Titan Elite (Demigods Duet Book 2)

by Kolleen Fraser

  After he hangs up, I ask, “What happens now? He betrayed us. I can’t just pretend everything is fine and wait for it all to blow up in our faces.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you do. I don’t have time to deal with your delicate feelings and hold your hand, we have a fight tonight,” he states, then storms out.

  “What a dick,” I grumble.

  He tilts his head, asking, “Why did you pack a suitcase?”

  Feeling like a complete idiot, I confess, “I thought we would have to flee the country.”

  His body shakes with laughter. “You are hilarious.”

  “Shut up! I thought we were in serious danger!” I laugh, realizing how ridiculous I look. “I don’t want to go back to my room. What if he comes back?”

  “You can stay here until we head to the arena.” Pulling me into a hug.

  “Only if you put some clothes on.” My cheeks flush, realizing he’s wearing only boxers and my face is against his naked chest.

  Pulling a shirt over his head, stepping closer, he chuckles, “Glad to see that even when your life is a train wreck, you can take time to ogle me. Maybe I can help you relax.”

  “My life is always a train wreck and I’ve always made time to ogle you. But as much as fucking you would make me feel better. My life would still be a disaster when you sneak away the morning after. I want someone who will still love me in the harsh light of day. To be there for the important stuff, you know?” I confess.

  “Nyx, you know I want to be there for the important stuff, and the boring stuff. I want to be bored with you for fuck sakes. Do you even remember the last time we were bored? Inside of this rebellion and out, I want you. When the dust settles the happily ever after will be you and me, walking off into the sunset.” Pulling me back into his arms.

  I’m stunned by his revelation, we play and fight and joke but he isn’t serious like this very often. “Really?” pressing my palms to his chest.

  “Why are you always so damn stubborn? Are you listening to me? I fucking love you, Nyx.” He kisses me, making the entire world with all its problems and obligations disappear.

  He loves me. When I think back over all the times he was the one to pick me up when I fell, to make me work harder, push myself more, it was always Mase. Hugging him tight, happy to take this stolen moment and forget about the rest of the world and its weight on our shoulders. “I love you too.”

  Where There’s Smoke

  Another night, another fight. The buzz of the crowd is echoing through the halls and walls of the arena. Our missions and the sheer weight on our shoulders every day is starting to take its toll. I’m grateful for a fight night to let off some steam without anyone’s life being on the line, and put a smile on thousands of people’s faces.

  Operation avoid Silas was a huge success. Of course, this was made easier by the fact that he isn’t scheduled to fight tonight. Would I be able to look him in the eye and not demand answers? My cell buzzes with a text. Speak of the devil, Silas’s name pops up.

  Silas: In the VIP spectator box with my father, come watch from up here.

  Me: No can do, busy helping Ianna.

  I lie, she doesn’t need my help, but I needed an iron clad excuse and girl code dictates that I can throw Ianna under the bus and she has to cover for me without missing a step, bless her heart.

  The live feed broadcasts on the TV across the room. Endyra is holding her own as she shoots vines out of the ground to ensnare her opponent. The living tendrils rise up out of the earth, wrapping themselves around a water chaser who starts hacking at the vines with her manifested ice dagger until she is completely encased in vines. Damn, why didn’t I think of that? I had to suppress my other powers, I just didn’t have enough time to learn to master them. I’m not creative enough to think of stuff like Endyra. Fire powers are easy, creating fireballs and such is second nature to me. Where did the vines even come from? Does she manifest the whole thing or did she literally pull them from the ground? I will stick with fire thank you very much.

  The TV image flickers a few times. A chill runs through my body as the screen goes black. Seconds later the words TITANS WILL FALL appear on the screen. What the hell is that? The lights overhead flicker off, leaving me in inky darkness. Well, shit. I stand up and begin to feel my way in the direction of the door when a deafening bomb sounds and the ground underneath me explodes in a ball of flames. I’m thrown back against the wall. The back of my head slamming into the wall with brutal force. Flames devour the entire room within seconds. If I didn’t have fire powers I would have been killed instantly. My eyes blurring, and the floor is broken and uneven, I struggle to climb across the room to where the door was located before the blast.

