Evans, Gabrielle - Hypnotic Healing [Fatefully Yours 6] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (18 page)

“Me?”

“Stay inside,” Eyce repeated. “Craze?”

“I’ll keep him safe,” Craze swore.

“Wait, wait, wait! What the hell is a daemon? What’s a
Watcher
?”

“It’s like an angel,” Jinx answered him quietly. “It’s what you are.”

“No.” Echo shook his head vehemently. “Angels do not drink blood. They have wings and halos and play the harp. I am not an angel!” Sprinting across the room, ducking and dodging his lovers, Echo wrenched open the front door and stepped out into the night.

After all the noise he’d heard moments before, he was more than a little surprised to find Ares standing alone in the middle of their front yard. His chest was bare as always. His black, leather pants clung to his massive thighs. His long, dark hair swirled behind him in the wind. He looked just like what he was—a pissed off Greek god.

“You’re wrong, Ares,” Echo called. He could feel the warmth of his lovers at his back as he slowly stepped down the stairs. “I’m not what you think I am.”

“You were supposed to die.” Ares growled viciously, his eyes flashing in the dark. “But you couldn’t even do that right, could you?”

The comment might have hurt Echo’s feelings if he knew what the hell it was supposed to mean. All he got out of it was that Ares had tried to kill him. “I thought you wanted me? How am I useful to you if I’m dead?”

“I don’t want you!”

Uh, okay. Echo was becoming more confused by the minute. “Then why are you here?”

Strong fingers curled over Echo’s shoulder, preventing him from going any closer to the irate god. “You made a deal, Ares. You are bound by your covenants to see it through.” Hex stepped in front of Echo, blocking his view of the half-naked man on their lawn.

“Rules are made to be broken,” Ares answered snidely.

“Ares!” a feminine voice called. “You are behaving as a child. You have made your case before the gods of Olympus and have been granted your right to battle on the autumnal equinox.”

Echo peeked around Hex’s arm, his mouth falling open as a tall, voluptuous, and amazingly beautiful woman stepped between them and Ares. He’d never seen anything like her. Long legs, flowing, dark brown hair, and flawless skin stretched over softly defined muscles—she could only be a goddess.

Clothed in a short dress of soft leather, the woman held herself proudly. She held a bow in one hand, hanging loosely and non-threateningly by her side. A quiver of arrows settled against her back, held in place by a strap across her bare shoulder.

“Sister,” Ares sneered. “You have a nasty habit of sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Tell me”—Ares waved a hand toward Echo—“is this your doing?”

The woman turned slowly, gracing Echo with a soft smile. “You took what did not belong to you, Ares. I simply returned him.”

“It was not your place!” Ares roared.

The goddess spun around with an angry hiss. “No,
brother
. You have overstepped your boundaries, and now must pay the consequences. I’ve been sent to return you to Olympus to face Father.”

“Zeus,” Hex whispered for Echo’s benefit.

“And that one?” Ares demanded, pointing at Onyx.

The woman shrugged. “He is a strong warrior. Not even your pack of beasts could bring him down.”

“I sent seven of my best wolves for him,” Ares argued. “You lie. This is your doing as well.”

She shrugged again. “Father wishes to see you.”

“Father does not control me.”

The goddess laughed softly. “We shall see.” She looked over her shoulder and dipped her head. “Do not forsake your gift.” Then her hand landed on Ares’s shoulder, and they both disappeared in a flash of blindingly white light.

“That explains a lot,” Fiero grumbled. “What the hell was she doing here?”

“Was that…” Echo looked around the small circle at his lovers.

“Athena,” they chorused at the same time Echo said, “the Oracle?”

Chapter Thirteen

Onyx was just as confused as Echo. Athena was the Oracle? Why would Ares’s sister be trying to help them? Athena brought Echo over as a daemon? The thought made his blood run cold.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Echo whispered.

Shaking his head, Onyx pulled his mate to him and kissed the top of his head. “I’m just glad that you’re okay.”

They filed back into the living room, no one speaking as they found their original seats on the sofa, love seat, or floor. “What happened?” Jet asked immediately. “Is everyone okay?”

“Everyone is fine,” Hex answered. “Just a little confused, I think.”

“So, what happened?”

“We’ll get to that later.” Hex shifted on the couch cushion until he could face Echo. Onyx looped his arm around the small man, holding him tightly to his chest and offering comfort the only way he knew how. “Echo do you understand what just happened?”

Echo shook his head slowly. “What did she mean that Ares took me away? And what is a daemon or a
Watcher
?”

“I believe Ares is the one who abducted you after the party.” Hex took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he shoved both hands through his long hair. “Baby, I don’t know how to say this…”

“He killed you,” Onyx finished when Hex didn’t continue. “A daemon is like a spirit. Benevolent and good, they’re usually the ghosts of heroes.”

Echo’s hand patted at his chest hastily. “I’m not a ghost. I can feel me. You can feel me, right? I’m not a ghost!”

“No, sweetheart.” Eyce moved to kneel at Echo’s feet. “You’re not a ghost. To give a daemon a corporeal form requires sacrifice. Our blood, not to put too fine a point on it.”

