The bar was darker than the woods and filled with beards. Mostly they are long and grey with one lonely goatee. Clearly, it belongs to a hiker from the south, judging from the rolled-up skinny jeans and tech pad things scattered on the table. He does seem a bit on guard around the grizzled old men. Honestly, it is cute. I will make sure they do not play with him like cats with their prey.
It seemed like everyone was pairing off and making families of their own. Then there was me, always alone. I never realized how much I longed to be truly loved. I wanted to be someone’s first choice. I wanted that earth-shaking, heart-fulfilling love that everyone else seemed to find. Even if I ultimately had my heart broken, the need was so great that without it, I felt…hollow.
“Really? Another hissy fit?” Luke said as he turned his back to me.
I screamed out my frustration and transformed into my Gorgon. “Stop calling it that!” I screeched. Sometimes, my skin felt tight when emotions were running high, and I just needed to let go. Let myself change and scream, screaming helped.
“The little wind nymphs come and hide here. They are annoying and mischievous, but not harmful. They like to whistle loudly and make the leaves spin and dance. It scares the littlest creatures. I approached them, but they didn’t understand me, so I have been guiding the little creatures away from their chaotic tendencies.”
Perhaps I was giving in to the dramatics I had come to love from mortal media. But there was something about his startled cry when he saw me sitting in the near dark, playing an athame between my fingers that made me almost giddy.
I release my anger, directing it towards the table instead of my family is the only concession I can make. I melt the metal in the screws and the brackets. They fall to the floor as molten liquid, hissing as they hit the carpet. The table collapses with a crash, depositing some of my siblings on the floor. Moxie’s coffee falls and the cup bounces, sending her drink pouring out. Eris’s feet remain in the air as if the table is still in place. They look at the scene, moderately interested.
The power rose inside me as the man’s anger and hate boiled over. I needed that as a reminder of who and what I was. That feeling I’d felt back at the house was something I didn’t understand and had never before experienced. It was strong and filled me with a calming peace. Because I couldn’t continue that interaction with the detective without interruption, I felt it best to replace those emotions with the two that gave me purpose.
I want to cry and can feel the pinpricks of tears behind my eyes, but I won’t give them the satisfaction. Whoever those bastards are, they won’t win. They will pay, though. I mean it. Revenge will be mine. As I sit up, my shoulders slump, failure a bitter taste in my mouth.
As it steps into the light, I am unsurprised to see an automaton of the fabled Minotaur.
I could only shake my head in disbelief. “No, I’m not going to sue my family. I’m going to save my family, or at least I’m going to try. I need to find out what’s come over the complex. Something dark is around us, and now is not the time of year for this to be happening. We need to find some answers.”
I hadn’t talked to her in two years, ever since I sent her back to her husband. The sound of her voice still made my heart race, and I was flooded with memories of times past when things had been good between us. But this was hardly the time for a trip down memory lane. “This isn’t a good time, Aphrodite,” I whispered.
“The River Lethe… ah yes. Remember those days? You claim such neglect, but back when our family all lived together, in what is now known as the Underworld, you were singled out for such a great honour. You were given the patronage of one of a body of water in the darkest domain. Each one has such weight and importance, and one was named for you.”
It is with deep regret that I, Tia Angelos, deliver this letter of resignation to the Revolt House of Boston, Massachusetts.
The mere thought of this made me bubble like a cauldron with excitement!
I turned to look at him. Calix and Rommel were just behind Dionysos as we had been saying our goodbyes. “There has been an oil spill off the Californian shore. I need to get back to Nymphaeum and see what I can do to help.”
New Beginnings 
A Reprimand 
The Secret in Silence, Part III 
Interrogation Doesn’t Break Ice 
Stealing A Moment 
Making a Mark 
When It Hits The Fan 
A Goddess Down 
An Explosive Mystery 
