Chosen (8 page)

Chapter Eleven

S
ilence hung in the cemetery like an unwanted guest until Kyana couldn't take it anymore. “What the hell were Dark Mages doing here?”

Haven rubbed her arms, her face ashen. “I don't know. Mages are solitary by nature. But to perform a spell like that”—she pointed to the open grave—“it would take at least five of them.”

“What the hell kind of spell was that anyway?”

“A trap. Simple as that. They had to know the Order would send someone here to investigate. That charm wasn't exactly hidden,” Haven said. “They had to know some moron would pick it up. No offense.”

Kyana growled. “Offense taken.”

She suddenly felt like the dumb-ass monkey sidetracked by an
ooh shiny!
All she was missing was some poo to sling.

Hoping to divert the attention away from her chimp self, she changed the topic. “So, if they're solitary, then a group of them would stand out,” Kyana said. “We can track them.”

Haven gave Kyana a look that said maybe she hadn't even made it to chimp status. Maybe she was just a baboon. “The only way you can take down a Mage is with magic. And you two still know jack shit about what you can do. That leaves me, and as much as it punctures my ego to admit it, I don't have enough power to take on a full group of Mages on my own.”

Geoffrey flicked the conduit of Hades glimmering on his chest, its soft glow pulsing through his shirt. “I have this. Whatever I haven't learned yet, the conduit will sort out.”

Kyana glanced down at her own conduit, dangling from a chain around her neck. Artemis's golden arrow wasn't nearly as powerful as Geoffrey's amulet. It wasn't one of the Eyes of Power created for Cronos's children, but it contained enough magic within its golden shell to give Kyana some semblance of comfort.

She gripped it in her fist, feeling the immediate calm that holding it brought her. Her gaze steady on Haven, she took a deep breath and voiced what she knew was going to cause an argument.

“If they feed off Witches, maybe you shouldn't come. You can stay with Artemis in my temple and just let us handle this. The last thing we need is for these assholes to gain more power.”

Or for you to get hurt.
Kyana wasn't sure she could take losing Haven all over again.

“Forget it, Kyana.” Haven's glare was venomous. “I'm not hiding while you two run around pretending you know what you're doing. If I hadn't been here, this trap would have killed you.”

“But it's your Witch heritage that will draw them to us. Right?”

“My being with you isn't going to light up the sky like the bat signal. However, I might be able to come up with a spell or two that will help us find them.”

“And if they find you first?”

“Then we'll have to make sure they can't touch my power.”

“How?”

Haven frowned, scratching at her wrist—a nervous tic that only came when she was truly scared or confused. “I'll think of something.”

“We'll all think on it,” Geoff said. “In the meantime, Kyana and I are going to be useless if we don't replenish our reservoir of ambrosia.”

He was right, and while she carried a vial of ambrosia with her, she required food in order to consume it. Undiluted ambrosia could be deadly to the gods.

“We need to get back to Beyond. It's almost sunrise, and after what just happened, Kyana, you need to heal.”

She glanced down at the rips in her leather pants and the crusted, bloody wounds revealed beneath them. It would take ambrosia and sleep to heal properly, but in a few hours, there wouldn't be a mark left on her.

“Fine. I want to talk to Ares anyway. Artemis insists that he has to be kept in the loop as far as strategy since this could very well lead to war, and honestly, I'm too tired to think. Maybe his fresh perspective on this will give us a starting point.”

As they crossed Castillo Drive to the fort, Haven stopped in the middle of the street and whirled around to face them, her eyes wide. “I need to see Silas.”

“Why? What's wrong?” Kyana broke away from Geoffrey's side and hurried to Haven's.

“If there's even the slightest chance that we'll run into the Mages, I have to see him first. When we get back to Olympus, will you ask Ryker to summon him? I'll speak to him while you two rest.”

“You need to rest too,” Geoffrey said, brushing her hair away from her ear, even as she ducked to avoid his touch.

“I will.
After
I see Silas.”

Kyana shrugged and ushered them all onto the grassy hills toward the fort's entrance. “I'll see what I can do.”

They made their way past the sentinels and toward the portal alcove that would take them Beyond. As soon as they were away from prying ears, Kyana asked Haven, “What can Silas do for you that we can't?”

