There's something worse than fighting a god.
It's fighting a woman who doesn't need to lift a finger to ruin you.
Cassie wasn't just dangerous.
She was untraceably, unreasonably, irresistibly dangerous.
And the wildest part?
She didn't even try.
---
"New headline, babe," she purred into her thousand-dollar microphone, legs curled under her on a velvet chaise, silk robe sliding off her thigh like it had better places to be. "Sentinel goes rogue again — public divided. Hero or menace?"
She tilted her head toward the camera, bit her bottom lip just slightly, and smiled like a devil wrapped in perfume.
Then she hit record.
---
It was a live stream.
Of course it was.
Cassie never said anything she didn't mean to be heard. Or misunderstood. Or misquoted.
"Sources inside the Spire say tensions are rising. Some even claim our 'once-golden god' might've crossed a line. Again."
She sighed dramatically.
"I mean… how many lines does he have to cross before we ask ourselves—is he really still the hero we want?"
---
That was rich coming from a woman wearing my T-shirt with no bra underneath.
Again.
She was literally in my penthouse, eating strawberries dipped in champagne while dragging my name on national media with the softest, most seductive voice anyone had ever heard on a broadcast.
"Anyway," she smiled. "Back to my sponsor. If your man's trying to save the world and ruin your life at the same time, maybe it's time for better skin care—"
I turned off the screen.
"Cass," I said, stepping into the room. "You really have no shame, do you?"
She stretched like a cat, completely unbothered. "You're mad? Tell me you're mad."
"I'm not mad."
> "Then tell me you're turned on."
"I'm always turned on when you lie that well."
She blew me a kiss. "Good. That's my real power, babe. Weaponized lies and perfect legs."
---
People thought I was dangerous.
But Cassie?
Cassie made men fall in love with her by accident.
She'd shake a senator's hand and walk away with funding.
Smile at a villain and suddenly he's spilling trade secrets.
Sleep in your bed, steal your shirt, gaslight your entire fanbase, and still get you to kiss her before she left.
She was a walking contradiction.
Smart enough to run a country.
Hot enough to start a war.
And heartless enough to do both just for ratings.
---
Later that night, I found her on the balcony.
Hair up. Shirt unbuttoned. Panties the color of sin.
She had a wine glass in one hand and a tablet in the other.
She was editing footage, of me.
Footage that made me look a little more like a dictator and a little less like a deity.
"Really?" I asked.
She didn't look up. "It's not personal."
"You sure about that?"
She finally turned with eyes that could make a priest renounce God.
"You think I don't love you?" she asked.
There it was.
Soft. Honest. Terrifying.
"I love you the only way I know how," she said. "By owning you. Even when I lie. Even when I make them hate you. Because they don't matter."
I stepped closer.
She didn't flinch.
"But I'm still here, aren't I?" she whispered.
"Yes," I said.
> "You could be with any girl."
"I am."
> "You could kick me out."
I leaned in, lips brushing her neck.
"I don't want to."
---
And just like that, I was on my back again.
Her hips straddling me. Her hands on my chest. Her lips brushing mine like she was about to say something meaningful, and then she didn't.
Cassie didn't need words.
She had heat. She had rhythm. She had the kind of confidence that made men think they were the lucky ones just for being used.
And when she moaned my name like it was an anchor to the real world, I almost believed she wasn't faking it.
Almost.
---
Afterward, she lit a cigarette she'd never smoke.
Laid her head on my chest.
And said, "I'm leaking another clip of you tomorrow."
"Which one?"
> "The one where you flicked that tank like a coin. The people love that."
I sighed.
"You're unbelievable."
> "I'm irreplaceable."
"You're a menace."
> "I'm your menace."
---
Cassie didn't need powers.
She was power.
The kind of power that gets men killed, kingdoms ruined, and gods tamed.
And she did it all in bare feet, with glossy lips, and one of my damn shirts like it was a crown.
---
To be continued...