Page 52 of Flirting with Death

"Samantha, I swear to the gods if you get sexual in front of me I will barf," Tyler said. He sank further into the chair he had taken, as if he could disappear into the soft cushions. "I'm all about sexual expression, but you are my sister, and that is a line I have firmly drawn. I do not have any desire to see you or your boy toys naked."

Sam laughed and stuck out her tongue at him. "This is called flirting. It doesn't mean I'm gonna start shedding my clothes."

Bellamy lifted his brow suggestively. "You sure about that, love?"

"Knock it off, Bell," I grumbled. He would torture her brother with that image.

A pout formed on Bellamy's lips as he switched his attention to me. I wasn't positive about where we stood, besides the fact that we both loved the same girl, maybe that was all we needed. He didn't argue. That was a good sign.

Lex groaned on the couch, drawing my focus. I knelt down to eye level with him as he blinked an eye open and squinted at me. "I knew we could get out of there," he croaked, the words bringing a smile to my face.

"Without you distracting him, we would still be there." I couldn't help myself and brushed a few strands of his copper hair away from his forehead in the guise of feeling for a fever.

"I think we all played our part."

It was touch and go as we slipped out of the building. If Bellamy had been more than just knocked out with a spell, it would have turned out differently. Right now, it felt like a win. We escaped, and we had the information we’d been searching for. Warmth spread throughout my body as energy pulsed through me. I felt like I wouldn't need to sleep for a month. I couldn't contain the smile that took over my face, even if I tried.

"And I felt where they were keeping the muse," Tyler said. "We should go back at daybreak. They won't expect us to hit back so quickly."

Lex pushed himself up and shifted on the couch as Samantha came over and sat next to him. Her hand went to his thigh as they seemed to have a silent conversation, and she checked on him.

Samantha brought her gaze to her brother, her eyes glowing and wide with elation. "I agree. The demons are weaker when the sun rises."

"What about the Gods they are working with?" Lex asked. He cleared his throat when the room fell silent. "We haven't talked about the new Gods they mentioned."

I vaguely recalled him saying something about that right before the fighting erupted.

"He mentioned Osiris and said that he would give him power and wealth once he had Sam under control and was ruling the horde," Lex added.

"Who the fuck is Osiris?" Lumi said.

"He is an Egyptian God of death," Brook replied.

"Great, now there is more than one kind of God that can make our lives hell," Lumi grumbled, his arms wrapping tighter around his girl. There was a story there, but being a God myself, I wasn't touching it. I already knew that Gods could be bastards.

"Wait, Egyptian Gods exist?" Samantha asked.

"If there is a myth surrounding them, they exist. A lot of them have lost their followers, and so they have also lost their power. If you don't have believers, you don't have full strength."

"So they are like Tinker Bell?" She arched an eyebrow, and Bellamy chuckled as he leaned against the back of the sofa behind her. She arched her neck to the side as he pressed a soft kiss to her throat.

"Tinker Bell isn't real," Lumi grumbled. "And fairies don't disappear if you don't believe in them."

"What would they get by taking over the Underworld?" Raiden asked, breaking his brooding silence.

"My father has more power than Osiris, it wouldn't be a fair fight," I replied.

"Which is why he needs the horde to back him." Bellamy stood up, his hands still on Sam's shoulders, as if he needed the contact. "Your father just gifted mine some pretty dark souls. They've already been used to make more demons. If you think we are evil now, just wait a few months for them to come into their full power. I don't think Hades knew the danger he was creating."

I passed Raiden as I paced between the living area and the kitchen island that separated the two. I spun on my heel to face Bell once he was finished speaking.

"But he knew. I think my father, and your mother," I said glancing at Lex, "know that a war is coming. They have played the long game. We are their warriors."

My body vibrated with the knowledge that was in my very bones. Gods and Goddesses only do things that benefit them—myself included—and my father and Nyx have been really helpful in a playing with our lives.

"Nyx made one of my brother's harem members into a God. And another tasked Juliana, his girlfriend, with collecting the dark souls in the first place." Bellamy's tail slapped against the back of the couch with a steady thump.

"And Hermes ensured Brook would become queen," Lumi murmured.

---