Illarion was aghast at the gathering in the parlor of Peltier House. For the life and sake of his brother, basically every adult resident under the roof, as well as every Dark-Hunter in New Orleans, former and current, along with Acheron, Sin, Zakar, and Styxx, had come together to keep Max safe.
It was incredible.
“This is utter bullshit!” Dev snarled, unaware of Max’s and Sera’s presence behind him. “I say we tell Savitar where to shove it!”
Acheron laughed as he glanced past Dev to meet Max’s gaze. “I dare you. Double bear dare you.”
Snorting, Max stopped next to Dev and put his hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, bear. I’m not afraid.”
Seraphina laced her fingers with his. “For the record, I am.”
With a stern frown, Aimee caressed her distended belly. “Can’t we do something? Max is here under our protection. I thought our laws protected him, so long as he doesn’t leave.”
Styxx sighed heavily. “They did. But the other dragons are calling for his ass. He attacked and they have the right to demand a hearing for his new crime … and the old when he appears for it.”
Vane nodded. “That’s why we’re all going. As Kattalakises, we’re character witnesses. Our family started this against you and we’re going to do our damnedest to finish it.”
Hadyn’s scowl matched Aimee’s. “And if you can’t?”
Dev cracked a wicked grin. “I’m tossing the dragon over my shoulder and running for the door. You gonna cover my retreat, kid?”
Sighing heavily, Samia pressed her gloved hands to her nose. “I wish he was joking with that threat. Instead, I have this awful vision in my head and an ulcer in my stomach.”
Dev kissed her cheek. “I promised you that living with me would never be boring.”
She let out a tired breath. “That you did. You are definitely a bear of your word.”
As they started to leave, Illarion stepped forward to go with them to the Omegrion.
“No!” Max roared, pushing him back toward his brothers. “Blaise, keep him here.”
Illarion was aghast. You can’t leave me out of this. I’m part of it.
“I can and I will.”
Illarion shook his head in denial. He tried to step around Max, but Max wasn’t having any of that.
Max pushed him back again. “I mean it. You go and I’ll run.” He looked to Falcyn, then Blaise. “He’s not allowed to go. You have to keep him here. No matter what.”
Seraphina gaped at Illarion. “You killed the prince, didn’t you? It wasn’t Maxis. It was you.”
“Sera,” Max growled. “Stay out of this.”
Releasing Max, she went to Illarion. “Tell me what happened.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Max swallowed hard. “I’m the Dragonbane, not Illarion. Leave him alone.” He glared at his brothers. “Do not let him leave here.”
Before she could say anything more, Max vanished.
“No!” Terrified and shaking, she turned on Illarion. “Tell me the truth. What happened?”
It was an accident.
She met Acheron’s gaze. “We’ve got to get the others to listen. Somehow.”
Vane agreed. “Don’t worry, Sera. They can’t start the council yet. Four of the members are still here.”
She arched a brow at the number. “Four?”
“Me, Fury, Alain’s mate—Tanya, and Wren Tigarian, who’s behind you.”
Like Illarion, Wren held that same disturbing aura of quiet predator that said he was eyeing everyone around him like prey. Sizing up their every movement to detect the weakness he was about to use to bring them down for a kill. The most disturbing thing was the way his eyes changed color depending on the way the light hit them. They went from a light gray to a vibrant turquoise.
Highly disturbing.
Until he unleashed a friendly grin that made him appear boyish and shy, and around the same age as Hadyn. “Sorry. My wife Maggie is always getting on to me for making people uncomfortable. Although she seems to enjoy my doing it at her father’s cocktail parties. Sometimes she even puts me up to it, but it’s a bitch at the playground. I’ve sent three of my daughter’s playmate’s nannies into therapy.”
Illarion laughed. He could just imagine. The tigard was indeed a rare breed.
Tanya moved closer and rubbed Seraphina’s arms comfortingly. “Don’t worry. We won’t let them take your Max, any more than we let them hurt Wren a few years ago when they called for his head. We always watch after our own.”
But as they arrived in the Omegrion council room on the mysterious Neratiti island home of Savitar, Illarion wasn’t so sure she could keep that promise.
The large circular chamber was decorated in burgundy and gold. Through the open windows that spanned from the black marble floor to the gilded ceiling, he could see and hear the ocean. Oddly enough, the entire room reminded him of an ancient sultan’s tent. Lavishly decorated, it had an enormous round table in the center that was presided over by Savitar, who wore an angry, pissed-off grimace.
Still dressed in a black wetsuit, Savitar sat on his throne with damp hair and his arms crossed over his chest. So silent you could hear the wood drying on the walls around him.
Yeah, that wasn’t creepy or disturbing at all.
Composed of one representative from each individual breed of Arcadian and Katagaria Were-Hunter, the Omegrion council made the laws that governed their races.
It should have had twenty-four members.
But one chair at the table remained conspicuously empty. An eerie warning and eternal reminder that back in the day, it’d belonged to the Arcadian Balios, or jaguar patria. Legend had it that centuries ago, the Regis of that group had run so afoul of Savitar’s temper that he’d single-handedly destroyed every member of their species.
Total annihilation.
Which said it all about the power and temperament of the disgruntled Chthonian sitting in judgment of them all. And today, Savitar glared at the group with a particular air of I’ve had it, folks. “How nice of you to join us. I trust all of you had a nice nap after I summoned you?”
Acheron had the audacity to laugh. “Miss a gnarly, awesome wave, Big Kahuna?”
“Don’t start, Grom. Not in the mood.” Savitar sat back on his throne. But it was the collection of Arcadian and Katagaria dragons and the Arcadian Kattalakis wolves on his right-hand side that set his jaw ticcing.
Savitar let out a long, exasperated breath. “Hear ye, hear ye … ah, fuck it. We’re here today for bullshit and we all know it. So let’s dispense with the usual formality and get on with this witch hunt before I lose what little grip I still have on my patience.” He ran his thumb along his goatee. “So, Dare Kattalakis, state your case and demands to the council. And do it fast, with as few words as possible.”
As a littermate to Vane and Fang, he bore a remarkable resemblance to his brothers.
Too bad they all hated each other. Passionately.
Clearing his throat, he moved to stand in the center of the open round table to plead his case. “First, I want to restate what a travesty it is that my family’s seat is taken by—”
“Wah, wah, wah … quit crying at the tit,” Savitar snarled. “Your brother Vane is the head of the Arcadians and Fury leads the Katagaria. Seek a therapist who gives a shit, or if you’d like to challenge either of them for their position, we can do with some entertainment. Hell, I’ll make popcorn for the show. Otherwise, bitch, get on with it.”
Illarion passed an amused arch of his brow to Blaise. Damn, Savitar was in rare form, even for Savitar.
Dare lifted his chin, but wisely kept his gaze away from the surly ancient. “Fine. We all know why we’re here. Maxis Drago as the Dragonbane is the cause of the war between the Arcadians and the Katagaria. Because of his actions alone, all of us have lost family and been scarred and cursed into perpetual war. Now he’s unleashed the gallu and Apollo on us! He’s—”
“That’s not true!”
