Chapter 3

As I walked awayfrom the monster god, I added an extra wiggle to my step.

"What do you think, Jinx?" I murmured. "Is he staring at my ass?"

My dog glanced behind. "Yip."

He totally was.

I smirked. Vain? Totally. What woman wouldn't want to be admired by a god, even one lacking his gifts? A god who wanted me to help him.

"He wants me to go traipsing in some alternate dimensions. How crazy is that?" I muttered to my pet.

"Bark."

"Yeah, it does sound exciting. And the thought of more power…." Enough to be immortal… I wouldn't deny being tempted. "Think he's the type to double cross?"

"Grr."

"No, he doesn't seem like it. But then again, dude's gotta be a little crazy after being locked away by his lonesome for so long."

At least he'd kept fit while in prison. The man looked fine. More than fine. I had to wonder why he'd been hiding his face before. I'd never seen him without the hood. There had been some debate among me and my sisters as to what hid under that robe of his. We'd assumed horrible disfigurement or non-human body parts. Thus far, everything I'd seen looked scrumptious. It didn't hurt I'd always had a thing for gentleman types in suits.

Back at my apartment, I wiped off Jinx's little paws before giving her some treats. "Who's my good girl?" I cooed.

Spin. Spin. "Bark. Bark." She then proceeded to run to the shag, squat, and pee.

Goddammit!

I cast a spell of odor repelling and chided my dog. "Bad girl."

Jinx turned the biggest, most apologetic eyes on me.

"It's okay. I know you're a good girl. Who's my baby?" I held out my arms. Jinx came sprinting into them, a wiggly fur ball of love. And to think my sisters called her demon dog.

So maybe she didn't like many people. Actually, no one but me. With me, she could be the most loveable little furball ever! How could I think of leaving Jinx to go hunting after a psycho, power-stealing twat? But what if not dealing with it now caused problems down the road?

I glanced at the clock. Almost four, which made it about ten my sister's time. Still early enough to call.

The connection rang and rang before it went to voicemail, where Frieda said, "I'm busy, Dina. It can wait until the morning. Do not leave a message at the beep."

Beep.

"So Typhon paid me a visit and wants me to go dimension hopping, looking for Ariadne. He wants his power back and demands I help him. Have to admit, kind of intrigued. Who knows, maybe I'll find Mom."

My mom, a.k.a. the goddess of betrayal, Apate, a.k.a. the big, fat liar. Turns out my mother played a part in Ariadne stealing from Typhon. The goddess of betrayal answered Ariadne's prayer to betray her husband, Bacchus. Apate gave Ariadne some magical tools to get even with Bacchus, whom she claimed was going to set her aside for a mistress.

Rather than use the magic-controlling collar on her husband, Ariadne ended up snaring Typhon, a much more powerful god. And he wasn't the only one. Ariadne must have found more of the collars and armbands, seeing as how she'd enslaved two other deities for their power.

Obviously not what Apate had planned when she'd answered the prayer.

It took Mom centuries to plot her revenge. It involved giving birth to triplets, and then—via a special ceremony on our sixteenth—bless us in the monster god's name. All stuff we didn't find out until recently.

We had so many questions. However, the answers were lost when Mom got tossed through an interdimensional door. I might have worried more, but Bacchus, Ariadne's very unhappy husband, jumped in after her. Given they used to date, I assumed they'd take care of each other and get back if they could.

Enyo had suggested we go hunting for Mom. I was more than willing to try to open a portal to another world, but Frieda had shaken her head. "Waste of time. Whether you go or not, she'll end up coming back. Eventually."

I remember blinking at my sister. "Since when can you read Mom's future?" It had always been a pet peeve of hers that she couldn't see it.

Frieda had a secretive smile as she'd said, "I can do a lot of things now."

But apparently answering the phone wasn't one of them. Despite leaving a message, and texting, she didn't return my call.

I waited. Watched some television. Magically ran a dusting rag over my shelves then made a wet mop dance on the floor Fantasia style. Around six, I made myself dinner. More boob tube, still no call back. At eight o'clock, out of boredom, I went to bed. After all, morning for Frieda happened early my time. She couldn't avoid me forever.

The moment I fell asleep, I dreamed I was back in Ariadne's throne room in the castle she'd built—or stolen—high atop some mountain. In the seat of her power, we'd confronted her—my mom, me, my sisters, and their boyfriends. Even Typhon showed up, looking like the Grim Reaper with his wisping robe. The fight hadn't been all that great since Ariadne kept using an ability she'd stolen to lock up our magic. Frieda evened the odds by figuring out how to remove the armband giving Ariadne that specific power. At that point, the tide shifted, and the bitch chickened out by jumping into a portal.

After, I'd asked Frieda if we'd ever see Ariadne again, and she'd been evasive. Her reply of, "Depends," was as much as she'd say. Depends on what? Given Typhon's request today, I had a feeling I knew who it depended on and so did Frieda. I hadn't forgotten she'd tried to keep me from running into him.

Thinking of my sister conjured her in my dream. She appeared by the dais, looking pensive.

I shook a finger and chided, "You better not be dream-walking inside my head."

Frieda had gone from being the most fragile of us sisters to wielding some seriously cool powers, such as being able to leave her body and travel the astral plane.

"Afraid I'll see something?" she taunted.