  Rumbles and screams echo all around me. The smoke is getting thick. I cover my mouth and nose with my shirt in an attempt to get air. The flames won’t burn me but without air to breathe, I’m dead. The door doesn’t budge, something is blocking it from the outside. I push against it, nothing happens. Taking a step back I throw my shoulder into it once, twice, before it opens enough for me to squeeze through.

  The hall looks like a warzone. People covered in burns and blood are crawling through the rubble. The roof and walls have collapsed and are blocking the hallway. Dust and smoke is choking out my air as I struggle to remember which direction Mason would be. Security lights kick on but they illuminate poorly through the thick smoke. I make my way toward an exit, I think. Someone must have set off a bomb and we were the targets. Travelling down the broken hallway, climbing over debris. “Mason!” I call as loud as my burning throat will allow.

  The arena is completely destroyed. What happened to all those people? Endyra was in the middle of it all. Who did this? My desperation to get outside to safety is battling with my need to see if I can save anyone who might be trapped. With the power to walk into the flames unharmed, I have to do something.

  The first three bodies I come across in the chaos are dead, their unrecognizable, charred remains buried under debris. I forge ahead, determined to find my team, frantically throwing rubble behind me, clearing a path. With each passing moment my panic grows. I hear yelling and coughing behind the rubble to my right. There is a girl with her leg trapped under a beam, crying, begging for someone to help her.

  “Hold still, I’m going to try to lift it, pull yourself out when you are free.” Pulling with everything I’ve got and only manage to move it an inch. A man staggers passed me, he’s heading the same way everyone else is, toward an opening another fifty feet away, I grab his arm. “Help me lift this.” He shakes his head, trying to pull his arm away. I grip tighter, enough for him to understand that no is not an option. “Help me now!”

  Together we manage to lift it high enough to pull her leg free. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I help her to her feet. By the time I get her balanced, the man is long gone, at least he stayed long enough to help. We struggle over debris, making our way to a hole in the side of the building. I walk out into the cool night, gasping for fresh air, feeling like my throat and lungs are bleeding. A medic rushes over to us, taking the girl out of my arms. On shaky legs, I’m lead to the first aid area. My lungs wheeze as I breathe glorious clean air.

  I get my first glimpse of the chaos before me. The side of the arena is completely caved in; survivors are crawling out or being carried out to the help awaiting them. “Endyra.” Oh my god. No one could survive that. I can’t take another step; I fall to my knees. Mason. Where is he? A sob breaks free. This doesn’t feel real, the chaos and violence of such an attack. Who could have done such a thing?

  Suddenly, I’m enveloped by a warm embrace and lifted off the ground. “You’re alive.” The rumble of Mason’s voice is music to my ears. I cling to him, he’s here, he’s alive. I never wanted to admit how scared I was that he might be dead. Now that I’m safe in his arms I never want to let him go.

  “Found her, she’s okay,” he says into a radio before we start walking.

  “I was freaking
out when I couldn’t find anyone. I thought…” I can’t say the words.

  “I’ve got you, everyone is gathering at a hotel nearby,” he says pulling me through the crowds of survivors, medics and fire fighters.

  “Is everyone.…” I can’t bear to finish asking, it’s like a warzone out here. So many lives were lost tonight.

  “Everything happened so fast. When I got outside, you weren’t here, so I grabbed a radio and went back in but couldn’t find you.” His grip tightens and he guides me into the lobby where some of the wounded are being treated.

  “Did you see the screens? We did this.”

  He nods. “I saw.”

  “What has he gotten us into, Mase? We started a war,” I whisper.

  “We don’t know anything yet,” he says trying to soothe me but I know this was retaliation. Someone knows it was us. Bypassing everyone in the lobby, he leads me to a private room. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the team inside.

