Ashes of War (Sons of War)

by Lia Davis

  She fisted her hands. How dare they burst into my home? Fucking bastards hit her with an energy bolt strong enough to put a dragon down.

  She scanned the room and noticed it was a bedroom. A plain room—white walls, white ceiling, and white mini-blinds—with no art on the walls or personal effects anywhere. At least the floors were a dark hardwood, which warmed up the room and kept it from looking overly sterile. A moment later, the door opened and Ty entered carrying a tray of food.

  He lifted his head in her direction and smiled. Her heart skipped several beats as her body warmed. He has no right to be so damned hot, yet so irritating at the same time. “I do believe that is the first time I’ve seen you smile.”

  He set the tray down on a small table by the window, his smile fading. “Come, eat. I’ll tell you everything I remember and answer your questions.”

  Suspicion crawled up her spine and whispered in her ear as she studied him a little closer. His words were clipped and a muscle in his jaw flexed. Something had happened. She slid from the bed and made her way to the table. She could barely make out the shapes of his irises through his shades. It was enough she could tell the right one wasn’t human, instead forever stuck as the dragon’s eye. Reaching up, she touched the rim of the glasses, but he grabbed her wrist before she could remove them.

  “Don’t,” he growled.

  She tsked. “I’ve already seen what’s behind them.”

  “Then why bother now?”

  She shrugged, but didn’t avert her gaze. Honesty, Ash. You promised him the truth. Did it really mean she had to reveal her feelings to him? If she kept him at a distance, then the whole “seduce him” thing wouldn’t work. “I’m curious. Everything about you fascinates me.”

  He stared at her through those shades. She thought he was going to push her away and go on the defensive. However, he released her wrist and waited. Slowly, she removed the sunglasses.

  His right eye—the dragon’s eye—was crimson with streaks of gold running from the elongated pupil to the outer edge of the irises. The area around the eye was heavily scarred. In random places, the skin had been replaced by red scales with gold undertones.

  She reached up and hesitantly touched his scarred skin with her fingertips. He flinched but didn’t pull away, just continued to watch her.

  “Garrick did this?”

  “Elizabeth did.”

  Anger rose up in Ash and she wanted to go back in time and kill the female herself. “The bitch got what she deserved.”

  Sitting down at the table, Ash lifted the cover from the plate and her mouth watered. Scrambled eggs sprinkled with cheddar cheese piled in the middle with buttered toast on one side and bacon on the other. “This smells divine. I didn’t know you could cook.”

  He covered her hand with his, drawing her gaze to him. She smiled in satisfaction when he didn’t replace his sunglasses. Her smile was short-lived. When he linked his fingers with hers, a sad expression clouded his features. “After I killed the daemons, Eros popped in. He knows about my daughter and is looking for her as we speak.”

  Her heart sank to her belly. “She’s alive? Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

  He narrowed his gaze and the muscles in his jaw flexed. “I’ve been in contact with her guardian for the last few years after I dragged the information out of Ares. My father apparently found Amissa as an infant and hid her from the gods and me.”

  “How did you find out?”

  “I overheard the nymphs talking and confronted Ares.”

  Ash picked up her fork and dipped it in the eggs, not surprised that Thea and Ariel—two of Aphrodite’s handmaidens—gossiped about what went on in Olympus and the rumors they heard there. “Who is her guardian?”

  “Her current one is her second. Ares said he placed her in a griffin clan where she was raised and taught to shift into her dragon and use her powers for self-defense. Cyrus stepped in about five years ago as her official protector.” He frowned again, then released her hand and leaned back in his chair.

  She knew Cyrus. He’d come to Olympus many times when she was a child through her adult life to assist the gods on many tasks. “Cyrus is a good male.”

  Ty glared at her. “I’ve called him to come by so I can brief him on the situation.”

  Ash nodded and took a bite of her eggs and sighed. “These are really good.”

  His lips twitched, making him look even sexier than he already did. “Where do you want to begin?”

