Seduced by Magic by Stephanie Julian

okay?”
    Startled, Scarlata refocused her gaze on Nortia, whose soft expression belied everything she’d heard about the goddess and knew from past experiences.
    “Forgive me. I’m fine. I just—”
    “Missing the boy you brought with you last night?” The goddess waved away her stunned expression. “It’s okay. I know who he is. And I’m not going to turn him into a frog or a statue or a bench.” She snorted and slid her gaze Sal’s way. “Although that last one worked well enough on Theo, didn’t it?”
    Sal nodded, a genuine smile on his face. “Yeah, actually he had that one coming.”
    Nortia shifted her gaze back to Scarlata. “I’m not an ogre, child, and if you spent more time with me, you’d realize that. Now, now, that’s not a criticism,” she added as Scarlata stiffened. “It’s just, well, time changes everyone, hon.”
    The goddess sighed. “I do know my reputation and I’ve cultivated it well over the centuries. Yes, I have a temper but only because I actually hate being mated to a god who falls in love with another woman every five or six decades?”
    The goddess took a deep breath and released it on a long sigh, a navel ring glinting at the edge of her t-shirt. “So I’m turning over a new leaf. Out with the old baggage. I’m starting a new life.”
    Sal barked out a laugh. “Damn glad for you, girl. I knew you’d get around to this.”
    Nortia beamed as if he’d just crowned her prom queen and Scarlata couldn’t help wondering again exactly who Salvatorus was.
    85

    Stephanie Julian
    “Now since you’re in such a good mood,” Sal continued, “we got trouble and I think you’re the person to help.”
    * * * * *
    Justin felt like she’d kicked him in the chest. “Are you telling me my father lives here?”
    Mia grimaced. “When he’s in the, ah, area, yes, this is where he stays. Darn, I should have kept my mouth shut.”
    “Is he here now?”
    “Yes,” came a voice he knew so well and thought he’d never hear again, “he is.”
    Justin turned, his heart trying to beat itself out of his chest.
    “Hello, Justin. It’s so damn good to see you.”
    The man he knew as Michael Johannson stood in the doorway, a small smile on his face but his blue eyes shining. He hadn’t changed at all since the last time he’d seen him and Justin didn’t know whether to hit him or hug him.
    His father took the decision out of his hands when he walked over and wrapped him in his arms. Justin caught his father’s scent—woody and clean with a hint of smoke—and held on.
    “Dad…”
    He felt his father sigh. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, kid. I hated to leave you and your sister and your mom but it couldn’t be helped. I was starting to get the questions.
    I’ve missed you, boy.”
    Michael—or should he call him Selvans?—drew back and Justin saw tears in his bright eyes, eyes he’d never realized were the most pure shade of purple he’d ever seen, with a startling blue band around the iris. Why had he never noticed that before?
    Well over six feet tall, Michael…Selvans had curly black hair, but otherwise they were carbon copies, though Justin was several inches shorter than his father.
    86

    Seduced by Magic
    Torn between pissed off and elated, Justin went with his gut and hugged back. And the joy of seeing his dad gave him a head rush. “I missed you too, Dad.”
    His father smiled as he took a step back, though not too far. “I knew you’d find me.
    My journals, I knew they’d lead you to me eventually. You were always a smart boy. I guess you have a lot of questions, so why don’t we get started?”
    “How about we start with the fact that you’re an Etruscan god.”
    His dad’s brows raised in amazement. “And how the hell do you know that?”
    “Sal told me.”
    Shaking his head, Michael—Justin couldn’t wrap his head around the whole Selvans thing—began speaking in a foreign language. Justin assumed he was swearing because his hands were going up