  Everyone looks a little worse for wear. Kai’s arm is broken at a horrifying angle, Ianna is settling in beside him to begin healing. I crash into her, crying, “You’re okay.” We cry and hug and cry some more.

  “Uh, guys?” Kai whimpers, clutching his broken arm.

  “Sorry! Do your thing,” I apologize and let Ianna heal him. Asher and Imari appear well enough, after a blast of that magnitude I expected the worst. Civilians seem to have taken the brunt of the attack.

  Adam stumbles into the room; filthy and bruised like the rest of us but there is something in his eyes that tells me something is very wrong. His eyes are staring off, terror locked in his gaze.

  “Adam, you okay? Are you hurt?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “Endyra….” He says holding up his hands; they are dark with caked, drying blood. “She’s....”

  “Oh Adam, she was in the arena when the bomb went off. Is she okay?”

  He breaks down crying, “No.” Adam collapses with his head in his hands. Ianna rushes to him hugging him tight. The rest of us stand there is shock. Endyra is gone.

  We perk up when the news broadcast comes on the TV in the corner. The reporter states, “Another terrorist attack rocked our city tonight as the Titans arena was the latest target in a string of attacks across the country. Will we ever be free of these monsters?”

  “That’s a lie. We didn’t do this!” I exclaim. I can’t believe this is being pinned on us. Comparing something like this to our rescue of demigods being held prisoner is ridiculous. The media twists everything until all anyone feels is fear.

  “Obviously, but the people who are responsible know who we are, this was a clear message,” Mason explains.

  “We fucked with their world, so they are fucking with ours?” Asher questions.

  “Exactly,” Marcus replies.

  “How could anyone know it was us?” Kai asks.

  I look to Marcus, who shakes his head. I can’t say anything about Silas. “What are we going to do now? All those people hurt or worse because of us?”

  “Not because of us, because of them! We are doing the right thing. We push forward, this changes nothing,” Marcus states coldly.

  Silas stands livid. “This is insane! People died tonight and that’s on you! You need to stop this ridiculous crusade now.” Stepping into Marcus’s space.

  “You’d like that wouldn’t you? No, we’ve come too far. I’m not letting this scare tactic stop us.”

  “Scare tactic! You are psychotic! You’re leading all of us to our death.” Silas’s face is red, his eyes wild with anger.

  I can’t listen to any more of this. “Silas, we’re fighting for something bigger than ourselves. These people tried to stop us because we’ve almost succeeded. We’re going to make the world a better place.”

  Shaking his head, he laughs, “Please tell me you’re not this naïve. You’ve been compelled so many times you’re nothing but a puppet at this point.”

  I lunge at his throat, screaming, “Fuck you, traitor. You did this, you fucking betrayed all of us! This is on you not us.”

  Mason’s arms wrap around my waist pulling me off Silas. “Enough, everyone needs to calm down. We need damage control.”

  “Damage control? Do you even hear yourself? You are fucking monsters, all of you.”

  “Traitor? What the fuck are you talking about?” Asher asks.

  Still seething I resist the urge to punch him. “Silas told his father about the Elite, the ops, everything.” Pointing in Silas’s face. “You betrayed all of us. Sitting on your high horse looking down at us this whole time because we have the balls to fight for something!”

  His face is stoic in the aftermath of my outburst. “You’re wrong.”

  “Can’t you see what we’re trying to do? What we are fighting for?” Marcus asks.

  “All of this is your fault, you fucking sociopath,” he seethes.

  “Watch yourself, Silas. You are only alive right now because Nyx used to love you. Used to being the key words.”

  Silas steps in his face. “Are you threatening me?”

  “That depends, did daddy dearest just try to kill my team? Murdering hundreds of innocent people in the process.”

  Outraged, he yells, “No! My father would never cause this kind of chaos and death. It goes against everything he stands for.”

  “And we should just believe you? You out us to your father and 24 hours later our venue is bombed. That’s some pretty damning evidence.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you believe, Marcus.” He turns to me, pleading, “Nyx, you know I didn’t do this.”

