Beloved Fate [Hands of Fate 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Stormy Glenn

  They might have started out with good intentions, but those intentions had fallen by the wayside centuries ago. Now, they were simply a secret society bent on gaining as much power as they could, and they needed to be stopped by any means necessary.

  Still, Nikos had yet to find anything pertaining to the prophecy, and he was starting to agree with Yannis that it was a myth or a fantasy told to the lower-level Brotherhood lackeys to get them to agree to do the things the guys in charge wanted done.

  When Yannis’s laughter filled the air again, Nikos smiled and stood, walking toward the window. He wanted to see what Yannis and Sahm were up to. He knew they were supposed to be supervising the placement of the statues Nikos had purchased from Stavros. The job shouldn’t have involved that much amusement.

  As he walked across the room, his foot got tangled in the edge of the Persian rug, and he tripped. The ancient text in his hand went flying. Nikos landed on the hardwood floor with a heavy—and very painful—thud. Nikos groaned, dropping his head down to the floor. That was about as graceful as a fart in church.

  He pushed himself to his hands and knees, intent on getting up before anyone saw his inelegant fall, when he spotted the ancient text he had been reading on the floor across the room from where he knelt—in pieces.

  “Well, shit!”

  Nikos had paid nearly a hundred thousand dollars for the seven-hundred-year-old manuscript. It was an old French document on the history of unusual activities around Paris, France. Many thought it a fairytale. Nikos knew differently.

  He also knew that the damn thing was in several different pieces.

  Nikos crawled across the Persian rug and reached for the hard outside cover of the book when a piece of faded parchment paper sticking out of the inside cover caught his attention. Nikos did not remember that being there.

  Not knowing exactly what he was looking at, Nikos took precautions. He got up and grabbed new gloves to cover his hands then a special sheet of marble he used to lay ancient texts on. He also grabbed a set of tweezers.

  Moving back to the book pieces on the floor, Nikos carefully lifted each piece up and placed it on the marble tile. He carried everything back to his desk. Excitement and anticipation took a hold of Nikos and held him securely in its embrace. He always got excited when he purchased a new manuscript, but this was something more, something better.

  This was a mysterious shaft of parchment hidden on the inside cover of a five-hundred-year-old manuscript. Who knew who put it there, or why? How long had it been there? And did the parchment have anything to do with the manuscript itself, or was the book just used as a hiding place? So many questions floated through his mind that Nikos didn’t know which one to pursue first.

  Nikos sat down at his desk and pulled his lamp over, carefully checking the outer rim of the paper binding. It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Even at a hundred thousand dollars, Nikos had gotten quite the bargain when he purchased the manuscript.

  The book was inked vellum with a limp binding. The front and back covers were folded double vellum. The quires were sewn onto cords of alum-tawed thongs, and the sewing support was laced into the vellum cover. The thongs were also used at the fore edge of the cover as a closure.

  Nikos used his tools to carefully extract the document without causing too much damage to the original book. He laid it on a small section of his marble tile and then tried to temporarily dismiss it from his mind as he put the other book back together as best as he could. He would have to have the manuscript taken to a specialist in ancient texts to get it repaired. In the meantime, he placed it back in his vault.

  Once the book was safely put away, Nikos turned his attention to the small piece of parchment paper that had been wedged between the cover and the hard binding on the book. It was some sort of document handwritten on fine vellum parchment.

  Nikos waited until he leaned back before blowing out a deep breath. According to the small pine resin seal on the bottom of the parchment, it was over fifteen hundred years old. That was close to the age of Nikos’s oldest manuscript. He had a few scrolls that were older, but not many.

  Grabbing his magnifying glass, Nikos peered down at the handwritten words, trying to decipher what was written on it. When he couldn’t, he grabbed his camera and took pictures from several different angles.

  While the pictures were loading up on his laptop, Nikos carefully placed the parchment into a sealed case and put it into his book vault. The vault was hermetically sealed and kept at an optimal temperature and humidity to prevent further deterioration of whatever he put in there. He had one installed in each of his houses.

  Nikos was just cueing up the pictures when Yannis walked inside. “Come look at what I found.”

  Yannis walked over, standing behind Nikos and peering over his shoulder. “What has you so excited, Beloved?”

  “I tripped and fell a moment ago and—”

  “And that has you excited?” Yannis’s hands instantly started mapping out Nikos’s body, looking for injuries. “How badly are you hurt?”

  “Yannis, I’m fine. Only my pride was injured, but I never would have found this if I hadn’t tripped.” Nikos waved his hand toward the screen of his laptop. “I was reading an old manuscript when I tripped. I dropped the book and the binding broke. This was hidden in the cover.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure exactly, but it’s very old.” Nikos tapped a key on the keyboard and zoomed in on the image, enlarging it until the faded letters were almost readable. “I can’t quite make out what it says.”

  “That’s because it’s in ancient Greek.”

  “Honey, I know ancient Greek, and that is not it.”

  “My ancient Greek.” Yannis chuckled. “It’s actually Mycenaean Greek.”

  Nikos’s eyebrows shot up as he glanced back at Yannis. “You can read that?”

  “Yes, can’t you?” Yannis said it so matter-of-factly that Nikos felt silly admitting that he couldn’t.

  “No.”

  “I will teach you.”

  Nikos smiled as he looked back at the pictures on his laptop, waving his hand toward the screen. “If you can read it, then tell me what it says.”

  Yannis was silent for a moment then frowned. “It talks about the balance of power between humans and immortals.”

