by Julia Mills
Dropping her hands and walking around the altar to stand beside his mate, Lee waited as Juliette knelt in front of him then joined her. Handing her the chalice, he waited until she positioned her wrist over the cup before laying the sharp edge of the blade against her skin.
Looking deep into her eyes, he waited until she nodded and then and only then spoke the words Ares had instructed them to say. “By the blood of the daughter of Hebe, Cupbearer to the Gods and youngest child to the great Father of the Gods, Zeus, I pledge my undying fealty and that of my fýlakas tis kardiás mou to the God of War, born after the Great War of the Gods and the Titans and faithful servant to his father. Only when the cup refuses to take another drop will my bond be sealed and my pledge be honored on earth and even into the afterlife.”
Achilles, slowly pulled the blade across Juliette’s tender flesh, cringing when her blood, bright and red, welled up on her wrist and began to flow into the cup. Waiting to the count of twenty, just as they had agreed upon, Lee spoke directly into his mate’s mind, “Make it look as though the cup is almost full. Use your power.” And added when she gave a single shake of her head, “You can do it, Juliette. I believe in you.”
Watching as she looked down at her wrist, he could feel the intensity of her concentration, sensed the power flowing through her veins and watched as she literally made it look like her blood was flowing more freely and the cup was filling at a more rapid pace. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Ares evil smirk while his eyes were glued to the cup.
Turning back to his mate, he immediately said, “Now, when I give you the signal, close your wound and let go of your magic.”
“But Ares…”
Not letting her finish, Achilles interjected, “Will get what he deserves.”
Counting down from ten, looking right into Juliette’s eyes, he waited until he had said the number two before shouting, “Now!” Into her mind.
In less than three heartbeats her wound was closed, the last drop of blood had dropped into the cup and the veil of her magic faded away showing a half empty goblet. Ares raced forward, grabbed Juliette’s arm from Achilles and yanked the demi-goddess to her feet. No sooner had the soles of her shoes touched the ground than the other Kings appeared from behind the pillars, pointed the tips of the blades of six long swords at the God of War’s neck and Viktor ordered, “The battle is lost, Ares. These swords are forged from the ore of the fires of the Underworld by Hephaestus. Let go of the woman.”
At the mention of his biggest rival’s name and the fact that their blades were one of the few objects in all world that could inflict true damage to a god, Ares dropped Juliette’s hand like he had been burnt. Turning slowly, carefully avoiding the Kings’ swords, the God of War faced Viktor and laughed, “You think to harm me, Ares, Son of Zeus, the King of the Gods and your maker, plebian?”
Opening his mouth to speak, Viktor never got to utter a word as thunder shook the ground, lightning reigned down like raindrops from the heavens and Zeus himself appeared in a great flash of light. His voice seemed to echo from every direction as he answered Ares question with authority, “No, he does not. I do, you ungrateful whelp.”
The God of Sky and Thunder’s power filled the air making the hair on Achilles’ arms stand on end as angry thunder clouds rolled through Zeus’ deep blue eyes. Stepping towards his son, the King of the Gods nodded to Viktor and commanded, “Leave him to me. Drop your blades.”
Grabbing Ares by the brooch holding his cloak closed at his neck, Zeus lifted the God of War off the ground, shook him twice and growled, “You will serve your punishment in the Underworld. My brother, Hades, awaits.” And with the snap of the King of the God’s fingers, Ares disappeared.
Silence filled the ruins as every eye was on Zeus. Lee had no idea how or why the Father of the Gods was there, and it didn’t change how the archer felt about the gods but he was damn glad they’d had divine intervention with their plan.
Without a word, the larger than life deity, turned towards Viktor, once again gave a single nod and disappeared just as he had appeared. It took several seconds before anyone could speak and as usual, it was Lee. “And you guys said my plan wouldn’t work.”
