OF WAR Anthology Novels 1-3

by Lisa Beth Darling

  “You won’t be so smug when they hold you on your knees so I can take your head off your retarded shoulders.”

  Rose just rolled her eyes and turned her back to her Grandfather as she toddled back to her Family.

  “Both of us had a turn at him, all Rose did was finish him off,” Raven asserted taking in the intimidating sight of his pissed off Relatives gathered in front of him. It was Apollo who really caught his attention, it was the gleam in his golden eyes as he gazed at Rose. It made Raven’s stomach churn. “She was defending our Mother. What she did was justified.”

  “Justified? An Olympian is dead over a half-blood Fae? That’s not justice, its sacrilege.” Zeus looked around but saw he had little support for killing the little girl. “She’s his Daughter, no Olympian kills another and lives, that’s the law,” he reminded those with uncomfortable creases on their faces.

  “She’s not an Olympian, is she, Father?” Ares snorted. “No, she’s too…imperfect for you to say she’s one of us.”

  Even Apollo turned against Zeus. “Father, Olympian or not, we can all agree that Rose is just a half-wit child. Killing her would be the injustice. After all, we’re not bloodthirsty savages.” Knowing he needed to garner some support he looked around for the one they would defer to on this subject. “Athena? What do you say?”

  The Goddess of Wisdom gazed down at the anxious Family and at little Rose who appeared so backwards. She was anything but backwards. The little girl knew what she did, she knew what it meant, and she’d been totally justified.

  An ugly unwelcomed voice spoke before Athena could open her mouth. “Kill her,” Hunter cried, “I think you should kill her. Why not? She ain’t never gonna be nuthin’ but trouble anyway, just look at her. Stupid retarded runt.”

  Standing between her Mother and Father with her arms folded across her chest, Rose didn’t even look at her Brother as she flicked one finger in Hunter’s direction, forcing the boy across the room and skidding on his ass when he landed.

  No one even saw her move, they were all stunned when Hunter hit the floor. “Did she do that?” Poseidon asked.

  Rose showed no emotion on her droopy face, in fact she didn’t even appear to be able to hear them.

  “She’s a danger to us all,” Zeus decried. “I told you that Dark Witch of yours would be the death of us, didn’t I Ares? Now look what’s happened, Morpheus is dead. How many more of us will have to die before you open your eyes to her treachery? Your bitch lured Morpheus to his death and your devil spawn finished him off.”

  “Shut up, Father, as usual you’re talking out your ass. If you’d been there you’d kn—”

  “Morpheus held me prisoner in his world for four years,” Alena spoke quietly.

  “Be quiet, bitch! No one said you could speak.” Zeus demanded.

  “I don’t need your permission Great Father,” Alena said sweetly. “Morpheus told me I was dead, that Ares killed Rose and he’d taken her to his bed,” she pointed at Aphrodite who raised her eyebrows in return. “It was all a lie, when my Husband and my Son realized what was happening they came to rescue me. In the process, Morpheus paid for his lie with his life. You have no grounds in your laws for doing harm to any of them, whatever type of Fey I may be, I am Ares’ Wife and he had every right to come and reclaim me.”

  Zeus ground his teeth loudly as he looked around the table to see that they were siding with Alena. He wasn’t going to win this round. They never liked Morpheus to begin with so why would they look to avenge his death? “Your Children bring nothing but death and destruction,” the God of Gods said thoughtfully. “That one kills Morpheus and that one has decimated the Mortal World. What do have to say about that?”

  At first, Ares tried to cover for his Son knowing it was what Alena would want him to do. He told the Olympians gathered in the Counsel Chamber that the Mortal World was in ruins. The humans had thrown a worldwide revolt bringing down their governments and their financial systems. This left them uneasy, there had been much bloodshed in the frenzy. Somewhere near a half-million people died in heated riots while they, the Olympians, had sat up here in the cold on their asses. He went on to tell them that, at some point during the chaos, it seemed to him that a disease called Major Falls had inadvertently been released and it had, at current, claimed somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty million lives. In the opinion of the God of War, the final death toll was likely to be five times that amount. “When it’s over, Major Falls will be worse than The Black Death.”

