Chapter 4

An earthquake?I didn't live in a place that had a fault line and, until now, had never felt a single tremor.

I rolled out of bed as everything shook. Given the way the building trembled, I needed to get outside, but I doubted I'd have time to get changed out of my silky tank and shorts. So be it. I usually wore less at the beach.

I snared my dog and grabbed a robe off a hook as I drunkenly walked to the door of my apartment. This quake seemed unnaturally long. Didn't they last mere seconds usually?

Before I could put my hand on the doorknob, the floor heaved hard enough I lost my balance, hitting my ass and sliding.

Oomph.The sudden slam into a wall knocked the breath from me, and my dog yelped.

"Sorry." I tried to shove to my feet, but the unnatural tilt of the building made it impossible. It didn't help that the building still shivered ominously. Things creaked that shouldn't creak. Electrical popped, spitting sparks. Fire seemed unlikely, given water also sprayed from my kitchen, which didn't make the slippery situation any better. Not to mention, being electrocuted didn't sound like much fun.

I had to get out of here. The door I'd been heading for would lead me to the stairs, but did I want to be enclosed in a stairwell if the whole thing collapsed? The window made sense, and before anyone wondered, I didn't have to worry about gravity because, hello, I was a witch.

"Time to float." The magic enveloped me and my dog, lifting us in a bubble. I used that moment to slip on my robe before snaring my dog close. As I headed for the window, my purse— hanging on a hook by the front door—and a pair of shoes floated after us.

With a wave of my hand, the glass in the window shattered before I neared. Another flick of my fingers and all the shards cleared the frame. Before I drifted past it, I exerted even more of my magic, creating an invisibility shield against anyone watching, a difficult thing to maintain while moving. However, given today's prevalence of cameras, better to be safe rather than end up some eternal meme. At least I wore underwear, so if someone did peek up my robe, my bits were covered.

A good thing I'd taken precautions because there was already a crowd. People noticed the leaning structure, and the dumbasses came gawking. Like, did they not see it would fall any moment?

I gritted my teeth as I floated down, hoping my dog wouldn't start barking. She hated being stared at. She behaved, and yet I didn't completely escape notice. A few people thought they saw something by the way they pointed. Their keen interest would make it hard to drop my shield. I needed a distraction. One arrived in the form of the building shuddering and making ominous creaking noises.

People finally decided it might be a good idea to get out from under its shadow. I joined the tail end of the crowd, shoes on my feet, purse over my shoulder, dog tucked under my arm. I snuck behind a big dude before dropping my shield. He'd block anyone filming in this direction.

When my apartment building collapsed, the impact rumbled the ground and a wave of dust exploded. Since I didn't plan to choke to death, I flung up a new barrier as wide as I could to mitigate the worst of it.

There was much coughing, although not by those nearest me. Given I'd cleared the danger zone, I turned to look behind and couldn't help but gape. My home was gone. Only a pile of rubble remained.

All my shoes. Purses. That gorgeous designer dress I'd paid a fortune for. Every single memory I'd collected.

Before I could curse the earthquake that caused the destruction, I noticed movement at the base of my building. Odd since I was the only one home at the time.

I paused to stare at the ruined basement, where a water pipe sprayed into the air, which, in turn, caused the dust to turn heavy and settle. Maybe I'd imagined seeing something.

My dog growled, her little body vibrating in my grip as a monster, the size of a large dog and the likes of which I'd never seen or heard of clambered over the edge of the gaping hole. Part insect, part who the fuck knew. Might have been an alien. And it didn't come alone.

More of the alien bugs poked conical heads over the ruined concrete basement, their spear-tipped limbs climbing with ease over the destruction. The first one to clear the edge and get me in its view raised a pincer-tipped arm and chittered in my direction.

Yes mine. And, no, I wasn't being vain. My building had just been taken down, and monsters had appeared in the basement. It seemed safe to assume they'd come for me or my sisters.

The alien bug was joined by its friends, and they proceeded to make some god-awful noise as they rubbed their spear-tipped limbs together before charging.

I wasn't the only one who spotted them. No surprise, the invasion of oversized bugs led to people screaming. Loudly. Between that and the crash of my home, I wasn't sure if my ears would ever recover.

As folks ran—and gave me some space—I set my dog down, tightened the sash on my robe, and took in a breath to growl, "You fuckers wiped out decades of fashion collecting. Prepare to die."

As the leader came skittering for me, I pointed my hand and, with very little effort, blasted it to pieces. It exploded in a spray of chunks and yellowish-green ichor. The chunks hit the ground and stopped moving. They didn't reconstitute. Good.

I flung both my hands toward the rest of the bugs.

Splat. Splat.

I totally had this. Jinx cheered me on, barking as she ran back and forth by my feet.

The half-dozen bugs that had climbed from my basement and thought they could get me died, and I smiled. A smile that lasted until the ground shook.

I braced myself, and my dog froze at my feet. From the hole, something big began pushing through. A huge conical head, and I mean massive.

My mouth rounded as I breathed, "What the fuck is that?"

"Vermonstra." Typhon suddenly spoke from beside me. "Or in simple terms, monster worm."

I cast him a glare. "You destroyed my home!"

"This isn't my fault," he stated, his gaze intent on the monster still heaving itself from the hole.

"Then whose fault is it a monster took out my home, oh monster god?" I snapped.

"Yours."

