"No, Aidan, I don't plan on doing something stupid. I understand where you're coming from and as much as it kills me to stay back, I will. I know I'm useless without magic and the only thing I would add to the situation is another person to split your focus. You need to be worried about one thing only and that's killing Soren. Not whether or not I've stepped into the midst of a battle unarmed."
"No offense babe, but when you're agreeable like this it makes me suspicious." She pulled her hand out of mine and landed a punch to the top of my arm which only furthered my strong belief she had no place in a dangerous battle.
"Am I supposed to say 'ow'?" I smirked, unable to help myself mostly because I enjoyed the little scowl that formed on her brow and the way her lips puckered when it happened.
"You're an ass," she sighed.
"I am, but you like me this way." I wrapped her in my arms, kissing the top of her head first before making my way to her lips. I wasn't going to admit it but the relief I was feeling was palpable. This had gone a lot easier than I imagined it to be. In fact, because she hadn't fought, she hadn't given me the opportunity to make it up to her. Something I had been learning could be enjoyable for both of us.
"Strangely enough, I do," she muttered against my lips before pushing against my chest to separate us again. "Why did you throw me out of the throne room earlier though?"
"I knew you weren't going to let that go!" I shook my head with exasperation before glancing around the room to buy myself time while I considered what I was going to tell her. That annoying voice in the back of my head was saying the same thing as ever, I had to share with her. There was nothing wrong in showing weakness around the person you love. Clearly, my head didn't remember all those lessons on weakness during childhood. "I'm sorry I sent you out." I spoke carefully, knowing like Hera, Savannah was as touchy when it came to these kinds of conversations. The simplest things could set her off and I didn't want to have to deal with an irate wife on top of everything else right now. "I needed to speak to Griffin alone about what happened in New York. You know what he's like, he's still weird and awkward around you since the..." I didn't have to say anything else, my jaw tightening instinctively. I knew Savannah tensed as well, she did every time we brought it up.
I knew I should've felt bad about lying to her. There was something wrong with me because I couldn't feel bad about it. I wasn't ready to talk to her about my mom and I most definitely wasn't ready for whatever form of pity she was going to serve me because of what had happened. I told myself I would tell her eventually, to silence the annoying voice in the back of my mind.
"Yeah, I guess that's true... What did he tell you?"
"Nothing much, described the conditions of New York." Her hand immediately stroked my arm as she stared at me with those big blue eyes full of concern.
"I know that's where you're from... But I'm sure your mom is fine." Gods Almighty, how in the hell did she know? Running a hand over my hair I looked away for a moment and nodded, swallowing the forming lump in my throat.
"Yeah, I'm sure she is," I lied again, this time certain she could see right through me.
"When this is all over, we'll go pay her a visit and I could meet her." She looked too pleased with the idea for me to break it to her now, I found myself nodding my head despite the raging voice in the back of my mind.
"From the sounds of it, we'll have our work cut out for us once we get Olympus under control again. Soren has done a number on Earth. The cat's out of the bag with all the mythical creatures and most of the populations have been reduced to quivering masses behind the walls of cities Soren has built in the guise of 'safety'. He's still picking them off one by one though, getting way too much pleasure out of this maniacal, all-powerful God idea."
"He never struck me as the kind of guy who was all there."
"That's half the problem, I'm worried about you." I was deeply thankful for the chance to change the topic. The further we could get from my mother, the better. I reached out and pulled Sav toward me, wrapping a tight arm around her. She happily leaned into me, melting herself against me.
"You don't have to worry, I already promised I wouldn't do anything stupid."
"Again," I added as a reminder for the last time she did something stupid. Like going off with a psychopath on her own.
"Again..." she muttered begrudgingly, still not entirely capable of admitting she did something wrong. She held fast to her belief she did what she did to save me and would do it again in a heartbeat. And it was exactly the mentality that worried me.
