Divine Ecstasy (The Guardians of the Realms Book 8) (25 page)

Sacha groaned. Nastia’s mental ability really was incredibly intrusive.

Hades turned and pinned her with his gaze through the window before sending,
Mental ability?

She mentally cringed. Brianne had explained that Hades hadn’t known Nastia was ferreting information from Hades’ mind before he told the Guardians about Thule.

He growled,
She was in my head?

Sacha closed her eyes and sent calming thoughts to him. He was furious and she understood, but her brethren had needed to know what he was hiding.

But she managed to get into my head?!

Yes.

She and that fucking Phoenix…
He snarled. He was already assessing his mental shields as a whole as well as mentally planning a punishment for all the guilty parties who’d been involved.

“Did you tell him?” Tasha cringed as they both gazed out the windows to where Hades glared furiously.

Sacha mentally cursed. “No. But we get each other’s thoughts. In a way.”

“Is he out for blood?” Her daughter-in-law eyed Hades. The twins were created as assassins of Gods, so while Tasha didn’t look worried, she was definitely watchful.

Hades was pissed.
They’re family,
she said.
You can’t harm them.
He didn’t seem to agree. Sacha mentally sighed, but she had no doubt she could calm him down later. His eyes shot back to hers through the glass, and she felt the spark there that took away a lot of his rage.

Not now,
she sent with a raised brow.
And you’re standing next to my son. So stop.

Sacha shook her head and focused back on Tasha. “It’ll be fine, but tell her
never
to do it again,” she added with a cocked brow.

Tasha smiled warmly. “I will. And she really won’t. She likes you too much.”

Sacha smiled at that. “I like her too. Very much. She’s happy?”

“So happy. I can’t believe how perfect she and Sander are together. I thought they’d kill each other in the beginning, but he did it all right. He was patient when she needed it. Then he carried her out of battle when she was injured and won my heart for that. Sander challenges her. And I’ve never seen this side of her.”

Sacha had known the two were perfect from the start, but she’d expected fireworks. The beginnings of matings weren’t always pretty, but the endings could be beautiful. She knew that to be true for her son and all the other Guardians who’d found their mates. And now she loved a God. It was the last thing she’d ever imagined, but it felt incredibly right. She felt his warm touch on their link and looked out the window to see his glittering blue gaze on hers, a beautiful cocky smile on his lips.

“I’m glad you found your happily ever after,” Tasha mused with a laugh before sighing. “I only wish we knew more about what was happening in our world.”

“So do I.” Sacha nodded and they both grew thoughtful for a moment.

It wasn’t long before she felt a hint of something and stilled. “I think we have company.” She and Tasha moved from the sofa out to the patio. Hades had felt it too and was immediately at her side. They’d both moved ahead of Bastian and Tasha. It wasn’t that she didn’t think they could handle possessed. It was that she didn’t like the Tria’s eyes on her children.

Hades sent her warmth, understanding her feelings.

They watched as one by one the tainted beings climbed up the fire escape to the patio. It was the same this time as the last. The nearly dozen males ranged from wearing dirty grimy clothes with big stomachs to slickly dressed businessmen. Evil wasn’t limited to one station of those in the human Realm. The largest one had long blond hair slicked with grease. As he prowled forward, she could feel the sickening power as the stench of sulphur emanated from his skin. His black eyes were filled with flames.

She sent a mental call to P and Drake, knowing they’d want to see this.

P materialized a second later as tension filled the air.

“What do you want Deimos?” Hades demanded, sounding intentionally bored.

“Release us. You need us.” The words hissed out in an eerie echoing voice. The flames in its eyes weren’t as disturbing as the way the human host’s skin grew more ashen as the moments passed.

When the fiend’s head cocked to leer at Sacha, she felt Hades’ fury ramp up, and she touched their bond to calm him.

He’s doing it to get to you,
she sent.

They needed Deimos to talk. But she felt Hades’ need to rip away the soul and crush it in his power.

He growled, “Look. At. Me. Or I end this.”

The male’s eyes tracked to Hades and he sneered until Hades growled, “Speak! Why would I need you, Deimos?”

