The Gypsy Luna's Beginning

Chapter 10 - Eye To Eye

Julia

My entire surroundings were on fire with evil souls everywhere constantly moving, heating the Earth's core with their never-ending tasks. Every demon you could possibly imagine was keeping them in line, not allowing a second of rest.

Oh how I loathed being down here, surrounded by all of the burning hatred and negativity. I could feel it latching onto my skin like tiny parasites desperate to make their way into my heart and mind.

I wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of here, no pun intended. But if I couldn't even force myself to do this simple task, there's no way that I could go through with anything else that will need to be done. I put my big girl panties on this morning, and I had to prove to myself that I was woman enough to handle whatever happened.

I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths in and out, finding my determination and the loud voice that I knew would be like nails being dragged on a blackboard to him.

"DIS! HELL-OOOO! HADES, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"What in the actual f***k do you want, Julia?" It didn't take long for him to appear in front of me after I heard his deep disgruntled voice. He had an extremely irritated look plastered across his face, but that didn't bother me as much as the condition in which he let himself slip.

I shook my head as I looked Dis up and down. His eyes were always black, but they were more sunken in with dark rings around them. His normally well kept short black hair was growing out and in desperate need of grooming. His well defined jawline was hidden by a thick black scraggly beard that needed to be removed. And I swear he must be losing weight, as his Godly body didn't look as muscular as it should have. No, this won't do at all.

"Oh, you know me. I heard rumors that you're spiraling out of control and I just had to see it for myself."

"So THAT'S why I've had all of the visitors lately." Dis hissed out the word visitors with pure disdain dripping from his tongue.

"I'm guessing everyone else was just pretending to care, saying they wanted to see how you were holding up? Don't worry Dis, I don't give a sh.it. I just wanted to see if the rumors were actually true." I winked at him with an evil smile, making sure I played my role to perfection.

Dis crossed his arms over his chest, and I could tell this patience with me was already gone. "And?"

I let out a rude, annoyed snort and shook my head. "And you look like sh.it, that's all."

"You can f***k off, Julia."

"You need a woman. You've been down here for far too long! This negativity is eating away at you."

"Look around you! There's plenty of women for the taking!" Dis lifted his arms up and slowly spun in a complete circle, showing off his possessions with pride and stopping once he turned back to face me with a sinister grin. "I could even have you. If I wanted, that is."

The thought sent a chill throughout my body that I didn't allow him to see. Instead, I walked up to him with a seductive smile as I lightly ran my finger down his chest. "Try it and I'll make sure both of your outies become innies. Both of them, Dis. And then I'll have my way with you."

Dis let out a chuckle after I bopped his nose with my finger when I said 'you' and stood face to face with him, challenging him to make his next move.

"Ignoring the fact you know about both of my members, how do you think your mate would feel about that?" The smile on his face grew, and the sparkle in his eye returned for just a brief second.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Dis."

"Bullshit you don't fu.cking know what I'm talking about, Julia. Fenrir has an animal counterpart to be able to have a mate bond. He's been hot on your heels like a lovesick puppy since he laid eyes on you. There's no way that he didn't let you feel the bond at some point in time, even a little. So don't give me that load of sh.it, Julia. I don't know what's worse. Someone like me who kidnaps for love, and loses it. Or someone like you who has it at her fingertips and plays around with it. At least Persephone and I did love each other, I was faithful to her. But you? Do you even care for Fenrir?"

That fu.cking Devil. He knew just what to say to make it feel like he was actually stabbing a hot poker into someone's guts. But this wasn't about me, I wasn't here for that. And I had to quickly turn this around before I let my emotions show.

I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat and put a smile on my face as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Are you jealous?"

Dis' eyes widened as he slightly tilted his head sideways. "Come again? I swear you just told me that I was jealous?"

"Your looks may have gone to sh.it, but at least you can still hear. You're jealous. You never had that bond with Persephone. You were so desperate for love that you kidnapped her."

"With Zeus' blessing."

I scoffed and waved my hand, dismissing that name completely. "Don't get me started on that licentious prick. His blessing means nothing! You and Seph may have fallen in love with each other in the end, you may have even been faithful for the most part, but you two didn't have that strong connection that your heart craves."

I could tell my words were eating away at him as he glared at me, arms still defensively crossed over his chest as if he were protecting his heart.

"Dis, what if I told you that you could have that? That connection?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, and I knew I had to plant this seed and leave before I either got kicked out, or worse, made to stay for eternity as his dark witch.

"Make your point quick, Julia. I don't have the patience for your mind games."

"A wolf will be born that will be strong enough to stand by your side. A true born with the gift of elemental powers. You're a God, Dis. You can make a mortal feel the bond if you so wish."

