“Better they don’t. This is the kind of info we could all live without, so long as it doesn’t infringe on your life.”
“No, information is everything.”
Luca sounded as if he was reciting the creed of the Brotherhood. Aaron didn’t much like to hear it. As grateful as he was for their work, he was worried for Luca. Worried he had been indoctrinated. He didn’t know what that would mean long-term, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out. His friend and partner was not the same man he used to know. Though right now he was just glad to have such a capable fighter back by his side.
They soon reached the industrial neighborhood that had been Theo’s base since he first met her, and that concerned him.
“This place, Hades could know exactly where to find it by now,” he said as the roller shutter opened to allow them through.
“Maybe, but we have to hope he doesn’t.”
“Hope doesn’t keep you safe.”
“What does? I need hope to keep on going.”
He nodded in agreement. “Fair enough.”
They came to a halt to see the wounded being treated on tables and sofas. Mikey was looking after them with his arm in a sling. Everyone in the room looked beaten, physically or mentally. Carter was just cleaning himself up at a basin, and Aceso was still unconscious with a pool of blood on the floor beside her.
“What the hell happened here?” Aaron asked in horror.
“We went after Maximón.”
“Maxi who?” Ava asked.
“The shape shifter that posed as Hades, and then as you. For a while he had us fooled,” replied Theo.
“How do you know it was a shape shifter? Do those things even exist?”
“Because I saw it with my own eyes. I saw it shift between three forms. It came for the doctor, but luckily, I was there. I hurt the creature, and we managed to track it back to a facility.”
“We saw.”
“You…saw?”
“Long story, Carter, but we could see you going in against that warehouse, but we didn’t see what went on inside.”
“What went on was a shitstorm.”
“Why didn’t you wait for us?”
“We had no idea if or when you’d ever come back, Aaron. We’d heard nothing from you. But we had the chance to take out Maximón, and we took it.”
“If you had a chance, what went wrong?”
“Hades, that’s what went wrong,” snarled Carter.
“What?”
“He’s back.”
“You’re sure?”
She pointed at the deep sword wound running down most of Aceso’s back that Carter had haphazardly stitched.
“I’m sure,” she replied.
Aaron couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and yet he’d known it deep down.
“Where’s Grace?”
Theo looked uneasy about answering him.
“Where is she, Theo?”
“She was helping out one of my buddies, went with them after our mission went south,” replied Carter.
“I went looking. I was out there for hours, but there was no sign of them.”
“What are you saying?”
“If they didn’t get back here, and haven’t reached out for help, then…”
“Then what goddamnit?” Aaron demanded.
“You know what,” replied Luca.
As a cop Aaron knew exactly what that meant, but he didn’t want to accept it.
“That Hades has her?” Aaron whispered.
He slumped down onto a sofa beside one of the wounded.
“All this time I thought we were readying ourselves to fight, but we missed it. We weren’t here when they needed us,” he said to Ava.
“No, don’t do that. You went because you had to, because we were losing this fight. You went in search of hope for the future, and you might just have found it.”
“You found him? You found Aldred?” Theo asked.
“We found something all right,” replied Aaron.
“Was it what you were looking for?”
“Not what I expected, but maybe what I needed, yeah.”
“Then all is not lost.”
“Are you kidding me? Look at this, we’re fighting over scraps, desperately trying to survive day to day!”
He got back up and stormed back and forth across the room as he tried to find answers.
“Maximón, who the hell is he? Who is this asshole, and what does he want?”
“The doc said his people were Mayans,” said Carter.
“Mayans?”
“That’s what she said. They had tattoos in Mayan, and markings all down their blades, too. I’ve not seen anything like it, except those assholes who attacked my place.”
“Maximón, I’ve got him.” Mikey had been delving into Grace’s books in the background, trying to make himself useful.
He had the room as they all waited for him to go on.
“He’s a Mayan deity, an ancient being.”
“Another god?” Aaron asked.
“Yes.”
“It says he is a trickster. That he can be all things to all men, and none of them. He’s both the light and the dark.”
They were each trying to understand what that could mean, but it was Aaron who was looking increasingly angrier.
“You knew about this, Theo?”
“I told you many things existed that you were not aware of. Many of those things I didn’t know if they existed or not either. Do you know how many religions, myths, and stories have existed over time? Thousands. Some of them are just stories, but some are real.”
“How can there be a Mayan god running around, and you don’t know about it!”
“Because I didn’t need to. I didn’t rule in Olympus, the Allfather did. We did what we were ordered to do. Maybe the Allfather knew about this Maximón, maybe he didn’t, but he never caused enough trouble that I ever heard of him,” she snapped back at him.
“If he’s a shape shifter, maybe he’s been living among us forever? How would we ever know? How would any one know?” Carter asked.
“So what does he want?”
“He wanted to take over with Hades gone,” replied Theo.
