CHAPTER 16
"HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM."
M'Adoc turned around from the bay window where he was looking out onto the waterfall behind their palace to see Deimos entering his private suite without invitation. He let out his breath slowly and silently, falling instantly into his emotionless appearance.
"How colloquial American of you, Demon." He raked the demigod with a practiced mocking brow that only M'Ordant or D'Alerian would know wasn't feigned and forced his voice to remain steady and bland.
"By your unbloodied presence here I take it that you failed to kill him... again."
Demon's eyes narrowed. "I can do without the patronizing undertone."
Clasping his hands behind his back, M'Adoc crossed the floor to meet Deimos halfway. "We both know I feel no such thing. But to be fair, I can deal without the incompetency. How hard is it to take out a restricted god on the mortal plane?"
"Pretty damn impossible when he has a Chthonian and an Atlantean god standing watch over him."
M'Adoc had to struggle to hide his confusion. "Why would Acheron care about any of this?"
"Not him, his mother. Remember her? Tall angry blond bitch who seriously spanked her whole family into oblivion over a hangnail?"
M'Adoc's lips itched to smile, but he was so used to catching himself that it was all too easy to keep it hidden. "It was more than a hangnail and she's locked in Kalosis, so how can she be a problem?"
"Not entirely, she isn't. Someone dug up one of her special little priestess medallions and it's now in the hands of the woman who has a vested interest in us not harming her boy toy... or her. Seems she has an issue with dying prematurely. Go figure."
M'Adoc was less than amused by Demon's summation. "Well, that sucks for you, doesn't it?"
"It sucks for all of us, Oneroi. If you want this handled, I suggest you do it yourself."
M'Adoc really did have to make an effort to keep his sarcastic tone at bay. "I never thought I'd live to see the day a mere mortal could scare the Dolophoni. You guys have really grown soft over the centuries, haven't you?"
Deimos curled his lip. "Calling me a coward is no way to goad me into suicide. As I said, we have extenuating circumstances. You're the one telling me how easy it is to kill him. Then why don't you try getting your hands bloodied for once?"
Little did he know, M'Adoc's hands had been coated in more blood than a seventy-five-year-career
surgeon's. He had no problem with executing his nuisances, he just had to be careful not to let the other gods know about it. The idea of an Oneroi taking a life without their implicit approval tended to make them jittery. "My job is to protect."
"Yeah, your own back. And mine is to watch over my team-one of whom is now dead." He took a step forward to make sure M'Adoc understood his rage. "You know I've never shirked at killing anyone or anything. But this... this is different. I'm not going to lose another brother needlessly. This is getting out of control." He hesitated before he added one final comment. "They're currently at Solin's house-under his protection. I'm sure you remember him, too."
Of course he did. He and Solin had battled it out on more than one occasion. Both of them were scarred by those fights.
But that was neither here nor there.
M'Adoc gripped his hands tightly behind his back, tempted to send a bolt straight at Demon's head, but he couldn't afford to let Demon know this was anything more than a routine hit or that his failure upset him in any way. He must remain perfectly calm at all times. Demon would love to have an excuse to turn the gods against M'Adoc, and he knew that. It was a dangerous line he toed.
He inclined his head. "Thank you for your services, Demon. I will make sure that the next time I need to consult with the Furies I summon one of the females, as they are much more vicious and competent."
That barb wasn't lost on Demon, who sneered at him. "One day, M'Adoc, you're going to learn why they nicknamed me Demon."
And one day Demon was going to learn why M'Ordant and D'Alerian referred to M'Adoc as Fonias-Slayer.
In the meantime, M'Adoc had a mess to clean up and he would make sure that this time the job was done correctly. Let Arikos have a couple of days of peace so that he'd relax a bit. Then when his guard was down, M'Adoc would take full advantage of it.
ARIK SMILED AS MEGEARA BUTTONED HIS SHIRT. EVEN though they'd slept together, this one act seemed somehow more intimate. Her hands were graceful as she wove the buttons through their holes. Her fleeting touch made his nipples harden and his body warm. The scent of her was heavy in the air, and all he wanted to do was take her away someplace private where he could be with her alone for the rest of eternity.
She glanced up at him. "Are you all right?"
"Fine, why?"
"You have a strange look about you."
"I'm just thinking how delectably kissable your lips are." And before he even realized what he was doing, he was kissing her again.
Geary sighed as she melted into Arik's arms. The steely feel of his body was electrifying, and it made her
want to rip his clothes off and have another round with him. If only she could. But right now they had a lot of things to think about.
She pulled back as a chilling thought went through her head. "You don't think they'll go after Tory to get to me, do you?"
Arik pulled back with a scowl. "Excuse me?"
"The Dolophoni. They won't go after her to get me or you to come for her. Will they?"
To her relief, he shook his head. "Not their style. They only kill who they're sent after. They don't worry about bystanders unless the bystanders attack them. They're actually rather ethical, which for gods and assassins is an amazing feat."
"Then why are they coming after me if not to get to you?"
"Someone wants you dead."
His emotionless tone sent a chill over her. "Remind me later that we need to work on your tact." Geary shook her head as she tried to understand. "Who could possibly want me dead? I haven't done anything."
"You were digging around Atlantis. It's why the boat was blown up. The gods do not, under any circumstance, want that place disturbed. And they're all willing to kill to keep its secret."
"What secret is that?"
"I assume why is was destroyed. Not even we really know what happened the day it vanished.
Whatever went down there went down fast, and those who know the truth have kept it hidden ever since."
Geary cocked her head as she remembered her research. "Plato wrote that is was human hubris that caused the gods to destroy it as punishment."
Arik scoffed. "Plato wrote of a parable about a nation that was destroyed long before his ancestors had been born. He knew nothing of the truth. Anyone who'd ever gotten close to learning about Atlantis didn't live long enough to tell anyone else."
She stepped back as pain filled her. "That's why my family's dead, isn't it? We got too close."
He gave her a sympathetic nod. "I'm sorry, Megeara. But yeah. Your father was all over the real site."
A single tear fled down her face, but she quickly wiped it away.
" Come for me, Megeara, and I will grant you vengeance on those who've wronged you- those who've taken the ones you love most. Come here, child, and let us both deliver to them what they deserve. For petty vanity they took from us both the very people we loved. Help and I will help you." It was the same angry woman's voice Megeara had always heard here.
"Apollymi?" She whispered the name.
"It is I. And I will protect you, child, if you listen. I would have saved your father, but he denied
my help and they killed him. I would spare you a young death."
"Is she talking to you?" Arik asked in a whisper.
If it'd been anyone else asking Megeara that question, she would have denied it emphatically. "She says the gods took from her someone she loved."
"Her son. At least that's what Zeus claims. Her husband, Archon, slew Apostolos, and in grief she destroyed her entire family."
But that didn't make sense. "Then why does she want revenge against the Greek gods and not her own?"