EPILOGUE
The last of the luggage made it in through the door. Brenna wiped the sweat from her brow. Dr. Kilpatrick’s belongings were heavy, and by the looks of it, he’d brought back several more suitcases worth of belongings than he’d started with.
“Well,” Dr. Kilpatrick said. He was a heavier man with balding gray hair. “It looks like you’ve done quite a bit of work getting this house back in shape. It looks wonderful.”
“Wait until you see the basement.” Brenna slid her hands into her back pockets. “You’re not going to recognize the place.”
“I’ll bet. Well, I have to say that I’m impressed. I didn’t expect to come home to such a spotless house.”
“I had a lot of free time,” Brenna admitted. “It was fine. You got a clean house, and I got some time to think. I think it worked out for both of us.”
“You’re a good friend, Brenna.” Dr. Kilpatrick clapped her on the back. “Does this mean you’ve got your plans for the future sorted out? I know when we last spoke, you were undecided about what you wanted to do.”
“I… yeah.” Brenna nodded. “I made a decision.”
“Good girl. Whatever it is, I wish you the very best of luck. Although, I must admit, I'm a bit selfish here, but I hope you’ll be available for more house sitting. You know I travel a lot for work.”
“Well, things may work out for both of us. So we'll have to keep in touch. You can always leave a message with my parents about your future travel plans.” Brenna hoped her plans would work out fine, but having a backup plan to stay in Dr. Kilpatrick's house again added an extra level of security.
“I see when I was away, you gave yourself a makeover,” Dr. Kilpatrick remarked. He gestured at Brenna’s hair. “I didn’t notice it at first, but in a certain light, it goes green or purple, doesn’t it? Reminds me of an oil slick.” He laughed.
“Charming. It’s supposed to look like raven’s feathers,” Brenna admitted. “Do you like it?”
“I can’t see the appeal myself, but who am I to tell young people what to do with their looks?” Dr. Kilpatrick huffed a laugh. “I've had my share of crazy hair. How times change. I think the most important part is that you’re happy with your choices.”
“I am.” Brenna was sure of it.
“Then I’m glad for you.” Dr. Kilpatrick clapped Brenna’s shoulder. “Are you interested in staying for dinner? I’m not sure what you’ve got in the fridge, but I’m sure we could find something.”
Brenna’s stomach was tied too tightly in knots for her to eat. “That’s very kind of you. I've stocked the fridge with a few essentials, but I think I’m going to be okay. I ate before you got here.”
“Absolutely, thank you.” Dr. Kilpatrick dropped his hand. “I imagine you must be eager to get on the road. It’s a long drive back to Riverside. Did you park your car on the street? It wasn’t in the driveway.”
Brenna's old car had given good service, and she hoped it would prove reliable for Jade too. Jade needed a car, and Brenna didn't, not where she was going.
“Yeah, it’s not there. I wanted to make sure it was out of the way before you got back.” It wasn’t on the street, either, but Brenna wasn’t about to say that—nor did she want to talk about the luggage she’d stored in the back of Dr. Kilpatrick’s junk room in the basement. Judging by what was already buried there, the homeowner would never find it. “I think now that you’re home, I should probably go.”
“Safe travels.” Dr. Kilpatrick saw Brenna to the door. “Thanks for everything.”
“Thanks, you too.” Brenna shook the doctor’s hand, then stepped out the front door. When the door closed behind her, she drew in a deep breath and held it.
It was time.
Brenna casually headed for the street, just in case Dr. Kilpatrick was looking out the front window, and then cut back towards the backyard once she was out of sight of the house. Just beyond the first trees, only visible when the wind disrupted the canopy and let light through, was a flash of blue-green.
Brenna didn’t look back. She kept walking until she entered the shade.
Victor’s hand slipped into hers.
They walked into the woods toward the two other waiting princes.
There was a lot they had to talk about, but Brenna was confident they could make it work. Communication would come in time, and with it would come unparalleled happiness.
And if it didn’t work out, Brenna could always come back—but she didn’t think she’d ever need to.
Waldrom, Victor, Corbin, and Brenna walked into the woods and their new lives together.
* * *
Continue reading for an extract from book 2: Defenders
This is Sons of Olympus Book 1: Ravens
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Sons of Olympus Book 2: Defenders
Sons of Olympus Book 3: Architects
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This book has reworked the ideas first published in a gay romance fantasy series.
Defenders by Helen J Perry
Prologue
Ready to leave their Olympian dwelling and walk once again in the world of Mankind, Alex's lover approached the doorway.
“So comes a time that we should part.” The dreaded words recited many times over the centuries were still no easier for Alex to say.
They didn't need words—not really.
In the center of the room, the fire crackled, and the heat radiated against his skin as he lay in the midst of the warm furs upon the bed. It made no difference. He heard the words leave his mouth and take on their own chilling independent form. His stomach churned.
