Chaotic War (8 page)

“Forgive me. My name is Garrick.”

Garrick
. He was handsome and smelled nice. Offering him a smile, she extended her hand. “Rayna.” After scanning the room, she leaned in and asked, “How did I get here?”

Garrick took her hand, and instantly, images of dinner and drinks formed in her mind. They’d had a date? No, that didn’t seem right. A sharp pain arched through her head.

“Come. Lie down, please. I’m afraid the wine hit you too fast.”

“Okay.” She nodded. Sleep sounded nice.

Garrick tucked her in and kissed her forehead. “I’ll sleep in the next room. If you need anything, just call out to me.”

“Thanks.” As soon as her head hit the pillow, sleep took hold of her.

“See you in the morning.”

Zavier materialized in the foyer of the mansion and let out a roar. The damned drakon had stolen his mate. Storming through the entryway to the study at his right, he tried to rein in his dragon. He had to get back to the Underworld, back to Elle.

He burst through the door and froze. Markus sat at his desk, studying his computer intensely. But that wasn’t what caught his attention. It was Blair and Gwen sitting in front of the flat screen, playing a video game that drew his gaze. The teen laughed as she challenged Gwen.

Advancing to Markus’s desk, he said. “I need to get back to Hades.”

“Not possible,” Markus stated in a low growl. “Drake and Ty are bringing Seth in.” He glanced at the females then stood and motioned for Zavier to follow him.

Once outside the study, Markus faced him, his eyes full dragon. Fury swirled around him. “Seth found Rayna and tried to bring her here. Eros showed and hit him with a black arrow.”

Dread settled in Zavier’s stomach. A sick feeling rose up. The black arrow of Cupid turned the heart dark, made the receiver less compassionate, and many times, turned them away from everyone he or she loved.

The idea of Seth becoming a heartless bastard weighed heavily on Zavier’s heart. “Please tell me Aphrodite can fix it.”

Markus threaded his fingers through his hair. “I haven’t called her yet. Hell, I haven’t told my own mate.”

A moment later, Ty and Drake materialized with an unconscious Seth between them. Markus moved up the stairs two at a time, following the two as they carried Seth to his room. He called out as soon as he reached the top, “Ariel and Thea.”

The nymphs met them at the room, both with frowns on their faces. It was Thea who spoke. “We can’t counteract anything the arrow did, but we can, hopefully, slow its progress.”

Markus nodded and focused back on Zavier. “What happened in Hades?”

“We found the drakon, then he sent me here, leaving Elle there.” Zavier worked his jaw. His dragon paced and snarled beneath the surface. “I don’t like her being alone with him.”

Ash entered the room and stared at Seth while wrapping her arms around her middle. “The drakon may be crazy, but it’s rumored that he cares for Nyx. Elle is safe with him.”

Thea walked over to them, waving her hands to shoo them out of the room. “Go hold your meeting elsewhere. Seth needs to rest.”

Giving their brother some quiet, Zavier, Markus, Ty, Ash, and Drake made their way down to the control center, as Zavier liked to call it, in the basement. “Do you know if Garrick moved locations again?”

“He would be stupid if he didn’t,” growled Drake.

Ash sat on the sofa. “Ty and I could go searching around for some Imperials and make them talk.”

Markus shook his head. “Let’s wait for Seth to wake and see if he can tell us anything.”

Zavier sank down in his office chair and started up his computer. “If Eros hit Seth with a black arrow, it’s possible he took Rayna to Garrick.”

“And hit her with the red one,” Ash added softly, sadness in her tone.

If Rayna mated Garrick, there was no stopping the male from changing a divine law and proclaiming himself king. Zavier shook his head. Was it even possible? Well, he didn’t want to find out. “We have to find him and get Rayna and Seth together before our bastard brother can mate with her.”

All they had to do was track Garrick down. That was easier said than done.

***

Elle watched the drakon pace the large cavern he’d taken her to. He mumbled to himself as he tracked back and forth. His tail whipped side to side with each stride. She couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or something else.

“Why did you send Zavier away?”

Both heads stretched around his large body to gaze at her. “He is evil. Son of Ares can’t be trusted. Must not give it to him.”

Elle pursed her lips and breathed in and out to calm her irritation. The drakon didn’t make sense. “No. Zavier is my mate. You have him confused with his brother, Garrick.”