  “And you had nothing to do with it?” Zeus crooned as his old eyes scrutinized his Son.

  “Me? Of course not, Father.” Ares asserted confidently. “As all of you are aware, I haven’t left the Fortress never mind this mountain, in nearly four years. How could I possibly be part of it?”

  “He turns into a bird and flies off my mountain undetected maybe you…”

  “Maybe I what, Father? Turn into my wolf and run down the mountain? Then what? I run back up again? Sorry, but I’m too old for sneaking in and out behind my Parents’ back and too old to run up the side of this godforsaken mountain.” Ares looked down the line to his left and at his women standing there nervously. “Ask them if you don’t believe me. Ask them if I’ve left the Fortress, isn’t that why you brought them here?”

  It was the exact reason Zeus called them here but now he understood differently. “They’ll only lie for you,” Zeus scowled, “stupid whores don’t know any better. They’re nothing more than slaves to your dick.”

  “Watch it, Father,” Ares warned. “You mean to tell me that you, the Almighty Zeus, God of all Gods, can’t tell when a few Mortal women are lying? Is that why you refuse to ask them? Or is it because you don’t want all of them,” Ares made a wide sweeping arc with his hand as he pointed to each of his Relatives, “to hear the truth?”

  Hera cleared her throat before she spoke. “Well, Onya, step forward.” Zeus shot her a heated stare to which she mumbled, “Shut up.”

  Onya cautiously stepped out from the line to stand in front of Hera and she started to shake. “Yes, Great Mother?”

  “Has Ares left Olympus since Alena fell down the stairs?”

  “Not as far as I know, I hardly ever see him go out the Fortress door. If he’s not in the Throne Room, the Work Out Space, eating, or by Lady Alena’s bedside, then Lord Ares was asleep in his own room.”

  Apollo licked his bottom lip and posed a question. “How do you know that? I presume you weren’t with him ALL of the time or were you?”

  Onya gasped and turned red as she began to stammer. “N-no, you’ve been in the Fortress. If Lord Ares were to leave he would have to pass our chamber.” She looked back to the two women who nodded in support of her claim, “he’s not very quiet, surely we would have heard him.” She felt a warm wave of relief when Hera nodded.

  “There, Ares hasn’t left the mountain.” She stepped back satisfied she’d cleared her Son’s name in the matter but it wasn’t that easy.

  “Well, then, what about these?” Apollo tossed a familiar looking armband onto the Counsel Table along with assorted flyers and newspaper clippings all bearing the logo.

  Ares looked at the armband and then down at his Son with a sneer. “Your friend, huh?”

  Raven remained silent.

  Athena spoke up. “You have to agree that, if you’re not responsible, this is a very strange coincidence.”

  “Is it? A coincidence I mean.” Ares’ eyes shifted to Apollo in silent accusation. “I brought one back with me as well,” he reached into his vest to pull out the armband and tried to hand it to Zeus but Apollo was quicker.

  The Golden God called it to his golden hands and turned it over and over in front of all them making sure to get his golden fingerprints all over it as smiled slyly at his Brother. “Yes, it looks the same as the other.” Apollo proclaimed and handed it to Zeus. “So what?”

  Now the evidence Ares intended to show them was moot. If he pointed out the gold dust on the armband n
ow, well, everyone just saw Apollo handle it. Of course his dust was on it. If Ares were tell them of the dust that had been there, even go so far as to invite them down to Area 51 to see it for themselves it would be in vain. From the triumphant look on Apollo’s face Ares knew he’d thought of that already and gone back to clean up his mess last night.

  Looking down at the armband in disbelief, Raven couldn’t help himself. “You said it would honor my Father.”

  Ares hissed in Raven’s ear, “Now you’ve done it.”

  With a sly grin, Zeus spoke with a voice full of authority. “So, Raven, you admit to doing this? You admit to being the leader of these terrorists?”

  “Terrorists?” Raven stammered his mind beginning to race faster than his thoughts could keep up. “No, they’re freedom fighters.”

  “Freedom fighter…Terrorist, it all depends on your perspective,” Apollo lobbed back. “From what I observed on my visit last night this ARES is nothing but a bunch of armed thugs.”

