Ashes of War (Sons of War)

by Lia Davis

  With his index finger, he lifted her chin and offered her a crooked smile. “I know what you need. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

  He teleported to the kitchen and scanned the room with no idea what he sought. Seth stood in front of the refrigerator with the door open. His brother glanced at him over his shoulder. “Hungry?”

  Ty shook his head. “Not for me.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Comfort food.”

  Seth closed the fridge door with a laugh. “You need comfort food?”

  Ty growled. “I said it’s wasn’t for me.”

  Just then Gwen entered the kitchen. When she got close to them, Ty reached out without thinking and gently gripped her wrist. Her eyes grew large and he could smell the hint of panic in her scent along with something else.

  Seth shifted from foot to foot beside him. “Ty, man…”

  His warning was cut off when something slammed into Ty’s back sending him flying into the formal dining room. He crashed into the wall with Markus holding him off the floor by the throat. “What the fuck?”

  Markus’s dragon looked out from his eyes. Pissed off didn’t begin to describe it. Gwen ran up beside them, grabbing his forearm. “Markus, please. He meant no harm. Look at him. Really look at him.”

  After a long moment, his dragon eyes shifted back to human and he reached up and removed Ty’s sunglasses. Ty expected Gwen to react, but she didn’t. Then again, he didn’t dare look at her with the mood Markus was in. “I wanted to ask Gwen what kinds of comfort foods she liked.”

  It sounded so lame he started laughing. An instant later, his body relaxed, almost sagging into his brother. Then laughter overtook him.

  Markus released him, letting Ty fall to the floor. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Ty shook his head. “Comfort food.” He took a deep breath and stopping laughing. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Gwen’s pregnant.” Ty, his brothers and Gwen turned toward Ash’s voice at the entrance of the dining room. Frowning, Ty glanced back to Gwen, then Markus. All humor faded from him. There was one thing their dragons wouldn’t tolerate—another touching their pregnant mate, which Ty knew firsthand. Sophia wasn’t even his mate and he’d hated seeing Garrick with her.

  Ty stood. “Fuck. Man, if I knew…”

  Markus didn’t reply at first. He stood between Ty and Ash like he watched a tennis match. Just when Ty was about lose his patience, Markus smiled, wide. “I’ll be damned. You’ve started the mating dance.”

  About to argue with his brother, Ty locked gazes with Ash and knew Markus was right. When in Hades had he allowed it to happen?

  Chapter Fourteen

  They’d blinded him. No, Elizabeth did this to him.

  The liquid she dropped in his eyes burned like the fires in Tartarus. Hours later, he lay on the damned steel table, strapped down like a rabid animal, unable to see anything but shadows and the bright-ass fucking light.

  The click of the door made him jerk his head. The silhouette of the female his dragon wanted to tear apart entered the room. Elizabeth, he remembered from when he lived in Olympus with his brothers, possessed a darkness that rivaled Garrick’s rage.

  She halted next to him, looking down on him. Damn, he wished he could see her face to get a better reading on what she had planned. No doubt she’d come to gloat on her handiwork or perhaps to torture him some more.

  Yet, she never asked him for information about his brothers or the gods. In fact, she didn’t ask him anything, just taunted and caused him pain. Twisted bitch.

  “Oh, you’re awake. I feared I’d lost you.”

  There was a smile in her tone. He growled and jerked his arms against the chains holding him to the table. “Bitch.”

  “Now, now. Flattery will get you nowhere. Do you know why you’re here, dear?”

  “Because you’re a psychotic bitch,” he growled and turned his head straight at the ceiling.

  Her tone remained void of emotion as she continued to talk as if he’d said nothing. “I loved you before Sophia sank her claws into you. The daemon had no right to come to Olympus and taint you and your brothers with her false friendship. Then you had to fill her with a child.”

  Ty snapped his gaze back to her, relieved his vision had finally started to clear. Only he and Sophia knew the child was his. “You can’t know for sure.”

