by Mara Lee
Hermes seemed about ready to argue, when Aega placed both of her hands on his bare chest and stared at him chillingly.
“Be very sure of what you are to say to me, Hermes. I am in no mood to deal with any of your riddles or games.” Her eyes darkened. “I am all out of patience.”
He pulled away. His own eyes were beginning to spark with power. “Don’t threaten me, Aega Helios. I will…”
Ditheous’ arm shot out and he grabbed the God by his throat. His grip tightened. “—Do nothing. You will do nothing.”
“Call your little plaything off, Aega.” Hermes’ voice came through loud and clear in her mind.
“Call him off yourself,” she spat.
Hermes dematerialized out of Ditheous’ grasp and reappeared by Aega’s side. “And you had to go and make your stay on Earth complicated. Gods, getting involved with a Vampyre. What were you thinking?” Hermes face was a mask of confusion.
Aega began to glow. Her light thrust out and began to pulse, sending shockwaves through the room.
Ditheous brought his arm up to ward away the light. Even Hermes squinted against the painful brightness.
“Take a look around, Hermes. Are you sure that you know what you’re involved in?” Aega shook in her fury. “Tell me, did you know what happened here? Did you know they were sucking out souls?”
For the first time since he had materialized in the room, Hermes let his eyes take in the horror that surrounded him; the chains, whips, cages and decaying bodies, assaulted his senses.
“Mother of the Gods.” Hermes drew back.
“I am sure they prayed for the Gods by the end,” Aega whispered.
“I had no idea it was like this. I had no idea that she would…” Hermes broke off miserably.
“Tell me.” Aega’s voice was urgent and demanding.
He looked away. “I cannot.”
“Hermes,” Aega came to stand in front of him, “you can’t afford not to tell me. Look, look at what they’re doing. You know the demons will not be content to feed contained for much longer. They will break free and then they will tear through this city, through this plane, like a plague. They will destroy Earth. They will wipe it clean. Who summoned them? Who is holding their leash? You must tell me Hermes, you must!”
He clenched his jaw.
“For the love of the Goddess, tell me.” Aega placed her hand on his shoulder. “Tell me.”
Hermes turned to look into her eyes. His face softened and a sad smile played about his lips.
He reached out to cup her cheek, ignoring the growl that emanated from the Vampyre behind them.
“For the love of one Goddess … Aega, I shall tell you what you wish to know.” Hermes pulled away from her. Those golden orbs saw too much. He could not risk that she would see all of him … see within his heart. “Bathos has been summoned. It is he and his minions that had done this.”
“Bathos,” Aega growled. “That hellspawn.”
Hermes nodded. “I’m afraid that it gets worse. Paxton is the Vampyre that you search for. He summoned Bathos and he intends to take control of the city.”
Ditheous came to stand by Aega. He put his hands gently on Aega’s shoulders and rubbed them gently.
“Aye. My man spoke of this Paxton.” Ditheous watched Hermes stiffen and his face go taut. This God had feelings for his little Goddess, he was certain of this, as certain as he was that Aega had no inkling of the God’s want for her.
Ditheous tightened his grip on her shoulders and shot the handsome God a telling look. She was his. She would always be his.
Hermes eye twitched, and he dropped his head, else Aega saw too much. When he looked up again, his face was composed in a stoic, self-contained mask.
“Paxton has joined forces with your rogue Loopine, Xavier. They plot your downfall, pack master of Triex, and that of the Kitar,” Hermes scoffed. “However, I doubt that Xavier knows how deep Paxton’s madness lies. Paxton has gained unholy knowledge. He uses this knowledge in…” Hermes looked around, and shuddered, “experiments. He tries to create a new race of Vampyre. A race that is stronger, faster, more resilient and … most importantly, impervious to the sun.”
Ditheous’ eyes widened. “That is madness. Such experiments have been tried before. They have been tried and they have failed. It is not possible. It bears no fruit, only inevitable destruction.”
