Nix tucked her black hair behind her ear, it was honestly strange, the way these human lived, there were so many rules and regulations that had been set in place, things like she was not allowed to get involved and all that standard jazz, but here she was.

321 E Merchant Street.

It was interesting how the mortals had organized everything, they had it all laid out and organized, this street for example, it was not hard to figure out why it was named merchant street, the place was paced with buildings and emporiums for said entrepreneurs to sale their goods.

And the shop she was looking for was no exception, but she did have to wonder, if he was such a prolific murderer why exactly was he so in the eye of anyone,  was it pride and spite or was it a uncaring attitude.  She had heard that Asherah was away on business, meaning this was the perfect time to scout out the area and to get more information on her target, honestly if it hadn't been for Asherah she would have already done the dead and went home, but she was curious about the human now, extremely curious. Why had someone so high up in the pecking order made him part of her family?

She pulled the door of the small shop open and took a step inside.  It was a small store to be sure, tucked away between two larger buildings it was so plain as to be almost painful.  The inside of the store was kept at a nice 70 ish and the wood floors were polished to a fine satin sheen.  Rows and rows of shelves were set up with tons of items on them, in fact they were all stacked high with ancient relics and the like almost making the store appear more like a museum than a shop of any sort.

“Can I help you?” A masculine voice asked her, she may have jumped, just a little, but when she turned around the image of the man who would be able to commit such atrocities was washed aside by the man that she now saw…

He looked nothing like she thought he would.

He was slightly taller than her, with a well kempt look even with his red beard and close cut red hair. He was currently wearing a pair of nicely fitting jeans, a button up black flannel shirt and a tee shirt underneath that. However it was none of these things that caught her attention.

It was his eyes.

They were such an honest blue.

And they were most certainly not human.

Was this the man she was looking for? She had heard nothing about this, everyone had referred to him as a mortal, but the being in front of her right now was a demigod.

No doubt about it.

And he was most certainly eye catching.

“There is no need to pretend to be human in here.”  he said with a laugh.  “My wife put up a barrier that keeps people from noticing the place.” he gestured around the building.  “Too much stuff that could potentially be dangerous.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Your wife?”  she asked, and as soon as she did a familiar face appeared, she was about to shout and attack when she noticed that this was not Asherah, but a woman that looked exactly like her, but with different colored eyes.

It was uncanny how similar the two of them looked.

It was all making sense now, the reason Asherah was protecting this man was because his wife was her daughter, he was in essence her son-in-law.  The pieces of the puzzle all started to fall into place.

“You called?”  the Asherah look alike asked.

“No Amani I was just explaining how you set up a barrier so our customers ere didn't have to hide their forms.”

“That's awfully kind of you.”  she said.

“Well feeling comfortable in a store is one of the keys to getting return visitors.” he said with a smile.  This man had such an honest face and appearance she found it hard to believe he was a mass murderer.  She was just about to ask him a question when another new face showed up, this time she was perplexed by the woman’s appearance.

This lady was human, from the head to her waist, but beneath that she was a serpent with golden scales. It was not something she had ever seen before, there were no creatures like this in her universe.

“Dan, where would you like me to put this cursed vase?”  she asked, holding up a small vase that was covered in runic writing.  

“Just put it over by the other vases.”  he said, and turned back towards Nix. “That is my other wife, Abyzou, and this is Amani.”  Amani smiled and held out a hand, which Nix shook and returned the smile even though she was not really feeling up to shaking this Amani’s hand, she had to play the part.

There was a short scream and a loud crashing sound and all three of them peered around the corner, Abyzou had somehow got caught on something and tripped herself, the pot she had been holding went flying, causing it to smash mercilessly on the floor. A soft green light shone around the broken pieces and formed a ghostly figure of a woman who rose out of the wreckage and started cackling maniacally.

“At long last I am free!” she yelled, swooping around the store, “You shall all pay for my imprisonment!”

Amani sighed,  “I'll go get red of her.” she said casually, like it was nothing more than some stray dog that had wandered in from off of the street.  Dan smiled and turned back to Nix, who at this time had turned into her real form, abandoning the weak human disguise.

“Half Dragon huh?”  he said looking her over, which made her blush more than it should have.  She simply nodded, that was fine let him believe that. He stook out his hand, offering it to her. She hesitantly took it, and he shook her hand with a friendly smile. “My name is Dan, I am the owner of this small shoppe of Oddities.”

“Nix,”  she replied, but the second she did she felt the need to slap herself in the head, why had she given him her real name? She had been distracted reading his aura, and had been surprised with what he had there.  It was not dark or malicious like a murderer’s always was, but rather a light and pleasant color, with a warm and inviting feel to it.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Nix,”  he said with a smile. “Is there anything specifically you are looking for?”  he asked.

“No, just browsing.”  she said, and he nodded as she did.

“Ok, well if you have any questions just ask me.”  he said with a smile before walking away to help with the clean up and the exorcising. She watched him go, and help out before turning around and nearly jumping out of her skin.

Standing there not a foot away was none other than Asherah.

Her golden eyes were still ablaze with anger, and before the other woman could do a thing Asherah laid a hand on Nix’s shoulder. “You are damned lucky I don't want to mess up Dan’s shop.”  she said, her fingernails digging into Nix’s shoulder hard. “Damn lucky, you're coming with me, we have things to... discuss...”  she growled, and just like that, before nix could even mutter a word the two of them were gone.

“Can I offer you a dri-”  Dan asked as he rounded the corner. But stopped when he found the woman was no longer there, he peeked up and down the isles, but it would seem as though she was not in the store at all…

“Where the hell has she gone?” he mumbled to himself, scratching his head in confusion, as he set the cup down on the counter, just as he did a particular ghost flew past, and the cup fell, splashing him with its icy contents.  Laughing to herself the ghost continued to fly around, and was followed fairly closely by none other than Amani, who had a scowl on her face. “Oh well,”  he said to himself, he had other problems to occupy his time…