Gio made quick work of Gregor and Luke’s locks. “You two meet me at headquarters in about an hour.” Gio didn’t wait for agreement, he knew they’d be there. His only indication that they left were the sounds of their feet hitting the ground as they ran out. He then went to Christopher’s cell. “They’ve called a telepath in to get you to tell them what they want to know.”
Christopher nodded, but didn’t say a word.
“You know what that means, right?” Gio asked, irritated at the angel’s silence.
“Sure, they are going to dig around in my brain to get the information they seek.”
“Right, and they don’t care about the damage the telepath will cause.” Gio waited for the nephilim to digest his words. “I’m willing to break you out of here if you’re willing to help me.”
“Why don’t I just yell for help?”
Gio knew he was right, but a good leader always had a backup plan. “If there was help they would’ve been here by now, don’t you think?”
Christopher stood a few feet from the cell bars. He was still favoring his side and Gio could taste his blood on the air. He was thinking. Gio could see the tick in his jaw working. “Who’s to say you won’t kill me once you get the information you need?”
“Why would I go through all this trouble if I wanted to kill you?” Gio offered logically. He truly had no intention of killing the angel. He just wanted the proof he needed to get the bottom of the situation. He knew if Christopher helped him he’d be able to beg forgiveness for betraying the council.
Christopher continued to mull over his options. After what seemed like an eternity of unbearable silence, the nephilim finally nodded his head and stepped forward. “I’ll give you what you want on one condition.”
“And that is?”
“You save my sister.”
Christopher put him in a bad spot with that stipulation. He wasn’t a gambling man, and that was exactly what Christopher was asking him to do. But if there was anyone he believed in it was Sophie. She had a heart of gold, and was truly too good for him. Instead of answering, Gio unlocked the cell, nodded his head, and motioned for Christopher to exit. He did, and they headed towards the back entrance.
Gio was positive that Gregor and Luke took care of the guard on duty so things would be smooth sailing from here on out, as long as they got into the car. Christopher was in bad shape, limping as he attempted to hurry his escape. Gio pushed down the guilt he felt for his part in inflicting pain on his prisoner.
He didn’t have time to feel pity, shame, or guilt for his actions. He was in the midst of a war where his enemy was utilizing unfair tactics. Christopher took the last turn toward the exit and as Gio quickened his pace to join him he slammed into something so solid it pushed him backwards and almost caused him to lose his footing. He steadied himself and prepared to fight whoever had stepped in his path. The man was large, far bigger than any he knew in the police force or even in the town of Mystery Springs. There was definitely something off about the man dressed in black. Gio knew he wasn’t human, but he wasn’t like any other supernatural he’d met before. The power that vibrated off the man told Gio he was outmatched, but that didn’t change his decision to
throw the first punch. He roared as he pulled back and aimed the punch for the strange man’s jaw.
The man stopped his fist with little effort and smiled. “Gio, it’s Thanatos. How are you, old friend?” His voice was smooth and kind.
“T? What are you doing here?” Gio asked as he took in Thanatos’ human form this time. He was tall and muscular with dark hair and violet eyes. “Whose body are you borrowing this time?”
Thanatos chuckled, “the body is of my new human host. He’ll wake up in the morning with a nasty hangover none the wiser. I’m here because of you.”
“Me?” Gio was confused. One of the reasons why he was friends with T was that he was not going to die or, at least, he had the chance to live forever if he was smart. It made becoming friends with Death easier, and they’d been that for almost a century now. “So, I’m going to die?”
“No, you’re not on my list.” Despite their friendship, T rarely came to visit him. His visits required possessing a human host, and he didn’t enjoy putting his vessel through possession unless it was a dire need. Very few people welcomed death at their door. Vampires were the rare exception. It helped that vampires were created by Hades, and Hades was Thanatos’ father. They were, in a way, related.
“Okay, I’m confused.” Giovanni admitted, “how about we catch up later? My prisoner is getting away.” He patted Death on the shoulder and tried to move past him.
“You have more important issues to deal with.” Thanatos sidestepped in front of Gio, blocking his escape. “I was finally able to give you a present, and now you’re going to lose her.”
“Her?” Gio shook his head. “T, you’re making no sense.”
“Beatrice. Your true mate has returned to earth as Sophie Waters.”
Death’s words made Giovanni’s world stop. He tried to comprehend Thanatos’ words. They were jumbled and he couldn’t seem to put them together to formulate a clear, concise thought. “Beatrice? Sophie?”
Thanatos nodded and placed a hand on Gio’s shoulder. “Yes, old friend, Beatrice’s soul has reincarnated as Sophie. It took me a long time to find her. The underworld is vast, but she’s back, and you’re about to lose her again.”
Gio shook his head. He knew he felt a strange familiarity around Sophie, but he had no clue she was his Beatrice. It was unbelievable. And the most startling news of all was that she was his true mate? Dare he hope Death’s words were true? Someone he’d been looking for almost two centuries was now in his life, and had just entered into a relationship with him. It explained his possessive instinct.