  She thought about it. Knowing Elizabeth was responsible for his scars and damage to his eye made Ash more determined to help clear his name. There was no way she’d let him face death without justification. They just had to prove to the gods that the bitch had turned against them. “What do you remember about Elizabeth? Like, her state of mind. Was she willingly aiding Garrick?”

  He drew his brows together as if in thought. “Was she sane? Yes, very much so. Seth, Zavier and I were at pub when I met her. I was looking to blow off some steam and have a little fun.”

  When he shifted his gaze back her, Ash averted hers, not wanting him to see the spike of jealousy in her eyes. Although he could probably pick it up in her scent. To her relief, he didn’t call her on it and continued speaking. “When she got me alone outside the bar, she injected me with some kind of serum. I’m not sure how she got me to Garrick’s lab. She most likely had help or maybe she teleported me. Everything from there is bits and pieces. I remember her and Garrick arguing, but I don’t know what about.”

  Ash took another bite of eggs, then a drink of milk. “How long ago was this?”

  “About three years.”

  She hadn’t been in the Order at the time. “Garrick hates when his Imperials argue with him. He fears they will go against him, so he keeps them under a spell to obey him. Plus he has many of them implanted with a chip to track them and disable them.”

  “Disable them?”

  “The device sends an high electric pulse straight to their heart when they show signs of betrayal. Anyway, either Elizabeth was immune to the spell or she promised him inside info.”

  His forehead creased and he slowly nodded. “Like she had her own objective. What about the implant?”

  “Garrick wouldn’t risk placing one in her because of connection to her father. Eros would know as soon as his daughter’s been implanted, which leads me to believe she had something he wanted or promised him something. But I don’t know of any reason why she’d go against her father and the rest of the gods. She was raised in Olympus like me, pampered and cooed over. All the children back home were.”

  Ty’s face lit up and he sat up in his seat. “She was a minor goddess of desire, right?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Desire isn’t always sexual.”

  For the love of the gods, why didn’t I think of that? “Greed and envy can come with desire. She could have wanted more than the life her father gave her, more power. I remember how she obsessed about the powers you and your brothers held.”

  Ty shook his head and stood. “It’s great in theory, but we need proof.”

  Ash sighed and set down her fork. “I know. Is there anything else you remember?”

  “No.”

  She stood and placed a hand on his forearm. “Can you try to remember? I know I’m asking you bring back memories your mind buried, but I’m not going to let you face a death penalty.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “Why not, goddess?”

  She squared her shoulders and met his stare. “Because my heart would break if you died.”

  He titled his head, slightly. “What are you saying?”

  You are mine. She couldn’t speak the words. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to tell him that every time she was near him the need to bond with him grew stronger. If she had to live the rest of her existence loving him from a distance, she’d do so. But to watch him die for a crime he didn’t commit? It would break her.

  Relief washed over her when a knock sounded o
n the front door, drawing his attention away from her. He grabbed his sunglasses from the table and slid them in place. Leaning into her, he growled, “We will finish this conversation later.”

  She was afraid of that.

  ****

  Ty opened the door and stepped aside to allow Cyrus and Amissa to enter his small beachfront home in Seaside, Oregon. Cyrus nodded to him as he passed, then he gaze fell on Ash and a wide smile replaced his normally serious features. Ty tracked the griffin as he advanced toward Ashlynn while Ty bent to allow Amissa to kiss him on the cheek. Although he trusted Cyrus like a brother, he didn’t like the other male so close to Ash. Which confused the hell out of him.

  Ash didn’t belong to him, so why did he give a shit who she hugged?

  Cyrus scooped Ashlynn up in a tight embrace. Ty growled and closed in on them. Ashlynn narrowed her eyes at him and pushed out of the griffin’s hold. Before Ty could say anything, Amissa stepped forward, arms crossed. “Who are you?”

  Ashlynn smirked. “Ashlynn, daughter of Artemis.”

  Amissa drew back slightly as if surprised then turned to Ty. He held out a hand and when she placed hers in it, he explained. “Ashlynn is here to help me with some things.”