  Her laugh was bitter and loud. “I had my suspicions, but it wasn’t until Sophia fought for her last breaths while I extracted the child from her womb I knew for sure. It was your name on her lips when she died.”

  “You bitch!” He yanked his arms up to grab her, but the chains stopped him. Fury burned in his veins, fed by the surfacing pain of the loss of his friend and the mother of his child. His dragon roared in his head and together they fought against the bindings until, one-by-one, they snapped. Ty lunged for Elizabeth and grabbed her by the neck. Her eyes grew round a split second before everything went black.

  Ty woke with a start, fear and anger racing through him. The first thing he saw was Ash’s concerned emerald-green eyes studying him from above. She had her hands on his arms as if holding him to the bed. “What…? What happened?”

  “You were dreaming.”

  Taking a deep, shaky breath, he scanned his surroundings. His bedroom. He was in his room, his bed, with Ash. Not in the torture room with Elizabeth. When Ash released him, he instantly hugged her close and kissed the top of her head. His whole body shook as the rush of adrenaline faded.

  “Elizabeth killed Sophia.”

  Ash raised her head to stare at him. “You’re sure?”

  He nodded. “It was the last thing she said to me before I lost it. I was pissed she tortured me, but when she admitted to killing Sophia and taking Amissa from her, I couldn’t control the dragon’s rage any longer. I killed her, Ash.”

  She shook her head. “Tell me about the dream.”

  He closed his eyes, not wanting to relive the nightmare, but he had to tell her. After all, she was sent here to judge him. The gods would probe her mind to seek the truth she learned. Hiding things from her would only hurt them both in the end. She didn’t deserve to be punished because of his arrogance.

  For the first time on over five hundred years, he wanted to trust a female, wanted to trust Ash. Because, like it or not, she was his mate and he was falling for her.

  After he spilled the whole dream-flashback to her, he felt as if a weight was lifted from his chest. “I have to have killed her.”

  “Not necessarily.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The dream cut off before she died. Elle’s painting showed Garrick standing in front of you with the divine dagger. So, until we find out for sure how Elizabeth died, I’m not giving up. Besides, we’re closer to building a case to clear your name.” A smile formed on her lips said she was up to something.

  “How so?”

  “Elizabeth admitted to killing Sophia. Zeus wants her killer punished more than Elizabeth’s. Even if you did kill her, Zeus would see it as justified.”

  He doubted it, but it sparked a small amount of hope. “Won’t we need proof?”

  “Yeah, and we’ll work on that. At least we have more to go on.” She pushed up and crawled off the bed.

  He watched as she dressed. “Where are you going?”

  “To speak with Thea and Ariel. You should let Markus know.” Then she turned and rushed out the door before he could protest or ask any more questions.

  Blowing out a breath, he sat up and slid into a pair of jeans before heading out to find Markus and his brothers. It was time to call dear old dad and get some answers.

  ****

  Nikalos leaned against the dirt covered stone wall of wherever the hell Garrick had moved him. The dickhead said it would be a more permanent home for Nik and the other prisoners. The place smelled like damp dirt and rock, telling him they could be inside a cave or in an underground cavern.

  How many years had it been since Tyson
escaped thanks to one of his brothers? Nik lost track of time long ago. Besides, he really didn’t expect the Sons of War—his brothers—to come back for him. The number one reason? Garrick cast a memory spell over Ty just moments before Zavier burst through the place like a F5 tornado.

  Since then, Garrick had moved Nik and the others around every few months. The bastard was paranoid to the extreme.

  His paranoia was why Nik failed to tell his dear brother the serum he used to keep him from shifting into his dragon no longer worked like it once had. Nik guessed it would take a few weeks to a month before he regained enough strength to make the shift. Just as long as Garrick didn’t figure out the serum was useless.

  The echo of footsteps sounded off the wall, drawing a growl from him. A moment later, Garrick emerged from the dark corridor with a smirk on his face. “Are you comfortable, brother?”

