Evans, Gabrielle - Reckoning [Fatefully Yours 9] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (18 page)

“That was totally anticlimactic,” Fiero grumbled. “Why don’t we ever get to kill anything anymore?”

Hex shook his head. “Shut up and go find Craze. I’m bleeding like a stuck pig.”

Fiero grouched some more, but hurried ahead to find Craze. “This so blows.”

Sighing, Hex let Eyce and Onyx help him up the back steps. It didn’t matter to him. He had everything he’d ever wanted, and Ares couldn’t hurt them anymore. That was enough for him.

Chapter Sixteen

Stomping into the house, Echo stumbled to a stop when he found Athena sitting on their sofa, looking extraordinarily out of place in their living room. “What do you want?” Yeah, he was rude as hell, but he figured he was owed some leeway after the day he’d had.

“To talk to you,” she answered calmly.

“Oh, now you want to talk? Where the fuck were you when I wanted to talk to you before?”

“Echo,” Fiero said sternly as he stepped up behind him. “You wanted answers, so shut up and let the lady talk.”

Echo rolled his eyes, but plopped down in an armchair and twirled his wrist at his mother. “So, talk.” His other mates filed into the room, looking just as shocked to see the goddess sitting there.

“Fiero,” Hex said quietly. Fiero dipped his head and hurried up the stairs.

Eyce and Onyx helped Hex down onto the loveseat, and Echo jumped up and hurried over to his alpha. “Does it hurt a lot?”

“I’ll be fine.” Hex kissed his brow. “Fiero’s going to get Craze. Let’s hear what Athena has to say.”

“Thank you for sparing my brother.”

“Don’t thank me,” Echo answered coldly. “I’d have gutted him and mounted his head over the fireplace.”

Athena winced. “Ares was not behind the trials you have endured.”

Echo sat up a little straighter. “Come again?”

“I’m sorry, Echo.” She lifted her head to address all of them. “I apologize to all of you. He is my only son, though. How could I possibly just turn him over without knowing you could protect him?”

“You did this to us?” Echo wanted to launch himself across the room and rip the bitch’s hair out. Hex’s grip on his knee stopped him, however.

“Ares knew,” Hex said calmly.

Athena nodded. “He used the tests to his advantage, to try and build an army, but he did not devise them. Again, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well you can take ‘sorry’ and shove it up your—” Hex’s grip on his knee cut him off, and Echo glared at his lover before turning back to the goddess. “What about Erebus? You’re the one who turned Hypnos’s powers against him, aren’t you? And the vampires? You killed innocent people just to
test
my mates? Are you insane?”

Athena winced, but kept her back straight and her shoulders squared. “I will make amends to Hypnos. I did not kill anyone, however. The vampires were a threat that needed to be eliminated. I saw the opportunity to present it as a challenge to your demons and took it.” She sounded so unapologetic that Echo wanted to slap her.

“What about Craze, Gage, and all the rest of my friends? I thought we were building an army.” It took all of his willpower not to growl the words.

“Each person brought into your life was a test of your warriors’ loyalty and faithfulness.” Athena smiled a little. “And if they should fail, I wanted to ensure that you would be surrounded by people who cared about you and would keep you safe.”

Echo opened his mouth to tell his dear mother exactly where she could go, but Hex spoke before he could get the words out. “Why now? After three thousand years, why does Ares want me now?”

“My brother is spoiled and selfish. He cares nothing for you, but in his mind, you still belong to him. The knowledge that you were intended for another drove him mad with jealousy.”

“Again,” Eyce said, “why now?”

“Ares became aware of the prophecy and interpreted its meaning.”

Echo growled. “It’s over,
Mother
. You can stop being so damn vague and cryptic. I believe what they’re asking is why it took three-thousand fucking years for you make good on your promise to Hex.”

Athena shifted in her seat and linked her hands together in her lap. “I knew that I would need to produce a child of light to combat the darkness once Hex became a servant of Hades. Because of the way I worded my vow, I also knew I would have to produce Hex’s intended mate. Only Helios could help me to produce of a child of light.”