Hermes shrugged. “Aye, but Paxton is willing to sacrifice much in order to obtain his goal. He cares naught for destruction. Indeed, he is counting on it to keep you distracted while he works. How do you think he has kept the demons at bay?”
Aega gasped, a horrified expression crossed her face. “He feeds them his subjects…”
“Aye.” Hermes sighed. “The subjects of his experiments make for good feeding. So far there has been little success in his experiments. He has tossed his failed subjects to the demons. It has kept them satisfied…” his gaze deepened, “but it will not keep them at bay for long. Soon they will demand more. In fact, they have begun to demand more.”
“And the Kitar?” Ditheous asked tightly.
“Xavier keeps him alive for the time being. He knows clan laws and as crazy as he is, he is not crazy enough to go against the set law. He knows he must challenge and beat the Kitar to take control of the packs. Therefore he keeps him alive; he is torturing and starving him in the hope that it shall make him weak and easy to defeat in challenge.”
Aega broke free of Ditheous’ grasp and walked to Hermes. She stared at him for a long moment before making a fist, drawing back, and delivering a solid punch to his nose.
Hermes reeled back. He grabbed his bleeding nose with both hands and cursed. “Hera’s tits, you broke my nose,” he spat.
She smiled icily. “You’ll heal.”
“Well done, love.” Ditheous said, pride staining his words.
Aega inclined her head. She turned her frigid gaze back to Hermes. “Now, care to tell us where the psychopaths are holed up?”
Chapter Twelve
“You’ve been in contact with him all this time,” Ditheous said, watching Aega plait her hair. He was standing in Aega’s massive bedroom, furious.
After they had left the Danvers Mansion, all had been invited back to Aega’s home. It was the first time Ditheous had been inside Aega’s sprawling abode. He did not wish to be impressed. He was.
Her home was lush, and larger than imagining. It was delicate as a dream and yet secure as Fort Knox. Everything about her place of residence spoke of her. The design, décor and every last detail had Aega’s indelible stamp upon it.
Aega had opened her parlor and study to Ditheous’ pack. Most wandered the gigantic rooms with expressions of awe written plainly across their faces. Few had ever seen such grandeur. Not even the elders of Ditheous’ pack had ever been witness to this; a home fit for a Goddess.
Aega had led Ditheous to her private room. It stretched across the entire third floor. Once situated, both began to strip and prepare for the upcoming battle.
Aega did not turn from her spot. She was naked, staring into the wide expanse of the wall mirror, knotting off the end of her plait and securing a blade to the end of her braid. “Not all this time,” she answered blandly.
Ditheous took a hold of her shoulder and spun her around. “You have been speaking, without my permission, to this God.”
Aega’s eyes narrowed. “Careful. Do you mean to tell me that I must now ask your permission before I speak to my … friends?”
Ditheous swore and pushed away from her. A fine fury was working its way through his body. But worse than the fury that filled him … was the feeling of helplessness that had taken hold. It was eating him alive.
Seeing his Aega, so bright and golden, speaking to a God, had made his situation all the more real to him. It had come to him then, the peril of their love, the twisted grandeur of their strange, fated meeting.
She was a Goddess. How could a Goddess find fulfillment with a cursed creature?
Aega clenched her hands into tight fists. She wanted to dispute what he said, but she couldn’t. For every word out of Ditheous’ mouth had been the truth. The Gods and Goddess did use Earth as their immortal chessboard. When they felt their eternity stretching before them and needed a way to pass the endless time, they looked to Earth. Humans amused them most. But none were safe from the idle hands of the lords and ladies of the grand mountain.
Aega knew all too well the mechanizations of the Olympians. It just burned to realize how well Ditheous knew them.
“I am a Goddess,” Aega whispered. “Do you count me among the golden throng, Ditheous? Do you believe that I am but playing with you?”
Ditheous drew closer to her. His eyes had grown darker … deeper. “Are you?” He cupped her chin. “Would you dare do such a thing … play with a Vampyre?”
