First Contact (Heroes of Olympus Book 1)

by April Zyon

  “Owen, where are you?” a familiar voice yelled.

  “Toward the back, Gareth. She’s back here and chained to the wall. We need something to get her loose, and fast.”

  Gareth barreled toward her, swinging his gun around to his back as he skidded on his knees to her, scooping her up out of Owen’s lap.

  Camilla was shaking and wrapped her arms around Gareth as tightly as she could. She buried her face against the curve of his neck and cried. “Oh God, I knew you would come.” She clenched his shirt in her hands, her arms around his neck. “I’m never letting go, just get me out of this freaking chain. Please?” she begged him. Her ankle was numb now, and blood covered her shorts and leg from where she had been trying to force the chain off.

  “Shh, I have you,” Gareth said. His voice sounded gruff and he was shaking in her arms. “I have you, sweetheart. God, I thought we’d lost you,” he whispered. Peppering her face with kisses, he hugged her so tight she had a bit of trouble trying to breathe.

  “Owen!” Another voice she knew. Mikhail came running into view and stopped, relief on his face. He started running again and dropped down next to Gareth to touch her face, her hair, anywhere he could.

  Camilla turned in Gareth’s arms and hugged Mikhail as well. She still held onto Gareth’s hand, though. She couldn’t seem to let go, at all. Desperate to hold onto both. “Get me free, please just get me out of here? I swear I will never walk off again. Ever. I’m so sorry.” She cried. “I thought it was a wounded puppy.” She whispered.

  “Shh, baby, it’s okay,” Mikhail said. He kissed her lips and cheeks. “Lincoln is bringing something to get you free. Just hold on, baby. We’re getting you the fuck out of here.”

  “Jesus, it’s a party in here,” another voice said. “Hi, Camilla.” Lincoln smiled at her. He didn’t come close to her, just went around their pile to the chain. “Son of a bitch, they welded this onto her foot. Uh, I’m going to have to blow the chain, guys.”

  “Do it,” Gareth grunted.

  “Okay. Owen, find something to protect her with. I’ll blow it as close to the wall as I can, so use something that won’t burn if this sparks at all.”

  “I think we have something,” Owen muttered.

  Camilla nodded and licked her lips. “Well, whatever it is, do it. Just get me out of here?”. She didn’t care what happened, only wanting to get free. “It’s weres, you likely know that.” She leaned her cheek to Mikhail’s shoulder and swallowed, pain radiating through her. “I hope that you kill the fucking Alpha. Bastard wanted to turn me into a freaking brood mare for him.”

  She felt Mikhail and Gareth both stiffen. “What?” Mikhail asked, his tone biting.

  “Uh, guys, can you worry about that after we get her loose?” Owen said. “Look, let’s get Camilla loose and then you can go and kill the alpha all you want. One thing at a time here.” He muttered to Lincoln as they covered her leg with something, tucking it down through the cuff on her ankle and around her foot. Owen then tucked the rest of the material up over her. “Hold this,” he told her.

  “What are you using, Lincoln?” Gareth asked. He held onto the sheet of whatever it was as he peered around her to the two other men.

  “What I have, unfortunately it’s C-4. I’m only using enough, hopefully, to get this off. Really wish Dieter was here, he’s better at this than me.”

  “Wait, what?” Camilla knew what C-4 was, and she didn’t want to lose her leg! “Can’t you just, like, shoot the thing off or something? Maybe?” Holy hell, there was no way she would survive being blown up.

  “All that would do is send a bullet ricocheting around. The chain’s too thick,” Lincoln said. “All right, blasting caps in, everyone back. Cover her head with that sheet and duck back, guys.” The sheet was pulled up over her head as Mikhail tucked her closer to him. Both he and Gareth shifted to a semi-reclined position.

  “Three, two—God, I hope this works—one!” Lincoln said.

  There was a loud bang Camilla felt through her body, and then her foot was free.

  She could have kissed Lincoln for blowing up the chain. She looked at Gareth and then Mikhail and nodded. “Can we please go home?” She wanted out of there—she needed to be out of there because the sounds of fighting were coming closer. The screams seemed to be closer, as well.

