Chapter Eleven
It was close to two weeks later when the next issue popped up. Two weeks of being with her men agreed with her in every possible way. Sadly, however, there had been more and more incidents of Hades invading her dreams.
Walking into the computer room, Rachael took drinks to Owen and then her men. She stood behind them and listened to them all talking. “So have you learned anything new? I really hope you have because I want to be able to get back to work.” She could create the weapons she made there at the farm. However, she kept pushing back meetings with the Pentagon. “There’s a referendum on the Hill right now which would necessarily not only put me out of work but would open the door for foreign companies to come in and create subpar weaponry for the men and women in the field. That’s something I can’t let be passed.”
Owen shook his head at her. Wyatt tugged her between his legs to wrap an arm around her. “When would you need to be there, darling?” he asked softly. “And for how long?”
“If I could be there at the first of the month, three weeks away, I would be okay. I would need to be there to state my findings and give my side of things, so maybe a week?” She shrugged. “I’ve looked over the weapons that this outside source wants to create, and they simply won’t hold up against time. And if they were to use them along with the poor-quality control rankings that the country would use, it only means men and women in the service would pay with their lives.”
“You do realize they’ll think you’re only saying that because you want to keep your job, right?” Owen said over his shoulder. He was rocking his chair back and forth a few inches as he scrolled through something on his screen. “You need to get some others to also testify to the weapons’ crappiness. Like those that actually use them would be best. You should talk to Mik and Nolan. Have them look the weapons over and then they can both go along with you.”
“There have been others, and I sent the schematics to several highly respected think tanks, and their data all agrees with what I say. They can say it’s just me trying to save my job, but it’s not.” She relaxed against Wyatt and nodded. “You know, I think that having Mikhail or Nolan testify as well would be a very good thing. A sniper who’s very well-regarded, and Nolan, who people think walks on water. I believe you’re onto something there. Thanks.”
“You are very welcome,” Owen shot her a quick grin over his shoulder. His attention soon returned to the screens. “Besides, it’ll be good for Mik to finally be able to tell those assholes what he really thinks. Might be a challenge keeping him from strangling any of the pompous assholes, but at least it’ll make for a good story.”
“You really should have stopped at the thank you, bro,” Dieter told him. “Mikhail will behave—don’t worry about it, sweetheart. Besides which, we’ll be there as well to help out if you need us.”
“I do so love when you give me a hand,” Rach confessed with a breathy sigh just for Dieter. Just then, an uneasy feeling went through her, and Rach went still. “What if he’s using me to get to you?” she whispered, fear tingeing her words. “Hades. What if his frequent visits in my dreams are a way of pinging me, so to speak. Sort of like sonar?” She didn’t know if that was possible, but Hades was a god, after all.
“Ares doesn’t seem to think it’s possible. He and the other gods beefed up everything, though, on the off chance he was mistaken. Apollo thinks it’s more psychological warfare than anything else. He believes that Hades views you as the weak link, a way for him to gather intel to assist in his search for the other keys, and a way for him to figure his way free from the Underworld. We all know differently. Wyatt and I know how strong you are, how you stand up to him each time he tries to peck at you. I’m grateful that Wyatt can be there at your side in the dreams to keep you safe. Be nice to know what my little parting gift from the gods was, though.”
“I’m sure you’ll learn what it is sooner rather than later. What about the other men? Have any of them shown any signs of what their … parting gifts … are?” She didn’t know if the other men had abilities. They all seemed so tight-lipped about their time with the gods, and she got that. Plus, Rach didn’t want to do anything that might make them uncomfortable.
“Ares is still digging into his heritage to see if there’s a link to a god somewhere along the line. Apparently, what he’s been showing off infrequently is their omnipotence. Their ability to know everything at all times. He’s also able to get into the gods’ heads, though he says it’s merely his ability to read people that help him screw with them. Gareth isn’t buying it.”
“Yeah, I don’t either. I mean, come on, I don’t think that anyone could get into a god’s mind just by watching their facial expressions. I’ve watched them all carefully, and if they have a tell, it’s one that I have yet to see. The only thing that I’ve seen is Uncle Apollo’s left thumb twitches when he starts to get pissed.”
“You’re also not a sniper with an eye for details even the rest of us can miss. Kasper seems to be able to do it with Artemis from time to time, but she hasn’t gotten around to messing with the other two yet.” Wyatt shot her a look in the mirror. “Personally, I think Mik had a recessive gene from a god somewhere in his line that activated when we got our training. It makes the most sense, but getting an answer out of that man is sometimes a challenge even we aren’t up for.”
“True. Or perhaps it was something that also turned up when he bonded with Camilla? I mean, look at the two of you. Wyatt got his ability to pull me out of the dreaming, and you do seem to be stronger and more in tune with all of our physical well-being. Or am I wrong?”