Something in the depths of Haven's yellow-green eyes sparkled and Kyana thought she saw the hint of a grin on her face. “He can lend me his powers. He has more than enough right now while he's standing in for Poseidon. He won't need his Witch blood for a while, so he can sure as hell give it to me.”

Kyana blinked. “You can do that?”

Haven nodded. “It's tricky, but possible. If we succeed, then I'll have an extra layer of magic in me so it will be tougher to strip me bare if we run into the fuckers.”

“What happens if we do run into Mages and they strip all of Silas's powers off of you?” she asked.

“Then when Poseidon's real Chosen is found, Silas will be left as magic-less as a human.” She looked at Kyana, a light of humor in her eyes mingling with dread. “Going to be hard as hell convincing him we won't let that happen.”

Damned right it would be. Silas adored his Witch lineage. Any threat to it was not going to sit well with him. But he also adored Haven, and Kyana couldn't imagine him turning down a chance to help keep her protected, even if it cost him his powers.

W
hile Geoffrey took Haven into the grand foyer to wait for Silas to answer his summons, Kyana headed to her rooms with Ryker. He wasn't happy at all about her pending meeting with Ares. Too soon after the fresh wounds of their earlier argument, maybe? Whatever it was, he was trying to hide it . . . unsuccessfully. She watched him pace the large room, glancing occasionally out the large windows before resuming his pacing.

He was antsy, frustrated, and looking for a way to burn off the excess energy being trapped on Olympus was creating within him. Ryker was a leader, a take-charge warrior. Sitting on his ass, safe and protected, while others faced danger had to be eating away at his insides.

“Maybe we should spend this downtime doing something to work out your tension,” she teased, pleased when she won a crooked smile from him.

“You called for Ares, remember? Hard to get worked up when I know we'll be interrupted by
him
.”

She was trying to be patient—really she was. But he needed to get over this drama, or at least figure out how to set it aside so they could all do their jobs without so much unneeded, added conflict.

Trying to keep the exasperation from her voice, she sighed. “You're not going to be able to avoid working with him, Ryker.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “I've been working with him since I was ten. I know how to put my shit aside to get the job done. Doesn't mean I have to smile while I'm doing it.”

“You're going to have to resolve this at some point. That's a drawback to immortality. Eternity is a long time to hold a grudge.”

Or worse, what if one of them became a casualty in what they were facing now? What if one of them was killed before any resolution could be found? No. Kyana refused to consider that. Nothing was going to happen to Ryker because
she
still had unresolved issues with
him
, and she'd be damned if she let him go before she figured them all out. But if something happened to Ares, she knew Ryker well enough to know he'd beat himself up for leaving things in such a mess. Maybe they'd never bond or have a familial relationship—but some sort of understanding could be found, couldn't it?

“I just need to find my cool before I see him again. He went too far this time.”

“Because he brought up your mother—”

“Don't. I'm not going there with you either. Not right now. I'm too damned tired.”

“Fine,” she said, irritated that he could dismiss her so easily, yet unwilling to provoke him further. He looked as exhausted as she felt and it had been days since they'd had a real fight. She liked the peaceful existence they were creating together.

She made her way toward him and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging his back. Sliding her fingers beneath the soft material of his tunic, she fingered his nipple and gave it a playful pinch.

“What are you doing?”

She offered a one-shouldered shrug. “Nothing wrong with a quickie.”

Gods knew she could use it. She was still tender in a few places from her battle with the grave. A little ministration from Ryker couldn't hurt.

“Quickie? Not in my vocabulary.”

Though his words were clipped, she knew it had nothing to do with anger now. She lowered her hands to caress his belly. “Then maybe we should expand your vocabulary.”

He turned in her arms and unsnapped the pin holding her chiton over her shoulder. The gauzy material floated around her ankles, leaving her naked and slightly cold, but his heated stare fixed that problem right away.

“I always did love learning.” He brushed his lips across hers, tracing the corners of her mouth with his tongue. “How much time do we have before your meeting?”

Kyana chuckled and unfastened the belt around his waist. “That's a quickie. The definition being hurry up, 'cause we don't have long.”

Ryker captured her mouth as his hands trailed over her shoulders to cover her breasts. The stress of the day melted from his mind until only Ky and how delicious she tasted remained.

Pressing her back to the wall, Ryker slid his hand over her belly to her thighs. “Open for me,” he whispered against her mouth.

