She tugs her hand. I tighten my fist and pull her forward so she’s eye level with me. Her chest rises and falls in an unsteady rhythm. “She just what, fell into your lap?” she snarls.
“Yes.”
She stomps her foot. “I’m not like the skanks you have parading through your bed. I told you all in or out. Don’t take me for a fool. I will make it my mission to destroy you.”
My other hand grasps the back of her neck and pulls her lips onto mine. The kiss is searching, searing, and soul aching. Her body relents and softens under my hands. I inch away and drag my thumb over her bottom kiss-swollen lip. “And I told you, all in. Every. Single. Fucking. Time. I want no other; the touch was unwanted and meant to piss you off.”
She flips her eyes open, lightning crackling across the sapphire orbs as she sucks in a breath. “Got it?” I check.
She nods as I open the mental connection to warn her of the snake behind her.“Game face on, baby, your nemesis is behind you.”
She frowns.“Lawrence?”
I shake my head.“Zeus.”
Someone clears their throat. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” Zeus asks.
Natia spins around, whips her leather jacket off, dumps it on the arm of the chair, then plonks her ass on my lap, and throws her feet up on the glass table, bumping Zeus’s whiskey glass. He snatches it and glares at her.
“Anyone ever teach you manners, girl?”
“Sure,” she says.
“Then why don’t you use them?”
“Because you don’t deserve them. I reserve my manners for friends, family, and even people I don’t like.” She points at him. “You, I detest with every atom in my body.” She leans forward, my arm slipping around her waist as she gets in his face. “Your arrogance, your disdain for humanity, your cruel manipulations—you are an abhorrent being fit to rule nothing but your own ego.”
Lucifer slides into the chair next to mine, his face twisted in a sneer as he examines Zeus. Natia swings her thumb towards Lucifer. “Even the King of Hell holds more compassion for humanity in his little finger.” She wiggles her little finger at Zeus’s shocked face. “Let’s face it, you were good for getting the numbers up back in the day. Isn’t just about everyone related to you in some way? Was Hera your wife or your sister?” Snorts sound around us and Zeus leans back and studies her with a calculating gleam I know all too well. “Plus, without your prolific procreation, Greek god history wouldn’t fill a textbook, never mind a degree.” She puts on a whiny voice. “Oh, I’m mad someone gave man fire—I’ll destroy them. I don’t like it when people don’t think my lightning power is the most awesome? I’ll oh, erm—yeah, destroy them. Hulk smash.” One of her fists pounds into her palm. Zeus’s chair flies back as he rises and leans over the table. Natia snaps to her feet. It takes everything I have to release her, but she has to fight her own battles, something I failed to see the first time. I won’t lose her because I suffocated her independence. Still, staying put is a test of my restraint. The fact I don’t protect her sends a clear message to Zeus. My little badass can handle him.
He slams his hands on the glass. “Watch your mouth, little girl. You have no idea who you are dealing with,” he growls out.
Natia leans in, her head tilting, making her hair slide over one shoulder. “I knowexactlywho I’m dealing with. What should concern you is that you don’t have a fucking clue who I am.”
He scoffs. “A brat, with grand ideas of being a warrior, playing dress up in leathers to make herself believe she can keep up with the big boys. You’re pretty, but when they’ve had their fill and spat you out, used and ruined, you’ll be tossed aside like yesterday’s trash.”
A ripple of anger runs down her spine in warning. I shove my chair back, missing the explosion by a split second. I grab her ass and keep her standing straight, earning myself a face full of the softest fucking feathers I have ever felt. The tank she’s wearing stretches around the connecting tissue. I make a mental note to update her wardrobe, tailored to accommodate wings.
“Holy shit,” Duncan rumbles somewhere behind me.
“Badass,” Zee mutters.
I lean to look over her wing, watching as Zeus stumbles back. Lucifer reaches out to touch the arch of the wing hanging over his legs.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I warn. His index finger brushes down the palest of pink feathers. Natia leans to the right, sensing the touch. I tighten my grip on her ass and try to burn Lucifer into the ground with my eyes alone.
“Haven’t had the chance to play with these magnificent limbs yet?” he muses. “Does she have any clue how sensitive they are?”
“Who are you?” Zeus asks. Finally, the idiot catches up to the fact she’s not someone to underestimate.
“It depends on what you’re asking. My name is Natia, all around badass, defender of humanity, the best fucking friend anyone could have. I’m going to skewer you with my sword whilst we bask in the glory of the continuing world and allow your memory to slip away even further. Give it another hundred years and your name will be dust.” She snaps her fingers, indicating how insignificant he will become.
“You’re a goddess,” Zeus states. “Aphrodite?”
“Aw, you think I’m beautiful? Wrong guess though, buddy, I’m your worst nightmare. Before you find out what I can really do, take your skank bitch and crawl back into your cozy nest in Tartarus.”
Zeus’s fingers twitch and an ice-white lightning bolt appears in his palm. Everyone freezes. “Oh pretty, in a heavy-handed child with a thick club kind of way,” Natia drawls. She snaps her fingers, and from nowhere lightning crackles from the floor, leaping up the glass table and dancing from the bottom across to the top. Zeus’s eyes narrow. She slams her hands down on the table. The sharp spikes of blue and white electricity seep into the glass and create a stunning mosaic capturing the element in all its glory.
Zeus’s brows knit together. “Artemis?”
