Evans, Gabrielle - Reckoning [Fatefully Yours 9] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (16 page)

“Dude, my fucking ass hurts,” Fiero complained as he flopped down on Hex’s other side. “One of those coyote punks bit me on my left cheek, the little fucker.”

Hex bit his cheek to keep from laughing, but quickly gave up when Echo rocked back and forth, laughing like a lunatic. “Oh, poor baby,” Echo crooned. “Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?”

“Yes,” Fiero pouted. “Kiss my ass, baby.” This sent Echo into more peals of laughter until he had tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I need a shower.” Hex groaned again as he struggled up from the bed.

“Do you want company?” Echo asked hopefully.

Though he hated to disappoint his mate, Hex was just too damn exhausted, and he had things to think about. “Could you get Syx?” He worried for a minute that his words would be misconstrued, but as always, Echo understood perfectly.

“Do you think that’s a good idea? Maybe we should wait until we get home.”

Hex shook his head wearily. “It’s driving me insane to not know. I have to find out what it is that I’m supposed to remember. We’re running out of time, and we still have to shift through what I remember. I doubt it’s just going to suddenly answer all of our questions.”

Echo nodded hesitantly. “Okay, big guy. Take a shower, and I’ll find Syx. Do you want me to get the others?”

“Yeah. I have a feeling I’m going to need all of you.”

“What do you want me to do?” Fiero asked, still sprawled facedown on the mattress.

Hex laughed. “Just stay put. I doubt you could move if you wanted to anyway.”

“I can move,” Fiero argued. He wiggled his ass a little, groaned, and went still again. “Never mind.”

Rolling his eyes, Hex made his way to the bathroom and showered quickly. The water felt amazing, the warmth seeping into his tired muscles. Though he would have loved to linger, he knew his mates were waiting for him. No amount of stalling would put off the inevitable, and it would be better to just get it over with.

Shutting off the shower, Hex stepped out of the tiny tub and dried quickly before wrapping the towel around his waist and shuffling back into the bedroom. All seven men gathered inside the room, looking up at him expectantly when he emerged from the bathroom.

“Are you sure?” Syx asked.

“Yes. I want to be done with this. Just tell me what to do.”

Syx motioned toward one of the beds. “Just lie down here. I’m going to put you to sleep, and then me and Echo are going to see if we can try to unlock those memories. You won’t feel a thing, I swear.”

“I’m not worried.” That wasn’t strictly true, but he wasn’t worried that his lovers would hurt him. Settling in the middle of the mattress, Hex rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. “Be gentle,” he half teased.

“Look at me,” Syx whispered, his warm breath fanning over Hex’s face.

Hex opened his eyelids, looking right into the jade-green depths of Syx’s eyes, and instantly felt himself falling into the darkness. With no concept of time inside his dreams, Hex didn’t know how long he slept before being plunged into the past. To him, it felt almost instant.

He lay in the middle of a large bed, completely nude and shaking with the force of his emotions. Sobs wracked his body, and he curled into a fetal position, pulling the blankets up around his thin shoulders. Once again, his lover had come to him, used him, hurt him, then left without a word.

A soft hand flitted through Hex’s dark hair, and he jolted upright, yelping when he found the warrior goddess, Athena, perched on the side of his bed. “You can’t be here.” Fuck, he was going to be in so much trouble if his master found out.

“Shh, now, Hex. I’ve come to help you.”

“You can’t help me. No one can help me.”

“I can. It will mean a sacrifice, and most likely I will be punished for my deeds, but I can no longer sit by and watch you suffer at the hands of my brother.”

Hex didn’t know what to say. No one ever tried to talk to him, and they most certainly didn’t try to help him. It was a trick. It had to be a trick.

“Do you wish to stay?”

Before he could stop himself, Hex shook his head. “I hate it here.”

“I know, little one. I hate it for you. What are you willing to do to be free of this place?”

“Anything.”

Athena smiled kindly and rose from the bed. Hex started to panic. Here it came. This was the part where she hurried away to tell Ares of his unfaithfulness. Instead, she surprised him by waving her hand and clothing him. “We must hurry.”

“Where am I going?”

“I have procured a deal for you. If you are willing, that is.”

“What kind of deal? What do I have to do?”

“One thousand years guarding the pits of Tartarus.” Athena smiled sadly. “Everything comes with a price, my dear. When your service is up, I will help you reach the Top World, and there you will be free to live your life as you choose.”

“I can’t guard anything!” Hex scrambled out of bed and waved his hand frantically toward his thin legs, tiny arms, and slim chest. “Just look at me! I’m a runt!”

In the next blink, Hex gazed down at Athena instead of up. He gaped in awe as he examined his body, the huge rippling muscles, the vast size of the new him. He took a tentative step forward, frowning when he almost stumbled. There was a lot more of him to move around now, and he’d have to find a way to get used to it.

“You didn’t think I would send you to the Underworld with no way to protect yourself?”

“Can I hug you?” He might be a massive warrior now, but he still felt like the small, scared boy from moments before.

Athena smiled softly and moved into his arms, giving him a quick hug. Then she stepped away and held out her hand. “We must hurry before Ares returns.”

“Why doesn’t he love me?”

“Oh, Hex. I fear our father made a grave mistake when he gave you to Ares. My brother has no capacity for love. He is a great soldier, but a lover he will never be.”

“What do you mean I was given to him?”

Athena sighed and tugged him along. “Father wanted to reward Ares for his skill on the battlefield by creating the perfect mate for him. You were to complement Ares in every way, being everything to him that he has missed, but he failed you.”

Hex felt the tears pool in his eyes, but he pushed them back and gritted his teeth. “If I was made for Ares, does that mean that I will never have a mate of my own?”

