Hades (9 page)

The radio sounded and he grabbed it up
quickly. “Tell me something good!”

“We’re close enough I can scent her and two
others. I suspect they are stalking her, but I can’t be sure. I
want to try to take them out as soon as I catch them. What are your
orders?”

“Take them down on sight.”

“Roger,” Nikias answered gleefully. He, like
the rest of the gods, hated Origin soldiers fiercely.

A knock sounded on the door. “Hades?”

“Come in Argos.”

“Keelan wishes to speak to you. He is the
leading god here.”

“Send him to me.” Argos nodded leaving to
send Keelan to him.

Big, that was Hades first impression and red
was his second. The god was big like Hades was, being both tall and
broad, but the shocking red hair that looked like living flames
drew more attention than his size. Irish ancestry, Hades figured,
noticing the sharp jade green eyes that missed nothing.

“I’ve heard we’re being freed?”

“You’ve heard right.”

“Now what?”

“You have choices, not many but they are
yours to make. Zeus offers you a home with the rest of your
brothers. There you will be free to find the work you choose and to
make a family as Zeus, Hermes, Darius, and myself have. Zeus has a
daughter and a babe on the way while Hermes child will join us
around that same time. Darius and I are not yet fathers but we both
plan to be.”

“You have found mates? Truly, tell me this is
not a joke for some of my gods could not stand another
disappointment.”

Hades felt the hard look come on his face.
“My mate is being hunted by Origin. They have tried to take her
because she is a doctor and a specialist on gods and demons.”

A look of horror came across Keelan’s face.
“You have mated one of them?”

“No, rest easy brother. She is a geneticist
and has never worked for Origin. She is brilliant and has worked
with us since the day we were freed. She came with the group who
freed us and saved some of us that had been tortured and left to
die. Just as all of us are different, so are all humans. Their
differences are greater than ours, some of them are evil, like some
of the Origin scientists and leaders have shown themselves to be,
but others are not. Those we have mated have so far been
exceptional humans. You will like them, it’s impossible not
to.”

Keelan nodded although he looked far from
convinced. “You said we had choices, but gave me only one.”

“If you chose to go elsewhere, Zeus will look
for another compound that we’ve been given for you and others who
don’t wish to go to Olympus.”

Keelan smiled, it made him look almost
beautiful, angelic. “You jest. Olympus? You named your home for the
home of the true Greek gods?”

Hades smiled back, he just couldn’t help it.
“We did indeed because it had no name besides Origin headquarters
and we couldn’t leave it as such.”

The radio buzzed. “Hades.”

“We took out the two tracking your mate but
she is hiding from us. She can’t be far but she is a wily
prey.”

“She knows you Nikias. Let her know it’s you
and not Origin on her heels.”

“We’ve tried, I fear she may have hurt her
head or be confused.”

Keelan broke in, “We can meet them on the
snowmobiles. The ones in the basement are fitted specially to move
with or without snow.”

“We’ll meet you, Nikias. Three of us come on
snowmobiles.”

“Roger and out.”

“Tell me how you knew they had a basement
floor or they kept transportation there.”

“They’ve hunted us down when we’ve tried to
escape. The last who tried was executed in front of us. I swear
they grow crueler day by day.”

“I hurt for you, brother,” Hades said as they
walked quickly to the elevator. The button for the basement was
unlabeled. He pressed it certain it would take them there. The
basement was a treasure trove that Pedro would find exciting. Hades
swore the mercenary lived for finds like these. He probably
preferred them to sex.

The snowmobiles sat in a corner near what
appeared to be a tunnel. A way to escape once the facility fell to
the enemy? He radioed for Argos to send him a tracker to go with
him. After he explained about the basement and what was down there,
he was off the radio and looking for the proper supplies. He found
the helmets and Argos sent Jase, one of the younger gods with
weapons.

