by Crystal Dawn
Frozen Holidays 1 & 2
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Frozen Holidays Book 1
Eudoros
By Crystal Dawn
Cover by Crystal Dawn using Istock images.
Dedicated to those that give even though they may not have much themselves. Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year to all my readers.
Frozen Origin 1-Zeus
Origin is the best in the field of DNA research and they have finely tuned their craft. They started out with a line of supermen pulling all the best traits from the millions of human DNA samples they had available to them. These supermen were the smartest, fastest, strongest, and most adaptable the human race had to offer, but Origin wasn’t satisfied. When they expanded their facility in Antarctica, they discovered something that made the next level reachable. These were the gods, so far beyond the abilities of man that even with some of their gifts still undiscovered, they put the supermen to shame.
Origin managed to get by with enslaving the products of their research for years until they rented the talents of those products to terrorists that used them against the US and her allies. A team was sent to free them and they were allowed to be an independent entity, free to rule themselves. They had much to overcome and Origin wasn’t ready to give them up yet. Origin fought hard to recover their losses, but the gods fought harder to remain free especially once they realized that they could have a mate and children when they find the right woman.
Sierra, one of the team sent in to free them, and Zeus, the leader of the gods, are the first to mate and have children.
Frozen Origin 2-Hermes
Hermes is captured by rogue Origin agents and meets his future mate under the worst possible conditions. He had hoped to mate a fierce warrior like Zeus did, but is drawn to the timid mousy girl despite his wishes to the contrary. When she helps him escape, he begins to discover she isn’t anything like he thought her to be.
Origin continues to try to bring the gods back under their control and rogue agents with their own plans are added to the mix. The gods deal with the US military, spies in their midst, and are offered another captured Origin lab to use for their own needs. Zeus offers this to the demons but Lu wants to think about it.
Several of the other gods suspect they’ve found their mates but they aren’t sure yet. Some of them wonder if they’ll ever be truly free of Origin and if they’ll ever have the things that other people take for granted.
Frozen Origin 3-Hades
In Hades, more gods are freed and brought home. A new trend is developing with Origin. They are farming gods out singly to small groups and individuals making it harder to track them. Hades and Doc search for a god that was verified in the possession of an unidentified party. Their mission was largely unsuccessful and they returned to Olympus without the god they had searched for. Was he still alive? They believed he was but the search would have to start all over from scratch. They refused to give up until he was free or confirmed dead.
Frozen Origin Quickies-Morpheus
Farmed out to a particularly loathsome female researcher, Morpheus only wants to die so he can be free from the pain and the desire of the vindictive female who tortures him when he refuses to service him. Eventually his fellow gods find him but there are so many more out there in situations similar or even worse than his.
Prologue
It was funny, no it was fucking hilarious that he had been chosen for this mission because his name, a form of Eudora, that meant good gift in ancient Greek. Yeah, his name, which he hated, had gotten him screwed one more time. Here it was the day after the American Thanksgiving holiday and he was dressed up like the fat man himself, father Christmas. He liked kids, one would never doubt that, but he’d been puked on, pissed on, had gum stuck in his hair and right now as he looked down, a dog was growling at him and chewing on the toes of his shiny black boots. The desire to kick him, not hard but hard enough, was nearly overpowering. He didn’t because Santa Claus would never do that.
His patience, something gods weren’t known for, was most certainly long gone. The only thing helping him hold on was that one of his brothers was nearby and in need of help. He looked toward the building he was spying on and fervently hoped the outcome would be good. A young boy, maybe three or four, almost fell as he rounded the corner of the building headed straight toward him. Where the hell were the little guy’s parents? He saw a stomach rounding the building followed by a small pretty woman with long brown hair and red cheeks. She yelled at the boy to stop, but he just ran faster.
He figured she was five or six months along with the boy’s sibling and far too frail and underfed. Her stomach was the biggest part of her, her cheeks were hollow, and every protective instinct in him screamed to take this female and the child and run like hell. He wouldn’t, couldn’t even if she wasn’t clearly taken already. He was here for a reason and that had to come first.
Eudoros
Chapter 1
The Mission
“It just doesn’t seem fair,” Ros said as he complained.
“It’s as good a way to decide as any,” Hades determined as he always did with no doubts and no changing his mind.
“That’s because your name is death and you’ve always liked your name.”
“Eudoros is a good name too. Embrace who you are and remember, you were given the honor of helping to save our brothers.” Their brothers being an unknown number of gods and demons scattered all over the world living under agonizing conditions. Their captors tested, tortured, and attempted to breed them to get more demons and gods to continue the cycle with.
There was nothing to say when Hades put things that way. He tried to remember that as he stood on the corner. He could stand or sit in the comfortable chair behind him. It was the one that the kids climbed into his lap on so the parents or caretakers could get a nice picture of their child asking Santa for the yearly Christmas haul. It amazed him what some of these kids asked for and told him they got. He looked around to see if Danny was coming. That little kid had stole his heart and his mama, well if she wasn’t already claimed and it was obvious that she was with the bun in the oven and the little guy to boot, he’d take her and run away with her.
