Hades (10 page)

Hades headed back into the room his mate was
in and Keelan followed him in. His eyes examined Doc full of
curiosity about this female Hades’s men spoke so highly of. She was
a doctor too but unlike the others in their life she healed with a
soft compassionate touch even though she was known to be a tough
warrior also. The delicate, fragile woman on the bed covered in
wires and an IV didn’t look strong enough to fight her way out of a
wet paper bag right now. He heard the term head trauma whispered as
Rachel, Lander’s mate, spoke softly to Hades. He would swear the
look on her face was pained, as if someone she cared for were
suffering and not just the mate of a god.

He looked at her with new eyes, as he tried
to remember his dealings with her in the past. He couldn’t really
remember her being intentionally cruel, just cold and distant.
Lander trusted her, Lander loved her without reservation. It
wouldn’t be so easy to forget all the distrust and welcome her into
the family. He needed some proof, some way to be sure that she was
as Hades thought she was.

He pushed those thoughts from his mind as he
watched Hades hold the tiny pale hand in his. It was clear he was
devoted to her even though his males said their mating had been
rife with trouble. Keelan had to admit he wanted what Hades had.
Not his mate, well she wasn’t bad, but a mate of his own and a
chance at a family. He wanted that not just for himself but for all
his brothers even the rare one or two that insisted females were
not for them.

Aeolus was one such god but Keelan could
understand his view. They had used his attachment to a female
against him then killed her anyway. Most of Origin’s henchmen were
cruel, but only a few were psychotic killers. Keelan struggled with
the decision of where he and his males would go. He hated this
place but he thought it might be better living here if they were
free.

Hades’s mate moved making a moaning sound
that told him she felt pain. Keelan looked at the beautiful female
with the long, straight white blonde hair. She had a button nose
and full sensuous lips. He couldn’t see her eyes since they were
closed but he had been told they were dark chocolate brown. He
would leave and another would come in to guard Hades and his mate.
Keelan would come back after he had slept even though there were
plenty of gods to share the duty. Maybe he was just curious but he
hoped to be with them when she woke.

He headed to his sleeping area. Origin hadn’t
gone all out for them, that was for sure. The rooms were basically
cubicles, four gods slept in two bunk bed units per room. There was
one bathroom set up community style, ten shower heads in a row with
toilets on the other side set up one after the other with no wall
in between. You got to know your brothers real well this way, too
well sometimes.

The mattresses were thin, the blankets worn,
and the pillows flat from long term use. If Origin had money left,
they were using it on something other than accommodations for their
“subjects”. He felt restless, full of all the information Hades and
his males had given him about the new free world they now belonged
to. He sent mental well wishes to Hades and Doc, it was the closest
thing to religion any of them practiced since Origin had
discouraged beliefs of any kind. He laid down to sleep, sleeping
until he woke without trying to wake up at any particular time.

He woke rested but slightly confused until he
remembered everything that had happened yesterday. Today was his
first day as a free male, the world was full of possibilities and
he was ready to for it.

Chapter 5

Spied On

Zeus sat at the head of the table in his
usual spot with Sierra beside him. He had just announced formally
that he intended to select a council to help him govern the gods.
No one looked surprised, they had already been doing that
informally. Hades and those who had accompanied him could hear what
was being said as could a handful of those just freed gods. Keelan
seemed to be the leader there and they would consider adding
leaders like him to the council if they were given more facilities
and kept them. Lu represented the demons, but if some of them took
on a facility of their own, he wasn’t sure how things would
work.

“We need to figure out how the council will
work and who will be on it. Some are a no brainer, Poseidon, Hades,
Apollo, Hercules, and Ares. Lu will represent the demons because
they have special interests. I would like to add a couple more gods
from the second tier of leadership but I want opinions on who the
rest of you want to see chosen.”

It was the beginning, in his mind, of giving
them all a say in their lives and how they would be run. No one had
complained, they all seemed happy to let him make the decisions
that determined how their lives would be, but part of that, was
that his leadership had been hammered into them since they were
young, obey or die. He wanted to lead because they wanted and
needed him to not because Origin had chosen him.

“We will now go over matters of importance.
Hermes, you and Cherish are up first.”

“Jack has contacted us on what is going on
with Cherish’s security company. He found three other supermen
hidden in various management positions and was able to track them
back to Origin. Once he knew who was taking the money, he was able
to track that too. He was able to take back around half of it
because some had been spent. He has filed charges on behalf of the
company and feels there is a good chance that they will be given
some assets, probably land. He has the company lawyers working on
it. Anything else, like land or other assets, they lose, just
weakens them. The important thing, to us, is that Origin is running
out of money and we just cut off a large amount they were depending
on. The good thing is they have less money to hire mercs, the bad
thing is they’ll be more desperate than ever.”

“Thanks, Hermes. You’re next Hades. Bring us
up to date on your mission.”

There was a long pause. He knew they were
concerned about Doc and he wasn’t sure what to say. “She’s still
unconscious, but the doctor says there’s no reason not to hope she
will just wake up. Pedro got a good group of their employees, but
one of them is a mate. I’ll explain that in detail later. We
haven’t gutted the place because we’re waiting to see if the
government will give it to us and I think some of these guys will
want to stay if they do. The numbers here on the gods were right on
for a change, I think they’re running out of places to move our
brothers to.”

“Thanks, Hades. I know this is hard for you.
We are all hoping for her to be on her feet soon.” The gods were
uncomfortable with most emotions so Zeus was glad to move on. He
wondered if Origin had planned to injure or kill her if they
weren’t able to capture her, but he said nothing. It would only
upset those around him more and there wasn’t anything they could
do. They had held the helicopters back waiting for her to wake
since the doctor was against moving her in her current
condition.

