Legacy of Olympus (In the Gods' Secret Service) (5 page)

The video transitioned again and focused on a man Alec recognized as the one he’d touched at Amalgamated.

“Stephanos. At our office.” Eleni’s voice choked with emotion, and Alec caught the glimmer of unshed tears in her eyes before she glanced away. She’d obviously loved the man. Even so, he tamped down his sympathy. The two of them were the reason his life was in a shambles.

“But we know the true cause of global warming.” Stephanos pointed at a graph behind him. “Yes, there is compelling data that
we
are raising the temperature of the earth. Should we be conserving fuel, electricity? Yes. But our organization believes there is another cause of global warming worthy of further investigation.”

The photograph of a strikingly handsome man appeared on screen. “Dorian Mallaki.” Classically Greek, strong nose, olive skin, short black hair. His mouth, bearing a slight scar indicative of a repaired cleft lip, curled in an arrogant manner. Alec could tell he was the kind of man who knew what he wanted and went after it.

“We’ve been following Mallaki’s actions for years and have detected unusual activity at his Miami estate during each of the incidents. Many people come and go, and we have recorded highly irregular bursts of energy issuing from his estate, particularly the rotunda. As a descendant of Poseidon and a member of our opposition, we believe Mallaki’s responsible for the severity of these recent storms.” He paused. “But we need more proof.”

Next, a stunning photograph of Eleni appeared, looking as breathtaking as usual, followed by one of him taken from his station I.D.

Alec felt like he’d been punched in the stomach.

“We’re sending one of our agents to check out Alec Androulakis. His family goes by the surname Andrews now. As a descendant and one of the leaders in the field of meteorology, he could be the key to stopping Mallaki. If not, there might be others. I’ll keep you briefed. Good luck with your ongoing efforts.” He tipped his head. “Till we meet again in person.” The video ended.

Alec stared at the frozen screen. “Why me?”

“After studying your file, I know you’re not one to acquiesce to popular opinion. On some level, you know there’s something wrong with the current global warming theory. Before you were even out of college, you presented a well-documented argument against some of the leading research.” She gestured toward the now silent screen. “Couldn’t we be right?”

He rose and started pacing at the foot of the bed. “You’re asking me to believe an incredible tale, Eleni. No one can manipulate the weather. No one. It’s not humanly possible.”

“I’m telling you, we’re descendants of the gods. We have extraordinary abilities. I’m a descendant of Aphrodite. I have the gift of beauty and passion. And, in some instances, the ability to persuade.” She paused. “You are a descendent of Apollo. Stephanos thought your gifts could tip the tide in our direction.”

She stood and gripped his arm, then, as if realizing what she was doing, released her hold and ran her hand across his upper body, resting her palm flat against his chest. “Tell me what you
feel
?”

“I’m a man of science, with a masters in Meteorology from Princeton. I’m not paid to be intuitive.” He started pacing again. “The truth is, I don’t know what I
think
. Stephanos has some compelling evidence, but the timing of the severe storms could all be coincidence.” But his words sounded hollow and lacked conviction. “The nature of weather is not an exact science. There are patterns that are as normal as our having seventy-degree days in the middle of February.”

“Then let’s try an experiment.” She returned to the bed and tugged the computer onto her lap.

Now what?

She hardly seemed to notice his approach. With a heavy sigh, he stretched his legs and sat next to her again.

She pulled up a Doppler map of the world and appeared to be studying it.

He reached for the mouse button on the laptop, and his fingers accidentally brushed hers, sending a heated warmth rushing through his body.

Ignoring the gut-clenching need that always swept over him when he was this close to Eleni, he set the map into motion and focused on the live radar image. Most of the world was experiencing a rather temperate day, a few scattered thunderstorms across the States.

Excitement gripped him as he continued his scan to the East. Asia was about to experience one helluva storm. He pointed to a severe weather system forming in the South China Sea. “A category three typhoon.” In his mind, he could see the circling mass of clouds and gathering energy. “It’ll strike here.” He indicated a small city on the coast of mainland China.

Eleni nudged his hand away and zoomed in on the area until he could make out the name. “Xiamen.”

She glanced at a sheet of paper where she’d scribbled some notes. “The National Weather Service has issued a typhoon warning for Hong Kong, not Xiamen.”

“Well, they’re wrong.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“How do you know?”

“See how the clouds are moving in a semicircle, except for these here at the end?” He traced an arc with his index finger. “It’ll veer at the last moment.”

“How can you be sure? Do you get a visual image of the typhoon striking land?”

He dragged his gaze from the screen, faced her, then blew out an exasperated breath. “Eleni...we have bigger things to worry about than some typhoon striking thousands of miles away.”

“Do you see this in your mind?” The rigid set of her jaw told him he might as well answer her and get this over with.

“No. I analyze the data in front of me.”

“But so did the National Weather Service.”

Dammit, she was stubborn. “And your point?”

“The descendants of Apollo have many gifts. Archery, healing, and sometimes, the ability to see into the future.”

A muscle in his face tightened. “You think I’m accurate about the weather because I’m psychic?”

She gave a small shake of her head. “That’s not the right word.”

