“I can work with that.”
***
Addison waved her hand at the large red pickup two lanes over from the airport sidewalk. Roger had insisted on picking her up so she wouldn’t have to take a cab. It was good. She didn’t want to be alone with her worries right now. The plane ride home had been torture. The second she’d gotten off the plane and turned on her phone, dread had filled her heart. When no terrible messages popped up on the screen, she had called Roger to tell him what gate she was at.
He pulled up to the sidewalk, and Addison tossed her bag into the bed of the truck before he could open his door to help. She pulled open the passenger door and slid onto the soft leather seat.
“No worries, Roger. Let’s go.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave her an encouraging smile, but Addison swallowed nervously. Her stomach hurt from worry, and she was nauseous.
I can’t lose him. What am I going to do if I lose him?
“How are things at the ranch?” Maybe she would feel better if she distracted herself. “Did you ever find out anything about the missing cattle?”
“No, but George Tucker over at the HH ranch said he was missing seventeen head.”
“It’s too many to be predators.”
“There’s something else, and it’s got all of us quite suspicious. But the sheriff assures us they are on the up and up.”
“What?”
“A big ranching company from Texas is going around offering contracts—”
“He didn’t sell, did he?”
Her heart leapt to her throat. The ranch was her home.
“No, but he considered it. They offered him a lot of money.”
“Could they be responsible for the cattle rustling?”
“Deputy Miller is a friend of the head honcho offering the contracts. Sheriff says the deputy vouches for him,” he answered.
“Who the hell is taking the cows?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, dear.”
She leaned back in her chair and watched the bare snow-covered landscape fly by. For the first time in years, she missed Tennessee. More than that, she missed the people she’d left behind in Tennessee.
When she’d graduated and chosen to break up with Billy, she’d hurried back to the safety of her grandfather’s ranch. It was a safe place to hide. And that’s what she’d done. For three years she’d hidden from the world. Oh, she talked to the neighbors and people in town from time to time, but she avoided people her age. She never accepted invitations from Roger’s daughters to go out together.
“Do you want me to go in with you?”
She looked up and he inclined his head toward the hospital building. Wow, where had the time gone?
“No, you’ve done so much already. Get back to the ranch and make sure everything is in order. Would you put my bag in my room when you get there?”
He pulled to a stop in the drop off lane. “Of course. Call me if you need me.”
“Thanks, Roger.”
Addison climbed down from the truck, grabbed her purse from the floorboard, and hurried up the sidewalk to the hospital emergency entrance. The hospital smelled of bleach and antiseptic, making her already nauseous stomach turn even more. She stopped for a second at the main desk to get her grandfather’s room number and then hurried down the hallways to find it.
She paused in the doorway of her grandfather’s room and took a deep breath. Tears pooled and trailed down her cheeks, leaving warm, salty trails of dread. He was so pale and thin.
His eyes fluttered open, and a weak smile spread across his wrinkled face.
“Addison, sweetheart.”
“Gramps,” she cried and rushed to his side. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”
“Shhhh, there was nothing to be done.”
“I could have lost you.”
“I’m still here, aren’t I?”
Chapter Eleven
“The souls must be found. I can only keep the balance for a few more hours before other souls begin to feel my loss. Believe me, a world filled with angry, impulse-driven people is not pleasant.”
She was keeping her voice controlled, but Ares recognized the underlying tremor of fear. He could almost feel it through the strange link developing between them.
“Don’t worry, goddess of souls, my huntresses will find Hera quickly. We can track her essence.”
Artemis’s assurances to Aphrodite pulled him out of his head.
“You are so sure it is Hera?” he asked.
“Her stench is all over this.” Artemis looked over at Ares. “So are Chaos’s and Strife’s.”
Ares fumed and nodded. He strode over and pressed a soft kiss to Aphrodite’s temple, not caring at all that Dionysus and Artemis looked shocked at his public display of affection. “Stay here, I’ll be back shortly.”
Aphrodite gave him a soft nod. Her surprise at his show of affection wasn’t hidden well either. Hope swelled. She’d not pushed him away.
He phased to his palace. The dark atrium lit at his presence as torches hanging on the surrounding columns sprang to life. Shadows danced deep in the bordering hallways, seeming to leap and fight with each other. They were shadows of battles past, reminding Ares of the duties to war that constantly weighed on him.
Chaos and Strife had made a bad choice. They were bound and served him alone. What were they thinking aligning with his mother?
“Chaos and Strife! You are summoned.” His voice echoed ominously through the atrium. “Get your asses down here!” The silver armband, etched with his symbol, on his right bicep heated. They were trying to evade the call. “Now,” he bellowed again and touched the band. The two malicious godlings materialized in front of him. A wave of his hand called up shackles, chaining both to the floor.
The two teenagers trembled, heads bowed, palms on the floor, prostrate before him. Their appearance of youth caused many to trust and underestimate them. He was not fooled. They had been around nearly as long as he had.
“You abducted a human man, put him up to stealing a soul mate diamond from Aphrodite’s pool, and then you idiots gave it to my mother!”
