Hades (8 page)

Mark stood outside the Hummer that would take
them to where they would stay for the night. Hades felt a little
guilty he had mentioned Mark’s willingness to tag Kyler and his
need to talk to Zeus, but he had put it in his report not brought
it up in person. He was surprised when Mark greeted him smiling and
held out his hand.

“I appreciate what you’ve done for me and I
won’t forget it. Zeus is letting my brother come here next week. It
means a lot to me, Hades.”

“Glad I could help. I hope everything works
out as well as possible.”

“We won’t drop the ball this time. He’ll be
where he can’t harm anyone and he can get the help he needs.” Hades
just nodded, what the hell could he say to that?

The driver held the door open as Doc got in
and Hades dumped their bags in the back. He slid in next to her
while Mark sat up front with the driver. He knew the way things
worked, Mark would keep his distance now until he needed something
else. It was fine with him, he had a mate to cuddle. Maybe that
would be better behind closed doors, but he felt too much need for
her to keep his hands to himself. He wrapped his arms around her
pulling her close.

Anyone looking could see the honeymoon look,
and not just on him as she leaned into him breathing his scent in
deeply. Thank goodness her feelings were clear and deep now and he
could keep her right next to him. The distance that had been
between them for so long had just about killed him. Now, after
being so close, he would never be able to stay away from her
again.

They arrived at the building they would stay
in and even had the same room as before. The others were put in
rooms all around them, Doc’s safety was paramount. It would be a
long ride tomorrow, but he intended to give her a longer ride
tonight. They could sleep on the copter, the trip would go faster
that way.

He smelled coffee then he remembered they had
coffee pots in the room. He wouldn’t turn down a good cup of coffee
to help him wake up, but he wasn’t obsessed about it like all of
the female mates had been so far. He kissed his mate and whispered
a thank you for the coffee before he took a sip. Doc and Sierra
made the best coffee, maybe because it was strong enough to get a
soldier going. Cherish was an incredible cook, but her coffee just
didn’t give him the jolt his mate’s did, but it was Cherish who
usually made the coffee in the kitchen at Olympus. That was
probably because she was the biggest coffee addict out of all of
them.

He dragged around, showered and dressed so
they could get on with the business of breakfast. He stomach didn’t
growl, it roared. He would admit, but only to himself, that Doc had
worn him out. She didn’t seem any worse for it, but he was. If he
didn’t wake up, the guys would rib him forever, especially since
Doc was hopping around singing to herself. He felt a flood of
masculine satisfaction roll through him that his mate was so sated
and joyful. Yeah, he’d done that!

They made it to the lobby joining the others
then out to the Hummers to go to eat breakfast. Once they were
done, they were off to the copters for a long ride. At least he
could hope for sleep, his mate would make an excellent pillow. The
only problem is he ended up being the pillow and even though they
both slept, he would bet money she slept more comfortably than he
did.

When they finally set down, every muscle in
his body ached, he could tell he wasn’t the only one. They all
stretched as much as they could then headed down the trail to find
the facility that held his brothers so they could free them.

His head hurt as he struggled to remember
exactly what had happened. He felt the cold from the ground seeping
into his skin. Cold was all around him and if he’d been human, he’d
be dead. He struggled and finally managed to open his eyes. The
dead and wounded lay scattered around him, many burned beyond all
recognition. They were Origin, not his brothers thank goodness.
They had pushed him until he had turned it loose on them. His team
had already spread out, they weren’t near him only the enemy was.
He never used the gift, it was too scary, too unpredictable. He
breathed in as deep as he could, he couldn’t scent her anywhere
near.

This time the attack had been launched as
soon as they landed. Their people weren’t well trained so Origin
thought to win by overwhelming the gods with sheer numbers. They
were all surrounded individually with too many for anyone but a god
to overcome. The only human among them was Doc and he saw them
herding her away. He was in the middle of so many he had no way to
get to her. She was his and they dared to touch her. The power grew
inside him and all his people were too far away to be hurt so he
released it. Even his people gasped at the destructive power he
unleashed and those who were too far away to be killed but within a
certain distance were knocked unconscious for a brief time.

