At Year's End (The 12 Olympians) (5 page)

Skylar handed the popped corn to Stone. “Here, can you give this to the guys?”

“Sure.” Stone nodded.

He walked back into the living room, looking over his shoulder at the brothers.
Skylar turned to Justice with a grin.

“
I wonder how long it will take him to put all of it together?”

“Said the son of
Poseidon.” Jaxon chuckled and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. “Where are the aspirin?”

Justice pulled the bottle from the cabinet and handed it to Jaxon.
“How is Elijah?”

“He’s a little warm, but I don’t know if that’s from today or us being in such close proximity to each other. We h
ave no idea how his powers work.”

“Good luck up there, buddy.” Justice patted his brother
’s back.

“Ha, ha.”

Jaxon left the kitchen and made his way back upstairs. He opened the door slowly and peeked around the side. Elijah was on his side, remote in hand. His eyes were barely slits, but Jaxon knew he was still awake. He made his way around and set the bottle down on the nightstand.

“I brought you some aspirin. What did I miss?”
Jaxon handed the bottle and pills to Elijah.

“Brooding brother chasing rabbits.”

“It’s rabbit season!”

Elijah sat up quickly and stared at Jaxon.

“It’s duck season.”

“Rabbit.”

“Duck.”

Jaxon leaned in and glared at Elijah. “Rabbit.”

“Okay, you win.” Elijah smiled, popped the pills in his mouth and gulped down the cool water. “I can’t believe you know that cartoon.”

“Are you kidding me? Every Saturday morning Justice would drag us down for cartoon time. Not that we needed dragging
. We’d come in with dry cereal and sit and watch for most of the morning.”

Elijah tilted his head. “Just when I think there’s nothing more I could like about you, you surprise me.”

“Next thing I know, you’ll tell me you love dipping cookies into cake frosting.”

Elijah’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “Cream cheese frosting?” he whispered.

Jaxon fell off the bed in surprise. Elijah crawled to the edge and looked down at an open-mouthed Jaxon Salvatore.

“Yep, something new every time.”

Jaxon got back on the bed and got comfortable against the headboard. Elijah leaned into his shoulder with a sigh.

“Will you stay until I fall asleep?”

Jaxon ran his fingers through Elijah’s hair. “Of course.”

“Hey, Jaxon?”

“Yes?”

“
Goodnight.”

“Night.”

The next morning, Jaxon headed for Caden’s office. It had become so much more than a place for Caden to work. It housed a workout facility, apartments for the displaced shifters, an interrogation area, and James Pruitt-Jacobs now maintained an office there when he was in Seattle. More often than not, James spent more time in Seattle now than he did in Arizona. Jaxon parked his bike and walked inside. The same guard waved him through and he took the elevator to James’ floor.

He was worried about Elijah. He didn’t remember New Year’s Eve, and that was worrisome. What e
lse had Elijah forgotten besides that and his boyfriend? Or did he even have one? Could he somehow have been brainwashed? James would know. As a government agent — and having endured his own torture — James would know.

Jaxon
stopped in front of James’ door and knocked.

“Come in.”

He stepped through the doorway and smiled at Derek Jacobs sitting in the corner. The retired — and protective — general was never far away from his husband.

“Morning.” Jaxon took the seat James
indicated.

“What’s all this about, Jaxon? You were cryptic on the phone
,” James asked.

“As he should be,” Derek interrupted. “You never know
who is listening.”

“
Don’t let Keegan hear you say that,” James chuckled.

Jaxon chuckled as well. Special Agent Keegan Markov was one of the best hackers the government had. He could write programs that
would scramble even the best security software on and off the market.

“I heard about Elijah
. How is he?” James asked.

“He’s better. He went to school this morning. Killian went with them.”

“In what form?” Derek chuckled.

Jaxon shrugged. “No clue.”
He sat forward and clasped his hands. “What do you know about mind control?”

James
’ brows lifted. “Quite a bit actually. Why?”

“I think someone is messing with Elijah’s head.”

“How?” Derek piped up.