  “Cyrus wanted me to stay home, but I wanted to see you. Why haven’t you come to visit?” She pursed her lips and glared at him.

  Ty glanced to Cyrus then Ashlynn and sighed. He really didn’t want Amissa brought into it. The less she knew the safer she was, or so he told himself. But his daughter was as stubborn as he and her mother. “Amissa, please sit and don’t speak until I’m done explaining.”

  She stared at him for a few moments, her jaw working. Finally she paced to the couch and sat. Cyrus chose to stand against the wall behind her. Ty removed his shades and scrubbed a hand over his face. He met Amissa’s stare and told her how he got the scars and why his eye would never shift back to human. “I killed the female responsible and it turned out she was Eros’s daughter. Now the god of desire wants me sentenced to death. That’s why Ashlynn is here.”

  Amissa jerked forward, but Cyrus rested his hands on her shoulders before she could lunge for Ashlynn. “She can go back and tell them it was self-defense.”

  Ashlynn shook her head. “It’s not as easy as it sounds. The gods’ law is different from the human ones you are used to. I was sent to bring him in or find evidence of his innocence.”

  Ty dropped into the chair directly across from Amissa. “We were attacked at Ashlynn’s apartment and Eros paid me a little visit. He overheard me tell Ash about you and now he is looking for you. Your life is in danger because you are my daughter. You must go back to the griffin clan until this is cleared up.”

  Amissa shook her head and folded her arms. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Amissa,” Ty and Cyrus growled at the same time.

  She pressed her lips together and stared at Ty. Defiance settled into her features, reminding Ty of Sophia. As much as he wanted to hate the storm daemon, she had been his friend. Amissa jiggled her foot. “I’m not leaving. I’ll stay and fight. I finally found my father and, damn it, I want to fight to keep him.”

  “Knowing Cyrus, I guessing you’ve gone through some brutal training?” Ashlynn broke her silence.

  Amissa’s lips lifted and she glanced at Ashlynn. “Every freaking day from the time he took over my guardianship.”

  Ashlynn met Ty’s glare before asking her next question. “What about your powers?”

  Amissa shifted in her seat. “I can shift into a dragon.”

  Ashlynn paced to the window and said, “No, I mean the power you got from your mother.”

  “I can control the elements, but I’ve never tested the extent of them.”

  Cyrus spoke next. “We were always afraid she’d draw attention to herself, so we haven’t explored her daemon side.”

  Ty understood and was grateful for Cyrus’s knowledge of gods and daemons who could track Amissa by the use of her powers. Not only did Ty have to keep his daughter’s whereabouts a secret from Eros, but he also had to keep Garrick off her tail. Because his brother believed Amissa was his daughter.

  “You’re not fighting. I need you to return to the clan.”

  His daughter lifted her chin slightly and glared at him. “I’m not hiding out while you face a death sentence.”

  They stared at each other until Ash spoke. “She’d be safe at the mansion and close enough to you. I agree, she’s not ready for this fight. At least at the mansion she’ll be able to train and learn the limits of her powers without alerting Garrick or anyone else who is searching for her.”

  Ashlynn had a point. He didn’t have to like it, but he couldn’t argue her logic. The mansion was warded from outside threats, something Zavier and Markus put into place after discovering the laboratory less than a mile away. A year ago they wouldn’t have bothered. They would have welcomed the bastard with opened arms. Not now. They had two females living in the mansion, both of which were descendants from the gods and on Garrick’s demi-god collection list. Gwen was mated to Markus and there was no way the male would allow anything happen to her.

  Still, Garrick never made an attempt on storming the mansion. Why? Ty could only think his brother had plans that needed them all alive in order to execute his evil plot.

  “Fine,” he growled, then locked gazes with Amissa. “You will do as you’re told and not leave the mansion without an escort.”

  She pursed her lips and fisted her hands. When she opened her mouth to speak, Cyrus placed his hands on her shoulders again. Releasing a sigh, she rolled her eyes. “Deal. But when I’m strong enough, I’m fighting by your side to stop this war.”