"Well, to be on the safe side of your whims, I got you something." She pulled away and despite all attempts to play coy, I could see the excitement in her eyes. She was a simple creature, she liked the attention and she loved being bestowed gifts. Zeus recalled it was much the same with Hera. At least the two of them were working together now instead of at odds still.
I pulled the chain out from under my shirt, fiddling with the little clasp for a moment before holding out the necklace to her. It was a small gold lightning bolt hanging from a simple gold chain. But it wasn't the object itself that was important.
"Oh Aidan, I love it!" It wasn't what she was expecting if the false sincerity in her tone was anything to go by. I found myself chuckling as I shook my head at her.
"Yeah I know, it's not your normal style and it looks a bit like I'm marking my territory... But I had some of the other Gods help me with it so I could imbue some of my power into the lightning bolt for you. We haven't tested it fully but the idea is you should be able to channel the magic in the necklace to kickstart the flickers of your own magic should you ever need it. It's not a lot of power but it would be enough to defend yourself if the moment came to it. And as long as the necklace is on you, it should recharge after use because it's a pure essence of my own magic."
She stared at the little charm in wonderment, turning it over and over again in her hand. "I was going to make you something similar," she said in surprise. "Before all this happened." She clarified and looked back at me, this time smiling more genuinely than before.
"It's not much."
"It's not a ring," she agreed, and I realized what she had thought she was getting. I managed a grunt of agreement while my stomach knotted with nerves and worry. Of course, she wants a ring, we're practically married through our souls anyways, she needs the real thing. Damn it.
"But I love it." She broke through my thoughts and smiled at me before wrapping me in her arms, kissing me deeply. I'd have to worry on that ring later as it was far easier to distract myself in the kiss instead.
How long has she been hoping for a ring? Stop it, focus!
My hands slipped into her hair, holding the back of her head firmly as our tongues chased each other.
Gods, could I do marriage? Real marriage? NO! Stop it!
Her body slid against mine, touching in all the right places sending my heart racing. I wished we weren't in a crowded room and could slip away. I wanted nothing more than to peel this dress and the inevitable lacy underthings off her before ravaging her to take my mind off everything.
Sex will be boring once you're married. Shut up!
There goes my hard on, why did my mind have to be incessant. I pulled back and took the necklace from her hand. I held it by the clasps and waited as she turned around, lifting her hair and slid it around her neck. I watched her touch it where it landed on her collarbone, smiling slightly to herself before turning to face me again.
I half expected her to hide it away under her dress because it wasn't "fashionable" but realized maybe she liked the idea it was a mark of my territory. She wanted people, especially a certain person, to know I had chosen her. As if that fact hadn't been made painfully obvious to Charlotte in the last few weeks.
"Perfect," I whispered, talking mostly about Savannah than the rudimentary necklace Royce had thrown together for me, as I leaned in to sweep one last kiss against her soft lips.
"We need to talk about Asher." Griffi
n appeared at our side not bothered at all he was interrupting an intimate moment. I took a deep breath and turned to face the God of the Underworld, giving him a nod.
"He didn't follow me into the Underworld when I came back."
I was starting to wonder about this mysterious character who had appeared out of nowhere and seemed way too eager to be helpful to us in our time of crisis. And yet everything he helped us with failed in one way or another, be it subtle or obvious. Like Soren taking Valentina.
"No, and I don't think he ever intended to. The portal he made didn't bring us to here like he said it would. He was playing us and I have the sneaking suspicion he's been working with the Titans all along."
I couldn't help the small smirk that appeared when Griffin said, "sneaking suspicion.†Maybe it was his English accent or too many episodes of Sherlock but it was hilarious. Composing myself, I reset my features and looked around the room at who was left waiting around.
"Does anyone know anything about the God who called himself Asher?" Savannah and I stepped away from the corner we had huddled ourselves in and moved closer to the rest of the group. No one answered as they all came to the same disheartening conclusion Griffin and I had. No one knew him, no one could vouch for him. "No one?"
