Hermes (Frozen Origin #2) (23 page)

His lips fought the smile and lost. “Maybe it would be. Is that what you really want to do?”

“No, you’re right. I need at least one friend in my life.”

She was different around him.
Herc had told him just the other day he would stay in her bed if he could just put a sock or something more interesting in her mouth. “I can’t stand the way she prattles on and on about nothing of interest the whole time I’m with her.” Other gods said the same thing, she was great for sex, but damned annoying when she started to talk.

She never did that with Lu. Nancy was up to something and Lu feared he had found their spy regardless of what Poseidon thought. Hell, maybe they had two spies. He wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. Nancy left and he went over some of the interesting things that had come to light. Keven wasn’t related to Cher and Fabian. Lu never thought he looked or acted like them, that wasn’t such shocking news. Fabian was one of them or almost. Lu fought the smile, he had already considered Fabian one of them.

Maria expecting a little god. Well once the darling made his appearance they might be able to figure out who the proud papa was. He wondered if Hermes knew he would be a papa soon. He could smell it on Cher the last time he had been near her. It was a refreshing smell of new life and he had leaned in to get a better smell only to have Hermes growl at him. Talk about a caveman, Hermes must be reverting the way he growled all the time.

Of course Hades was worse. Lu had seen him follow Doc and her latest squeeze out to the room Sierra had converted to a greenhouse. When he came back he looked more like a devil than Lu did. It made him wish he had had the courage to follow along. He tried to stay out of that relationship, someone interfering could die, and not just by
Hades’s hand.

Dawn was trying to break and the ball was almost over. A few of the guest had already left and most of the others slept
, lost in their dreams. He had decisions to make, sleep to pursue, and the future was full of possibilities even for a demon.

XOXO

“Jones.” Smith said with a nod.

“Smith.” Jones said as he nodded back.

“Report!” Smith said. He was a curt man wasting little time on niceties or small talk.

“We failed, Elders is dead, and Kyler captured.”

“It doesn’t look like we’ll get things done the easy way.”

“This was a waste of time. I don’t know why you authorized it.”

“That’s why I’m in charge and you do as I tell you.”

“Yes, sir. What do you have planned next?”

“We wait and see. Next time we have a chance to capture a god, pick someone with a little loyalty to do it.”

“What about Gomez? Did she conceive and will we try to get her?”

“We’ll wait until we’re sure. There’s no point in wasting resources to recover her if there’s not a child.”

“And Kyler? Do you believe the child is his or Zeus’s?”

“The reports say the child looks just like Zeus. Kyler is obsessed with the woman and sees what he wants to see.”

“What about the young boy, Fabian. Is he worth capturing?”

“He’s the oldest demigod the company bred. Unless we see signs that he has worthwhile traits, he’s nothing to us.”

“You’re s
ure you can trust your spies?”

“Their information matches and there’s three of them. As long as there are no discrepancies, we’re good.”

“What happens if the bitchy one finds out her grandma is dead?”

“We’ll find someone to take her place.”

“Very good, sir.”

Jones hated the arrogant bastard he reported to but he was the CEO of what was left of Origin. They were all being hunted by the US and her allies and Smith had not only kept them safe, but found time to fuck with the gods. They still made money even though only a small fraction of the gods were left to
them. Even though he felt like a pimp every time he walked through the door to the facility he called home, the club for lonely ladies paid off in a big way. Who knew rich older women would put out that kind of cash to sleep with the gods they kept imprisoned there.

Smith was an asshole, but he
usually knew what he was doing. He promised it wouldn’t be long before they had most of the gods back under their control. The demons weren’t worth the trouble it took to reclaim them. Life would once again be what it had been before. He wouldn’t care then that his bitch wife had left taking what little money remained. He’d trade in the old nag for a couple of sweet fillies.

XOXO

Hades saw Doc and her lover heading away from the party. He couldn’t contain his pain or anger anymore. This time they would have it out and he didn’t care if Marlin was there for the whole argument. Hades just couldn’t believe Doc could turn her back on her true mate and just walk away with another man. Everything he had seen with Zeus and with Hermes told him the bond was too strong to ignore.

They entered the greenhouse and he followed smelling the sweet perfume on the flowers in bloom and hearing the buzz of the honey bees that Sierra had also insisted on. Hades smiled to himself at the thought that Zeus was whipped in the world’s worst way. He just wished he was too, he wanted his mate at his side. He followed until they stopped, at that point he was having some doubts that this was such a good idea.

Marlin turned to Doc kissing her and saying something so softly even Hades’s god hearing couldn’t understand. Marlin dropped to his knees causing Hades to look around to see if someone had injured or shot at him. Nope, no one there except the three of them. Marlin pulled out a box and the light reflected off something shiny that he pulled out. No, it couldn’t be, a ring? He was proposing to Hades’s mate? She’d say no, of course she would. He watched as she dropped to her knees in front of him. She whispered something and hugged and kissed Marlin. Pain shot through Hades making his heart ache until he couldn’t stand to see anymore. He turned leaving as fast as he could, she had made her final choice and it wasn’t him.

XOXO

Zeus looked Mark in the eyes as he said, “Hell no.”

“I understand you have some reservations about releasing him into our custody. We lost him last time but we discovered Origin had planted a spy at the prison and they helped him escape.” A sly look came over Mark’s face. “We’ve found out that you have spies among your people too. We’ll help you find them if you turn Kyler back over to us.”

“We know we have spies. We’ve even identified them so we don’t need your help. What we do need is to keep Kyler locked away where he can’t get to my mate again.”

“You may have identified them, or you may
be wrong. You may not even have all of them, you can’t possibly be sure. Are you willing to risk Sierra’s life and the life of the other mate?”