He’d almost given up hope in ever finding her, and she was his. His heart exploded with joy, momentarily forgetting about his prisoner who was fast escaping his clutches. “It can’t be.” His words were barely a mumble.
“It’s true.”
“But I haven’t lost her. She just agreed to be my girlfriend. I figured we’d take things slow and see where it goes.” Gio ran a hand through his dark hair as he lied. Taking things slow was not what they were doing. They were unable to keep their hands off each other when they were in the same room.
Gio shook his head as he tried to wrap his mind around this news. “She has similarities to Beatrice, but she isn’t the same girl. How can this be?” And why did you bring her to me now?
“Her soul has been reborn multiple times, and she has progressed quite well. She has changed, but her core is still the same. Like an onion, if you peel away the layers, the core remains untouched.”
Gio wasn’t sure if he should believe this news, but Thanatos had never given him a reason to distrust him. “So what do you mean I’m about to lose her again?”
“Sophie has taken on the dreamweavers, and my brother, Hypnos, in the dream realm in order to save the nephilim’s sister. She is no match for the forces she faces and they will destroy her.”
Gio felt his whole body freeze. He was paralyzed with the fear of losing Sophie… whoever her soul might be. “How can I help her?”
Thanatos smiled, “I thought you’d never ask.” He placed his hands on Gio’s shoulder and told him to close his eyes. Gio did, he felt the world turn upside down and his insides felt like they were on the outside of his skin. When the nauseating feeling finally subsided he opened his eyes and found himself on a hill watching his love standing in a field, her hands on her hips, talking to some disembodied cloud heads. Her body language spoke volumes as to her attitude. She was pissed, and the darkening eyes with bursts of lightning flowing rapidly through all the cloud heads said the confrontation was about to come to blows.
Chapter Fifteen
Sophie forced a smile to her tight lips. She was at her wits end with these cloud people. “It takes a lot of bravery to talk to me from way up there.” Sarcasm was thick
in her words. “Why don’t you face me in your human form instead of sending your ninjas?” That was if they had a human form. Sophie had no clue. She was so far out of her depth and completely winging it.
One of the male cloud heads chuckled. “She is a feisty one.”
“Spunky or not, she is a liability.” The female head that didn’t like Sophie from before spoke with a calm logical tone. “She is our enemy and should be dispatched.”
“Enough with this dispatching business! She is right here. You could talk to me in person.” Sophie interrupted the debate going on about her. It was one of her biggest pet peeves, and she was done with allowing them to dismiss her so easily. They were endangering her patients now and that was unacceptable.
“I say it again, she is of no consequence and no threat.” The female with the sky blue, kind eyes spoke up.
One of the male talking clouds disappeared from the sky and a tall, handsome man dressed in tight black jeans, a white button shirt which was unbuttoned to halfway down his chest appeared in front of her. He had his hands crossed over his chest while his sky blue eyes examined Sophie. Aside from the surprise of a handsome man appearing out of the sky in front of her she felt awkward, like a museum exhibit being analyzed by a student of archeology.
His skin was golden and almost glowed. His sandy brown hair was sprinkled with playful curls and was cut short to his head. He pursed his cupid lips and frown lines appeared on his forehead before he spoke. “Are you going to thwart our plans, witch doctor?”
“My name is Sophie.” She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. “And that was a stupid question. Even if I was, I’d never tell you.”
The other four clouds disappeared, and two men and two women appeared behind the handsome male who was chuckling. “Spunky and honest. I like her.” He held out his hand to shake, “my name is Hypnos. I don’t suppose I can talk you into coming over to our side of this battle?”
Sophie ignored the hand. “That depends. What are we battling over?”
“Control of the gateway.” The girl with long, unbelievably straight black hair that fell past her shoulders spoke. Even as a human she had the unique sky-blue eyes and a level of compassion on her face that drew you in. ‘Hello, Sophie, I’m Nike and I only wish to help you.’
The girl wasn’t speaking out loud, but Sophie heard her loud and clear in her mind. It was an odd sensation, but not the most fantastical thing that had happened to her lately. She knew telepaths existed because Chelsea was one and Gio told her they weren’t to be taken lightly.
“Gateway to what?”
“Olympus.” Hypnos informed her. He was still wearing that strange analytical look on his face, examining Sophie, trying to decide if she lived or died.
Sophie vaguely remembered reading mythological stories, or maybe it was the mention of Demeter and Hades by Chelsea, but her mind automatically went to the Greek Gods. Hypnos, god of sleep, was the brother of Thanatos who was death. She’d never heard of Nike, but that didn’t mean much. There were so many of them back then. “So you want to go to Mount Olympus, as in Greek mythology?” She couldn’t hold back a derisive snort; “…and everyone thinks I’m crazy.”