“You need all of us.” This time there were the echoes of three separate voices reverberating into the skies.

All the Tria speaking at once?

It seems so,
Hades ground out in their mental link.

That possessed convulsed, and then another lurched and stalked forward while the first fell. Flames licked in the new host’s eyes.

The Tria were now switching bodies as one host died? Sacha spared a glance at the downed male, his skin was paper white with blue veins showing beneath, the eyes were wide, unseeing. Dead.

She focused on the new male as Hades growled, “Doubtful. Why would I ever need you?”

They roared in fury, and Hades’ lips lifted in a slight curve.

“Something is coming.” The glee and maniacal laughter that slipped from foaming lips was a sound she never wanted to hear again. It seemed the other possessed were there only as conduits because they stood still as another body landed and one more stepped forward. This one wore tight leather over his drug-riddled frame.

“You’re boring me, Deimos,” Hades said with a bite before adding, “If you don’t tell me something useful, I’ll end your little playtime.”

“Darkness is coming.” A demented smile curved its lips, but the eyes only made it creepier. “Death is coming.” It seemed all three were determined to talk at the same time.

“And that’s a reason to let you out? I don’t see it,” her mate said, crossing his arms over his wide chest.

“We will help.” The voices were determined and childlike, and that truly gave her a sick sensation in the pit of her stomach. Hades sent her energies.
I would never allow them to hurt you.

I’m not scared. I’m disgusted.

“Why do you think something is coming?” Hades commanded, more than tired of the Tria’s game.

Another body fell and they were running out of conduits. “We told you,” they snapped.

“You told me nothing,” Hades growled.

“Darkness calls. You will know soon enough. And you will free us.” That sinister laughter seemed to echo out into the world as that body dropped and two possessed were left standing. No more flaming eyes. They lunged and she felt Hades mentally guiding her through how to slide the power free and into the bodies. She used it to grip the smoky black sickness beneath, and then she tore it free with a wild rending that dropped the hosts to the ground. Shrieks filled the air as Hades helped ease the hold and let the sickness go. The blackness was sucked back to Hell Realm.

She gazed up at Hades, shocked and pleased at how easy that had been, while sickened that her power had touched something so noxious.

Hades smiled down at her with pride and sent her warmth as he pulled her into his arms. She forgot for a split second that they had company.

“Father,” P snapped before they kissed, and she flushed as they moved apart and faced Bastian, Tasha and P.

Tasha’s eyes were twinkling, but both males looked uncomfortable until P bit out, “What the hell does darkness mean?”

*****

“I don’t know,” Hades growled. “If they had something real to say, they could have. Either they mean Thule, or they were playing a fucking game. I don’t feel anything coming.” Because the only thing left was what the Creators had cryptically warned him about. That he and the other Gods would one day be needed to protect the world.

They told you that too?
Sacha asked.

Yes. But they said there would be many warnings. And that the Guardians would know to wake the Gods from sleep, and that we would know how to protect the world when the time came. They didn’t say anything about releasing the Tria. So unless you feel something, Sacha, everything is fine. Could be fine for years or centuries yet.

He felt her worry and he hated it. He tucked her into his side.

We’ve known the same thing, but I don’t like it. The Guardians have been finding their mates in quick succession and gaining power. It has to be for something,
Sacha said.

Don’t worry, agapi mou. If something comes, I’ll take care of it.

She sighed.
You’re not saying this out loud because you don’t want to worry our children.

Yes,
he growled, hating that he hadn’t been able to hide these thoughts from her as well. They didn’t do any good. The Tria would not be aware of something he wasn’t. Hades was only frustrated his parents had refused to say more.

He mentally growled,
All the Guardians have the same information, love. If the Tria felt something big, I promise you that either Drake would feel it, as the leader of the Guardians, or I would.

They were taken out of their mental conversation when Bastian spoke. ”I don’t know,” Bastian said. “Yes, the Tria love games, but I don’t know if that’s what this is.” Hades noticed her son didn’t say more.