Illarion was shocked that Seraphina finally rose to his brother’s defense. It was about time she did so.
Savitar’s features finally softened, as if he approved. “The dragonswan speaks.”
“She’s his whore!”
Savitar slung his hand out and caught the Kattalakis dragon who’d insulted her with an unseen force that lifted him up and pinned him to the wall between two of the open windows. “Only I’m allowed to be an insulting asshole in this room. Understood?”
The dragon nodded.
Savitar dropped him straight to the floor, where he landed with a pain-filled groan and in an unceremonious lump. Then he returned his attention to Sera and spoke to her in a kind, fatherly tone. “You were saying, dear?”
Yeah, his kindness was even scarier than his nastiness.
“It’s okay, Sera,” Max said, reaching out to touch her hand. “You don’t have to speak up for me.”
“No, but someone does. I don’t know who released the gallu—”
“That would be us,” Zakar said, raising his hand. “Oops. Sorry about that.”
Illarion snorted at the Sumerian god’s effed-up humor. They’d unleashed them centuries ago. Not for this particular misadventure.
Savitar rolled his eyes. “Sit your punk ass down and shut up. You and I will talk later.”
Zakar laughed good-naturedly. “Hope you take your Abilify first, old man.”
Yeah, only a god could get away with that.
Or Acheron.
Savitar started to wag his finger at Zakar, then gave up and waved him away. “Shut up.” He returned his attention to Sera. “You were saying?”
“Just that my mate is innocent. The gallu came after him first. And neither of us have a clue about Apollo. We don’t even know what you’re talking about.” She tucked her marked hand into Max’s.
He winced before he laced his fingers with hers and clutched her hand tightly in his.
Savitar watched that single gesture closely for several heartbeats without comment.
“I demand he pay for his crimes!” Ermon Kattalakis—one of the Arcadian dragons—demanded. “It was the blood of my grandfather he spilled!”
Like hell—Illarion barely kept that explosion to himself as he met Savitar’s gaze through the crowded room.
Without a word, Savitar stood and closed the distance between him and Max. “It occurs to me, Maxis, that with our historian, Nicolette Peltier, gone, there’s no one here who knows the history of this council. She died before she could pass the origins along to her only daughter, Aimee.” He turned toward Tanya. “I suppose you should inherit that part of her job as well, no?”
Tanya looked as frightened to be under that fierce scrutiny as Sera had been. “It would be my honor to record it, my lord.”
Savitar glanced back to Max. “What do you say, drakomas? Have I your permission to break our pact?”
Illarion saw the indecision in Max’s golden eyes as he debated. He glanced to Illarion, then to his mate and their children.
It’s time. Illarion inclined his head to him. Tell the truth, brother. Let them decide for themselves.
With an audible gulp, Max nodded. “Although, I would remind you both that when the truth was told last time, it didn’t help. No one cared.”
Ignoring that, Savitar stepped back then so that he could walk a circle around the table. “Some of you have been coming here for centuries. You occupy seats you inherited from your family or won through combat. All of you know what an honor it is to sit here and represent your independent species. Both those who hold human-Apollite hearts and those born with animal hearts. Two halves of a single whole. Both sentient, and forever condemned by the gods to war against each other for no real reason, other than the fact that the gods are assholes. Everyone knows that part of the story. What none of you know is why you answer to me. Why you answer to this council specifically…”
Savitar gestured to Max. “You blame the Dragonbane for the war that divides your two branches of the same species, but he didn’t do this to you. That belongs to the three bitches who cursed your race in the beginning. To Zeus and Apollo and their childish tantrums that made them cry to the Fates to do something because they felt cheated that you were spared the Apollite curse that would have required all of you to die horribly at age twenty-seven over an event you had no part in. But as with all history, that is only one tiny, bit part that you’ve been told, which was colored by those seeking to sway your opinion and make you hate for no real reason. To keep you divided when you should be whole and focused on the real tragedies you have in common. The ones that unite you as a single, sentient species. Follow me, children, and let me show you what you’ve never seen, but what you need to know.”
With that he threw his hands out. The doors crashed closed and darkness fell into the room so completely that for a moment, Illarion felt as blind as Blaise.
When the light finally came up, he winced at the sight of a much younger Max.
Of a much younger him. It brought back forgotten memories and emotions that he’d intentionally buried. Now, those old wounds bled anew.
The two of them were locked in a cage, starved and ragged. Filthy. Damned to remain in human form by the collars Dagon had fastened around their necks. Collars that were humiliating and choking. And as they sat starving and freezing in their misery, another man stared in at them. Unlike them, he was impeccably groomed and wore royal princely garb.
An identical copy of Illarion.
It was the face he despised most. A face he wore only to please Edilyn, because of how much he hated it and because of the bitter, hated memories like this that it stirred within him.
Half the room turned to stare agape at him as they realized that Illarion was the prince and not Max, as they’d all assumed before this.
Max had been created from the son of the prince’s bastard half brother. A slave.
And beside that despised prince stood an elegant dark-haired lady. While they’d seen the prince numerous times since they’d been caged here, the woman was a new addition to their drab, dingy home.
“Eumon?” she whined, trying to pull the prince away by his arm. “Why did you bring me here? Don’t you grow weary of looking at them all the time? It’s so creepy!”
They were creepy? Really? Personally, he’d much rather be an immortal dragon than one of those disgusting creatures who’d been cursed by Apollo to die painfully on their twenty-seventh birthday. There was nothing creepy about being a dragon.
Human-Apollite bodies?
That was the stuff of nightmares. They were weak and pathetic. And smelled to the highest level of Olympus.
The prince smiled at his beautiful, petite wife, but his gaze never wavered from the two inside the cage. “Look at them, Helena. But for the fact that he doesn’t speak, you’d never know he wasn’t me. And the other … he is the very image of Pherus. It’s as if I’m still looking my brother in the eye.”
She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Pherus was never your brother. He was the son of a slave.”
“Slave or not, he was my brother through my father. And I loved him as such.” And he’d died as soon as they’d tied his life force to Max’s. Eumon licked his lips. “Do you think they can understand us?”
“No. They’re animals and you’re lucky you survived the merging your uncle did to you. Now, can we go? I don’t like it here. It smells.” She pressed her dainty hand to her nose to illustrate her point.
Only thing that smells, bitch, is you.
Instead of leaving, Eumon knelt down and held his hand out to Illarion. “Here, boy … come to me.”
Tempted to bite him, Illarion scooted closer to Max before he gave in to that urge.
Eumon lowered his hand and sighed. “It seems like we should be able to train them. Doesn’t it?”
Illarion slid a snide grimace to Max. He’d like to learn the prince a few things himself.
“Maybe so as not to wet the rugs or their beds, but I wouldn’t hold out hope for any more than that. As I said, they’re stupid animals, incapable of thought or civilization.”
Oh yeah, they were the problem in this equation.…
“You are terrible, Helena!” he teased.
All of a sudden, a large number of guards stormed into the dungeon. Illarion narrowed his gaze on them. That never boded well for those kept in cages.