Aega kissed him gently, softly, on his bare shoulder. “I dare much, Ditheous. For you…” she smiled, “I believe I would dare anything … give everything.” Aega ran her hands across the broad expanse of his chest and pressed more intimately against him.
Ditheous drew a sharp breath. Need pulsed hot and heavy through him. He could hear the delicious beat of her heart and almost taste her pulse point upon his tongue.
“How much would you dare for me?” Aega dropped to her knees, and deftly unfastened the buttons of his slacks. She slowly pulled them down. His cock was thick and hard. Her eyes devoured his naked length. “I would know all of you, Ditheous.” She ran her tongue across his bulbous head.
“Aega…” Ditheous grit out, thrusting his hips forward.
“Oh yes…” Aega licked the length of him, paying close attention to his heavy sacs. She wet her lips and sucked each sac into the encompassing heat of her mouth, rolling them around lovingly.
He growled and reached for her hair; finding it tightly plaited, he drew back in frustration.
Aega smiled. She opened her mouth wide, and took him fully into her mouth. When she felt him hit the back of her throat, she relaxed her muscles and allowed his hard cock to fall even deeper.
Her mouth was stretched, invaded … and it felt wonderful. He was hard as steel and growing larger by the moment.
Aega began to purr. The rumblings began deep within her throat and the vibrations worked upwards until they shook his pulsing flesh.
Each little mew that she made sent a shockwave through his ready body. He began to shake and shiver.
Aega drew back slowly … so slowly. She unfurled her lips and let her teeth scrape gently, lightly, across his hard flesh.
“Ohhhhh damn, ohhhh by the Gods…” Ditheous moaned. His hands had come to rest on her shoulders. His fingers were digging into her, his nails leaving half-crescent moons on her skin.
Aega gave no reprieve. She quickened the strokes of her tongue and the motion of her mouth. Her head bobbed furiously as she took all he had to give and demanded more.
Ditheous’ thighs tensed and his muscles strained. Every vein, sinew, pulse that lay beneath his porcelain pale flesh was visible as he raced toward his peak.
Aega felt his nails dig painfully into her shoulder blades and knew he had drawn blood. She heard him growl and felt the raw demand of his body. He had reached his limit and the blood lust was upon him.
She smiled, sucked strongly, and gently nipped his hard, pulsing cock.
Ditheous screamed.
Aega pulled quickly back and gave him her body.
His seed erupted, painting her full breasts, dripping down her lush valley, staining her stomach, and gathering at her navel.
Aega stood gracefully, her eyes glinting with hard intent. She reached back and brought her blade to lay heavy against her breast. It glinted bright in the fractured light of the room.
“Aega … love … what do you?” he whispered.
“Everything.” In a motion faster than the eye could see, she whipped her head to the side and back. The blade fell deep upon her breast and began to bleed immediately. “Everything for you, love.” Her eyes were glittering chips of gold and she beckoned him forth. “Come and drink of me … take it all. Know that Goddess or not … I bleed … and I bleed for you.”
Ditheous was upon her then. His mouth closed over the wound, his fangs pierced deep and he took from her what she offered.
She ran, bitter sweet and hot copper across his lips. Her blood filled his mouth, rich and thick and each thump of her heart resonated deep within him. He could hear her … feel her within the quick of him. There was nowhere she could run that he could not follow.
She had offered freely, with token and love. And he had accepted, taken. Bitten deep and followed her down the path to her world, into the bright recesses of her soul. He saw her there; lying among the golden brush and shade of the majestic mountain, weaving flowers into her snow-fallen hair and bathing in sunshine. And as suddenly as he had found himself in heaven, he found himself in hell. It was dark and damp and there was no light to be found anywhere. Time crawled by, and there was no reprieve. Darkness housed a soul unaccustomed to the night. He saw her there. He saw her cast into the night, into the shadows and left alone, miserably alone.
And he felt the despair. And he knew her pain. He knew it all.
