Monster Whisperer - J.B. Trepagnier Page 0,53

army. Someone let me out of here because I wanted to start killing people right this minute. I could stay trapped in my minotaur a little while longer as long as I got to crack some heads.

“So, first things first. I’ve been talking to all of you, and I’ve gotten to know you. I’ve come to care for you. I want to see your faces. Let’s use this magic so I can see you.”

Well, fuck. Maybe killing people could wait. I wanted my baby bird to see me because I was really starting to love this woman.

Chapter 39

River

I

t felt like I had done something significant. I tricked a fucking Goddess and got another God on our side. I knew they weren’t Gods and Goddesses. They were just people from another realm, but fuck if I knew what they were. They decided to take that label and just own it. I didn’t know what else to call them.

Whatever Demeter was, I owned her. She still had that key around her neck, but I knew the truth about those collars now, and I could use some of Hephaestus’s magic on a few of them.

Instead of just talking to me, Cerberus started running circles around Hades with all three of his heads barking. I could communicate with animals telepathically, but I could never interpret barks, meows, or other animal noises. Hades seemed to know what exactly that meant.

“Before we do any of this, I need to send for clothes. There will be a lot of nudity when they are no longer trapped as monsters.”

“I don’t mind if you take a peek, baby bird.”

“It would be a perfect time for our naked swim, my pet.”

“Oh, shut up. I’m hotter than all of you and don’t care who sees me naked. Hades has always been a prude,” Pavlina said.

“I’m prettier than all of you, and you know it,” Demos said.

Monsters and their egos. Still, I could admit I was curious about what they looked like when they weren’t monsters. I already liked all of them way more than I should, even Demos. I was dying to look them in a face that resembled mine.

Just then, Hades got a phone call that perked him right up.

“I have to take this. I’ll be back with clothes.”

Hades rushed out of the prison. I couldn’t imagine who was on the other line who had him so excited. He was excited enough for me to think Persephone was on the phone, but I knew that was impossible. Demeter just wasn’t that nice to give her daughter a cell phone while she held her hostage.

“I’ll admit, you did good, River. Hephaestus normally doesn’t get involved in God business after the way they treated him,” Demos said.

“I can’t believe they called him ugly and deformed over a limp I barely noticed. He looks like a supermodel.”

“Their type think you should send yourself to the pits of Tartarus over something like that. They think you should die if your perfection gets marred. Hades and Persephone aren’t like that,” Tryphon said.

“They may have adopted the label Gods and Goddesses, but they’re mostly arrogant children. Who do you think Hades is talking to? He never gets that excited unless it’s Persephone.” Pavlina said.

“Maybe it’s Hephaestus? He gave me something to communicate with him on.”

Demos just laughed.

“Hephaestus won’t have left his volcano to get a cell phone. I don’t know who that is, but it’s not him.”

Hades finally came back in with three servants carrying clothes.

“We will have a visitor. Someone River has been wanting to meet.”

Oh, shit, was I about to meet my father? What would I even say to him? I wasn’t even sure I was ready to find out what I was.

“First things first. Let’s help my wife’s bodyguards. I had to give your father the secret back entrance to the Underworld, so Demeter doesn’t find out.”

I was closest to Kimon. Hephaestus told me how to use the vial. Kimon was over seven feet tall, so this would be awkward.

“Can you—maybe put your—Can you bend down a little?”

Kimon bent his head, and I left a small drop spill on the collar. There was this sizzling sound, and it looked like a ring of fire erupted from his neck, but it didn’t seem like it burnt him. I stoppered the vial and stood back. I was still looking at a minotaur.

Kimon blew smoke out of his nose.

“Are you ready to meet me, baby bird?”

I touched his chest.

“Yes, I am.”

Kimon shimmered, and suddenly, I was