by Donn, KL
“Our team was slaughtered. We were the only ones left alive,” Apollo explains.
“The God of War and the God of Truth to be united with a powerful magic.” We wait for her to say more, but she remains silent, and her eyes clear. Violet and white once more.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Arianna is going to need you both in your most deadly forms in order to survive. She’ll draw strength from your unwavering loyalty; she’ll draw power from your madness. Have no doubt that without you, there is no her.”
“Enough with the cryptic shit, witch. What the fuck are you talking about?” I’m so far past annoyed, I’ve gone straight into rage. I’m done with the damn riddles.
“It means,” Apollo begins. “That without us, Arianna’s powers will kill her.”
5
Arianna
The sound of water dripping wakes me.
The sound of whimpering alerts me.
The feeling of chains across my body terrifies me.
Frozen on the barren bed, I struggle to force my eyes open and take in my surroundings. Memories come flashing back to me of victory, quickly turning to fear. Running through the forest behind the castle where I was ambushed. I was so confident I was going to make it to the ferry and cross over to Ireland before anyone found out I was missing. How wrong I was.
The dark mage’s curse followed me, and all my nightmares have come true. I don’t understand how the spell can conclude that I've found true love when I’m not certain I know what it is. But this is proof…love is my demise.
I always believed I would have it all. Love, the people, family. As my eyes wander around my cage, I see I have nothing. Chained by my hands and feet to a wrought-iron bed topped with a flimsy mattress, the walls surrounding me are made of brick with a single cell door for an entrance.
“No, please, no, don’t!” I hear a young voice cry out before the sounds of clattering chains reach my ears. “Please let me go,” the same voice begs, as a hulking man and young woman—who looks eerily similar to the hysterical woman from Cherish—struggle past my only view of the outside.
“Wait!” I scream, trying to raise myself off the bed. They pause before the man turns to glare at me. “Take me,” I cry. “Take me instead.” The girl is no more than fourteen. I don’t know their plans for her, but I do know it won’t be good, and she does not deserve it.
“You?” he scoffs. I nod. He waves someone over before unlocking my door, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Only for it to be short-lived as he instructs the new person, “Bring her with us. She can find out just what kind of life she has to look forward to.” Their mutual laughter is filled with vile, evil intent, and I shudder as the new man steps forward and begins to unlock my chains.
Frozen in horror, I realize this might be our only chance to escape. I could free her and send her for help. Once the man has me unbound, I aim my foot and kick him between the legs. He falls to the ground, hands to his balls, moaning in agony as I rush forward into the man holding the girl.
Surprised by my attack, he lets her go, and we land with a thud. Kneeing him between the legs, I stand and grab the girl's arm, pulling her behind me as we run toward the door I see at the end of the hall.
The sounds of the men I injured rustling around can be heard as we slam into our only form of escape. Of course, the door is locked, and I’m forced to look for an alternate exit or something to break this doorknob with.
Spying a fire extinguisher around the corner, I rip it off the wall and start to bash the handle. When it finally snaps free, it takes another minute of scraping my fingers in the lock to release it from the jam.
The girl is crying behind me while holding tight to my shirt. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and concentrate on feeling for what I need to get it open. “Come on, open, dammit,” I hiss, and it finally frees itself. “Let’s go.” I reach behind me and grab her hand as I yank the door open again.
“No!” I gasp, noticing four more men standing in the hallway, all eyes on us. Slamming the door shut, their laughter mocks us.
“What do we do?” She cries harder.
“What’s your name?” I ask her, realizing we only have seconds before we’re caught.
“Ainsley MacDonald.” Her bright eyes stare up at me with hope. She is the girl from our village. Which only makes me more desperate to get her out of here.
“I am Princess Arianna.” The young lady gasps, and tears fill her gaze. “We will be rescued, Ainsley. Stay strong; you fight with everything you are,” I demand, but it sounds more like a plea. I want to be confident. I want to show her strength. However, I’m terrified and weak. I cannot fight off these men. Even with as well as Hawk has trained me over the years, I am not powerful enough to get us out of this mess.
“Little girl.” The second man I kicked tsks. “That wasn’t a very good idea.” He sings the words like we’re on a playground.
“Neither was taking me.” I grind my jaw. My bravado is not nearly as convincing as I imply. “Kidnapping me will unleash a hell on you and whoever is working with you that you will never see coming.” My threat is met with uncontrollable laughter.
“Catching you wasn’t part of the plan; it was merely a welcome surprise. You are the princess, after all, and I’m willing to bet you’ll bring us millions. More if you’re a virgin.” The snarl on his face sends chills down my spine.
“What does that mean?” I think I know, but I don’t want to acknowledge it.
He smirks and grabs Ainsley, who shakes from head to toe in his grip. So terrified of the man that she’s rooted in place until he pushes her so hard, she hits the ground.
“Stop doing that!” I scream. He can do anything he wants to me, but I will continue to fight to protect her and anyone else here at all costs.