  Ashlynn sat down on the arm of Ty’s chair. He had to force his gaze from her, and ignore her scent. His dragon wanted nothing more than to take her until they were panting and exhausted. Shaking out of the desires to claim the female, he focused on Amissa and refrained from pushing Ash off his damned chair arm.

  “What do you know about the pending war?” Ash asked, making him instinctively reach out to caress the ends of her hair. She calmly swept the strands over her shoulder, out of his reach.

  What the fuck was wrong with him? It was like he had no sense of self-control when the female was around.

  “I know Garrick is building an army.”

  Cold dread sliced up Ty’s spine. He’d never told her. Glancing to Cyrus, he noted how the griffin’s expression remained unreadable. Interesting. “How do you know that?”

  She averted her gaze and wrung her hands in her lap. “I was confronted by a couple of descendants in the market about a week ago. They said Garrick would be happy to know a female dragon lived here. After Cyrus killed them, I demanded he tell me everything.”

  Fuck. Shit just kept getting better and better. “Why didn’t you call me? Better yet, why didn’t you take her back to the clan?”

  Cyrus let out a low growl. “She is your daughter.”

  Amissa stood and threw her hands up. “I’m not a child! I’m in this whether you like it or not, it all started with my mother…”

  Ty straightened. “What do you mean?”

  Ash stood and walked to the window. “The archives say it was a storm daemon who started the first uprising.”

  “Sophia wouldn’t have done that.” Ty was sure of it. Well, almost. The storm daemon was capable of doing it, but she had no reason, not to his knowledge anyway, to wage war on the gods.

  Ash turned back to face them. “Maybe not, but someone wanted everyone to believe she did.”

  “But who?” Amissa asked.

  That’s what Ty wanted to know. Sophia was many things, but she wasn’t a power hungry monster. “I don’t know, but we’ll find out.”

  Ash made a noise in her throat before reminding them of the immediate task at hand. “First we have to clear Ty’s name and make sure the gods don’t kill him.”

  Chapter Five

  “You want a what?” Zavier smiled at the irritated g
rowl coming from the other end of the call. It was a legitimate question since it was Ty whom he was talking to.

  “I. Want. A. Magic weaver. Is that plain enough for you? Eros is breathing up my ass and has threatened Amissa. I need answers and if they are locked away with my memories, then I need them unlocked or what the fuck ever.” Ty took a breath and fell silent.

  “Well if you explained that the first time, I wouldn’t have questioned you. Magic weavers are very rare and most have gone into hiding because of bastards like Garrick, among other daemons.” Zavier brought up Google search and typed in magic shops. One thing about weavers, they couldn’t stop practicing spell making. Magic and other occult shops were the perfect places to find a weaver.

  “There are a couple of spell shops a few miles outside of town. I’ll send Gwen to check them out.” Zavier printed out the addresses for four shops within a hundred miles from Serenity Cove.

  “How long will this take?” Z didn’t blink at his brother’s impatient tone. He was used to it and understood. “I’ll have her, and most likely Markus, ready to go right away. They’d have to travel the human way, to ensure Garrick or the humans do not discover them. My best guest, if we’re lucky, would be about a week. But I think that is pushing it.”

  The sound of heavy, yet small, footsteps made him twirl around and meet the annoyed glared of Elle—aka Danielle Roberts, daughter of Nyx and his biggest distraction. “Ty, man, we’ll find one for you. You should come home and bring Amissa and Cyrus with you.”

  “No, it’s safer here for now.”

  “Okay. I’ll call when I have something.” Zavier hung up the phone and folded his arms at the dark haired goddess in front him.

  She stepped inside his computer room, which recently shrunk in size allowing Elle to have her own studio where she could paint or sculpt or whatever artistic thing she could come up with. The decision to share his space with her had been a mistake. The female was impossible. She was messy, leaving paintbrushes scattered about and the damned paint jars weren’t even organized by color. It totally fucked with his OCD. Yet, he couldn’t seem to stay away from her. “Can I help you, Elle?”