“Fear not, I shall be in your heart.” Her sincere reply came as small comfort.
One woman bound in a love that endured and grew over centuries of companionship and commitment.
This parting, like all the others, would be only temporary. As brief as the blink of an eye compared to years of immortality.
For Alex, his woman's absence would leave a lonely, cold void that his closest male friends, Casper and Greg, could only partially fill.
Having already said their farewells, Casper and Greg sat by the fireplace in silence contemplation. They looked bereft.
Endless time stretching both ahead and behind didn't make it any easier to say goodbye, even if it was only temporary. It was never easy, and Alex always worried every time she left.
Immortality did not make things any less painful but simply made that pain repeat over endless time.
“You will always be in my heart, my love.” He had to remind her. More than you know, my dearest. As if he could sense this parting would be for a longer time than the others.
Delaying everything to claim a few more minutes together, he uttered the words slowly, as if dragging them from the very depths of his aching heart, where he already felt the void of his lover's impending absence.
You can never know how greatly my heart and soul yearn for you.
Before pushing it open and stepping over the threshold, she glanced back over her shoulder. “And I carry you all in mine.” Her gaze roamed over the three men. “I will carry your gift
s with me; they remind me of you. And you know that you are never far from my thoughts.”
She lingered near the doorway as if there were more to say. Proud and tall, she wore clothes suitable for the world of Mankind but carried the first gifts ever given to her.
The pouch was strapped to her chest and hung at her side. She wore the cloak—the mantle from their world. At least she'd have the cloak with her, even though she refused to take a dogs.
Loyal and brave, a dog would protect her from Mankind, but she refused to take one.
Two of their dogs lounged at the foot of the bed where they always slept. Four curled up near the mud-brick walls, a mass of fur, away from the heat of the central hearth. All the dogs ignored the painful goodbye taking place in the room.
A parting like the last one, every time marked by the same, heartfelt words.
“May Hera always protect her,” said Casper after she had left.
Chapter One
“Well, well, it's Upsdell. I always know I'm home when I see groveling on your knees.”
Bending over and digging deep into the half-empty box Lauren didn't need to look up to know exactly who was talking about her. Summer vacation brought all sorts of people home from college, good friends and the opposite, Odelia Stevens.
Before she could get up, Odelia slapped her hand against Lauren’s back in such a way as might almost be friendly. Already unbalanced, Lauren toppled, her top half falling completely into the box of assorted candy.
Odelia laughed. “You be careful, Upsdell. Make sure you get home safely.”
Lauren righted her axis and sat back on her haunches, before getting up she watched Odelia saunter away.
“See ya around, Upsdell, Underbite.”
Instinctively, she put her hand to her jaw. Lauren didn't have an underbite, but years of name calling made her self-conscious.
The end of school brought the end of shared lunches, a welcome end to forced group projects, and the relief of no more embarrassing hallway incidents. Lauren wouldn’t miss any of it. It didn't completely put an end to humiliating encounters and the receipt of rude comments.
When she thought graduating high school meant getting away from the school bullies, Lauren was severely mistaken. Odelia and people just like her turned up too often in this small town in the back of beyond.
Two years out of school and Lauren worked a low-paid, dead-end job stacking shelves at the grocery store, and saved as much as possible. She still lived with her aunt and uncle, the kind relatives who took her in when her parents died. Realistically her prospects were grim, but she worked hard and stayed optimistic.
Ahead of her, she had a destiny to fulfill, great deeds waiting to be done. She knew it but had no idea how to find it.
Before all of that bright distant future, straight after she finished work Lauren had a date to meet up with her best friend, Jade. They had some catching up to do and celebrate the end of her second academic year in college. Jade was home from the city for the summer. Next week she would slip back into her old part-time job in the library.
Nowhere was far from anywhere else in Beaumont and mostly everywhere was close enough to walk, fortunately for Lauren, who couldn't afford a car.
Even though she'd been on a late shift and it was dark outside, Lauren didn't think twice about walking the short distance to Jade's house. It should take ten minutes, but Lauren intended to cut it shorter by cutting across the football field.
She wondered, briefly, if Jade might've gone to sleep. Bordering on ten at night didn't seem late, but Jade would've had a long journey and may be worn out after weeks of studying, essays, and exams, or whatever it was she did at Riverside.
As Lauren walked, she pulled out her cellphone and composed a brief text message.
Hey, coming over. Get ready to party :)
The message sent, she tucked the phone back into her pocket and collided with something. Lauren grunted as the air was knocked from her lungs, and she promptly fell on her ass.
She looked up. Towering over her stood Odelia, with her cronies, her best friend Jill and their boyfriends, Jason and Rhett, flanking them on either side.
