Page 25 of Midlife Demigod Unexpected

“I agree. I think it makes sense. I don’t want to do anything without the coven’s agreement. We’re all in this together,” I said.

My cell phone rang. It hadn’t been seeing much action since the pub had been shut down. Jag had been with us almost constantly at The Estate, so I glanced at the unknown number curiously.

“Hello?” I asked, answering it.

“Good afternoon, Miss Davis.” A crisp voice came across the line. “This is Azalea from the Verbaten Insurance company. I wanted to let you know your claim is going through.

All of the money to repair the pub will be deposited into your bank account as of tomorrow morning. We are wiring it today.”

My mouth opened and my eyes went wide. “What the fuck?”

“Ma’am?” Azalea asked.

“I haven’t even filed my insurance papers yet,” I said.

“They were automatically filed on your behalf,” Azalea said.

“By what mechanism?” I asked. “I’m the only owner of the pub. Who else has a right to file an insurance claim?”

“It’s part of the foundation of the building,” Azalea said. “If anything goes wrong with the pub, it triggers a back-office function to handle all the administrative tasks.”

“Okay, so the pub is magic, but who the hell set it up?” I asked. “That’s what I would like to know.”

“Your father did,” Azalea said, “when he set up the account. It’s never been needed, but we monitor the property. It’s part of your portfolio.”

“My portfolio?” I asked. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Well, you have a castle in Ireland also,” Azalea said. “I’m looking through your files now. There’s a couple of other things. This was not disclosed to you at any point?”

“What the fuck? I don’t even actually know who you are and yet you know about my life,” I sighed.

“I explained, I’m Azalea and a nereid.”

“You’re a Nereid,” I said, my brain working overtime on supernatural hierarchy. “So, You work for the demigods doing their corporate administrative work. I’m not new to the supernatural world. I’ve got that much. In all your paperwork, you must have the details…Who is my father?”

“Why, your father is the Dagda,” Azalea said. “One of the gods of Ireland. It doesn’t matter, though, because all the gods are gone. They had to leave, and this was the setup he left.

“The gods have been gone from this world for thousands of years,” I said. “I was conceived forty some odd years ago.”

“Sometimes the gods can come through for special events and they can spend a brief amount of time here. He must’ve had a very good reason for coming here and leaving you O’Halloran’s,” Azalea said. “So, do you have any questions on the property repairs?”

I laughed. “You realize it is more than repairs, right? The whole thing has to be rebuilt. It’s completely burned to the ground.”

“Yes,” Azalea said. “I’ve read the report. The contracting company will be there in the morning. They have already been paid and the materials have already been delivered.”

“If they’ve already been paid, why are you giving me insurance money?” I asked.

“The insurance money in your account is for you. It should make things easier in this difficult time while you don’t have a house,” she said.

I hung up the phone, dumbfounded. I’d never heard I heard of anything so well taken care of. It was definitely a gift of the gods. But even more than that…I stared over at Kartika.

“I’m a demigod,” I murmured.

Chapter 19

“My father is the Dagda.” I told my mom when she arrived at The Estate later in the day. Hilda, Trina, and Trina’s kids had all shown up to check on the cemetery and provide reinforcements. When my mom got there, we grabbed cups of Witch’s Brew and headed in front of the fireplace in the red room. This was important news to share.

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