by Addison Fox
Zeus might have abandoned her, but his brother, Hades, had seen a very real purpose for her life. She was Nemesis—the goddess of retribution—and right now, these guys needed some divine justice real bad.
Even after taking so many souls she’d lost count, Ilsa could still remember her bargain with Hades in vivid detail.
Zeus had abandoned her, claiming she’d held him back from his true calling. From ascending to the high throne of the gods. If she’d thought the bleak, hateful look of reproach in his eyes was bad, his punishment had been even worse.
If she dared to leave the cave on Mount Ida—dared to leave the very spot where she’d hidden him and raised him for so many years—she couldn’t take corporeal form. To all who knew her, she was nothing but a ghost, a spirit of someone they remembered from long ago. A walking spirit. Dead to others, yet fully alive.
She’d lost the contact of others for endless years of her life, in her forced role as caretaker to Zeus. But she’d done it. She’d helped raise him into a strong warrior who would be able to defeat his father in battle.
And how was she repaid?
With a punishment worse than death.
How fitting, then, that the god of death should be the one to save her. Hades had defied his brother and, in doing so, changed her life.
Even now, Ilsa recalled every detail of Hades’s arrival on Mount Ida.
“He doesn’t appreciate your gift, but I do, sweet Adrasteia. It was your sacrifice, raising Zeus in secret, that allowed him to grow strong. Allowed him to defeat our father and set me and my brother and my sisters free. I owe you a debt of gratitude.”
Tears rolled down her face, their wet warmth a welcome sign that she still lived. Existed. She stared at Hades as he filled the mouth of her cave. “How am I to know this isn’t yet another trick of the gods? Your mother, Rhea, forced me here. Your brother Zeus has ensured I can never leave.”
“My family does not understand the gifts of others, or the sacrifice others make. I will not make the same mistakes. Which is why I offer you a bargain.”
She felt the interest pecking at her heart, like birds sought seeds on the ground, but vengeance still swirled in an impenetrable mass, holding her curiosity at bay. Her arms remained firmly crossed over her breasts, but her tears dried as she looked at the great god of the Underworld. “Fine. Tell me if you wish.”
“I propose a new life for you, Adrasteia. A life beyond this cave, beyond your upbringing as a nymph, even beyond the lot cast for you by my brother and my mother. You’ve been called to so much more.”
“Again, I must repeat myself. How do I know this isn’t yet another trick?”
“I am offering you vast power, Adrasteia. I’d like you to become my goddess of divine justice. You shall see into men’s souls and you shall bring me those who defy the natural order of things. You shall repair what is wronged and you shall be the great distributor of men’s eternal fortune. You shall be the one from whom there is no escape.”
Another wave of tears welled in her eyes. “That’s where you’re mistaken. It is I who have no escape.”
“Bah!” Hades waved a hand. “My brother isn’t all-powerful, nor is he all-seeing. I can offer you life. It is your choice if you wish to embrace it.”
So Hades had laid out his plan—how he needed one who could roam the earth and bring the wicked and the small-minded to his door—and she’d accepted. Perhaps under duress, perhaps as one who could see opportunity when it was presented.
Either way, she’d long since accepted her duties.
Adrasteia was no more, replaced by a new name. One guaranteed to strike fear in all those who heard it. A name befitting the goddess of divine retribution.
A name she’d worn proudly through the millennia, until recently.
Until Kane. Always, her thoughts returned to him. With a sigh, she allowed the malevolent stench of the physicist’s soul to guide her toward him, pushing images of Kane to a place inside of herself the evil couldn’t touch.
And as she wandered the length of the Serpentine, she prepared herself to face more of the world’s dark and depraved.
Others for whom there was no escape.
She knew the evil in men’s souls. Knew the depths of wickedness to which they could sink.
And she had the power to destroy each and every one of them.
Kane fell to his knees as the port ended, the wet spring grass of Hyde Park soaking through his jeans. Oh gods, he hated this clumsiness, an effect of the poison as it neared its zenith.