Anytime that many came in like that …
One of the prisoners got seriously hurt.
Or seriously dead.
Prince Eumon shot to his feet to confront the stone-faced soldiers. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“Orders from the king, Highness. We’re to destroy all the experiments to placate the gods.”
Oh like hell …
The prince’s face went white. “What?”
The guard nodded. “The dictate came from the head priest this afternoon. The gods are demanding that all the abominations be put down. Otherwise, they’ll kill your father and you, and your brother.”
Illarion exchanged a furious glower with Max.
Never fear, brother. I won’t let them take you, Max promised.
But that wasn’t Illarion’s fear. No, he wasn’t going out without a fight.
By the gods, he’d take them with him. As many as he could.
With a mighty roar, Max rushed at the bars.
The prince stumbled back with a fierce gasp, dragging his wife with him.
Screaming, she fell to the floor. “I told you! He’s an animal! Kill him! Kill him now!”
Fury tore through Max with such ferocity that he lost complete control of his magick, even with the collar on to control it. The howls and screams of the others filled Illarion’s ears as the soldiers set about carrying out their orders to murder them while they were helpless and caged.
This was utter bullshit! Illarion threw himself against the bars, over and over. When that wasn’t enough, he and Max summoned every bit of magick they could and held their concentration. Then they sent it out into the air around them.
Like a thermal shock, it rolled and released a pulsating wave. One that shattered the cage and sent the guards, prince, and princess tumbling.
Weak, but determined, Max grabbed Illarion. “Free the others. Be damned if those bitches are going to take their lives for this!”
It’s not our place! He had no interest in risking his life for them. Not after the way they’d treated them.
But Max misunderstood his protest. “I don’t answer to the Greek gods. They can kiss my scaly ass.” He grabbed the keys from the guard who was closest to him. Baring his fangs, he took the man’s sword, then moved to free the Arcadians and Katagaria. “Illarion! Move! Save everyone you can!”
Disgusted by his brother’s Arel ways, Illarion finally conceded. This would come to no good. He knew it.
Max always got them into trouble with shit like this.
Always!
As soon as they had the doors open and had started to leave, the guards moved to stop them.
“We have to talk to the king first. No one can leave here.”
To his complete shock, Eumon stepped forward. “Let them pass.”
“Highness—”
“Do it!”
Reluctantly, the guard stepped aside and ordered his men to stand down.
Max inclined his head to the prince. “Can you show us the way out, Highness?”
The prince narrowed an evil glare at him. “I knew you could speak! I need you to show that to my father.”
“And we need a guide before your father learns of this and kills us.… Please. My brother and I have always been overtaken whenever we’ve tried to escape. I know there’s a way to the forest, but we haven’t been able to locate it.”
Without hesitation, he nodded. “Follow me.”
“Eumon!” his wife breathed. “You can’t do this. If the gods have spoken—”
“They’re sentient, Helena. Look at them.” He gestured at Max and Illarion. “Half of them are Apollite. I can’t condemn them to die, and especially not by execution in a cage after everything else we’ve done. It would be wrong. I’m their prince. It’s my place to protect them.”
“And what of your son I carry? Who will protect him when the gods kill you for this hubris?”
He kissed her lightly on the forehead. “Relax, precious wife. No one’s going to kill me.” Pulling away, he led Illarion and the others through the dark cavern. “Follow me and I’ll see you to your freedom.”
Illarion knew in his gut that this was going to be a disaster. He could feel it with every drakomas instinct he had.
Helena glared at Max as they started filing out of the dungeon. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
As the last Apollite animal filed past them, Illarion began to breathe a little easier. They were almost out of here.
True to his word, Eumon helped them relocate to a small campground in the forest, where he and Max made sure everyone had a place to sleep and something to eat.
As Max started away, Eumon stopped him. “All these weeks and you’ve said nothing. You’ve pretended to be mute. Why?”
“There was nothing to say. Your uncle ripped us from our homes and lives for you. Both Apollite and animal. No regard for what we thought or wanted. And then we were turned into this?” He gestured angrily at his human body. “You may have desired the dragon in you, Highness, but I promise you, neither Illarion nor I wanted this. Nor did any of the others. Now that you have some of my brother’s genetics inside you, you should know exactly how we think. What we feel.”
“You have a fierce code of honor and kinship. That’s where this comes from?”
Max inclined his head. “And now you tell me that your gods have decreed our death for your deeds. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“I will talk to my father. He’s a reasonable man.”
Illarion scoffed at his blind stupidity.
“He loves us.”
“That just makes him highly unreasonable.”
The prince nodded. “If you and your brother come with me … Let my father see that you’re capable of rational thought and speech. It will change everything. I promise. Come and help me to set this right.”
Illarion wended his way through the others to approach Max. Surely you don’t believe his lies.
“We have to try.”
Illarion wanted to beat him for that. The last thing he wanted to do was participate in this madness. But he loved his brother too much to let him go about his stupidity alone. Besides, he owed Max.
So together, they headed back toward the palace, with Eumon in the lead.
For the first time ever, they emerged out of the dungeon and into the palace grounds that led to the immaculate rooms the royal family called home.
They had just reached the gardens when a man who appeared eerily similar to Vane approached them.
“What is this?”
“We’re going to see Father.”
The newcomer scowled with fierce disapproval. “What have you done?”
The prince let out a tired sigh. “Linus, please. I have to speak to him and I don’t have time.”
“You heard what the priest told Father. We’ve angered the gods. If you don’t return them for execution right now, they’ll demand our heads, too! Do you want to die?”
“And what’s to stop them from doing that anyway after the others are gone? The gods are capricious. You know that. I don’t trust them to kill us, anyway.”
Linus gestured at Max and then Illarion. “But you would trust an animal?”
“They’re not just animals. They can speak.”
Linus scoffed. “Now you’re being ridiculous. Did you perchance eat a bad lotus batch?”
“He’s not wrong.”
Linus’s gaze had widened at the sound of Max’s voice. “You can think and talk?”
“Of course.”
Illarion cursed Max’s trusting innocence as he saw the light in the prince’s eyes. This was going to go badly for them.
His eyes darkened dangerously as he moved to confront Max. “Are you the reason Dagon did this to me?”
“Did what?”
In response to his brother’s question, Linus turned on Eumon. “Or did you do it?”
“Do what?” Eumon repeated.
Linus raked him with a scathing glare. “You were always Father’s favored son. Had your life not been threatened, I’m sure he’d have let me die, as he did our mother.”
Eumon let out a tired sigh. “I don’t have time for your insecurities. Move aside.”
“Oh, right. You never have time, do you?” Linus sneered at Helena. “You took the bride that was meant for me and now you took my true animal form. I should have been the dragon. Not you!”
“What madness do you speak?”
“Helena was my bride!”
She lifted her chin defiantly. “I refused your hand after I met you. There’s a cruelty in you, Linus, that scares me. Treaty or not, I would never have married into this family had I not met Eumon and seen for myself that, unlike you, he has a soul.”
Shrieking in anger, he lunged at her, but Max caught him and forced him back. “Stop it. We have dire business to attend to here.”