  Before Raven could answer the charge, Hades spoke to Raven. “Do you also admit to unleashing the plague they call Major Falls?”

  “What? No,” Raven asserted and let out a heavy sigh as he held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I don’t know anything about it,” again his eyes scanned to Apollo who stood smug and silent. In his mind Raven heard the echoing slam as the trap Apollo so carefully baited and tended these long years fell shut behind him. “You did it.”

  “Me?” Apollo pointed to himself with an incredulous expression on his face. “Why would I help you or Ares?”

  “Help? Help me? You designed that damn thing,” Raven pointed to the armbands and flyers on the table. “You said it was the perfect symbol to honor my Father. Shall I tell them what you did after that?”

  “Do go on, Raven, your lies are so inventive I can’t hear what you come up with next,” Apollo said in a daring tone.

  Ares spoke instead. “I went to the place the Americans called Area 51, the place where this Major Falls was unleashed on the people, and do you know what I found? Glittering gold dust on doors, walls, windows, computers, tables, what do you have to say about that, Brother?”

  “You’re lying, you’d say anything to save your own skin,” Apollo protested solidly. “I knew nothing about this. Once again, you can’t prove otherwise.”

  “Maybe not but it doesn’t mean you’re innocent.” Ares sneered. “And I know why you did it, I know what was in it for you because he already told me.”

  “Do tell, dear Brother, what could possibly be worth my helping to destroy the world below us?”

  “What you’ve always wanted; my Wife. Raven promised her to you in return for your assistance and your silence.”

  Raven felt his stomach turn, he wanted to vomit on the Counsel Floor and as he doubled over he caught sight of his Mother. Alena stood next o Ares, one arm looped through his and the other holding her staff. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t show a single sign of emotion and she didn’t look at him. Ares prepared her for this moment, he told ahead of time everything Raven told him while he was off screwing Aphrodite.

  “Why would I go to so much trouble over that filthy Fae witch?” Apollo sneered, backing Ares into a corner because he knew Ares couldn’t answer the question in its full truth in front of the others.

  “You’re just like Morpheus and him,” Ares pointed to Eros who flinched and reeled on his feet as though he’d been struck, “even you Father, outwardly you tell us all how you hate her but I see the way your eyes drink her in when you think no one is looking. She’s a Fey, the last one, you all want her you can’t help it, but she’s mine and I will never let her go.”

  “Really, Ares, she must be one hell of a lay if you think I’d destroy the Mortal World in return for one Dark Fae whore?” Apollo shot coolly. “She must really be able to take a pounding.”

  Apollo’s comment was meant to invoke anger in Ares but also an outburst. The God of War denied his brother the latter but gave him the former. “Jealous? Your Nymphs aren’t working out for you? What’s wrong with you, Apollo, it seems you can’t get no satisfaction these days.” Taking in a deep breath of air through his nose Ares let the scent of sex and Nymph sweat linger in his nostrils knowing that, in return for his mission last night, Zeus finally let the group of sexy and horny bitches come live on Olympus with Apollo. “No matter how many of them you put it to, it’s just not doin’ it for ya, is it, Bro?” Ares whispered, grinned, and quickly grabbed a hold of his crotch to give it a meaningful yank.

  The Golden God paled to a mellow yellow before he spoke. “You’re disgusting.”

  Athena Goddess of Wisdom had a question for her Brother so she looked down the table at Apollo as she spoke. “For one Dark Fae? No, but what about for one Dark Fae, a herd of Nymphs and your own chance to be King of Olympus one day? After all, if Ares and Raven are convicted of these atrocities, Zeus will surely demand they be put to death. Won’t you, Father?”

  “Bet on it,” Zeus grumbled.

  Athena was unaffected by the tone of Zeus’ voice and continued on in a thoughtful tone. “In that event, all that would stand between you and the Throne of Olympus is Hunter.” She looked down to the hotheaded little boy that no one could say they wanted to see take Zeus’ place one day. Athena would rather have Ares on the Golden Throne than Hunter. As she returned her stare to Apollo she caught sight of the look of surprise on Aphrodite’s face as the Goddess of Love looked down at her Son.

