Evans, Gabrielle - The Hunger [Fatefully Yours 7] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (14 page)

“Was it the Oracle…Athena?” Eyce dropped down to the cushions of the sofa and draped his arms over the back. “Did she give you more riddles?”

“Actually, I think I might have something that will help. I don’t know exactly what it means, but you guys might.”

“Do we need to get Gage in here?”

“It probably wouldn’t hurt. I’d rather not have to repeat myself.”

Myst bolted out of the room, returning only minutes later with Gage, Mac, and Sony filing in behind him. Myst gave them all a wide grin and went to settle on the sofa beside Eyce. “See, I have my uses.”

Echo frowned. “You have a lot of uses, Myst.”

The warrior’s smile softened. “I didn’t mean it that way, and me and you are going to talk later.”

That sounded a little ominous for Echo’s comfort, but what was he going to do? Tell the man no? So, he did what anyone would do when faced with something they didn’t want to deal with. He ignored it. Maybe if he ignored it long enough, it would disappear.

“So what’s up?” Gage asked, leaning back against the wall and pulling Mac to his chest. Sony leaned against Gage’s side, looking happy as clam. Echo imagined the trio had a lot to be happy about.

“We’re waiting on Echo to tell us.” Hex looked at him and lifted an eyebrow. “So, spill it.”

Pushing away everything else, Echo concentrated on remembering his conversation with Athena. “I asked her why I died,” Echo began, pausing when his mates winced. Yeah, it sucked, but they were all going to have to get over it eventually—including him. “She said to fulfill my purpose,” he finished.

“Wait!” Syx leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on the desk. “She knew you were going to die? I mean, it sounds like that was the plan all along.”

Echo had thought the same thing. “Well, I don’t guess it matters now, and I’m not dead anymore, so we’re not going to worry about that.”

“Okay, go on,” Hex said tightly.

“Well, believe it or not, I did get some straight answers from her.”

Everyone perked up at this, sitting a little straighter and staring at him intently. “No shit?” Fiero asked.

Echo rolled his eyes at the demon’s word choice, but otherwise didn’t react. “I don’t know why Ares has lost favor with Zeus, but that’s what this war is all about. He’s trying to regain his father’s approval, I guess.” He let everyone chew that over for a minute before continuing. “Also, you’re going to love this—he’s lost his powers. Zeus has bound them in some way.”

“Which is why he needs an army,” Vapre said, catching on immediately.

Beaming from ear to ear, Echo nodded. “He can materialize and change into a wolf, I think she said, but that’s it.”

The men in the room seemed excited about this piece of information. Echo was pretty damn elated as well. They were finally getting somewhere. “So, I guess that in some ways explains the lab. I’m still not sure how it all ties in, other than the fact that he needs men to fight in the war.”

“That would also explain why there are not women in the compound.” Eyce curled his fingers around the back of Myst’s neck and massaged gently as he spoke. “It has nothing to do with Ares being honorable, either. He just thinks women are inferior, beneath him.”

“Well, that’s stupid.” Echo huffed when everyone turned to look at him skeptically. He held his arms out to his sides and twirled in a circle. “Just look at me. I’m no bigger than a woman, and smaller than some. Just because I have a dick doesn’t make me any better, stronger, or more skilled.”

“No one is disagreeing, babe.” Hex moved over to him and kissed the top of his head. “We’re just explaining why Ares would want men instead of women. I think it goes back to his rivalry with Athena.”

“Because Zeus likes her better?”

“I don’t know all the details, but I would imagine that has something to do with it.”

Echo nodded. He supposed that made sense. Some men were just chauvinistic like that. “I don’t really know much about women,” he admitted. “They seem pretty fierce, though.”

The men in the room nodded their heads solemnly. “Did Athena say anything about Hades?”

Echo turned to look at Fiero and dipped his head, paused, and shook it. “I asked about Hades. She got this weird look on her face and just said that I would have all the answers when the time was right.”

“Weird how?” Eyce asked.

“I don’t know, just weird. I guess almost afraid, but more…” Echo trailed off, his brow wrinkling as he tried to put an emotion to the expression on the goddess face. “I guess she looked kind of guilty?” He didn’t mean to say it as a question, but he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that he was interpreting his memory correctly.

The guys chewed this over for a minute, but no one appeared to have any answers. “Anything else?” Hex asked eventually.

Echo glanced at Gage, Mac, and Sony. He wanted to talk to his lovers about why their eyes had changed colors, but it was a conversation best had in private. He didn’t see the importance of it in relation to the war either, so they could probably hold off on discussing the topic for a bit longer.

“Well, if that’s all for now, we need to have a little word with Echo,” Onyx said, pushing to his feet and motioning for Myst to join him.

“I didn’t do it,” Echo responded immediately.

The room erupted into laughter, and Echo bit his bottom lip and blushed. Onyx walked to the door and opened it, waving Myst through then crooking his finger at Echo. “Come along, little one.”

The deep, commanding tone in Onyx’s voice brooked no argument, and Echo found his feet moving before he’d given them permission to do so. “Yes, sir.” He couldn’t stop himself from falling right into the role he knew Onyx wanted him to play.

“Much better,” Onyx murmured silkily. He slapped Echo’s butt and nudged him through the door. “You have been very bad, baby.” Onyx smirked at him as he pulled the office door closed. “Go to my room.”

* * * *

Following Echo up the stairs, Onyx’s eyes locked on the man’s pert little ass. Damn, he was one lucky guy. Not one, but seven insanely gorgeous men loved him. He’d never done anything in his whole miserable life to warrant the affections of someone like Echo, but that wouldn’t stop him from soaking up every bit of happiness he could get his hands on.

