Chapter 6

Good thingmy sister hadn't barged in on me two seconds earlier in the shower while I relived the embarrassingly good orgasm I'd had from grinding against Ty. A grown-ass woman shouldn't get off dry humping, and yet I'd leaned against that shower wall, my legs wobbly, because damn. Who knew an interrogation could be so intense?

Then Enyo, with no boundaries whatsoever, interrupted my shower.

"Dina! What the fuck? You okay? Why didn't you call? I am going to fuck up that worm!"

I popped my head around the curtain to see Enyo standing in the steamy bathroom. "I'm fine. How the fuck did you find me?"

Enyo rolled her eyes. "Please. If you wanted to hide, don't use your credit card."

Point taken. "I assume you heard what happened to the apartment building."

"Don't you mean saw? It's all over the internet. Videos of our place falling over and then some bug people attacking, followed by a giant fucking worm trying to turn you into pink paste."

I winced. "Fuck me, I was worried about that."

"Duuuude." She drew out the word. "There's a shit-ton of videos, and some are bad. Like the ones of you pointing your fingers and splatting the bugs. And then there was Reaper"—the name we used to call Typhon when we didn't know his identity—"floating in the sky, giving the worm the stink eye. The amount of speculation going on now is insane. Some people are saying it was a stunt for a movie."

"Pretty elaborate stunt," I muttered, turning off the shower and grabbing a towel.

"The theories are crazy. I even heard someone tied it to climate change, saying it's affecting the earth's core and waking up things that have long been sleeping."

At that, I snorted. "For fuck's sake. Not everything has to do with the latest social media frenzy." I had to wonder what would come after the climate thing died down.

"Anyhow, you might want to lie low for a bit because chances are the wrong people saw what happened."

"The government can't hold me." I'd played with handcuffs and various cells just to make sure.

"Not talking about the feds. The Arcane League isn't happy, according to John." John being my sister Frieda's new husband and the League being the magical police.

"How can I be in trouble? The worm and those giant bugs came after me. I was simply defending myself."

"With magic. In public. Big no-no," she reminded me unnecessarily.

I rolled my eyes. "Too fucking bad. I wasn't dying to preserve the arcane secret. We all know it's only a matter of time before it all blows up anyhow."

"I think that time is now. I swear, since Ariadne left, the news has had daily reports of unexplained phenomena. It's like without someone to keep them in line, the monsters are coming out of the woods, bogs, and ground. It's going to be great for business." Enyo grinned. My mercenary sister loved a good fight.

"Does Frieda know to watch for monsters?" I used to worry a lot about her wellbeing when she was a recluse. Now, she might be the scariest of us three.

For some reason Enyo found that exceedingly funny given her laughter. "I swear they're scared of her."

They should be. My sister had found a way to sever living things from having a future. Instant death. I was only a little jealous. My methods tended to be messier.

Speaking of messy… "You don't think Bane killed my dog, do you?" Because Jinx had gone from psychotic to quiet. Usually only I could calm her.

"He might have if he got hungry." Enyo shrugged.

My baby!

With a towel tucked around my boobs, I emerged from the bathroom, ready to freak, only to find my dog in the monster god's arms, looking quite content. A surprise. No one was usually allowed to touch her other than me.

Which led to me covering my sudden exit by announcing my sister would be joining us on our quest.

"So I hear," Typhon murmured without meeting my gaze.

Hmm. Was someone feeling shy after our little interlude? He shouldn't. I planned to maul him again, more thoroughly next time.

Given the room had too many people standing around, I took charge. "We'll need travel packs, given we can't be sure what to expect where we're going. Clothing, medical supplies, food. We should include some form of currency." I glanced at Typhon. "Gold, silver? What works best?"

"Depends on the dimension. Although I should mention any items unique to this world would be accepted when bargaining."

"So knickknacks, snacks, books?"

At his nod, Enyo declared, "On it. Bane and I will also load up on weapons and ammo just in case we end up in a situation where magic doesn't work."

"Be sure to load up on grenades," I suggested, remembering the worm. "Oh, and don't forget knives, too, in case it's like the cavern where combustion didn't work." A reminder that we'd come across a place once before where guns wouldn't fire.

As the pair left, I eyed Typhon, who chose to ignore me in favor of petting my dog. Unacceptable. I dropped my towel and walked toward the phone on the nightstand, intentionally crossing his line of sight.

