Meagan Stickly stood in front of her boyfriend’s door. Ever since that announcement last night, she wanted to come over and get his take on this. Her mother didn’t say anything, but Meagan suspected she wanted his aunt’s and uncle’s opinions. Meagan knew they weren’t Christian, even if they didn’t advertise that fact. She hoped that whatever god they worshipped wasn’t one that wanted human sacrifices.

Meagan raised her hand to knock again. She knew Matthew and his relatives were inside. She could see their cars in the garage. In fact, the more she looked around, the more it looked like they had done some remodeling. But that was impossible, she had visited just a few days ago. Whatever it was, she decided she’d ask about it later. The thing with the gods comes first.

The door suddenly opened, and Meagan couldn’t help taking a step back. In the now open door stood a stunningly beautiful brunette. The teen was instantly struck with envy. There was plenty to be envious of. The woman had a narrow waist sandwiched between wide hips and large breasts. Her eyes were dark and mysterious, and her hair was full and lustrous. She wasn’t surprised by the envy she felt. It was the small bit of lust that surprised her.

“Yes,” the woman said. “What do you want?”

Meagan felt a shiver go down her back when the woman spoke. “This is the Bridges house, right,” she asked.

“Yes, it is,” the woman confirmed.

Again, Meagan felt that shiver. What was wrong with her? The only time she felt shivers like this was when she was with Matthew. “Are they home?”

“And who’s asking?”

“Meagan Sticky,” Meagan said. “I’m Matthew’s girlfriend. Is he home?”

“You can let her in, Callingenia,” Meagan heard Mrs. Bridges say. “She’ll find out soon enough. And she should hear this from us and not the television.”

Meagan frowned. She had been watching the news last night, so she already knew about the gods’ returning. Maybe it was about who they worshipped. They never denied being Pagans. But they hadn’t claimed to be that either. What if they were something else? Last night she discovered that there were a lot more religions out there than she thought.

“As you mean no harm,” the woman, Callingenia said. “Enter and be welcomed.”

While she thought that was a strange way to invite someone in their house, she still entered. And immediately stopped. Standing in the room were two women and a female, thing. She recognized Carol Bridges, Matthew’s aunt. But she didn’t recognize the other woman. She looked to be about her age, maybe a little older. She had long, dark hair and bright blue eyes. Her face was triangular shape with high cheekbones. She wore a loose-fitting blouse and skirt. A slight frown crossed Meagan’s face as she noticed this woman wasn’t wearing a bra.

But it was third one that drew Meagan’s attention. First, she wasn’t human. From the waist down, she was a snake. A very long snake. Her tail extended from under the skirt she was wearing to about 25 feet. At least, Meagan guessed it was that long. It was hard to tell with it bending like that. Her tail was covered in red scales with silver and gold highlights. While she wasn’t afraid of snakes, she did not want to get wrapped up in that powerful looking tail. And, if her colors were like a snake’s, Meagan did not want to get bitten by her either.

The second thing that drew Meagan’s attention, was her arms. The woman thing had four of them. The second pair were not connected to her body at the shoulder. Instead, they were several inches below the upper pair. Meagan could not imagine why a body would need another pair of arms. She thought that having that many arms would be awkward, but the woman’s movements were smooth and graceful. Those, and the tail, argued against this being an elaborate prank. Not that the Bridges were known for pranks. And who would pull a prank like this on this day anyway.

It was the third thing that really drew Meagan’s attention. This snake woman thing had enormous breasts. So big that even a porn start would blush. They were easily larger than her head. As much as Meagan loved Matthew, she knew he would stare. She was staring. And she didn’t even like girls like that. She quickly squashed a stray thought about how they would look naked. She really needed to make sure this woman stayed away from Matthew. And speaking of.

“Where’s Matthew,” Meagan asked as she looked around. “With the Emissary,” she gave the snake woman thing a cautious look, “around, wouldn’t he be here?”

“About that,” Mrs. Bridges said.

“He’s been in an accident,” Meagan asked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the emissary cringe.

“No,” Mrs. Bridges firmly said. “He was not involved in any kind of accident. What happened to him is hard to explain.” She took a deep, slow breath then let it out just a slowly. “Okay. By now, you should know that the gods announced their imminent return last night. You also know that they selected an emissary as well.” Meagan took a quick look at the emissary.

“What you don’t know,” Mrs. Bridges continued, drawing Meagan’s attention back to her. “is that she appeared in the house last night.”

Meagan gasped. She had not known how the emissary had arrived. She had only heard that the emissary was somewhere in the States. Exactly where was being argued all over the net. Her mother had told her that religious leaders the world over, had been told by the gods where the emissary was staying. Her mother would definitely like to know that the emissary was here. But that still didn’t explain where Matthew was.

“I guess Matthew was surprised when she appeared,” Meagan said.

“More than you can possible know,” the snake woman thing muttered.

“It was the biggest surprise of his life,” Mrs. Bridges said. “Possibly the biggest surprise he’ll ever receive.”

“Understatement of the millennium,” the snake woman muttered again. Both Mrs. Bridges and Meagan glanced at her.

“Maybe I should introduce the two of you,” Mrs. Bridges said. “Meagan, meet Mary, the emissary of the gods. Mary, meet Meagan.”

