At Year's End (The 12 Olympians)

by Gasq-Dion, Sandrine

  “No, more like a spanking. Insolent child that you are.”

  “I am not a child.” He got raised brows from Hephaestus and sighed. “Okay, so to you I’m a child.”

  “You do have an ally; I will do what I can to help. You must go now, get the weapon and be ready for the sign.”

  “The sign?”

  Jaxon blinked and just like that, Hephaestus was gone.

  “I hate it when they do that!”

  Two seconds later, he dropped into water. He surfaced, taking deep breaths. What the hell? The coastline didn’t look familiar and he knew he wasn’t back in Washington, which only meant one thing.

  Jaxon held his breath and went under. He dove straight down keeping his eyes open in the clear water. The salt stung him but he couldn’t have cared less. He was there to find one thing. Jaxon’s eyes narrowed. Okay, maybe two: The sickle gleamed from the bottom of the ocean, as well as a golden box. Jaxon grabbed them both and swam for the surface. He burst free of the water and took a deep breath.

  “Jaxon?”

  Jaxon opened his eyes to find his brothers staring at him, open-mouthed.

  “What the…?” Jaxon took a look around the hotel room. “How did I get here?”

  “Never mind that. You found the sickle!” Justice smiled.

  “I had help.” Jaxon looked down at his wet clothing. “I think I need to change.”

  “What the hell happened?” Jesse asked, running to get a towel.

  “I got into a verbal smackdown with Elijah’s dad.”

  “You saw him?” Justice’s jaw hung open.

  “Yep,” Jaxon nodded. He picked up the pendant and twirled it around in his fingers. “This little guy saved me from a very sore chest.”

  “What do you mean?” Jesse wrapped the towel around Jaxon’s shoulders.

  “I was a little…rude.” Jaxon put the box down on the bed and carefully looked it over. “Hey, where’s the key? Look at the lock on this box.”

  Justice sighed in frustration. “James has it.”

  “Call Aidan,” Jesse picked up the box. “He’ll bring it.”

  “On it.” Justice closed his eyes.

  “Hey, what did you find out at the orphanage?” Jaxon asked as he began stripping the wet clothes from his body.

  “Not much. They were burglarized a few years back and a lot of their records were stolen.”

  “Here’s the key.”

  “They all jumped as Aidan materialized in the room. Aidan had been created by the gods; he was over one hundred years old and could travel just by thought.

  “Jesus, Aidan!” Jaxon sighed.

  “Sorry.” Aidan smiled tentatively “Any luck?”

  “Well, Hephaestus and I had a nice chat,” Jaxon grinned.

  Aidan’s eyes widened. “You spoke with a god?”

  “Not to interrupt here,” Justice motioned to the box. “The key fits.”

  They all turned their attention to the golden box. Jaxon turned the key and it sprang open, revealing the contents. Papers filled the box, yellowed and worn. Jaxon lifted one out. It was a birth certificate.

  “Oh. My. God,” Jaxon whispered. He pulled more of them out and looked up at the three men surrounding him. “It’s all of them, the 12 Olympians. It names their human birth parents.” Jaxon stared at one closely. “Elijah’s older than he thinks, too. He turned nineteen on Valentine’s Day.”

  “Gaea never mentioned these three.” Justice peered at the papers.

  “An oversight?” Aidan guessed.

  “Or she was being sneaky,” Justice sighed in frustration. “Man, Nikolai is going to shit.”

  Jaxon stood up and handed the papers to Aidan. “Take these to James; see if he can find the birth parents.”

  Aidan nodded and disappeared.

  Jaxon ran a hand through his hair. “And we are going home for now.”

  ~*Chapter Thirteen*~

  James stared at his computer, willing it to tell him anything. The screen stared back at him blankly, cursor flickering mockingly. Even with all his power, he couldn’t find Elijah. The damn Titans were winning and that was not going to be tolerated. God knew what they were doing to Elijah. James’ chest constricted at the thought.

  He knew if Derek were ever taken, he’d move heaven and Earth to find him. Jaxon must be suffering immensely.

  “Stop it.”

  James looked up to see his husband gazing at him with a sad smile.