"I've never seen him before and I've seen near enough everyone, I thought." Jed shuffled through the crowd toward us. Jed had turned out to be the one-man welcoming committee since being the first one to arrive on Olympus. If Jed didn't know this Asher guy, there was a good chance no one did.
I nodded and frowned more, wondering exactly what kind of snake we had allowed into our midst. "I doubt we'll see him again too - if he's smart." It's exactly what I would do if I was up to something.
"We have ten minutes," Savannah interrupted, looking at a watch I had assumed was for show and not something functional. "We should get going."
She was right. There was no sense in dwelling on the fact Asher had infiltrated our group and no doubt gotten information from us that might prove useful to the Titans. I could only hope whatever he had picked up wouldn't turn out to be our downfall. At least the majority of our plan had been made after we returned.
"Okay, Aidan, I need you to stand here so I have a visual to work with and Blaine, if you want to stand here and try not to move. The slightest movement might make you turn out hideous." My head snapped to the side to look at Hermes with a glare. Now was not the time to be pressing his luck with me, but Stirling liked to live on the edge of danger.
Everyone else moved around to get ready while I stood in place and continued to glare at Stirling as he worked. It was both fascinating and disgusting to watch him shape and mold Blaine's face into an exact replica of mine. I wasn't sure how I felt by the time he was done with the idea of having a doppelganger who could pass as the King of the Gods. My eyes flicked to Savannah as I possessively worried Blaine might try something with my Queen.
"One problem," I breathed a sigh of relief, Savannah was worried about it too. "Aidan's about five inches taller than him." Oh.
"Not a problem." Stirling shot up in the sky, hovering over all of us, "Griffin, Aidan, please stand on his feet to hold him down." I arched an eyebrow, glanced at Savannah before doing as I was told. Before I had the chance to do or say anything else, Stirling grabbed Blaine by the shoulders and stretched him. It was awful. His entire body looked like modeling clay being tugged and all of the sudden, he snapped back into place and he looked exactly like me. I blinked at my mirror reflection before stepping back uncomfortably. Yeah, this wasn't okay.
"Swap clothes. He might remember what you were wearing," Savannah commanded and I looked at her in incredulity. Was she not weirded out by this whole thing? There was two of me! Of course, she must be loving it.
Everyone cleared out giving Blaine and I the chance to change. His clothes didn't end up fitting me so Savannah and I headed back to our bedroom to change.
"You alright?" She spoke quietly as I tugged a shirt over my head, pausing as my head cleared the hole to glance at her.
"Yeah, why?"
"You seem... I'm not sure. I can't put my finger on it but not normal comes to mind."
"I'm alright. This is a lot. Two months ago, my biggest worry was getting Nike to sign onto our firm."
"Now you're worried about a different Nike."
"Huh?"
"She's a minor Goddess..." Savannah shrugged before holding out a belt to me.
"Right, sure." She smiled tightly and touched the lightning bolt on her collar. "It's not me, is it?"
"This isn't about me giving you a necklace instead of an engagement ring, is it?"
"No, not at all," she said before looking away, "now isn't the time anyways." As soon as she spoke I frowned, wondering why she was trying to justify to herself why I wouldn't want to marry her. Hadn't I proven to her in the last two weeks I was committed to this? Yeah, okay for other people two weeks was nothing but for me that was a huge accomplishment.
"I want you Savvy, you." I grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before tugging her toward me. "Only you." I leaned in and kissed her, "don't you ever forget."
"Hah, yeah, okay," she said lightly before kissing me back. I gave her a strange look before letting it go, whatever was going on, it was complicated female emotions I did not want to get involved with. At least, not right now.
Savannah led the way back out of the room to the passage Griffin had made to fast track us to the fight.
"You have to go first," I said as I paused by the door. She nodded in agreement before letting go of me. She still looked like there was something else she wanted to say but whatever it was, she let it go as she walked through the threshold into the fray. I waited for a few minutes, counting to ten under my breath and I walked through, keeping to the shadows so Soren and Asher didn't see I was there.
