Evans, Gabrielle - Firestorm [Fatefully Yours 3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (6 page)

“Exactly.” Vapre chuckled at the confusion on Echo’s face. His cute button nose wrinkled, and his blond eyebrows drew together. He looked adorable. “Remember who we’re dealing with here. Put aside all aspects of logical and rational. Just because we’re in the Top World, doesn’t mean everything we face is going to have a scientific explanation. I think the kappas are proof of that, and if I was guessing, I’d say the other tests will come from similar occurrences.”

“Okay.” Echo nodded slowly as he chewed on his bottom lip. “Just out of curiosity, though, why were you so quick to dismiss the lightning idea?”

“Zeus controls the sky, love,” Eyce answered from the love seat where he lounged against Fiero. “Hades and Ares aren’t the only gods, ya know.”

Echo’s mouth formed a little
O
, and his eyes rounded until it was almost comical. “I hadn’t thought of that. Do you think we need to worry about any of the other gods?”

Vapre shrugged. “I don’t think Zeus or Poseidon will get involved, and they’re the main ones we should be concerned about. There are a few lesser gods that aren’t exactly human-friendly, but we’ll worry about that if the problem presents itself.”

“Okay, so what’s next?” Myst asked.

“Well, after deciding that natural events were unlikely, we moved into mythological creatures of fire.”

“Make sense.” Myst nodded and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to give them all the answers.

Vapre didn’t glory in being the center of attention. He didn’t know how Hex had done it all these years. They all turned to him for answers, just as everyone now looked to Vapre. His heart felt heavy and his chest tightened at the thought of letting them down.

“Well, the first I think would be obvious to everyone.”

“Dragons,” Echo said firmly.

Vapre beamed at him. “Exactly.” He leaned over and kissed Echo’s forehead. “Smart and sexy, I love it.”

“I see your point, but I don’t think Hades is going to unleash a dragon in the Top World. As much as we don’t want the other Olympians involved, I assume Hades will want the interference even less.” Hex crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall with a slight frown on his face. “Setting a dragon loose in Montana would cause widespread panic, and the other gods would be forced to take action.”

Vapre turned his wide smile on his leader and lover. “Two smart and sexy men, I’m diggin’ it.”

Hex snorted and rolled his eyes as he twirled his hand. “Go on.”

“Do you really need me to stroke your ego more?” Vapre teased with a wicked gleam in his eye.

Groping his flaccid cock through his jeans, Hex leered at him. “I have something you can stroke.”

“Guys!” Echo huffed and slapped at Vapre’s chest. “Can you put your dicks away for five minutes and focus, please?”

Vapre cleared his throat to hide his chuckle of amusement. “Right, so the next one we have is fire salamanders.”

“Lizards?” Echo laughed. “Seriously?”

“Not just lizards, baby.” Vapre opened the window on the computer and pointed at the screen. “They’re not the cute little lizards like you find under rotting longs and such. They’re much bigger, and bring fire with them wherever they venture.”

“I know it sounds completely ridiculous,” Syx began.

“Then it’s perfect,” Echo interrupted. “Find me more information on these salamanders. Whatever you can find on the web added to your personal knowledge of them.” He pushed up from the couch and stretched. “Well, what are you looking at? Make it snappy.”

Vapre smiled indulgently and shook his head. Damn, the little man was a pistol.

“Hey, just who the hell is in charge here?” Hex grumped as he stood straight and took a step forward.

Echo shared a look with Fiero that Vapre couldn’t decipher, then started laughing. Vapre scratched his head in confusion. What had that been about? Before he could ask, Echo turned to Hex and shrugged. “I’ll let you guys work that out amongst yourselves. Until you figure out, let’s just do what I say. It’ll make your lives easier, I promise.” He winked like the little imp he was and blew a kiss at Hex before he sashayed out of the room.

Vapre watched him leave, his eyes zeroing in on Echo’s wiggling ass, then turned his attention to Fiero, raising an eyebrow in question.

Fiero just smirked and shook his head. “Not gonna happen. You’ll get nothing from me.”

Vapre looked at Eyce.

Eyce shook his head as well. “All in good time, man. All in good time.”

Chapter Six

“Someone’s coming,” Mac announced that night as they gathered in the living room to watch a movie.

Echo untangled himself from his mates where they were all piled on the floor together, and sat up to look at Mac. “Who’s coming?”

“I…I don’t know.” His eyebrows drew together, and he frowned. “I can’t see who it is. It’s like something is blocking it.”

“Is that normal?” Syx asked, rolling to his side to look up at Mac as well.

“No. Not at all.” Mac shrugged, but looked uncomfortable. “Nothing has been the same since I arrived here, though. I honestly don’t even know what constitutes as normal anymore.”

Syx nodded sympathetically and rose to his feet. “Fair enough.” He held a hand out for Echo, helping him up, then motioned for everyone to join them. “Can you at least tell us if it’s friend or foe?”

Mac seemed to think it over for a minute, his nose crinkling as he concentrated on whatever he was seeing in his mind. “Friend, I think, but I can’t be positive. I’m not getting any creepy vibes, though.”

“Fiero. Eyce. Take Echo upstairs just in case,” Hex commanded.

Echo rolled his eyes. When were they going to learn that he was stronger than all of them? “I’m not going anywhere, so just forget about it.”