  “After everything we’ve been through. No, I don’t believe you would do this to us. But it can’t be a coincidence. You and your father have been against us from the start. Fighting our cause every step of the way,” I whisper, my heart refuses to believe he could be behind something like this, that he wants us dead.

  Silas rolls his eyes. “I don’t need to justify myself to you people, I’m done. I’m going to see if they need help with the survivors. You guys wouldn’t understand that concept because all you know how to do is kill.” He storms out to save the world in his own self-righteous way.

  Marcus takes charge once again. “There is a transport waiting out back to take you to the hotel where you will collect your things. We will be moving to a safe house until we are sure the threat is illuminated. The next fight night is two weeks away but your next mission will be in five days’ time. Take this chance to relax and regroup. Our work here is not done.”

  Once dismissed, we board the transport like zombies, a little worse for wear, mourning the loss of a dear friend and of the innocent people whose only crime was coming to cheer us on. We carry the blame of their lost lives on our tired shoulders.

  Mason brings me back to his room, since I had already packed up everything earlier. Once inside he pulls me into his arms. “I thought I lost you.” Pulling off my dress that reeks of smoke, then pulling the rest of his clothes off. We climb into the hot shower, washing off the blood and pain from our skin but not touching the internal scars of witnessing such a loss of life. His lips kissing along my neck, he whispers, “I need you, now.” I nod, feeling the same way, desperately wanting to feel anything but this loss. His hands grip my ass and he lifts me up, wrapping my legs around his waist. The moment he enters me we both freeze, mouths still on each other’s gasping for breath. I stare into his eyes, I can feel his love, his need for me.

  “Jake.” I whisper against his lips. Taking this stolen moment of bliss forgetting our losses and obligations.

  Lock Down

  For security purposes, the location for our two weeks off is a gated estate rather than a hotel. The grounds are nice and since we will be on lock down with no appearances. I’m glad for the down time after the last twenty-four hours.

  We keep to ourselves for the most part, dealing with Endyra’s death in our own way. Adam has decided to stay on tour. He’s loyal to Marcus; and believes in the cause. His love for End
yra solidifying his place at Marcus’s side. I don’t see much of him; he spends his time alone in his room or with Marcus.

  After a few days, Mason and I decide to attempt a training session as a distraction but it isn’t going well; mainly because we can’t keep our hands off each other. I’m obsessively in tune to every movement of his magnificent body. He does a quick scan of the gym, we are alone. His eyes are bright and full of mischief; he then wiggles his eyebrows at me seductively; I can’t help but laugh in response.

  “Do you want me to take you hard and fast, right here, beautiful?” He continues to walk toward me, slowly, so sexy.

  Taking a step back I shake my head. “I don’t know.” He’s confused by my reply. “I love you, you know I do, but I’m afraid. I have made so many mistakes and with everything that has happened I’m barely hanging on here! I need to stop falling for the next guy who tells me he loves me.” I turn away from him. I’m tired of loving with everything I have, only to be abandoned. I need to protect myself.

  “Please don’t run from me. Not when you are finally mine,” he says against my neck, causing a shiver to run through my body.

  Running is all I’ve ever done, I’m so tired of running.

  He pulls me into his arms, where it is always safe. “You know I love you, Phoenyx.” He grabs my shoulders, turning me. “Don’t act like I’m anything like Asher, or Silas, or any of the other fucks who have thrown you away. I would never do that to you, you must know that by now.”

  “I do,” I say, looking into his kind eyes. “You have never been anything but honest with me. It’s this tour that is messing with my head.” I throw my arms in the air, pacing. “It’s breaking me. I don’t know who I am anymore or if what we are fighting for even matters. I need something real in my life to hold on to.”

  Mase takes my hand, placing it over his heart. “Feel this, this is real. I’m real, my love for you has always been real.” His eyes search mine. “Two months, and we are free from all of this madness, we can walk away, live our lives on our own terms.” I feel his heart racing under my fingertips. Staring at this beautiful man, eyes so calm and his heart so open. He really does love me.