"Do you need me to order you a wardrobe?" I asked coyly over my bare shoulder.

To those wondering, yes, he stared. He also had a fantastic hard-on.

"I'm fine," he managed to mutter through gritted teeth.

"You sure? You don't look fine."

"The dog needs air. We're going outside," he barked before he fled the room.

I couldn't help but smirk. Nice to know I could affect a god.

While he escaped and tried to get his erection under control, I called the front desk and ordered room service. Then it was to my cell phone where a few special orders were placed. A good thing I knew some shops. Within the hour, deliveries began to arrive.

Shoes. Boots. Pants. Undergarments. I soon had a variety spread out. I chose to wear a comfortable jumpsuit with cute runners as I folded and packed the rest, my new satchel quickly bulging, leading to me pouting when Typhon returned with Jinx, who chose to nap in the remaining heap.

"That's much too unwieldy," he pointed out as he eyed the straining seams of my bag.

"I didn't know what kind of weather to pack for, so I had to cover a little of everything. Not all of us can use magic to make suits, you know." I cast him a glance from under my lashes.

"It's the cloak. It can change into whatever I picture."

"So the cloak is magic?" For some reason, this amused me. "How did you make it?"

"It was a gift."

"Useful gift." I leaned back from the satchel that still didn't have half the clothes I wanted, not to mention not a single hair care or skin care product yet. I sighed. "I miss my old bag with its added dimensional pocket."

"Why not create a new one?"

"Because they're not easy to make," I countered. If they were, I wouldn't have turned my spare bedroom into another closet. A closet now lost. Sob. "I bought the last one I had."

"Have you even tried to create your own?" he countered.

"No, because I don't know where to start."

"I can guide you in its creation," he offered.

"Is this where you take over my body like you did to Frieda? Because I'm telling you right now, I won't be your puppet."

"Your sister was too panicked the times she asked for my aid, so it was the most expedient solution. You are not being attacked, nor are you terrified. I'd say you can handle instruction."

"Lucky me, the monster god as my teacher," I mocked, and yet I dumped out my bag and held it out. "What do we do first?"

"First you must secure some empty space."

I blinked. "Um, say that again."

He clasped my hands. "It sounds odd, and yet that is the simplest explanation. You need to claim some empty space and anchor it to the bag."

"And where do I find empty space? Pretty sure I can't buy any at the store. And if you say between my ears, you will regret it."

He frowned. "Between your ears is your brain."

"Good answer. Continue. How do we find what we need?"

"It used to be easier before the Earth became so populated, but there's still much to borrow. For example, the sky overhead, mostly empty and useless."

"Not for airplanes and birds."

"Which is why you grab it from high."

"Grab it how? I can't exactly reach out and close my fingers around it." I kept asking questions because I wanted to understand how the magic worked. In reading spell books and diaries left behind by witches and wizards, I'd discovered that magic was less about words and hand waving and more about shaping intent. Some of the greatest, like Merlin, had taken simple magical concepts and managed to shape their will into incredible things. For example, Merlin's decision to encase a sword in stone that could only be pulled by a noble heart. Of course, Merlin had access to vast stores of power.

"Have you ever travelled without your body?" Typhon asked me.

I thought of my dream with Frieda. "Not intentionally."

"It's not difficult. Even though I'm weak, I can still do it."

"What does astral travel have to do with claiming empty space?"

"Because that's how we'll reach it. Sit with me and relax." He sat midair, legs crossed, as if floating were the normal, relaxing thing to do.

"Won't using magic call monsters?"

"Yes, so let's hope there aren't many around and do this quickly."

I glanced at my dog, who'd been rather well-behaved considering the commotion. "Keep watch on my body."

"Yip."

With Jinx on guard, I closed my eyes and joined Typhon in a seated float. It felt weird.

"Relax," he ordered.

"Hard to relax when you want me to leave my body," I grumbled.

"It's a good skill to have."

"Is that how you kept bugging Frieda?"

"It's an excellent way to communicate and spy without risking the physical body," was his smug reply.

"As if you're worried. Gods can't be killed."

"Can't be killed easily," he corrected. "And we can still be hurt. Now, shh. Concentrate."

"Concentrate on what?" I sassed with my eyes shut tight.

"My hand holding yours."

