Evans, Gabrielle - The Hunger [Fatefully Yours 7] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (3 page)

He disappeared into the bedroom, and Onyx looked up at his lovers. “What now?”

Eyce flew out of the shower, wrenched open the door, and hurried out of the bathroom. Fiero growled, almost falling on his face in his haste to follow Eyce. Onyx shut off the shower and chuckled under his breath.

“And the chase is on.”

* * * *

“Why don’t you erase some of these?” Myst gestured toward Syx’s dry erase board that hung on the office wall. “I mean, we know where the money went that was stolen. You could mark that one off the list of shit we don’t know.”

Syx shook his head. “We assume that Ares conned Lexi into transferring the money. We have no proof. Until I have factual evidence, it stays.”

“Echo says he was in that compound all of his life. If Ares is really involved with that lab, if he’s heading the operations, do you honestly believe that he’s been planning this for the last twenty-three years?”

“Time is different in the realm of immortals,” Syx replied simply as though that explained everything.

Myst wasn’t buying it. “Yeah, I guess, but I still think we’re missing something. I mean, if he’s so bent on having Echo, why not take him while he was in the lab and under his thumb?” He shoved a hand through his dark, shaggy locks and tugged. “And why try to kill him? It doesn’t make sense, Syx.”

“I’ve been wondering that myself. Every time he shows up, he makes a big deal about wanting Echo. Then he not only tries to kill him, but succeeds.”

Myst’s chest tightened, and he rubbed at it with the heel of his palm. If he lived forever—which was a very real possibility—he’d never be able to repay the goddess, Athena, for the gift she’d granted them by returning their mate. So what if he was a little different now and needed their blood to live? He was still their Echo, and Myst couldn’t imagine his life without the man.

“Hey,” Syx said quietly, stepping closer and cupping the side of Myst’s face. “Echo is safe. In fact, I have a feeling that he’s much more durable now than he was before.”

“We should have protected him.” What Myst really meant was that
he
should have protected Echo. They’d come so close to losing much more than some fucking war, all because they’d been too wrapped up in bickering amongst themselves to keep an eye on their little mate.

“Yes, we should have,” Syx agreed. “It’s over now, and there is nothing we can do about it. We’ve been given a second chance, and we both know how rare those are. Now, we make sure that Athena’s gift was not given in vain.”

“He goes nowhere without one of us.” Myst’s chest vibrated as he growled.

“Stop being all grumbly. Echo understands the danger now. He’ll be more careful. We’re not going to lose him, okay?”

Nodding reluctantly, Myst breathed in through his nose, trying to tamp down the rage building inside him. He was going to enjoy tearing Ares apart slowly.

Syx kissed his temple before stepping away to scribble something on the whiteboard. “So, we need to figure out what is really going on with Ares and what he’s after. I’m with you in thinking that he’s using Echo as a diversionary tactic.”

“What about Hex?” Myst’s fingers curled into his palm to form a tight fist. “He’s had a semi for Hex for three thousand years.”

“You think he’d go to war just to take Hex to his bed?” Syx lifted both eyebrows skeptically. “The man’s sexy as sin, but that seems a little extreme, even for Ares.”

“Well, whatever the reason, I think we stand a better chance of winning if we know what he’s after.”

“I agree completely. We have time to figure it out, though. We need to be focusing on the next test right now. There’s only two left, and I can’t imagine that they’ll be easy.”

Myst chewed on his lip and nodded. His stomach churned and cramped, threatening to send dinner racing back up his esophagus. His test was coming. He had no way of knowing what it would be, but his instincts screamed that it would be the hardest of them all. Something gnawed at his nerves, niggled at his brain, and sent his heart racing.

Whatever was to come, he’d face it. He had no choice. Going by the prophecy, he doubted he’d be worrying about dying crops. That had Onyx written all over it, which only left battling back enemies that were determined to destroy those “born of the first.” He didn’t have a damn clue what that meant or how to fight against it.

“We’ll find a way,” Syx said quietly. “You’re not alone.”

Myst nodded again but didn’t answer. He knew the warrior was only trying to comfort him and lend his support. “I’m going to find Echo.” He’d done a damn fine job of depressing himself, and he wanted his mate. Echo always made everything disappear, at least for a little while.

“I think he’s upstairs badgering Hex to explain why he can’t go into town alone.” Syx rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why Hex won’t just spit it out. There’s not a whole lot that Echo can’t handle, and he’s faced way worse than this.”

“Do Jet and Pax know?”

Syx shook his head. “No, and we want to keep it that way for now. We’ve flown under the radar for the most part. Jet and Pax are going to be curious, and I honestly can’t blame them. We need them right now, though, and we need to stick together.”

After thinking it over for a minute, Myst tilted his head to the side and frowned. “Are you sure they don’t know? I thought they could smell it.”

Syx’s eyes widened, and he smacked himself in the forehead with his palm. “Fuck!”

“We need to talk to them.” Myst scratched at the back of his neck. “If we explain to them why we need them here for now, I think they’d understand.”

“We have to tell them,” Syx agreed grudgingly. “It’s too dangerous for them to not have all the details. Why haven’t they said anything, though?”