Lu had probably been the closest of his
brothers and even though he had a similar gift, it had not
protected him from the impact of Hades’s gift. He was out for the
count and would probably be out for a while. He didn’t think it
would kill him, Lu was strong and he wouldn’t go down that
easy.

He knew what it was and what it did to those
nearby. They burned from the inside out, their heads exploded from
the pressure inside that their bodies could no longer contain. He
caught Doc’s expression from the corner of his eye, visible even in
the distance. Terror, stark unmanageable terror that might drive
them apart even though he had just reclaimed her. He wanted to
follow to save her, but he was just too drained to do any good. He
felt himself sliding to the ground as his mind began to dim. He may
have taken out more than half of them, but there were still plenty
left to cause trouble. He fought to stay conscious but it was a
losing battle.

The ache in his head was now a dull throb and
he was weak as a kitten from unleashing his gift. He looked around
noting the copters had left them, self preservation had ruled. He
saw other gods standing a distance from him afraid to come to
close. He wasn’t sure anything could help him now. Doc was gone and
he thought he might go crazy.

He saw Argos come into his line of vision.
“You should keep your distance,” he said.

“All of us just woke up from the disturbance
of your gift. I wasn’t avoiding you nor would I, you saved us all.
A few were herded away including your mate, but we’ll hunt them
down. I suspect they were taken to the facility. They may believe
us all dead, won’t they be surprised?” Argos asked with a cruel
smile. He was a good person, but a terrible enemy. He would
terrorize Origin with his last breath which made him a good male to
fight by his side. He leaned down holding out his hand which Hades
took. He pulled him up and Hades looked around noticing Lu had been
moved, hopefully somewhere more comfortable than the ground.

“Do we have any confirmed losses?”

“No, but four are missing, three have wounds
that will heal, and one needs medical care soon.”

“Who is it that needs the care?”

Argos looked sad. “Dragos has several life
threatening injuries. One on his head, one on his chest, and one on
his lower back. We have done all we can with a med kit, but we need
Doc and a med facility.”

“Which way?” Hades asked and no one pretended
not to understand.

Nikias answered, “They went southwest cross
country. No roads nearby, I think they are heading straight to the
facility we search for.”

Hades liked that Nikias was on their team
because he was an exceptional tracker, it was his gift. They
gathered what they needed ditching what was unnecessary then they
followed the obvious trail that had been left behind.

“How long were we out? Has everyone woke
up?”

“I’m not sure but I would guess at least an
hour passed judging by the sun. Lu is still out, he took a hard hit
being so close to you, but he will be okay,” Nikias replied.

He would leave some of Pedro’s men to deal
with the bodies. They took the weapons Origin’s soldiers had
carried and distributed them to those who needed them but when they
started going through the pockets and removing the jewelry from the
dead, Hades turned away so they wouldn’t see his disapproval. It
was true there was no reason to bury their valuables with them, but
some of them left behind families that would need whatever they
could get. He had never thought that way before he had met Sierra
and Doc. He had been with their dad when he died training him and
the rest of Zeus’s team. He felt guilty whenever he thought of
it.

He made the hand motions that told his team
and those of Pedro’s that would follow them, to spread out five
wide and follow the trail. It wasn’t long before they came upon a
body. It was one of Origin’s men and his throat was cut.

“I think your lady is leaving breadcrumbs,”
Nikias said with a smile. Most gods would have shot the enemy or if
they had no gun, snapped his neck but Doc was good with knives and
carried a couple hidden on her.

If she still had her weapons, maybe she
hadn’t been captured at this point. He could hope for the best
while he planned for the worst. It had been too long for him to
scent her because of the cold and the time, his senses weren’t up
to the task. He moved faster, he could hope he might make up some
of the time they were behind. He tried not to worry about what was
happening to her because for now it was out of his hands, but he
was sure they wanted her alive.