Both heads tilted to the side and studied her for several moments. “You are not mated.”

“No, not yet.”

He turned his body and lowered his heads closer to her. She had to back up to keep her personal space. “Why? If the dragon-god is your mate, then you mate him.”

She opened her mouth then closed it.
Dragon-god
? She’d have to use that on Zavier when she got home. “It’s complicated. I was raised human, and in my world, we mate for love.”

“Blah. Excuses.” He laid down, shaking the ground. “You do not love him?”

“I…” She frowned, and it was her turn to pace the cave, which suddenly shrank in size. Did she love Zavier? Could she love him then lose him? Yes. She had already fallen for him. Denial had been her friend for too long. “I do love him.”

She stopped pacing and sat on the dirt floor beside the drakon. “I saw his death.”

“How?”

“I have visions of the past and future.”

He snorted, blowing dirt across the space. “No, silly goddess. How does your mate die?”

“He will be stabbed by the Divine Dagger.”

The drakon shook both heads and let out a chuckle. “No. You wrong. If you saw him stabbed by a dagger, then it is not Zeus’s.”

Hope bloomed in her heart. “Do you still have it?”

“I do.”

“Can I have it? I’ll keep it safe, protected against the evil Garrick.”

A low growl rumbled through the cave. “No.”

Her heart skipped a few beats. Anxiety churned in her belly. She had to get the Dagger. Garrick would kill the drakon to get it. She opened her mouth to speak, but Zander added, “You must blood promise to take it to Zeus. Only Zeus can have it.”

“Done. I promise. Anything to ensure my mate lives.”

His heads stared at her for several long moments. “You are trusted. I will give it to you without the blood promise. Don’t break the trust.”

“You have my word.” She stood just as the Dagger appeared at her feet. Picking it up, she held it, testing its weight. The handle was gold with hand-carved olive leaves and a sun at the end. She guessed the blade was silver-coated steel. Magical energy surrounded the Dagger, sending tingles up her arm.

She held it to her chest. “I will deliver it to Zeus myself.” She leaned down and kissed the top of each of the drakon’s heads before she teleported back to the mansion and her mate.

What in Hades happened here
? Elle asked herself after materializing in the room she and Zavier shared in the basement. Balled up paper littered the floor and trailed to Zavier’s side of the room. He sat on the edge of his chair with his elbows on the desk and his face inches from the computer screen.

Her chest ached. His hair was disheveled, and his white dress shirt was pulled out of his pants and wrinkled. As if he sensed her, he looked up and she frowned. Shadows circled his eyes. Anger, fear, and fatigue rolled off him in large waves.

“Have you been up all night?” She scanned the office, noting it looked like he’d been robbed.

“I need to find Eros and Garrick. And kill them both.” He let out a growl she’d never heard from him.

What is wrong with him?
Then she felt it. A dark, yet familiar presence. She focused on the energy, and a vision formed in her mind. Seth. Oh, gods. He was still as stone in his bed. Darkness surrounded him. “What happened to Seth?’

Zavier stood and prowled toward her. “Eros shot him with a black arrow.”

No. Not Seth. “How?”

Zavier blew out a breath and fisted a hand in his hair as he told her what he knew. Elle wrapped her arms around her waist while sending the Dagger to a safe hiding spot in her Underworld home. They had to get to Rayna. “Are you sure Seth and Rayna are mates?”

Zavier nodded. “Aphrodite said it was highly possible. So that’s a yes.”

Turning around, Elle rushed to her studio on the other side of the curtain that divided the room. She grabbed a sketchbook from the top shelf over her work table and opened it to the drawing she’d done of Zavier’s death vision.

When Zavier stepped up behind her, she closed the book and faced him. Call an all-hands meeting. Has Nik returned?”

“Yes, but why?”

She didn’t answer. “What about Cyrus?”

“No. He and Amissa are at the griffin clan.”

She moved to the door. “We need everyone. Well, except Seth.”

Zavier grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. “What are you planning?”

“A rescue. Or kidnapping. It depends on how you look at it.” She grinned and held up the sketchbook. “I know where Garrick is. Or, at least, I saw it from the inside.”

He held her stare for several moments then pulled her against him and pressed a kiss to her lips. Need and desire flooded her mind and body. Damn, it’d been too long since she’d taken his blood. In that moment, she wanted so much more. She wanted him deep inside her.

