by Setta Jay
Chapter 4
Island in the Caribbean, Earth Realm
“Fuck!” Sander snarled. After meeting Sander at that club, they’d ported directly to the island where Conn and Uri were checking a lead on Apollo.
Bastian looked around the deserted wrecking yard. The scents of oil, rust and gas fumes flowed in the sea breeze while the moon illuminated the twisted vehicles waiting to be crushed. There were guard dogs somewhere, having retreated the second he and Sander ported in.
Bastian agreed with the Phoenix. What they were seeing confirmed the worst-case scenario. “Apollo could be anywhere now.” And it should have had his entire focus, but that wasn’t what had his skin pulling tight. There had been something in that club.
He rubbed his thumb over his lower lip and tried to shake off the gnawing arousal. He would go back to the club the second they were through, which wouldn’t happen anytime soon, but he felt an almost compulsive need to get there now. His eyes narrowed at how raw the sensation was.
He hadn’t fed his needs often enough in the past month, but the scent of arousal in Sander’s new haunt shouldn’t have caused this degree of need. He’d never lost control of his emotions… or his damned cock, but his zipper was digging into an erection that was claiming nearly all of his attention. Something wasn’t right.
He tried to force his cock to calm, pushing himself to focus on the evidence they’d just uncovered. It was the first true confirmation that Apollo hadn’t been contained in Tetartos Realm’s confinement spell when he’d been freed of the stasis unit. This proved he’d been in Earth Realm mere weeks ago. Could still be somewhere among the humans. The power signature was faint, only detectable because of the small traces of blood left behind.
The God was long gone, but they still needed to know what he’d been doing there.
Sander’s ‘fuck’ didn’t quite cover it. Uri and Conn were tracking down the homeless human who’d been the only one to see what had happened. The tabloid reported it as a supernatural sighting. “Uri should have the witness’s memories and we’ll know more.” They’d better. A God loose in general was a huge problem; knowing the deity had free reign over all four Realms was a potential crisis. This was the confirmation none of them had been looking forward to. And worse, it happened weeks ago and the information had just surfaced. The news called it an accident. It was the tabloid that tripped Conn’s keyword search. The Lykos hadn’t thought the lead would amount to anything.
Bastian shook his head. Drake wasn’t likely to take the news well.
Sander was busy inspecting the battered remains of the front of the truck, which had a convenient dent the size of a seven-foot Deity hammered into the grill. The entire engine compartment was now concaved against the cab, the reason the small island’s authorities reported it as a vehicle accident involving a tree.
“If we thought Drake was off the fucking rails before, what the hell are we going to do with him when he sees this shit?” Sander’s hazel eyes flashed; heat radiated from the angry Phoenix. His brother Guardian wasn’t even trying to control it, which made Bastian consider more closely.
The male was known for his temper and asshole attitude. He’d spent centuries stirring up trouble with the others, but not recently… Things had changed drastically in the last few months and he wasn’t sure why.
The Phoenix kept turning and scanning the area as if the God would show up any minute. Bastian watched him run a hand over his shaved head before shooting deadly looks at the truck as though the metal alone was to blame for Apollo’s escape.
“Conn and Uri should have something soon.” After that, they would scour the island for clues to what the God had been doing there and where he’d gone. The place wouldn’t have been populated when Apollo was last awake, so to say the truck shocked the bastard was probably an understatement.
“Is there even a fucking plan for when Drake finally loses his shit, or are we still pretending he’s going to be able to keep it together?” Sander growled.
“P’s on him.”
But Sander was right, their leader was losing his grip, and if Sirena couldn’t find any answers, things would only get worse.
“That’s fucking working out?” Sander growled.
He stilled for a second, looking into the shadows. Something was off, but he didn’t see or sense anything specific. No hint of the God they were looking for and no humans.
Sander’s attitude wasn’t helping the odd feelings.