Linus roared in anger. “You could have convinced Dagon to give me the form I wanted, but instead you chose to remain silent? Did you kill your own to keep me from being like you, too? You did, didn’t you?”
“What?”
Linus shoved Max away. “You all disgust me. You never let me have what I want.”
He’s mad, brother. We should leave.
Max nodded at Illarion, finally agreeing with him. Protect the princess.
As Illarion moved in to comply, Linus pulled out a knife and attacked. “Don’t you turn your back on me, Eumon! I will not be disregarded!”
Eumon shoved him aside as he lunged for Illarion. “Are you stupid? He’s the animal, you moron! I’m the prince. How can you not tell us apart?”
Those words were highly offensive. Especially since the only way to tell them apart was by the finery one wore and the filth that coated Illarion. In his opinion, it said more for Linus that he hadn’t noticed their difference in dress.
Linus wrested his hand and weapon free from his brother. “I should have been heir! I’m far more worthy!”
Eumon had laughed in his face. “You were never worthy.” With that, he disarmed him and kicked him back.
Horrified, Max had helped Illarion to his feet. Then placed his body between Illarion and the princes to protect him.
Rolling his eyes, Eumon threw the knife down. “Ignore him.” He chucked Max on the arm and then Illarion. “Follow me and we’ll settle this.”
As they started away, Max caught the movement from the corner of his eye. He turned to disarm Linus, but he still hadn’t mastered his human body. Before he could do anything to stop it, Linus stabbed him, then turned on the others.
Furious, Illarion attacked.
“Stop!” Eumon growled, trying to get between them.
Max knew the prince would be hurt if he didn’t remove him from the conflict. “Highness?” He pulled him back at the same time Illarion and Linus staggered together, fighting for control of the knife.
They slammed hard into Max and Eumon, knocking them off balance and sending them reeling.
In a huge clump, the four of them fell to the ground.
As Max went to stand, Illarion realized they were covered in a lot more blood than they should have been. Stunned, it took him several seconds to realize it was Eumon whose artery had been sliced open in their fall.
Panting for air, the prince met Max’s gaze. “Protect my wife.”
His eyes haunted, Linus pushed himself to his feet and staggered back. Dropping the knife, he pressed his blood-soaked hand to his lips.
“Highness?”
Screaming in agony, Helena had rushed forward to weep by her husband’s side. “Don’t leave me, Eumon! Stay with me!” She applied pressure to his wound, but it was too late.
As his last act, Eumon reached up and removed Max’s collar so that he could shapeshift freely. “Protect them all.” And with that he expelled his final breath.
Helena had thrown her head back and shrieked like a harpy. “You beast! You killed my husband!”
“No…” Linus backed up in terror. “You saw for yourself. It was an accident.”
Shaking her head, she sobbed and sobbed.
Max glanced to Illarion, who watched on with a sick feeling in his gut. They would take the fall for this. He knew it. What do we do?
I don’t know.
But they both knew the truth. Linus was insane and he’d never tell the truth and implicate himself in this. His fear of being blamed for his brother’s death wouldn’t allow that. The gods had decreed them all to die.…
Max swallowed. I have to get them to safety.
Illarion cursed him for that thought. And before he could stop him, Max transformed and scooped him and the princess up in his talons. He took flight.
Her terrified shrieks filled his ears as she insulted his brother and tried to break free. Illarion fought against his grip. Remove my collar so that I can fly, too!
Not yet.
Illarion had a bad feeling about Max’s destination.
One that turned out to be all too true when Max finally reached the southern beach. He laid Illarion and the princess down on the white sands, then landed. And before Illarion could protest it, Max summoned the Chthonian who’d been given domain over the demons. The one being who was given protection and charge over their kind.
Granted, no one had seen the bastard in centuries, and all kinds of speculations abounded. Some said Savitar had finally died of the wounds he’d sustained during the great Chthonian War. Others that the Greek god Mache had cursed him in retaliation for being bound and imprisoned.
Another said that the goddess Apollymi had drowned him when she sank Atlantis. There was even a rumor that Artemis had captured him and was keeping him as her pet on Olympus.
Throwing his head back, Max let out a summoning cry for the beast.
The princess shrank away from him as the waves rolled in and out on the beach.
“What is he doing?” she asked, throwing her hands over her ears to mute the sounds of his call.
Max ignored her as he continued to summon Savitar.
When he arrived, his lavender eyes glowed as he paused by Illarion’s side and swept his gaze over the blood-soaked gown on the cringing princess. “Seems I missed an impressive party. Care to enlighten me, dragon?”
Max quickly told him what had been done to them, and what had happened to Eumon and Illarion. “I need your help, Chthonian.”
Savitar had scoffed. “I’m done helping others. Last time I did that … it turned out badly for everyone. Especially me, and I rather like me, most days.”
“They’ll kill us.”
“Everyone dies sometime.”
“That’s it, then? You’re literally washing your hands of us?”
Savitar shrugged. “You have a new life. You should enjoy it.”
“Until the Fates have us killed, you mean.”
Savitar had gone stock-still. “Come again?”
“The Greek Fates? Because of Apollo and Zeus, they’ve ordered all of us to be put down.”
“You should have led with that, little brother.”
“Meaning?”
Savitar smiled. “Meaning there isn’t much I wouldn’t do to make those three bitches scream in agony. Take me to your camp.”
By the time they returned, most of the Apollite-animal hybrids were dead. While Illarion and Max had been gone, the guards had found their camp and slaughtered them down to a meager handful.
Illarion had to force himself not to give his brother an I-told-you-so grimace. He just wished, just once, that Max would listen to him.
Disgusted by the cruel horror, Max had walked around the other newly made shapeshifters, assuring them as best he could. But Illarion didn’t believe Max any more than they did.
This wasn’t going to be all right. They’d all been screwed.
“What are we to do?” they asked in a unified voice.
Illarion met Savitar’s gaze.
Savitar stepped forward. “As a new species, I offer you my protection. I will make it known that the Chthonians are aware of you and that no one, especially the gods, are to prey on you without repercussions.”
While Savitar dealt with the new species, Max had finally removed Illarion’s collar.
About time. Asshole.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Why did you wait?
“In case we were taken, you could have passed as the prince and escaped this cleansing. So long as you remained in a human body you were safe.”
I’d rather be slaughtered. Illarion shook his head as he scanned the others. We are an abomination. Are you sure we should have survived? Perhaps it would have been kinder to consign us to death.
“Perhaps. But then, life isn’t kind. All we have to get through it is each other. I couldn’t stand by and watch them die.”
Illarion let out a tired sigh. Your Arel blood seriously screws you at times. What is this innate need you have to protect?
“I don’t know, but you should be glad I have it. A sane dragon would have left you behind.”
To this day, Illarion wasn’t sure if that wouldn’t have been the better fate.
As they rounded them up, Lycaon and his army rode in to finish their slaughter.
Until the king saw Savitar. “What is the meaning of this?”
Savitar faced the king without fear. “I’m here to take them to their own lands to live.”
“You can’t do that.”
Savitar arched a brow. “You want to cross me?”