Chapter 3
I watched Blaine crumple to the ground, immediately feeling regretful of the sacrifice he had made for me. For everyone. The fighting broke out as we attacked. Charlotte landed a vicious blow to Hanna's back, sending her to the ground in a pool of her own blood. Griffin scrimmaged with Gage momentarily, trying to get through to Valentina when Soren turned his attention on him. Now was my chance.
I took off in a run toward them, sprinting through the circle of flames someone had thrown and tripped into the middle. Baby flames licked at my clothes, catching the hems in little sparks. They licked at my skin underneath but my immortality shrugged it off, absorbing the burns before healing my skin and starting the process all over again. Any effect Oliver hoped it would have was lost, the fire only resulting in being mildly annoying to me. I patted the flames off and turned to face my nemesis. Griffin was all ready to finish him off but this wasn't his job. It was mine, I had made a promise to everyone and I was going to keep it. Blaine hadn't made his sacrifice for nothing, of that I was sure.
"He's mine, Griffin. Get your girl." My voice drew attention to me.
"What? But you..." Soren looked at Blaine's corpse first with shock and anger at being tricked. The Titan in him rumbled as he threw magic at me, the blast hitting my chest and throwing me across the ring where the scrimmages were going on. That's all it took as I drew my magic, summoning a lightning bolt and shot it back at Soren. It singed his arm but didn't land the kind of lethal blow I was hoping for. Soren looked at the mark and laughed like a maniac as he ran toward me at full tilt. I wasn't sure what he was about to do but I scrambled to my feet nonetheless in a sad attempt to dodge his blow.
Soren's hands found my body and before I knew what was happening, my vision disappeared. It was as if someone had drawn a heavy blanket over all light sources in the room and yet I could still feel the fire bursting nearby. Stumbling away from him, his laugh echoed in my ears as he watched me fumble around blindly. Griffin had mentioned something about Soren being able to take powers from people but I didn't know a God who could take senses away from people. How the hell was I supposed to win this fight without
my vision?
Without another choice under my belt, I summoned the power of a lightning bolt in my hand, feeling it's rush of power crackle against my palm. I had to trust my instincts as I followed my gut, focusing on the noises around me and zeroing in on Soren's arrogant laughter. Once I was sure I had pinpointed him I threw the bolt, waiting to hear the crack of the impact.
"Argh, you bastard!" I managed a smirk, knowing I hadn't hit him in the chest like I was aiming but a blow of any kind was welcome right now. Something hit me from the right and I went skidding across the rocky floor through another wall of flames. When my body stopped moving the flames rushed harder around me, burning at my skin uncomfortably.
The rocks under my body began to shift and I realized Soren was moving them. I scrambled again to get out of the way but my foot got caught. I could feel the press of rock on either side of it and knew freeing myself was going to hurt. Steeling myself with a deep breath, I tried not to waste any time on discomfort and yanked. I felt my bones crush and crumble as the pressure of the rocks fell harder on my ankle with every shift. By the time I managed to free myself I was sure, based on the level of pain rushing through me, I had done a bit of damage to myself.
I didn't have time to linger on how I was going to manage as I summoned another lightning bolt and shot it at Soren. Maybe if I could knock him down and get closer one touch and I would be able to restore my sight. Or I needed Everett. Had we brought Everett with us?
"Good try Aidan, but you missed." Soren's mock echoed through the blackness I continued to miserably navigate myself through.
"Trust me, I didn't." I managed to at least sound like I had some kind of game plan and the moment of hesitation before Soren replied was long enough for me to know it was working.
"Try all you want Aidan, but you've already lost." Now that lie I could see right through. Without my sight, my hearing was fine, if not better than usual and I could still hear my friends fighting around me. But that moment of scrutiny cost me as someone's right hook landed a harsh blow on my jaw, cracking my teeth together so hard my gums began to bleed. But that blow also gave me one advantage Soren hadn't thought of.
All Hail the King: Modern Greek Gods YA/NA Series (Grace of Gods Book 4) Page 2