Myst shrugged. “You said we needed to talk to them. Let’s go find out.”

Syx chuckled and gave Myst a little shove toward the door. “You sound better.”

“I like having something to do. Sitting around and waiting for bad shit to happen sucks. I just want all this crap to be over with.”

“Me and you both, babe.” Syx ruffled Myst’s hair. “You and me both.”

Chapter Three

Onyx stepped into the living room from the kitchen just as Syx and Myst entered from the hallway. “Hey, have you guys seen Jet or Pax?”

Myst and Syx shared a look that Onyx couldn’t decipher, but it didn’t look good. “Uh, when’s the last time you saw them?” Myst asked. Onyx could tell he was trying for nonchalant, but he didn’t quite pull it off.

“The night of the new moon. We came home, they went to their rooms, and I don’t think I’ve seen them since. I thought they might be hiding out because they were ashamed of what happened. By the looks on your faces, I’d say that’s not the case.”

“We were just coming to find them,” Syx admitted. He pulled at his blond hair and sighed. “This is bad.”

“You think they left?” Onyx ground his teeth together to keep from growling. “How could they just slip out without any of us knowing about it?”

“It’s not like we exactly keep tabs on them like we do Echo,” Myst answered indignantly.

“Keep tabs on who?” Fiero strolled into the room, shoving a chocolate cupcake into his mouth. “Wha’ goin’ on?”

Without looking Fiero’s way, Onyx reached out and smacked the warrior in the back of the head. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Fiero opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out to show off the gooey glob in his mouth. Then he shut his lips and swallowed before smiling roguishly at Onyx. “Yes, Mother.”

Onyx cuffed him in the back of the head again. “Have you seen the shifters?”

Shrugging, Fiero sauntered over to the sofa and plopped down on the cushions, sprawling out as though it was no concern to him. “Nope.”

“What about the bloodsuckers and Craze?” Myst asked slowly. “Have they been around?”

“Haven’t seen ’em in a couple of days,” Fiero answered distractedly while he flipped through the channels on the television.

Onyx tensed. “Gage, Mac, or Sony?”

“Saw Mac this morning,” Syx said immediately. “I haven’t seen Gage or Sony, though. Mac looked like shit, and he didn’t say too much.”

“Son of a bitch,” Onyx growled. “Split up and check the house. We’ll meet back here in five minutes.”

Five minutes later, everyone was back, Syx dragging Mac along behind him. Mac knew something, but he wasn’t talking. He wouldn’t meet Onyx’s eyes either. “Call Craze.”

Syx pulled his cell phone from his pocket and began dialing.

“I’ll get Hex,” Myst offered and turned to jog back up the stairs.

“I’ll go find the others.” Then Fiero disappeared as well.

“Straight to voice mail.” Syx flipped his phone closed and stuffed it back in his pocket. “I really do not have the patience for this shit right now.”

That was saying something considering Syx had to be the most patient and easygoing of them all. “Do you think they left on their own?”

“Well, I sure as hell don’t think someone walked in here and took them without any of us knowing,” Eyce said, following Fiero down the staircase. “I can’t believe Craze wouldn’t tell us, though. He knows how dangerous it is.”

As one, they all turned their eyes to Mac. “You need to tell us what you know,” Onyx said. “Why would you just let Gage go like that?”

“He didn’t tell me he was leaving,” Mac whispered, finally lifting his head to meet Onyx’s gaze. “I woke up, and they were gone.”

“Then why didn’t you tell someone?” Syx asked gently.

“Gage left a note. He said for me to stay in our room, that he’d be back soon, and not to tell anyone.”

“Did it say anything about where he was going?” Hex asked as he and Echo followed Myst into the room.

Mac shook his head. His eyes were red and puffy, glittering with unshed tears. “No. I’m sorry.”

“When did they leave?”

“The night after the new moon. I woke up the next morning, and they were gone.”

That had been the night Onyx and his lovers had gone down to the kappa pound to have a little time alone. It had been a nice night, warmer than usual. They’d fed cucumbers to the kappas, made love under the stars, and just enjoyed spending some uninterrupted time together.

“What about the others?” Syx asked. “They’re all missing.”

Mac shook his head again. “I don’t know. Someone please tell me what’s going on. Are they okay?”

“I don’t think so, Mac.” Onyx wished he had better news for the little man. If Gage had thought to be back before anyone noticed, and he’d yet to return, that could only mean things had not gone as planned.

“You haven’t seen anything?” Fiero asked. He tapped his temple to punctuate how he thought Mac would have
seen
.

“I’m not a fucking transistor radio!” Mac shouted. His chest heaved, rising and falling in rapid succession. “I can’t just tune into whatever channel I want to see. It doesn’t work that way!”

Echo hurried over to his friend and wrapped an arm around Mac’s shoulders. “We’re going to find them, okay?” He looked at Hex and glared. “Now do you see what happens when you keep secrets?” he asked dangerously.

Onyx wasn’t exactly happy with their leader either, but it wasn’t the time to start arguing. “We need to talk to Lorcan.”

Echo closed his eyes and groaned. “That had better not be another secret ex-lover, or I promise you, I’m about to become really freakin’ celibate.”