  “Damn straight,” Gareth said. He got to his feet and then scooped her up, chain and all. She was sure that later they would get Ares to remove the chain, but that could wait.

  Mikhail pressed a kiss to her cheek before bringing his weapon up. “On me,” he said. Both Owen and Lincoln had their weapons ready, stepping in close to either side of Mikhail, while Gareth stayed behind him.

  “We need to get out of this area, then Ares will be able to pick us up. There’s something here that’s fucking with his powers, it’s why it took us so long to find you,” Gareth explained as they all surged forward in a controlled movement.

  Camilla nodded. She felt them trying to let her go and shook her head. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I can’t let you go.” She compromised, though, and slipped her hand into the back of Mikhail’s pants and held onto the waistband, feeling Gareth’s breath against the side of her neck. That was what she needed.

  When they reached the door, she saw absolute chaos outside. More explosions sounded off to the left. Apparently, that was where they were heading given how the three men ahead of Gareth moved. Of course they would head toward the explosions.

  Then she saw who lobbed the grenades. James grinned like a loon as he tossed them, Nolan handing them to him as quick as he tossed them.

  “You guys love this shit, don’t you?” Camilla asked, utterly stunned. They looked like a bunch of kids in a candy store.

  “James is a little crazy,” Owen said. “I think he has brain damage. Heads up, we’re coming to you, Nolan.”

  The man looked up and nodded, still passing grenades to James. “Head straight out, we’ll be right behind you,” Nolan said. “Ares is waiting by the road. I’ll radio down and let him know so he’s ready. Get him to get you out and come back for us. We’ll keep these fuckers busy.”

  “Copy that,” Owen answered. The group of five of them swept past them and continued toward what she assumed was the road.

  “You boys keep your heads on straight,” Camilla said to Nolan and James. “Please don’t get hurt because of me.” She looked up at Mikhail. “Let’s get out of here and to Uncle so that you can come back and get them, please?”

  “Fuck that,” he grumbled. “I’m taking you home. Owen and Lincoln can help them.” His tone said he wasn’t going to argue with her. They just kept moving until she spotted Ares pacing by the road.

  Camilla saw her uncle but didn’t leave Mikhail and Gareth’s sides. She waited until they were right in front of Ares to hug him. She kept the hug brief before moving back between Mikhail and Gareth, taking each of their hands. “Take us home, please? Then you can come back and get the other guys so that they don’t get hurt.”

  “Deal,” he said. He was touching her cheek, brushing his thumb against her skin. “All right, let’s get moving.” He put his hands on her men’s shoulders, and in a wave of nausea, Camilla found they were back at the house. As soon as they settled, he lifted her foot with a snarl. The cuff fell to the floor with a loud clank, and her ankle began to tingle. “There, better. Wash her up, get her in bed, and don’t let her out of your sights. I’ll be back with the others soon enough. If I can tear them away from blowing everything in sight up.” With a flash of light, he was gone.

  Camilla looked down at her ankle. “He healed me.” How weird was that? “I like what he said, though. I have a monster-sized headache and my throat is killing me. Can we please go shower and to bed?” She still clung to their hands, unable to let them go after the far-too-close call she had just had.

  “Yeah, we should. Let us just get out of this gear. The guys will put everything away for us,” Gareth said. He studied her. “You have
to let go, just for a minute, sweetheart. I definitely need two hands to get out of the vest.”

  “But you aren’t going to leave me, right?” She squeezed his hand a bit tighter. “Can you do it one at a time?” She shook, in shock and barely holding on by a thread. “I’m not this clingy woman, but at the moment I can’t help it. Please?”

  “Why don’t you hold onto Mikhail while I get out of everything? Then you can hang onto me while he gets out of his gear. After that we’ll go upstairs to shower. Okay?” he asked softly.

  “Okay.” Camilla let go of his hand and then moved into Mikhail’s waiting and warm arms. She hugged him, her whole body shaking as she did so. “I don’t think that I’m ever going to let you guys go again.” She knew herself and knew that it would be a very long time before she would ever be able to let either of them go for long.

