Prologue

Abright, bold moon lit up Timiménos, capital city of O?ros, and Dimitri Korba could still hear the far-off sounds of the street parties. It seemed like the whole country was celebrating the recent engagement of the crown prince—and so they should. It was a welcome piece of good news for a royal family, who’d had to endure far too much tragedy this past year.

But deep in the forest that bordered the royal palace, all was still and dark. Any O?rois native knew the trees in this hidden vale could conspire to block out intruding light whenever privacy was required. Tonight was apparently one of those nights. Most likely, a chatter of nymphs had decided to throw a pool party in one of the forest’s enchanted grottos, and guests were decidedly unwelcome.

Dimitri typically made it his policy to avoid the forest when any minor deities of Olympus snuck out to breathe in real, mortal air. He didn’t have anything against nymphs, of course. They, like he, were consecrated to Zeus, which automatically elevated them in his opinion. Unlike him, they were also generally content to stay well within the borders of O?ros, frequenting only the specially consecrated grounds of the country’s forested, remote countryside.

There were several such spaces within the country of O?ros, designated earthbound playgrounds for when the minor gods tired of Olympus. Which was often.

Dimitri couldn”t blame them for that, either. From everything he’d heard, Olympus was filled with way too much drama. If the nymphs had sought out a quiet retreat to let their hair down and laugh with their sisters, they undoubtedly needed it.

Tonight, however, the wind had carried a terrified cry to his ears as he’d stood on the back balcony of the royal palace, and he hadn”t hesitated. He”d dropped over the wall to the manicured lawn and taken off at a run. Within moments, he’d entered the forest, senses prickling with apprehension. Nymphs didn’t cry out. They never needed to, especially in the modern era when they were no longer hunted by humans or gods for entertainment. These days, they enjoyed both Earth and Olympus freely and joyfully, never having to cower in fear.

But the cry he’d heard had definitely been one of fear.

He crept closer, noting that there was no sound of birds or wild creatures in the trees. That also wasn”t right. When the nymphs came to play, all of creation played with them. He also couldn”t hear any splashing and laughter that should have been coming from the nearest pool. Someone or something had chased most of the nymphs into hiding, perhaps all the way back to Olympus. All except the one whose cry was close and real.

“No!”

This time, the word was a little more than a gasp. Dimitri froze for half a beat, then pivoted slowly forty-five degrees to the north, his sharp gaze piercing the darkened forest. He set off again, treading softer now, lighter, using the skills that he’d learned in the O?ros National Security Force, as well as through all his years of active combat duty serving crown, country, and occasionally, god. Zeus was the patron of all nymphs, regardless of their parentage. Dimitri could do no less than ensure their safety.

As he drew closer, a new sound broke through the stillness. Muffled sobbing. Then another harsher, darker, more guttural voice murmured, “Yes.”

A male, but not a man, Dimitri knew immediately. First, no mortal would dare trespass into the royal forest, not if they valued their life. Secondly, the gods of Olympus didn’t speak quite the same as humans. Their voices contained a resonance, a strange timbre that jolted mortal bones, as readily identifiable as fingerprints.

It wasn’t a major god who’d trapped the nymph, he didn”t think. They constrained their activities to where no one could stop them. For a minor deity though, the playgrounds of Earth gave them more freedom to be assholes.

Not tonight, though.

The nymph cried out again, more urgently, the sound cut off as if her mouth had been quickly and brutally covered. Dimitri moved forward, unerringly homing in on the location of the sound. Within only a few moments he was right up on the couple, their fervent whispers echoing over the surface of one of the Pools of Timelessness that linked Olympus and O?ros.

Then he heard a sound that stopped him short. The hiss of snakes.

His brows shot up. Snakes meant Typhon, one of the biggest assholes of the Greek pantheon, but Dimitri didn”t think the monster god was stupid enough to breach the gates of Olympus. It was one thing for his minions to slink out and attempt to wreak havoc in the world, but not a primary god, or as primary as that slithering eel could ever be after Zeus dropped a mountain on him back in the good old days.

Then again… there’d been some talk of Typhon stirring up mortals of late, sneaking into their dreams in Morpheus’s shadow, whispering tales of riches and power. If this minor asshole deity was in service to the monster god, it’d be interesting to capture and interrogate him. The gods might be getting twitchy, especially with O?ros attracting international attention with the royal engagement. Perhaps, Dimitri thought, he should watch, wait, and make his move after the two minor deities split up.

