30. Pax

W e didn't usually allow humans in our village, but this was a special circumstance. We had Aidan and his foster mom, Rose, at one of the empty houses. It was late, and we didn't know how long Medusa would be out with her friends, so we got them settled, sent out an email that there was a human here, and left them to sleep.

Everyone was pretty drunk when they got back. Medusa didn't do what she set out to do. I mean, she released her fury magic, but she ended up trapping three men in their worst nightmares. From what they said, these men had it coming.

Still, she was in a good mood. She felt happy and content through our bond. Everyone did. Daisy's pies were something else, and we got to help someone. I'd already made a potion for everyone who was at the bar drinking.

One of the village green witches taught it to me ages ago. It would sober you up so that you could have decent sleep and not wake up hungover. We had to use it a lot when Benji was going through a phase and not dealing with his shit very well. Some asshole said we were rewarding him by not letting him feel like shit after, but that wasn't how we wanted to deal with it and we still got him through it.

"Is this what I think it is?" Medusa asked.

I just winked at her.

"Thanks."

She wrapped me up in a giant hug. I couldn't smell like Benji and Cas did, but I could tell she smelled like my shampoo and wildflowers. I loved that smell. I didn't know what she was doing when I sensed her run out of the room and run back in shortly after.

Cas let out a possessive growl.

"What?"

"She's wearing my sweatshirt again," he purred.

Yeah, that was one of Cas's kinks. Benji and I didn't buy hoodies for ourselves and just bought a lot for Cas so we could steal them. He loved seeing us in them and he loved it when other people could smell him on us. Medusa would be no different. Cas and Benji were going to be in overdrive because she was new to our village and we hadn't had time to introduce her as our center yet. Only a few people knew.

"How's the kid doing?" Jezebel asked.

"Talking up a storm now that he knows he's a siren, and he just needs some lessons on how to control it. Rose is ecstatic. I've got them set up in one of the empty houses and I'm guessing Rose is going to let him stay up past his bed time just to listen to him talk."

It was adorable. When Dionysus and Benji got to the diner with Rose and Aidan, he had about a million questions about supernaturals. Rose followed Benji and Dionysus but she thought Aidan was human and didn't really have any reason to discuss supernaturals with him. They only went over that in certain kinds of schools that Rose had no idea that Aidan needed to be in. Some of his classmates were probably getting that kind of education at home because they didn't live close enough to one of those schools.

"Aidan is so stinking cute," Benji said. "We had to explain to him why I couldn't have my horns and wolf ears out in the diner without scaring the shit out of him about the Coalition. If we can pull this off, Aidan and other kids like him will never have to worry with them again."

Dionysus explained what they did with the substitute teacher's not boyfriend. It was a good start. But I wanted something and maybe I was being selfish this early on. We were all going to eventually ask for this and we needed it. She needed it.

"Medusa, can I steal you tonight?"

"Sure, if that's okay with everyone?"

I already knew it was. Dionysus was new to us, too. Benji had a crush. Cas and Benji were going to have the conversation we couldn't really have with everything going on and when we needed to seal our bond. They were going to get to know him better. And if I knew Benji, he was going to end up with someone's dick in his mouth while someone else spanked him.

They'd be well taken care of and could amuse themselves. We all needed time one on one with her and Dionysus since we were bonded now. Supernaturals did things differently than humans most of the time. We knew we were fated. We could feel it. The urge to complete the bond was unreal.

Sometimes, we could fight it long enough to learn more about each other and sometimes we didn't. We bonded and got to know each other later. Our whole group was one giant extenuating circumstance because of the Coalition and then Poseidon with Medusa and Dionysus.

Cas waited until Benji and I were ready and I knew Dionysus did the same with Medusa. We would have waited as long as she needed, but the furies said it needed to happen soon. We were bonded, but now we needed to get to know each other.

Medusa wrapped herself around me and we walked to my bedroom. I didn't know what it looked like, but I knew my way around it. Cas knew I couldn't see it, but he asked me what I wanted and made sure it was accessible.

"Cas made all of your rooms to fit your personalities and you have the best beds. Come snuggle with me."

She didn't have to ask me twice. I jumped in bed and she nestled into my chest. I liked how she molded to me perfectly. I didn't know what to ask her first. She was much older than me and there were probably some things that were off limits. I didn't particularly want to talk about certain things, either.

"So, I know Cas's dad originated this village and got run off, Benji's parents got taken by the Coalition with him and we're trying to find out what happened to them, but what about yours? I went no contact with mine because of how they acted after what happened with Poseidon and Athena.

"I didn't see them face to face because I didn't want to hurt them. I tried talking to them crouched by the window. I just needed my parents to have my back, and they didn't. We lived in Athens. Everyone was big Athena fans. Everyone assumed I deserved it. I don't really miss them. It was that one thing that ruined our entire relationship. I'd never do that to my kids."