"Mine?" I yelled as the sinuous body stopped rising and the head began swaying side to side as if seeking something.

"Yes, yours. Ariadne might be gone from this world, but her influence remains. She's sending her minions after you."

"Me?" I squeaked as the head turned in my direction, eyeless, and yet I knew it saw me.

"You are a threat. Therefore, she wants to eliminate you."

As he spoke, the worm slammed down. Only I had already moved, not needing Typhon's hand on my arm to tug me out of harm's way. Luckily Jinx knew when to scamper and barked from a distance.

While the mega worm was down, I flung magic on it, only to have it shatter against its thick skin.

The body took its time rising and once more wavering in the air as it sought me out again. I noticed as I moved it shifted to keep track of me.

"It has no eyes. How does it know where I am?" I asked.

"Magic. Specifically, anyone with my magic," Typhon said as the worm once more tried to smash me.

I floated myself out of reach before snapping, "That can't be right. You're the original god. You still have some magic. Why isn't it going after you?"

"Because I'm not the one leaking all over the place."

Wait, I was leaking? Gross. "How do I stop it?"

"By not letting it seep."

Because that explained how. I shot him a dirty look a second before I snatched my dog and flung myself sideways, using my magic to float me into a soft landing. The slamming vermonstra head cracked the pavement.

It didn't seem keen on leaving its hole, but would it follow me if I left?

I began to retreat, Jinx tucked against me, my gaze fixed on the worm that rose higher than before. High enough that its next slam brought it within feet of my position.

How much more of the worm was still underground? And if it slithered free, how fast would it be?

I needed to stop this.

"Any suggestions?" I yelled at Typhon.

"You could try killing it."

"How?" I asked. "I tried magic, but it can't penetrate."

"I've heard that being swallowed and exploding it from the inside is effective. But I don't suggest that, given the stomach acid might digest you before you can escape its guts."

"There must be another way."

"I don't suppose you have any explosives?"

I glared at him.

He shrugged. "You asked for ideas."

"How about something that won't get me killed?"

"If you wish for it to leave you alone, shut off your magic so it can't see you."

"Magic doesn't turn off."

"Says someone who's never tried," he scoffed.

Why would I? From the moment I'd found my power, I'd been cultivating it. Practicing it to its limits, pushing to try and get stronger. Now I could do insane things. Blow up giant insects, open portals, throw lightning.

The vermonstra swiveled, passed right over Typhon, and saw me again.

Saw my magic.

Dammit, Typhon spoke the truth. My inability to mask my power was why it kept coming for me. Just like how those monsters used to go for Frieda when she was leaking her magic all the time.

Shut it off. Easier said than done. I'd never tried to cram it into a box. But I did now. Wedged it into a tiny space and felt naked without it. The vermonstra paused, then swiveled left, right. It kept whipping back and forth, seeking and not finding. Well, damn. It worked.

"We should probably relocate," Typhon stated as he neared me while the confused worm kept scenting the air.

"Shouldn't we do something about the monster? There are people in this neighborhood."

"Some of whom appear to be returning with guns," he pointed out, drawing my gaze to a guy dressed in construction oranges with a rifle in hand. "I also hear sirens, which most likely means police and more weapons. Do you really want to be here when everyone starts firing at the vermonstra?"

I winced. The panic would be real.

Suddenly my dog wiggled, and I lost my grip. She hit the ground without stumbling, taking off on her short little legs for a stray bug thing crawling from the hole, which somehow found a space to get past the girth of the vermonstra.

My dog went right for it.

"Baby, no!"

The alien bug spat goo on my dog, putting her to sleep. Or so I hoped. Jinx fell over but still seemed to be breathing.

"You fucker! No one messes with my baby!" I blasted the monster to bits.

Yes, I used magic, and too late remembered the monster above.

A glance showed the vermonstra rigid and again looking right at me.

I could have hidden my magic and dove to the side, but amidst that gooey mayhem, my dog woke. She wavered on groggy legs and uttered little yips.

I flung a fist of magic to grab my pet, even as my other hand shot upwards, hoping I could shove a fist of power into the monster and knock it aside.

It failed, and I saw death come slamming for me.

In that jaw-clenching, heart-stopping moment, I heard a word. Not one I understood, but I felt it reverberating through my body and soul.

A word of power.

The last syllable hung in the air, and the world paused.

I opened my eyes to see the vermonstra had halted its attack. Floating before its massive face, once more in his cloak, was Typhon with his arms outstretched.

"Begone." Typhon spoke normally, and yet the vermonstra obeyed. It retreated back into the hole it dug, but that didn't bring back my precious apartment.

Typhon floated to the ground and staggered.

I grabbed his arm to steady him, feeling the thickness of his biceps through the strange slippery nature of his cloak. "How did you do that? I thought Ariadne took your god monster powers."

"She did. And that attempt by me to use them wasn't a good idea," he muttered before slumping at my feet.

I glanced at him then my dog, who cocked her head at me. "You know, I am tempted to leave him here." But he had answers, and he had just saved me and Jinx from the worm.

"How hard do you think it will be to get him into a hotel room like this?"

Not hard at all, as it turned out. I prepaid the room online, got my virtual key, and floated his ass right onto the bed.

A king-sized bed, but from the way he reacted when he woke up… Well, let's just say it became pretty apparent he'd not slept with anyone in a while.

And I couldn't help but be a brat about it.