With a sigh, Kyana complied, sliding her leg up his to rest against his hip. Reclaiming her mouth, he dipped two fingers into her heat. He matched the thrust of his fingers with that of his tongue. Her hips rocked against his hand as she moaned into his mouth and he could taste the unspoken whisper of his name in the back of her throat.

He flicked his thumb over her clit and she threw her head back. He caught her throat in his free hand, latched on to the sweet pulse there with his mouth and suckled, licked, felt her grow hot against his palm and hard against his thumb.

He was dying to be inside her, to feel that slick heat wrapped around the part of him that needed it most. But the look of pure ecstasy on her face kept him from riding inside her. He wanted her to come against his hand. To die a sweet death while he watched and waited for his time to join.

But just as a trickle of sweat beaded on her brow and that silent whisper of his name found its voice and the muscles inside began to contract against his fingers, he was jolted out of his lust by the sound of the door opening.

“Ah, mate, put away the bangers and mash.”

Ryker glanced over his shoulder to see Geoffrey standing in the doorway, shielding his eyes. Kyana buried her head in the crook of his neck, her soft laughter caressing his shoulder.

“Get the hell out of here.”

“With pleasure.” He nodded at Kyana before turning to leave. “Your summons has been answered. He's waiting in the dining hall.”

When Geoff was gone, Kyana rocked against Ryker's palm. “How pissed would he be if we kept him waiting for a little while?”

The mention of Ares's name killed what little bit of Ryker's desire Geoff hadn't murdered. Brushing his lips across Ky's forehead, he moved out of her grasp. “Call for me after you're done with your meeting and we can take our time to finish this.”

Chapter Twelve

K
yana strode through the council room, anger warming her blood. It wasn't Ares waiting for her, but one of his messengers. He sent a
messenger
to talk strategy? Did he really think that little of her?

Never mind. Of course he did.

“Forgive me, Goddess,” the man said, his red cape billowing around his small frame as he swept into a low bow. “Ares bade me to tell you he has still not finished his meeting with . . . well, it is of the upmost importance that he finishes there.”

Well, at least Ares had finally decided to give her some iota of respect as a goddess. A few weeks ago, he wouldn't even have bothered with a messenger. Still, she didn't believe a word of it. She had a niggling feeling Ares was avoiding Ryker as much as Ryker was avoiding Ares.

Children
.

“Is that all he said?” She could be back in her room with Ryker, with him buried inside her and . . .

She squeezed her thighs together tightly to stop the sudden throbbing that had resumed between them at the thought of what Geoffrey had interrupted.

“Only that he plans to send his tracers farther north, and hopes you'll keep yours local.” The messenger looked a tiny bit afraid of giving her the command on Ares's behalf. Seemed her reputation was spreading through Olympus. Good. “He says to tell you that he'll be at your side if you have any news of Cronos's whereabouts. That his port will be available to you at all times until this ordeal is over.”

Ryker wasn't going to like that bit. He'd expect to be at her side for the same reason, but their porting abilities required a twenty-four-hour cooldown, so it was safest to have a backup in case they needed to get into and out of an area quickly. The two gods were just going to have to grow up and learn to deal with each other.

She rubbed her eyes, lack of ambrosia and her injuries draining what was left of her energies. She needed to eat and sleep, but the instant she closed her eyes, her mind always strayed to monsters like Mehmet and Azime and Cronos. Two of which were long dead, and the last long dead and newly revived.

She sighed, her stomach twisting into a painful knot as she replayed the dream Morpheus had given her—Azime, Mehmet, and her precious Sire, Henry. More than the fear of seeing her past husband, reliving the pain of losing Henry had been the most horrific part of her afternoon—well, that and being nearly eaten by a grave.

She had to get her mind off all that had happened so she could focus on what was to come, but she had no idea how to put it all into perspective. The world had gone fucking insane.

She meandered through the nearly empty temple halls toward her rooms and opened the door to find Geoff on his knees, peering beneath the sofa.

“What are you doing?”

Geoffrey rose to his feet and ran a hand through his hair. “Looking for my dagger.”

Kyana crossed her arms and frowned. “In here?”

“I had it when Haven and I were here earlier, during the council meeting. But I didn't have it in the cemetery.”

“Where is she?”

“Walking in the gardens. She's a bit antsy waiting for Silas to arrive. Think she's afraid he'll say no.”