“Echo,” Hex growled.

Yeah, Echo got it. He understood his mates’ need to keep him safe, but they needed to get over their superiority complex and let Echo help. “According to the Oracle, and
you
,” he waved a hand around to encompass all of his men, “I’m the secret weapon in this war. It’s going to be damn hard for me to fight if you keep me locked upstairs every time there is the slightest hint of danger.”

“He’s right.”

Echo spun around and stared at Fiero in shock. Then a huge smile spread over his face, and he blew a kiss to his lover. “That’s why I like you best.”

Shouts of “Hey!” chorused around their little circle. Echo smirked and shook his head as he went to stand beside Fiero. “Until the rest of you start treating me as an equal, he’s my favorite.”

Oh, the pouts on his lovers’ faces were adorable. Echo didn’t really mean it. He loved them all, but if this would get them to pull their heads out of their asses, then he couldn’t feel guilty about it. They needed him, but their protectiveness clouded their judgment.

“Okay, I see your point,” Eyce mumbled. He came to stand on Echo’s other side and reached down to take his hand. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

Echo smiled and squeezed his mate’s hand. “Forgiven, and you get to be my favorite, too.”

“Hey!” Myst raced over and stood in front of Echo. “I give. You rock, baby.”

Giggling, Echo nodded his head. “Favorite.”

Myst turned his head and stuck his tongue out at the others before moving to stand beside Fiero.

“Anyone else?” Echo asked with a raised eyebrows.

“I get it, and I’m sorry,” Onyx mumbled, stepping forward to join their ranks.

“Same here,” Vapre said with a nod and went to stand beside Eyce.

“Fuck!” Syx growled. “Fine!” And he, too, joined them.

“Well, that was shitty, but I’ll take it.” Echo winked and made kissy faces at the demon. “Favorite, favorite, favorite.”

Everyone stared at Hex.

“No.” Hex crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head defiantly. “Your powers may be stronger than ours, but only when you syphon from us. I won’t risk it, and you’re not budging me on this.” He pointed toward the staircase. “Go.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Echo returned in exasperation. “I’m not a child or a goddamn dog. I’m not leaving, so deal with it.” Ignoring Hex’s growl, he turned to Mac. “How long?”

“Any minute,” his friend answered immediately. “There’s at least two, maybe three coming through the woods.” He pointed toward the front door, indicating from which direction their visitors would be arriving.

Everyone moved over to the front windows, Hex stalking past Echo without even glancing at him. Echo started to say something catty, but Fiero squeezed his hand and shook his head fractionally. He pulled Echo further away from the others and cupped his face in both hands.

“Don’t be too hard on him. He’s been making decisions, taking care of us, and thinking in terms of the worst possible outcome, for thousands of years. He can’t just change that overnight. He doesn’t mean it the way it sounds, and he’s only doing what he thinks is best for you. Just give him a little more time, okay? The others, too. They’ll come around.”

Echo stared into Fiero’s honey-gold gaze and felt the tears gather in the corner of his eyes. Blinking rapidly to dispel them, he nodded slowly. “You really do love them,” he whispered.

“I do,” Fiero agreed quietly. “And I love you.” Leaning down, he brushed his lips over Echo’s. “We have to stick together, baby. There can’t be any animosity between us. It’s literally us against the world.”

“I love you, too. I’ll try to be more patient with Hex, but I want to help. This is my fight as much as it is yours.”

“They’re here,” Myst called over his shoulder. “Two of them, and they look like they’ve been rode hard and put up wet, not to mention scared out of their minds.”

Echo hurried over to the window, squeezing in beside Vapre to peer out into the night. “I don’t know them. I thought it might be some of the residents from the lab, but I’ve never seen those guys before.”

“I can’t hear anything,” Syx said with a frown.

“Let them in!” Mac shouted as he jumped up from the sofa and sprinted toward the door. “Hurry!”

Everyone stared at him as though he’d grown a third eye and sprouted wings. “We don’t know who they are,” Hex argued. “It could be dangerous.”

“Hex, look at them,” Myst said quietly. “They’re no bigger than Echo, Mac, or Sony. “What could they possibly do to us?”

“Open the door!” Mac screamed as he tried to push past Hex.

Echo didn’t know what the hell Mac was seeing, but he trusted his friend. “Open the door.”

Loud screams sounded from outside, and Echo whipped around, his heart seizing in his chest. The two men stood frozen in fear as a huge black wolf crept out from the tree line, his eyes glowing yellow in the moonlight, and his lips pulled back over gleaming, white fangs. “Hurry!” he yelled.

“Oh, shit,” Vapre breathed as he shoved Hex out of the way and ripped open the door, bounding out into the night at a dead run. Eyce and Myst were quick on his heels, darting through the door after him and racing across the front lawn.

Echo looked up at Fiero, his eyes wide and pleading. “Please, let me help them.”

To his surprise, Fiero didn’t argue. Grabbing Echo’s hand, he pulled him out onto the front porch and down the steps, never letting go of his hand as they ran toward the others.

Echo let Fiero lead him while he concentrated on pulling as much power from his mate as he could. Vapre, Eyce, and Myst had just reached the two terrified men when the wolf charged, flying across the frozen ground and growling viciously at them.