Turning to face him, Athena studied him for a long time before bringing his hand up and kissing his knuckles. “You deserve to find love—more love than you can ever hope to know what to do with. I will see to it personally that you have that.”

“Will I have to guard Tartarus alone?” Hex couldn’t stop himself from asking so many questions. It had been years since he’d been allowed to talk to anyone. Besides, he wasn’t a fool. Whatever he was to face, he wanted to go into it with open eyes.

“No, Hex. You will have warriors at your command. You will guide them, and they will teach you.”

The next thing he knew, they were standing beside a river with the sun beating down on their backs. Hex blinked several times, stretching his face upward. “Why are we here?”

“You must bathe in the river before we travel any farther.”

“Do I smell?”

Athena laughed, a quiet tinkling little sound. “This is the first step to a new beginning.”

Hex closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and waded into the river without further debate. The water swirled around him, coming up to cover his head, and Hex felt his mind go blank, his memories being washed away, and a strange peace descended over him.

Breaking the surface of the river, Hex snapped his eyes open as he gasped and shuddered. His mates sat around him in the small hotel room, all looking concerned and maybe a little sad. Echo’s head rested on his chest and hot tears pooled against Hex’s skin. Quiet sobs wracked Echo’s small frame, and Hex felt so helpless.

“Hey, baby. Hush now. Why are you so upset?”

“Ares is a bastard, and I fucking hate him,” Echo answered vehemently.

Hex patted his lover’s shoulder. “Come here, Echo.” He waited for Echo to wiggle up his body then tapped him on the nose. “Don’t worry about Ares. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t have you guys, and I wouldn’t be so big and tough to protect you.” He flexed his bicep under Echo’s head and wiggled his eyebrows.

“I still hate him.” Echo sniffed and nuzzled against Hex’s ribs. “I’m so sorry he did those things to you.” He paused for a minute, and Hex felt his mate’s lips stretch into a smile against his skin. “You were so little. I think you might have been smaller than me. You were cute.”

Hex felt his face heat, but couldn’t stop the goofy grin that spread over his lips. “Yeah, I guess I was.”

“I like you better this way,” Echo whispered. “You make me feel safe.”

“I think that’s the point. My subconscious must have remembered what it was like to be so small and helpless.” He held his hand up when Echo started to argue. “I’m not saying you’re helpless. I didn’t have any powers like you, though. I couldn’t even heal myself.”

“So, did you get new memories like I did?”

Hex shook his head. “I remember being reborn from the fire, but I think I just made up my own recollections about that.”

“Did Hades give you the power to heal?” Syx asked quietly. “Or did you always have that?”

“I was born with the power so that I could heal Ares after battle.”

“I really hate him.”

Hex started to soothe Echo when he realized the statement had not come from the small man in his arms, but from the demon sitting at the foot of the bed. He looked into Myst’s eyes for a long time before finally dipping his head. “Yeah, I guess I do, too.”

“So, how do I fit into all of this?” Echo pushed up on his elbow to address the room.

“I think it might be time for your dear mom to give us some answers,” Fiero answered with a slight growl in his voice. “I saw the red moon. If taking down that lab was our final test, I’m starting to think that this so-called war wasn’t about Ares at all. I feel like a fucking rat in a maze, and it’s pissing me off.”

Hex wasn’t too happy with the goddess either, but he didn’t think it was fair to take it out on Echo. Their mate could no more control his mother’s actions than any of them could.

“I agree,” Echo said immediately. “I’ll try to get a meeting with her when we get home.” He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, and his eyebrows drew together. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to, though. Helios said she was busy.”

“You can only try,” Hex whispered, pulling Echo down to kiss his temple. “That’s all we can ask of you.”

“Yeah, I know, but it’s only eleven days until the equinox. It would be nice to know what we’re going into for a change.”

“I don’t think Ares is going to be much of a challenge, to be honest.” All eyes focused on Onyx. The warrior just shrugged. “Think about it. He disappeared after Hex’s test. If our fight with Peter was supposed to be the last challenge, that’s the end of the war. Whatever Ares has to do with this, I doubt he’s going to put up much of a fight.”

“Dude, he’s a freakin’ god,” Myst argued.

“Athena said he’d been stripped of his powers,” Echo offered.

“What about his army?”

“Maybe he was bluffing.” Onyx shrugged again.

“Let’s get some rest, get home, and we’ll figure this out then.” Hex squeezed Echo to his side. “Just like everything else, we’ll face this together, no matter what it is.”

Chapter Fifteen

The wet heat wrapped around the head of his cock brought Echo out of a peaceful sleep. He didn’t open his eyes, though. Maybe he was asleep and still dreaming. Either way, he didn’t want it to stop.

The soft lips clamped around his rigid shaft, moving up and down in a steady rhythm designed to drive him out of his mind. His hands skimmed down his bare chest before plunging into strands of silky hair. He moaned softly, arching his hips up and pushing his prick farther into his lover’s mouth.

Another set of lips trailed down his throat and over his collarbone before moving on to torture one of his erect nipples. Rough hands smoothed over the sensitive skin of his hip as another warm body pressed against his other side. Strong fingers gripped his knee, pulling it back toward his chest and opening him to further exploration.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Syx breathed against the shell of his ear.

Echo moaned in response. The wet heat engulfing his cock was frying his brain, and anything resembling coherent speech was currently beyond his ability. It had been too long since they’d touched him like this. He wanted it, craved it, and demanded they give him more.

Thankfully, his mates aimed to please. A slippery finger brushed against his exposed entrance, ringing the muscles twice before dipping inside his clenching channel.

“More,” Echo pleaded, rocking his body to impale himself on the thick digit. The finger pumped inside him a few times before a second joined alongside it. When three fingers were sawing in and out of his needy hole easily, they disappeared.