“You’d do better?” Bastian challenged. Drake was living through a special level of hell, and even with his more logical nature, Bastian knew he wouldn’t be calm and collected while his female was suffering. There was no way Sander wouldn’t be a thousand times worse.
“Fuck no, but I’m not the goddamned leader. I don’t need to keep my shit together. He does.”
Bastian eyed his brother, who was now focused on him instead of the truck. “What should he do? His mate was experimented on and then abused before we found her completely feral,” he ground out slowly before adding, “Sirena has no idea what would happen if he completes the mating, even if Delia was able to deal with it.”
“So? He still needs to mate her. Finish it,” Sander spat out.
“Even though Sirena isn’t sure she’ll survive?”
“Yes,” Sander ground out, darting glances into the darkness.
Bastian felt a spike of adrenaline from his brother’s words. “You’d risk the one female that was yours?” he challenged.
“Doing nothing is better? Caging the female? She’d be better off if we put her down.”
Bastian teleported behind his brother and slammed his body into the side of the truck. His words were silky smooth in his brother’s ear. “Do. Not. Ever. Say that again.”
Sander snapped his head back and would have clipped Bastian’s nose had he not partially broke apart as if to teleport, leaving his arms solid. His race was made up of Immortals whose power base was in teleportation, but as a Guardian he was enhanced by the Creators themselves. He didn’t have the same restrictions as other Kairos. He could slow the teleportation so much that he broke apart in sections until he was ready to move. That left his hands free when he needed them while the rest of him was in the air.
Sander growled and his body heat soared, turning him into flame and breaking Bastian’s hold. “I have no problem beating the shit out of you, brother,” Sander sneered wildly and lunged. They ported around each other, as all Guardians could do, and then Sander sent a ball of flame that singed Bastian’s bicep.
In that moment Bastian realized how much he needed a fight.
“No powers,” he dictated. Hand to hand would be more gratifying. He wanted to draw blood.
Sander’s eyes lit. “Gladly.”
Bastian kicked low, bringing the Phoenix down. His brother nearly landed a shot to Bastian’s dick before his sneer turned even more delighted. There’d always been a wildness in the male, this was Sander.
“She’s not a damned animal,” Bastian bit out.
“She’s dangerous and was in fucking pain for weeks after scenting him. He needs to mate her and meld their powers or fucking kill her and put her out of her goddamned misery,” Sander snarled.
Bastian felt his jaw tighten. Outward signs of emotion weren’t something he was used to, but he’d get to the bottom of those changes later. His brother’s words fueled his irritation, and within a split second he’d grabbed his brother and thrown his smirking ass into the windshield of another damaged vehicle. The crunch of glass barely sounded through the pulsing in his ears before Sander launched into him.
“I’m impressed at this side of you, brother,” Sander snapped with a harsh grin.
Bastian wasn’t one to fight his brothers unless they were sparring. Any violence inside him was contained and used for real battles with hell creatures and demon-possessed. Not for sport with his brothers. It didn’t seem to matter now; Sander’s words set something loose that hadn’t been free since he was
very young.
Logic was no longer in charge.
If they were all getting mates, it could easily have been Bastian’s who’d been abducted, raped and experimented on. He felt for Drake, but what had been done to Delia slid under his skin and festered. She deserved care, not to be treated as a fucking animal. Like most of them had been treated in Apollo’s damned labs.
They launched at each other, fists and legs connecting with packed muscle. Grunts and the sound of bodies slamming into metal as they impacted with the cars in the wrecking yard filled the night air.
“If you suggested putting my mate down, I’d take you apart one piece at a time.” His tone was still calm, but the fire inside him was raging.
Sander opened his mouth but was interrupted.
“What the fuck?” Uri’s growl echoed into the night, and Bastian’s prey was ripped from him. He wasn’t surprised when Conn grabbed him by the arms and pulled him back as well.
“Sander?” Uri demanded. “We don’t have time for this shit.”
