Tina frowned, annoyed with how quickly the exchange had devolved. She didn’t answer, instead choosing to allow the princes to continue bickering, more curious than anything else to see how they would handle the situation. It would tell her a lot about their character to see how they handled bad news.
Draven shrugged, the first few buttons on his shirt open, tempting her to run her hands along his gorgeous chest. “Maybe you should give us each a week. It’s hard to get to know us well one day at a time.”
Killian bristled. “Gentlemen, that’s enough. Tina’s making the choices here, not you.”
Zane nodded. “I agree. Back off, guys.”
“But—” Draven and Flynn said in unison.
“Stop it, all of you!” Tina shouted, having let this play out long enough.
Draven groaned. “Tina, please, just listen to me.”
Frowning, Tina stood and glared down at the princes who were already ignoring her rules. “This is my contest. You only participate if I allow you to, and you’re not impressing me right now.”
Draven’s jaw clicked shut, and he bowed his head in surrender. “I apologize.”
She shifted her gaze to Flynn, who also bowed his head in defeat. “I, too, am sorry. I merely hoped—”
“Don’t even start, Flynn.” She glared at the demigod, silently daring him to continue. She didn’t want to send someone home on the first day, but she would.
He sighed and crossed his arms, finally conceding to her.
“You four will draw straws,” she repeated, her tone firm and unwavering.
“I’ll go find something we can use,” Killian said, bowing deeply to her before he jogged out into the hallway. It took a few minutes for Killian to procure a straw from the kitchen, but he came back with one he cut into four short stems with slightly different sizes.
The four remaining princes drew their straws from her hands, though Draven tried to peek into her palm for an advantage. She smacked his hand, but he merely winked. “Had to try.”
She chuckled and shooed him away. “Troublemaker.”
When the last straw was picked, Tina brushed her hands off on her skirts. “Very well. The order will be Anthony, Draven, Flynn, and then my day off. After that, it’s Killian, Zane, and my second day off.” With that finally settled, she let out a small sigh of relief. Reining in these men would be a challenge. “On your day with me, we don’t leave the temple grounds unless you ask me first. I’m still getting used to this whole people-want-me-dead thing, and I want to stay in familiar territory for a while.”
“Understandable,” Killian said, glancing around the temple like he was looking for possible intruders.
“Lastly, ‘no’ means no regardless of what you’re asking me to do. Respect my boundaries. If anyone pisses me off, I will send you packing, and you, as well as your kingdom, will be out of the running.”
Draven grinned. “Keep you happy. Got it.”
“We’ll start with a group dinner tomorrow to kick everything off, and my first day with Anthony will happen the following morning. Understood?”
The men murmured in agreement as Tina set her hands in her lap, studying the princes’ faces. Each of them tensed in small ways, in the jaw or by the eye, as if they were trying to figure out how to word what they wanted to say. Killian opened his mouth as if to speak, but he didn’t say a word.
Flynn took a step forward, his dominating frame commanding attention as he spoke. “We will do our best to honor your wishes, Tina. I am not my father.”
Tina offered him a slight smile, too exhausted to do more. From what she had seen so far, Flynn seemed like a good man and true leader, and she was grateful for his kindness.
A flicker of worry snaked its way through her brain as she wondered if she would have to think about more than her own happiness in this arrangement.
Do I have to pick the man who’s best able to lead? With my magic, he’ll have an advantage over the others. Does who I pick matter on a global level?
Hot damn, that was a lot to think about. She didn’t know much about politics and lines of succession, but it all seemed like a heavy burden to place on herself after the day she’d had. It could wait.
For now, she let herself enjoy the view. The five mouth-watering men in front of her stoked the embers in her soul, riling up the goddess fused with her body. Warmth shot down her thighs, and a longing ache slithered through the space between her legs. She blushed, but only slightly.
Bit by bit, she was growing accustomed to the impulses and needs this goddess threw at her. And soon, she might not be able to tell her own desires from Damara’s.
The thought brought a playful smile to her lips.
13
Tina
Tina paced the small room that was generously deemed as Epara’s library, though honestly it was barely more than a few bookshelves set against the wall of a ten-by-ten-foot room.
She ran her finger along the spines, wondering which, if any, of the books would help her learn the most about her newfound powers. It was crucial that she get the hang of her magic before anyone else came to kick down her door. Five pissed kings were enough, thanks, and she needed to be a lot stronger before she met with any of them again.
One title caught her eye: The First Hosts of Damara.
Even though it was a pretty lame title, Tina shrugged. “Might as well start at the beginning.”
She plucked the thin red tome from the shelf and sat in a nearby armchair by the only window, which gave her a perfect view out at her beautiful gardens. A magnificent pool of water stretched out toward an expansive green field. A raised walkway cut through the lily pads in the lake below, the path lined with stone lanterns every few feet. In the distance, a thick growth of twisted trees and a canopy of emerald leaves blocked the horizon.
All hers.
With a happy sigh, Tina sank into the chair and cracked the cover. She scanned the first few pages to find artfully drawn portraits, one to each page, each featuring a different beautiful woman. Some wore sheer gowns with plunging necklines, while others wore elaborate dresses lined with gold and jewels. Their eyes seemed to follow Tina as she passed, their mischievous grins hinting at secrets she couldn’t wait to learn.
Tina read the footnotes aloud, mostly to keep herself company. “These are the previous women Damara has fused with.” She ran a finger over the portraits and continued reading. “Damara has been to our world hundreds of times over the millennia, sometimes under different names. Each time she comes to Earth, she also brings immense power.”
She flipped the page, eyes still scanning the text. “Most humans don’t know much about the gods and goddesses, even to this day, which is a shame, considering how the gods and goddesses prefer to merge with humans over shifters and demigods.”
Tina blinked in surprise as she processed that last note. She scanned the small library, biting her lip as she realized what it meant. “Damara chose me. I thought it transferred to me when I touched Amy, but Damara must have chosen to fuse with me instead of Amy when offered the choice. Wow.”
A warm-fuzzy kind of feeling swam through her, a beautiful blend of gratitude and mischief. With a grin, she patted her own abdomen, grateful for the goddess who had given her such a killer new life.
Tina dove back into the book, eager to see what else she could learn. After scanning a few chapters of nothing but names and dates, she finally came to something interesting.
“Many humans over the centuries have asked why gods fuse with an earthly body at all. This is because their homeworld is in a dimension very unlike Earth, and they cannot exist in our world as their natural selves. They need a vessel to exist here and experience the pleasures our world offers, many of which don’t exist in their dimension. In exchange, they bring their power and wisdom to us. It’s a true merging where two souls become one for a time.”
Tina set down the book and absently tapped her cheek with a finger. “The more I learn about you,” she said to the goddess sharing her body, “the cooler you get.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Zane said from behind her.