by Mila Young
“It’d be cliché if I told you to follow your heart, huh?” she queried.
“A little.”
“Get to know him, then,” she suggested. “But you guys have training in common, which you practically live for, so that should be fun.”
I laughed again, remembering our workout session. It’d been spectacular. Ares was great to spar with. He was as serious about his fighting as I was and where Heracles always taught me the right way to move and block, Ares fought me like a worthy opponent. With him, there was no thinking. Only action.
And then there was our kiss. The way he’d stared at me so intensely, his passion flooding me, and he hadn’t pushed me to go further than a kiss, as if waiting for me to make the next move. Something about that made me respect him. Yet it left me craving him and yep, I’d lost myself to him in that moment. God, he adored me beyond physical attraction! How was I supposed to fight against such thoughts? I could swear his musky smell flooded my senses right now, his strong hands holding me close, the play of his tongue against mine, and our racing breaths.
I glanced over at Catina, who was still drinking her wine and seemed to be genuinely contemplating what to do about Ares. Not only to find an answer for me, but to accept my life and to give us a chance.
“Are you seriously considering dating Oliver?” I asked, curious where her love life was going and remembering our last conversation about him at Metric Coffee Co.
She snapped her head up to me, her cheeks on fire. “What are you talking about?”
I giggled. “You’re not a convincing liar. Don’t pretend you don’t know. You said you’d date him if I didn’t and asked if I was okay with it.”
She turned a darker shade of crimson, and I shifted on the couch with discomfort. I hadn’t meant to make her blush. If she liked the guy, she ought to just say it.
“He doesn’t even like me,” she blurted out, and then she was on her feet. She marched over to the mantel, where she lit a candle, the scent of vanilla reaching me. Outside, a car honked, and a silence fell between us.
“What if you just get to know him?” I echoed her own words back to her.
She laughed that time as she joined me on the couch again. “Thanks, Elyse. You’re a peach.”
We giggled together, and it felt amazing. I could actually see Catina with Oliver, which would have seemed bizarre at first. But it’d work. They were both human, which was a huge bonus. Both were driven. He was gentle and accepting and supportive. And she was wild and free and in need of a solid foundation.
Perfect match.
While we talked, I became aware of a shift in the atmosphere in her apartment, and my skin prickled. The room was growing darker, as if the clouds had moved in front of the sun. Yet the sun was still out.
“Do you feel that?” I asked Catina.
“What?” She glanced around, then back at me, and shrugged.
Of course she couldn’t feel the oppressive sensation, as it was the same one that lay inside of me. It had its roots in magic and power from another dimension, and Catina was just a human.
But I recognized the darkness. It burrowed under my skin, sped up my pulse, and was different than what I’d felt in the alleyway. I stiffened in my seat, well aware of what was coming.
X.
Why was he looking for me here when he’d been nowhere to be seen for weeks?
But that was all over, wasn’t it? X had returned to fight me. And when we fought, he didn’t care about the souls that became collateral. Not that he ever cared, but this time, I cared more than usual.
I couldn’t let anything happen to Catina. I jumped up, my heart racing, and ran to one of the windows to look out. The street and apartment buildings outside seemed normal, but the darkness in the air that felt like a black fog. I turned as mist curled around my feet with a chill, filling the apartment like a twisted smoke machine.
“What’s going on?” Catina inquired, her voice shaky, obviously still oblivious to what was happening. But how could she know? If she did, she’d be screaming and running for her life.
“He’s here,” I breathed.
“Who?” She hugged one of the couch pillows to her chest, staring at me as if I’d gone mad. “You’re scaring me.”
X appeared inside the apartment out of thin air. Dread pushed against me like an invisible gale, and I locked my jaw tight, my muscles tense.
The fuckhead looked about as human as he ever would, but there was nothing about him that wasn’t short of a nightmare. His smooth, dark skin stretched across his body, while his eyes burned like an eternal fire. His pupils were never-ending pits of doom, and I instinctively looked away from his eyes.
