39 Coming Clean

39 Coming Clean

Lili gently woke me up when it was time for us to leave. I opened my eyes and saw that my head was tucked into her belly as it rested on her lap. The warm smile on her face let me know that she didn't mind being a lap pillow for me and I surely didn't mind her doing it.

“Thanks for looking out for me.” I said and slowly sat up. I was only about half-healed, so I had to refrain from casting a cleaning spell to clean the dirt from my suit.

Lili saw my grimace and chuckled as she whispered that I had to do things the normal way for once and helped me pat the suit down and we shook most of the loose dirt off. I stood up and we did my pants, then we walked out of the Hephaestus Familia's compound. The passing guard waved to us and we waved back.

“Did anyone ask about me?” I asked her.

“Did you expect them to?” Lili asked me with a knowing smile.

I chuckled at her evading the answer. “You're going to tease me about it until I figure out who it was, aren't you?”

“Relentlessly.” Lili said with a huge smile.

I laughed and put an arm over her shoulders. “Go ahead. We have quite a walk ahead of us.”

Lili did and her verbal jabs and teasing was pretty good and never strayed into being mean. I complimented her on keeping it clean like that and she laughed and complained about how difficult that was. I figured out that both Tsubaki and Hephaestus had come out to check on me and they left with Lili's reassurances that Tsubaki's amulet was doing its job well.

We made it to the shop Hestia worked at and all of the customers were talking about the explosion that rocked the city that morning. Hestia saw us and waved us aside as she whispered that she only had a few minutes left before she could leave.

A few minutes later, her boss told her that she was done working her shift and sold her a large bag of discount potato snacks that Hestia paid for with the tips she earned that day. That made the man smile, because Hestia always did that and made sure the money she spent went to him first. The three of us left the shop and were quiet until we left the main street.

“What did you do?” Hestia asked me.

I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant and she reached out and poked my belly. A sharp pain shot through me and I flinched, then I sighed at being caught out so easily.

“You're walking like you're crossing dangerous ground and you're trying to be quiet.” Lili told me.

“I wasn't sure how to describe it, Lili. That was a great way! Thank you.” Hestia praised her.

Lili blushed slightly and nodded to her.

“So.” Hestia looked up at my face. “Go ahead and tell me.”Fôll0w current novÊls on n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(co/m)

I sighed again and looked around as I took the chance to cast a detection spell. I winced and found three people following us and shook my head. “We have extra ears around.”

Lili quickly took my hand and Hestia's and we veered off the street and went down an alleyway. We ducked through a basement walkway and came out onto another street, then we jogged for a minute and entered an abandoned building. Lili placed us beside the wall and out of sight before she nodded to me.

I cast another spell with a wince and whispered where the remaining person was. We had lost the other two, thankfully. Lili nodded and drew her dagger. I reached out and placed a hand on hers and gave her a sharp nod of permission to kill him if necessary. She nodded back and left us there alone.

Ten minutes later, Lili carried a trussed up scruffy man with several bleeding wounds into the building. She dropped the man at our feet and kicked him in the gut. Neither Hestia nor I asked her why she was upset with the man, because we could clearly see the dirty handprint on the front of her dress.

“He dies for that.” I whispered to her.

Lili looked into my eyes and she nodded at the resolve she saw there. She stepped back from the source of her ire and let me kneel by the captured man.

I held my hand out for her dagger and Lili handed it to me without a word. “My Goddess Hestia, please close your eyes and cover your ears.” I said and she did so and turned around as well. “You will tell us why you're following us.”

The man barked a laugh. “You'll never make me taAHHH!”

I had interrupted his defiance with a dagger to his upper thigh. I pulled it out and moved it down an inch. “Let's try that again. Why are you following us?”

“Do your worsSSAAAHHH!” The man yelled.

“If she had approached me by walking up, I wouldn't have reacted like I did. She just appeared within arms reach and I swung around as I drew my weapon, because I assumed it was an attack. She was dead before either of us could blink.” I explained.