Hades picked out his snowmobile and let the
other two fight for what they wanted. He found a supply of field
rations, bottled water, and a med kit which he threw in the box on
his Hunter KRX snowmobile. Hunter snowmobiles were specially made
to order to suit the task and this one was made to carry big men
with lots of equipment, it would be going home with him. The others
were on their Hunters so he started his and led the way down the
tunnel. It was about a mile long and ended at what looked like a
garage door. There was a set of buttons painted green or red. Could
it be so simple?

He pushed green, the door slid open, and they
rode out into the night, their headlights showing the way. Hades
slowed and motioned for Jase to take the lead since he was the
tracker. He was a good one according to Argos who never gave praise
easily.

They would make good time and should catch up
to Nikias in thirty minutes if they were able to keep up their high
speed. His palm itched and he knew it was the need for his mate
combined with the knowledge that he was headed toward her that
caused the odd sensation. He wanted to touch her, hold her, and
kiss her right now, but he knew he would have to wait. At least
everything was going well for Argos who was in charge of the
facility in his absence. He knew that because his radio was silent
and Argos would call if anything bad happened.

They rode over the frozen earth heading
southwest of where they were. She was a warrior who was bent on
escaping an enemy that no longer hunted her. What was in her mind,
how badly had she been damaged, and would she recognize her mate
when she saw him? They flat out flew across the empty countryside
going as fast as they could without risking damage to themselves or
their rides. He was almost insane with worry and the two gods with
him were fully aware of what a mate would mean to any of them. They
kept up with him so he wouldn’t have to worry about anything but
getting there.

When they finally made it, their arrival was
anticlimactic. Nikias had found her but she was unconscious. She
had a head wound but no other wounds were visible. Hades got on his
snowmobile and they tied her tightly to him. There was no other way
to get her there quickly. Jase headed out first with one of the
trackers on behind him riding fast so they would be prepared for
her arrival. Once Hades drove off, Keelan followed with Nikias on
behind him, making sure he kept just in view of them while
searching the night for any possible dangers.

Chapter 4

Keelan

He was just in view of Hades and his mate.
The female’s beauty had been impressive and she was a doctor so she
had to be smart. She had outmaneuvered Origin and even the god’s
trackers for hours while wounded. Hades had found himself a female
to be proud of. Keelan wondered if he would ever find one nearly so
worthy. He didn’t bother to envy Hades, if ever a god deserved
something kind and loving in his life it was Hades who was cursed
with such a dangerous power.

His brother, Lander had found a mate but one
that disgraced them all. It was part of why he had been so
horrified when he thought Hades had mated with one from Origin. It
was because that was what his brother had done. Lander had mated
the she devil scientist that Origin had sent to test them and to
torture them. It was true that she didn’t do it herself, but she
knew what they did without doing anything to stop it. He would kill
her himself, but he feared Lander would follow her to death. He
hurt when he was away from her and the look of devotion on his face
when he saw her brought tears to Keelan’s eyes.

It made no sense that he hated Lander’s mate,
felt sorry for his brother’s choice of mate, but at the same time
felt jealous of the closeness that the couple shared. He wanted to
find his own mate with an undeniable need, but at the same time he
feared who it might be and what she might be like. He hit an uneven
spot or maybe a small rock and he was jolted back to the here and
now. Hades was making excellent time, it was no surprise since he
had sensed Hades’s fear for her welfare. Hades was a top level
leader, Keelan was a second level. He had been bred to lead the
second generation of gods, those that like him were mid twenties.
Lander was the only survivor that they knew of from the last group
of gods or demons making him the youngest god they knew of and in
his early twenties.

The demons were all older because once Origin
saw what they deemed mistakes, they bred no more and destroyed some
of the less attractive ones. Devil, the original leader of the
demons, had been too much like Cronos to be allowed to live. They
had poisoned him as a toddler because he inspired too much fear
from them. That was how Lucifer had learned to be charming and seem
harmless when in truth, he was anything but. He was probably more
dangerous than any of them except possibly Hades whose gift would
make others run screaming if they knew what he could do.

