“Um, I don’t think it was Gola,” Zac said. “There’s a tiny inscription at the bottom that reads: Zac, hope you enjoy. XOXO – M.”
“Minky! Dammit.” That was low.
Chuckling, Zac got up and cupped her face. “Tula, you could have a tattoo of Gola on your back, and I still wouldn’t think you were any less beautiful.”
Her heart swelled. “I’m so happy I found you, Zac. But I’m definitely getting it removed.”
“Whatever you want, my love.” He pushed her back down on the bed. “All I care about is being with you. Forever.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“I call this summit of the gods to order.” Ixtab, who had her long dark hair in a topknot and wore a fire-retardant gray suit, rapped her gavel on the plastic fold-out table. “Everyone settle down. We have a very full agenda.”
Now that Ixy had exchanged suicide for sunshine, she was in charge of the House of Gods, per tradition. Mostly because each day started and ended with the sun. Seemed appropriate to have each meeting start and end that way, too.
Zac, who sat at the far end of the table, raised his hand. “I need to add a topic to the agenda.”
Tula, who was walking around the table serving iced tea, blew Zac a kiss. Normally, mates and non-immortals weren’t allowed in these meetings, but since she was the only one who knew how to work the projector here in the office, an exception was made. Also, things were so chaotic now, with all the powers being switched up, that everyone was eager just to get things figured out.
Ixy looked at Zac. “Um, let me guess, you want to petition to have Tula given the light of the gods?”
“How’d you know?” Zac asked.
“Um, because you’re madly in love, and we all received the wedding invitations that say ‘Tula, the soon-to-be-immortal demigoddess.’”
Zac shrugged. “I’m the God of Male Virility now. And men are decisive. I make no apologies for it.”
Ixy rolled her eyes. “As if you weren’t cocky enough before.”
“Can I get an answer?” Zac pushed.
“Yes. Yes. Fine. Everyone in favor of making Tula a demigoddess raise your hand.”
Everyone around the table raised their hands.
“And no one is opposed.” Ixy rapped her gavel. “Let the records show it was a unanimous vote. Zac, you may take Tula to our realm and gift her the light of the gods.”
Zac flashed a proud smile at Tula, who looked like a deer in headlights. I bet she wasn’t expecting that. But it would be his wedding gift to her. When they said I do, it was going to be forever.
Zac winked at his speechless Tula. “We can celebrate after at the cocktail party that Votan kindly has planned for us.”
“Zac, can we please move on? Lots to cover,” Ixy said. “Now, first order of business. How is the closure of the demon portals coming along?”
Cimil stood from her chair, wearing a camo shirt and pants. It was really strange seeing her in something non-eccentric, but she was really taking her role as God of Death and War to heart. “As leader of our army, I am pleased to report all remaining portals have been sealed. We caught several demons trying to sneak back in while we were working, but they were taken care of.”
K’ak stood and concurred. He wasn’t hearing any chatter in the future of more demons slipping in.
“Excellent,” said Ixy. “Oh, side note, I did get an email from Maury. He says he hates you all and will never give up. Demons will rise again.”
“How’d he get internet access?” Colel, ex-Goddess of Bees, now Goddess of Wine, asked.
“We haven’t figured that out yet,” Cimil replied, “but our Uchben IT guys think one of the cell phone companies helped them develop some sort of interdimensional wireless technology.”
“Well, we all know how evil cell phone companies are, so this makes sense,” said Ixy.
The gods all concurred.
Ixy added, “Oh, and Gola says hi to Zac and Tula. No hard feelings.”
“Hard to hold a grudge against a woman who’d do anything for love,” Tula said.
“How so?” asked Zac.
“Gola was so into him. Didn’t you notice?” Tula asked.
A memory of Gola flashed in Zac’s mind. She’d had the look of love in her eyes that night at the bonfire. Zac thought it had been for him—a possible sign that Tula was inside that body—however, looking back, Gola had mentioned that Maury had just been there. The look in her eyes had been for the king.
“And moving on.” Ixy glanced at the portable projector screen behind her, where the agenda was displayed. “Any progress on how to restore the immortals who were altered in the first blast?”
Votan spoke up. “As of yet, only unicorns, the one hellhound, and K’ak are able to cross freely from the underworld. The rest are still stuck. Poor things.” K’ak was still getting the hang of slipping in and out of the underworld. Apparently, it was more of a telepathic thing rather than a physical voyage. Thank the gods I didn’t end up with that gift. Strange as fuck.