8. Medusa

I snuggled into my mates and started eating the fruit salad with the ambrosia in it. I might have mixed feelings on whether I would ever forgive Athena, but I wasn't stupid. When I was much younger, someone would have gutted you for ambrosia. It wasn't just that it tasted amazing. It tasted like the juiciest, sweetest fruit you could only get in one place.

It gave your magic a boost, and it tended to make you physically stronger. Athena usually gave it to her heroes. Perseus was roided out on it when he came to chop off my head. Now, I didn't know if it was Athena or the Fates who intervened to fake my death. I didn't want to ask because I wanted to be mad at her a little longer. She could have told me this ages ago.

I told my mates to eat up, too. If the fates had thrown them into one of Athena's hero quests, then they were going to need it. I wanted them protected because if we were taking on the Coalition, we were probably going to have to take on the angels, too.

But for now, I was going to watch Persephone's plan unfold. I met her long after her father hurt her and she became the Queen of the Underworld. People might be afraid of Hades, but he was an amazing partner. He knew exactly what she needed when she broke into the Underworld and Cerberus fell in love with her.

Persephone didn't need a big powerful man to fight her battles. She needed Hades to teach her how to protect herself because her mother wanted her to be this virginal god who made flowers with her.

Hades helped her fully explore being a God of Rebirth. He was the one that taught her sometimes, for things to be reborn, you needed to burn the old shit down. They were perfectly simpatico and understood each other's magic better than anyone I knew.

Persephone and I had gotten up to a lot of trouble during her six months out of the Underworld. I had some pretty fucked up ideas, but hers bordered on unhinged. And I'd been around Persephone long enough to know that her plots always worked, especially if they involved her magic.

Hannibal finally appeared on a podium in full monsignor garb standing next to this politician I frankly couldn't stand. Most of them at least pretended to distance themselves from the Coalition, even if they were secretly in bed with them. Not the Gold Party. Hating supernaturals was their whole damned platform. If Persephone's plot made him look like an idiot, too, that was just a maraschino cherry in this ambrosia salad.

"Wow, I thought the Smurf priest thing was just one of Benji's weird nicknames, but that guy is definitely blue," Dionysus said.

"I used to date this werewolf in the seventies who was always complaining about blue balls if I didn't want to fuck him. I told him that was a myth, but Hannibal always reminded me of sentient blue balls when he started coming down to the basement," Jezebel said.

I loved her. And I was finally seeing more of Hannibal than just his hand. He looked like a weird blue toad on a power trip. Like seriously, the whole kissing the frog and it turning into a prince thing had some historical context. Witches like Pax used to do that if you pissed them off. Hannibal looked like someone kissed him and he didn't change back right.

Saul Wood was considered a firebrand in the Senate to the people who liked the Gold Party and a pain in the ass to everyone else. He had to get supernatural shit inserted into every bill or he voted against it.

I already knew why he was here—Power. If Hannibal told a harrowing tale about being the sole survivor of a massacre at a Coalition facility and lied about the details instead of saying he left his people to die while escaping out of a secret passage, it would be all over the news.

People would forget the testimonies about what was done to us there and why we would kill to escape. They wouldn't think self-defense. He'd use it to further his political career. He'd already had two failed runs for president. I was betting he could taste his ass in the Oval Office if this went how they both expected.

Saul took the podium first. He gripped the edges and lowered his head. He looked demented when he finally looked up to address the crowd and the reporters.

"Friends, I've been telling you about the dangers of supernaturals throughout my political career and before. I've been fighting the good fight and trying to keep the Coalition running, but two weeks ago, Galen Talbot submitted a bill to criminalize their group and it seems to have a lot of support. I don't know about you, but I care about religious freedom.

"For those of you that think the Coalition goes beyond that because of what the supernaturals have lied about, I have my good friend here to tell you exactly why the Coalition is needed. Monsignor Hannibal has been a mentor to me. He's a great man who has done nothing but try to heal people like Jesus did. I'm going to let him take over and tell you what those monsters did at New Eden Asylum, which didn't just house several innocent nuns and priests. It was the very first Coalition facility in this country and is a registered historic landmark. I'm going to let him take over."