“He won't.” Silas could hold his own in any confrontation. The pansy-ass attitude he'd had over the last couple of months was an act he meant to be charming, and yet others saw it as weakness. But when it came to what needed to be done or what his friends needed, he could be counted on.

This time wouldn't be different

For the next few minutes, she helped Geoff search for the dagger, but even though they looked in every nook and cranny, they came up empty.

“Maybe you lost it somewhere else,” Kyana said, brushing her hair from her face.

“I didn't lose it.”

Kyana gave a snort. “Okay, fine. Misplaced it then.” She put her hand on his shoulder and ushered him toward the door, eager for the rest she'd been promising herself since she'd been pulled out of that damned grave.

“Maybe,” he muttered. “Let me know if you find it.”

She gave him a light push and closed the door after him, sinking against it, her gaze slipping through the open door to her bedchamber to settle on the large golden tub at the foot of her bed. Steam spiraled from the water, which was hot all day long thanks to the magical touch of Artie's Nymphs.

With a sigh of longing, she made her way toward it, stripping as she walked, needing to scrub the filth of Cronos's return from her body as well as her mind. She just wished Ryker was here to offer assistance. No one else seemed better able to soothe her, when he wasn't completely infuriating her, and her body was suffering from a tiny bit of depression from their rude interruption earlier.

She sank into the moan-inducing water, her thoughts circling on Ryker. Maybe she was cruel to keep hanging on to him when she wasn't yet ready to make him any promises. He was in love with her, and she'd warned him not to let his guard down around her. She was too used to being half Vampyre to know the meaning of the word
monogamy
. But smart as he might be, her warning hadn't been enough to push him away.

He'd become a part of her life, and while she'd refused to promise him anything, she'd promised
herself
to give this thing with him an honest go. And now, as she let the steamy water slosh over her naked body, her skin came alive with sharp tingles as she contemplated their earlier activities and wished like hell they'd been able to finish them.

“That might be the sexiest thing I've seen in a long damned time.”

As though she'd summoned him from thin air, she looked up to find Ryker standing in the doorway, leaning against the jamb and watching her with such intensity the tingles turned to fire.

“It's still hot.” She wiggled her eyebrows playfully at him, straightening just enough to allow her breasts to pop free from the surface. “Feeling dirty?”

He grinned, the dimple in his cheek flashing. “Always.”

He took his time removing his godly robes, placing his sandals neatly in the corner and folding the cloth before setting it on her dresser, giving her a lingering view of his backside that made her wish both that he'd hurry the hell up and that yet he'd take his time.

“When all this goes down, you won't need armor,” she muttered, letting her hands fall to caress the tops of her breasts.

He turned, giving her a half view of the rest of him. He was already hard and, as always, magnificent. “No?”

She shook her head. “Bullets and blades would just bounce right off you.”

“It's all that surfing.”

“Keep it up.”

He stepped into the tub and she scooted backward to make room. He wasn't an overly broad man, but he was tall and solid as stone. As he eased himself in, the water instantly grew hotter.

So did Kyana.

“How did your meeting with Ares go?”

She trailed her toes over his chest.

“Do you really want to talk about
him
now?”

“Not even a little.” Snaking his arms behind her, he gave a light yank, pulling her onto his lap.

Their slippery bodies pressed tightly together as he scooped his hands beneath her ass and lifted to maneuver her just right. Then, before she could so much as steal a kiss, he moved his fingers around her thighs and slid them into her heat.

He was wasting no time getting them back to where they'd left off, and she was thankful. Moaning, she caught his mouth with hers and plunged her tongue inside to mimic his fingers' ministrations. She'd kill anyone who interrupted them now.

She wanted no reminders of what lay outside her bedroom doors and the world beyond it. Right now, she only wanted to lose herself in Ryker. It wasn't just the sexual release she craved, and that scared the hell out of her. He had become so much a part of her life, a part of who she was becoming, that she found it hard to imagine what life would be like without him.

Not willing to consider that possibility, or what it might mean, she tightened her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

Ryker sensed a change in Kyana as her arms squeezed his neck and she pushed herself more tightly against him. He wanted to know what had caused her mood to shift, but her soft pleas for more while she nibbled on his lips were maddeningly distracting.