Strife raised her head slightly but did not attempt to make eye contact.
“Lord Ares, we were misled by your mother. She spoke as if you had guided her ideas.”
Anger burned within, but he didn’t believe her plea for a second. He knelt and lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“You are bound to me, and you are lying. What did Hera promise you?”
A smirk on the female teen’s face confirmed his suspicions. “Using the power from the diamond, she promised to break us from our bond to you.” She jerked her chin from his hand and nodded at the silver cuff on her bicep that matched his.
It resonated and heated with his close proximity. Both teens wore the bands, and both were bound to him for eternity. It was a contract forged millennia ago.
They were never getting out of it.
Ares stood, pushing up the heat level in the connection. Both godlings winced as their bands began to heat and burn. The smell of roasting flesh filled his nostrils. It was unpleasant, but necessary. They could not go unpunished for their treachery.
Neither begged for relief.
He would not give it.
“Where is Hera?”
Both looked down at the floor.
“She cannot break you from the bond. Only I can release you.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “She lied to you.” His anger filled the room, like the stifling heat from a forge.
“You’re just lying to us to scare us,” Chaos piped up.
Strife jabbed her brother in the ribs and hissed for him to shut up.
The boy never did know when it was the right time to speak, much less what to say.
“I have never lied to you, have I?” he snapped.
“No, master,” Strife answered quietly. She jabbed Chaos again.
“No, master,” Chaos added.
***
Addison walked slowly down the hospital hallway. It had been four weeks since she returned from Nashville. Gramps hadn’t gotten better, but at least he hadn’t gotten worse either. Though after a month, she was very concerned that he wouldn’t ever improve.
She stopped at the coffee dispenser. It hissed and gurgled before filling the cup.
Most days she ran between her animal patients and the hospital, barely stopping to eat. A quick bagel or sandwich from the hospital cafeteria was the usual fair. Even that didn’t usually sit well. She was nauseous most of the time. Her assistant handled all non-emergency calls so she could spend as much time as possible with Gramps.
Roger had taken on all responsibilities at Hope Valley Ranch, though it seemed no matter what they did, more cattle continued to go missing. It was just a few here and there, but it was enough to cause a lot of alarm in the ranching community. Hope Valley wasn’t the only ranch losing their stock.
On top of everything else, she couldn’t help feeling depressed over Adrian’s lack of proximity. She’d called to let him know her plane had arrived. He’d thanked her and asked how her grandfather was. He’d even told her to call if she needed anything.
She did need him, but she was too afraid to let him in again. Why the hell had she let herself get so attached to him? Besides, what was he going to do…fly to Montana and sit with her in the hospital? He barely knew her and nobody ever came to Wolfe Point voluntarily, especially in winter. A tear slid down her cheek.
No. It was better to be alone. Safer.
The coffee slid down her throat. She swallowed it quickly to try and avoid the bitter taste. It was worse than the sludge they made out on the ranch drives. As she rounded the corner of the hallway, several men in nice suits came walking toward her from the opposite direction. A head-on collision was inevitable. Coffee spilled all over her sweater, and one of the men’s nice white, button-up shirt.
“Hey!” she exclaimed. “Watch were you are going.”
“What the hell?”
She looked up and recognized his face. Her gaze narrowed as it flicked from his face to the two other men accompanying him. They were the same men that had come around last week to try and convince her to sell the ranch. She’d already told them no. Why were they still in town?
“What the hell is right! I told you to leave. He’s not selling, and you can take your fancy suits and go back to Texas where you belong.”
“Miss Connelly, there’s a lot of money at stake. It would be prudent for you to sit down with your grandfather and at least discuss the offer.”
“No.” She hurled the rest of the coffee at his already stained shirt. Several choice names flew from his lips as she shoved past him and his companions. Addison couldn’t help the small grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. She dropped the now empty coffee cup in the trashcan just inside her grandfather’s room and closed the door behind her.
“Addison Erin Connelly! Did you throw coffee at that man?”
“Maybe. What are you going to do about it?” She turned and closed the blinds on the window to the hallway. Sneaky old man. He’d probably gotten one of the nurses to open them.
A familiar smile spread across his face. “Give you a hug.”
She giggled and hurried to the edge of his bed, glad to see even a small reminder of her gramps’s fiery temper. He lifted his arms and laid them around her shoulders. His touch was so weak. Nothing had ever taken down her gramps before. He was rarely ever sick. But this clot, or whatever, was stealing him away right in front of her eyes.
“You don’t want to consider whatever offer those men are—”
“Not unless you want me too, Addison. The ranch is your inheritance. I would never sell it unless that was what you wanted.”
“Thanks, Gramps,” she answered, settling herself into the bedside chair. “I brought your favorite.”
“Apple pie?”
Addison snorted. “You know I can’t bring you apple pie. The doctors are watching every move I make since I snuck in that cheeseburger a couple days ago.” She waved a thick book in the air.
“Ah, The Hunt for Red October. A classic, but you don’t like Clancy.”