  “I can’t help it. I want to help somehow.”

  A shimmering orb began to take form in the corner and then Aidan appeared, holding what looked like worn official documents.

  “The Salvatore brothers found out what the key went to.” Aidan put the papers in James’ hands. “The birth certificates of all the 12 Olympians — save for Skylar’s.”

  “No, Skylar’s is here, too. The original one, not the fake one we found at his adoptive parents’ house.” James looked them over and his head snapped up to Aidan. “Here are the last three.”

  “Yes. They are all there.”

  James shook his head with a smile. “Well, it’s a damn good thing we didn’t kill Ruslan Borkosky. No wonder he’s different from his murderous family.”

  Derek’s head snapped up. “Ruslan is one of the children?”

  “Yes, he is.”

  “Well, shit. Nikolai is not going to be happy.” Derek slumped back in the chair, and then smiled. “Ruslan a god? Our crazy but lovable little Markov will devote his life to trying to top that!”

  James’ computer pinged and he grabbed his mouse. He had a message. He snapped his fingers at Derek and Aidan as a message popped up in his government inbox. It was a series of numbers.

  30.5700° N, 79.5700° E

  C.

  “It’s Lucas!” James fairly shouted. “It has to be!”

  “It could be a trap, James,” Derek said quietly. Lucas Cain was James’ former CIA partner; as far as they could tell, he was now working with the rogues.

  “Tell that to Jaxon.” James stood up and whirled around to Aidan. “Are they still in Greece?”

  “Yes, I left them there.”

  “Tell them to stay there. We’re coming.”

  “Who?” Aidan tilted his head.

  “All of us.”

  ~*~

  Jaxon narrowed his eyes in the moonlight. The scent of rogues was strong as he trekked up a mountainside. He was close; he knew it. His skin tingled the further he climbed. Making his way over another peak, the full moon illuminated his surroundings. They were on the border of India and China, miles from a town called Joshimath.

  Once they found the town, sniffing out the rogues had been easy, thanks to warlock Chance Christianson. A tunnel appeared and Jaxon sent out a mental message to the teams. He took a deep breath and made his way toward it.

  Two rogue guards stood out front and Jaxon walked right up on them.

  “Nice night for a walk, eh?” he drawled.

  “How stupid are you?” one of them asked.

  “Let’s find out.” Jaxon grinned maliciously.

  The anger that flowed through him was all consuming. Jaxon let it come forth, all of it. The death of his parents, the taking of Elijah — it all rushed forward in one roaring rage-fueled growl and Jaxon let loose on the two rogues.

  He stood panting as the last one fell in a heap at his feet. Jaxon spit and kicked the rogue over.

  “Asshole.”

  He entered the tunnel and crept quietly as voices carried all around him. Rats scurried by as he went through one tunnel after another. He followed the voices until he came to a juncture.

  Jaxon looked both ways, craning his neck to determine from which direction the voices were coming.

  A hand landed on his bicep and a needle was aimed at his jugular.

  “Don’t move.”

  Jaxon’s arms were wrenched behind his back as two other rogues grinned in his face.

  “Well, lookie what we have here! A Salvatore brother!”<
br />
  Jaxon sighed and glared at them. “Please stop trying to be witty — or funny. You suck. If you’re going to keep at this cheesy shit, just kill me now. It’s worse than death.”

  “Move it!”

  The rogue at his side moved the needle to his spine and pushed a bit.

  “Don’t get an itchy needle finger, asshole. I’m moving.”

  Jaxon was led to a cave of sorts. A large opening at the top bathed it in moonlight. Elijah was at the far end of the cave. Jaxon’s heart squeezed at the sight of his mate, filthy and looking around in a panic.

  “Elijah!” Jaxon shouted.

  “Well, well, look who we have here.”

  Jaxon’s head swiveled to see Petey and Carl make their way in. The rogue at his back grabbed at the sickle in his belt.

  “No!” Jaxon fought, but was hit in the head.

  “God, this is just too good to be true,” Petey grinned as his man held the sickle up. “Did you really think you could just walk in here?”

  “Elijah,” Jaxon pleaded. “We’re here to take you home.”