“The gods have decreed—”
“And I, as a Chthonian sworn to protect mortal life from the gods, overturn that decree.”
Lycaon shook his head. “You can’t do that! They’ll kill my children in retaliation.”
“It’s done.”
While they argued, Helena grabbed Max’s arm. “You can’t let me return to the palace. Not after what’s happened.”
Confused, he scowled at her. “You want to travel with us, the animals?”
“Please. I’m afraid of what Linus will do to me and my children. While he might keep me alive and claim me as his, he will never suffer my children to live. Not so long as they are heirs to their father’s throne. You saw him. His ambitions are ruthless and he will stop at nothing. Worse, we know he killed Eumon. So long as any of us are alive, he’ll view us as a threat and want us removed. Understood?”
Illarion had shaken his head. Max … I know that look on your face. You’re the one who’s always telling me to stay out of human affairs.
Max had nudged the princess closer to Illarion. “Keep an eye on her for a minute.”
Not quite sure what he was doing, Max closed the distance between Savitar and the king. The moment Linus saw him, he did just as his sister-in-law had predicted.
He ordered Max arrested for the murder of his brother, and demanded the return of Helena.
She was right. Linus would never suffer her to live and birth those children. He would kill them and remove them from the line of succession.
“He and his brother slaughtered mine, and I demand their heads for it!”
“Illarion is innocent. I, alone, am responsible.”
Illarion started forward to protest, but Max wouldn’t have it.
Savitar faced Max with a stern glower. “Do you understand what you’re doing?”
Max met Savitar’s furious stare. “I only understand what will happen if I don’t.”
Sighing in disgust, Savitar pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose as if he had a brain tumor forming. As the guards came to retake Max, Savitar stopped them.
“No! The Arcadians you’ve created are a separate race and shouldn’t be subjected to the laws of man.” Savitar glared at Linus and his father. “They are a sentient group and should make their own laws to govern them. If Maxis is to face judgment, it will be by a jury of his own hybrid peers and not based on a decision handed down from a scheming brother and grieving father. If travesty is to be done, it should be impartial.”
“’Cause that makes it all so much better,” Max muttered.
Savitar narrowed a threatening glower at him. “Don’t lip me, dragon, or I’ll turn you over to them.”
“And what of this jury?” Lycaon demanded. “Who’s to oversee it?”
“I will personally guarantee it,” Savitar said. “You have my word.”
Fury, and the promise that this wasn’t over, glared out from the king’s eyes. “Fine. I’ll hold you to it. But I want that dragon’s head mounted to my wall for what he’s done! I will be expecting you to bring it to me when this is over. Otherwise, I’ll be declaring war on this new breed.” And with that, the king led his army away.
Illarion finally approached them. I’m glad that’s settled. Not even a little.
Savitar laughed bitterly. “You’re right. Nothing’s over. This is just the beginning. Wait until Zeus and Apollo hear of it.” He glanced around at the faces and animals.…
Apollites, lions, eagles, falcons, hawks, tigers, wolves, bears, panthers, jackals, leopards, snow leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, and dragons.
“What the hell was Dagon thinking?”
Max let out his own exhausted breath. “That his wife was grieving for her brother and that he had the magick to make it better and to save the lives of her nephews.”
“You consider this better?”
Max shrugged at Savitar’s question. “Better than death? Aye. Barely.”
“And you, dragon, are an idiot.”
“I’ve been called worse.” He glanced to Illarion. “And that was just a few hours ago by my brother.”
Illarion scoffed. Seconds ago, actually.
Savitar shook his head as he met the gaze of the princess. “Those are the first of their kind you’re carrying, you know that, right?”
Her face had gone pale. “What?”
“You conceived them after your husband had been transformed. The good news is, they won’t die of the Apollite curse that comes with Eumon’s bloodline. The bad news is, the gods won’t be happy that your prince thwarted said curse.” Savitar growled in aggravation. “There’s only so much mitigating I can do. Knowing the gods and those bitches in particular, I can tell you this isn’t over. They will have something new in store for us all. And it won’t be merciful.”
And he’d been right. In spite of the evidence, and Helena’s testimony over what had happened, Max had been found guilty during that first Omegrion meeting. When Illarion went to testify, Max had kept him out of it, lest he implicate himself and come under fire.
Better one should be marked than both. He’d pressed upon Illarion the necessity of keeping Helena safe and fulfilling their promise to Eumon. Something they couldn’t do if they were both being hunted.
So he’d been marked while Illarion had been left as a Katagari guard for the first Arcadian princes born to a human mother.
But for Max and Illarion, there would have been no Were-Hunters spared the sword.
Only Linus and Eumon.
It was why Illarion hated all of them so.
Lycaon would have gladly slaughtered the rest to spare his two sons from the wrath of the Olympian gods.
One wolf and one dragon.
The worst irony was that neither he nor his brother even held a seat at the very council that had been started because of them. Rather Helena and another Drakos born from an earlier experiment between an Apollite slave and dragon had taken the first Regis positions. Helena as the Arcadian Regis, until her eldest son, Pharell, had been old enough to inherit it, and Cromus, who ceded his place to Helena’s Katagari son, Portheus, when he’d come of age.
Linus had been left to found the same wolf bloodline that had led to Vane, Fang, and Fury. His ruthless need to put down all the others and rule them had forced Savitar to create the limanis such as Sanctuary so that the Were-Hunters would have some refuge from the gods and others out to slaughter them needlessly.
Now, Savitar pulled back and lightened the room. One by one, he met the gaze of those seated at the council table. “There you have it. Yes, Max technically drew first Were-Hunter blood, but he did so in protection of you all. Are you really going to be as the first council and condemn him again, knowing that?”
Damos Kattalakis, the direct descendent of Eumon and Helena who currently held the Arcadian Drakos seat, rose. Slowly, cautiously, he approached Max and Illarion.
His face unreadable, he removed the feathered mask that covered the Sentinel marks on his face. Running his hand over the scales and delicate workmanship, he studied the mask before he spoke. “It is the custom of my patria to make these out of the remains of the Katagaria we’ve slain. It’s done to remind us that while they are animals, we are not. That we are civilized and descended from the blood of princes. In particular, Eumon Kattalakis.”
He dropped the mask to the floor and met Max’s gaze, then Illarion’s. “I don’t know why my great-grandmother failed to tell us of you, but I promise that if I should be fortunate enough to have dragonets one day, they will know the truth and what we owe our Katagaria cousins.” Striking his shoulder with his fist, he saluted Max and Illarion. “Thank you for saving my family. As the head of the Kattalakis Drakos, I swear that should we ever hear the Bane-Cry of you, or your mates or children, every member of our patria will answer. On our honor.”
Max inclined his head and saluted him back. “Thank you.”
Smiling, Damos drew him in for a hug, then Illarion. “My father rolls in his grave.” He turned back at Savitar and scowled. “Is this why you’ve always hated me?”
Savitar nodded. “Sins of the father, brother. Sins of the father. But today, you took the right step. And I saw it.”
Snorting, Damos appeared less than amused as he turned toward Dare Kattalakis. “What of you, cousin?”