"Is this the start to some weird sex game? Because, just so you know, it doesn't have to be weird. I'm open to trying stuff."

He coughed. "This isn't about intercourse. Now pay attention."

I felt him grab my hand, but when I'd have looked, he murmured, "No peeking yet. Just relax."

His firm grip, cool and tingly, tugged me until I stood, still floating. He kept his hands wrapped around mine as he crooned, "Stepping outside the body isn't hard. It's not getting lost returning to it that's more difficult."

"How can you lose your own body?"

"We can go over the dangers another day. Today, you are learning how to float to find space. Open your eyes."

I opened them to see him in front of me. Outside. In the sky.

Like really, really high.

Gulp.

I'll admit I had a moment of panic. I dare anyone to not feel their stomach plummet if they happened to realize they were floating without a safety net or parachute. Just me and a god.

"How? I didn't even feel my spirit leaving my body."

"Because I might have given you a nudge," he admitted. "You were rather tense."

My lips pursed. "Excuse me for being a little freaked." I still was. I did my best to not gape when I looked down and saw the hotel roof shrinking as we rose.

And kept rising.

It took effort to tamp down my panic, but I wouldn't let it show, not when he looked so bloody calm. "I take it we can't actually fall? Like gravity isn't suddenly going to grab me and smash me into the ground?"

"We are in spirit form and, thus, not subject to physical laws."

"What about my body? How am I supposed to find it?" The hotel was large, and I had to wonder what would happen if my disembodied ass started floating through rooms, looking for it.

"Just follow the tendril tethering you to your body."

A glance showed a silver thread exiting me and stretching downward. His was gold.

"Do I need to worry about something cutting that anchor?" Because it seemed awfully tenuous.

"Hopefully not. But at the same time, we will be using magic, thus making ourselves a target so let's hurry and get what we came for."

We kept floating upward, past the level birds flew at. Then higher than the thin clouds, so thin I didn't see them until we passed through them.

"How far do we have to go?"

"In order to prevent dead zones that humans might notice we should rise above where your planes dare fly. Back in my time, we didn't need to go so far."

"What happens in a dead zone?" I asked, fascinated despite my trepidation.

"Things don't work as they should. Magic. Technology. Time. Things sometimes disappear only to reappear later but changed."

"Reminds me of the Bermuda Triangle." At his blank expression, I explained. "There's a place on the ocean where boats disappear and strange things happen."

"And no one has fixed it?"

"Didn't know it could be fixed."

"A lesson for another day. We're high enough. How much space do you need to pack your things?"

"I don't know. My last satchel had a storage area that was about three feet in diameter."

"That seems small. I'd go larger."

Larger? My greedy heart just about burst in glee. "How do we decide?"

"By cutting out a piece." He held my hand and had me point it outward. "Imagine marking off a section."

Doing our weird floating thing, we traced a huge space, room-sized really, and while I knew my hand couldn't slice, I'd have sworn I saw a line appear in the sky.

"Now we take this section back to the room and your satchel," he advised.

I don't know how I gripped nothing, and yet I dragged space back with me as we suddenly sank a lot faster than we rose. We headed for the hotel in a plummeting way that had me closing my eyes. Which led to him chuckling.

I slammed back into my body, gasping and losing my floating balance. I hit the floor and might have panicked I lost the space we cut out, but Typhon was there, holding nothing, and yet I could tell he still had it.

He nodded at me. "Open the satchel and prepare to attach it to the inside."

"Prepare it how?" I muttered as I yanked it wide open.

"Think of it as stuffing it inside then sewing the edges to your bag."

I don't know how I knew where to push and shove it so that the space ended up inside my oversized purse, but I did. Then following his example, I used my finger to pretend stitch it in place. It seemed too easy. Especially considering what the wizard charged me for my last one.

By the time we were done, my satchel had an entire room's worth of space to toss my shit in, meaning everything I'd bought plus some. With the room emptied of stuff and more on its way, I beamed at Typhon. "It worked."

"As if there was any doubt."

His nonchalant arrogance didn't annoy, but I did wonder if I could take it down a notch. Hence why I grabbed him by the cheeks and planted a kiss on his lips.

He froze.

I leaned away and said, "Thank you."

He might have said something in reply or kissed me back, only a knock at the door startled.

"It's probably my snack," I stated as I opened the door without looking and almost got disemboweled.