Chapter Eleven
Juliette was so relieved that they were all still standing and that she’d gotten a few minutes to talk to her mom to make sure Hebe was indeed unharmed that she hadn’t even thought about her mating with Lee. That is until he got down on one knee just outside the ruins and said, “Dearest Juliette, the only love I have ever known or will ever desire, will you bless an old tired archer with your presence by my side from now until the sun no longer shines in the sky?”
Unable to hold back the tears, the demi-goddess could only nod as her King placed the most elegant tear-drop shaped emerald ring on her finger, stood, pulled her into his arms, kissing her as if she was the very air he needed to survive. Amid all the clearing throats, joking and chuckles from his brothers Lee continued their embrace until neither could breathe.
Pulling away with a gasp, they both ended up laughing along with the group until Tommy said, “So tell us again how your plan worked just the way you thought it would.”
Again, the group erupted into laughter and only after it had died down did Juliette ask, “That wasn’t what you had planned?”
“Well…”
Lee’s explanation was interrupted as Roman with his arm around Cyn, stepped forward and grinned, “No, that was not even close to what he had planned.”
Swatting her King in the arm, she teased, “So, fess up, what was really supposed to happen?”
Holding up his hands in mock surrender, Lee grinned, “Viktor, Roman and Bain were all holding three other forgeries and one by one, they were going to step out when you filled the chalice we were holding and your wound began to heal. I figured at that point Ares would lose his calm, cool composure and that was when I was going to have you use all that wonderful god power you had been summoning all day to knock him on his butt.”
“At which time,” Tommy interjected. “We were going to draw our swords, walk the asshole out to the cliffs, cut him with Zeus’ blade and let him feed the sharks until he could heal his own wounds and make it back to Mt Olympus.”
“But,” Lee again took control of the explanation. “I couldn’t stand to see you bleeding. It was more than I could bear, so I changed the plan.”
“And we thank you for the heads up,” Bain grumbled, sarcastically.
“Sorry, old man, I didn’t have a way to tell you what was going on but I knew you’d back me up no matter what.” Lee beamed with pride.
“You are damn lucky we all like you,” Nikos snickered. “Next time we might just leave you hanging.”
Juliette asked, “Wait, how did you all get god swords?”
Sal shook his head and stepped forward, turning the sword he still held in his hand first on way and then the other. “We didn’t.” He winked.” It was all a hoax.”
“And what about Zeus? We weren’t supposed to call him for help,” she added.
“You didn’t,” Roman said. “I did, along with Viktor.” Lee’s mentor nodded to their Unum. “There was no way we could leave any of this to chance. If one god gets the best of us, who knows what other crazy deity with a hair-brained scheme to anger Zeus will come after us just to prove a point. Better to draw first blood, as it were, and let the rest see we mean business.”
Shaking her head in disbelief, Juliette was taken by surprise when Viktor started to walk away and called over his shoulder, “Achilles, will you and your mate, please come with me?”
Looking at one another and shrugging, the couple followed the Commander to the edge of the cliffs, overlooking the beautifully calm Aegean Sea. The demi-goddess couldn’t help but smile at the amazing view of the moon reflected on the soft waves. It was something out of a landscape painted by one of the masters, but alive and real and all the more beautiful for it.
Clearing his throat, Viktor smiled at the couple a
s he began to speak, “Looking at you two makes me miss Katarina, but she had to stay at work and I will be heading home very soon.” His smile grew. “I’m sure Achilles has told you that she is my mate.” The Unum shook his head. “She and my archer have bonded over video games since the blending of our companies.” She could feel the comradery the Commander had for her mate along with the incredible, unconditional love he had for the keeper of his heart as he spoke. “There is nothing like the love of true mates. I never knew love until Katarina. Cherish it always.”
