Chapter 1

BO

I checked my phone for what felt like the hundredth time since I'd arrived on the dock. The large ship loomed above me, reminding me of the contract I'd spent ages working on, and that Mei had signed. If she didn't turn up, it would badly impact her reputation amongst the gods and paranormals, and mean she'd never get a contract to perform for Jinx ever again.

I took a deep breath. This was Mei, she wasn't going to forget about something as important as this, she was just distracted by her new boyfriend. Though if he was going to start making her late for things, he was going to get an earful from me, I didn't care if he was a god of music or not.

Even as I thought the threat, I realised I wasn't going to go through with it. He was a god, they weren't to be messed with no matter how late they made world-famous musicians.

A black car pulled up and I was finally able to let out a sigh of relief when Mei got out. I wasn't used to her arriving at destinations separately from me, but it was something I was going to have to get used to. The transition from her playing shows mostly for humans, to working events that were run by gods or paranormals, was harder than I expected even if I knew it was good for the future of her career. That was part of the curse of being xian. She wouldn't age the way a normal human would, and that would start raising questions after a while. I could get away with it thanks to only being support staff. But Mei who was always in the spotlight? Not so much. And if there was one thing we couldn't afford, it was rumours getting out that she was using some kind of dark magic to keep herself young. Of course, humans would think that was plastic surgery or some other dicey anti-ageing thing that they couldn't get hold of, they wouldn't think of actual magic.

And they certainly wouldn't consider the fact Mei wasn't ageing much because she was a long-lived type of fae.

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear before remembering there were other people around and I shouldn't be so casual about showing off my ears. Except that it didn't matter here. This was a Jinx Dating Agency cruise, meaning that everyone here was either a god or a paranormal, and very much in the know about everyone else. That was going to take some getting used to.

The car door opened and I let out a sigh of relief as my charge got out, looking as put together as she usually did. Maybe even more so. As much as it was frustrating to have to wait for her, there was no doubt that falling in love had benefited her. It wasn't just the way she smiled or how she dressed either, I could hear how she felt when she sang.

Chiguo got out of the car after Mei, a wide smile on his face as he listened to whatever she was saying. An odd pang of jealousy shot through me as I watched the two of them together, but I wasn't sure what caused it. I wasn't interested in either of them, musicians were far too temperamental for me to want to deal with them in my dating life as well as my professional one, and yet when I watched them, I felt like I was missing something.

Hopefully, I wouldn't have to watch them be all over one another for the entire cruise. I wrinkled my nose. That was exactly what was going to happen. I could see it now.

Mei looked around, and even without her saying as much, I knew she was trying to figure out if anyone had recognised her. Normally in crowds like this, at least one person had and she'd be inundated with requests for autographs and selfies. But not here.

She spotted me and waved, heading over.

"Morning," she said brightly, her voice sing-songing even when she didn't have a microphone.

"You're in a good mood," I responded warily.

"Should I not be?"

"You're late." I lifted up my phone even though she couldn't see anything on the screen.

"By three minutes," she pointed out. "And it wasn't our fault, we left early, there was just a lot of traffic between the portal and here."

"You should have stayed in the nearby hotel rather than the god realm last night," I chided.

A somewhat defiant look crossed her face, but it disappeared within seconds. It made me wonder how many times she'd had similar thoughts but never voiced them and I hadn't noticed.

"Hello, Bo," Chiguo said, breaking through the tension and replacing it with an entirely different kind.

I gave him a tight smile and dipped my head. "Your Eminence."

He grimaced. "That really isn't necessary. Especially when we're outside the palace."

"You're still one of the Heavenly Kings no matter where you are," I pointed out. "Which means I should be treating you with the respect due to you."

"If you must, but it really isn't necessary," he assured me.

"I'll consider it." I could tell he was crazy about Mei, but that didn't change the fact he was a god. And more than that, he was a king. I wasn't sure how she managed to be quite as casual as she was about the whole thing, but she seemed very unbothered by the situation. I took a deep breath and tried to ignore the situation so I could focus on actually doing my job. "We're supposed to be meeting the woman in charge of the cruise, I think her name is Anansa."

"I know her," Chiguo said. "Vaguely. She's a sea and love goddess."

"That seems like a strange combination." Mei touched his arm affectionately as she spoke.

"It's not as uncommon as you might think. Aphrodite started as a sea goddess," Chiguo responded.

"Let's hope we're dealing with someone less temperamental," I muttered. I'd never met the Greek goddess, but I'd heard enough stories about her that I wasn't in a huge hurry to meet her.

"You did hear the part about being a sea goddess, right?" Chiguo asked. "None of them are particularly known for their even tempers."

"Then we should get going so we don't find ourselves on the wrong end of her wrath," I said. "Have you got everything from the car?"

Mei patted the top of her suitcase. "I think everything else was sent ahead, right?"

I nodded, instantly switching into business mode. "Everything you need should be waiting in the suite. Security is already in place, and the team will join us when the boat docks in Naples. They'll leave us when we dock for Rome the day after you perform."

Mei nodded. "It's a shame they aren't able to join us for more of the cruise."

"Mmm, the contract didn't allow for that," I responded. They were already being more than generous in giving me and Mei an entire ten-day cruise as part of the compensation package. And that they'd allowed Chiguo to join her, though I supposed there was a chance he pulled his own strings to make that happen. "A menu has been sent for your approval from the ship's staff. Luckily, there's a chef who studied in Shanghai, so there should be some familiar food."

"That's good, but I think I also want to try lots of new things. Isn't that the point of travelling?" Her eyes lit up.

I had to admit to being a little conflicted by her reaction. I knew it had been hard for her to move from hotel to hotel without really having a social life, but it was much easier to keep her out of the spotlight and away from any drama and tabloids when she was safely holed away. But she was also my friend, and seeing her flourish the way she had since meeting Chiguo and experiencing a bit more freedom was something I wanted to witness more of.

"Let's just get checked in and then we'll worry about the rest of it," I said, herding her towards the check-in desk. If this was what the whole cruise was going to be like, then I was going to need a holiday afterwards. Or maybe I'd decide to make one of the islands we stopped at my home and never be seen again.