Page 59 of Seph

He needed to keep his hands off of her.

Emily followed him, the little yellow bag of candy outstretched, offering him some. “It has to be someone who would help him, though. It doesn’t seem like his own brothers or sisters—or his wife—want anything to do with him.”

Simeon snorted and took a piece of chocolate, touched by the fact that she’d share with him. “You can only charm people for so long before they see through it. He’s a bastard. A controlling bastard who throws soot on people’s nice new coats!”

“What myth was that in?” Emily demanded, one eyebrow arching in confusion.

“Hm. Nothing. Nothing. I’m going to go look at that fancy sea bass bathtub.”

Simeon escaped into a gleaming world of soft lighting and pure white marble with gold flecks. The hot tub was big enough forseveral bodies. He should know. Bathtubs made excellent places to leave your leftovers.

But now he wanted to be alone without any glassy-eyed exsanguinated corpses, or better yet, with someone. With someone warm, soft, and alive. Someone pink and pretty, someone who gave off the most delectable scent, the sort of scent that made his fangs and cock throb in perfect unison.

I want to fuck her. Not just fuck her hard, bending her over and rutting into her. That magic where you just stay in her, spending in her over and over, connected, hands on her face, teeth in her neck, blood in your mouth, her hands in your hair... Gloriously tangled up.

Like his thoughts. Zeus and Heatherington were awfully similar, and he didn’t care who knew it, but Emily didn’t need to hear the sordid details. And even Heatherington paled in comparison with many of the villains he’d trailed, tracked, and enjoyed butchering.

Emilydefinitelywouldn’t like to hear about those cases.

Still, it was a poor hunter who didn’t learn how to track his prey from studying the species.

Who would help the foulest of the foul with any task, good or bad, respectable or vile, simple or convoluted?

He first thought of Hera, the wife. Hera’s stance on Zeus was clear. She struck him as the sort that would remain married for the prestige and power of being a “queen” but would have nothing to do with helping her husband with his adulterous liaisons.

His children? They were his pawns. Pawns were frontline fodder.Pawns with brains, living pieces in someone’s games don’t always like being used.

Someone who loved him, who hoped to have some sort of power, or get something out of it...

The most devoted slave. Lover. Wife.

Slave.

“You didn’t fall in, did you?”

Emily’s voice made him jump.

“Did Zeus have any other wives or particularly devoted lovers? Ones who could control the mind? Particularly the memory?” Simeon answered, thinking back to his studies. All of Zeus’ affairs ran together.

“I’m not sure, but we’re only a phone call away from a backlog of family gossip. Dial-A-God.”

Simeon left his position on the edge of the immense tub and rejoined her in the massive bedroom area. Emily was holding the phone in her palm.

He took it and hesitated. “It could be someone they don’t know about. Or don’t remember. You saw how Hera and Demeter seemed to fade in and out of touch. But...” His gloomy thoughts lifted. “Jakob Minegold. He was a teacher and scholar. His house is practically half museum, half library. I bet he’d know or be able to look it up if Hades doesn’t know. Let’s call him before we ring Hades. He must hate to hear the phone ring. Each time... it’s not her.”

“Right.” Emily nodded. “We’ll call Mr. Minegold now.”

“Sure. Or we could wait. I mean, room service will be up soon. That’d be one hell of a conversation to have interrupted by the bellhop, no pun intended.”

Emily crossed her arms. “Oh, that pun wassointended. But, you have a good point. We’ll wait. J-just until dinner gets here.”

This is urgent. Why do we want to put off finding the answer?Simeon nodded and said nothing. “You know... once we get back... if we both get back—”

“We’re both getting back and staying back,” Emily bit off the words and spat them out like shrapnel, intending for them to leave a mark.

He grinned. “I was gonna say, we don’t have to stop hangin’ about together. Do we? Won’t be the Ritz, but there are places to eat in Pine Ridge. I bet Hades’ll give us a nice bonus. Get you a new set of wheels. We can go for drives. Out for pizza. Out for patrol.” He dropped each word casually so she wouldn’t spook.

“I’d like that.” Her voice was soft, and so was her hand, now winding through his. “I haven’t been in a fancy-ass hot tub like this in... ever. I stayed in a hotel once that had an eight-person jacuzzi by the pool. It wasn’t like this, though. This isintimate.” There was the tiniest pause before the last word.

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