Tasha shook her head. “I’m with Hades. If the Tria thought they had a shot at getting out, why not give details? Unless they’re bluffing.”

She’s right, agapi mou.
He tried to soothe her. Worrying about it wouldn’t help anything.

I know,
she sent.

P growled, “I’m going to tell Drake what happened, and we’ll go from there.”

“Why wasn’t he here?” Hades demanded.

“Because Alyssa’s pregnancy is progressing extremely fast. He’s at the manor.”

Sacha stilled before asking, “Is she okay?”

“Yes. She’s fine and so is the baby. Everyone is healthy.” P nodded.

Hades knew his female couldn’t get the thoughts of “darkness coming” out of her mind as Pothos explained the rest about the pregnant female.

By the time the others left, he was dying to ease her worry.

Chapter 28

Hroarr’s Palace, World of Thule

Gefn pulled power from deep inside her soul, and the watery portal opened before them. She breathed deep of the mountain air coming through from the other side. No one else would scent or feel the breeze on their skin, but she could, and it was always freeing.

“Give me a moment, my Goddess,” Laire said as he stepped ahead of her. Her warrior never allowed her to enter a portal ahead of him. It didn’t matter to her guard that Spa and Velspar held vast powers and instincts that would never allow her to step into danger.

She smiled to herself at Laire’s behavior and felt a pang in her heart. One day he would leave her just as all his ancestors had before him. It was cold comfort that his line had at least survived to this point, but of them all, she valued Laire’s friendship the most.

She shook off the morose thoughts. They’d been coming more often since Dagur had condemned so many of Hroarr’s warriors to death.

Spa and Velspar yowled, and she frowned at the rare noise from the cats as they stepped ahead of her through the open portal. She glided behind them through the thick air to the other side. Her booted feet landed on stepping stones set just inside in the mountain lake that lay in front of the ivy-covered palace of her sister. The second the portal closed, she knew something wasn’t right.

One of her sister’s female servants rushed to the edge of the water where Laire was awaiting Gefn’s presence. With a thought she was there, becoming one with the winds to stand in front of the frantic female. “What is it?” she asked Trima. The female’s bright blue eyes were wide and the freckles on her nose and cheeks stood out against her pale skin. “Our Goddess Kara and her warriors went through a portal and have not returned.”

Gefn’s heart stilled. “When?”

Trima took a deep breath before answering. “Over a week ago. I sent messengers to Hroarr’s palace on the fastest steeds.”

Gefn cursed under her breath. The riders likely wouldn’t make it to her brother’s home for days yet.

The female ran a hand over her wild curls. Gefn had never seen her anything but calm and collected, but a week of worrying over her mistress would have made for sleepless nights. “Did she give any indication where she was going?”

“No, my lady. But she handed me her ring before going through and said to give it to you or your brothers if she wasn’t back within the hour.” The female slipped a shaky hand into a pocket of the long dress and lifted out the bulky ring set with a blue stone. A long gold chain dangled from the familiar jewelry. Kara had never taken it off, had always worn it against her chest. Her cold sibling had once said that the ring had been Agnarr’s, one of their long-dead brothers. Gefn knew that the two had been close until his death, but what did any of that mean now? Why take off the necklace before opening a portal? And why take her warriors unless she’d had cause to be worried?

Gefn balled her fists, cursing her sister for not telling Trima what she’d been doing. If she’d taken off the ring, she’d done it for a reason. Her sister was too damned arrogant.

She was sure that Kara and Dagur would one day drive her mad.

She needed to get back to Hroarr’s palace. If the ring had the answers to her sister’s location, Dagur would figure it out. He was the most skilled in spells.

Other servants flowed from the palace keep, all bearing worried faces. “I will find her,” she assured her as she stepped back to pull her power in anticipation of opening another portal.

Spa and Velspar yowled again before prowling in the opposite direction. Both creatures shot golden glances back at her, and she knew they wanted her to follow. She hoped they’d lead her to a clue to finding her sister. Gefn set off behind them as the stone warmed against her palm. “Stay here,” she commanded the servants. “I will be back.”