“I know this is beyond your understanding, despite that you’re gods,” I said softly. “You wouldn’t know what true love, devotion, and loyalty were even if they all hit you in your arrogant, insufferable faces. The thing is, my mates will always choose me, as I’ll always choose them, all of them.”
“You can’t have them all,” Hades snapped. “We’re gracious enough to let you have three of the demigods and walk away with them. You’re only one woman. Marriage should be between one man and one woman. We, the original gods, are the law of the universe, and we frown upon polygamy.”
I narrowed my eyes. Weren’t these hypocrites full of contradictory shit?
That’s right. The gods had one partner in marriage according to the law, so they just went around raping women who caught their eyes and refused their sexual advances. I’d give them a piece of my mind as soon as I could extract my mates.
A ray of light shone in my mind, and an idea formed.
When I watched the naked succubi and nymphs advance toward my mates through the spyglass, I’d wanted to charge into every room where each of my mates was placed at the same time. I’d felt a rush of power beating in me when I thought of splitting myself into several Marigolds to handle the situation.
“So one woman can claim only one man in your ideal world?” I asked.
Hades’s eyes sparked with dark amusement and vile intention. He enjoyed playing the cat and mouse game with me.
“Unless you can slice the pie and produce four of you.” He winked, and the others chortled as if sharing an inside joke. “Then each of you can take home a mate.”
“Are your words binding as much as Zeus’?” I asked coolly.
He set a trap for me, and I’d love to return the favor.
“I’m the Lord of the Underworld,” Hades hissed haughtily at my challenge. “My words are gold.”
I roared, and my fury and magical command ricocheted off the walls and arose from the abyss.
“Stop it!” Zeus shouted, but he couldn’t seal my voice. I was the firstborn of a Titan, just like him, plus I had extra juice from Hell and Heaven. No god could silence me.
Power blasted out of me. The gods instantly formed a shield around themselves, but I wasn’t attacking them.
Pain tore through me, and hot and cold tears burned my eyes, blurring my vision until I saw stars.
When the pain and tears passed, three new Marigolds had appeared beside me, and they all looked exactly like me, from my lavender hair to the hidden dagger in my boot. Each of me linked an arm around one of my mates, who stared at the various Marigolds with wide eyes.
“This awesome male is mine,” each Marigold declared. “I’m claiming him.”
Silence stunned the entire dome, shutting up the gods and the Titans.
“You cheating whore!” Ares shouted, breaking the shocked silence. He was never a good sport. The dude forever carried a loser mentality.
“An abomination of the universe,” Poseidon barked, waking up from his stupor. “Aberrant of all nature and laws.”
“We’re leaving, cock lickers,” all the Marigolds said in unison.
“You’re not leaving, demon spawn!” Zeus thundered, believing he was the ultimate law and righteousness and all. “You’ll never leave this prison.”
The gods had gone back on their words in front of everyone. They readied their weapons again.
“Eat shit, you lying cocksuckers!” we roared.
Our powers collided, and my mates charged the gods, brandishing their blades, ready to cut down any force that tried to harm me. With or without their demigod powers, they weren’t afraid of the original gods—their mighty fathers.
My mates were worthy warriors through and through.
The gods’ merged powers—tidal waves like icy blades, piercing lightning, and dark fire hotter than the inferno—slammed into the four of me. With my quadrupled shield covering us and my mates, I sent out my own airwaves and ice and fire.
My power held.
Ares sprang past the original gods toward me, his spear shaft aiming toward my heart. The sneaky scumbag tried to finish me off while I was engaged with his father and uncles. Zak, Axel, and Héctor lunged and intercepted him, their blades whistling through the air and crashing into the war god’s spear.