Reconciliation by Lisa Oliver

Prologue

(From the Epilogue of When Three Points Collide – Ra’s story)

Montana

“What are you doing?” Sitting in a dingy bar, a half empty beer glass set on the table in front of him, Seth muttered as he scowled at the map on his phone. “Don’t tell me you’re having a damn party without me?”

Seth had a lot of time on his hands since he’d been banished, and he’d spent a lot of that time working on how to get the most out of his phone, so he could keep an eye on Ra. He was worried, when Ra had first sent him away, that his access to the amazing app service on the phone, called Paulie after Zeus’s mate, wouldn’t work for him on earth. But no, Paulie had been surprisingly helpful, including giving Seth access to a new app that showed where all the gods were at any one time.

There were a lot of dots around Ra’s avatar which was depicted as his golden sun headdress – red, blue and even a couple of green ones. Every instinct in Seth’s body demanded he go there – stand by Ra’s side, protecting the man as he’d done for most of his life.

But he couldn’t.

All because of that fucking wolf, and that stuck up vampire. Seth refused to call them Ra’s mates. He knew paranormals had them – they were incessantly annoying about the whole concept. Some wolves, and Seth refused to think of any one in particular, would leave people who were devoted to them, just because someone else came along who apparently smelled good. A whole heap of fucking nonsense.

The last person Seth expected to fall into the mating trap was Ra. Sure, other gods were all ridiculously besotted with various shifters – I mean, who ever dreamed the Lord of the Underworld would be twisted around the finger of a chipmunk? But it was as if there was some contagious element in the godly waters – previously proudly promiscuous gods were falling for one specific shifter, staying faithful, raising families, and they are happy about it.

Including Ra. Seth rubbed the ache in his chest. He knew how faithless wolves could be, and there had been nothing he’d read in the months since he’d been banished, that suggested vampires were any better. Hell, some of them claimed to be mated, but they still fed from random strangers. Where’s the loyalty in that?

Worry and anger were now Seth’s constant companions. In a way, he didn’t blame his father for taking up with two sexy beasts. Ra had spent centuries alone, and Seth did think getting laid would do Ra some good – boost his mood. But no, his stupid father had to turn around and mark his companions, and worse he let them mark him.

His growl sounded loud, and Seth looked up, checking the room, not that there were many people in the dingy bar to notice him. It was late afternoon, and Seth was in his typical spot, tucked up in a corner of a biker bar he found the first day he’d been kicked out of his home realm. Ra’s platitudes, about getting a job and learning about humanity were steadfastly ignored. The powers he’d been left with were enough for him to get by. It wasn’t as though Seth had any intention of creating a successful life out of his time spent in banishment. I’ll be home soon enough, he thought as he sat brooding over the dots showing in Ra’s home.

Six o’clock, on the dot, a figure appeared in front of his table. Seth barely gave the burly biker a second glance. “You got something for me?” he grunted, shutting down the app on his phone.

“A hundred bucks a win, up to six fights for the night.” The biker hitched his belt buckle over his sagging belly. The belt buckle was a depiction of the Grim Reaper complete with scythe. Seth really hoped that when the biker, and no, he hadn’t bothered to remember his name, but when the biker did meet an untimely end, that Thanatos knew enough to turn up and show him what the real Grim Reaper looked like.

But Seth had some anger issues to work through and the biker he’d met on his first night on earth had proven useful in helping with that. Draining his glass, Seth slapped it on the table, dropping a crumpled ten dollar note beside it. “Let’s get on with it then,” he said as he stood up. I might even treat myself to one of those fancy hotels tonight. Seth sauntered out of the bar. After all, his six hundred dollars was guaranteed. In his long existence, Seth had never lost a fight to anyone – Horus does not count – and he wasn’t about to start now.