Bastian watched the Phoenix’s eyes grow hard at the accusation in Uri’s voice.
“It was me,” Bastian admitted, forcing a calm he didn’t feel as Sander wiped blood from his lip. It took long seconds before Bastian’s adrenaline started to ease down, and Conn’s hold didn’t relax until it did.
His brothers were both staring at him as if he’d lost his mind. He might have. He’d only lost it one other time in his adult life and that wasn’t a memory he wanted to revisit. Maybe that was part of the problem. Apollo’s escape was bringing back bad memories, and he was sure he wasn’t the only one feeling it. That bastard and Hermes had treated Immortals like cattle, and now he was free and they had no idea what he was planning. The other Gods had focused their torment on humanity, whereas Apollo had specifically targeted Immortals.
A few minutes ticked by as their breathing evened out.
Conn finally raised a pierced brow and said, “If that’s it, I’m going to check for video surveillance, though I doubt they have any. Uri can fill you in.” When no one said anything more, the Lykos shook his head and disappeared.
Bastian scanned the shadows where Sander kept glancing. There were no power signatures, no sign of the God, but why did he keep looking over there?
Cuts on his knuckles and face warmed as they started healing.
“What is it?” he asked his brother.
“I felt it at the club. Like being stalked, but it doesn’t feel dangerous. It feels…” Sander snarled in obvious frustration.
“What?”
“I don’t fucking know,” the Phoenix bit out and was gone, standing in the shadows a second later.
“Do you scent anything?” Bastian asked Uri. His brother’s sense of smell was stronger than his.
Uri took a deep breath while using his sensitive silver eyes to scan the area. After a minute he growled, “Nothing that shouldn’t be here.”
Conn, get out here, Bastian said as he and the others moved in the direction Sander had gone.
The Lykos appeared at their side. “What?”
“Can you smell anything?” Bastian doubted Uri would’ve missed anything, but the Lykos had even stronger senses because of his wolf. Conn tilted his neck and inhaled the salt air. A frown creased his brow. “What am I looking for?”
“Don’t know,” Bastian said.
“I’m not scenting anything out of the ordinary. Other than Apollo’s fucking blood on the truck.”
“It’s gone,” Sander growled when he reappeared next to them.
“Is it Apollo?” Bastian asked. “Could he hide his power signature?”
“Let’s fucking hope not,” Conn snarled.
“I don’t think it was him,” Sander said. “Why watch us? Why not try to fucking kill us?”
“To get information.” The God would be in a completely new world, especially with Earth Realm’s advances.
“Getting nailed by a truck would have been a learning experience,” Conn pointed out with a smirk.
“He was furious.” Uri smiled wide. “It was crystal clear in the witness’s head. Apollo appeared a split second before the truck slammed into his ass. Right after getting hit, the bastard picked up the truck and threw it over the cliff like a pissed-off kid mad at a damned toy. Then he roared like an animal and was gone.”
Conn shook his head, grinning. “So if it wasn’t Apollo, what are we looking at?”
“I don’t fucking know,” Sander growled.
“When did you first feel it?” Uri stood assessing the Phoenix.
“Tonight at a club, but it was like déjà fucking vu.” Sander ran a hand over his bald head.
“I felt something there when I went to get you.” Bastian frowned.
“Yeah. I just can’t place why it’s so fucking familiar.” Sander’s hazel eyes sparked.
“Let’s go to the club and see if either of you sense something or if Conn or I can pick up a scent. Jax and Dorian can come and start searching the island until we’re done,” Uri said.
Bastian felt anticipation itching under his skin at the idea of going back there.
Chapter 5
Guardian Manor, Tetartos Realm
“Where’re we doing this?” Sander bit out as they reformed in the courtyard of the Guardian manor in Tetartos Realm. The sun flirted behind thick white clouds as more of them met on the grass. A cool mountain breeze slid over his skin and he was happy to be away from the humidity of the island, but it didn’t ease the frustration.