He didn’t think much of her husband anyway. She was so delicate, he could tell she wasn’t being looked after and the father never seemed to be around. Three days had past and no father to be seen. The man hid better than Santa Claus. If Ros had a female like that, he’d cherish her and the boy, well that was a helluva kid there. He asked for his mama to get a new dress and for the soldiers not to have to fight and die anymore. It brought tears to the harshest male’s eyes. He might just get involved with what was going on there and straighten some guy out about how you treated your wife. The average man didn’t seem to have a clue.
Ros saw the little guy tearing around the corner again. He gave him a look of disapproval since he had asked him not to run ahead of his mama that way. The boy instantly skid to a stop allowing her to catch up. She sent him a thankful look. He stayed at his mama’s side until they got near Ros then he put his arms up so Ros could pick him up. He lifted him thinking he and his mama both should be eating better. The kid hardly weighed more than a feather and his mama looked way too
thin and slight to be carrying a baby.
Danny looked at him with those bright blue eyes, the same eyes his mama had and he smiled. It was the sweet open smile of the innocent. Danny’s mama, as he called her, was leaning against the building probably faint from hunger. She was lost in thought or too tired to care what they were doing.
“Danny, what’s your last name?” Ros asked looking at the little boy who was now sitting on his lap happily playing with Santa’s black belt buckle.
“Jones. I thought Santa knew everything?” he looked up at me with a hint of suspicion.
“Oh, I do,” Ros said as he reached into his bag pulling out a paper sack. He pulled out a package and handed it to the boy. “Eat this really fast.” The boy smiled as he took a bite out of his burger. He turned to make sure his mama wasn’t watching. She might not want him to take food from a stranger, but Santa wasn’t really a stranger, was he?
Danny was nearly four and everyone said he was very mature and smart for his age. He went to preschool half a day four days a week and would start Kindergarten next year if his mama had any say in it. Since his daddy had gone to war and not come back home, he felt like a big boy. He helped his mama whenever she needed it and he tried to behave the best that he could. She was tired most of the time because of the baby, but Danny couldn’t wait until he was born. He’d be able to take care of him and mama could get some rest.
They didn’t have any family, not really. Mama’s mother was white trash, or at least that’s what Sally, one of his friends at preschool told him her mother said. His dad’s parent’s hadn’t wanted their son to marry her so they didn’t have anything to do with them. He thought they were just mean so he didn’t care. His mama cried sometimes at night. He knew cause they slept in the same bed. They lived in a small place with one bed and no couch. It was okay cause he liked to sleep with his mama. She kept him warm at night when the place got a little cold.
“What’s your mama’s name?” Ros asked.
“Mama, silly.”
“That’s what you call her, but she has another name,” Ros explained.
Danny looked at him with his face all scrunched up in concentration. “I’m only allowed to call her mama, but Phil calls her Missus Jones.”
Ros could see this was getting him no where. He wasn’t sure what a four year old should know, but this one seemed surprised that his mama had her own name. Maybe if Ros was around more kids he’d know what to expect but he’d not been around any for very long. He would have to find out another way, maybe from the lady herself. How could he asked without seeming too nosy?
He looked over to where she was and he lifted Danny off him quickly and hurried to support her. She looked ready to fall so he helped her to his chair. “Are you alright?”
She turned a lovely shade of red. “Just a little dizzy. The baby’s growing so fast it caught me off guard today.” Alarms went off in his head. That meant something but he couldn’t remember what.
“Why don’t you let me take you for a bite to eat? I’m getting off work right now and I’d like some company.”
“We couldn’t impose. I need to get Danny home to do his homework.”
“I don’t have any homework today, Mama.” She blushed prettily again.
“I don’t know anyone in town and I’m bored and lonely. I’d really like a little company.”
“Well…”
“Let’s go, Mama. He’s nice,” Danny begged.
Ros knew it was unfair to take advantage when she didn’t feel good and to enlist the child’s aid, but he didn’t care. He wanted what he wanted and right now that was to spend some time with them. “I am nice and it’s just a bite to eat and a little conversation for a lonely man,” he said as he smiled his most charming smile. Ladies never denied him when he gave them that smile. It seemed Danny’s mama couldn’t deny him either.
“Alright, just for a little while,” she agreed.
“I’ll be on my best behavior and Danny will be too. Won’t you, Buddy?” Danny solemnly nodded.
Ros turned to quickly divest himself of the suit. He wore casual clothing underneath. Once he was completely himself again, he turned to face them. Danny’s mama was shocked and Danny was surprised.
He pointed at him. “You’re not really Santa, are you?”
“I’m not. Santa needs a lot of help around the holidays and he’s busy at the North Pole, so he has his friends help out.”