Catina screamed, and I flinched. X had made himself visible to her—he very often stayed out of the humans’ way. But today, he was the bogeyman, the monster under the bed that was real. And the world seemed to freeze in those few moments when reality crashed through me, my heart ticking like a bomb in my chest.
“Elyse, what the fuck is that?” Catina yelled, spilling her wine over her pants and couch. She whimpered, hysterically crawling backward on the couch, and jumped off to put distance between her and X.
“Get out of here. Run!” I wasn’t taking the time to explain. X was in my territory now, and he was going to get what was coming to him. I was stronger and faster than ever, and I could take him.
I used my newfound speed, shooting from the one side of the room to the other so that I stood right in front of X in a blur. I struck out at him with a fist, aiming for his jaw. And the blow would have been perfect if he hadn’t been anticipating an attack.
But somehow, X wasn’t there for me, even though I had thought he was initially. Instead of fighting or even blocking my blows and kicks, he merely sidestepped me as if I were inconsequential. He gave me a smile that flashed sharp fangs, and like a vision, he disappeared from my side of the room and reappeared in front of Catina.
A chill crawled over me, numbing my brain.
Catina stood paralyzed with fear. She trembled on the spot, looking up at X. All the blood drained from her face.
“Don’t look into his eyes!” I shouted, but it was too late. The expression on Catina’s face sank as she fell, fell, fell.
My brain only offered me one thought: this was it. This was where I’d watch my best friend die. Lead seemed to fill my stomach, and my feet were set in concrete. They shouldn’t have been, but panic slithered through me.
X had started sucking the souls out of his victims instead of sending them to the Underworld, consuming them and adding them to his arsenal of magic. He was going to use my friend the same way he’d used so many other humans he’d consumed.
“Catina,” I cried out, charging X. I threw a punch against the side of his head, but my fist flew right through his form. He was fading, the darkness of his body becoming transparent enough for me to see Catina through him. Her eyes were wide, rolling in their sockets and her expression was riddled with the knowledge of her death.
My stomach dropped, and fear slammed into me, ragged and harsh.
But X didn’t consume my friend as I expected him to. He disappeared the moment I reached out a hand to grab him.
“Catina!”
But by then, she was gone, too. X had taken her. Why hadn’t he consumed her when he had the chance? He never took victims away to kill them. Was this a hostage situation? As scared as I was for Catina, it was almost too good to be true. It meant I had a freaking chance to save my friend.
The spot where Catina had stood only moments before was empty, every sliver of darkness dissolved, the apartment undisturbed as if nothing had happened. I remained alone in the middle of the room, panic creeping up on me.
I fumbled for my phone in my pocket and called the first number on my list: Apollo.
“He took her,” I mumbled, hysterics wracking my body as I started hyperventilating. My breath refused to enter my lungs, and the room tilted beneath me.
“Elyse, calm down,” Apol
lo demanded. “Who took her? Who got taken?”
“X.” I swallowed hard and barely got the words out. “The fucker took Catina. And he didn’t kill her.”
Apollo was quiet for only a second, so I rattled off Catina’s address, talking over him.
“I’ll be right there,” he said, and the line went dead.
Chapter 5
Ares
Even though the situation was dire, I couldn’t help but enjoy the glimpse into Elyse’s personal life while in her apartment. The framed photos on the television stand drew my attention, especially the one with a young Elyse standing next to a woman with the same chestnut-colored hair. Had to be her mom, but I’d heard from the others her mother had passed away as well. And staring at the joy on her face in the photo reminded me of sorrow. Was that how she felt each time she looked at the image? Remembering happier days now lost forever?
I’d only truly loved once. Aphrodite had been my life, but after the fucked-up stunt her husband, Hephaestus, had pulled, humiliating us by catching us in a net on his bed, I’d refused to ever fall for another so deeply again. I should have rained down a war on Hephaestus, but shit, I’d been the god sleeping with his wife. Fuck, I’d loved her so much, and it took me centuries to get over her. Throwing myself into combat and wars gave me the distraction I’d needed to deal with the loss.