Benji whipped his phone out and was whistling the Benny Hill theme song. I leaned over.

"What are you doing?"

Cas rolled his eyes.

"Benji has over six million followers because he's funny and insanely pretty. I'm guessing he's starting something."

"Rude," Benji said, sticking his tongue out. "I'm helping. I just suggested I've never heard of New Eden Asylum in my life and I think they are gaslighting us. Should I go live?"

"Do you want to miss this? Because we don't. Maybe after," Pax said.

"Good call. I want popcorn."

Benji shrieked when a box of movie popcorn and a bottle of wine appeared on the table. Then he just shrugged and grabbed the popcorn and wine.

"I'm over it. Get your own popcorn and wine. I'm only sharing with Medusa."

"Girl, same," Dionysus said, conjuring more wine and popcorn.

"That's a neat trick," Calamity said.

"What do you want, little demon?"

"Fried pickles?"

"Done. Now, everyone, hush. This is my favorite movie."

Hannibal ambled up to the podium and tried to make himself look like this long-suffering martyr.

"You think he's still shitting himself?" Kat asked.

"Moon goddess, I hope so," Benji said. "That was my best work."

"It really was," Cas growled, pulling Benji into a kiss.

"Shh. Hannibal is talking," Hephaestus said.

"Friends, I need to tell you about a brutal murder that happened at New Eden Asylum. I was making significant progress with two of the possessed who were so close to being healed. The rest of the demons found out about it and started a riot. I'm sure they either killed or set back the progress of those two unfortunate men.

"They did kill many innocent priests and nuns who were just trying to help them. It was brutal and no one should have to die like that. It's what we've been trying to tell you. I only just managed to escape with my life and I was the sole survivor.

"What I witnessed was unspeakable. The violence they are capable of with their magic. What they did should be considered a war crime. We have the knowledge to neutralize their magic and I'm so close to finding a cure for demonic possession. We just need everyone on board."

The reporters blew up until Hannibal called on one.

"Excuse me, but you said New Eden Asylum was the first Coalition facility in the United States and a historic landmark?"

Here we go. I'd never met Father Nathan, but Cas, Pax, and Benji said he was a good man. I knew deep down he was a real priest who was devoted to his god like I had been to Athena at one point. He wasn't anything like Hannibal or anyone else I met at New Eden. It was just going to take me a hot minute to be less wary of him because they wore the same clothes and used the same titles. I knew better, but trauma had no logic.

Still, I was guessing Father Nathan had done his part to bring the Coalition down. I would thank him and never tell him he was carrying out Persephone's plan unless I could get a read on him. I'd watched plenty of religions be born and die and a few holy wars.

I knew gods were real and what the truth of the universe was. I also knew what a comfort belief was and how devastating it was when your god betrayed you. I'd happily do that to men like Hannibal, but I wasn't going to destroy Father Nathan's entire world when he helped us. I looked back to the TV.

"Yes. It's a beautiful building. It was originally built to neutralize their magic with wards given to us from the angels and then updated throughout the years with the latest technology to keep them contained easier. These wards keep you safe from them.

"I can't stress how much all of you are in danger if they've figured out what they are because they aren't public knowledge. The only people who know what we are using are top Coalition members and I still don't know what kind of foul demonic magic overpowered it."

"That's all well and good, but there's virtually no record anywhere of New Eden Asylum ever existing. The address you gave everyone has a fairly well established vineyard on the property. Our reporters spoke to the women working there and they say it's been on that land for decades. The grapes and land deed back that up."

Hannibal stood there sputtering and Saul was glaring at him like he wanted the floor to swallow him up. Dionysus and Persephone were sitting there smugly.

"How'd you get a vineyard and people to work it in that short a time frame?" Cas asked.

"Making it was easy. Hello, god powers. Staffing it was also pretty easy. I couldn't go back to Olympus because of Hera, so I was always more involved with the people on Earth. My Maenads are insanely loyal, even now. If you don't give them a job with just a few hours leftover to blow off steam, they do shit like tear Orpheus apart with their bare hands because he didn't want to party with them."