“Can I help Santa?” It was just like this kid to want to help and not ask for anything for himself.
“I’m sure he can find something for you to do if your mama doesn’t mind. Maybe once school is out for Christmas.” Ros didn’t make a commitment because he didn’t want to lie and he wasn’t sure what Danny’s mama would say.
He took her arm and with his other hand took Danny’s hand and he led them around the corner to a small café. The food there was very good and the smell hit his nose as soon as he opened the door. He ushered them to a booth in the corner where he could see the door. Old habits never died.
“I eat here a lot and I can suggest something if you’re not sure what you want,” Ros offered. “By the way, my name’s Ros.” He held out his hand and she took it.
“I’m Jen, short for Jenna,” she replied as she shook his hand.
Ros was pretty proud of himself. Now that he had her name, he would find out more about her. He already knew she worked for New Beginnings which was a company that had broken off from Origin. They had one or more of his brothers hidden and he was keeping their office under surveillance to see who came and went, find their employees, and hopefully use what they found out to free the gods kept in captivity. He didn’t know what Jen did, but he knew she had no idea what kind of people she worked for.
They sat with their drinks waiting for food. “So Jen, you know what I do, what do you do everyday?”
“I work for New Beginnings,” she turned red and looked at her stomach. “They’re a fertility company. I’m a secretary and I make appointments for customers and do billing. I didn’t have much experience so I started at entry level.”
Ros looked at her stomach too as she spoke. So they were up to their old tricks as fertility experts. They had been caught before, when they used the name Origin, working with couples desperate to have children. Unknown to the parents, they had strengthened the embryos with DNA from gods. Most of the desperate people probably wouldn’t have minded the extras added to make the embryos viable, but the gods hadn’t volunteered their DNA. It wasn’t that they didn’t want kids, they just wanted those kids to be truly theirs. They wanted to live with them and raise them.
They ordered their food and when it came Danny ate his so fast that Ros feared he’d be ill. Jen ate slowly, she tried to act like she wasn’t starving. She ate like a lady and carried on a conversation until Danny was through and he started chattering almost nonstop. The kid was likeable and fun. His mama, she was a completely different thing. Ros was drawn in, if he didn’t know she was taken, he would think she was his. He felt different when he was near her. He sat next to her and the delicious feminine scent rolling over him was bringing out the primitive side of him. He’d spoken to Hades when he was going through his mating with Doc. It had been difficult but Hades had made it through and was now a happily mated male. He had described to Ros how he had felt about the human female, Doc.
Ros had met her and while she was attractive, he hadn’t felt those strong feelings toward her or any female, ever. He was feeling them now. Was he the victim of a mistake made by nature itself? He would go crazy watching this female starving and being left to take care of herself, her boy, and the child she carried all by herself but knowing she was meant to be his. How could this happen, why did she belong to another when he yearned for her and no other?
If he couldn’t take care of her, he would make her male step up and do the right thing. Tomorrow he would find out who he was and maybe even why he wasn’t taking his privilege and duty seriously. She was watc
hing him. Had she asked him something and he hadn’t answered?
“I’m sorry, did I miss something?”
She smiled and he caught his breath, she was so beautiful. “Don’t mind me, I know that Santa’s very busy this time of year and so are his friends so you’ve probably got a lot on your mind. I just asked if you cared to come by tomorrow for breakfast. I work Saturdays but we’re closed on Sunday and Monday.”
“Only if you’ll let me bring some things with me.” He wasn’t going to eat all their food when they must not have much to begin with. This would give him a chance to make sure they had another good meal and he’d take it.
“You don’t have to do that,” she insisted flushing again. It took little to get her to turn pink or even red sometimes.
“I insist,” he said in a tone that allowed no disagreement. “I’ll walk you home so I know where to go in the morning. What time?”
“How’s eight? Danny stays up late on Saturday nights and sleeps in later.”
“Sounds good.” He replied as he reached out and ran his hand through Danny’s hair, messing it up, before he grabbed his hand and took him to the counter with him to pay. Jen waited nervously, but she waited for them even though he expected her to follow. He paid and bought Danny some candy which delighted him.
“Best not tell mama. She’s funny about candy and stuff, it makes her cry.”
“Candy makes her cry?”
“She cried last time I ask for a candy bar. Maybe she don’t like ‘em.”
Ros felt bad because he had a feeling Jen didn’t like candy because she couldn’t afford much of it. He wanted to help her, but he knew he couldn’t step in without confronting her husband first. It would be so much easier just to take her away, but it was dishonorable to take another man’s wife. If he continued to ignore her needs, he would step in anyway. He took Danny back to Jen then he escorted them home. Their apartment was a small room and he assumed there was a bathroom. He thought it would be called a studio apartment with its small kitchenette and only a bed, small table for two, and a dresser. They said goodnight, but he would see them again soon.
