
“What?”
“Gods have their own powers. But they don’t typically work the Craft. They have a witch or warlock working for them. A reasonably powerful one, to be able to trap a god. Find the witch or warlock, you find out how they did it. And how to undo it.”