“It’s okay. I’ll survive with the apple pie at home.”
“Ooooh, evil girl.” He smiled and motioned for her to start.
***
Aphrodite looked up from the pool of souls when Ares appeared a few feet away.
“Well?” she asked.
“Chaos and Strife admitted to helping Hera, but they won’t give up her location. Has the Huntress had any success?”
“Artemis hasn’t reported back yet,” Dionysus answered.
Pain lanced through her chest. She reached into the pool and pulled another diamond from the bottom. The pain lessoned gradually as she siphoned some energy from the glowing gem. The look on Ares’s face told her he felt the strain too. Perhaps not as much, but he felt it all the same.
Why? What had changed to link them in such a way?
She took one more small pull from the diamond and then let it slide back beneath the water. The link between her and the souls was vital, but with her essence searching all of Olympus and earth, she was very weak. The small amounts of energy she was able to siphon from the diamonds in the pool would only keep her conscious an hour or so longer. She couldn’t keep taking power from them when she had none to give in return.
This torture wouldn’t end until the diamond was found or Hera… gods, she didn’t want to think about the other alternative —the souls dying. The last time she’d lost souls was the fall of Rome. The world couldn’t handle that kind of catastrophe right now. Humans had weapons capable of completely annihilating themselves now.
Ares’s hand brushed along her shoulder.
“How are you?”
A tear ran down her cheek. “I can feel them dying.”
He nodded, a solemn look frozen on his face.
“Can you still feel the pain?”
“Not as much, but yes…Aphrodite?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
He knew now what he had done to her all those years ago. The pain he had caused had broken a piece of her. A piece she felt was perhaps being repaired now. She wanted to ask him more questions, but now was not the right time. Right now their focus had to be on recovering the lost diamond.
“Dionysus wiped the human’s memory and sent him back to his realm,” she added after a few moments.
“Good. I locked down Chaos and Strife. They won’t be mobile until I decide to release them. Which could be years.”
“Grounded again?” Aphrodite managed a slight smile.
“Hera promised to break their fealty bond to me.”
“And they believed her?”
He nodded.
Blackness encroached on her vision. Her eyelids drooped as exhaustion threaten to overtake her. At least she didn’t have to worry about being killed. Ares and Dionysus would protect her from other Olympians that would take advantage of her weakened state.
It wasn’t as if she couldn’t be killed, but if she were, humanity’s passions would override their reason. The human realm would cease to exist. If humanity died, the Olympians would lose their powers. They were tied to humanity too; they just didn’t realize the delicate balance Gaia had fashioned to keep both realms thriving in harmony.
Ares and Dionysus did. Now Artemis did as well.
Zeus materialized on the opposite side of the pond. The proclaimed king of the gods was dressed in worn jeans, flip-flops, and a loose-fitting blue polo shirt. He was a handsome man and used his good looks to take liberties with many women in the mortal realm. His nonstop dalliances kept Hera in a permanent bad mood.
Aphrodite hissed at the intrusion. “What do you want, Zeus?” She was not pleased he’d taken advantage of her privacy wards being down.
“Father!” Ares stepped forward, blocking her from Zeus’s view. “Where is Mother?”
“She looks sick, son.” Zeus sidestepped his son. She got a quick glimpse of him before Ares moved again to shield her. The king of the gods seemed a little too pleased at her current state. Zeus’s bright blue eyes flashed, and lightning flashed menacingly overhead. Surely he was not…
Artemis materialized from nowhere and stormed toward her father. “Where is Mother? You are shielding her!” she screamed, not phased at all by the thunder crackling in the sky above them and continued to berate the king of the gods. “She’s taken a soul mate diamond from the pool. Only Aphrodite can handle the souls. She will curse us all with this treachery.”
Zeus laughed in his daughter’s face. “There will be no curse, only a redistribution of power. The Titan has long held too much in her keeping. It’s time she shared. Have you not seen the sky above Olympus light with her essence? She could overwhelm us at any moment.”
“She’s had millennia to do that! Don’t you think she would have taken us out already if that was her intention?”
“It’s a woman’s way to corrupt from the inside. Her essence coats Ares like an oily second skin. We narrowly escaped this two thousand years ago. Now she’s trying again.”
“If you care to look again, you can see his essence blends with hers. It’s a mutual blending.”
Aphrodite cursed under her breath. Her carelessness had brought undue attention to the pool of souls and roused the greed of the gods. Even Zeus himself was in on this theft.
She should never have allowed Ares to get close to her again. The relationship had made her vulnerable...Holy River Styx! Artemis had said their essence was blending! Why hadn’t she noticed? That explained a lot.
Her head drooped to the side. She jerked it back up. Passing out was not an option right now, but it was nearly beyond her control. The souls were so close to dying. She wouldn’t be conscious much longer.
“Ares,” she whispered.
He turned and knelt.
“Find the diamond…” She swallowed and tried to form words. “Put it back in the pool if you ca—”
Blackness swallowed her. Gods help the human realm.
Finding Hope Page 10