"Do you have any? Kids that is."

Because she might. She might have had to keep her distance because of her gaze and worrying about the glasses.

"Just one and you've probably heard that story. Poseidon got me pregnant. There were ways to get rid of unwanted pregnancies back then, but they didn't work on demigods. Plus, some people thought it was a blessing to get violated by a god. Perseus came after me when I was about six months.

"I don't know if this was Athena or the Fates, but when he cut me, the baby that was inside me transferred to my blood and became Pegasus and Chrysaor. I've never given birth the traditional way, though."

"Your kid is Pegasus? That's badass."

"He's not a shifter. He's always a flying horse. Pegasus likes working with Athena's heroes, but if he doesn't feel like working with someone, he bites. His father tried to force him to work with Bellerophon, so he flew him in the air, bucked him off, and faked his death at Zeus's hands."

"None of us have kids that we know of. We're pretty careful about that. And about my parents, I don't speak to them anymore. They were harsh people who didn't like kids. My mom had kids with her entire coven because they all thought they were supposed to.

"They fed us, clothed us, and put a roof over our heads, but that was about it. They kicked us all out of the house as soon as we turned sixteen because it was different times then. They didn't give a shit and all we could take with us was what we could carry because they could use the clothes for the rest of the family.

"A lot of us did stupid shit to get by so we didn't starve to death. Some of us did stupid shit trying to get them out of that situation. My sister should have sought out her mates, but she took up with this abusive human son of a bitch because the world wasn't fair to women back then. I got caught by the Coalition because I was using magic trying to help her. Thankfully, no one knew I was her brother, so she didn't get caught, too."

"Do you at least still talk to your siblings?"

"Yeah, Once the internet happened, tracking them down became easier. They're all happy and well adjusted, despite our parents. My sister said she tried to find me after I got taken. While she was looking, she met one of her mates and he stole her from that human. Some of my siblings haven't met their center, but they've all met at least one mate. That hasn't stopped them from having kids, despite our parents. I don't know where my parents are either and frankly, I don't care."

"Is Benji the only one of us that doesn't have a fucked-up relationship with his parents? Dionysus adored his mother, but Hera murdered her when he was young. Zeus only stepped in when she killed Dionysus. She could do everything to him but that."

"Benji had a great relationship with his parents. It was just the two of them because they hadn't met the rest of their pack, but from what he says, they were present, adoring parents who spoiled him whenever they could. They were taking Benji out for his birthday when they got snatched. It's why he always has such a shit time on that day."

"I want to help find them."

"We all do, but even if they kept their patient records online where Father Nathan could get to them, it wouldn't help. Cas and I got into them. Not only do they not have our names on the files, they have our races completely wrong."

"How does one manage to get that wrong?"

Maybe she would find it funny. It was kind of fucked up. I tried to explain what Cas, and I had learned about their completely wrong categorization of what demons they thought possessed us. I felt her sit up and the weight of her gaze as she stared down at me.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, and I was alive when Genghis Khan made bathing punishable by death."

"Ew."

"Yeah, Dionysus and I cut our vacation short. We're Greek. We like our baths and people were getting ripe."

"If we can get rid of the Gold Party, it'll be a start."

Saul was Gold Party. They were a single-issue political party that was solely dedicated to eradicating supernaturals. Every major issue could be traced back to us according to them. They even blamed us for the minimum wage not getting raised.

Even back when I was a young man, people didn't like the Coalition, they just didn't say much. They'd watch their friends and neighbors get hauled off and were told they were demon possessed, but some of those people helped them out when they were in dire straights and they knew better.

The Gold Party had never gotten close to the presidency, but they'd been trying for decades. Saul wanted to be the first, and I knew he wanted to use the incident at New Eden to turn the tide so he could be the first Gold Party president.

"Mm. Have you always had an affinity for snakes?"

"Yeah. I just didn't know it until they helped me escape the Coalition and my familiar showed up. What about you?"

"My sister hated it, but I used to have a pet snake growing up. She wasn't my familiar, but she was in my garden. Everyone was scared of her. I guess my subconscious thought of that when I chose my fury form. There is one particular snake I'm interested in right now," she said, her hand creeping down my stomach.

I groaned.

"Oh, really?"

"Should I even be horny right now?"

"I mean, I'm pretty horny right now."

Medusa snaked on top of me. Now that I thought about it, she moved like a snake from what I could see of her outline. She ground herself against my cock. Now that her hair wasn't snakes, it fell down her back in beautiful waves. I could feel it tickling my thighs.

"What are you going to do now that you have me here?"

"Oh, you have no idea."

She could do whatever she wanted to me.