Spoiling for Another Fight: Monsters vs Demigods Deluxe Duology, #2

By Jonathan Evan Hudson

Once again enter a world where demigods and monsters fight to the death yet get reborn only to fight to the death again.

At a gym but not a gym, a monster hotspot! Join Jason when his simple mission proves far worse than he ever imagined.

And the stakes world-changing.

Grab the concluding novel of this exciting duology and you'll never look at Greek Myth the same again!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Swordpulp Studios
• Release date: Oct 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393701385

Jonathan Evan Hudson

Widely traveled, Jonathan Evan Hudson spends as much time studying life as he does writing gripping tales of fantastic adventures. From the giant redwoods of California to the deserts of Israel, his thrilling stories all draw on first-hand experiences and expand them with the fantastic and his acclaimed creativity.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

The gym loomed over the parking lot like some giant dragon made of cheap plastic and neon linoleum. That wide grin of flashy windows spread like some toothy maw of fitness equipment. Ready to gobble up any tasty demigod or civilian foolish enough to step into those doors.

A minivan with four demigods pulled into the parking lot.

With Jason in the passenger seat.

Visible to the three car girls marching down the sidewalk. Their feline ears protruded from their lush hair. Whispers from their pert noses. Tail flicked from their rears.

And claws ready to slash apart anyone who dared challenge them.

Furies.

Yet their spandex gym outfits colored their peachy skin with candy colors.

Sweat chilled his back despite the noxious humidity of July. Despite the lack of air conditioner in the car. His tank top and shorts now far too warm.

He sucked in a breath of hot air. Brushed his short black hair back. It dampened his fingers.

Why couldn’t Divine Academy pay for a minivan with air conditioning? Or just fix the one it had? Plenty of Hephaestus’ kids could fix it up with just a toothpick and a few screws. Especially since the gods insisted their children hunt down monsters – the servants of the Titans, their mortal enemies – the least they could do was make their children comfortable.

Cody, the driver of the minivan, watched the road and every pedestrian as if his life depended on it.

And it did.

If one of them was a monster.

Especially the wrong kind of monster.

As a son of Zeus, the guy had the chiseled perfection of his father’s appearance. Complete with sleek blonde hair and commanding emerald eyes. He even used a spicy sports cologne and wore the gray spandex of a typical bodybuilder.

Not that Jason was jealous.

Hey, Jason, said Cody. His baritone deep enough to win any girl’s heart. Calm down, dude. Your part is as vital as ours.

Jason suppressed a cringe. Yeah. I know. Watch out for reinforcements.

While Cody and his crew destroy this monster hotspot from behind. A second team would hit the front. With Henry, Jason’s barbarian of a teammate, out front watching for reinforcements and Rebecca, Jason’s Greek girl of a teammate, handling communications and managing tech stuff with their instructor Jonas, both hidden in a minivan in another lot close by.

Exactly, Cody said, Without you those bastards might corner us before we know it.

True enough.

Take those furies. Those cat girls were faster than most demigods. Only Hermes’ children could match their speed and not for long. Cody and his two teammates would be hard pressed to defeat those three furies head on.

Ambushed from behind and they wouldn’t stand a chance.

At least Cody spoke to him as someone worthy of the designation of demigod. That’s not something many demigods did. Including Rebecca and Henry, the two demigods on Jason’s team.

Jason nodded as the minivan headed toward the pizzeria across from the gym. The aromas of pepperoni pizza already made his stomach growl.

I’ll do my best, Jason said. Insides squirming. Like internal goosebumps.

Damn right, you will, said Cody with a playful smile, And when this is all over, we’ll all head over to the boardwalk for a game of ultimate skeeball. Loser pays for dinner. Right guys?

Yeah, said Nick. A gangly guy of Hermes with a squeaky voice to match.

Now that sounds like a plan, said Brandon. A son of Poseidon as dark as the ocean depths and built like a stallion yet exuded the aura of a five year old prankster. We should catch us some monster concubines for the night and have them wait on us hand and foot – till we send them to Tartarus.

Ugh. Jason’s stomach churned sour as his eyes gazed over the vehicles in parking lot. No one walked among the cars or vans.