They were almost back to the lab that the
guards always called base. He supposed that meant exactly that, it
was where they stayed and where they always returned. Argos had
told him Hades had been forced to use his gift and most of the
guards had died a horrible death. If he was the sensitive type
which a few of his brothers, like Lander, were, he would feel
guilty for being so happy about that. He wasn’t sensitive and he
was happy enough that he wanted to celebrate. His life had sucked
up to now and the guards had played a big part in that but he
wanted to believe what Argos and Hades had said about being in
control of their own lives now.

He wanted a hot meal and to be buried in a
hotter woman because lately they hadn’t been fed well and they
hadn’t seen a woman in a year or more. They pulled up to the garage
style door they had exited and stopped. He wasn’t surprised to see
it open right away since Hades’s guys were soldiers. They prepared
for every possibility and he had heard them talk about Hades’s mate
and they all seemed to like her. They thought Zeus’s mate sexiest,
Hades’s mate smartest, and Hermes’s mate was the kindest. Most of
them didn’t know much about Darius’s mate because he kept her away
from them. A good idea since the other god’s mates were all
warriors to some extent but she wasn’t.

They moved quickly down the tunnel followed
by the god who had opened it. They drove as close to the elevator
as they possibly could. He pulled in next to Hades and jumped off
his seat to immediately help untie her so Hades could carry her to
medical. He was careful to touch her as little as possible because
Hades growled ferociously each time he did. When she was free,
Hades moved her into his arms, turned, and ran to the elevator.
Keelan ran to keep up, sliding into the elevator just as the door
closed.

Hades seemed to know where he was going so
Keelan fell in step behind him. He made his way unerringly to
medical where an Origin doctor waited. It was her, of course, since
she was the only doctor here. Lander’s mate was being trusted to
see to the welfare of Hades’s female. This was the time to speak up
because if anything went wrong that could have been avoided, he
wouldn’t forgive himself.

“Hades,” Keelan almost whispered after he
cleared his thought. Hades looked at him questioningly. “I need to
talk to you outside the room.”

Hades looked over where the doctor and her
two assistants worked feverishly hooking up medical gadgets and an
IV at Doc’s wrist. He had to realize he was only in the way for
now. He nodded and moved out the door which no one had bothered to
close. Keelan had noticed many of his men walking by trying to get
a look at the female that Hades had claimed. Their only experience
with a mate had been with Lander’s and none of them trusted her
except Lander.

Hades turned to face him as he closed the
door. “The doctor, she’s Lander’s mate but we don’t trust her.
She’s caused us a lot of pain never trying to help. Lander believes
in her but it could just be the desire talking. I can’t deny she’s
beautiful, I just don’t think she’ll be loyal to him or us.”

Hades gave him a long look, his eyes full of
knowledge. “There are many right reasons to do things that are
wrong, just as there are wrong reasons to do something right.”

Keelan shook his head to clear it. “What the
hell does that mean?”

“When you were sent out on missions by
Origin, did you ever suspect or maybe even know that what you did
was wrong? That you were hurting people that didn’t deserve it but
you had no choice?”

“I’m not sure Origin ever did anything that
was right, regardless of the reasons.”

“What if you had been caught? What would
people have thought of you?”

“I guess that I was one evil bastard.”

“We don’t really choose our mates or they us.
We just choose whether to put up a losing battle or give in to what
is inevitable. So far, all the mates we’ve found have been good and
true. It’s easy to see what is on the surface but maybe you need to
look below it.”

“You know something I don’t. What is it?”

“Not my story to tell. I think if you open up
to her a little, she may tell you.”

Keelan hoped Hades was right, but how could
it be that all of them except Lander failed to see the truth? Maybe
it was because they were all broken, miserable, and bitter. Who
better to blame than one who caused them pain? When he found out
the whole truth, would he feel ashamed? He had a really bad feeling
in the pit of his stomach that said he would.