The Call of Monsters (My Beautiful Monsters #3) - J.B. Trepagnier Page 0,1
I wasn’t throwing knives or working on my demonic form, Cerberus insisted I check on Lis. She ran straight into Demeter as she turned into stone, but Charley had magically healed her, and I kept telling him I couldn’t see anything wrong with her. She wasn’t much better. She kept saying her heat was coming soon, and she wanted to make puppies with Cerberus.
“Lis isn’t even pregnant yet,” I pointed out. “And demons don’t eat puppies. Wait, do they?”
Barbatos just threw back his head and laughed.
“Of course not. I’ve eaten some strange meat cuts in my travels, and I think I ate dog once, but not on purpose. You’re stalling. Get angry, River. Zeus has your lover and is doing whatever he wants to him. We haven’t gone to get him yet because Hades is still deciding if he wants to unleash the Titans. What are you going to do about it?”
I knew what I wanted to do about it. I wanted to kick down the gates of Olympus and start stabbing Olympians. Zeus was hurting Hephaestus, and I swore he would never hurt him again. When Hephaestus said he would stay in the Underworld with us, I told myself he would always know happiness and that he was special.
Zeus fucking made me break my word, and I was furious.
I let out a little growl. I could see the red swirling around me. Maybe that was my anger. I wanted it to grow. I wanted it to consume me until I just became it and destroyed everyone in Olympus. I gave in to it and moved towards it.
Then it just stopped.
Everyone was beaming at me.
Did I do it?
Chapter 2
Demos
S
he was the loveliest thing I’d ever laid eyes on. And she had wings like me. River’s demonic form was glorious. Pavlina had dressed her. I tolerated the spider a little better now, but even I could admit she had excellent taste in clothing and was talented with her sewing machine.
River stood a lot taller now. She was closer to six feet tall now. She was dressed in all black leather because that’s just what Pavlina did. Her beautiful face was gone and replaced with a sleek black cat’s head. Deadly claws had replaced River’s hands. I didn’t like cats on a good day, but River just totally owned it.
That wasn’t what had me gaping at her. They weren’t feathered like mine. She had these leathery black wings that had sprouted from her back, and I was already thinking about all the possibilities when we both could fly.
I walked over and ran a finger down the spine of her wings.
“Do they work? Give them a flap.”
She wasn’t used to this like we were. She tried to talk with the cat’s head and ended up letting out this considerable yowl. I was glad Cerberus had no interest in chasing cats because if he hurt her, I’d have to hurt him back. And Hades was still mad at me I’d completely set my bedroom on fire. I still didn’t regret it, but he was still pissed. Probably because I wasn’t sorry. Cerberus just cocked all three of his heads at her like he didn’t know what to do with her.
Barbatos was beaming like a proud father. I didn’t know the first thing about demonic forms and what they had in Hell, but as far as monsters went, she was pretty fucking impressive.
“I just knew any child of mine would be blessed when it came to their demonic form. You’d put several dukes in Hell to shame, River.”
“That is pretty badass,” Charley yawned.
I liked Charley, but she always had this ability to look utterly bored while she was doing all this amazing magic, and when she was done, she was going to curl up right there on the floor and take a nap. She was also pretty twisted in a way I could appreciate. She wasn’t as psycho as Solron, but I knew if I pissed her off and she directed her magic at me, I’d probably be walking around with my dick on my forehead.
That was true. And Pavlina couldn’t like the sweet cats either. When she wanted a new pet, she’d always go to the shelter and pick the meanest one that no one else wanted. They’d eventually bond with Pavlina, but they hated everyone else. They would randomly attack all over the castle until Hades told her she couldn’t keep her pets here anymore because