  Mikhail stroked her hair as he rocked her in his arms. “We’re not letting you go, ever, so it’s a good plan.” She felt him kiss the top of her head, his free hand sliding into her hair.

  “That’s a darn-tootin’ good thing,” she told him with another hug. “I heard what sounded like a small puppy hurt. I couldn’t let it hurt anymore and went into the brush. I had assumed that it wouldn’t be far. It was not good.”

  “Why didn’t you call for one of us, sweetheart?” he asked. “We would have dropped everything if you had, you have to know that. I’m not blaming you, don’t think I am, I just need to know what was going on with you.”

  “I did.” Camilla frowned. “I screamed, more than once. I screamed several times. That’s why he did this.” She touched her neck. “I even tried to scream for Ares in my mind, but he didn’t hear me. What the hell? How?”

  “I don’t know,” Mikhail said. “I went looking for you, calling for you. Did you hear me, or Gareth, calling out your name at all?” he asked.

  “Come here,” Gareth said. He touched her back. “Let Mikhail get out of everything.”

  “No, not at all.” She moved into Gareth’s arms, not letting go of one without touching the other. “I only heard the blood rushing to my head, saw stars and tasted blood. I didn’t hear you guys, though. How weird is that?”

  “It’s definitely something we need to ask Ares.” Gareth touched her neck, his expression angry. “I really hope we killed the fucker that did this to you. Un-fucking-believable,” he growled.

  “We will.” She took a deep breath. “I just, I want to be clean. I want to get an ice pack for my neck, and then I just want to curl up into bed with both of you tonight. I know we usually don’t all three sleep together, but I would rather sleep with both of you, okay?”

  “That’s fine, I’m more than willing to curl up with you anywhere,” Gareth said with a squeeze.

  Mikhail touched her a moment later, handing an ice pack to her. “Let’s get you upstairs and into that shower. We should be quick, though. I’m sure Ares will want to check in on you before he heads off to, well, wherever he goes.”

  “As long as you have me covered before then,” Camilla said with a smile. “Because I want to be naked and I don’t want to have him seeing me that way, because that’s just gross.” She frowned. “So yes, we will make sure that we keep ourselves covered, please.”

  “Come on then.” Mikhail put a hand on her neck, gently rubbing at her nape while Gareth held her loosely in his arms so she could carry the ice pack. Once they were in the bathroom off Mikhail’s room, they got her stripped down, did the same, and all of them got into the shower stall where they set the water to nice and warm.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Olympus

  “Ares.” The three women spoke as one. According to myths and lore, they were old crones, hideous to behold, but nothing could be further from the truth.

  The beauty of the women shone even there upon the Mountain where beauty lived. “It is time.” Again, they spoke as one. “To tell them how to form the bond with the Descendant before she is lost for all time. When next she is taken, if there is no bond, the line of Artemis is lost forever. No more shall there be the hold on the Dark God.” They sing-songed their words, seeming to sway.

  “I know, I know.” Ares threw them a glower. “Do you think I don’t know that? Do you think I haven’t been freaking out over this? Damn, if that alpha hadn’t had to wait for the new moon to rise…” He shook his head.

  Pacing back and forth before the Fates was something Ares did, something all of the Gods did because none of them were all too comfortable around the three women. He suddenly stopped to pin them with a look. “Wait a second. I thought you three didn’t know anything about this. You never have in the past when we’ve come upon the time that the barrier that holds Hades cell weakens. So, why now?” he asked, fists on his hips.

  “We have always known but have been unable to speak of it. We are able to now because now the final wars start. This is the time when the world is at the most prime for the Dark God to release. With the debauchery and greed, humanity is all but requesting him to be released, but we must never allow that to happen or he shall destroy us all.”

  “Yeah, but we all know that if we secure at least three, their chances are only fifty-fifty. If we get four, then they are screwed.” His eyes narrowed as he shifted his weight, his hand resting on the hilt of the massive sword strapped at his waist. While on Olympus, the gods were always in their true form, but they could dress down for comfort. Only in the Halls of Zeus, or the Fates’ chambers, could they not alter their true form. So Ares was dressed in head-to-toe black armor, so dark and forbidding it sucked in all light that struck it.