“They can kiss my furry ass. We’re still at war.”
“You should have eaten the wolves, little brother.” Everyone in the room turned to look at Falcyn for his dry, emotionless, and very callous words.
He stared back, completely unrepentant. “Just saying. They’re crispy when fried. Lean meat. Low gristle. It would have saved everyone the migraine of dealing with them now.”
Fury choked. “Speaking as one of the wolves, I’m extremely offended by that.”
“Good,” Falcyn said without a hint of remorse or apology in his tone. “I’ve offended wolves and Were-Hunters alike. All I need to do now is feed on a cute, cuddly baby and my work for the day is done.”
Blaise smacked Falcyn on the chest. “Don’t worry, he’s part Charonte. Hand him some barbecue sauce and he’s happy.”
Falcyn passed such an irritable scowl at Blaise that even though he was blind, Blaise felt it and shrank back—not in fear, but from common sense.
“He’s not Charonte,” Max said drily. “That would be too easy an excuse for him, and there really isn’t one. He’s just an irritable bastard.… Much like Savitar.”
Savitar arched his brow. “I save your ass and you take a swipe at me? Really?”
“I’d apologize, but you hate insincerity more than you do insults.”
“Yeah, I do.” Savitar eyed the council members. “Well, we know where the dragons stand and where the wolves are officially.…” He looked at Vane for confirmation on their stance.
Vane cut a vicious glare at his litter mate, Dare. “Officially, the Kattalakis Lykos, both Arcadian and Katagaria, consider Max a brother. We have no issue with him and vote that the mark be stricken.”
“I second that,” Fury concurred. “And I hope you choke on it, Dare. It and my furry ass.”
Dare took a step forward, but his sister caught him and kept him from doing something profoundly stupid. Like attacking his brothers in front of the Omegrion and Savitar.
Savitar turned his attention to the other Kattalakis Drakos, who was standing with Dare and Star. Tall and dark, the Katagari Regis favored Fang more than the others.
His ebony eyes flashed as he considered his response. After a few seconds, he pulled the silver dragon pendant from his neck and looked down at it resting in his palm. “I grew up with stories about the Dragonbane and how he killed the first Arcadian in cold, vicious blood, and started our war of species. My father impressed upon me that we were never to be such animals. That we should strive to find the human in us, even when it seemed buried and lost.” He glanced to Dare and Star. “I’m thinking that my father was wrong. We should have embraced the Drakos more than that so-called humanity.”
Darion came forward to lay his pendant in Illarion’s hand. “I vote to remove the mark and I cede my seat at the council to the rightful heir. You are the one made from Prince Eumon’s blood, not my family. It’s only right that you should be the one making the laws for our people.”
Illarion shook his head. I can’t take this.
Darion held his hands up and stepped back. “You are Regis, Stra Drago. I refuse my seat. I have no right to it.”
Savitar glanced around to the rest of the Omegrion members. “For the sake of brevity, I’m assuming the rest of you concur. Is there anyone who objects?”
Dante Pontis, the Katagaria panther Regis, held his hand up. With long dark hair he wore in a ponytail, he was the epitome of a disgruntled predator. “I’m not protesting, but I have a question.” He turned toward Maxis. “Why were you marked originally?”
Max shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m an asshole.”
Dante grinned. “While, as a fellow asshole myself, I can respect that. Care to elaborate?”
“The council mood back then was a lot different. They were still raw and pissed off from being held in a cage and experimented on. They’d just been told about the curse the Fates had handed down, that we couldn’t choose our mates. They’d be assigned to us, whether we wanted them or not—and that the Fates had decreed eternal war between our species.”
And human rationale was new to the animals, Illarion inserted. They were angry and lashing out at everyone, especially my brother and me.
Max nodded. “When they started to attack me, I reacted as any drakomas would. I told them to fuck themselves and attacked back.”
Savitar snorted disdainfully. “Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.… You are allowed to say that you reacted badly.”
“All right, I reacted badly.”
“Yeah, that’s an exaggeration,” Savitar said under his breath.
Max feigned indignation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s been a million years since I last exaggerated about anything.”
Savitar rolled his eyes.
“Anyway,” Max continued. “I lost my temper over their accusations and…” He pointed up at the ceiling. “You can still see some of the marks where the fighting broke out and we almost burned down the building.”
“That’s where I reacted badly.” Savitar flashed a fake smile. “As a result, Max was condemned and I was in no mood to refute or acquit their unanimous decision. We all had a very bad day.”
“And I’ve had a few more,” Max whispered loudly.
“Yeah. Sorry about that.” Savitar crossed his arms over his chest.
“Wow,” Dante said in a sarcastic tone. “Sounds like the mood I was in when I mounted my brother’s hide to the wall of my club.”
Savitar nodded. “Basically … So, we are all in accord?”
“Yes.” Fury flashed a devilish grin. “Dare is an asshole and nobody likes him, at all.”
Dare started for him.
Fury bared his teeth. “Bring it, you little punk bastard! Let’s go! You and me. Here and now! I’m ready to pick your fur out of my teeth! C’mon!”
Vane caught Fury and pushed him back toward Max. “Did you by chance bring a leash? Or a muzzle?”
“No, but I’m thinking I should have.”
Just as Dare broke loose to run at Fury, who was still taunting him and questioning his parentage, a bright flash lit the room, causing him to pull up short.
All movement stopped as Cadegan and Thorn appeared near Savitar. Both bleeding and in bad physical shape. Like near-death bad. They lay in a tangled heap at Savitar’s feet.
Thorn had his arms around Cadegan as if he’d barely gotten them out of a nasty situation right before they’d been torn apart. The paleness of his bruised features added further testimony to that assumption.
Stunned to see the two well-seasoned warriors like that, Illarion didn’t move. Thorn had been born an ancient warlord, and had thousands of years of heavy combat experience against the damned and demented. Cadegan was a demon and Addanc of incredible power and skill.
One thing those two knew how to do …
Fight. Especially anything fanged, clawed, winged, and preternatural.
His breathing ragged, Thorn cupped Cadegan’s face in a strangely tender gesture. “You still with me, little brother?”
“Ach, aye, boyo, but only because me Jo would kick me arse if I didn’t come home to her.”
Analise Romano, who was the Arcadian Regis for the snow leopards and a doctor, rushed from her seat to Cadegan to check on him.
Thorn carefully ceded his brother’s care over to her before he stood and wiped the blood from his lips. He looked first to Fang, then Savitar. “Remember that situation I mentioned?”
“Blew up a bit?” Savitar asked sarcastically.
“Like your temper on Olympus during a full moon party. Needless to say, we have a massive problem. And our names are engraved all over that apple of fun.” Thorn moved to drape one arm over Styxx’s shoulder and the other over Acheron’s. “Checked on Mom lately?”
Acheron visibly cringed. “Ah God, what’s she done now?”
“Well,” Thorn tightened his arm around both their necks, “I’ve just got to know … whose bright idea was it to surrender Apollo’s custody to her?”
Styxx made the same grimace Acheron had worn a moment ago. “That idiot would be me. Why? What did I do?”