Echo was done playing games. If the goddess didn’t get to the point soon, he’d have to reconsider his position on ripping her hair out.

“Helios was…uncooperative. It was many years until he needed something I could offer him.”

“Which was?” Fiero asked as he came down the stairs with Craze right behind him.

Echo moved away from Hex to make room for the Addonexus to work on his mate. Standing, he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for his mother to continue.

“Someone to defeat the monster he had created,” Athena answered solemnly.

“Peter,” Echo surmised.

The goddess nodded. “Only you could have defeated him. Because of the powers he gave Peter, only someone of equal strength could have fought against him and won.”

“Helios said you made another bargain for his help before he summoned me to Olympus.”

“I secured his entrance into Elysium so that he could be with his mortal love,” Athena whispered.

“You really are a shitty mother.” Echo sighed and uncrossed his arms. “It doesn’t even matter anymore. You’ve caused me all kinds of pain and suffering, but you did bring me to my mates. For that, I thank you. As for the rest of it, I’m not sure I can forgive you.”

Athena seemed resigned to the fact. “I know. I am sorry. I hoped I had chosen well for you, but I had to be sure.”

“So, we were never meant to be with Hex?” Myst spoke so softly, Echo almost didn’t hear him.

“Yes, you were.” Athena smiled softly at Myst. “I promised Hex that he would have more love than he knew what to do with. I watched over you seven for many years. I knew you would need Echo to finally bring you together, though.”

Myst looked relieved, and Echo could have cared less if it was a bold-faced lie. He never wanted any of his mates to doubt their position or importance in their relationship.

“What did Ares do to get himself banished to the mortal realm?” Craze asked, standing straight and arching his back.

“He killed Echo.” Athena actually growled a little at this. “It is forbidden to destroy a mortal. Echo was reborn as a daemon—fitting since he was meant to watch over you in the first place. Ares was stripped of his powers and banished to Earth in hopes that he can learn human compassion.”

“So, it’s not permanent?” Echo didn’t like the sound of that.

Athena shook her head. “That is up to Father.”

“What about Elysium?”

“It is your home now, if you choose.”

Echo looked around the room, and when no one had any more questions, he returned his focus to Athena. “I want to stay here.” He waited for her nod of acceptance. “I’m going to ask you to leave now. I have a lot to think about before I can even try to forgive you.”

The goddess rose gracefully and dipped her head in acknowledgement. “If you ever wish to speak to me, just call my name. I’d like a chance to get to know you again.”

“We’ll see,” Echo answered noncommittally.

Athena nodded again then simply vanished.

* * * *

“You know you’re welcome to stay here until the houses are built.” Echo stood on the front lawn as his friends piled into their vehicles.

Gage smiled and shook his head. “It will be several months before the cabins are completed. Now that the threat is over, you guys don’t need us here anymore.”

“Besides,” Craze added, clapping Echo on the shoulder, “we’re just right down the road. Once the houses are done, we’ll be neighbors. It’s not like you’ll never see us again.”

“Yeah, I guess so. It’ll be weird not having you here, though.”

“Just think,” Sony called from the passenger seat of Gage’s pickup, “you can fuck wherever you want now.”

Echo laughed. “Like you being here ever stopped us before,” he yelled back, and everyone laughed.

“Go celebrate having your life back,” Gage said with a little shove between Echo’s shoulder blades. “We’ll see you soon.”

Echo gave his friends one last wave before trudging up the steps and into the house. He knew they wouldn’t be far away, but it just wasn’t the same. They’d all been there, willing to fight to the death for them. He was going to miss them.

The minute he stepped through the door, Eyce pounced, lifting Echo and tossing him over one rock-hard shoulder. “I have a surprise for you.”

Echo wiggled his ass. “I like surprises.”

“Good, because you’re going to love this one.” Eyce carried him into the kitchen and deposited him on the table.