“My love,” Aega soothed as she held him to her breast. “You saw too much.”
Ditheous pulled back. “I saw it all.” His voice was cracked with raw emotion, and blood-red tears ran down his cheeks.
Aega traced the stains made by his tears and smiled sadly. “Do not waste the precious blood you have just taken on tears … not for me.”
“How did you bear it?” he asked, eyes filling suddenly with anger.
“Such was my burden to bear. Such is the existence of one created only to rival another.” She leaned into him and placed a gentle kiss to his cold cheek. “I have known the dark, my love, and I have known the brilliant light of the mountain.” She pressed her warm cheek to his cold one. “I come to you with both. And I share with you that which you cannot house on your own. I share with you my light.” Aega pulled back and looked deeply into his eyes. Her own felt hot. “You will never be alone in the dark again. I promise you that.”
Ditheous blinked. His eyes darkened. “Do not make promises that you cannot keep, my love.” He would not have her, a Goddess, make an oath that she would later be forced to break. Those above did not take to oathbreakers. They were the foresworn.
Aega brought her hand to the raw and bruised skin above her breast. She ran her fingers over the ragged flesh.
“So I have spoken as a Goddess … so shall it be done.” Her voice was cold, her words absolute.
A jagged streak of lightning flashed outside of the window and the earth seemed to rumble beneath them. The winds tossed and a clap of thunder broke the night. And then all was still.
The Gods had heard. And the Gods did not forget.
* * * *
The Abolar, the stone circle. It was where all would be decided. T’was fitting that he would meet his enemies on this sacred ground. He would have had it no other way.
Andre lay on the ground; naked, wounded and chained. He drew in the sweet scent of Mother Earth and let the richness of her soil soothe his weary soul. Pain was not new to him. Indeed, such pain reminded him that he was still of the living. Xavier thought his spirit, along with his body, crushed.
Andre’s bruised, split, and torn lips curved up into a smile. He looked forward to showing Xavier just how crushed he actually was.
“We have tallied overlong
.” These words came out icy as the north wind, and did not belong to the leader of the rogue pack of Loopine, but to the monster that they had aligned themselves with; Paxton, the Vampyre.
Xavier stepped forward. “I, and I, alone, will decide how to proceed with this matter.”
Paxton stepped out from the shadow of the stone. Half of his face was cast in glorious moonlight, the other half cloaked in darkness. His fine patrician features held no warmth, just the furious gale of evil.
He flicked his hand and half a dozen large, winged creatures came to stand by his side.
“You were saying, Xavier?”
Xavier stiffened. His eyes roved swiftly over the demons, as if to gauge their power, and to measure their force against his own.
“I want only my due,” Xavier hissed, finally.
Paxton smiled in full, then. “Oh, but you shall have your due.” He swept his eyes over the assembled lot and laughed. “You shall all have your due.”
Xavier landed a hard kick to Andre’s side. “This is my due. It is time to assert my leadership, my power.”
Paxton frowned. “You were ever short-sighted. Think you this is all about him? Your feud with the Kitar amounts to nothing, Xavier. You think to have but this patch of land. You think only to control this,” he swept his hands around. “My plans are much grander. I shall control the world, and with it…” his eyes glittered, “everything and everyone. All beings, be they Vampyre, Loopine … demon, shall owe their allegiance, their obedience … to me. I will have it all.” Paxton saw Xavier move toward him and with one quick slash of his hand ripped open the side of Xavier’s face. “You are not fast enough, not quick enough for me, Xavier. You never were. There is no one of this earth that can equal me in power.”
“Perhaps not of this earth, how about then, someone not of this earth?” Aega stood upon the tallest stone of the Abolar. Her snow-white hair lay in its thick plait against the fullness of her breast, a deep contrast to the stark blackness of her tight bodysuit. Daggers gleamed at her wrist and ankles, and a broadsword lay blunt against her back. “You have been causing much mischief. ‘Tis time we dealt with it.”