Of course Mark new all about Cher,
it wasn’t like they had tried to hide it. They hadn’t advertised it either but it seemed Mark had googled her and there was a lot to google.

“Your information wouldn’t insure their safety either.”

“You’ve really gotten lucky with the mates so far, but what will you do when one of your males finds a mate who can’t protect her self? You’ll need us then, Zeus. What does Sierra say? I think she’d want you to give me Kyler.”

Yes, he had gotten lucky with the mates so far but there were only two. Yes, he was worried that some of the mates might be weak and needy, they couldn’t all be tough and capable like Sierra and Cher. He also had a feeling if he asked Sierra she would say let Mark have him because they would be more careful now since he had escaped once.
All that was true, but he felt an overwhelming need to protect both mates and any future mates. One of his tier four gods, Darius, had even requested a female be allowed to stay so he could be certain if she was his mate or not. Herc thought there was no doubt she was Darius’s mate. When he answered mark, he opted for diplomacy so Mark wouldn’t be against him.

“I will give it some thought and we will visit this again. Maybe we can convince Kyler that Sierra is no longer interested in him and that he doesn’t have a child, not with Sierra at any rate.”

“I’m glad to see you’re not being stubborn. Maybe Sierra has rubbed off on you. May I see him?”

“Of course. I’ll call Hercules and he can escort you to him.” Zeus radioed
Herc who said he would head right down.

“May I see him alone?”

“I’ll tell Hercules to allow you that. I hope seeing his frame of mind won’t be too hard on you.” Zeus had a facility full of brothers and if one became obsessive like Kyler, he knew it would be hard to watch. Mark examined him carefully looking for sarcasm or inappropriate humor. Finding none, he nodded.

Hercules knocked then came in and Mark followed him back out. Zeus watched them make their way to the small holding area on the first floor. Eventually
, he would be moved down to the fourth floor for security reasons. He was a dangerous man and the biggest danger to Sierra and Athena. Hercules left Mark and Kyler alone as Zeus watched them talk on his portable screen. It was one of the gadgets Cher had gotten Hercules, but Zeus liked it so he had taken it. Zeus could change channels to watch any room with a camera, it was just too cool.

Mark was the only one that talked, Kyler just seemed oblivious to the fact that he had company.
Mark tried to catch Kyler’s attention but he wouldn’t look at him until Mark started to leave then he said something that Zeus couldn’t hear. Mark went over to the bars leaning in close and Kyler whispered something to him before he grabbed Mark’s neck and started choking him. Kyler was certifiable, maybe he should let Mark worry about him. Hercules rushed in pulling a shook up Mark away from the bars.

Zeus
was waiting for Cher when a knock sounded. “Come in.”

“I hope I’m on time?”

“Perfect, just have a seat.”

Cher admitted to herself she was nervous. She had never met with Zeus alone and she didn’t have any idea what he might want. She sat down across from him and waited for him to enlighten her.

“You’re probably wondering why I asked you to meet me. I was hoping you would work with Hercules to hack Origin’s files. We need to find out where they’ve hidden the gods and demons they still have and we need to know more about the others like Fabian.”

“I could do that.”

“Really? I thought you might be reluctant to. I’m glad you don’t mind.”

“I
don’t want any gods or demons left in their hands. They need to be home, here with their family.”

“Thank you. You don’t know what this means to all of us. It’s a chance to have what regular people do. A home and a family of our own.”

“I better get back to the kitchen before the cookies burn.”

“Yes, or I’ll have a rebellion on my hands. They all love your cookies.”

Cher hurried out and Zeus thought how lucky he and Hermes had been. Apollo too would eventually have a good mate. Poseidon worried him since he wasn’t sure if Lizzie was his and they didn’t know much about her. Hercules was digging into her past, digging far past the information someone had put in place so she would pass the simple screening they ran on all potential employees. In a few days, they would know all her secrets.

There was another knock at the door. “Come in.”

Sierra came in and he felt like he’d been kicked in his stomach. Every time he saw his mate, he was struck by her beauty and he knew he was a lucky god. He wanted that for all his males and though it was a slow process, he just had to believe they could all one day have it. Sierra came to him and he pushed his seat back so she could sit in his lap. His arms full of his mate and his mind on anything but his work, he thought he must be the happiest god there ever was.

XOXO

Hermes slipped into the kitchen to check out some hot intel. He took a deep breath, yes they were right, she was baking cinnamon rolls. He had made it there just as the first sheet was coming out of the oven and some other gods had followed him in. He growled, just to let them know who was first in line. Cher smiled, now that the ball was over, it was easy for her to keep up with the demands of baking just for those that lived here.

The other women were cooking lunch, but he wanted his mate’s baking more than anything. He would admit Lizzie could cook when she was of a mind to, which wasn’t all the time. He moved the fan where it would blow on the cinnamon buns and cool them in no time. She pulled more out of the oven and before long two tables were covered with trays filled with them. The smell was heavenly but he noticed she was turning the ovens off. He slipped over to her and pulled her back against his chest.

“Take a break and come home with me?” he whispered in her ear. She nodded and then packed up a box of buns, probably for the demons.

He grabbed a few buns and put them in a sack, before taking her hand and leading her home. He put the buns on the table before he stripped his clothes off in a flash then helped her remove hers. He picked her up almost running to the bed. He was on fire and the longer they were together the hotter it was. He put her on the bed then started at her feet. He ran his finger down her leg slowly then picked up her foot. He kissed her instep and she started to wiggle. He worked his way up kissing her ankle then kissing all the way up to her knee. He kissed the underside making her writhe against his mouth. He kissed up to the inside of her thigh then reversed direction for the other leg.