by April Zyon
“Don’t you dare give them a hard time. I mean it. You know how I am.” She had gone toe to toe with her uncle more than once and would now, too. “And Harry isn’t off his rocker so much as, well, reclusive. He made me that bow and it’s a fantastic one, so I’m glad that he’s not You Know Who.” She shivered. “Good heavens, just thinking of that man makes my blood run cold. As to military training…” She shrugged and grinned. “You forget that I teach five-year-olds and I’m always reminding them of their manners. I think that maybe gets into my everyday life as well.”
All the men were staring at her, though Gareth and Wyatt at least looked mildly amused. Mikhail, well, he was a little tougher to read. He could have been asleep except for the fact his eyes were open.
“Yeah, well.” Ares coughed. “Introductions,” he said, and pointed at the men. “You know Gareth, Wyatt and Mikhail. That’s Nolan, James, Dieter, Victor, Stefan, Lincoln, Owen, Antonio, and Thomas.”
Waving at them, she looked at the one who had been so gruff on the plane and said, “I’m sorry that I fouled up something and made you cranky. I didn’t know that you weren’t supposed to give out your names and stuff. Hopefully, you won’t hold it against me and maybe we’ll be friends one day. I really don’t want anyone angry at me. I hate that feeling.”
“It’s fine,” Ares said softly, patting her hand. “Now, sweetheart, I need you to tell me everything you remember from the moment you walked out of the school. No detail is too small or unimportant. Scents, feelings, the breeze—anything at all could be important, so just go.”
“Okay.” She closed her eyes, as he had taught her to, and took a deep breath. “I was late getting out of the class because I wanted to ensure that every child had a gift when they returned to school. It’s important to me.” She drifted slightly, going quiet, which would scare most people who knew her. “Laughter. I heard someone laughing and talking about me having the bow and quiver, but I don’t. As you know, I keep my bow at home, but he talked about it to someone who growled.” She frowned and cocked her head to the side. “Why didn’t I hear them until now in my memory?”
Camilla didn’t open her eyes, though. “There were a lot of growls. I thought some kids were playing a prank, so I pulled out my light, the one you gave me. You know, the really bright one?” She didn’t wait for a reply. “I heard a hiss. Like a snake or something when I turned it on.” She’d forgotten that fact. “And then more growling. What in the name of the gods was that?” She licked her lips and whispered, “It tastes bad, like sulfur. It feels—it feels wrong, Uncle Aaron, crazy wrong. Even more than the dogs that attacked.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Am I going nuts?”
Ares looked to the team who, when she glanced over, all looked grim. “You got her out of there just in time,” he said softly. “The smell of sulfur in the air, the sensation of wrongness—these are signs of a vampire transporting in for an attack. If you ever get that sensation or smell the sulfur, run. You need to get to a place that’s been blessed and, if you can, wipe holy water on your neck. The lore that Hollywood propagates is mostly true. Holy ground, holy water, holy relics, and sunlight are their enemies. Garlic does nothing. The little light I gave you has a second setting on it. To you, it means nothing, but if you switch it to the top position and point it at a vampire, it will burn them. It’s a UV setting that will cause them to blister until they burn.”
“Heavens.” Camilla’s hands went to her throat. She couldn’t seem to help herself; it was an instinctive move to grab and stroke her throat. “Okay, so the werewolves and the vampires both want me, so that’s always a plus.” She snorted. “Oh God.” Camilla wanted to just go back to yesterday where all she had to do was make sure her uncle ate and didn’t spend all his time on World of Warcraft. “So the question I have to ask is why? Why would they want me?”
“As to why they want you…” Ares scratched at his jaw. “You’re a descendant of Artemis, the Huntress. Every few generations, those that are the descendants come into an unusual burst of power. Something to do with the planetary alignments and how they affect the veils that keep us hidden from the humans and keep Hades’s powers at bay. We forgot to account for the distortion that is created by the alignments at certain key points over the centuries. Unfortunately, once they were set, we couldn’t reset them. We can bolster them to a degree, but it’s extremely taxing.
“You and other female descendants are the generation that hold power. Because of this, they will be coming for each of you to integrate you into the clans and packs. There would be forced matings to put you and your powers, which will awaken soon enough, under their full control. If they get all six, they can break Hades free. With even four, they might be able to swing it, especially if they get the four most powerful.”
“Fabulous.” Camilla snorted. “Okay, so who are the four that you need to find? And how do you find them? I mean, have you guys kept a genealogy or something? Is that why you were in my life, Uncle Aar… Ares? And please don’t tell me that I’m one of the four. I might have to cry.”
“Okay, I won’t tell you,” he said with a frown. “The six descendants we need to find, no matter what, are you, of course, my descendants, and the descendants of Apollo, Aceso, Aphrodite, and Zeus. The best combination for the wolves and vamps would be Zeus’s, Apollo’s, mine, and Artemis’s. Sorry, Punkin, you made the top four. But since you’re safe here, they could in theory work with Aphrodite’s descendant. Aceso is a healer, so it’s counterintuitive to use the descendant. Unless she’s got zero moral code, but really, that’s more my bloodline than anyone else.”