Although several of his Warrior brothers detested porting, he’d always had a fondness for it. The ability to come and go as he pleased—to go anywhere he chose—was one of the most awesome gifts Themis had bestowed upon them.
It also took a tremendous amount of energy, of which he was in short supply, using all of his normal strength to stave off the fiend tap-dancing its way through his bloodstream.
Fighting off a round of nausea, he ripped open an energy bar their housekeeper and all-around den mother, Callie, had made for him. She’d worked on the recipe for years and in the past it had helped sustain him as the poison’s power grew. The bar was a concoction of oatmeal, vitamins and some ungodly thing that smelled worse than a gym full of his Warrior brothers.
But at least it stayed down.
May thirty-first. You just have to make it to the night Antares is at its zenith and then you’re free for another year.
The poison punctuated that thought with a harsh battering ram to Kane’s rib cage.
From the inside out.
Kane allowed himself a moment to catch his breath in privacy—allowed himself that small moment of weakness to collect himself—then swallowed the last bite of the protein bar. On one more deep breath, he shoved the wrapper into his jeans pocket and took off for the Serpentine.
There just wasn’t any time to worry about the rapidly deteriorating state of his body. The scientist he’d been following since initially partnering with Ilsa had set the meet, after a long and arduous dance where they both sized each other up and tried to figure out how hard each was playing the other.
Three months ago, the little Hitler wannabe had changed the stakes by bringing his partner along on a meet, forcing Kane to pull back and reassess. New entrants into a setup always made him twitchy.
So where Kane had thought he was closing in on them, it had taken another three months of careful planning. He’d seeded information in bits and pieces—sensitive e-mails, realistic contacts for uranium sales—and also agreed to make a hit on one of their enemies to prove his worth—all so he could gain their trust.
No wonder he was so fucking tired he couldn’t see straight. The deep concentration required for this level of cover along with his nonstop hunt for the elusive Ilsa had the edges of his carefully honed self-control fraying.
Still, he soldiered on.
Ignoring the increasing power of the venom that lived inside of him, Kane had taken his time, digging deeper into the new asshole’s background. Sadly, the investigation had proved only what Kane had already suspected: The second scientist was as twisted as his partner and both were bound and determined to reach their objective.
Earlier meetings where Kane had posed as an enterprising, double-crossing British spy, ready to work for the highest bidder, had established how large a stash of uranium they currently had access to. Tonight’s meet should confirm the list of terrorists they’d contacted to open up the bidding.
In his moments of pure honesty, Kane knew it was these times when he most questioned Themis’s intentions. Throughout his service to her, he’d seen the depths of depravity humanity could sink to. Had witnessed the greed and selfishness inherent in their life choices. Still, Themis never relinquished her great, driving need to protect humanity.
Defend humans from forces beyond their control?
Hell, how’d you protect them from forces completely within their control?
Shaking his head, he continued on. Light was in short supply in
this area, which was why they’d selected it for the meet, but he could still make out vague shapes ahead of him. Two figures, facing each other in the moonlight.
Kane’s footfalls were quiet in the grass, muffled to a soft squish by the light dew. A soft call died on his lips as his gaze caught the silhouette of one of the two people standing there.
A woman?
It was definitely a woman, from the outline of her breasts and the arch of her backside.
Slowing, he mentally walked through the possibilities of what it meant. Yet another person involved from the scientists’ side? Kane quickly discarded it as the scientists’ ability to succeed in this venture required only a small number of people in the know. Not only wasn’t there any honor among thieves, but there wasn’t a hell of a lot of secrecy, either.
Was it an even easier answer? A late-night visit from an enterprising prostitute, perhaps? He’d lived long enough to know that dark, deserted places had a way of finding the most lost souls.
As Kane walked closer, voices rose in the night air.
“Where’s your partner, Robert? You said you were bringing him.” The sexy, whiskey-rough voice caught Kane’s attention immediately, reminding him of Ilsa.