“New Year’s Eve, I was all set to kiss him
— ” Jaxon narrowed his eyes when James snickered quietly. “But at that second, he got a call and the next thing I knew, he was walking away from me. Now, here’s the weird part: When I asked him about it yesterday, he had no memory of the incident. Says he was at home alone, watching Times Square on TV. To make matters more suspicious, he recited to me what he’d done that night as if he were reading it from cue cards.”

James nodded. “You said he got a phone call?”

“Yes, his phone rang some annoying chime right as I was leaning in to kiss him.”

“How many other times has his phone
rung during something important?”

Jaxon scrunched his brows in thought. There had been a few times before. Skylar had mentioned
it, as well as Stone and Ryder. Jaxon raised his eyes to James’.

“You think it’s the phone?”

“It has to be something on his person almost all the time. It can be a watch as well; anything that can create sound can be used. A certain tone is used and the person is thrown into a trance. I would ask Elijah if he’s losing time — if he wakes up and doesn’t know how he got there. More than likely, they are sending him home, or he is at home, when they’re done screwing with his head and he thinks he just fell asleep. And for fuck’s sake, get the damn phone away from him.” James rubbed his face with his hands. “Jesus! When will this shit be over? I want these fuckers dead.”

“Join the club
,” Jaxon sighed in frustration. “I’ll get his phone. I’ll buy him a new one and give him a new number.”

“Keep a close eye on him, Jaxon
. We may have to pull him out of that house now.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t
until he was eighteen?”

“Oh, they tried to put shit in my way
. I let them think they had the upper hand, but now we’re as certain as we can be that they’re messing with Elijah’s head and it’s time to stop playing. I’ll deal with his guardians. Get him out now.”

Jaxon checked his watch. “I’ll pick him up after school and take him to Skylar’s.”

“He can stay with you, you know.” James raised his brows suggestively.

“No, not yet. If he’s that close to me, I don’t
know if I can control myself.” Jaxon shook his head. “I’ll take him to Skylar’s, and then pull guard duty on the roof.”

“With Killian?” Derek laughed. “Won’t that be fun?”

“He’s actually come quite a ways. At least now he
kind
of thinks before he speaks,” Jaxon chuckled.

“Either way, he’s vital to this team.” James stood up and paced the office. “
By the way, we’re working with Wraith but I don’t think he’s ready for contact with anyone else yet.”

“And the polar bear?” Jaxon asked.

James shook his head. “Nothing yet. He doesn’t trust us, doesn’t shift, but he stays in the apartment. The most important thing right now is to get Elijah to safety. He’s already shown what he can do with his powers — at least somewhat. We have no idea how strong he’ll become. Look at Skylar; he can part the damn seas.”

“Thank God they
’re on our side,” Jaxon agreed. He stood and regarded both men. “I’ll get him today, just do your part.”

James grinned. “Oh, you can count on it.”

A knock on the door sounded and James glanced over at Derek.

“Come in
,” he said.

Keegan Markov walked in
, holding a folder. He spared a glance at Jaxon and smiled, then seated himself across the desk from James.

“I
have some information for you. It took a lot of work; Nikolai helped, as well as Chance.”

James pulled out a picture and inspected it closely.

“This is that Carl guy, Petey’s right hand man.”

“Look at the date on the picture, and the name,” Keegan said.

“1912?” James lifted his eyes to Keegan. “Carl Atlas.”

“He’s much older than that; we found pictures from the 1800s.”

“I didn’t think regular werewolves lived that long, much less rogues.”

There was a large sigh from above them, and James peered up at the ceiling.

“Did anyone else hear that?” James asked the room.

“Uh huh.” Keegan nodded. “So, they must be more than rogue werewolves?” He stared up at the ceiling as if it would answer him. “Maybe they're gods, too?”

A light took shape on the ceiling and drifted down to the floor. A white flowing robe began to materialize. James and Keegan backed up as a woman formed from the light.

“Sometimes I feel I need to give you
boys instructions.”

“Gaea?” Keegan whispered.

“Yes. Now how would these rogues still be around?” Gaea tapped her foot, arms crossed.