“Please… no.” The broken, desperate cry of the nymph settled it for him.

He crashed through the remaining trees, surging out into a surprisingly bright grotto, the pool beyond gleaming with the light of the full moon. In one smooth motion, he leaned down, scooped up both deities, and vaulted with them into the deep water of the pool—the nymph’s natural habitat and usually a source of strength for her kind.

True to form, the moment she hit the pool, the nymph somersaulted away. She transformed into a streak of light as she shot deeper into the pool, back to where the water disappeared into a heavily shadowed cave. Dimitri’s focus on her safety nearly was his undoing, though, as he turned back just in time to duck beneath a punch from the monstrous creature that rose up from the surface of the water. The minor god roared and dove for him, but Dimitri flipped backward and kicked away toward the edge of the pool, his powerful legs driving him out of reach. He hauled himself out of the water as a crack of lightning split the night sky far above, and whirled back to get a good look at his adversary

“You dare!” The first impression Dimitri got of the guy was snakes—lots of snakes, streaming out from his head like he was some drag queen Medusa, writhing off his shoulders and down his legs. All of them hissed and snapped, venom dripping from their teeth, as their keeper staggered out of the water. “You have no authority here.”

“Go home, wormboy.” Dimitri squared himself even with the minor god, balancing on his toes. “And don’t let me catch you pulling that shit again. Things have changed, and you know it. Even in Olympus, no means no.”

“You’re nothing but a rejected changeling. When the true power of the gods rises, you’ll regret ever attempting to control us—any of us.”

“I’m sure I will.” Once again, Dimitri knew he should trap the god, use him. Something about the smug, shifty-eyed creep dripping in snakes hit him the wrong way, setting aside the stench of rot that wafted off him. “In the meantime, keep your slimy hands off Zeus’s daughters. Go fuck some pond scum if you’re feeling lonely.”

The god’s snakes hissed wildly as he bristled, his meaty fists balling up. “I should kill you right now.”

Dimitri grinned. “Try it and die. And sure, you’ll just wake up in the underworld, but even Hades knows dogshit when he sees it. I’m thinking you won’t be getting out to see the sunlight for oh, another thousand years, but go ahead. Take your best shot.”

The monster god roared in outrage just as Dimitri’s pocket vibrated with a quick, staccato urgency. Shit. A text from Prince Kristos. No other communications could override his phone’s automatic notifications freeze when he was getting his demigod on.

Still, he had a few minutes. “Here we go, wormboy.”

Dimitri bolted forward, fists clenched, arms pumping. Another bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky, and Dimitri roared with wild, ecstatic joy. He was made for battle, he was made for storms. He was made to kick this asshole straight onto Hades’ trash heap.

If he struck the monster god before the asshole poofed, it meant the deity consented to do battle, which further meant he was free game. But the minor god’s eyes widened with legit terror as Dimitri pounded toward him, and Dimitri knew it was because he’d guessed right: wormboy had undoubtedly pissed off the god of the underworld at some point in the last three thousand years, and Hades wasn’t great at forgetting. If he could just—get—to him?—

Dimitri lunged the last few feet, arms outstretched?—

And soared into open space. He tucked and rolled, well used to chasing the gods back to Olympus. He came up to his feet again just a few feet shy of the water’s edge. Wormboy was nowhere to be seen.

Dimitri’s phone buzzed again.

“I hear you,” he muttered, pulling the waterproof unit free from his pants. He stared down at the screen and scowled.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” The entitled blonde ice princess hadn’t been back in O?ros for five hours, and already she was causing problems? This night was getting better and better. Still, he punched back a quick response.

He’d find Lauren Grant and get her back to the castle, then head to his office and do some research on the current crop of Typhon fanatics worldwide. If wormboy’s little dig meant there was a bunch of the monster god’s fanboys about to stage a convention, the Crown needed to know about it. More likely, though, it was empty threats from an idiot with snakes for brains.

He turned away from the pool when a splash caught his attention. He glanced up, then shook his head with a smile.

Two dozen nymphs now floated at the far end of the pool, their collective glow rising at his attention, lighting them up like Disney fairies. “Thank you…” Their whispers flowed across the pool toward him, though they were too timid to come closer.

“Yeah, yeah.” He lifted his hand, waving them back to their party. He didn’t have to warn them to be more careful next time. The nymphs also didn’t forget, and were smart enough not to make the same mistake twice.

The blonde he was about to go babysit was another story.

Shaking his head, Dimitri set out again toward the bright lights and music of the city.