Someone snorted at that, and Ares turned a nasty look on the men. “Don’t make me come over there, Owen. You won’t like the results.”
“Great. Okay, so I’m here, but what about the others? Do you have eyes on them or whatever the phrase is?” She was going off what she had watched on cops shows. “So that you can be sure that they’re okay? And why were you in my life instead of Artemis? Don’t get me wrong, super glad that you were there, because you’ve taught me all kinds of fun things. I’m just curious.”
“Let’s do this in order of questions. We’re working on it; not currently; they have to work in a specific order that dates back to the births; because I’m nicer than she is; and we can’t involve ourselves directly with any of our descendants. Again, another rule. This one was put into place so that we could never create a power vacuum. We can’t find the other descendants until their power activates the first time. Unfortunately, that goes the same for the other side. It’s a balance between good and evil, no one has any advantage, we all have the same amount of time.”
“Now that you have pulled me out of the line of fire, how do you know who is next in the line of power or whatever? And if you were with me, does that mean that Artemis is with your descendant?”
“No, Artemis is watching over another descendant. Zeus couldn’t because of his position as King of the Gods. Apollo, Morpheus, and Dionysus are involved, along with myself. As well as another, but we don’t know who the last one is. The fates wouldn’t tell us. You’ll like Dion, though, he’s a good egg and always has a dirty joke to tell. They can’t share who the descendant is until their power comes into play. Again, it’s against the rules. Even playing field for all. Though we did at least win the battle on who got to watch over you, so a serious plus on our score sheets.”
“That’s a bonus?” She should be grateful, and she was—really, she was—but her mind had so much filling it now that she needed time to process. Needed to think. “What happens now? Will the god or goddess who is watching over the next person come to you and let this team know who she is? Or do you wait and listen until you know that the person might be in danger?”
“Now we put you somewhere safe until the next one is known. That could be tomorrow, next month, or years from now. There is no timetable to this, it’s completely random when their power will activate enough to alert us. As to how we know…” Ares shrug
ged. “We just do. The gods are all connected to the universe. We feel the changes like the ebb and flow of the oceans. There are tremors, there are hiccups, and there are billions of voices that all tie into it. Trust me, you don’t ever want to be in a god’s head, it’s fucking noisy up there.” He slapped his knees. “So, we need to figure out where you get put for the next while. Ideas?”
“Back home?” Camilla offered. Ares shot her down with a look. “I have no idea. I mean, the school will worry if I don’t come back after the break, so I would at least have to come up with something, and we both know that I can’t lie to save my butt. So I have no idea.” She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “I guess I stay here?” A military base. Fan-freaking-tastic. She loved to joke and talk and see new things, and she was going to be stuck on a military base with a bunch of people who didn’t do those things. At all. Wonderful.
Ares frowned at her and then started to grin. “Actually, I have a better idea.” The grin got bigger as he turned to look at the team of men. “I think you should go home with them.” He nodded. That brought about nothing but silence from the entire room, and his grin turned into a smirk of evil satisfaction.
“Excuse me?” Camilla hadn’t spoken for several long seconds, and when she did, her voice squeaked. “What do you mean go home with them?”
“Did I stutter, Camilla?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow. “You will go home with them. It’s a large house and fully protected. You will be safe there, have a semi-normal life, and the weres and vampires can’t find you while you’re there. It’s out in the middle of the countryside, lots of trees, rolling green hills, and no neighbors close enough to cause an issue. It is also fully fortified and set with triggers that, should they be breached, I’m notified so I can come rain a little Hell on Earth myself. It’s perfect,” he said with a nod and a bright smile.
“What’s the catch? I know you, Uncle, and you have that look on your face like you’re a happy kid in a candy store, which typically means that either the newest version of World of Warcraft is coming out or you know something someone else doesn’t, so spill.”
“Well, there actually is an expansion coming out this week,” he said with a chuckle. “And really, I know a hell of a lot more than any of you will ever know. Sorry, but being a god does trump anything the rest of you have. And you will find out in time,” he told her as he got to his feet. “Now, let’s get the debriefing done so I can take Camilla home to get her things and put in her notice before she moves into the house.”
“You are so bad,” she muttered to her uncle, but then she sighed. “However, you need to ask the men here in this room if they want me at their place. You can’t simply dictate that they take in a boarder, you know.”
“Actually, I can,” he said under his breath. At her look, he sighed. “Fine. Gentlemen, any issue with allowing Camilla to live with you in the house where she’ll be safe?”
She watched as the team all shared looks before turning to look at Mikhail. Not the scary one, Nolan, but Mikhail. The big, blue-eyed behemoth just shrugged. “If she so much as puts one single frilly, girly thing in the war room, I’ll kick her ass to the curb. Otherwise, I have no issues.”
“See?” Ares said, smacking her shoulder lightly. “And you doubted your uncle. Shame on you, shame.”