Was he so far gone he couldn’t even hear a woman’s voice any longer without thinking of her?
Kane recognized Robert’s haughty manner immediately. “He’s working on some things. You don’t need to see both of us anyway.”
The husky, seductive tones of her voice rose up in the night air, an unmistakably sharp edge underlying her words like a razor on velvet. “I don’t like being purposely misled.”
The large hands that went up in a gesture of innocence had Kane’s gut tightening in response. He looked as if he were ready to strike the woman. “I didn’t mislead you. I’m here, aren’t I? What do you need to see Alex for, too?”
“We had an agreement.”
Kane held his breath, desperately puzzling through the conversation. Was he being played? Was Robert? Who was the woman and what was she doing in the middle of his meet?
“Yeah, well, I changed it,” the man said.
“And why’d you do that, sweet pea?”
“Alex and I agreed, something about you doesn’t make sense, love. We both agree it’s time to end our relationship with you.”
“You know I can’t do that, love.” Even at his distance, Kane heard the sneer in her voice, the low, dulcet tones that couldn’t hide steely determination. Before Kane could move another foot, the scene unfolding in front of him morphed into something far more sinister.
Robert lurched at the woman, his hands outstretched in a reaching motion, aimed for her throat. At the last minute, the woman sidestepped him, her movements effortless and full of a casual grace that belied the danger she was actually in.
Kane leaped forward, intent on closing the gap between them when her movements pulled him up short. The woman’s back was to him, but he could see her shift, crouching slightly, bracing for Robert’s attack. She extended her arms and blocked his advance as he ran forward, shoving him as they made contact. The feint knocked Robert off balance and she was on top of him immediately. With precise movements, she straddled him and had her hands on his throat, despite the fact the guy had her by six inches and at least a hundred pounds.
“Now, you’re going to listen to me, Robert. You’ve been a very naughty boy.” He made a heavy grunt, but she only leaned in closer. “Very naughty.”
Kane felt the answering response in his groin as the woman lowered her head toward her victim. The sensuality of her movements as she leaned in—the way her face fell toward Robert’s—had raw desire thrumming in his veins, strong enough to dislodge the poison’s power.
Ilsa had straddled him in just that way, the curtain of her hair falling around him in abundant waves. She’d leaned over him, her lush lips stroking the length of his jaw as she detailed each and every thing she wanted to do to his body, her husky voice sending shivers straight to his cock.
Shaking off the memories, Kane moved into the small clearing where the woman still lingered over the scientist. His rock-hard state proved—without a doubt—he’d not forgotten a single second of those glorious hours he’d spent with Ilsa. He kept his footfalls quiet as he moved into a small circle of light where the moon shined down through the clouds and—
“Ilsa?”
She lay prone on Robert, her lips hovering just above the scientist, yet not touching. Her hands rested on the asshole’s shoulders and long wisps of breath were visible between their mouths.
At the sound of her name, she lifted her head, shock etching her mouth into a wide O of surprise. “Kane?”
The loss of contact and momentary distraction was all it took. Before Kane could warn her, Robert’s hands came up, throwing Ilsa off his body in one clean movement. With lightning-quick reflexes, he was on his feet and moving in the direction of a pathway almost invisible in the dark.
“Get the hell out of here, Kane! I don’t need your help. You shouldn’t even be here.” Ilsa took off after her prey, the four-inch-heeled thigh-high boots she wore doing nothing to slow her down.
Kane took off after both of them, ignoring the throb of pain in his abdomen as the poison heightened his exertion. What was she doing here? And what in the gods’ names had she been doing to Robert?
More seduction to get what she wanted?
Pounding fists of fury assaulted his central nervous system as he chased after them. No way was he losing either one of them. And no way was he letting her put her body anywhere near a traitor and criminal with the ability to start World War III.