One of the men behind Hypnos spoke. He was fair skinned and blonde. They were all dressed in black pants and white tops. His eyes were an eerie brown. “Olympus isn’t a mythical mountain, it’s a planet. It’s our home, and we’d like to return.”
“Your home? The Greek Gods are aliens?” Holy shit! This is unbelievable!
“Greek Gods, Roman Gods, Egyptian Gods. We all hail from different planets. How else do you think we could influence your under-developed world so much?” The woman with curly brown hair, dark skin, and piercing angry eyes responded. “We are simply people who want to get home, and your town council keeps us from that destination.”
“I’m sure they have a good reason for it.” Sophie countered. She really didn’t like the woman that talked so easily about killing her.
“The reason is of no consequence.” The last man who looked of Japanese descent spoke up. “It’s our home, and we have the right to return.”
“That’s not true.” Thanatos approached the group from behind, Giovanni at his side. “You’ve been exiled from home because of the crimes you’ve committed. A fate we all share.” Thanatos said the last part in a softer tone. “We’re here until the judges on our respective worlds send for us.”
“We’ve been here too many centuries, Thanatos. How long must we pay for our indiscretions?”
“Attempting to overthrow the royal families on the five planets was not a simple indiscretion.” Thanatos reminded them. “And I’m not the only one who agrees with this fact. If you continue down this path you will bring about a war of epic proportions.”
Giovanni used Thanatos’ conversation as a distraction to slip past the group and stand next to Sophie. Even in the dream realm she smelled amazing and felt better than he expected. She offered him a grateful smile and leaned into his side ever so slightly. Never showing weakness, but still acquiring his strength. He groaned inwardly at their touch, craving more. It took all he had to stomp his desires down and focus on the issue at hand. As a vampire he doesn’t dream so he wasn’t immune to the fantasy magic that existed in this world. For him it was almost overpowering, a weaker man would’ve succumbed.
“So the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Your attack on the town is the same aggressive behavior you exhibited to get us sent here in the first place. Our worlds are peaceful. They’re not going to accept war-hungry citizens back with open arms. Centuries have past and none of you have learned your lesson.”
“Some of us have. We don’t plan on hurting innocents in our attack, only those that keep us from our quest.” The blonde man defended them.
“Really, Eros? Because what I see is an innocent witch doctor defending another innocent human from dangerous gods.” Thanatos snapped back.
Sophie and Gio bit back the urge to speak. Thanatos was doing a good job of talking them down but the ninja dream weavers that surrounded them made them both feel uneasy. Gio pulled her even closer against him, his possessive arm snaked around her waist. His job in this scenario was to protect his girl and he’d do that with his dying breath, even against the gods. And if she was Beatrice’s soul reincarnated, he’d get his redemption.
“Frankly, I’m surprised to see you on this side of the battle. I thought your motto was love before war?” Thanatos continued his lecturing of the rebelling gods.
“I just want to go home.” He stated darkly, but Sophie could see pain and conflict in his eyes. Perhaps he could be saved as well.
“And how does attacking Sophie make that possible?” Giovanni asked, he didn’t mean to speak up. The words simply slipped out of his mouth, his desire to protect her was overwhelming.
All six pairs of eyes turned toward them. It was a terrifying sight. The godly eyes held varying levels of anger and disgust.
“Sophie is the healer. Without her you would be even more defenseless.” The unknown male with dark hair and olive skin spoke up.
“Sounds like a strategy from a war god, not the god of fear, Deimos.” Thanatos shot back and the volley of words began again.
“Well, Ares is my father and he has taught us all to be masters on the battlefield. His problem is that he gets taken over by his thirst for blood. I, on the other hand, am more strategic. If they lose access to their healer, fear will set in, and fear is one of the best tools to use when you want to disarm the enemy with few casualties.”
“So you kill Sophie and there are less innocent casualties?” Thanatos nodded his head.
Giovanni moved in front of Sophie. He didn’t like where this discussion was heading.
The logic behind the words was there. The good of the many outweigh the good of the few. But that looked completely illogical to the few that were on the losing end of that belief. Sophie had had enough. She slipped
past Giovanni’s protective stance and moved forward. “First off, I don’t care if you’re aliens with god-like powers. Deciding who lives or dies like pawns on a chess board is inhumane. Who gives you the right? No wonder you all lost favor with the humans. Secondly, did you even try talking to the council and addressing your concerns like decent beings with a respect for life would have?”
Gio snaked his arm around her waist and spun around putting his back to the gods, and effectively placing his body between theirs and hers. “I need you to stop.” His eyes pleaded with her. He wouldn’t lose her. Couldn’t. Instinct was telling him to shut her up before her mouth got her killed.
All six of the alien gods turned in her direction again.
‘You need to quiet yourself, child.’ Nike’s voice echoed in her mind.
“No, I won’t be silent. If you plan to kill me I plan to have my say in the matter.” Sophie glared at Giovanni and Nike.
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