You mean you got hold of one those new collars? Jason asked. The collars bound monsters into forced obedience toward the one who collared them. But he had only heard rumors of such collars.

One! blasted Brandon, What do you mean one? I got us hooked up with seven of those babes!

Man, said Cody, raising his hand, Share your loot. We’re starving here.

A golden collar smacked into the front window and Cody caught it. A second one crashed in front of Jason and smashed into his chest. He caught it.

A crimson gold buckle with a strange emblem in front – a blocky u-shape with two ruby slits like eyes of an evil face.

Goosebumps picked his arms.

The symbol looked so familiar.

Where had he seen it before?

Great, said Cody, glancing at it, How do we use it?

Glad you asked, said Brandon, Just press it against the bitch’s neck and touch both rubies and zap! Collared for life! He laughed. Hard with gooey snorts. Like popcorn with too much butter on it.

Sweet, said Cody and pulled the minivan to the sidewalk. Beside a pizzeria right across from the gym. Here you go. And Jason, hide that thing before you get out. Keep your head low. If there’s trouble on your end, let us know and we’ll rush back.

Yeah, man, said Brandon, These things are hard to get.

That made Jason’s insides flow warm. Giving him a gift and offering their aid. Real friendship.

Much better than he could ever have hoped for. Especially after Jason and his teammates royally screwed up the mission at the boardwalk a few weeks ago. Each member of his team was supposed to kill a few specific monsters and collect their Cores. Cores being the magical objects left over after a monster or demigod got killed.

Of course, the fact Jason had played a vital role in freeing Kassandros’ demigod prisoners mattered not one bit. No one even seemed to realize he had been involved at all in that.

But he had befriended a monster in order to do it. And true friendship between monsters and demigods was absolutely forbidden. Actual love – an utter insult to the gods themselves. The Titans and Olympians were at war. Always at war. The losers thrown in Tartarus for a century or two then the war started right back up.

So that boardwalk date afterwards with Sammie had to stay to secret.

Will do, said Jason, slipping the buckle into his sweat shorts pocket.

He got out of the minivan and waved them off. The sedan zoomed off, sliding through the parking lot.

The demigod settled down at one of the several iron table and chairs by the pizzeria. With the aroma of pepperoni and sausage pizza thick in the air. Fouled partly by the noxious vapors of hot asphalt and the fumes of the noisy traffic of the highway out in front of the gym.

He took his smartphone out of his pocket and placed it on the table. The message app could ping text messages or voice messages, translating between the two perfectly. He would send them messages of monsters arriving through the back entrance.

And just like the front, a single window gaped wide like some dragon’s jagged maw filled with fitness equipment. But the tint on the windows prevented him from making out any detail beyond some white mechanical things moving.

Jason scanned the area for pedestrians.

And spotted a blonde so sexy she could be on Aphrodite’s Top 10.

Walking along the sidewalk by the gym.

With long lush hair. Peachy skin. Her pink spandex squeezed her pert rear just right – perfect for a gentle slap. A forty times delicious chest embraced by tight bubblegum fabric and a waist pinched in just asking for a caress.

And not a sign of monsterhood about her.

Not a claw, fang, or worse.

Her face smiled as cute as a seal’s. Her tropical blues sparkled more brightly than the sun.

She glanced his way. He looked down, away from her eyes. To spare her from the so-called gift Aphrodite awarded him in secret a couple of months ago. The gift that made any girl he lusted for, any girl that then met his eyes fall in love with him. Kissing would strengthen it. Sex would make it permanent.

A gift that was really a curse.

One that nearly destroyed his chances with Sammie. His closest friend before he learned he was a demigod, before she learned she was a monster called a lamia, before they became moral enemies because of the gods’ war.

And now secret friends again, ever since that boardwalk date, with more definitely on the horizon.

Yet the blonde gazed at him. Long and hard.

His cheeks warmed.

His heart hammered his chest.

An urge to brush his short black hair nudged his fingers.

To give her a view of his brown eyes.

To show off his chiseled physique under his tank top.

Do. Not. Look.

Her mouth opened. Those strawberry lips slightly agar. Those