"When?" Dis' tone wasn't nearly as impatient and irritated as it had just been, and I knew that I had him hooked.

I placed my hand on my hips and rolled my eyes, pretending to be irritated to cover up the relief I was feeling. "You know I don't know that."

"Then how will I know when she comes into existence?"

I clicked my tongue in false impatience as I turned around and started to walk away from him, hoping to drag out his interest as much as possible. "Don't play stupid, Dis. You know you'll be able to feel her energy."

"What's the catch?"

I stopped and spun around to glare at him. "Geesh! I tell you one thing, and it's non-stop questions from you! For f***k's sake!"

"Julia ......."

"Fine! She's going to be born into Gypsy Moon, so you'll need to figure out how to get her, and you'll need to do it before she finds her actual mate. Which, she'll be a True Born, so ...."

Dis started rubbing the back of his neck, and I could tell that he was deep in thought. "So that could literally happen once she's born if they happen to be around each other. Gypsy isn't a huge pack, but they're powerful. It'll be in my favor that they don't like to fight unless they have to, and they're sympathetic to a sob story. I should be able to figure something out relatively easily enough." I was pretty sure he was talking more to himself instead of to me, but then he stopped rubbing his neck to look me in the eyes. "But, why are you telling me this? What's in it for you?"

I placed my hand on my chin and started lightly rubbing my finger across it as if I was contemplating how to word what I was about to say. Little did he know, I had gone over multiple answers in my head before I even arrived. "Hmmmm. Well, there's no point in trying to sugar coat this. I think it's for the best interest of the world if the God of Hell doesn't get taken over by those he's supposed to control. I honestly don't like the alternative choices for your position. How about that? Is that honest enough?" It was partially true, though he didn't know what parts and how true they were.

"Fair enough. But just one more question before you leave, and I'll make it quick. I thought witches were the same as vampires and fairies?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You've aged, Julia. More so than you should have. What's going on?" I sighed in relief for many reasons, at least on the inside. Everything was playing out exactly as I hoped it would.

"You have a horrible way with women, Dis. You're going to want to work on that." With those being my last words, I left as the sound of his laughter echoed in my head.

Once I was home, I immediately put a pot of water on the stove and went to my cupboards to gather ingredients to make a tea to rid my body of the negativity it absorbed while being down there. I was completely aware I wasn't alone, but I didn't have time to waste.

"What do you want, Selene?"

"What games are you playing, Julia?"

I turned around as Selene appeared in the entranceway to my small kitchen, and I was ready to play dumb and innocent yet again. "I don't have the foggiest clue what you're talking about, Selene!"

Selene scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest, her diamond eyes glaring at me. "Stop being so damned stubborn! Your tricks may work on Fenrir, but they'll never work on me. So, tell me what's going on in that mind of yours."

"Why? So you can rat me out to Fenrir and the two of you can plot together for your stupid mate bond pairings and undermine me? Thanks, but no thanks. I'm going to be giving up too much for this, and I'm not going to let anything stand in my way. Understand?"

Selene's body language relaxed as a soft smile appeared on her face, no doubt trying to get me to do the same. "Believe me Julia, I know. Did you forget that I can see into the future myself?"

"Oh, I know you can! That's why you cursed Fenrir with being my mate! Being older than him does NOT mean you're wiser!"

Selene gasped as her eyes widened so much that I swear they could have lit the room if I turned off the lights. "Julia! It's not a curse! Being in love is a wonderful thing if you would just open your heart to it!"

"And that's exactly why I'm doing this!" I exclaimed with more emotion than I intended as I used my hand to tap my chest.

A few quiet seconds passed between Selene and I. It must have been an amusing site, a grey-haired supreme and a black-haired Goddess having a stare down.

Finally, Selene caved first. "Look, Julia. We have a common goal. Now let's sit down and discuss things like the women we are. No drama. No bullsh.it. Then I'll see what exactly I can do to ensure the best outcome."

I nodded my head in agreement, but not submission. "Fine, but I need to make a good amount of tea first. Last thing I need is for this sludge to consume me and turn me into a dark witch."

"I was worried about that myself. I'd been waiting for you for quite a while."

"I guess the least I could do is be hospitable since you invited yourself into my home, huh? Would you like me to make you anything?"

Selene smiled and shook her head. "No thank you. I've seen what your tea can do. I may be willing to work with you, but it doesn't mean that I trust you. And I won't drink your alcohol since I did come unannounced, that's just rude."

I sighed as the pot of water started whistling, letting me know it was done. For a moment, I felt at one with the screaming hot object, as that's exactly how I felt on the inside. As I poured the water into my cup I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, thinking about what Aisling's reaction will be when she hears about all of this.