  “We?” Petey glanced around. His rogue army was in place, there had to be at least thirty of his own men in the cave. “Who is we?”

  “You stay away from me!” Elijah pointed at him.

  Jaxon’s heart broke. “Why?”

  “I know what you think of me! That I’m some kind of demon! They said you’d come! They said you’d try to kill me!”

  “I would never hurt you, Elijah.” Jaxon tried to move, only to be snatched back. He glared at Petey. “What did you do to him?”

  “Why, I did nothing but tell him the truth.” Petey smiled as he made his way over to Elijah. He caressed the young man’s face.

  “Don’t you fucking touch him!” Jaxon roared.

  Peter smiled wide. “Oh, my. He’s your mate, isn’t he?” Peter studied Jaxon’s face closely. “Yes, he is. Wow, this must hurt then, huh? He really hates you, Jaxon.”

  “No, please.” Jaxon’s eyes pleaded with Elijah. “Don’t believe him; I would never hurt you, Elijah.”

  “Lies! You want me to suffer!”

  “I would rather die than watch you suffer, Elijah!”

  Petey stepped in front of Elijah, blocking Jaxon’s view. He motioned to Carl, who stood next to the rogue holding Jaxon.

  “I want Elijah to see him die.” Petey motioned to the two other guards. “Check the tunnels for any others.”

  Jaxon moved swiftly, taking the sickle from the guard. He spun around, slicing Carl’s head off in seconds.

  “Now, Chance!” Jaxon back-flipped over the guard who was actually Chance using a shimmering spell.

  “Killian!” Jaxon shouted.

  “Mom!” Chance bellowed.

  A large hawk flew through the tunnels and Jaxon threw the sickle in the air. The hawk grabbed it in its talons and Killian shifted in mid-air, landing right in front of Petey. Killian grinned.

  Petey stood in shock as all the rogues began to shimmer, revealing the Skull Blaster unit. The damn warlock had used the shimmering spell against him!

  “Goodbye, Peter.”

  Petey tried to move and realized he’d been caught in a binding spell.

  “This isn’t over!” he shouted desperately. “Don’t you want to know who the real boss is? Who the government agents are who work with us?”

  “You’re not saving yourself this time, Peter.” The alpha of the created ones, Wayne Maccon, stepped forward. “I allowed you to live once, to save the children you were going to kill in the tunnels of Arizona. I won’t do it again. You can’t be allowed to live. Trust me, we’ll find out whoever else is involved in this. But it ends here for you. I can honestly say I’m not gonna miss your sorry ass.”

  “You can’t kill me!” Petey shrieked.

  “Yes, I can.” Killian sliced Petey’s head off.

  Rogues flew into the cave and charged Killian. The team began taking them out while Killian braced himself for the attack.

  A raucous screeching sound echoed throughout the cave and Killian stepped back, eyes wide. The largest bird he’d ever seen was flapping its wings and incinerated the two rogues.

  Elijah stood against the wall, eyes wild, looking for an escape route. A wall of fire surrounded him. Jaxon walked toward him slowly. The phoenix advanced on him but Jaxon stood his ground. It flew right into his face and then stopped. It eyed him, screeched, and then disappeared.

  The fire around Elijah was getting much bigger, and much hotter. Jaxon stepped forward cautiously. Elijah had already fried two rogues; he had to be very careful.

  “Listen to me, Elijah.”

  “Stay away from me!”

  “You know me. Think about it, why would I come all this way? Why would I kill anyone who touched you?”

  “They told me — ”

  “They lied. I’m that man you saw at camp, the one you told you wouldn’t be sixteen forever — don’t you remember that? You told me you loved Halloween because you were free to be who you really wanted to be. You reminded me that there was only one year left and you’d be eighteen. You remember your seventeenth birthday? You wanted a kiss from me and I gave you a hug. You grabbed my ass instead.”

  Jaxon walked even closer.

  “And all those times it took everything I had to wait for you, Elijah. To wait until you were ready to be with me.”

  “I don’t believe you!”

  Jaxon noticed the flames were getting lower and inched his way closer.