Thorn released Acheron to playfully slap Styxx on the face and squish his cheeks together. “Mama Apollymi found him a new playmate,” he said in the same falsetto people used when talking to small children. “She fed his ass to Kessar, and aren’t we happy he has a new friend to play with, boys and girls?” He shook his head. “No … no, we’re not. In fact, I want to bitch-slap you.”
“Oh dear gods.” Zakar repeated Acheron’s words and stumbled back. “Please tell me she didn’t.”
With a sarcastic, hysterical laugh, Thorn released Styxx, stepped back, and clapped his hands together. “No, wait! It gets so much better! You haven’t even heard the good part yet. No! Yeah … she decided it would be a great idea to turn Apollo into a blood-bitch like you were, Z. Yes … yes, she did.”
Groaning, Zakar covered his face.
Thorn nodded and clapped the Sumerian god on the back. “At least you see the train wreck coming. At least you can identify this nightmare as it’s happening. Good for you!”
Acheron glared at him. “Enlighten those of us who can’t.”
Thorn stepped away to continue. “Long story short, Kessar fed from the god, and they made a pact to combine their fun-loving natures and kind spirits. Please note the sarcasm in my tone and don’t miss the Alaska-sized ulcer. As a result, Apollo has attacked Olympus.”
“No.” Acheron shook his head. “I was there. That was Kessar who attacked Olympus.”
“No, punkin.’ That was Apollo leading those demons. It’s how they got in. Three guesses what he wanted. And world peace is definitely not one of them.”
“Revenge.”
Thorn shook his head at Dante and made a sarcastic buzzer sound. “Too easy, and a given. Guess again.”
Sick to his stomach, Max exchanged a panicked stare with Illarion.
Thorn applauded. “Oh look, I think the dragons got it. And why shouldn’t they? Illarion, being the son of Ares, ought to know exactly what he wants.”
He’s after the Spartoi.
“Yes. Yes, he is.”
Fury scowled. “What’s the Spartoi? Is that like a plastic model of the 300 characters? God, someone, please tell me that it’s an action figure and not what I fear it might be.…”
Seraphina grimaced. “No. It’s your fear, I’m sure. They’re a rather nasty and invincible branch of Ares’s army. It’s said that when a Drakone of Ares sows them into the earth, they sprout full grown, ready to battle and destroy at the command of whoever planted them.”
“And guess who has custody of those little darlings right now?” Thorn pointed to Illarion. “How do I know this? Your father squealed like a thirteen-year-old girl at a Shawn Mendes sighting.”
“Aye, he did indeed,” Cadegan agreed as he rose on shaky legs, holding his ribs. “For a god of war, Ares is a bit of a wanker. He ain’t no Aeron, that’s for sure.”
“And speaking of our favorite Celtic war god, he’s still fighting them and I need to get back and help before they make a gallu of him and we all go down in a ball of sarcastic Aeron fire. They convert him, he’ll convert his two best buddies, and I’m out. I don’t want no part of that fight. Ever.” Thorn glanced at Savitar. “Yes, I am that big a coward, for I have fought the evil that is Aeron and friends, had my ass handed to me on a platter with applesauce and garnishings, and yeah … no, thank you. Nothing is worth an ass-kicking that severe. Of which I got for nothing more than looking at his sister cock-eyed. Imagine what he’d do if I actually offended him.”
Max stepped forward. “We’ll settle this with you.”
“We?”
“The drakomai.”
Sera nodded. “And the Drakos.”
Wide-eyed and furious, Max gaped. She passed a chiding smile at him. “Don’t give me that look, Lord Dragon. I don’t want you fighting, either.”
Edena and Hadyn moved forward to join them.
“Oh hell no!” Max snapped. “I might not have a say in what Sera does, but you two I do!”
When they started to protest, Seraphina shook her head. “Your father’s right. Neither of you is ready for this. And if you roll those eyes at me, young lady, I’ll ground you till the sun explodes, and your brother, too, just because he taught you to do it when you were little.”
Edena huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I liked it better when they didn’t talk or get along.”
Hadyn nodded his agreement, but wisely remained silent.
As Thorn moved back to leave, four Were-Hunters fell to the floor for no reason.
Dead.
Silence echoed as everyone knew exactly what it meant. Those were bonded mates whose spouses had been killed somewhere else. Three council members and one of the Arcadian wolves who’d come in with Star and Dare. For that to happen simultaneously, there was only one cause.
War.
“What the fuck?” Dante breathed.
Thorn and Savitar went pale.
As did Acheron. “They’re dividing and attacking our families to thin our defenses and hit our morale.”
“It’s working,” Fury said in a panicked tone.
Savitar motioned for Zakar, Sin, and Styxx. “We’ll see to Apollymi in Kalosis and make sure she’s secure.”
Thorn jerked his chin at the Peltiers and the Kattalakis brothers. “We’ll take Sanctuary. Sera, you better join us. Nala’s with them. I can feel it.”
Cadegan and Blaise exchanged a determined look. “We’ll stay here to guard your young. No fears there for you.”
Acheron looked to the drakomai. “We’ll return to Olympus, and finish it. Once and for all.”
Illarion and Max nodded.
“Remember, Maxis,” Sera reminded him. “There is no I in team.”
He winked at her. “True, but there is in win, fight, and die.”
“And you’d best not do the latter.”
Inclining his head, Max turned and joined Acheron and his brothers. It’d been centuries since he’d gone to real war with Falcyn and Illarion. Yet it seemed like no time at all as they changed forms and fell into formation.
As eldest, Falcyn took lead. The Katagaria Drakos came to fight with them on Olympus while the Arcadians went with Sera and the others to protect Sanctuary.
By the time they arrived, Apollo and Kessar had virtually torched every building, and most of the gods had withdrawn from the conflict. Only a brave handful remained to try and salvage what they could. The Greek god Demon and his twin, Phobos. Most of the Dream-Hunters.
Only Apollo’s temple remained standing perfectly intact. But that wasn’t their target or destination.
Ares’s temple was what drew their attention. The iron structure had the front doors ripped open. And the perches that were usually manned by Insidia and Nefas stood empty. Bodies of demons smoldered on the steps.
Obviously, Kessar and Apollo had gone there looking for the Spartoi and found nothing.
It was easy to find where the Malachai demon—a natural enemy of the Greeks—was still embroiled in a bitter fight against Apollo and the gallu.
Illarion smiled at the sight. The Malachai had always been stubborn in a brawl. They never knew when to give up or surrender. It was one of the things he liked best about the man, Nick Gautier, and it was what had kept Nick from turning evil like the rest of his brethren.
So far, at least.
Even though Nick had been born cursed and destined to be one of the creatures who ultimately destroyed the earth, he battled an inner war every day to keep himself from crossing over and becoming what his father had been.
“Incoming!”
Max moved to engage the winged gallu demons first. Illarion and Falcyn stayed at his back, covering his flank.
Zakar had been right. The gallu were vicious in their skills.
“Don’t let them scratch you!” Acheron warned, unaware of the fact that they were immune.