“That's what that bright light was the other day. No one could figure out who was missing from the normal meeting circles.” Hestia said, her face showing a thoughtful look.

“Which Freya would have missed if she usually stays in her rooms and doesn't interact with the other gods on a regular basis.” I said with a nod. “I wonder what will happen to her Familia now?”

“Nothing.” Hestia said and I raised my eyebrows at her. “They are all fully devoted to her and would never consider defecting to join another Familia. Their skills and abilities are locked unless they do join someone else, so the Freya Familia is essentially disbanded without being officially disbanded.”

“What should I do with her body?” I asked, just out of curiosity.

“You still have it?” Both Lili and Hestia asked at the same time. They had seen me get rid of a body already and knew I didn't have to leave remains if I didn't want to.

“Technically.” I said with a smirk and finished off the potato treat.

“Bell!” Both women exclaimed.

I chuckled. “It's currently concealed inside the marble throne that the Hestia statue is sitting on above the front doors of this church.”

Both women stared at me with shock on their faces for almost a full minute.

Hestia was the first to break and started to giggle like a little girl. “My likeness is sitting on Freya's dead body?”

“Your perfectly formed marble ass is sitting right on her face, actually.” I said and picked up another potato treat. “I thought it was appropriate.”

“I LOVE YOU, MY BELL!” Hestia yelled and lunged for me. My face was covered in kisses before I could do more than laugh and hug her back with one arm.

Lili plucked the treat from my hand and started eating it. “Your hands and lips are busy.”

I nodded and gave Hestia a full hug and returned the multiple kisses she gave me. She was blushing when I finished returning her affection and she settled down on my lap as she looked into my eyes.

“My Bell, I...” Hestia paused and took a deep breath. “I'm not jealous of the girls you've been with.”

“I know.” I said and she looked surprised. “You've been very accommodating and you haven't tried to stop me from talking to or interacting with anyone, even though I have been really busy lately and haven't had a chance to spend much time with you.”

“That's because I believed you when you said that everything you do was for me.” Hestia said.

“It is, even the accidents.” I said and she giggled. “You see, I think Ishtar noticed that the Freya Familia stopped moving around the last couple of days. Since she's been so obsessed about becoming the most desirable woman in the city, by using her own charms to try and counter Freya's charms, she would have noticed that she wasn't meeting any resistance.”

“With what that man said, she would also know that you were the last man Freya was interested in, so you would be the first one Ishtar would seek out for answers.” Hestia said and I nodded, because that was what made sense. “Since that's true, what happened today?”

Both Lili and I recounted what happened from the moment of the blatant charm use in broad daylight, to the power play from Ishtar's Head of her Familia to steal her conquests, to me dealing with them and then setting off an explosion so strong that it was felt halfway across the city.

“...and that's how I ended up so hurt. I cast too much magic in too short a time.” I finished. “I barely had enough magic left to activate an emergency teleportation to the closest ritual circle.”

Hestia gave me a sorrowful look before she leaned in and gave me a long and lingering kiss. “My Bell.” She whispered. “You are an idiot and I love you so much.”

Lili softly laughed and nodded several times. “I completely agree. He's reckless as well.”

I opened my mouth to argue, then shrugged. “I got nothing. You're right.”

Hestia gave me a quick kiss before she climbed off of my lap. “Now we can baby you and take care of you, because you're too hurt to refuse.” She said and giggled. “Lili, it's bath time!”

I would later swear that I witnessed a cloth explosion because both women were suddenly naked as their entire outfits flew off in multiple directions. I was so stunned to suddenly see two beautiful women without clothes in front of me, that I was dragged across the room into the bathroom and didn't even realize it until they started washing me. I couldn't even tell you where my clothes went.

Both Hestia and Lili snuggled into my sides in the tub and I could do nothing but put my arms over their shoulders and hugged them. My whispered words of thanks for taking care of me, made both of them blush, and they kissed my cheeks and hugged me tightly. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the bath and let all of our worries fade away.