  “You lost the privilege to call me brother the day you turned on Ares and the rest of us.”

  “Ah. And where are your brothers? Oh, that’s right. They rescued Tyson and left you behind.” He stalked to the right side of the cave and pulled something from a basketball size hole in the stone wall.

  Nik let out another growl. His brothers didn’t know he was here. He knew as much when he tried to communicate with Ty during his captivity. The male didn’t recognize his voice or his name. No surprise there, since Elizabeth kept him shackled and drugged the whole time. Then there was the memory spell Garrick put on him.

  Tracking Garrick as he crossed the small room-like space, Nik rose to his feet and paced to the bars. Peering into the cell next to his, he saw a female gripping onto the bars. With wide eyes, she watched Garrick approach her.

  Garrick smiled at her. “Are you ready now, Blair?”

  At her nod, Garrick opened the cell and she stepped out, giving Nik full view of her. His dragon roared within and the man jerked on the bars while cursing his twisted, psychotic sorry-ass brother. “You sick bastard! She’s a child!”

  Garrick growled. “Blair, tell him how old you are.”

  “Seventeen.”

  “A child, you sick fuck.”

  Garrick waved him away and handed the girl an amber-colored vile. “She’s a very powerful child. She’s the granddaughter of Themis and so is her older sister. Once I have both of them working for me, I’ll have the power to change the divine laws and become the new king of the gods.”

  The male was truly insane. Themis was the goddess of divine law. With two of her descendants under Garrick’s wing, he could overturn the current power in Olympus. Nik let out another, louder growl. Looked like he would have to break out sooner than he thought.

  When the girl, Blair, took the vial and drank it, Nik screamed at Garrick to stop and threw himself into the bars of his cage. Blair dropped the glass and doubled over. Garrick picked her up and carried her out of the room.

  Fury clawed at his insides, enraging his dragon even more. They could do what they wished to him, but when it came to innocent people—especially children—Nik couldn’t stand by and watch and wait.

  He had to find a way out of the damned cage.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Garrick laid the girl on the sofa in a small cabin a few yards from the cave where he kept Nik. The cabin served as his temporary home as well as his office until his Imperials finished construction on the new command center.

  Studying the girl sleeping on the couch, he scowled. None of the other descendants passed out during the process. Maybe he’d given her too much of the serum.

  “Into harvesting children now?”

  Garrick growled at the deep voice from behind him. “This is not your concern, Eros.”

  “Maybe not.” The god of love and desire drifted around the room until he stopped at the bedroom door.

  Garrick faced Eros full on and narrowed his gaze upon him, suspicion creeping up his spine. “What do you want?”

  “Your minions failed. Again.”

  Fisting his hands at his sides, Garrick counted silently in his head. Losing his shit with the god was not wise. Especially if Garrick wanted his plan to be successful. He’d need Cupid on his side to make it happen.

  “I’m well aware.” Motioning to Blair still sleeping on the sofa, Garrick allowed his lips to lift in a small smile of achievement. “She is my ticket to ruling Olympus.”

  Eros flicked his gaze from the child back to Garrick and snarled. “I can’t allow you to do that. It would disrupt the balance between the worlds.”

  Blah, blah, blah. Garrick had heard it all before. It was the same fucking speech Markus feed him for centuries. A bunch of shit. “The child is the granddaughter of Themis.”

  Eros’s gaze fell on Blair once more. “She’s too young. Even with her goddess half unlocked, she won’t fully come into her powers until she reaches the age of twenty-five.”

  Suppressing the urge to throw a fireball at the god, Garrick turned toward the kitchen to grab a beer. “She will lead me to her sister, who is of age.”

  Why the hell was he bothering with explanations? Oh, yes, because he need Eros and he was the only god he could persuade to his side. Desire was a strong power after all. “You could join me and take your rightful place as next on the throne.”

  “Why should I help you?”

  Pulling a beer from the fridge, Garrick grinned. “You would have the power to bring down the Sons of War and avenge Elizabeth’s death lawfully, without a trial.”