They moved carefully over the level but icy
ground. The scouts he had sent ahead came back telling him they had
only two miles to go before they reached their destination. He sent
the scouts to take a group and circle to the back entrance so they
could cover all the doors. They found no more bodies and no further
signs of struggle so Doc must have been incapacitated, since he
knew she would fight to her last breath.

They finally were within sight of the place
though the part above ground looked more like a shack than a lab.
Looks could be misleading and in this case they were. He hoped she
was in there, she just had to be. Two of his team moved up to break
the code on the door lock. A satisfying click sounded and the door
was opened. Two others went in with guns at the ready followed by
more. They assumed the others at the back door had also been
successful. They met resistance at each double door in the hallway
as they made their way deeper into the facility.

The team that entered the back of the
building caught up to them and they all proceeded down the hall
checking each room they came to. So far Origin employees were all
they had found. One of his men shouted, he had found an elevator.
An additional level explained why no gods or demons had been found
because they preferred to keep their kind below ground. They went
down, but he left half his men behind so he wouldn’t be trapped a
level below if the elevator was knocked out.

They hit the jackpot on this level, there was
cage after cage of gods and demons. Some were in good condition
while some were in terrible shape. Hades had them find the doctors
and nurses Origin always kept around in their labs. He got on his
radio to get Dragos brought to them so he could receive the help he
needed too. All the cages were opened and the four missing gods
were found but there was no sign of Doc. Had she escaped her
attackers?

Hades got his team organized and medical care
was given to those who needed it. Food was found and prepared so
they could all eat, and beds were found so they could rest in
shifts. He contacted Olympus and Zeus would contact the copters who
had gone back to the nearest fueling station which was hours away.
They would have to dig in and stay for a while. He radioed for the
rest of the team to join them. He would send out small teams to
look for the copters but he would wait until it was time for them
to return.

He had Nikias chose a partner then head out
to try to track his mate down. Another pair was picked out to go if
Nikias wasn’t back in four hours. She was human and even with her
changing chemistry couldn’t move nearly as fast as a god. He could
only hope they would find her since this was a dangerous place to
be by yourself even as a god, a human would have little hope of
surviving for long.

He tried not to drown in regrets, he’d made
the best decision he could with the available facts. He just tried
to believe she would return to him. Anything else was simply
inconceivable and would drive him crazy. He followed Argos to the
cafeteria so he could eat to keep up his strength. When she needed
him he would be there for her. Argos sent him to bed so he could
rest, he considered saying no but he was tired. Before he left he
got a head count, seventy-four gods and twelve demons rescued. It
was a good mission if he found his mate and returned to Olympus
with the lot of them.

His radio buzzed, Nikias had found tracks. He
would follow them, but he suggested sending the other pair of
trackers straight south in an attempt to cut her off. Hades called
Argos and had them sent. He felt better as he laid down on the
narrow cot trying to rest even though worry ate at his mind.
Somehow he managed to sleep despite his concerns. He woke achy all
over, probably from using his powers. He normally refrained from
using them because his brothers weren’t the only ones who feared
them, he feared his gift too.

He contacted Argos finding out that he had
only slept for two hours but that was two hours more than Argos had
slept. All the patients were stable, Lu was up and at them, and
everyone was accounted for but Doc. Nikias was moving in on her
position and so was the other team of trackers. He would feel
better once she was sighted.

His heart hurt and he wasn’t sure exactly
why. He had noticed Zeus, Hermes, and Darius were never far from
their mates but he had assumed it was because they didn’t want to
be since none had been mated long. Was it possible it was because
of this hollow painful feeling that distance brought on? If they
didn’t find her soon, he feared he might go crazy from not just the
emotional anguish, but the physical pain he felt. It occurred to
him that she might feel this as well and it made him worry
more.