Illarion spewed fire and swept the ground, razing as much of it as he could. Fire would purify the gallu and keep their disease from spreading and infecting anyone else and turning them into mindless gallu slaves. He and his brothers fell in beside the former Dark-Hunter Zarek and the Dream-Hunter leader, Jericho while they tried to route a group of demons out of the Hall of the Gods.
It took a while, but they eventually had them on the run, headed up the hill toward Apollo’s temple.
Winged himself and as a Titan god of war, Jericho shot up between the dragons. “Thanks for the assist.”
Falcyn inclined his head to him. “What are they after?”
“Apollo showed up, telling Zeus to abdicate. You know how that went. Even though he’s just a figurehead these days, Zeus tossed a few lightning bolts at him and it was on.”
With a hand covered by sharpened silver claws he used as a weapon, Zarek grabbed a demon that tried to bite him, ripped out its throat, and slung it so hard, it flew up and almost hit Max.
“Hey!”
“Duck,” Zarek said sarcastically, a little late.
Max flipped off the surly god.
For once, Zarek ignored the insult as he headed after another group. At least someone enjoyed the fighting.
Suddenly, Illarion caught an odd note over the sounds of battle. At first, he thought he was hearing things.
But it seemed to grow louder.…
He shook his head in denial. No.
It was a figment of his imagination. A vague memory caused by war and the memories it stirred. Nothing more.
Just something weird in the wind.
Yet it didn’t abate.
Worse, it began to lure him like the call of a siren.
Without a word and unable to resist the musical summons, Illarion tucked his wings and landed near his father’s temple.
Max landed beside him. “Is something wrong?”
Do you hear that?
“Hear what?”
Illarion cocked his head as he heard it even more clearly now, and it was definitely inside the temple. It’s Cercamon.
“Who?”
A twelfth-century troubadour. Edilyn was forever making me take her to see him play.
Max heard it then. Light and subtle. Barely audible and yet distinct.
Bel m’es quant ilh m’enfolhetis
E•m fai badar e•n vau muzan!
De leis m’es bel si m’escarnis
O•m gaba dereir’o denan,
Qu’apres lo mal me venra bes
Be leu, s’a lieys ven a plazer.
What the hell? Why would that be playing in the background? It seemed a strange choice for a Greek god of war.
Metallica, Pantera … that would make sense. Death metal, definitely. But medieval love poetry?
Nah, it just didn’t fit.
Illarion turned human so that he could sneak inside for a peek. Max followed suit only to find that it wasn’t Ares who was playing and singing in the middle of battle.
It was Apollo. Which kind of made sense, he supposed, since Apollo was the god of music and poetry, and rather passive.
Sure, why not? Him and Nero. Fiddling while Rome, or in this case, Olympus burned.
The god probably needed the light from the fires to read with his old eyes.
As if sensing their presence, Apollo stopped playing and narrowed his gaze angrily on the shadows that concealed them. “Little dragons, all in a row. Tell the big Greek god, how deep does your sorrow flow?”
Illarion curled his lip.
Max grabbed Illarion’s arm and tried to pull him back, but Illarion refused to obey.
He needed to wring Apollo’s neck.
Apollo rose to his feet, while he continued to pluck at his lyre. “I know you’re there, son of Ares. I can feel you. Come and give your uncle a hug … sing with me.”
Illarion actually took a step forward.
Max sank his claws into his brother’s arm, hoping the pain might get through to him since nothing else was working, and shook his head no. It’s a trick!
Pressing his lips together, Illarion finally hesitated.
“Ahh,” Apollo said in a petulant tone. He plucked a sour note. “Don’t you trust me, Illy? You do know that’s why Dagon chose you for his experiments all those centuries ago, don’t you? Because you were my nephew, he thought to use you to spare the Apollites my curse. He knew my love for you, as your uncle, would sway my mercy. It’s why I begged Zeus and the Fates to spare you from the slaughter.”
Apollo tsked. “Your jealous half brother Max didn’t tell you that, did he? That I never wanted you harmed. You and Lycaon’s sons were to be excluded from the cleansing. Your brother lied to you, Illarion, to save his own ass, and to win you to his cause. It’s what he’s been doing since the very beginning. Why do you think he left you trapped all those centuries in Le Terre Derrière le Voile?”
Max gaped furiously at that accusation. Bullshit! You know better, Illy. You were there. You heard them, same as I. That’s not the way it happened!
“Don’t listen to him. You aren’t born of Arel blood, little nephew. You have no loyalty to anyone save our pantheon. Join us and I’ll give you what you want most.”
“Illarion.” Max spoke out loud, trying to reach his brother through whatever spell the god was weaving with his lyre and words. “Don’t listen to Apollo. He’s lying. You know he’s lying!”
He was right. Illarion knew Apollo couldn’t speak honestly if he had to. It just wasn’t in the worthless bastard. Hell, even his instrument was pronounced as a liar.
Illarion took a step back and grabbed on to Max’s arm to steady himself.
Relieved beyond belief that his brother had chosen wisely, Max wrapped his arms around him and held him close. He could feel Illarion trembling against him.
Until a light, musical voice called out with the cadence of a perfect angel.
“Illarion?”
In that moment, Illarion’s world came crashing down.
For a full minute, he couldn’t breathe.
Stunned. Shocked. Incredulous, he pulled back and looked up with wide eyes. No. It couldn’t be.
Edilyn?
“I’m here, my precious dearling. I’ve missed you so much!”
Apollo laughed. “All you have to do is join me, nephew. Help me take back what was stolen and I’ll see you reunited with your Edilyn.”
Max shook his head and held on tight to Illarion’s arm. “You can’t do this! Illarion! It’s a trick!”
Illarion looked from his brother to Edilyn. This was no trick. He would know that voluptuous body anywhere. Those blue eyes that laughed and shined more vibrantly than the sun …
That ebony hair that caressed his skin like the finest silk.
She had no equal in this world. No one could fake her beauty. He’d lain awake for centuries, tortured with the memories of every nuance of her.
His eyes haunted, Illarion met Max’s gaze with a longing insanity. And if it were Seraphina? What choice would you make, brother?
The truth of that statement burned like fire in Max’s golden eyes. He knew what choice he’d make.
The same one Illarion did as he shoved his brother back and ran to Apollo.
In that moment, Max knew he couldn’t stay. If he did, he’d be forced to fight the last creature on this planet he’d ever harm.
The brother he’d spent a lifetime protecting.
Worse, he knew that wasn’t Edilyn. It couldn’t be. It was an illusion of some kind. But Illarion was so desperate to have her back that he didn’t care. He was past listening to reason.
He was past caring about consequences and Max couldn’t fault him for that. Not after he’d been there here himself.
Distracted, Max glanced back into the temple to check on Illarion as he embraced whatever demon or creature wore the skin of his brother’s wife. His thoughts and emotions were so scattered and raw that for a moment, he forgot he was still in a human body.
Forgot he was in the middle of a war and a battle.
But he was reminded fast when a demon materialized in front of him and ran him completely through his heart with a sword, and kicked him to the ground, leaving him there to die.