Eleni’s assumptions were crazy. But...hadn’t he had a flash of insight, an...intuition that the storm would veer? Given the facts alone, if he had ignored what his gut was telling him, would he have come to the same conclusion as the other meteorologists? “Say I believe you. Then why don’t I win when I play the lottery? What about the car accident I had last year?” The drunk teen had come out of nowhere, slamming into the passenger side of his car. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt. “Shouldn’t I have been able to prevent it?”

“Stephanos would probably claim you’re too narrow-minded.”

Stephanos this, Stephanos that. Enough already. The man was six feet under by now. “How would
you
explain it?”

Her brow furrowed. “I’m not sure. If I had to pick, I’d say you’re too busy to notice, too focused on your job to allow anyone, or anything, to interfere.”

“I let you interfere, didn’t I?” He felt his temper flare. “Oh, right, you were
assigned
to interfere. Were you sent to seduce me, too?”

She shook her head. “To get to know you, yes. Persuade you to help us, yes. Sleep with you, no.”

“So you lied.” He faced her and noted the trail of tears, the bluish tinge beneath her eyes. But dammit, he deserved answers.

“I was going to sleep with you, Alec. After we met with Stephanos. Not because I’d been ordered to, but because I wanted to.” Her gaze flickered over his features.

“Why?”

She gave a self-deprecating smile. “I’m weak, like my mother.” Her brows furrowed slightly. “Looking back, I realize she never understood that the reason men flocked to her was her power. She only saw the attention men paid to her and decided they could give her what she wanted. I don’t want to be like that.”

“So you consider sex with me a sign of weakness?”

She seemed to consider that. “In a way. After getting to know you...I wanted more.”

“And that made you feel like your mother?”

“She used men.”

“What about your father?”

“He took off shortly after I was born.” She paused. “I’ve never quite figured out why my mom went through with the pregnancy. Maybe so my father would marry her.”

“You and your mother didn’t get along?” He shouldn’t care about the relationship Eleni had with her mother. But he hated the pain in her voice and wanted to know if the years had healed old wounds.

“We got along all right, until I was fifteen. When she slept with my boyfriend.”

Shock made him speechless. He pictured a teenaged Eleni finding out two people she’d trusted with her love had betrayed her. His chest tightened.

“She assured me she had a good reason when I caught them showering together afterward.” Her voice broke.

Of course it still hurt. It was her
mother
, not some best friend from high school. And, if Eleni’s boyfriend was fifteen at the time, her mother could have been arrested as well.

“She thought I was silly and naïve and wanted me to understand that all men will eventually break your heart. She figured, this way, I’d find out the truth with someone who didn’t have any real designs on my boyfriend. Mom thought it would have been far worse if some other girl had gone after Steve.”

Eleni lowered her head and picked at a stray thread on the comforter. “Turns out she lied. I found out later she continued to see Steve behind my back for months.”

She let out a trembling sigh. “My mother, oh, she knew how to use her beauty to get what she wanted. She devoured men, laughed about how she could twist them around her little finger, get them to do anything, give her anything she wanted.” She gave a wry smile through a sheen of tears. “And she couldn’t understand that I wasn’t like her.”

Wasn’t she? But she claimed the reason for her deceit was to save the world.

“My mother was a consumer. I never wanted to use you, Alec.”

He gave a harsh laugh. “Why should I believe you?”

“We could make love now.”

Zero to ninety in under a minute. He blew out a frustrated breath and took her by the shoulders. “You’re a beautiful woman, Eleni. But that’s not what I’m looking for.”

“What are you looking for?”

“No one.”

“Aren’t you lonely?” She ran a light finger down his arm.

He wasn’t about to pour out his life story to her, let alone show her how much her touch affected him. “I’ve got my career.” Which had now been tarnished, thanks to her. “You say you don’t want to be like your mother and use people, but you used me, didn’t you? I was your mark. Your own damn video proves it.”

Her eyes widened, and her pupils grew large before she shot up from the bed and strode away, back rigid.

A wave of remorse swept through him and curdled in his stomach. He’d never bullied a woman before. He fought the urge to gather her in his arms, to kiss away the pain he’d caused, to take her up on her offer to sleep together and ease the ache in his loins. But he knew making love to her would only make the need worse. Then, he’d
know
what it felt like to be inside her. Now he could only guess.

He turned back to the computer and hit
play
again. The idea that
people
, not the increase of pollutants in the atmosphere, were behind the severe weather was absolutely ludicrous.

They should turn themselves in. It was the advice he’d give any friend. But for some odd reason, he was reluctant to do so. Maybe Amalgamated
was
similar to a cult, and Eleni was merely a misguided member, following a charismatic leader.

“Why did you join Amalgamated?”

When she didn’t answer right away, he glanced at the ugly, overstuffed chair where Eleni sat with her eyes closed. Not a word since his harsh comments. He suspected she was trying to figure out another way to convince him of her lies.

When she finally spoke, her voice was thick with emotion. “Every job I’ve ever had ended the same way. Either I refused to sleep with my supervisor or the women in the office resented me because I’m beautiful. I’d get bad reviews, and no one wanted to be friends with me. At Amalgamated, I was accepted for who I am. No one hit on me. No one cared about my looks.” She shifted to a sitting position. “For the first time in my life, I was free to be myself.”