Looking out over the sea, he paused for a moment then continued, “It seems Zeus has known of your existence for quite some time, my dear, and as he tells me, and please know that as far as I am concerned the truth is for you to decide, that he is sorry you have had such a very long and arduous life. He still thinks of your mother as one of his favorites and you also as her daughter. Because of that, he has explained to me so that I may make you aware of the simple fact that unlike our human mates, you do not have a mortal life to forfeit in order to become of our elite fraternity, you already possess one quality vital to our kind – immortality. For your transformation to begin, you need only drink from Achilles and he drink from you and speak the words given to us by the Father of the Gods.”
Again, the Unum paused and this time when he spoke it was in a reverent tone, “You will, however, sleep for thirty days while your body learns to function as ours do. Normally, this is to take place on the darkest night of the month but again your grandfather, our maker, has made an exception in your special case.”
Turning away from the cliffs, Viktor took a few steps towards the shadows, motioning for them to follow. Holding onto Lee’s hand as if it were her only lifeline, Juliette was not only surprised to see a huge hole in the ground but rather leery about what it meant.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long for clarification as Viktor said, “Using his lightning he has prepared a place for your transformation.” Then gave Achilles a single nod before walking away.
Carefully turning her in his arms until they were face to face, her King finished the explanation. “We use the rich soil of the land of our birth to nourish the bodies of our mates while they are transforming into one of our kind.” He smiled, “As I’m sure you know, I wasn’t born on this mountain but as Destiny would have it, my true homeland is less than a hundred miles from here as the crow flies.” He pulled her closer. “It seems Zeus, never one of my favorite gods, but I will admit he is growing on me,” he snickered, “Has given us permission to proceed with the mating tonight. If that is alright with you?”
Feeling him searching her mind for doubts, Juliette simply waited. With any other person she would’ve been angry at the invasion but where her King was concerned, there were no boundaries. She was open to him at all times just as she knew he would be to her. Watching a myriad of emotions cross his face, she knew the moment he had confirmation that she was ready by his brilliant smile that lit up the darkness of the night around them.
“It is more than alright with me. It’s what I’ve been dreaming of for most of my life.”
With a whoop of joy, Lee picked her feet up off the ground and spun around in circles. They were soon joined by the other Kings and Cynthia, who clapped and congratulated them. As the festivities died down, Juliette caught Lee and Roman giving one another pointed looks and with a sigh asked, “Alright you two, what’s up?”
Laughing out loud, her King pulled her close once again and chuckled, “There are some formalities we need to dispense with before we can get on with the transformation.”
Kissing her soundly before stepping back, Achilles continued in the most formal tone she’d heard him use thus far, “Juliette, as is the way of the Kings of the Blood, as decreed by the Father of the Gods, my brothers each have a blessing to bestow up on you as you begin your new life as part of our elite fraternity.”
Juliette let go of Lee’s hand and turned to find his brother’s all standing side-by-side with looks of admiration and acceptance upon their face. One by one, the Kings approached, knelt before her, and said, “May the gods smile upon you and yours. May your days be filled with sunshine and your nights with love. May you and your beloved enter the Elysian Fields hand-in-hand, always together, always in love.”
Viktor was the last to approach, offering the demi-goddess a perfectly polished gem as he explained, “My mother believed that a garnet carved with a dove, the symbol of Aphrodite, given to a couple on their wedding day ensured that they would always be faithful, always be true, and always be together. This heart-shaped stone,” he placed it in Juliette’s hand, “is one in a set of seven, i mitéra mou gave to me over three thousand years ago. They were to be given to the seven sons she prayed I would have, but,” he looked at each of the Kings with a proud smile upon his face, “I got something much more valuable.”
Looking back to the couple, he went on, “Against all my orders and at the risk of his own peril, as well as ours, Achilles has chased you all over the world. And now I know that you too, have been following him for even longer. If that does not speak to the testament of the bond between true mates, then I am at a loss as to what does. May your eternity together be filled with all the love and devotion befitting a couple who has fought all obstacles both worldly and heavenly to be together. As you have already done, so continue to live every moment to the fullest, leaving nothing to chance. I look forward to a lifetime as your friend and comrade.”