Meagan stared at the emissary as she gave a small wave and a sick looking smile. “You’re the emissary,” Meagan gasped.

“I didn’t ask for it,” scowled Mary. “They didn’t even ask me if I wanted the job.”

“The gods rarely ask mortals what they want,” the darkly beautiful woman said. “And when they do, it’s not good.”

Meagan was sure the woman did not know God. But she was not going to say so. She was a guest in this house, and she was going to act like it. Besides, there was so many things she wanted to ask the emissary. Starting with what was the god’s plans for the world. But she wanted to know about Matthew first. They still haven’t told her. “As much as I’d like to hear how you became the emissary, I’d rather find out about Matthew,” Meagan said.

“Just tell her,” the emissary said. “Beating around the bush like this is just a waste of time.”

“Tell me what,” Meagan asked cautiously.

“I wasn’t beating around the bush,” Mrs. Bridges said to the emissary. “I was building up to it.” She turned to Meagan. “Meagan, the reason, you haven’t found Mathew is that he’s the emissary.”

For one moment, Meagan stared at the older woman. She couldn’t believe what she had been told. There was no way Matthew could be the emissary. For one thing, Matthew was a boy. The emissary was female. Obviously so. The emissary was also not human. Meagan did not know what she was, but she knew she wasn’t human. The last time she had checked, Matthew was human. “What,” she finally managed to say. “You’re joking, right?”

“I’m afraid not,” Mrs. Bridges said.

Meagan noticed that the dark-haired woman was looking at her strangely. The emissary, however, looked worried. Of course, she would, if what Mrs. Bridges said was true. “There’s no way that can be Matthew,” Meagan exclaimed. She pointed at the emissary. “I mean look at her! Her boobs are enormous. And she’s part snake. How can you stand there and tell me that’s Matthew?”

“Because it is,” Mrs. Bridges insisted. “How do you think I feel? I rushed home after the Goddess Cerridwen told me the emissary was in my home. I was worried how Matthew would react to her just appearing here. When I got here, I found her and only her. She had to convince me that she was my nephew.”

“But that can’t be,” Meagan said. “People can’t just change like that. It’s impossible.”

“Anything is possible when you’re talking about the gods,” Callingenia said. “You have to remember; the gods rarely ask mortals for permission before assigning them tasks or roles. And didn’t the emissary say she wasn’t asked?”

“That doesn’t prove that she is Matthew,” Meagan pointed out.

“What if we could?”

“Could what?”

“Prove that is Matthew,” Callingenia said.

“If you can do that, then I’ll believe that is Matthew,” Meagan said. “But it has to be something that only he and I know. Everything else you could have found out somehow.”

“Or I could ask Nyx,” Callingenia said. “She’d know.”

“Who’s Nyx?”

“Primordial goddess of the night,” Mrs. Bridges said. “She is part of the Greek pantheon. Not one of the well-known gods and goddesses, of course. She is also the goddess of secrets.”

Meagan blinked. She had never heard of a god that knew secrets. God knew all, but that was because he made everything. Of course, he would know everything. “Okay,” she said with a shake of her head. “Not something I wanted to know. Are you going to ask her?”

“No,” Callingenia said. “That would be cheating. Besides, she’d punish me just for asking. She gathers secrets. She does not hand them out.”

“And we don’t need to ask her,” Mrs. Bridges said. “Mary knows the answer. Before you ask, Mary was the name we would have given Matthew if he had been born a girl.” She turned to the snake woman. “Go ahead, Mary. Tell her something only the two of you know.”

Meagan watched as Mary slithered forward a couple of feet. “Well, the only thing I can think of,” she said, “is about a mole.”

Meagan tensed. “What mole?”

“A small one,” Mary answered. “On your back. Just above. . .”

Meagan found herself pressing against Mary’s giant breast as she held a hand over the snake woman’s mouth. “I told you not to mention that,” she hissed.

Behind Meagan, the young woman, who hadn’t said a word this whole time, leaned over to Callingenia. “I thought Mary was the one who was part snake,” she whispered.

“Human’s are strange creatures,” Callingenia whispered back. “Never assume you know everything they can do.”

“Matthew, is that really you?”

“Yes,” Mary answered. “But it’s Mary now. I don’t my old name fits now.” With two of her arms, she gently pushed Meagan off her chest. “Sorry, but they’re sensitive.”

Part of Meagan didn’t like that she was no longer pressing against Mary’s breasts and wanted to go back. Meagan started to frown as she thought about that. She suddenly gasped as she realized that she now found the snake woman attractive. In fact, she found her very sexy. But that should be impossible. Before, she was straight. Very straight. Sure, she could admit other girls and women were attractive. Even sexy. But she had never felt attracted to one. Until now.

Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her head. Meagan found her head being turned to face the dark-haired woman. For a long moment, they stared into each others’ eyes. “Oh that’s just great,” the beauty snarled. “Mary isn’t the only one the gods had touched last night.”

“What,” Meagan said. She staggered a little as the woman let her go.

“The gods touched you last night. They made you attracted to women. Specifically, Mary.”

Meagan stared at the woman for a moment. At first, she couldn’t believe it. But she thought about the sudden shift in the way she viewed Mary. Then she didn’t want to believe it. Faced with this, she did the only thing she could think of. She fainted.