His mates converged on him, stripping him out of his clothing and urging his back to the shiny wood. His arms were stretched over his head and secured with Velcro restraints.

“So, what’s my surprise?” Echo teased.

“Eyce says you like the shower,” Syx explained. “We’re going to prove how much better it can be when we all work together.”

Echo swallowed hard. “I like teamwork.”

Each man reached out to touch some part of Echo’s skin. “We need you to absorb our powers so we don’t hurt you,” Fiero said. “No using them against us, though.”

Echo nodded and did as the man asked. With the task complete, he nodded curtly and waited with anticipation. Fiero jerked him to the edge of the table so that his ass hung off the edge and his arms stretched tighter over his head.

Cool lube dribbled down his crease, and the blunt tip of Fiero’s cock pressed against his hole. Echo opened his mouth to protest the invasion without them bothering to stretch him first, but Hex moved beside Fiero and pressed his finger to Echo’s entrance, just beside Fiero’s crown.

Then Fiero pressed in, thrusting in tiny movements until he bottomed out. Echo’s eyes widened, and he looked up at Hex’s smirking face. There was no burn, no pinch—no pain at all. “How?”

Hex just winked at him and stepped away as Fiero began a hard rhythm, driving his huge cock into Echo’s ass. Moaning and squirming on the table, the pleasure hit him so hard Echo thought he’d pass out from it. Then he felt his lower body lifting into the air of its own accord. Snapping his attention to Myst, Echo’s only response was a loud cry when the new position allowed Fiero to nail his prostate.

“You ready?” Eyce asked in a seductive whisper.

Ready?
There was more? Oh, gods, he didn’t think he’d survive it.

Fiero’s thrusts slowed, and he began caressing Echo’s chest and abs with his hands. When flames flickered from his fingertips to dance across Echo’s skin, he
knew
he wouldn’t survive it. Holy damn, it was unlike anything he’d ever felt.

Drops of water drew his attention to the ceiling, and Echo gasped as the water cascaded down around him, mixing with the flames and licking at his heated skin. Around and around in an intimate dance, the fire and water caressed his body and sent his head spinning with erotic pleasure.

The Velcro straps disappeared from his wrists, replaced by long vines that held him in place and tickled up his arms. Echo didn’t even know where they came from, but he could barely breathe, let alone speak.

Fiero’s thrusts picked up in speed and intensity, the cords in his neck straining as he growled at the ceiling. Molten lava filled Echo’s passage, pushing his desire into overdrive. Then Fiero slipped out of him easily, and Hex reappeared, caressing Echo’s hole and pumping his fingers inside.

“Please!” Echo begged. His cock ached and flexed, bobbing against his stomach in its demand for attention.

Hex extracted his fingers, and Vapre moved in between Echo’s splayed legs. He slipped in easily, pushing his impressive length in to the root before starting a demanding pace. The back door banged open, and a rush of warm air flooded the kitchen, whipping Echo’s hair around his face.

The rush of wind swept over his body, swirling around him to mix with the fire, water, and vines. It whirled across his overheated skin, gripping his body and causing him to sway where he was suspended in midair. The position allowed Vapre deeper penetration, and the warrior used it to his full advantage, rocking Echo against the cushion of air and pulling him down on his cock with every snap of his hips.

“Just look at you,”
Syx’s voice slipped into his head, and Echo knew he was a goner.
“All spread out for our enjoyment. You like that, don’t you? You love that we have complete control over you. Oh, my pretty little slut.”

“Yes!” Echo screamed. Hell, if they wanted a slut, he’d give them one. Anything for them to touch him and bring him the relief he so desperately needed.

“I want to mark you, baby. I want to cum all over that sweet face of yours. Would you like that? Do you want me to mark you as mine?”

“Yes! Fuck, please!”

His mates gathered around the table, stroking their cocks and looking at him with lust-filled eyes while Vapre continued his assault on Echo’s ass.