Yet since arriving in Chicago, I’d found myself drawn to Elyse, and those familiar feelings rose through me. She reminded me so much of myself. Full of anger, jumping into any situation rather than thinking it through, and just wanting to be accepted. It was so obvious she struggled to fit into the human world because she wasn’t a mortal.
While I might have desired a peek into who she really was, there were much bigger things at hand. I wasn’t going to be the dick who didn’t care about someone Elyse had lost.
She sat on the black couch with a cup of coffee Poseidon had made. She wasn’t exactly rocking back and forth, but she was paler than usual. Plus, I caught the slight tremble of her hands.
And understandably so. Her best friend had just been kidnapped by X.
This stunt was new for Thanatos—Death—X—whatever the fuck he was called. This guy seemed to pull a new trick out of his sleeve at every turn. First, it was killing humans without Hades’s obvious instruction. Then it was consuming the souls when they were supposed to be sent to the Underworld and now this—a hostage situation. What the fuck was his goal? Piss off as many gods as possible?
“If Catina’s still alive,” Elyse murmured, her voice soft and trembling, “maybe he took her to consume her somewhere else.”
She sounded defeated, as if her friend were already dead.
I shook my head. “It’s not his style. X has been killing in public for a while now. He would’ve killed her in front of you if he wanted to get to you. That’s the bastard thing to do. She’s still alive.”
“How can you be so sure? What if he changed his mind? What if…?” Elyse glanced at me, her eyes glistening, and my heart melted. She carried defiance in her voice, but her face was pleading. Her gaze begged me to be right.
“Elyse,” Poseidon said gently, “Ares is right. X has made a show of his murders all this time. He wouldn’t have taken someone to consume her in private. He has an agenda.”
She let out a little laugh, and it was a surprise, given the circumstances. “Death has an agenda. How ironic.” Hatred fueled her sarcasm.
Apollo sat next to Elyse on her couch and slid his arm around her back. His golden hair spilled over his shoulders, shining like a beacon. Hell, even indoors he was putting on an act of looking divine. Except I wanted to be the one next to her, holding her, making her feel safe. But we were all here for the same reason—to support and help Elyse.
When Apollo called to tell me what happened, I hadn’t hesitated. I’d rushed over for Elyse as much as the other guys. And we all had a right to do it. As far as I could tell, we each held a piece of her heart.
Usually, that would’ve pissed me off. But Elyse cared for each of us differently. And if I could have a love that was unique to me, then she could give Poseidon and Apollo what suited them, too.
Look at me go, such a team player.
Of course, Hades was MIA. No surprise—the guy was hardly available for a chat. He didn’t want to be a part of these things. Even though a while ago, the four of us had stood together to be there for Elyse, Hades was still a lone ranger.
I suspected it had something to do with Poseidon being here. The brothers never saw eye to eye. It made me glad I wasn’t in contact with my own parents. They didn’t exactly love me as much as they did my siblings, so it paid to be a rebel.
“I don’t get what he’s playing at,” Elyse said after sipping her coffee. “What could he possibly want with her?”
“I think he’s trying to call you out,” Poseidon said.
“But I’m willing to fight him any time,” Elyse argued. “What’s the point of taking Catina? I was there in the room with him.”
“Whatever it is, he’s not going to kill her or he’d have done so in front of you,” Apollo added, and I agreed with him.
Her brow furrowed. “What’s his motivation? What the hell does he want? Was it to taunt me?” Her voice trembled, and her lips pinched together.
I couldn’t sit back as she fell apart.
“We’ll find her,” I said. The other two gods looked at me with a warning, but I meant every word. We’d go out and look for her. There weren’t a lot of places X could possibly take her—he was uncomfortable in this world, and if he had an agenda, I had an idea where he might go with the human. But I didn’t share that little bit of extra information just yet.