With a growl. Zavier ended the kiss and stepped back. “I will mate you soon.”

She closed the gap and kissed his cheek. “I accept you as my mate. I can’t see being with anyone else. If you die during this mission, I’ll go to Hades and kick your ass.”

A sensual, one-sided smile formed on his lips. “Deal.” He narrowed his gaze and asked, “Where is the Dagger?”

“I have it in a safe place. Let’s go plan our attack.” She pivoted on her heels and stalked across the gym to the stairs. If they worked together as a unit, then they all might make it out alive.

Gods, she hoped so.

***

Zavier was too restless to sit so he stood, leaning against the wall next to the study door. For some reason, Elle was being secretive. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

Ty and Ash sat on the sofa. The weaver, Selene, sat on the floor playing with her two-year-old son. Drake sat in his usual spot at the round table next to Markus’s desk with Nik beside him. They whispered among themselves, pointing to the laptop on occasion.

He focused on the female, his female, pacing to the window and back to the center of the room. She clutched the sketchbook in her arms, and her brows were drawn as if she were plotting world domination. She very well might be. In the two days since her powers had been unlocked, she’d grown stronger. In both power and confidence.

When Markus and Gwen finally joined the group, Zavier almost asked his brother to excuse Gwen from the meeting. She looked tired and way too stressed for a mother-to-be. However, Zavier knew it would be wasted breath. Gwen was a stubborn female.

Gwen sat on the sofa next to Ash, who immediately took her hand. The fatigue seemed to ease after a moment. Besides being a minor goddess of the hunt, Ash also possessed her mother’s ability to aid in easing symptoms from pregnancy and childbirth.

After Markus took his seat behind his desk, he motioned to Elle. She glanced to Zavier and frowned before opening her book. She folded the pages back and turned the sketch around for everyone to see. A very detailed drawing of Garrick stabbing Zavier stared back at him.
Fuck
. It was one thing to hear her stay she’d seen his death, but to see it for himself was a kick to the gut.

“I had this dream the morning Nyx unlocked my powers. In the vision, Garrick believed he had the Divine Dagger. But I have the Dagger, which means Garrick has the second dagger that looks like it. The one that can turn an immortal human. I don’t have to ask any of you to make sure this doesn’t happen, but that’s not why I’m showing it to you.” Elle handed the drawing to Nik. “Have you been in that room?”

He studied the sketch, his brows bunching together. After what seemed like minutes, he nodded and lifted his gaze to Ty. “Yes, and so has Ty.”

Ash calmly spoke next, even though Zavier smelled the fury building around her. “It’s the facility in Oregon. I can lead you there.”

Elle took the sketchbook, closed it, and hugged it to her. “There’s one more thing. I promised the drakon I’d give the Dagger to Zeus.”

Markus nodded. “We’ll go with you.”

Hell yeah, they would. Zavier pushed off the wall and crossed the room to Elle. She smiled sadly and wrapped her arms around his waist. “We’ll head out at sunset. It’s too close to dawn to go now.”

“Agreed. Plus I want to talk to Seth.” Markus stood and scrubbed a hand over his face.

Elle met Zavier’s gaze and her eyes widened slightly. “Gwen and I may be able to help him.”

Selene shook her head. “Not while he is asleep. If you two merge your dark and light powers, Seth would need to be awake and give his permission.”

“She’s right. Plus, it will take a great deal of power. I’d consider asking Aphrodite to take Gwen’s place. The baby is taking a lot of her energy as it is.” Ash stood, briefly met Gwen’s gaze, and then walked out of the room.

Zavier tensed as Elle’s power rose up. When she moved toward Gwen, Zavier stopped her. “What is it?”

“Something’s wrong.”

He smiled. “With Gwen? No. It is as Ash said. Well, according to what Markus told me. Then again, he doesn’t know any more than us.”

“I have to talk to her.”

Zavier kissed Elle’s forehead. “After you get some rest.”

Gwen stopped beside them and cupped Elle’s cheek. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. What about you?”

I’m fine. Tired, but great. I’m having twins and need more rest. But I want to keep that a surprise for Markus
.

Elle laughed and hugged her sister tight. “I’m so happy for you. Go get some rest.”