“He told you that?”
“Pretty much exactly, yes.”
“And when Hades turned up?”
“He ran as quickly as the rest of us. Tail between his legs,” said Carter.
“Mmm,” murmured Aaron, scratching his chin as he tried to put all the pieces together in his head.
“What are you thinking?”
“That this Maximón must be as scared of Hades as we are, Carter.”
“Right?”
“You’re not thinking of trying to ally ourselves with that thing?”
“Theo, I’m thinking we need to even the odds in this fight. You thought you could take Maximón, so maybe we’ll worry about Hades first, and settle our differences later.”
“You’re talking about a god who tried to kill you,” protested Ava.
“As I remember it, he gave us a chance to live.”
“After he beat the hell out of you,” insisted Ava.
“But he could have killed us. He could have killed all of us. Even Thanatos could not stand up to him. He didn’t kill us, so maybe there is hope?”
“I don’t know about this, you’re talking about the asshole who attacked me in my home. Stole our blades, and did god knows what with Vulcan.”
“Yes, and the alternative is to face Hades alone, how do you see that going down?”
“I’m not happy about this either,” added Theo.
“Yeah, well our list of enemies is growing long, how is the list of our friends doing? Where is Thanatos now? Look around. We’ve lost people and others are half dead. If we want to stay in this, we’d better be willing to compromise.”
The lights suddenly went out, and they were plunged into darkness.
“What the hell is going on?”
“We just lost power, e
verything.” Carter fumbled to find a torch, but before he could, the lights flickered back on once more as the power came back on. Aaron froze, realizing there was one more person in the room than there had been before. He wore a long black coat with a hood covering his head.
“Who the hell is that?” A voice cried out.
Aaron grabbed a blade from the table beside him and prepared himself to fight as the figure drew back its hood, but as it did, its entire body transformed and revealed a different figure altogether, a well dressed one in a sharp suit.
“Who the hell is this guy?”
“Maximón,” replied Theodosia bitterly.
Chapter 16
“Hey, wake up, wake up!” Thanatos kicked Mars.
The God of War arose and sat up, but he still looked weak.
“So all of it was real?”
“You thought this was a dream?” Thanatos laughed.
“No, a nightmare,” he growled as he rubbed his eyes. He looked down at the bloodied dressings on his body and pulled one back. The wound was starting to heal, but very slowly.
“It will be many weeks before I heal from this, if I can at all.”
“Of course you can. You’re the God of War. Have all those centuries of serving the Allfather made you forget how powerful you really are?”
“Not powerful enough to save him, was I?”
“Ahh,” Thanatos groaned as he downed a short glass full of whiskey, despite the fact it was morning.
“What do you even want from me? What am I doing here?” Mars asked angrily.
“What are you talking about? You appeared here! Landing right in the middle of my club, and ruined a real good time, I’ll add.”
“Okay, but why am I still here?”
“It’s not like you’re going anywhere, is it? Until now you’ve not even been able to walk.”
“You could have thrown me out.”
“Do you have that low an impression of me?”
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.
“Wow, what did I ever do to offend you so deeply?”
“Thanatos, have you forgotten the war, and all that you did?”
“No, but I’ve moved on, and so should you.”
“This isn’t something so quickly forgiven. You brought an end to life as we knew it, to Zeus, the crown, of paradise, the fabric of the world. Zeus maintained order of more than just Olympus, but many other evils in this universe. By bringing down the Allfather you have opened Pandora’s box.”
“That’s a bit dramatic, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and it also happens to be true. Zeus maintained balance and order in ways you have no idea about.”
“Yeah, I think I’m starting to get that impression.”
“What have you got yourself into?”
“We defeated Hades, but he came back, or something that looked like him. It was strong, too. It posed as Hades to try and get us to submit. Apparently, it is a shape shifter known as Maximón.”
Mars was shaking his head.
“You know of him?”
“No, but this is exactly the kind of thing the Allfather protected us from.”
“Bullshit, we protected ourselves. We did the hard work.”
“You really have no idea how much we have lost, do you?”
“Can’t say I care to either,” Thanatos snapped angrily.
“We have to put this right.”
“Put what right?”
“The world, the universe. Order needs to be restored.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means we need to put a stop to the Maximóns of this world, and ensure all like him know their place.”
“You want to take over, take Zeus’ place?”
“Someone has to. We need order.”
“Screw that. That is just Zeus talking. He kept us under his thumb. He never did anything for us.”
“He wasn’t doing it for us. He was doing it for everyone!”
Thanatos laughed as he went to the bar and poured another drink.
“Is this all you do now? Drink and party?”
“Why, have you got a better idea?”
“You’re an Olympian god, for heaven’s sake. How can you waste yourself like this?”
“I can think of worse ways to spend my days.”
Mars sighed in disgust, but that only made Thanatos smile as he held up his glass as a salute.