“He’s right,” Poseidon confirmed. “We’ll find her.”
Apollo nodded, and I had the strangest sensation we were a team of sorts. I couldn’t remember when the gods had last agreed with me, let alone accepted me in their circles. In fact, I couldn’t remember it’d happened at all. They tended to hate me for one reason or another. And I accepted that long ago, which was why I did my own thing most of the time.
Usually because I didn’t see things the way they did.
But I liked this arrangement. It was something new. It felt good to belong somewhere for a change, and with it came a strange warmth floating through me, heating my skin like rays of a summer sun. And I was more than happy to stand together with these guys if it meant we could help Elyse to bring her friend back. Catina was just a mortal woman, and she didn’t stand a chance against X.
No human did, but I shuddered to think what he was doing to her. X was a fuckhead. I wasn’t quite sure how he was a part of Hades, but I would’ve hated to have an alter ego that was pure darkness. Perhaps that was why Hades was always pissed off.
Still, we’d do what was needed to bring Catina back safe and sound. Not only for the sake of the human woman, but also for Elyse, who deserved to see her friend home without a scratch.
Elyse covered her face, and I knew she was crying again. Somehow, her tears smelled like freshly fallen rain. And it was the saddest damn thing I’d ever experienced.
I yearned to take the pain away.
Looking at the sympathy and helplessness on both Apollo and Poseidon’s faces, they felt exactly the same way.
“Hey,” Apollo said, gently peeling Elyse’s hands away from her face to reveal tear-stained cheeks. “We’re going to fix this. There’s still hope. He just did this to get to you. And if you keep panicking about it, he’s going to win. Don’t let him win.”
It looked like Apollo’s speech had worked a little. Elyse tried to swallow her grief and looked at me. Her dark eyes were bright with tears, and if the situation weren’t so dire, I would’ve thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world.
Scratch that. No matter what she did, she was the most beautiful woman in the universe. Natch.
“Why the hell was X at Catina’s?” Elyse asked. “I can’t figure out what’s going on. Is this Hades?”
She posed the last question to Poseidon.
Apollo and I both looked at him, too. But Poseidon shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t have an answer either.
“All I know is that he has to be stopped,” Poseidon declared.
“Yeah, I’ve been trying to do that,” Elyse snapped. “But I haven’t had much luck, have I?”
“Don’t forget,” I said, interrupting her, “you’re not alone in this anymore. You’re not supposed to be the only one to save Earth. We’re here to help you.”
Elyse blinked at me. It was true. Even Poseidon had been sent to rein in Hades, and Apollo had wandered the Earth for the last three centuries, so I wasn’t the only guard destined to stand at Elyse’s side. Even though I was the only one Zeus had sent to help.
“We’ll get her back,” Apollo said, reassuring Elyse yet again.
“Yeah,” I added. “No matter what, we’ll get through this—together.”
Apollo and Poseidon both stared at me, their jaws dropped.
Until now, I’d been obtuse, throwing everything they thought about me in their faces. Because if they didn’t want to believe I was a hero, I’d show them what a disappointment I could be.
Looking back now, it didn’t make sense. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to prove them wrong instead.
“What?” I asked when Apollo and Poseidon wouldn’t stop gawking.
“Nothing,” Apollo said. He pulled Elyse into a hug.
Poseidon sat down on her other side, putting his hand on her knee. I was the only one not in on the action, so I climbed over the coffee table and planted my ass on the wood, facing Elyse with our knees touching. I moved the coffee cup out of the way.
Who said I couldn’t be domestic?
My skin prickled with the sensation of…magic?
It seemed when the three of us were together, all of us touching Elyse, the strangest thing happened. Energy flared between us. It tasted a little like my own magic, but also like Elyse’s. And Apollo’s. And Poseidon’s.
Strange.
With the four of us touching, the energy we created grew bigger and stronger, its electricity humming over my flesh. Did the others feel it too?