  Eros let out a bitter, humorless laugh. “I’m bringing Tyson down for her death.”

  The idea did intrigue the god. Garrick could sense it in the way the male’s scent changed at the mention of having the power to take down Ty. So he threw him another little piece of information to chew on. “I have in my possession the divine dagger and two very powerful weavers fully capable of harvesting the gods’ powers and containing them until we find the right candidates to hold the power.”

  Eros froze and stared at him for a long moment as if considering his options. “How do I know you speak the truth?”

  Garrick reached behind him, pulled out the dagger from its sheath at his back, and held it out between them. “The weavers are isolated and cloaked from the gods and my brothers. They have already prepared the spell and the containment unit.”

  Amusement along with greed lit the blue depths of Eros’s gaze as he stepped forward. When he reached out for the dagger, Garrick snatched it back and slipped it back inside the sheath.

  Locking gazes with Garrick, Eros smiled coolly. “You have it all figured out, don’t you?”

  “I like being prepared. With or without you, I will not fail.”

  ****

  Ty entered the great room and met Gwen’s gaze. He broke the eye contact to search his surroundings. Aphrodite sat at the piano with a smile on her face and Elle sat next to Gwen on the sofa. Yet, there was no sign of his brothers. “Where’s Markus? And the weaver? You found one, right?”

  Gwen gestured to the chair across from her. “Please sit and relax. Markus should be here anytime. Yes, we found a weaver.”

  He strode over to the chair and sat. The feeling of shock coming from Aphrodite made his lips lift in a slight smile. “Have you given up on me so fast, goddess?”

  “Of course not. I’m amazed at how calm you are in a room full of women.”

  Letting out a low, playful growl, he drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair, not knowing how much of the silence he could take. The goddess of love was wrong. Calm was far from what he felt. In fact, he was about to jump up and go for a run or something. The mansion was too quiet, yet there were people everywhere. His daughter and Cyrus rested in their rooms. He could feel Ash somewhere with the nymphs. Maxwell was in the kitchen, most likely preparing for lunch. All the quiet made him edgy. Well, edgier than normal.

  He should be used to the quiet. He’d craved it at one time. Since Ash entered his life and he realized she was his mate, his outlook on the world changed. He had a new purpose, a renewed h
ope he might just make it out of the whole damned mess alive. He actually cared. It was Ash’s doing. Her inability to give up on him pushed him find the answers he’d avoided for far too long.

  The sound of the front door opening and closing followed by two sets of footsteps made him jump to his feet. When he turned to the foyer, he froze. The petite redhead dressed in faded blue jeans and a green top stared at him while she held a toddler in her arms. The female resembled Sophia in so many ways, she could be a daughter or sister. She also favored Amissa in looks, only shorter.

  Markus stepped forward, blocking the female from Ty’s view. Meeting his brother’s glare, Ty asked, “Who is she?”

  Markus growled. “Be aware of yourself, brother.”

  Ty rolled his eyes. “Do you realize who she looks like?”

  Markus paused, then glanced at the female over his shoulder. “Sophia came to mind when I first saw her, but she is not her.”

  “How can you be sure?” Ty lowered his voice to a level only Markus could hear with the impeccable hearing they possessed as dragon-shifters.

  “I’m not. It doesn’t matter right now. She is here and is under our protection. She is also the weaver we seek,” Markus countered, then walked passed him.

  Ty studied the weaver for a moment before speaking. “I’m Ty.”

  She gave a nod and rubbed small circles on the child’s back. “I’m Selene.”

  “Ty?”

  He turned toward Gwen. Her lips lifted in a soft smile. Warmth grew inside his chest and spread. The minor goddess of love had found a way inside his heart. It was odd how he felt connected to her, much like the blood bond he shared with his brothers. Maybe because she and Markus were bonded mates…?

  Stepping to the side, he motioned to Selene toward the great room. Disbelief still churned within him. How could she look so much like Sophia and not be her?