"Do you really want to know what I do with my vibrator?"

"Ew, really, Dina!" Frieda exclaimed.

"Masturbation is healthy," I said with the kind of toothy smile that I knew drove her nuts.

"I wouldn't know since my husband takes care of my needs daily," was her sly rejoinder.

I'll admit my jaw dropped. She never used to have comebacks. "Touché, dear sister. Now, care to tell me why you and I are here in this wretched place?"

"I thought you wanted to talk." Frieda glanced at me, looking more relaxed than I recalled. She'd not only finally figured out how to control her abilities, she'd also fallen in love. It looked good on her.

"I wanted to talk on the phone, not here." I waved a hand.

"I work in the morning, so why not now? This is about Typhon, right?"

"You knew I was going to run into him."

"I told you to stay inside."

"Well, I didn't. He wants me to help him find Ariadne," I told her, despite the fact she most likely already knew.

"And you said no." Stated, not asked.

"I said I'd think about it."

Frieda gaped at me. "What's there to think about?"

"He offered me immortality."

Frieda stared without blinking for a moment. "Okay, I can see why you'd be tempted. But still, we're talking about Ariadne with the power of a god at her fingertips."

"Which we dealt with already. And at the time, she technically had the power of three gods." But Frieda had managed to fry off two of her controlling bands, leaving only Typhon's.

"She won't be taken unaware again."

"You speak as if you know. I thought you couldn't see outside this world?" I accused.

"I only see the parts that happen here."

Which is when it hit me. "You do see some futures where she returns."

"Yes, but I'm working on severing their paths." She waved a hand as she said the kookiest thing.

"I take it it's bad when she returns."

My sister struggled to not reply before sighing. "Yes. But that doesn't mean you need to confront her."

In other words, I did. Frieda would only be trying this hard if she saw a rough path ahead. One where I died. Not the optimal outcome, but neither was Ariadne returning.

"Do you know where Ariadne is?" I asked.

Freida shook her head. "I haven't seen anything."

"How long before she comes back?"

Frieda shrugged. "Nothing I've seen gives me a date."

"What about me? Let's say I were to go looking for her…" I trailed off, and Frieda grimaced.

"If you go with him, you won't come back the same."

"Well, I will be immortal if I win. I'd better make sure I'm looking my best in case I'm stuck in whatever look I'm wearing." Eyebrows, a facial, and a nice haircut. Better hit a few spin classes too.

Frieda shook her head. "I wouldn't want to be immortal. It's a long time."

"Which is exactly the point." The things I could do and discover…

"That will depend on the future you choose," was Frieda's low rebuke.

"Lay it on me. How do I die?" Best start avoiding it now.

"There are some paths where you leave this dimension and I don't see you coming back."

"But you can't be sure I'm dead. I could just be stuck."

Her lips flattened. "In the ones where you do return, you're different."

"Different how? Am I injured? Old?"

"It's difficult to explain."

I rolled my eyes. "Way to make it more dramatic. How about you answer me this… in the futures where I return, is it because I defeated her?"

She offered a single nod but didn't look happy about it.

"That's good news. Why do you seem all bent out of shape?"

"Because you're different. And it's not a good thing." She bit her lower lip before whispering, "You're essentially an evil sorceress who brings about the apocalypse."

Well damn. I stared at her then smiled. "And you're sure of that, or is it just an interpretation? Because let's be honest, given how I like to shop and travel, I would need a damned good reason to end the world."

"The visions haven't been long enough to explain why you do it, only that you're very powerful and angry, so very angry. You're, like, floating, all super mutant in the sky with lightning flashing out from you, and there's destruction all around, but you don't care."

"Maybe next time you get that vision take a look around for some enemies. Could be I go bad-ass superhero taking out a threat. No way am I destroying the world because then there would be no designer purses, no crazy expensive shoes, no fancy restaurants." Just a few of my favorite things.

"This isn't funny, Dina. I am seriously worried."

"You're always worried, French fry." My sister had literally cried wolf so many times in my life and Enyo's that we no longer listened when she screamed catastrophe if we didn't follow her instructions.

"Don't make me kill you for being a psycho evil sorceress intent on destroying the world," she sobbed.

"Wait, have you actually seen that happening?"

"No." She sniffled. "But who else could get close enough to end your reign of terror?"

I blinked at my sister. "You are fucking with me."

Frieda's tears suddenly dried up. "No. I do see you going nuts, but at the same time, the Ariadne futures aren't any better, which means I'd rather take my chances with you. Maybe you are meting out mega destruction to do good."

"Way to sound convinced," was my dry reply.

"I know you. I've seen you on the rag. Now add god powers? You could be capable of erasing men if one so much as looked at you sideways."

"Would not."

She arched a brow.

I conceded. I would.

"Well, you have a bit of time before you need to worry," I said. "I don't have anything in my wardrobe that I'd be willing to be seen in on social media. The right look is needed, or I could end up with a horrendous villain name."

"It's like you want to be killed," Frieda wailed.

"Love you too, French fry." I hugged my dream-walking sister, and it felt real down to the snot wetting the shoulder of my shirt.

Ew.

She gave it one last wipe before mumbling, "Something's wrong."

"What is it?"

"Wake up. Wake up. NOW!" she yelled.

I sat bolt upright in my bed to hear Jinx growling, probably because everything was shaking!