Dieter frowned at her before nodding slowly. “Now that you mention it, I suppose you’re right. I never even noticed that until you pointed it out. I really should pay more attention, I guess.”
“Well, it’s my job to pay attention to you, sweetheart.” Dieter had known when she was sick just two nights earlier. He brought her tea and crackers and made her stay in bed. He had been wonderful to her, and she couldn’t deny him anything. “So could be that the gifts from the gods are tied into your beings? The very basics of who you are?”
“I’d assume so since we would need to use them. It would have to take root from some point in each of us. Interesting that both of our abilities seemed garnered to protecting you,” Dieter said. He hugged her closer and pressed a kiss to her lips.
“I don’t know if I should apologize for that or not. I like that you do both protect me, but I would hate for you to only have that ability because of having to keep me safe. Especially if you wanted something cooler like Mikhail’s or something.”
“Who says it’s the only thing that we’ll end up with?” Wyatt asked. He was right; they could end up with more. “Maybe it’s only because it was what was needed right now that it showed up first. My guess is everything we ended up with from our time with the gods will be situationally triggered. It’s a theory, of course, but it seems to make sense.”
“That does make sense, actually. Well, let’s hope that when your abilities are triggered it’s not in the moment of lif- and-death battle. To be distracted by whatever that they give you in a crucial moment would be a dangerous thing indeed.”
“Since they can’t give us any idea of why this is even happening, except for our stay up there, we can’t say one way or another. Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve gotten a kick in the pants of a shocker in the middle of life-or-death situations. We’ve learned to roll with it, put it on the back burner, and deal with it when we have the time.”
“That’s good. I would be very upset with the two of you if either of you was harmed,” she stated quietly. “I happen to enjoy being able to have you both with me far too much for you to be hurt.” She would do anything and everything in her power to keep them safe, from now until forever.
“We feel the same way about you, Rachael.” Dieter shifted her so he could wrap her in both arms for a good, solid hug. “You are ours, and the asshole that comes for you better have his insurance policy paid up.”
“Agreed. Just like if they’re going to come for one of you, they damn well better be ready for what I have to do to them. I might not be Mikhail or Kasper when it comes to shots, but I know weapons. I would ensure that anyone who came for you would understand the stupidity of their decision.”
When Dieter sat back, he grinned at her. “Aw, that’s so sweet. You would have the element of surprise, too. They’d never think someone as adorable as you could hurt a fly. Gods, I can only imagine the looks when they figured out how wrong they were.”
“Too true. I would likely be able to at least get a few swats in before they finally clued in and beat me back. Although I hopefully won’t ever be in that position, right?”
“Hopefully not,” Dieter said.
“Swats? Really? That sounds seriously ineffectual, darling,” Wyatt said. “I think we need to give you a little more in the way of training so that, the gods forbid, you need it you have the skills to do some massive damage. Actually have them rethinking coming at you.”
“Well, you have to remember that most of my life I’ve been cloistered in a lab or on a weapons range testing the products I’ve created. Believe me, I don’t much care for it, but it’s the truth. I don’t get out much. At all.” And she had guards around her practically all the time so she had never had to learn to protect herself. Besides, she could do far more than a few swats. She designed the weapons and could of course fire them competently.
“As much as we’d love to cloister you away, it’s highly impractical. You’d likely start to complain soon enough. Which means we need to give you at least the very basics. Not only for the big, bad threats out there, but also because a woman should know how to take care of herself,” Dieter told her.
“Thank you for that.” She meant it, too. “For being willing to teach me at least the basics. I’m not sure I could ever be as tough as Kasper, but I would like to be able to be a strong woman who can take care of herself in most situations.”
“You are a strong woman. We’ll just be adding to your arsenal. It’ll also be an excuse to get you into some shorts and a little tank top. We’ll get you all hot one way, then find other ways to keep you sweaty,” Wyatt said with a wink.
“Oh, honey, all you have to do is ask me. Either that or you could come and find Kasper and Camilla while the three of us go through the hell that is Zumba. Although we’ve learned to enjoy ourselves with that exercise.”
“We know, we get quite a kick out of watching the tapes. Owen saves them for us so we can view it later if we’re busy, or he’ll route it up to the big TV in the den so we can relax and watch it live. You have excellent form, by the way, even if you are a foul-mouthed little hellion while you’re pushing yourself through it.” Wyatt shot her another grin in the mirror and added an eyebrow wiggle.
“Oh, lord.” She just laughed—she couldn’t help it. With Owen’s groan and her men’s hot looks, she couldn’t feel anything but the intense and deep attraction to her men, and sighed happily as she melted against Wyatt’s chest.