“You want to make an impression on your mates, don’t you?” Zeus fussed with the cuff of his shirt. “Look, it’s quite simple, when you think about it. It’s all very well having mates. Fates know I’m thrilled with Paulie and couldn’t be without him and little Egan. But the facts can’t be ignored. Us gods keep getting wrong footed when it comes to this mating business and those mistakes are making us look bad.”
“You didn’t see or hear…”
“I did.” Zeus threw him that look, the one that said he was determined to be right no matter what Ra said. “You got pissy with your mates because they showed some reservations about your godly status.” He huffed. “If they’d met me first, they’d have probably fallen over themselves to kiss my ring.”
“I’ll freaking kick your ring in a minute.” Ra was uncharacteristically nervous. “Are you sure the Fates…?”
“We are not interfering in mortal affairs.” Zeus flicked a glance up at the sky. “As a god, you have standards, and you’re well within your rights to want to check out your mate’s home before you consider moving in.”
Ra could see some major flaws in Zeus’s plan. “That Yakov already knows that Kirill has latched onto Arvyn. How’s it going to look if I turn up claiming to be Kirill’s beloved too? And wouldn’t it have been better if we’d at least brought Kirill with us?”
“Bah, piffling details.” Zeus did arrogance so well. “You watch. This lot have their heads so far up their own asses, they’re not going to realize we’re actually scoping the joint.”
Quirking an eyebrow at his friend, Ra said dryly, “I think you’re mixing your metaphors again. Either that, or you’re spending too much time warming the cushions of that couch of yours watching television. And how are we going to work out if anything is wrong? We don’t have Uber noses that can sniff out humans kept in cells and if you wanted to tell if someone was lying, then you should’ve included the demon in our little group. Or maybe my mates!”
“Nope.” Zeus shook his head, his hair falling around his shoulders. “This is all on you, Ra. It’s up to you to make us gods look good. I might have made a few mistakes with my mating…”
Ra snorted. Try spying on him for months without even meeting him, and totally rearranging his life without asking Paulie what he wanted… or did you mean where you told Paulie you didn’t want to be mated in front of his tiger form, just before he bit you. And…
“But I wasn’t as bad as Poseidon who actually went to the Fates to get his mating cancelled. Hades, well Hades probably didn’t put a foot wrong with his Ali, but poor Ali had Persephone and Cerberus to contend with and don’t even get me started on Thor. He told his Orin that he was too short to be a mate of a god within the first five minutes of meeting him.”
“I still don’t see how storming into Kirill’s coven complete with Anubis guards is going to encourage my mates to want to be with me. Won’t they see it as ‘overstepping’?”
“Look.” Zeus threw his arm over Ra’s shoulder. “You have the chance to put a stamp on your mating from day one by showing the powerful god you are. Now, I’m not suggesting that Paulie rules our home, or that the shifter mates are setting the tone for all paranormal/god pairings…”
“Even if both comments are true.” Ra knew Paulie had Zeus wrapped around his little finger.
“Meh, maybe. But you Ra, are going to do right by your mates or beloveds or whatever you are going to call yourselves from the very start. We’ll flush out the trouble in this coven and then head back to my place where Paulie will have lunch ready for us and your mates. That will give you all a chance to have a nice little chat.”
“You took my mates as well?” Was there no limit to what Zeus would interfere in?
“I’m keeping them out of harm’s way. I was watching that Yakov this morning and intercepted an email he sent to the vampire council. The little shit was trying to claim Kirill’s taken leave of his senses and had abandoned the coven with no heir. The email didn’t get through to its intended target but…”
“We can’t kill him.” Ra was a little worried about the gleam in Zeus’s eye. “You know as well as I do the quickest way to get the Fates’ attention is to kill a mortal before their time.”
“This isn’t about killing anyone.” Zeus flexed his shoulders. “This is about gods, namely us, showing we can be proactive, innovative and protective in a relationship with our mates. It’s about us stepping up and doing the right thing for our mates before someone like Orin comes along complaining we’ve got things wrong again. It’s a gesture showing your commitment to your mates from day one.”
“Two,” Ra said, still unsure. He’d far rather face Kirill’s snappish tone, or Arvyn’s fear than walk into the coven. “It’s day two and my two mates have already claimed each other. If I was remotely important…”
“They didn’t have sex,” Zeus cut in quickly. “Kirill needed to feed because he’d been chained up for a week without food or anything. He did warn Arvyn it would start the bonding process. Arvyn said he’d bite the vamp in return to make his wolf feel better, so the bond wasn’t lopsided or some such shit, but even though they both got off, they still had their pants on. They wanted you to be there. They both said so.”
“For fuck’s sake Zeus, couldn’t you have employed a smidge of decency. You were spying on my mates during an intimate moment.”
“They kept their pants on. Sheesh. I’m surprised you weren’t spying on them too. We used to watch mortals all the time back in the good old days and they are your mates.”
“Yes, kindly remember they’re my mates,” Ra snapped. “Seriously, I’m going to have a talk to Paulie about your voyeur habits. They can’t be healthy.”
“Paulie enjoys watching just the same as I do.” Zeus nudged his shoulder with his own. “I will say, you’ve got a lot to work with once you do get those two in the sack.”
“And on that note, we’ll get this ridiculous charade over with. What am I meant to be doing again?”
“You’re being a god. You’re Ra Father of Everything, at least according to the Egyptians, taking a visit to inspect the premises of your future home with your equally powerful godly friend. Remember when no one dared say no to you about anything? And your guards are going to do all the sniffing out we need for us.”
“I should’ve brought Seth,” Ra muttered. “He could do with a reminder about my position too.” Inhaling sharply, Ra threw back his shoulders, and waved a finger at his silent guards. “Let’s do this. Let none lay a finger on our godly persons and ensure all who we come across show us the respect due to our station.”
“Yes, Lord Ra.” The guards all snapped to attention, their spears held in front of them as they all pivoted ninety degrees in formation. Ra dropped the wards and the coven building appeared in front of them.
/~/~/~/~/
“How the hell did our mate get so much taller? I’m sure he was a lot shorter than us when we spoke to him.” Arvyn leaned forward in his chair, watching the screens as Ra, another tall godly guy who had to be Zeus, and six guards with jackal heads, all appeared like magic in front of the coven steps. “Is that just his headdress making him look like that?”