Once again Juliette found herself shedding tears of happiness at the overwhelming acceptance and generosity of the Kings. Catching her breath, she smiled so big her cheeks hurt as she looked at each King and with all the emotion she felt gushed, “Thank you so very much. I have lived many lifetimes and in every one wished for a family just like this one. You all, and my wonderful mate,” she closed the distance between herself and her King, “Are the answer to all my prayers and I will strive to give back to you everything that you have given to me. Thank you for accepting me and for keeping Achilles safe until we could be together.”
Each King nodded but it was Tommy who grinned from ear-to-ear and snickered, “You are so welcome, Juliette, and now the big lug is all yours to keep out of trouble.”
The group erupted in laughter and for almost an hour they all stood around talking until Lee announced, “Alright you hooligans, I need to make this mating official before Juliette comes to her senses and runs for the hills.”
Shaking her head, she motioned with her index finger for him to bend down and once he was close, wrapped her arm around his neck, pulled his lips to hers and kissed him, letting all the love, devotion and passion she felt for him assure her King, that she would never, in a million years, run from him. The sound of Bain calling out, “Alright you two, we get the picture, we’ll leave you alone,” as they all retreated to their vehicles, it had the couple ending their kiss with a chuckle and waving to their family as they left the mountain.
Finally alone, Juliette was suddenly nervous and her perceptive mate was quick to understand. “We don’t have to do this tonight,” he said. “There’s no pressure at all. We’ve waited this long, a few more nights isn’t going to kill either one of us.”
Juliette knew he was making concessions for her, trying to make her feel more comfortable, putting her needs before his and it made her love him all the more, but she also needed him to understand that just as he had waited for her, she had been waiting for him…forever. Reaching up, she grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulled him down until they were nose-to-nose and pretending to be irritated, through gritted teeth she asked, “Are you trying to run out on me, Achilles?”
Barking with laughter, Lee once again picked her up but this time jumped down in their hole. Looking around as he set her feet on the ground, Juliette was shocked to see a beautiful white down comforter spread out on the floor of the cavern. It seemed that Zeus had even thought of their comfort.
Glancing at Lee, she found him just staring at her. Grinning, sh
e asked, “Having second thoughts?”
“No way, just letting you get used to the idea of sleeping in a hole in the ground for thirty days.”
Threading her fingers through his, she smiled, “I’ve been preparing for this all my life. If it takes a little blood and thirty days in the ground to live eternity by your side, then so be it. It’s more than worth the price…you, my sweet man, are worth any price.”
She watched as emotion threatened to get the better of her big, strong King and couldn’t help but close the distance between them and kiss him until all thoughts turned to becoming one in body, mind and soul. Moving as one, both careful to maintain their embrace, the couple moved to the comforter.
Their passion grew. Juliette’s hands slipped under the warm cotton of Lee’s shirt at the same time his fingers were lifting the hem of her T-shirt. Breaking apart as he ripped the garment over her head, she quickly unbuttoned his shirt, tearing at the fabric, causing the last few buttons to pop off in her haste to be one with her King.
Drawn to one another as only true mates can be, the couple knelt down on the blanket, kissing and touching, learning one another’s body as their passion grew. Lee’s lips left hers as he tasted and teased his way across her jaw and down her neck as he opened his mind completely to her, allowing her to see what he was about to do.
Letting her head fall to the side, Juliette awaited the feel of his fangs on her skin. Her nails scraped at his back as she pulled him closer, needing, wanting to be his for all time. Lee continued to tease her as he lavished her neck with kisses, preparing her, loving her, making sure it was pleasurable…memorable, so that when she finally did feel the tip of his canines running along either side of her jugular, goose bumps rose all over her skin.
Her body was awash with the erotic need to not only give him her blood but her body. Climbing onto his lap, she reveled in the feel of his denim-covered erection. It was exhilarating to know he was as turned on as she was.