Accidentally…Over? (Accidentally Yours #5)(47)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Oh, boy. This just got unnecessarily more interesting. For whatever reason the Uchben were now assisting in the gods’ captivity. Cimil must have convinced them.

Máax quickly surveyed the chaotic scene before him and spotted his beautiful Ashli in her red dress, a wild mess of damp curls pulled into a sexy little knot at the nape of her neck, standing next to Sentin. She did not appear to be afraid, more stunned really. Probably by the sight of his brethren behind enclosed glass. Who could blame her? After all, they were an eccentric lot. His brother K’ak, for example, wore a metallic-silver toga and a two-foot-high silver-and-turquoise headdress depicting intertwining serpents. K’ak still hadn’t selected an official deity title, like God of Giant Obnoxious Headdresses, for example, because he didn’t have a flagship power, but nevertheless he had many gifts. Such as the ability to chuck lightning bolts, which he currently did at the glass.

Then there was their sister, Colel Cab, the Mistress of Bees. One couldn’t help but stare at the enormous living beehive atop her head. Of course, the bees swarmed in her cell, completely obscuring Colel. Then there were the others: Akna, the Goddess of Fertility, so powerful that even rocks couldn’t resist multiplying in her presence (the Pet Rock craze of the seventies was all her fault); Acan, the God of Intoxication and Wine, aka Belch, who currently lay facedown on the floor next to a beer keg, the hose sticking from his mouth as he suckled like a babe; and Ixtab, the Goddess of Happiness, once known as the Goddess of Suicide because her gifts of producing happiness depend upon removing one’s evil thoughts and redeploying them into another living creature—usually an evil, sick, or dying person—and her incubus slash vampire mate Antonio, aka the Spanish incu-pire. Or was that the vamp-ubus? He couldn’t remember. Then there was Camaxtli, the Goddess of the Hunt, aka Fate, who looked like a blonde Wonder Woman carrying bows and arrows in lieu of a lasso; Chaam, God of Male Virility, the master of seduction, with signature nipple-length waves of black hair, and his mate Maggie; Votan, the God of Death and War, aka Guy Santiago (words could not describe what mortal women experienced when their gazes set upon him) and his lovely, pregnant redheaded mate Emma; Zac, the God of Temptation; Ah-Ciliz, the God of Eclipses, aka A.C.; and last but not least, Kinich, ex–God of the Sun, the original golden boy, now vampire—long, long story—and husband to his also-pregnant Penelope, the current keeper of his solar powers and the official leader of the House of Gods, although he and Penelope shared responsibilities.

Yes, they were an immortal zoo. But wasn’t every family a collection of odd creatures?

Niccolo and one of his men sifted beside Máax, pushing him back. Máax stumbled and caught himself from falling.

“Would you f**king watch where you land?” Máax growled.

Niccolo’s turquoise eyes twinkled before he chuckled. “Sorry, didn’t see you standing there.”

Why did everyone think his transparency was so damned funny? It wasn’t. It blew to be invisible.

“Máax! Bad god! Bad!” Cimil’s voice screeched through the other gods’ roars.

A silence quickly fell over the prison.

Kinich, ex–Sun God and the epitome of all things sunny right down to his skin, hair, and f**king annoying altruistic attitude, placed his palms flat against the glass. His large body eclipsed the petite brunette behind him, Penelope. “Máax, where the hell have you been? Let us the f**k out of here right now. Or so help me gods—”

“I am not the one holding you prisoner,” Máax barked. “That said, keeping everyone jailed does seem like the logical solution, albeit a temporary one. Except in my case. Which cell is mine by the way?” Máax was ready to face the consequences of his actions.

“You think we’re worried about locking you up?” Cimil rolled her eyes and then pointed straight at Ashli. “As if that matters now! We’ve had eight earthquakes. Eight! Human cities are about to crumble like a fine, drunken goat cheese! And why don’t you try explaining, Máax, what the hell Miss 1993 is doing here? The one thing I told you not to do, you did! Now we’re all completely screwed. And not in a fabulous orgy kind of way, either!”

“Máax.” Ashli’s wounded expression pierced his heart from across the room.

Well, time to face the ugly music. This was not how he wanted Ashli to learn the horrible truth. He’d brought her forward in time, rendering Cimil’s “cure for the apocalypse” prophecy null and void.

But Ashli cares for you; she will understand.

Or be a thousand times more hurt.

Máax cleared his throat, and all eyes shifted in his general direction. “Before anyone passes judgment, I ask that you hear me out. I realize Cimil believes that in order to halt the apocalypse, I had to leave Ashli in 1993 and allow her to arrive here through the normal course of time, but that simply was not possible. Ashli would not have survived, and I had to save her. She is my mate.”

Ashli pushed her way through the crowded room, following the sound of his voice. “Máax? What are you talking about?” The look of hurt in her eyes was almost unbearable.

The entire room instantly fell into a hush, all eyes glued to Ashli.

He swallowed. “I was told, Ashli, that in order for your destiny to be fulfilled, in order to halt the apocalypse, I could not bring you forward in time. Your life needed to play out the normal way without time travel. However, that is the silliest—”

“You lied to me! To me?” Ashli’s face turned rage red. “How could you? I trusted you!”

“Máax.” Kinich’s turquoise eyes flickered from black to a calm pastel blue. “Why have you betrayed us? We’re your family. Don’t you love us? Because we love you.” Grumbles of concurrence erupted from everyone in the prison, including the platoons of Uchben and vampire soldiers. Looked like a godsdamned leather pants convention.

Máax ignored the awkward touchy-feely question from Kinich and instead focused on Ashli. “You would never have survived, Ashli. For whatever reason, the Universe sought to eliminate you. She told me herself in a vision. But I have rectified that now; you are immortal, a gift I was unable to give you in 1993 because the portals to my world were sealed during that time. It’s a long story but true.”

Cimil tsked in Máax’s general direction. “Now you’ve done it! You’ve been banished from the realm of the gods. But you went there anyway and made her immortal? Without our blessing? Máax! I’m shocked. Bad god. Bad!”