  “Immortals?” Nikos asked. “Like your Gods?”

  “Not in so many words, but yes, I believe they are speaking of the Gods of Olympus.”

  “Is that all it talks about?”

  “The wording is a little off as if it was written in ancient Greek but written by someone that didn’t have a full grasp of the language.”

  Nikos leaned forward. “Do you think it’s a fake?”

  “I can’t be sure without seeing the actual document, Beloved.”

  Nikos scooted his chair back then stood. He hurried around his desk to his book vault and grabbed the sealed case he had placed the parchment in. He carried it out to his desk and laid it down in front of Yannis.

  Yannis seemed a little surprised as he glanced from Nikos to the container. “You have very strange habits, Beloved.”

  Nikos snickered. “You have no idea.”

  “From what I can see, the parchment looks old, but I watched one of your television documentaries the other day so I know documents can be forged as well as made to look older than they really are. A test of the ink is probably the best way to go…something about ink used before World War II having no radiation signature or something.”

  “Right, the radiation from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki got into everything. It’s a good barometer for carbon dating.”

  “Yes, that is what the man on the television said.”

  Nikos chuckled, wondering if Yannis actually grasped the concept that not everything on television was the truth. He might need to have a little conversation with his gargoyle. “Okay, so what else does the parchment say?”

  “It definitely talks about the b
alance of power, but I’m not sure who that balance is between. There is also something here about a stone or gem, something…” Yannis shook his head, frowning deeply. “That is where I get confused, Beloved. It says that only the Heart Stone can keep the balance of power and prevent the destruction of man, but I have never heard of this Heart Stone.”

  “Me either.” But Nikos knew of someone that might have. “Hold that thought.” Nikos grabbed his cell phone and flipped it open, dialing a number he knew well. “Stavros, I need some information.”

  “What can I help with?” Stavros asked without hesitation, as Nikos knew he would. They were pretty damn good friends, and had watched each other’s backs for more years than Nikos cared to count.

  “It’s something I found in an old French manuscript, possibly Mycenaean Greek origin, something called the Heart Stone. Ever heard of it?”

  “No, can’t say that I have, but my Mycenaean Greek history is a little rusty.”

  Well, damn.

  “All right, thanks, Stavros.”

  “I can do a little digging if you want, ask around to some of my contacts.” Stavros had contacts all over the world, some in high places and some in very low places. It might take him a while, but if anyone could gather information on the Heart Stone, it was Stavros.

  “That would be great, Stavros,” Nikos replied, “but be careful who you talk to. I need this kept quiet.”

  “Oh, a mystery.” Stavros’s deep chuckle floated through the phone. “You know I can’t resist a good mystery.”

  As much as Nikos wanted to know more information, he felt the need to warn Stavros. They had been friends for a very long time. “Just be careful, Stavros. I’m sure you heard what happened to my villa in Sicily.”

  “I’ve already got people looking into it,” Stavros replied evenly, his voice suddenly serious and filled with steely anger. “We’ll find out who torched the place and make them wish that they had never been born.”

  “We’re pretty sure it was an organization called the Brotherhood. They tried to kill me, and they shot Yannis.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Yes.” Stavros knew about Yannis, but only that he was Nikos’s lover. He did not know of Yannis’s true nature. As close of friends as they were, protecting Yannis came first. “He’s going to be fine.”

  “Good, and everyone else? They got out okay?”

  Nikos smiled. He knew exactly who Stavros was worried about. “Althea and Jules are fine. So is Sahm. We’re temporarily staying at my place on Lake Como until the villa is repaired. You’re more than welcome to come by and stay the weekend with us any time you want. You can even bring Aleem.”

  Aleem was Stavros’s assistant and right-hand man. Stavros never went anywhere without him, kind of like Nikos never went anywhere without Sahm.

  Stavros chuckled again. “I just might do that.”

  Nikos said good-bye to Stavros and hung up his cell phone, setting it on the desk. “Stavros is going to look into the Heart Stone and see what he can find out. In the meantime, we need to get this manuscript carbon dated. I want to know if it’s a fraud before I start putting a bunch of time into researching it.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Once the villa is repaired and retrofitted with the new security measures Sahm is putting into place, I’m having my entire collection of books and artifacts moved there. As much as I don’t like having all of my antiquates in one place, I think we’re going to need every bit of research material we can get our hands on if we want to have any hope of solving this mystery.”

  Nikos picked the manuscript up and carried it back to the book vault. He set it on a shelf then closed the door, locking the vault. Yannis’s eyes were watching him when he turned around, assessing him.

  “What?”

  “You are excited.”

  Nikos shrugged. He was kind of like Stavros… “I like a good mystery.”

  Yannis’s ink-black eyebrow arched up. “Being soul mates with a gargoyle is not enough of a mystery for you?”

  Nikos grinned mischievously as he walked into Yannis’s waiting arms. He felt the soft brush of air over his skin as Yannis’s wings enfolded the two of them, blocking out the world around them.

  “Being soul mates with a gargoyle isn’t a mystery, Beloved,” Nikos said. “It’s fate.”

  THE END

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Stormy believes the only thing sexier than a man in cowboy boots is two or three men in cowboy boots. She also believes in love at first sight, soul Mates, true love, and happy endings. You can usually find her cuddled in bed with a book in her hand and a puppy in her lap, or on her laptop, creating the next sexy man for one of her stories. Stormy welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website at www.stormyglenn.com.

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