Like a sprinter chasing the lead in a race, Kane kept his eyes firmly on Robert. He’d deal with Ilsa later—was anticipating it with a furious sort of excitement—but the scientist was his first priority.
It was high time he put an end to their charade of criminal brothers in arms and eliminate the asshole. But first, the little toady owed him some explanations and he was damned sure going to get them. Pushing his weakened body forward, Kane ignored the pain—the sharp stabs in his lungs and the tearing muscle fibers in his thighs—and kept running as the two silhouettes in front of him fell in and out of moonlight while he narrowed the gap.
Arms and legs pumping as his feet flew over the slick, dewy grass, Kane caught up inch by inch. Ilsa had shifted positions so they ran almost alongside each other, fanned out like big cats did to take down their prey. She had the length of one full stride on him, but he was narrowing her lead with each passing footfall.
Almost . . . there . . .
As his hand reached out and extended toward Robert, Kane felt the rush of air from Ilsa’s direction.
Saw the quick disappearance of her form in his peripheral vision.
Heard Robert’s scream.
Veering off just before toppling both of them, Kane watched in amazement as Ilsa reappeared from the air in front of Robert, absorbing the man’s weight at full speed as he slammed into her.
Chapter Four
“Kane. I don’t need your help. Go. Please go.”
Robert writhed underneath her as he struggled to free himself. She kept her thigh muscles clamped around his midriff, her ass on his thighs and her hands on his shoulders. He didn’t stand a chance.
“Let me the fuck up, you bitch!” Robert’s eyes were wild and he kept making slight jerks from his hips in a futile attempt to dislodge her.
Ilsa ignored him. Ignored the struggles, the protests, even the smell of fear that emanated off him in pulsing waves. He’d earned these consequences fair and square. She wasn’t the arbiter. She simply delivered the punishment.
Instead, all she could focus on was getting Kane to leave. The impulse pounded in her mind far louder than Robert’s screams.
“You ported.” She heard the accusation in Kane’s voice along with his confusion and disbelief.
“Yes, I did.”
“What are you?”
“You need to leave. You don
’t need to see this.” At those ominous words, Robert’s struggles ratcheted up significantly, his body flailing against her like a panicked fish thrown on the deck of a ship. His desperation was palpable and hers was quickly growing to match it.
Kane reached for her, but she stopped him before he could touch her. “Don’t.”
“Who are you?”
“Go.” Tears filled her eyes, hot on her cheeks in the cool early-morning air. “Please go.”
He couldn’t see this.
She couldn’t let him see this.
And she couldn’t let Robert go, either.
Kane didn’t move any closer, but the wariness didn’t leave his eyes as he loomed over her. His face held a mix of confusion and anger, etched in the lines around his eyes and the hard set of his jaw.
Had she ever seen anyone with such expressive eyes? His face belied nothing in the squaring of his firm jaw nor in the craggy lines around his mouth, set as if locked in granite. But oh, those eyes. Dark and fathomless, she wanted to fall into them.
Desperately.
“Who are you?” Kane asked the question again, much softer, his words penetrating her thoughts through Robert’s screams. Then he reached for her once more, slowly, much as a person tries to move toward a wild animal. “You need to get off of him and let me deal with him. He’s mine, Ilsa.”
Robert stopped struggling, as if he inherently sensed he had a better shot with Kane than with her. His voice quivered, its cadence pounding out in gulping, fear-laced waves. “You’ve got to help me, man. She’s a freak. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, but you have to help me.”
Again, Ilsa ignored the man’s struggles, not even offering him a glance. “He’s not yours to deal with, Kane. Please just accept the fact I got here first and leave.”
Without warning, Kane leaped on her, knocking her off Robert and onto the ground. Just as before, the scientist didn’t spend any time waiting around, moving on the second opportunity to get away just as fast as he moved the first time.
“Fuck you, Kane! This isn’t your battle. He’s not yours and you can’t. Have. Him.” Ilsa struggled against him, pounding his shoulders and kicking her legs as he forced her back toward the wet grass.