It had been a long damned night. Nothing had come from the return visit to the club. Neither he nor Sander had gotten the same sensation, but that didn’t mean Bastian wasn’t planning on heading back there the minute they finished giving Drake the bad news. Something still clawed at the back of his neck, the same compulsion to get to the club again.
Conn ran his hand over the back of his head when he ported next to them. He’d been checking all the news feeds while they worked on the island.
Their search hadn’t panned out. No secret hiding places housing a God. There wasn’t even a hint that Apollo had been there beyond getting hit by the truck. The only thing they could come up with was that there’d been mining all over the island as the population had grown. The entire area of the accident had been blasted decades ago to make the road and accommodate businesses. There could have been a cave there at one time. It could have housed something the God kept hidden away. If that was the case, it was blasted long ago.
“War room?” Uri asked.
“Good call. Give the unstable dragon bad news in a confined fucking space,” Sander bitched.
“Shut the fuck up, Sander. I reinforced the fire-retardant spells,” Conn said as he rubbed the back of his neck and bit out, “We’ll do this at the rings on the west side. Those can’t get much worse.”
We’ve got something. Meeting at the rings, Conn sent through the main Guardian link.
Guardians all started porting in near the charred remains of the trees Drake had set ablaze a week ago. It was oddly quiet, as if the birds refused to come back to the trees surrounding the damage.
Sacha ported in beside him and her warm eyes quickly assessed him. She wasn’t his mother in blood, but she’d been the one to raise him as a child, the only mother he’d ever known. Her hair was pulled back in a long dark braid, and eyes the color of dark chocolate stayed on his face for a second longer.
What is it? she asked in their mental link as the rest of the Guardians filled the clearing.
Apollo has been in Earth Realm.
She frowned beautifully. Not unexpected, but Drake won’t be happy. What else? she countered.
There’s nothing else.
She eyed him but wouldn’t dig. It wasn’t her way.
When Drake and P ported in, the tension thickened. The dragon’s power flowed in wild dangerous waves around him and his eyes seemed even harder than they’d been a week ago. “Report.”
Everyone kept an eye on the leader as
Conn reported. “We found clues that Apollo has been in Earth Realm.”
“When?” their leader snarled, wisps of smoke already filtering from his lips.
“Not long after he would have escaped.”
The dragon’s eyes flashed emerald, the beast itching for freedom as more smoke lifted into the breeze. “And we’re just finding out now?”
“It happened on an island in the Caribbean and the initial news reports were shit. Not showing with any of the key words I set up.”
“You should be checking everything, damn it!” Drake growled and the tension grew. Drake was getting more and more volatile as time passed. He glanced at Sirena and saw her ball her fists. She’d yet to find anything that would help Delia, and soft smudges marred the pale skin under her eyes. She was doing everything she could and getting nowhere.
Bastian barely heard Conn relaying what they’d found. There wasn’t a lot to tell the others. The God wasn’t at any known locations. Not his island that was destroyed by the Creators. And not the hiding place where the God had secreted away the Deleastis Rod, a relic Cynthia, a currently imprisoned Mageia, had used to help free Apollo. A relic they’d all thought the Creators had destroyed. If Apollo had been at either location, the male hadn’t left any clues.
He barely even paid attention to what Conn was saying. All Bastian could think of was getting back to the club and finding out what it was about that place that had set him off. Uri had taken some surface memories from the owner, a Mageia female named Brigitte, and nothing had indicated Apollo had been anywhere near there.
“I’m surprised the bastard hasn’t come out to the humans and announced that he’s their God and they should bow to him. Fucker that he is, that’d be his style,” Sander snarled after Conn was done.
“Do we update the warriors in Tetartos?” Sirena asked. The cities in the Immortal Realm held the Mageia who chose to make the move to the Realm. Immortal warriors guarded the population and were on high alert for Apollo and pissed that the God had been freed at all.
