“I’m going to enjoy this, again,” he said wickedly.
The doors flew open, and Carter rushed through, with Grace and Aceso beside him.
“I guess the tables just turned.” Theo smiled, but a door opened on the far side, and another dozen armed men rushed in. They paused opposite them, creating a deadly standoff. A mighty battle was about to begin, and they all knew it would be a brutal and deadly one.
“Kill them all!” Maximón roared.
But before anyone could make a move the building shook violently as thunder rang out. Lightning sparked across the skies in the windows to their side. Everything began to rock violently as if an earthquake were hitting them. Part of the roof above them began to give way and collapsed in. Theo and Maximón leapt in opposite directions, barely avoiding the falling debris. The tremors began to settle, and finally a single figure dropped down through the breach in the ceiling, landing in the center of them all.
“My God,” Theo said. She’d recognized who it was.
“Hades,” whispered Grace in horror.
There was no mistaking it this time, for the villain who had been posing as him was right there before them. Hades stood up tall and proud. He looked all-powerful and ready to exact his revenge as three more of his soldiers dropped in beside him.
“Theo looked to Maximón, but she could tell from his expression that he wasn’t going to stand and fight.
“What do we do?” Grace asked quietly.
“Run!”
She looked to where Maximón was standing to find he’d already gone. Both sides leapt into action as they darted away as quickly as they could. Hades took a swing at one of Maximón’s soldiers and sliced him in half while one of his minions killed another. They made no attempt to pursue either side as they fled like rats trying to escape a sinking ship. Hades strode forward with murderous intent, but he was in no rush. He reached Aceso as she tried to escape through one of the doors and slashed across her back. She staggered forward with a gaping wound, but Theo caught her as they went on.
“Run, don’t stop running. Get the hell out however you can!” Theo screamed.
Panic had set in among them. They’d prepared themselves for a deadly fight against an unknown foe, but Hades was something else entirely.
“How is he back?”
“I don’t know, Grace, but we can’t wait to find out! Just keep going!”
They quickly leapt into their parked vehicles.
“Doc! We’ve got a man down. He needs help!” Carter yelled.
Grace looked down at Aceso and could see just how bad she was. She wasn’t even able to get back up as Theo laid her down in the back of a truck.
“I’ll go,” said Grace.
“You’re not a doctor of medicine, Doc.”
“Theo, I’ve patched enough wounds, and I know a few things. It’s me or nothing.”
She jumped off the vehicle, and Carter helped her up into another. She quickly knelt down to help the man and applied pressure.
“Whatever first aid kit you have, I need it now! Get it fast!”
Carter pointed for the driver to find it.
“We should split up. We can’t risk being followed back.”
“If we don’t get this man somewhere flat where we can work on him soon, he won’t make it,” she said, looking at the severity of his wounds.
“And if Hades tracks us, none of us will,” replied Theo.
It was a hard truth to swallow.
“We’ll make it out of this. Split up, you all know what to do,” said Carter as he climbed into another truck nearby.
Grace sighed in disbelief. She was distraught, but her patient brought her back to reality as the truck pulled away, and she kept up the pressure on the badly wounded man.
“Dig through that kit and find me whatever bandages you can!” Graced shouted to the young man opposite her in the back of the truck. The engine roared as they took a sharp bend and split off from the others, screaming off into the distance.
Chapter 15
Aldred pulled their SUV over as they drove into the airport’s parking lot. Aaron was so eager to leave he leapt out and went for their bags. Aldred got out to say a last few words.
“I know. I shouldn’t go. I’m not ready,” replied Aaron, as if awaiting the ridicule and scolding he was about to get from him.
“No, you’re wrong. You are ready, but you have to believe it. Remember what you have learned here. You had the skills to overcome a great fighter before you came here, but your mind was not focused. Every movement must be natural. Every action executed with absolute certainty and not any degree of doubt. You must be one with the sword, for it is not the weapon, you are. A sword, a gun, it does not matter. Those are tools to do a job. Even a magical one.” He gestured toward Aaron’s bag that was carrying two of the Olympian blades, “The truth is you knew this before you came here, but you didn’t really believe in it. Your mind and your body know what to do. Don’t second-guess them. Let your body flow naturally, and it will reward you for it.”
He still looked doubtful.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I do, and the things we have achieved here have been nothing short of amazing. So many lessons I can take back from this. I have developed more in a week than I have in years. But this is no ordinary opponent. We are fighting gods. We could sure use some help,” he said, as Ava and Luca gathered beside him.
“We will consider the information you have shared and continue to monitor this situation. But the decisions of the Brotherhood are not made lightly, nor by one man alone. We have survived this long because we are cautious and smart. We commit to the right action at the right time.”
“Okay, but just be sure you don’t get to the party too late.”
“The Brotherhood is never late. If it is right for us to act, then we will act.”
Aaron nodded in appreciation of that fact. It was a lot to ask, and he understood that.