I wasn't shocked. Dionysus's Maenads were intense. He had to tell them I was his mate, so they didn't kill me in a jealous fit. Then they all pulled me aside and told me there were certain expectations to be his mate. They said if I didn't pretend his divine farts didn't smell like roses and worship the ground he walked on, they'd come for me.

And then we kind of became friends and that fierceness and loyalty got transferred to me, too. The only reason they weren't plotting against Athena was because they weren't stupid. Without Dionysus to back them up, she would have destroyed them.

Yeah, it was best to tell the Maenads they could avenge me by working at this new vineyard. It was true and if he hadn't given the Maenads a purpose, they would have found this press conference, ripped Hannibal apart, and then held an orgy in the gore.

That was exactly what we didn't want. We needed the leader of the Coalition to look like the unhinged, dangerous one. They were asking about the property. We needed them to expose him as the leader before someone got him out of there.

The cameras were going to keep going unless someone got violent. We had the Maenads contained. Some of the people in the audience were probably supernatural, but hopefully, they knew better. I had to hope they kept any urges locked down if someone finally called him out. Did Father Nathan not do his thing?

"This is demonic magic!" Hannibal yelled. "That building was there just a few days ago. They can't destroy paper records. Check the archives!"

They could but they wouldn't find anything. Hades made damned sure Persephone felt as safe as possible and explored every aspect of her magic. My best friend was an utter badass wrapped up in pink unicorns while still completely embodying the Queen of the Underworld.

There would be nothing left of New Eden Asylum except for memories. The victims weren't going to talk. They knew they were safe, and we had a plan. They wouldn't jeopardize it. People who might have had information on their computers would find it missing and blame the Mandala effect. They'd probably blame hackers until they realized it didn't even exist in the archives. I suppose they could go for vast government conspiracy, but they weren't really capable of what Persephone could do with her little finger.

Apparently, the reporter that confronted Hannibal about the location wasn't the only one who had dug into it. They were all shouting about the property. But over all the din, the sound of everyone's phone going off at once was noticeable. I really hoped that was Father Nathan.

Apparently, it was. Some people looked down to read the notification and others kept peppering Hannibal with questions about the property. Oh, but it was beautiful. When enough people started shouting about him being the leader of the US Coalition, more people started looking at the evidence and demanding answers.

Saul stepped to the podium before it got ugly.

"No more questions!" he yelled, hauling Hannibal out of there.

It was awesome. Saul screwed up his face like he smelled something foul when he got up into Hannibal's personal space. I started giggling because apparently, he wasn't lying about everything. He truly believed Benji hadn't been fucking with him about that recipe he'd given him to stop demonic possession.

I loved that for him.

Cas turned the TV off.

"Well, that was fun."

Dionysus grinned like a psychopath, which meant the Mad God had come out to play.

"Well, I have millions of followers and go does Benji. I usually hate crossover episodes, but we're co-mates now. Want to do a video together?"

"Crossover episodes are morally reprehensible. The streams shouldn't cross. The only exception to this is the Scooby Doo episode of Supernatural. The rest of them epically fail like a shart on a first date. But co-mates should totally do videos together," Benji said, holding out his hand.

"What have we done?" I moaned with my face in my hands.

"What? Hannibal had it coming and I've never liked that politician," Kat said.

"I meant Benji and Di together on social media. The internet is not ready for that much hotness or insanity."

"Benji is half wolf, so when he gets his teeth in something, he doesn't let go. He's focused and feral about it, but he's got his signature humor. I'm betting Dionysus is the same."

"He is, but my half-brother had his phases before he met Medusa," Athena said. "He's been the Mad God and the Party god. He's mellowed out a lot, but something tells me if you stick him in front of a camera with a man who is not afraid to call me Sugar Tits, you're going to see a bit of the Mad God. It's probably going to be exactly what you need, though."

I glared at Athena. Did she just make a joke? She wasn't wrong though. Benji and Dionysus together were going to be a handful.

But if you needed to stir up some controversy towards a Smurf priest, those two were the best for the job.