Lifting her hips, he eased her up onto him. He moved his hands to her waist, controlling her movements to make the sensation of her slick, hot pulsations around him last. Trailing hot kisses over her neck, he captured her nipple, loving the moans of pleasure she cast into the otherwise quiet chamber.

Turning his attention to the other breast, he tugged lightly on the nipple in rhythm with the rock of her hips. She buried her face in his neck. Her panted breaths heated his flesh. She nipped at his shoulder, her fingers biting into his flesh as she tried to increase the slow movements of their slippery bodies sliding against each other.

“Please,” she whispered, dipping her tongue into his ear. “Now.”

Easing his hands slowly up her body, he leaned her back so he could watch her face. The ring of amber around her blackish eyes faded until the entire sphere was glazed as she stared at him, her mouth parted slightly, her breasts heaving. As her muscles tightened around him, he cupped her face, stroking her lips with his thumbs.

“Come for me, Ky,” he said, his entire body rigid and tense as he waited . . . waited for her to find hers so he could find his. Her tongue flicked out, her brow damp from steam and sweat as she lifted her arms to grip the sides of the tub, bucking her hips faster and faster.

She was pale. She needed ambrosia. But right now, she needed him. It was written all over her gorgeous face and it was driving him mad. She might not know it, but he was engraving himself into her life as deeply as he was engraving himself into her body right now. She wasn't just in need of sex. She was in need of
his
sex. Of his
everything
.

That thought made him come so hard, his entire body shook as she rode his pleasure toward her own and cried out his name. She fell forward, pressing her naked breasts to his chest as she buried her face in his neck.

If he died like this, would it really be death at all?

“If we could find a way,” she breathed against his neck, “to insert ambrosia into
that
I'd just feed on you all damned day.”

And with that, his body gave one last jolt of satisfaction as he closed his eyes and tried to remember how to breathe.

K
yana rested her head against Ryker's chest, her fingers dancing over his belly as his hand trailed over her back. After their bath, they'd moved to her bed. He'd stroked the fires again and again until her mind and body were too exhausted to dwell on her fears.

But now that the tremors had quieted, her thoughts returned to Cronos. “I don't know how to stop him this time.”

It felt sinful to break the peaceful quiet that had settled around them, especially with the utterance of Cronos's name. But her mind was clear now, and all the questions were coming back, one by one, invading her space with Ryker.

“It's not something you have to do alone,” Ryker said, pressing a kiss to her forehead and slipping an ambrosia-soaked strawberry into her mouth. “All the gods, old and new, are working on a solution. We'll protect Olympus.”

Kyana rested her chin on her hands and swallowed the tart fruit, trying not to be distracted by the slow circles his fingers were tracing along her spine. “And the humans we've released Above to begin rebuilding? Who's going to stand guard for them? Who knows how many
untrackable
Dark Breeds are running around now. These Novi haven't signed your treaty, which means my tracers don't have a nifty GPS on them like they do the ones who have. Sentinels know what they signed up for. It's the humans we have to consider now.”

His circling fingers stopped and as the words tumbled out of her mouth, she wished she could yank them back. He was going to see her worries as some noble proof of growth in her and she was going to kill him for pointing it out.

“You're worried about humans? You hate humans.”

She tried to move away but he tightened his arms around her, holding her to his side. “I don't
hate
humans. I just don't find much use for them. But that doesn't mean I want them all sacrificed.”

Ryker's smile made Kyana growl.

“Look at you. You're all soft and mushy.” He leaned in close and placed his lips against her ear. “Wonder if you taste like cotton candy now that all that bitterness is gone.”

“Bite me.”

“You don't bite cotton candy, babe, you let it melt in your mouth.”

She rolled her eyes and tried again to move away. He refused to let her, and honestly, she didn't try too hard. When she met his gaze again, the smile on his face deflated her lingering frustration, expelling a whoosh of air from her lungs. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

He reached for her hand, dragged her onto him so they lay belly to belly, and kissed her thoroughly, making her dizzy as she struggled to remember what they were bickering about.

“The goddess in you is very sexy,” he muttered against her mouth. “All soft and gooey. All heart and determination. You're out to save the world because you care this time, Ky. Not because you want the power or the glory that comes with being the one to defeat Cronos.”

“So? What does that have to do with anything?”

“It has everything to do with everything.” He placed another kiss to her nose, then pulled back far enough to look her in the eye. “Because it means that this time, Kyana . . . we're going to win.”