“Okay, really, what did I do?” Echo asked when they stepped through the door of Onyx’s bedroom. He went and sat on the end of the mattress beside Myst and bumped their shoulders together. “You want to explain to me what this is all about? And should I be naked for the lecture?”

Onyx chuckled under his breath and shook his head. “No one is getting naked just yet. You have questions, so ask them.”

“Why?” Echo blurted. “You said that Myst needed something from you. I don’t understand.” He looked at Onyx as he spoke then cast his eyes to the side to include Myst. “What do you need from each other that you can’t get from the rest of us?”

Deciding it would be better to show Echo than try to explain with words, Onyx walked over to the bed and took his mate’s hand. “Stand up.”

Echo popped up off the bed like he had springs on his butt. Taking Echo’s vacated seat, Onyx point to the floor between his and Myst’s legs. “On your knees.”

Just like that, Echo made a graceful descent toward the floor and knelt in front of them, his hands resting on the tops of his thighs. Onyx could see the confusion in his little man’s eyes, but waited for Echo to ask his next question.

“Why did I just do that?”

Myst reached down and stroked Echo’s creamy cheek with his fingertips. “Because you’re tired of being in control. You don’t want to think anymore. You don’t want to have all the answers, or even pretend that you do.”

Their mate’s brow wrinkled further and his button nose scrunched adorably. “I guess that’s true. I’m so tired of always being brave.” He sighed dejectedly and his shoulders slumped. “My brain hurts from thinking so much. I know I’m supposed to help, be this great, infallible weapon in the war, but I just want someone else to take care of all that and tell me what to do.” The corners of his lips twitched. “Well…sometimes.”

“Now imagine that you were a three thousand year old demon warrior, born from the Underworld, and your only purpose in life is battle.” Myst continued to stroke Echo’s cheek, and the pad of his thumb drifted over the man’s plump lips. “I don’t always have the answers, and I don’t always want to, Echo. Sometimes I just need to forget that all this exists and let someone else take over. Otherwise, my brain would probably explode.”

“It’s a bit of the opposite for me,” Onyx tried to explain. He’d spoken some about it with Echo before, but he didn’t think the little man truly understood it yet. “No one expects me to have the answers. Hell, I don’t think anyone expects much at all from me.” He ignored Echo’s frown and Myst’s low growl. “Hex is in charge, and everyone else seems to have their place in the group. Every day I deal with shit that I have no control over and it just eats at me.”

He hoped like hell he wasn’t just talking in circles. It was hard to put his feelings and needs into words, but Echo watched him intently, so Onyx continued. “I need a way to take back some of that control occasionally. I have no desire to lead us, and I don’t mind being dominated, either. When things get to be too much, I need a way to take back that control, or I start feeling like I’m falling apart.”

Echo stared at him for a long time before he finally shook his head. “If that’s all it was, you wouldn’t have felt the need to explain it to me twice. I don’t know if you’re trying to convince me or yourself, but I’m not buying it. Not all of it anyway. There’s more to it, Onyx. I know there is.” He turned his eyes to Myst. “Same goes for you. What are you two leaving out?”

Reaching out to cup Echo’s other cheek, Onyx rolled his eyes at his lover. “You are too perceptive for your own good. However, I’m not leaving anything out—not anymore. For a long time, that room was my solace, the one place where the men I loved actually
saw
me. When I was in control, dominating them, putting them at my mercy, they paid attention, knew who I was, and really looked at me.”

“We always looked at you,” Myst whispered.

“I know that now, babe.” Onyx leaned over and ghosted his lips across Myst’s. “You and Hex have a special connection, same as Syx and Vapre, as well as Eyce and Fiero. I was never jealous, but it was hard not knowing where I fit.”

“With us,” Echo said firmly. “You fit with all of us.”

“I get that now. I’m just trying to answer your question the best I know how. I can’t change the way I felt, but I also think things are different now. Plus, I have you. You fit with me, and I’m not the odd man out anymore.”

Echo nuzzled into his palm and purred. “I’m glad I found you.”

“Not nearly as glad as we are.” Myst bent at the waist and placed a chaste kiss on Echo’s forehead. Then he sat back and sighed. “I don’t really have any hang-ups. I just like being able to let go and not think or worry for a while. I also like that bite of pain that comes with being paddled or flogged. It lets me step outside of myself, and all I can do is feel.”

Onyx winced as Myst fudged the facts a bit. He didn’t like lying to Echo, but they weren’t his secrets to tell. He guessed it wasn’t technically a lie. Myst had just left out a few crucial details. “Everyone goes to the playroom at some point in time, baby.” Onyx pulled his hand back and rubbed it over his short-cropped hair. How much did he tell his mate? “I think me and Myst just need it a bit more often than the others.”

“So, what’s your story?” Myst arched and eyebrow and smirked at Echo. “You are such a little hellcat most of the time. You don’t take shit from any of us, and you’re usually the first one to start barking orders or coming up with a solution.”

Echo shook his head. Onyx could tell from the look on Echo’s face that the little man knew he was only getting part of the story. Instead of making a big deal out of it, though, he went on to answer Myst’s question. “I guess the same as yours. Onyx gave me a taste of what it’s like to step outside my comfort zone, and I like it. Like I said, I can’t be brave all the time. I can’t be the answer man for everything. With Onyx—in that room—I don’t have to pretend I’m either of those things.”