  Lifting his chin, he cracked his neck. “What are you not telling me, Fates? And don’t give me that line about you not telling me anything I’m not ready for, or that you can’t reveal what hasn’t yet been set. I get that. I also know that you know something, here and now, that you’re keeping from me. If you speak it, it will come to pass—we all know that. But give me something, damn it. I can’t keep them safe if I don’t understand what is coming at us.” He fell silent, giving them an opening they didn’t take. His expression went blank. “It’s about why I couldn’t find her, isn’t it? It’s about what had me blocked from going into that compound, isn’t it?”

  “Yesss.” The trio hissed the word. “The Six aren’t the only ones with descendants. There are more. There are ones of the Dark God. There are more powers at play as well. We cannot yet get a full view of them.” And that said a great deal if the Fates couldn’t see someone fully. “They seem to be beyond us. There will be one, one that must be pulled in, or the ratio of four will not work. She must be found as well. First you must ensure that Camilla, Descendant of Artemis, is bonded to her Heroes. Only then will the second become clearer to us.”

  “I’ll get them to understand,” he said. He walked to the edge of the platform and stared out over the clouds of Olympus. He looked at the beauty that was Olympus, the mountains that were edged in golden halos, the clouds that had silver and platinum in them and the palaces that dotted the clouds that were each more spectacular than the next. Olympus was truly a spectacular place to live, he was blessed and knew it. “I doubt it will be much of a fight. Not for them—they love her deeply, would and have walked through hell for her. They won’t hesitate to cement their bond and ensure her permanent safety.”

  “Then it is as it should be,” they told him quietly. “Her love for them is just as strong. They all will have that love. It will be stronger and more intense with each one. They will love immediately, not something that is common in this world we have today, but it is one that they will know for all time.”

  Ares snorted a laugh at that, turning to look at them again. “The men might not admit it immediately, but Camilla knows already. She has that love in her heart for them, and it’s strong. Those men are nothing if not stubborn.” He paced back to stand in front of them and looked into the middle distance as he thought. “You will alert me when the second has been revealed.” Not so much a question, or a
request, as a statement of fact.

  “We will allow you to know, but the next isn’t going to be your charge, or will she?” They gave an eerie smile. “We will tell you, however, that you will know because she comes soon. We can see the fogs of uncertaintity beginning to thin. First, the Heroes of Olympus must unite and bond with their Lady.”

  “She may not be my charge, but the Heroes are under my watch and guidance. We all know that is within the rules of this messed up game.” Ares went to a knee, his head bowed, before getting back up on his feet. “Until next time, ladies,” he said. Spinning on a heel, he headed for the door and the corridor beyond where he could finally flash away from Olympus again to get back to Earth.

  The laughter of the Fates followed Ares as he walked away. On the wind, he could hear, “The Daughter of Light comes to you next, Ares. Prepare your Heroes, God of War.”

  ****

  Appearing in the kitchen of the house where the Heroes lived, Ares shot a look to the men there. They were all in the midst of breakfast, but staring at him. “Where are they?” he asked. As one, they pointed up to the ceiling. Ares stalked past them to the stairs and took them three at a time.

  Stopping at Mikhail’s door, he forced himself to calm and knock lightly. He was still upset from his time on Olympus and the half-answers he’d received from the Fates. “Hate to bother you three, but we need to talk. Now.”

  Camilla squeaked and pulled the blanket up to cover them all three. “At least you knocked,” she said with a smile. “Come in, Uncle.” She looked at Mikhail and Gareth and grinned. “He has a habit of not knocking. He’s a little wild and crazy like that.”

  Gareth just groaned and pulled a pillow over his head.

  Mikhail sat up, pushing back to rest his back against the headboard as Ares came in the room. He shot her a look, a questioning one, when Ares locked the door behind him and began to pace at the end of the bed.

  “Uncle? Talk to us. I know that pacing. You’re thinking far too much right now, so talk to us. What is wrong? You are worrying us. Come on. Spit it out.”