  “You know me, Elijah.” Jaxon reached through the flames and palmed Elijah’s cheek. The pain was instantaneous and he fought the urge to wince. “You know me, you’ve always known me. I would kill anyone who hurt you.”

  “Why? Why would you do that?” Elijah blinked and focused on the face in front of him.

  “Because I love you. I always have.” Jaxon leaned in and pressed a kiss to Elijah’s lips. He broke from it slowly and backed away. “I don’t expect you to believe me right away, but just know that I would never harm you in any way.”

  The fire slowly extinguished around Elijah and he slumped against the wall.

  “I’ll understand if you don’t trust me just yet. But you should trust him.” Jaxon pointed to Chance. “He’ll get you out of here.”

  Jaxon knelt over Carl and searched his pockets. Finding the phone, he tossed it to James Jacobs. “Find the tone he used on Elijah.”

  Jaxon turned and walked out of the tunnels. It was the hardest thing he ever had to do.

  Talk filled the plane ride home. The plan had gone down perfectly. Chance had disguised the entire team as rogues. Petey and Carl had never seen them coming. Chance’s mother had helped with the binding spell and they had finally — after all this time — taken out Petey and Carl.

  Jaxon sat in the corner, rolling the sickle around in his palm. Elijah was on a different jet. He sighed and hung his head. Elijah was scared of him. It wasn’t fair. All those months spent looking for him, only to find him and not be able to hold him.

  “He’ll come around, Jaxon.”

  Jaxon looked up to see Chance, who tried to smile.

  “I hope so. I missed him so much and now it feels like he’s still gone.” Jaxon blinked. “Wait, aren’t you on the other plane?”

  “Yes. Astral projection is so much fun! Look, I’m doing my best here, okay? I think I’ve almost got him convinced to go home. Skylar’s showing him pictures of all of them.”

  “Thanks, Chance. For everything.”

  “Not a problem. You guys belong together.”

  Jaxon reclined in the seat as Chance disappeared. Someone sat down next to him and he grinned.

  “Feel better?” he asked.

  “Yes, I feel very good.” Killian threaded his fingers behind his head. “I wanted him to suffer, though. After everything that man put me through, I wanted him to writhe in pain — beg for mercy. The sickle death was too quick.”

  “Just what did he do to you?” Jaxon glanced over at Killi
an.

  “He tortured me to see how I worked,” Killian said quietly. “He killed my parents trying to figure out how the shifting happened.”

  “I’m sorry, Killian.”

  “You lost your parents as well.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Well, we have to find out who the other leaders are now. Then, maybe, we can all go on with our lives.”

  Jaxon looked out the window of the plane. “Maybe.”

  ~*~

  Jaxon stood on the doorstep and rang the bell. Justice opened the door and gave him a slight smile. It had been two weeks since they’d been back, and Elijah refused to be anywhere near him. It hurt like hell.

  The media frenzy surrounding Elijah’s return had been handled by Caden Fournier. Jaxon couldn’t handle the news crews, whereas Caden was used to it. After a week and a half, the craziness had died down and Jaxon wanted to see Elijah. He’d held back as long as he could, never trying to get any closer than the front yard. Now he stood on the front steps with a sandwich.

  Yeah, he knew it was kind of cheesy, but he still had hope Elijah would somehow remember. Jaxon handed the bag to Justice and tried to smile.

  “How is he?”

  “The same.” Justice opened the door further. “Do you want to come in?”

  “No, I think it’s best if I just leave.”

  “He will remember, Jaxon. Just give it time.”

  “That’s all I have now.”

  Justice watched as his brother turned and made his way down the walk to his bike. He closed the door and went up the stairs to Elijah’s room. Knocking softly, he got a ‘come in’ from the other side of the door. Justice cracked it open and found Elijah by the window.

  “He was here again,” Elijah said softly.

  “Yes, he was. He brought you a sandwich.”

  “I don’t want it. It’s probably poisoned.”

  Justice took the sandwich out and breathed in the scent of bacon. The smell filled the whole room as he unwrapped it.

  “Oh wow, a Baconalia.” Justice licked his lips.

  “A what?” Elijah watched as Jaxon looked at the window where he was standing. They locked eyes for a brief moment before Elijah turned away from it.