“So, if I don’t drink from you then I’ll what? Fade away? Die? What?”

Eyce nodded reluctantly. “You will not die, but yes, you will fade away from your body.”

Onyx smoothed his hand up and down Echo’s chest, petting his mate’s hair with the other. Echo trembled in his arms, his chest heaving, and his heart kicking against Onyx’s palm. “No, no, no,” Echo chanted in a pathetic whimper.

“You were okay with being a vampire,” Onyx teased, “but this is too much?”

A sharp elbow caught him in the ribs. “Shut up.”

Onyx chuckled and pressed his lips to Echo’s temple. “It doesn’t mean anything, sweetheart. You were always ours. You always will be. You just have a new kink now, and to be honest, I think it’s pretty hot.”

“Really?” So much hope dripped from the word that Onyx smiled.

“Do you think it matters to us? It doesn’t matter what package you come in, Echo. We’re not letting you go.”

“He really killed me?”

“Yes, and I’m so sorry.” Onyx’s chest tightened with the realization that he could have lost everything. He would always be indebted to Athena.

“I died,” Echo whispered. “Wow, what a prick.”

The words were so unexpected that it drew a quiet laugh from Onyx. “You are amazing,” he breathed into Echo’s hair.

“I’ll remind you of that next time you complain about doing the laundry.” He kissed Onyx’s cheek and turned his attention to Mac. “Are you okay?”

Mac tried to smile, but it fell short. “Yeah, I feel tired and a little dizzy, but I’ll be fine.”

“Did you see something?” Hex asked.

“Not really. It was more like something stabbing me in the brain. I think the other residents are in danger.”

“Mac, you’re not one of them anymore.” Gage brushed his mate’s hair back from his face. “You’re never going back there.”

Mac waved him away. “Oh, I know. That doesn’t change the fact that they’re in trouble.”

“You saw this?” Hex asked.

“Just flashes. Things are not coming as clearly as they usually do. It feels kind of like a tug-of-war inside my head. As though something is trying to block the visions, while something else is forcing them through.”

“We need to help them.”

Onyx closed his eyes and groaned at Echo’s words. While he felt sorry for the men trapped inside that facility, hated what they were forced to endure at Ares’s hands, it wasn’t their problem. They didn’t have the time or the resources to execute a rescue mission of that magnitude. “They can help,” Echo said quickly, anticipating the argument. “We can’t just leave them there. It’s not right!”

“We don’t even know where they are,” Eyce said reasonably. “The new moon is in less than a week. I think we have enough on our plate without adding to it.”

“You’d come for me.”

Eyce sighed. “That’s different, and you know it. I’m sorry, Echo, but the answer is no.”

“I know the kind of power they have. Wouldn’t it be better to have that on our side instead of Ares’s?”

Onyx started to argue, but Hex cleared his throat and stood, commanding their attention. “We’ll talk about it more tomorrow. I’m not saying yes,” he told Echo directly, “but I’m not saying no, either. I need to think about this, weigh the advantages against the trouble it will bring us.”

Echo dipped his head and smiled. “I can work with that.”

* * * *

He’d died. He’d actually fucking died! And no one seemed to have a problem with this besides him.

Echo dropped his chin to his chest and breathed deeply as the hot water from the shower beat against his shoulders, working the tension out of his muscles. When he’d thought he was a vampire, he’d accepted that. Jinx and Syn were vampires, and they were his friends. He’d had someone to turn to, ask questions, help him navigate the murky waters of his new existence.

He didn’t know anyone that had ever died—well, no one he could talk to now. He was a ghost, but not a ghost. Gods, he was so confused.

Washing and rinsing quickly, Echo shut off the water and climbed out of the shower. Hex stood there waiting for him, gloriously naked and holding a fluffy towel. Without a word, he stepped forward and began rubbing the cotton over Echo’s body, patting his skin dry before moving on to his hair.

Echo sighed and soaked up the attention. He needed this. Needed to know he was still wanted, still desired. Things had changed so much in such a short span of time, he’d been worried his men would reject him.

And that would be more painful than death. Though, come to think of it, he didn’t remember his death being painful. Hell, he didn’t remember it all. After the blow to the head from that massive boot, he’d checked out of consciousness, not waking up until he was safe at home once more.

“Bed,” Hex whispered. He lifted Echo into his arms and kissed his forehead. “I know things are scary right now, but we love you. Just focus on that, and everything else will take care of itself.”

Hex carried him into the bedroom and lowered him gently to the mattress before sliding in beside him. Once Hex was settled, Echo immediately moved into his embrace, wrapping an arm around his mate’s chest and clinging for dear life. If he let go of Hex, everything would fall apart, and he’d be left alone once again. He needed the grounding, the calm and peace that only his men could give him.

Interpreting his distress, Hex clutched him tighter, stroked his hair, and whispered words to him in a beautiful language Echo had never heard before. Though he didn’t understand the words, the meaning was clear. Hex spoke of love, honor, devotion, and acceptance. He laid his heart bare, placing it in Echo’s hands.