* * *
“Everyone was frozen still as they gazed upon Maximón. Those that were within reach of weapons had taken them up, and waited for the next move.
“What are you doing here?” Theo asked.
“Come on, you’re smarter than that,” he smiled.
“You got your ass kicked, and you want our help?” Aaron asked.
Maximón took a deep breath as he avoided rising to the insult.
“Hades is a barrier to everything we both want, and he wants all of us dead, is that not reason enough to combine our forces?”
“He wants us dead? You tried to kill us!” Theo snapped.
“Wrong! I left you alone. I gave you a warning and let you live. You’re the ones that came to my house and killed my soldiers. The blood is on your hands, not mine.”
“Don’t be coy. You wouldn’t have thought twice about killing us if you thought it necessary. We had to end you first.”
“Wrong. I do not kill unless I have no choice.”
“Liar!”
“Whoa, enough!” Aaron shouted, “What the hell is wrong with you both? We’re in the middle of a war, and you want to trade insults!”
“Nobody asked him to come here, Aaron!”
“Nobody invited you into my home either, and yet still you came.”
Theo looked furious, and took her case to Aaron as if she had something to prove.
“He lied and cheated his way into Grace’s home. He could have killed her and me.”
“But I didn’t. I’m the one who came out bleeding, remember?”
Aaron held up his hand to call for silence. “Tell us what you want.”
“To fight against Hades, together.”
“And then what?”
“We can settle our differences when this is all over. But neither of us can defeat Hades alone. Let us fight our common enemy together. If you still want to try and kill me afterward, well, you know where to find me.”
“The hell we do! You’re a shape shifter. You could blend in anywhere,” snapped Theo.
“And yet you spotted me. You knew I wasn’t him.” Maximón gestured toward Aaron.
“I could tell you were not him, and maybe not human, but only because we were so close. You could blend in anywhere in this world, and you know it.”
“Yeah, I do,” he smirked.
“Aaron, we can’t trust him. You know we can’t. Listen to me!”
Aaron took a deep breath as he looked about the room to assess the feelings of them all. It felt like he’d been away a long time, and yet there were so many friends there who had bonded in the line of fire. He turned back to address Theo directly.
“I went away because you wanted me to be something I wasn’t ready to be. You wanted me to be a champion, to lead these people. I wasn’t ready back then, but I’m not the same man now. I went away for a reason, and this was it.”
“You’re saying you want this now?”
“Not just that I want to. I have to. This is my city, and these are my people. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you in recent days, and I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you more about what I was doing. But I need you to trust me when I say it was of the utmost importance and for the benefit of all. One of the things I learned was to use every asset at my disposal to get the job done. Sometimes that can mean making ugly decisions and working in the most unlikely of scenarios. I don’t trust Maximón. How could I? But I don’t need to trust him to know we want the same thing right now.”
“You want to side with this asshole?”
“I don’t want to, C
arter, but I have to,” he replied sternly.
“And what about Vulcan?”
Aaron looked to the trickster for answers.
“All right, yeah, you can have him back.”
Theo stormed across the room and grabbed him by his suit, but he didn’t resist.
“You’ve had him all this time!” She screamed as she shook him.
“Of course I did. There’s no finer smith in all the world. I needed weapons in case I ever had to fight the likes of you and Hades.”
“You don’t even deny it?” Theo asked as she threw him back.
“This is war, and we’re not friends. We do what we must do to win.”
“You said you would stay away from us if we didn’t cause trouble!”
“And I did, but I never extended that offer to Vulcan.”
Her hand gripped tightly about the hilt of her sword, and Aaron readied himself to intervene.
“Ahh!” Theo yelled out in frustration and walked off, throwing her sword down onto a nearby table.
“Give me a minute.” Aaron went after her. She finally stopped and spoke when they got to the far side of the room.
“This is wrong. We shouldn’t be siding with his kind,” she said before he could get a word in.
“I didn’t say I liked it either, but we have to face facts. Beings like Maximón have been around a long time. I can’t believe Zeus had no idea or contact with him.”
“What are you saying?”
“That maybe there was contact all along, but you were sheltered from it.”
“No, I don’t believe it.”
“Your father wanted to maintain a paradise, do you not think he would do everything in his power to ensure that was maintained?”
“Of course.”
“Precisely, and Maximón clearly knew enough about Hades. I think there’s a lot more to this story than you want to admit.”
“Even if that were true, why does it matter now?”
“We live in difficult times, and that calls for difficult decisions. It wasn’t long ago that you didn’t trust me either. Hell, you tried to kill me the first time we met.”
“It wasn’t intentional.”
“I know, but I’m just saying things aren’t black and white. Look, we can’t defeat Hades on our own, and you know it. So we work with Maximón, or we accept it’s all over now, is that what you really want to do?”
Fallen Gods II Page 21