“Because they are the embodiment of the Titans?” Keegan guessed.

“Very good! A plus for you, cutie. There is a weapon — ”

“The adamantine sickle!” Keegan almost shouted.

“I’m sorry, a what?” Jaxon asked

“The sickle was made by Gaea. We need to find it.” Keegan turned to Gaea.

“Is it only those two?” James pointed at Petey and Carl.

“No. Pierce was a Titan and there are a few more. Besides the sickle, they have to be killed by someone who is at their power or above.”

“Chance is powerful.” James nodded.

“And supernatural,” Keegan pointed out. “The Christianson line dates back to ancient Greece.”

“It will take more than Chance. You must be ready.” Gaea eyed Jaxon Salvatore. “I will see you soon.”

Gaea disappeared and Jaxon held onto the desk for support. Keegan did the same.

“What does that mean?” Jaxon turned to the other men in the room
.

“Is it just me or do you feel drained?” Keegan
gasped.

“No, it’s not just you
,” James replied.

“I feel fine
,” Derek grinned.

“We need to either make him a werewolf, or immortal.” Keegan narrowed his eyes at Derek.

“Well, this just gets more and more complicated, doesn’t it? Titans, Olympians and shifters, oh my!” Jaxon sighed in frustration.

“Well, Chance put a cloaking spell on all of the supernaturals,” James pointed out. “They can’t be detected by Petey and his merry band of assholes. Unfortunately, we can’t see them to keep track of them, either.”

Jaxon rubbed both hands down his face and grimaced.

“Go get ready for Elijah, Jaxon
,” James grinned, sitting back down. “One thing at a time.”

Jaxon stood and shook Keegan’s hand. He nodded to Derek. “Later.”

~*~

Jaxon busied himself for the rest of the day. He went to Skylar’s right away and told him what was going on. Although Skylar lived in Jackson Murphy’s old house, he still spent time with Justice in the Salvatores’ house on Mercer Island. The two were engaged, but it was going to be a long engagement.

Jaxon walked th
rough the house with Skylar and went back to Elijah’s new room.

“He
loved it,” Skylar enthused. “He has a view of the Sound from his window.”

Jaxon peered out at the water. If he had his way, he’d be spending a lot of time with Elijah in this room.

“He still cares about you. I hope you saw that yesterday,” Skylar said quietly.

“
God, I hope so. I want him to be comfortable here, and when he’s ready, I want him to live with me.”

Skylar’s mouth dropped open. “Really? All this time
— ”

“He was sixteen, Skylar.” Jaxon turned to face him. “I
’m a lot of things, but a pervert isn’t one of them. I respect Elijah, and I want us to have a relationship of mutual trust and equality.”

Skylar grinned. “You know he’s going to jump at living with you.”

“We’ll see. Right now, I want to find out who is messing with him. You said he has a boyfriend, but Elijah doesn’t remember one. Have you guys met him?”

“No, and that’s the weird part. I
’ve never seen this guy. Elijah said he goes to a different high school.”

Jaxon frowned. “I guess I’ll have to do some snooping.”

They both went back downstairs and Jaxon grabbed his jacket off the back of the kitchen chair.

Skylar glanced at the clock on the wall. “You better get going.”

Jaxon turned toward the front door, and then looked over his shoulder. “Congratulations, by the way. I know Justice loves you more than anything.”

“I love him
, too.” Skylar’s cheeks heated.

Jaxon’s
wolf pendant heated and he hissed, grabbing at it.

“What
is up
with that thing?” Skylar tilted his head to the side.

“I don’t know.” Jaxon
pulled the pendant away from his skin and inspected it. “It gets really hot sometimes.”

“Justice knows, doesn’t he?”

“I think so. I don’t think he’s allowed to say anything, though. Or he doesn’t know the whole story behind them.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to influence whatever they are designed for?”

Jaxon had never thought of that. He dropped the pendant back under his shirt. “Maybe. I’ll be back.”

“Okay,
‘Ahnold’,” Skylar snorted.

Jaxon narrowed his eye with a grin. “We are so playing, ‘name that movie’ later.”

“You’re on!”