“When you came to us, I told you, you would leave as a Brother, or not at all. I am sad to see you leave us so soon, but know that you leave us as Brothers, all of you.”
None of them could quite believe what they were hearing.
“Do not worry. We will not expect anything of you, for you are already doing good work.”
Aaron smiled as he was swept over with a wave of emotion.
“But before you go, know this. Nothing that you know of the Brotherhood may be shared with anyone who is not one of us. You will protect our secrets with your life, and if a time comes that the Brotherhood needs you, you will answer the call.”
Aaron had no idea what that really meant, but it seemed of little consequence right now. All he could think about was Theo and Grace and their other friends at home.
“Thank you, I know you had no reason to take us in. No obligation to do so.”
“When someone pursues the ancient arts, and is dedicated enough to do whatever it takes to master them, that deserves to be rewarded. Good luck in your endeavors.”
He held out his hand to shake Aaron’s. But Aaron smiled as he moved forward quickly and hugged Aldred. He didn’t know how to take it, but Ava and Luca followed suit.
“Remember what we are doing. This is a fight for all of us. Keep watching by all means, but if you’re going to act, please don’t be late.”
“The Brotherhood endures and does what is required when it is most needed. We will meet again,” replied Aldred in a mysterious way. He stepped back up into his SUV and left them at the side of the airport.
Aaron was silenced for a moment as he took in their whole whirlwind experience. He was exhausted and yet invigorated. He’d learned a lot, but had so many more questions.
“How come you didn’t tell us you were here?” Ava asked Luca.
“Like I said, I never planned to be. They found me, and once I was in, there was no contact to the outside world. I’m not even sure I wanted to reach out.”
“What? Why?”
“You saw what they have there, a perfect paradise. They rule and govern themselves. There are no problems, no surprises. It’s a perfect existence. Everything that goes on around the world is monitored and acted upon where necessary.”
“You knew about that?” Aaron snapped back to reality upon hearing the latest discussion.
“I knew enough.”
“So you knew we were getting our asses kicked?”
“Yes.”
“And still you stayed here and did nothing?”
“Because you were handling it. The Brotherhood is about the right response at the right time, and in the correct measure.”
“And that wasn’t the time?”
“You took the time out to be here?”
“Yes, because I knew we had to. We needed to be better.”
“Then you know why I stayed. Before I came here you kicked my ass every week. I put everything into it, but I never stood a chance. Yesterday, we fought an even match. You have been a great teacher, but the things they can do, it’s incredible. It never seems anything special. There are no magic tricks. You know that. But what they can bring out of you, it’s amazing. It’s like they can see the brilliance buried deep in each of us, and they extract it, bring it to the surface without you ever knowing it.”
He couldn’t argue with that.
“Come on. We haven’t got long.” He checked his watch before grabbing their luggage and running on. Their journey had been humbling and deeply productive, but Aaron’s thoughts were not focused entirely on their friends back home.
“Do you think we’ll make it in time to help?”
“I don’t think this war is gonna end in a day, no, Ava” replied Aaron, which was both a relief and a troubling thought.
* * *
“Come on, come on!”
Theo ushered the vehicles in. Carter went about helping Aceso out, who looked surprised a human even cared enough to do so. She’d always been scathing toward the mortals, but now she was humbled. She cried out in pain and crumpled down onto a sofa front first. She looked exhausted and barely conscious. Carter had no idea what to do with her.
“This is way out of my league. I put on field dressings, nothing more, what do I do?”
“The wound will not heal quickly, not being that deep from an Olympian blade,” she replied as she looked back at it.
“I can stitch it?”
She nodded in agreement before passing out. He reached for her collar and felt for a pulse.
“She’s still alive, but we have to work fast,” he said, gesturing for another to help him. He peeled away her armor, and they lifted her onto a table.
“I need needle and thread, now!”
“What about disinfecting stuff?” Someone asked.
“She’s immortal. We don’t have to worry about that. We just have to stop the blood flow. They can’t die by normal means like the rest of us.”
“Where’s Grace?” Theo asked.
“I thought she was already here,” Carter replied as he kept pressure down on the wound.
“No, there’s no sign of her or the truck she was in. They should have been here by now.”
“They’ll be here,” he insisted.
“And if they aren’t?”
Carter grimaced as he considered the possibilities. He was handed a needle and thread and went to work. Theo paced nervously back and forth.
“We thought it was all over with Hades. To know that wasn’t really him we fought was the best news we’ve had since we got down here. How the hell is he back?”
“You cast him away, just like Zeus did, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Well that ain’t the same as killing. You wound an enemy so gravely, without actually killing ‘em, they’ll always come back for more.”
“You think we were wrong to do what we did?”
“Hell, no. If you hadn’t have done that, we’d all have died down there in that hole.”
She sighed. “I thought this was all over. I thought we could move on with our lives, all of us.”