Turning to me, his palm connects with my face, and I nearly spin into the wall, only stopped by the other man I had kicked as he grips my hair so fiercely that I feel the strands rip from my skull; pain radiates through my face and head. My pulse throbs in tune with my heartbeat, and my ears ring.
Shaking the fuzziness from my mind, I steady my feet before twisting back around as the door is opened and the men from before are standing in different poses, each with a weapon in hand.
Knife.
Whip.
Chains.
Taped fists.
Whatever they have planned for Ainsley isn't good, and now, I’ll get to find out first-hand.
Lucky me.
As we’re pushed further into the room, I catch sight of what’s in store. Chains are attached to one of the walls. There is a grotesque display of varying weapons on another wall, and three cell doors.
“What is this place?” I whisper, fright in my tone and terror striking through my heart.
“Welcome to Hell,” one man whispers in my ear as they separate Ainsley and me.
Latching onto the sobbing girl's arm, I refuse to let go. “No! You can’t have her.” Scratching and clawing, I fight the grip trying to hold me back, but I keep pulling Ainsley toward me. She’s too young for whatever they have planned. They can’t do this to her.
Movement to my right turns my head, and before I can process what’s happening, a whip is slashing down across my arms. The pain is instant, and I have no choice but to release Ainsley as blood drips to the ground and I’m slammed against the cold brick wall.
Shocked at what’s transpiring, my brain is having a hard time responding to the violence before me. Even though tears are streaming down my face and I can feel the men manipulating my body to chain me to the wall, legs spread, hands held above my head, I can’t stop any of it.
I’m powerless.
“Callista.” I whisper her name, praying we share some kind of connection, that she can find me.
Our people need her to be at her best.
Ares
“Keep your cool,” Apollo says for the fifth time in as many minutes. I’m not sure who he thinks I am, but I can
keep my temper on a damn leash.
“One more fucking time, and I’m going to snap your neck.” The fucker ignores me.
“She needs you to keep a level head, man, that’s all.”
“I got this, Asher. Stop worrying.” The look he gives me as he injects the tracker into my neck with a syringe says he won’t, though. I don’t really blame him either. We’re both invested in this girl and want her back. This job has gone from helping a small country to personal business in the blink of an eye.
“The tracker is undetectable. We’ve been developing it for years. The only person who will know where you are is me.” I nod. We’ve also been over this. Placing a small bag with listening devices in my hand, he says, “They won’t find these. They can’t be disrupted by radio frequencies, and excess noise will get filtered out. I’ve got a team on standby for when you’re ready for extraction.”
“Got it.” My eyes roll without thought.
“Daily check-ins, Ares. You aren’t doing this mission alone,” he demands.
“No promises,” I tell him for the dozenth time. I always work on my own. I don’t need a fucking babysitter, and this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve infiltrated a human trafficking ring. It’s just the only time that matters to me.
After handing me a new encrypted phone, Apollo steps back and vacates the room so I can get into the right frame of mind. In order to do this, I need to turn into the emotionless bastard I’ve always been.
Ruthless.
Deadly.
Uncaring.
Arianna can’t be anything more to me than a job.
“I got this, man. Stay cozy behind your desk, and shit’ll be done before you know it.” I smirk, masking my tumultuous emotions as they continually try to resurface.
“Mr. Ares.” Stefan grabs my attention as he enters our room, obviously not adhering to the same boundaries as his daughter. “Please, don’t let anything happen to my precious girl. She was our one chance at a child, and neither Leah nor myself will be able to go on without her.”
I’ve dealt with a shit-ton of parents making pleas for their childrens’ lives, seen them beg to switch places with them. I’ve also watched just as many turn their backs when they were needed the most. I’ve worked for men and women who were so rich and powerful they could rule their own country.
Never have I worked for royalty.
Never have I seen such genuine emotion from anyone.
Whatever is happening here, now or in the past, we will get to the bottom of it, but not before I bring my woman home. To her parents. Her people. Us.
Clasping his shoulder in my hand, I squeeze, hoping to reassure him. “I will do everything in my power to bring her back or die trying.” As much as I want to vow that she’ll be safe, I have no idea what I’m heading into. Judas is a private person. The fact I got his name at all is a minor miracle.
“That’s all I ask.” The man nods his head before taking his leave.
“It’s nice when parents give a shit,” Apollo comments as he finishes up with my encrypted phone.
“Yeah.” I agree. “You ready to do this?”
Apollo stands, strides to me with determined steps, and takes me back to a time I’d rather forget when he puts his fist out…waiting for me to do the same. Placing my knuckles to his, we repeat the words we would say before every mission when we were Team Olympus…before our brethren were slaughtered.
“Truth, War, Earth, Water, Fire, and Power, strength of Olympus. Award us protection from our fallen, grant us resilience and luck. Grant us refuge and guidance when needed. Bring Ares no harm.”
Fuck. Memories of reciting that same passage for years, on countless missions, reminds me of the day we lost them all.
When we formed Team Olympus more than ten years ago, before there were so many specialized units hiding in plain sight, we had decided to honor the Greek gods with our team names.
Greek mythology is something that has been changed time and time again, but one thing always remains the same…their power and strength.