“Well look at this. If it isn’t the Pipsqueak again.” Odelia’s vicious smirk chilled Lauren to the bone. “Back on your butt. What did I say back there? You’re always gonna be underneath us, Upsdell.”
“She’s so clumsy; she might as well live on the ground.” Jill laughed. “Pretty sure being low is her natural state of being.”
“Cut it out, Jill.”
No one ever called the bullies off. The sickly sweet cruel tone in Odelia’s voice warned this time was no different.
“She’s graduated now. We all are. We’re grown-up, young adults with our whole futures ahead of us. I think it’s time to turn a new leaf.”
“Like what?” Jason asked. He mimicked the tone, and it sounded as if he were in on the joke. The moonlight glinted off his teeth as he grinned maliciously.
“You’re not thinking of helping the Pipsqueak get back up, are you?” asked Jill in a similar insincere tone.
“She made it through high school, somehow.” Odelia shrugged and slipped her hands around her waist. “It’s a time for a celebration. I think we'll help her get back on her feet and keep her supported. Teach her how to stand tall.”
Lying on the damp ground, Lauren curled her fingers into the blades of grass. Like the metal blade of a sword, the grass beneath her hand felt cool to the touch, and its sharp points stabbed her palms when she pushed her hands down.
Unable to explain how, she drew the strength for endurance from the endless ground beneath her, feeling her own heart beating against it. She knew she could only feel it because it raced from fear, but in the moment, her heart and the earth were as one.
“I’m okay,” Lauren murmured. She didn’t attempt to stand. “Thank you for the offer, though. That’s very generous.”
“It’s not an offer. We insist.”
While Odelia insisted, the boyfriends took up position either side of Lauren. The men's hands went around Lauren's arms and they yanked her to her feet as if she weighed nothing at all.
In silence, Odelia led the way across the field toward the woods that framed it.
The men didn't let Lauren go but dragged her along as she staggered and tried to find her footing. Her mind raced searching for a solution to her predicament.
She couldn’t fight Odelia, let alone take on all four at once, but if she managed to spring free, she could outrun them. A hopeful plan started to form. If she took them by surprise, she might escape their clutches. As Lauren braced herself for a struggle, she saw what waited on the edge of the woods.
“N-No,” she uttered, digging her heels into the field. “No, you can’t!”
“What?” Odelia looked over her shoulder at Lauren and grinned. She strode on forward. “We’re only gonna help make sure you can stand up for yourself without falling on your face. In a few years’ time, you’ll thank us for teaching you a lesson.”
The guys following showed no sign of loosening their grip. Lauren didn't like her slim chances of escape.
A coiled rope waited at the edge of the woods.
It must’ve been left there. Planted.
Rope purposely placed ahead of time turned the nasty event from a prank or an opportunist moment to extend their bullying, to an abduction, something planned and far more sinister.
Lauren didn’t know exactly what Odelia had planned, but if it involved a rope and the woods, she expected the worst. She couldn’t let this happen. She just couldn’t. She had her whole future ahead of her.
“Looks like she’s about to piss herself, she’s that afraid,” Jason said with an acrid laugh.
Odelia pulled out her phone and turned on her flashlight app, lighting up the dark woods that lay ahead. “What’s the matter, Pipsqueak? Afraid to stand on your own?”
They reached the rope at the edge of the woods.
“You got her, Jason?” W
ithout waiting for a reply, Rhett released Lauren. He heaved the rope into his arm and hung it, coiled, over his shoulder.
“I’m serious, you can’t do this,” Lauren said. She struggled against her captors, but they held her tight. “You can’t!”
“We’re gonna,” Odelia said. “And you get to decide how bad it’ll be for you. Keep struggling, and we might tie it around that neck of yours, see how tall you can stand when your feet can barely touch the ground.”
“You’ll kill me if you do that.” Was that what they intended? Lauren’s heart beat like a rabbit’s when caught in a fox’s paws. In desperation, she glanced to the side. Only one man held her by one arm. It might be her best chance. She made a break for it but choked as she was yanked back against Jason’s chest.
Jill laughed.
Lauren decided they must be crazy, drunk, or on drugs. Whichever, it didn't bode well for her.
“You’re gonna to kill yourself if you don’t stop struggling,” Odelia hissed into her ear. “You wanna behave and accept our help, and we’ll only tie you to a tree so you can practice standing up for yourself. Isn’t that right, guys?”
“Yep,” Rhett agreed, patting the coil of rope on his shoulder. “That’s right.”
“So quit struggling.” Odelia turned the light, shining it directly on Lauren, momentarily blinding her, and the surroundings went black. “It’s getting old.”
Lauren squeezed her eyes shut, pulse hammering in her ears. She knew she couldn’t trust them, but she didn’t have another choice. The bullies towered over her, each of the men was twice her size. If she didn’t break away, she had no chance of running away. She let her body go slack and hoped their mercy would reward her cooperation.
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