She looked at the clock as she nervously twitched and kept pacing.
“Can you please just relax and let me do this. I’m trying to work.”
“I’m gonna go looking. They should have been here by now.”
Carter didn’t like it, but he would at least be glad of the peace.
“You just be careful, you hear? We’re running a little thin on numbers. We get hit while you’re not here, and we’re in a world of trouble.”
“This is Hades we’re talking about. If he comes after all of us at once, we’re no better off.”
“Hey!” Carter snapped.
She stopped in surprise that anyone would snap at her like that.
“Knock it off with that bullshit, you hear? I don’t care how bad things look, we’ve got through it before, and we will again.”
“How can you have faith of victory in the face of such odds?”
“Because that’s who we are. We make it through, no matter what. We lost a battle here today, and it won’t be the last, but we haven’t lost the war.”
She nodded in appreciation as she went to one of the trucks and climbed in.
“Good luck!”
She stepped on the gas and tore on out of there.
* * *
Aaron breathed a sigh of relief as he reached his dusty truck in the airport parking lot.
“It feels good to be home, doesn’t it?” Ava asked.
“Not really,” replied Luca.
Aaron frowned.
“You always loved this city. You barely ever left it.” He threw his bags into the back and put the swords in the cab.
“That was my mistake. I didn’t know enough of the world to judge if it were good or bad.”
“Well, now you have, what do you think?”
“It’s both, but it is still home.”
“It’s worth fighting for, no?”
“People, family, ideas, they are worth fighting for, Ava. The city is nothing more than a place.”
“Well, shit, you really did change out there?” Aaron asked.
Luca nodded in agreement. He looked lost in thought, as if he had so much more to think about than ever before, and had also simplified his approach to life.
“You okay?” Aaron looked deeply concerned for his friend and partner.
“I’m just fine,” he replied while still in a daze.
“If we’d not gone to the Brotherhood, would you ever have left?”
“I don’t know, Ava,” he shrugged.
“They’re pretty impressive, like nothing I’ve ever seen, but you have a life here, you know that, right?”
“Life is…everywhere, Aaron.” He sounded vague and philosophical.
“Well, shit, you had to go to the other side of the world to realize that?” Aaron chuckled as he fired up the truck and pulled away. He took out his phone and called Grace, but it kept ringing.
“Come on, come on,” he said as he waited, but it went right to voicemail.
He sighed and tried again, but still nothing.
“All right.” He was thinking who to call next and flicked through his contacts, with only one eye on the road.
“You need me to take that?” Ava asked.
“No, I’m good.” He’d reached Carter and dialed his number.
The phone rang and rang as if there would be no answer, but eventually he picked up.
“Hey, buddy, I’m kind of busy right now.”
There was a cry of pain in the background.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but we’re in a bad way.”
“Do you know where Grace is? She’s not picking up her phone.”
“No idea, but Theo is out looking for her. You’d better get here, and fast.”
“All right, where are you?”
“Theo’s facility.”
“Okay, we won’t be long.”
“And, Miller?”
�
��Yeah?”
“You should know Hades is back. I mean really back. Whatever it was we were dealing with before, it wasn’t him. But we’ve got trouble on two fronts. You couldn’t have come back at a worse time.”
“Or better,” he replied in a hopeful tone. Hopeful they could make a difference, “I’ll be there soon,” he added before ending the call.
“What is it?” Ava could see the concern on his face.
“I don’t exactly know, but it’s not good. It sounds like we’re walking right into a shitstorm.”
“Did you expect anything different?”
He couldn’t believe she wasn’t shocked by the news, but she didn’t stop there.
“We went looking for Aldred because of this threat. It wasn’t going to just go away while we were gone, was it?”
“I thought so. Hades, or whoever it was, made a deal. We don’t cause trouble, and we don’t get trouble.”
“And you believe someone who tries to kill you and bully you like that?”
He shrugged. He knew he shouldn’t have, but he’d wanted the deal to be real. He put his foot on the gas and accelerated hard, eager to get to Carter and the others. Seconds later, sirens rang out, and blue and red beacons flashed in the rearview mirror.
“Ah, shit. Just what I need.”
The police cruiser pulled up beside them on the highway. He recognized the cops in the car but didn’t know them well. They got a good look at his face, switched off the sirens, and gave him the thumbs up. They slowed down to back away, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled and put his foot down once again.
“Is that how it is now? Cops let other cops break the law here?”
“Not normally. Marlon knows the deal, and he has our back. He’s probably spread the word to back off us, given the impression we’re working undercover or something like that.”
“We are, aren’t we?”
“We aren’t exactly working for the city anymore, Luca, are we?”
“You sure about that? I wasn’t aware you ever stopped.”
“He’s right. What we’re doing might be in the shadows, and it might not always be legal, but we’re doing the right thing for the right reasons. The people of this city owe their safety to you, even if they’ll never know it.”
Fallen Gods II Page 20