Asher chose Apollo, the God of Truth, because he can interrogate far better than we were ever taught in training or experienced in the field. His silence has always been his best tool.
Luke aptly chose Hephaestus, the God of Fire. There was nothing he enjoyed more than lighting the sky up with an explosion or two. Maybe that’s why I had such an issue with Foster last year. The man reminded me so much of my former teammate that it was hard to tell them apart.
Poseidon was given to Dustin because of his love of the water. It didn’t matter where we went on a mission, he always found a way to the ocean. Surfing was his life outside of the team.
The Goddess of Earth, Gaia was gifted to Chase because of her holistic medical practices—he shockingly wasn’t insulted by being given the Goddess’s name either. While modern medicine played a huge part in our team medic's treatment, incorporating the natural soils from Mother Earth was his preferred method for medicinal preparations.
Jason was a beast of a man, always compared to Zeus because of his strength and power, so it was a no-brainer that he would be named for the god. He stood seven feet tall and over three hundred pounds of pure muscle. He was kicking down doors while the rest of us were capturing bad guys.
I’ve always been Ares. The God of War has lived in my soul my entire life. Until I joined the Army, and then later approached by Asher, I was a shit disturber. My parents are big wigs on Wall Street and have never quite been certain of what to do with me.
When our team was slaughtered in Iran eight years ago, my world became darker. Apollo accepted a job with the DOJ, began recruiting Task Force 779 members, and I made it impossible for him to stay in touch with me.
I became a mercenary. A killer for hire. No job was too fucked up for me. Somewhere along the way, I lost my conscience and rejoined with a Ranger unit. Their plan, the entire time, was to set me up and scapegoat me to hell for genocide when I had nothing to do with their atrocities.
Getting even with the last remaining member in New York, after putting an innocent woman in the crosshairs, wasn’t my finest moment. I got the job done, nonetheless. Ryan Baker is now in Hell, where he truly belongs. But Arden Graham was a quirky surprise that sparked my humanity back to life. She didn’t cower from me. She babbled, she fought back, but most of all, she baited the son of a bitch for me, so I could kill his ass. Despite what her men say, I got the kill shot. And my redemption.
And Everett Gaines made me feel again. She forced me to look at what I was missing in life when she was fighting to save her own.
Two complicated women.
Neither I can claim as my own.
Yet, they gave me what I needed more than anything else in the universe.
My soul.
Now, I must abandon it for a woman who could finally be mine. A woman who will eventually rule an entire country.
“Get your head on straight, Ares.” Apollo’s voice breaks through my thoughts as he stands beside me. Turning my head slightly, I meet his stare, and I can see he’s thinking about them too. “Going back there won’t help Arianna, but tradition isn’t a half-bad idea right now.” In the more than fifteen years I’ve known Asher, I’ve never seen him so shaken.
“We got this.” I nod my head and leave the room, not stopping when people try to engage me. I have to maintain the silence in my head, or I’ll become a liability, and Arianna won’t live through the blast.
Asher
I have doubts. Whether he’s ready for this, can he handle it? After losing our team in an ambush, Ares was never the same. A translator for the military and his family were kidnapped by the Taliban and labeled as traitors. We were sent in to bring them home safely but were met with the mother of all ambushes. They were waiting for us. Hit our Humvee with an RPG before we’d even stopped to embark on foot. Our mates were slaughtered as we exited the vehicle.
Ares and I were captured. Tortured for endless days.
Until a woma
n set us free. After handing each of us a bottle of water and satellite phone, she directed us out of the Taliban camp to freedom. We later found out that she was the camp leader's wife. She never asked for that life, and with one last mission, we were able to rescue her and her two children. They now live somewhere in the world under a new identity and with a new life.
I didn’t see or hear from Ares for almost a year after that. I tried reaching out weekly until it became too much. Living in the past wasn’t doing me any favors and was likely what was pushing him away.
It wasn’t until he contacted me a year after I'd stopped trying, needing help with another betrayal, that I felt any sort of relief. Until that moment, I had always wondered if he blew his head off over a cliff and landed in the ocean.
My relief was short-lived, though, because the evidence against him was piled higher than a house. Genocide isn’t an easy rap to beat. It took a long fucking time before I got him shown any leniency, and that’s when he was able to break free.
For months, I was put through the wringer about his escape and whether I had a hand in it or not. What everyone failed to remember was that Matthew Norbury was a man of many talents. Growing up in the financial capital of the world, he had no trouble hiding money, nor mastering his way through the dark web with minimal technology.
Being here, now, sending him back into that disturbing mindset isn’t something I want to do. If not for Arianna's imprisonment, I wouldn’t second guess sending him undercover because he could do it with ease. He must don a determined mask now, one that’s going to show he cares nothing for the girl we both desperately want to explore this connection with.
Stepping back into our room, I double-check that the tracker I inserted into his neck is working and make sure his cell is restricted and unhackable. Already knowing the answer is yes because Ryder Morrison from Task Force 779—the team I oversee for the President of the United States—is the one who created both. My worry is unnecessary.
