Page 2 of Monsters of Mayhem

“Ryder?” Ava’s voice brought me back to the moment.

“Shouldn’t you be flying the plane?” I gave her a steely stare.

“Hey, if you want my help I’ll give it to you, but I don’t have a lot of time. I’m just going to tell you about a rift in the Pacific where the monsters come through that I don’t think you know about.”

I shifted slightly in my seat. I knew I wasn’t the nicest guy in the room or on the plane, but I wasn’t a complete asshole. When someone like Ava, someone who I respected, who knew her shit, was telling me there was a rift I didn’t know about, I paid attention.

“Where in the Pacific?” I questioned.

She shrugged. “No idea.”

“Tahiti?” Ratchet asked. “I’ve always wanted to go to Tahiti.”

“I don’t think that’s the point.” I rolled my eyes.

Ava pulled herself out of her chair. “It’s just rumors I’ve heard when I’ve been on the road.”

“It’s disputed land between the fae and the demigods,” Ratchet commented. “We don’t tend to get involved with their goings on.”

“If you want to find out more about the monsters on Earth, we’re going to have to go to fae country, because I think it’s pretty obvious you own every monster that ever-stepped foot in New Attica,” Ratchet pointed out as Ava headed back to the cockpit.

I stared back out of the window, shoving my hand deeper into my pocket and turning our wedding rings around in my hand. I had wanted to give them to the Temple of Cyrene, but in the end, I had taken them back. The DGC was the only place I trusted them to be watched. They would sit safely there. Whoever was after them would have to come directly to me.

Chapter 2

The ornate details of the Victorian home’s renovated living room were almost lost on me as I sat with Sofie trying to figure out my situation. Ryder had made love with me and then ditched, just like he always did. I’ll be damned if I was going to sit around and just wait for Ryder to come back. However, he hadn’t made leaving particularly easy.

“You can’t just leave.” Sofie glanced over her shoulder to where Furlan stood in the kitchen. “He’s left you in the hands of the satyrs. You won’t be able to get away from them.”

I dug my nails into the palms of my hands. “I can’t stay locked up in this house for the next however long he decides he needs to keep me here,” I insisted. “I have a life. He can’t just drop me here and then go off and do his thing.”

“That’s exactly what he did,” Sofie said, “but I’m sure he has his reasons. He’s trying to protect you.”

I laid my head back, pulling both of my hands through my hair and tugging on it, trying to make sense of what was going on. Sofie, a woman I barely knew, was the only person I could call who could come over. I was kept away from my best friend Laney and instead was stuck in Alameda, on the other side of the country from where I was supposed to be in Boston taking care of cancer research projects. My ex-husband was convinced demons were after me and now he was going to go petition help from the Demigod Corporation to protect me. In the meantime, I was left here guarded by the satyrs.

I tried to brainstorm a solution with Sofie. “Can’t you distract Furlan or something?”

“Distract him how?” Sofie asked me. “He’s a satyr.”

“Satyrs, you know, they like women.” I said, riding my hands down my curves to give her the idea of what I was talking about.

Sofie crossed her arms over her chest, looking at me with a slight smile on her face. “So do I.”

“So do you what?” I asked, not tracking what she was talking about.

“I like women too,” Sofie said it clearly, as if it was obvious.

“Oh,” I said, and then it dawned on me “Oh!” I repeated.

“I don’t like you,” Sofie laughed.

My hand flew to my chest. “No, no, I didn’t think you did. So, does that mean you won’t make a move on Furlan for me?”

“He knows I’m gay,” Sofie said. “I think he’d get suspicious if one of the gayest witches around started rubbing up against him in all the wrong places.”

“I wouldn’t say you’re the gayest witch at all,” I said. “I mean, you’re beautiful, but you’re not like gay, gay.”

“What does that even mean?” Sofie asked.

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