  Ares drew in a deep breath through his nostrils, folded his arms over his massive chest, and looked at Athena. “Ya know, I always liked you, Sis.” He watched the tide begin to shift in the eyes of the others, watched suspicion settle in for a good long visit and worm its way around in their minds as they weighed the possibility.

  Again, the Goddess of Wisdom was unaffected by the outside voice and continued on in a measured tone. “What about it Apollo? Would you aid in the destruction of the Mortal World for all of those things?”

  Apollo’s jaw went rigid as his golden eyes flared and he forced his voice to remain measured. “I already said it; it’s preposterous.” Apollo lifted his head to put his nose high in the air. “I won’t even entertain the thought of answering this charge.”

  “Then you run the risk of appearing as guilty as Ares and Raven,” Athena returned, her tone changing from thoughtful to mocking the arrogance in Apollo’s voice.

  “The problem with your logic, dear Sister, is that I had nothing to do with this,” Apollo said calmly but still haughtily.

  Zeus looked from Father to Son in blatant disgust. “I want both of you and that vlákas in the Dungeon until we can sort this out and try you properly. Until then the Gates of Olympus are sealed, no one leaves here until this is finished. You,” Zeus pointed heatedly at Raven, “Your Trials are suspended.”

  “Fine, I don’t think I wanna be one of you anyway,” Raven retorted angrily.

  “If you lock us up in the Dungeon, Father, you’re playing right into his hands, giving him exactly what he wants,” Ares’ eyes narrowed on Zeus’ aged face, “or was that the plan all along? Did you sanctify the destruction of your precious Mortals and promise Apollo your Throne just to get rid of Alena?”

  “What? How dare you accuse me of such underhandedness?” Zeus thundered as he slammed the tip of his staff on the floor sending out a shock wave that sent all of them reeling on their feet.

  Even Ares didn’t believe Zeus knew of any of it before last night, looking around at their fallen faces, he could see that his words were enough to plant a seed of doubt in their minds. “Apollo’s not the only one who’s always hated me, is he Father?” With those words, and judging by the wondering glint in their eyes Ares thought he’d accomplished his mission, he planted the seed deeply in their minds then watered it well. At least they would continue to mull it over along with Athena’s accusation that Apollo had been pulling strings behind the scenes. Together that might be enough to get him—and maybe even Raven—a
verdict of not guilty when the Olympians put them on trial for Crimes Against Humanity.

  “If it eases your mind any, Ares, I’ll amend my decree. The Dark Fae Bitch and her mutant offspring are banished from my Mountain!”

  Ares sprinted to the table and grabbed his Father by Zeus’ long white beard to pull him across the table. “You can’t do that, you have no power. She’s MY Wife and only I can exile her from this mountain.”

  “It’s all right,” Alena spoke calmly from behind her Husband, “let him go. Rose and I will leave Olympus.”

  “Ma-ma?” Rose looked up at her Mother for reassurance.

  “It’s not polite to stay where you’re not wanted,” Alena explained. “I trust you will allow us to say good-bye to them before we go?”

  Ares let go his Father with a harsh shove before he turned around to face his Wife. “What are you doing?”

  “What Great Father wants.”

  Her voice was so calm and cold it sent icy fingers dancing up and down Ares’ spine. His eyes pleaded with her for more information but she remained silent. He turned away from her when he heard Apollo start speaking again.

  “Ares is right, Father, I hate to say it, but you don’t have any power to banish his Wife. Alena should stay here.”

  “He’s not banishing me, I’m volunteering to leave,” Alena returned as she faced Apollo and curled her upper lip. Alena was no one’s fool, she knew where her Son had been this afternoon and, looking at Apollo looking at her, she thought he expected her to do the same. To come to his bed pleading for the lives of her Son and her Husband but she had other ideas. “I think we’ll be safer away from here.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yes, in fact I know it.” She turned to Ares. “So do you.”

  Ares had no choice but to agree under one condition and he took a deep breath before he addressed Zeus. “Fine, have it your way, Father, you always do. But I want one thing in return; after Alena and Rose leave Olympus you will seal the Gate so no one can follow them. At least until this over and done with.”