“Hercules, what is our next target?” They had
decided to move on in the hope of recovering more gods sooner.

“Kerguelen Islands, also known as Desolation
Islands because they are so remote. They are off the coast of
Madagascar and claimed by France. It is something of a scientific
center which is how Origin snuck in. They are using the cover
provided by a French scientist who may or may not know what is
going on there. The numbers are between twenty and fifty gods and
demons kept there. They have both, but we can’t nail down how many
of either. I suspect they may be using it as a temporary stopping
point on the way to other locations. I also think they may be
farming out more gods and demons to individual scientists which
will make them that much harder to find.”

“What makes you think that?” Sierra
asked.

“The way the numbers keep shifting and the
reports that we have gotten from various sources about them moving
individuals instead of groups.”

“It will make things much harder and it will
also allow those with sadistic tendencies to abuse their prisoners
more,” Zeus observed. Only all of them being killed could be a
worse possibility. Tracking hundreds of gods and demons sent to
individual scientist would be a nightmare.

The meeting broke up but Zeus, Sierra, and a
couple of other gods stayed to discuss more personal things with
Hades. “Sierra wants to come there,” Zeus said as Sierra nodded her
head.

“There’s nothing she can do and it’s too
dangerous in her condition,” Hades said.

“She knows that but she’s torn. Doc is not
only her sister, but her friend,” Zeus said.

“She’s sitting right here and can speak for
herself!” Sierra said glaring at Zeus who looked properly chastised
except for the slight gleam of humor in his eyes. He loved that
woman and the children, both his daughter and the son that Doc had
told them Sierra carried more than he had ever imagined he
could.

Hermes started to laugh but it changed to an
odd choking noise as Cherish’s hand slipped under the table and
Sierra turned her glare on him. Zeus would have felt sorry for
Hermes if he didn’t feel so relieved to have the females on a
target other than him. He turned his attention to Hades who he had
always felt protective of. He was the black sheep of the team
through no fault of his own. He had a dark side he had never asked
for and had trouble controlling. Sometimes, Hades even scared
himself and others always found him intimidating.

They ended the call once they ran out of
information to share. Doc’s situation required one of the hardest
things of all, patience. Hades, probably the least patient of them
all, would be in his own personal hell until his mate woke. The
meeting had been a late one, it was now time for most of them to go
to bed and hope for sleep. He knew it would be difficult to find
but he worried more for Sierra who wasn’t sleeping well anyway and
now had the added burden of a worry she could do nothing about.

He pulled her into his arms carrying her to
their room. She turned red as the gods they walked by responded
with cat calls and whistles. She didn’t protest which worried him a
little, it showed how tired she was. He hadn’t realized how much
carrying Athena had taken out of her because they hadn’t been
together for much of it. Of course being pregnant with a baby while
nursing another was even harder. He planned to talk to Doc, they
would wait, giving her more time to recover before the next
baby.

Zeus couldn’t sleep, he was worried about
Hades. He had always been a concern since they were around the age
of five. The team, that was what Origin was teaching them to be,
sat around the table eating. Their diet was regulated, it was high
protein, some fat and complex carbs. They weren’t allowed processed
foods, drinks were only juice, milk, or water. They said it was
healthy, it would grow warriors and it had. The scientists were
fighting again and that cold bastard Humpreys was talking about
deleting one of their team. The others argued that the team was set
and all members needed.

“He’s just a child,” Doctor Shelly argued.
She was the nicest of the group and she found it difficult to work
with such cruel people. She had developed a permanent tic near her
right eye. She was maybe forty, a rather plain female with mousy
brown hair and plain brown eyes. She was quite nondescript until
she smiled, that transformed her entire face making her glow.
Lately, she’d had little reason to smile and no reasons to laugh.
Zeus often wondered if she didn’t like it here, why didn’t she
leave? He was glad she didn’t because she was one of the few that
made it bearable for them.

“He’s death just like his name implies. He
needs to be removed from the team before it’s too late. Don’t let
him cause us the trouble I can see in his future.”

“Murdered you mean. Say it like it is,
Humpreys. You want to kill the child for no real reason at all,”
Giles screeched. It was obvious he was upset and doing what he
could to stop an injustice. He was the other one that had some
kindness in him. He thought of them as children and tried to do
what he could. It had eventually caught up with him and he had been
terminated from his job. Origin’s terminations were permanent and
he was never seen or heard from again.

Zeus looked at Hades who was shaking but
trying to control it. None of them said a thing because here, what
you said, could cost you your life. The discussion was over but it
wasn’t the first nor the last time it came up. Humpreys hated Hades
and Zeus never discovered why, but maybe Humpreys didn’t need a
reason. He had black hair, cold bottomless black eyes, and a face
that was always frozen in a hard look that discouraged anyone from
approaching him. Humpreys died on a mission a few years later and
no one but Hades knew what had really happened. Origin hadn’t cared
since Humpreys had become ill, cancer someone had hinted. He was a
liability and then he was gone, end of story.

If there was ever a way to win when you were
owned right down to your soul, Zeus supposed Hades had accomplished
it by outliving his worst enemy. Maybe Humpreys had seen the future
and thought Hades would kill him, maybe Hades had done just that.
It was just one of the many sad stories he could tell from his life
at Origin. So many had died, so many had suffered and only a few
had made it to enjoy the freedom they all had dreamed about.

Sierra turned to him opening her arms for him
to burrow into her warmth. “You’re thinking too much, Babe.” She
seemed to sense the dark past he had been sinking into and she
pulled him from it.

“You could help me with that,” he said as he
stroked her back with his hands and moved his lips over hers. She
moved her hand to trace the outline of his hard on. “That’s
helping,” he moaned.