“I’m glad to hear it because nothing will end a budding relationship quicker than using your girlfriend as a bargaining chip.”
“I’m not his girlfriend,” I quickly point out. “It’s not like that between us.”
“Sure it isn’t,” Trident agrees, but from the smirk on his face, I can see he doesn’t mean it.
Rage doesn’t say anything.
I dish up the eggs. There’s fresh bread and butter on the table. My mouth is watering.
Trident makes a humming noise as he looks down at his plate. It’s clear that he likes what he sees. Rage pours juice into three glasses, and we all dig in. There’s silence for a minute or two while we enjoy our breakfast.
“There’s nothing like crispy bacon,” Trident says, shoving a whole piece into his mouth. His lips are glistening with fat. He chews and swallows. “So, you hellhounds have litters?” he remarks.
I nod. “Yes, we do.” I put some butter on a slice of bread.
“Wow! That’s hectic. I think one kid is a lot of work, let alone a whole litter. I was at Forge and Ava’s place yesterday.” He whistles low. “Little Bruce is amazing, but he’s also a handful. I have high energy levels, and even I got tired of chasing after him. He’s just started walking.”
“It’s normal for us,” I say. “I don’t plan on having kids anyway.” I shrug. There is a part of me that’s sad, but it would be for the best since I don’t want to settle down with anyone. I think kids need a secure household with two people who love them. Sure, it doesn’t always work out that way, but it’s best to at least start off with a happy home.
“I must say,” Trident takes a big sip of his juice, “I don’t think I want to have kids, either. I enjoy the single life far too much. I can’t think of spending the rest of my life with just one woman.”
“You would be able to imagine it if you fell in love,” Rage says.
“Love.” Trident snorts and shakes his head. “Nah, not for me. I can’t fathom it.”
“You haven’t met ‘the one’ yet. One of these days, you’ll meet someone and fall hopelessly in love. It’ll be like a sucker punch to the gut. You won’t even know it’s happened until it’s too late.”
“You sound like you’re talking from experience,” Tri laughs. He gives Rage a slap on the back. Rage scowls at him. “Do you want me to leave so that you can get onto one knee?” Trident laughs again.
“Fuck off!” Rage gives him the middle finger. “That’s not what I meant.”
Trident chuckles. “Touchy, aren’t we?”
“I’ve been beat-up and teleported too many times to count. I’m waiting for a madman to arrive. A madman intent on killing me and on making Nia’s life a living hell, so yes, I’m a little cranky.”
“When you put it that way…” Trident nods a couple of times. “So, what’s the plan? Are you just going to sit tight until Gaire gets here?”
“That’s the plan,” Rage says. “I have Death on speed-dial. The agreement is that if I call, he knows Gaire’s here. He and Star will stand by to remove us if we’re getting our asses handed to us…again.” He sighs. “It’s getting tiring.”
“How are you going to defeat him this time? What’s changed?”
“We’re hoping that he won’t have as much control over Nia. That she’ll be able to take him on, with my help, of course.”
“Because you guys have been having a ton of sex?” He bobs his brows.
Neither of us says anything. I think he’s getting a kick out of watching us squirm… because we are squirming.
“I hate to break it to you, but that’s not much of a plan.” Tri puts more bacon in his mouth.
“It’s all we’ve got,” I say.
“It’ll work out,” Rage says. “It has to,” he mumbles.
“In that case, let me finish eating, and you guys can get back to bed. It sounds like the more sex you have, the better. I’m all for getting plenty of sex.” He scoops a final forkful into his mouth. He pushes his plate away and wipes his mouth with his napkin.
“There’s more egg in the pan if you’re still hungry,” I tell Trident. It’ll be even more awkward between Rage and me if Tri leaves. Especially off the back of this conversation.
“If I didn’t know better, I would think that you were trying to keep me here, Nia. You two lovebirds need to get back to fucking like rabbits to break this spell.”
“We’re not lovebirds,” Rage growls. He’s frowning. “Nia is going back to Wales as soon as this is over. I’m helping her out. That’s all.” His frown deepens. “As for fucking like rabbits, we’re not. In order to break the bond, we need to have sex without a condom, and that isn’t going to happen. The Underworld was one thing. Up here…it’s a no…we’re not taking a risk like that. You’ve heard our take on having kids.”
“Wait a minute…” Tri narrows his eyes. “You didn’t use a condom at Hades’ place?”
“It’s the Underworld,” I say. “You can’t become pregnant in the Underworld. It’s a common fact.”
Trident looks up at the ceiling. He makes this humming noise at the back of his throat. “I might be very wrong, but I’m sure I heard something about Hades’ house being in a different realm.” I can see that he is thinking it through.
“But it’s still in the Underworld.” I’m feeling panicky. I was the one who convinced Rage that it was okay not to use protection. That we would be fine. Was I wrong? Is there a chance I could conceive? Oh, no! No!
“I’m probably completely wrong. Don’t listen to me.” Tri shakes his head and makes a face. “I’ve been wrong plenty of times. Do you need me to stick around? I could try to help you beat Gaire.” He flexes his biceps.
“Like last time.” Rage snorts. “You were knocked out five seconds into the fight.”
“It was a lucky punch. I’m more prepared this time. See that beautiful lake outside your back door.” Trident points. “I am good at bending water to my will. I’ll give Gaire the biggest enema, and then—”
A laugh is pulled from me. I can’t help it. “An enema?” I laugh harder. “I’d love to see that.”
Trident grins.
Rage shakes his head. “Thanks for the offer, but I think this is something the two of us need to face alone. Gaire has threatened to kill anyone who tries to help us. I think Death might be okay, but we demigods are vulnerable. You should probably go now, and stay as far away as possible. Let the others know what’s going on. Death will bail us out if it looks like we’re about to die. I ultimately don’t want to be responsible for anyone getting killed.”
“It would be my fault if anyone died,” I say, looking down at my half-eaten food. “I’m sorry I brought you into this, Rage. I didn’t realize you couldn’t use your powers; if I had known, I—” I stop talking when Rage reaches over and squeezes my hand. He doesn’t linger, taking his hand back.