Camilla snorted. “I really hope that you gentlemen don’t regret opening your home to me.” She found herself leaning back in her seat, rubbing her temples. “Okay, what’s next? I have a massive headache brewing, and I would like to take some Tylenol and go the bed, please.”
“While the team is debriefing, I’ll take you home so you can pack up whatever you need and let the school know you won’t be returning. Yes, I’ll help you come up with something plausible so you don’t get all weird during the lie,” Ares said before she could ask.
“I can email the principal. We’re all on break right now so I can handle an email, as long as you give me the story to tell them so they don’t call in the cops.”
“Faith, child, have a little faith,” he said. “I’d close my eyes if I were you. You’ll thank me for that when we arrive. The motion sickness of a jump shouldn’t affect you too horribly. You do have the gods’ blood in your veins, after all.”
Camilla closed her eyes and felt her uncle’s familiar hug. Maybe she was wrong, but she could have sworn she heard a low rumble of a growl right before they were gone.
Chapter Six
“Uh, Camilla, you can let go now,” Ares said with amusement clear in his voice. She’d been clinging to him since they’d departed and didn’t think she could let go. “We’re in your home, sweetie. It’s safe, your feet are back on solid ground.”
“Right.” Camilla took a deep breath and let go of her uncle. “Thank you.” She looked around her house and frowned. Cocking her head, she said, “I didn’t leave the door open, the French door that leads out to the backyard. You know I hate leaving anything open.” That wasn’t good, at all.
“Yeah, the weres were here, and so were vampires. But they’re all gone now. Though I can’t promise you what condition the place is in.” Ares looked around and winced. “You may not want to look too closely at anything, sweetie.”
“Fabulous.” That had come out far snider than she’d intended. Camilla closed her eyes. She rubbed her temples for a moment before taking off to pack a suitcase with clothing and some of her toiletries, as well as shoes. She also grabbed her laptop and her bow and quiver. With two large cases in her hands, her laptop, and the special case that held her bow both slung over her shoulders, she came back to her uncle. “Okay. I guess that I’m as ready as I am going to get. If I need anything else, there’s always internet shopping.”
“You still need to send the email to the principal,” he said, taking the suitcases. They were in his hands one moment and gone the next. Just poof, gone. “I’ll take you for ice cream before I take you to your new home. I’ll get this place cleaned up and later you can decide if you want to hang onto it or whatever.”
“Crapballs.” She patted her laptop case that was on her left side and her bow case on her right side. “I have my laptop and my bow.” She smiled suddenly. “Ice cream? Oh, can we go to Geoffrey’s? They’re open now and they have amazing handcrafted ice creams. I really would like to have that, please.” If he could just appear and disappear, then going to Geoffrey’s would be an easy thing.
****
Two hours later, Ares and Camilla arrived at the farm, Camilla’s email having been sent and her sweet tooth having been satisfied with ice cream. Her uncle held her laptop while she held her bow case. She hadn’t allowed him to poof them away; she wanted to keep them close at hand.
She looked at the amazing farmhouse and let out a low whistle. “This place is amazing, Uncle.” The house was shaped like a massive E. There were large verandas covering the areas that weren’t jutting out as the legs of the E. The house itself looked three stories tall, but it also looked like there might be a basement as well; Camilla wasn’t sure because of the bushes and flowers that lined the home. There were massive windows on the lower level, but the second and third floors had windows that looked almost impenetrable.
She wasn’t certain, but the house looked to be larger than the White House, which she’d visited once on a school trip. Camilla loved the redwood siding on the outside of the home. The dark-green shutters were a surprise, but then again so was the bright red front door. There were even a couple of large swings on one of the verandas, the one that looked like the main entry. On another of them was a set eight chairs and a small fire pit.
“You do know that we shoot trespassers in this part of the world, right?” a very familiar deep voice said behind her. So close she could feel his breath on her neck.
“Holy Moses.” Camilla jumped, which had her head hitting a very hard chin. “Oh God. I’m so sorry.” She turned so fast her bow case caught a sensitive part of the man she’d just headbutted in the chin. “Oh, sweet merciful heavens, I�
��m so sorry.” She felt torn between wanting to touch his cheek or—well, other, more interesting places that were likely not feeling so great right now. “It’s all your fault, by the way. You shouldn’t have scared me. I’m telling you, freaking bells.”
Ares bent over, laughing so hard he was starting to snort. He sounded a lot like a mule as he fell on his ass to the pathway.
Mikhail just cracked his jaw before shooting the god a look. “I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again—you really should invest in therapy, Ares. There is something not quite right about you and your sense of humor.” His icy gaze came back to her and stayed, pinning her in place. She could see the muscle in his jaw ticking as he watched her.
“I’m sorry, but seriously, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that. I will sew bells onto your clothes.” She patted his chest. Leaning up, she pressed a kiss to the underside of his chin, as if kissing a boo-boo, and then grinned. “I love this place.”
Camilla moved to take a seat on the swing. She ignored the stares and instead looked to Mikhail. “How about you sit with me and swing us? I’m a wee bit too short to touch the floor, and you look like you need a seat.” She patted the swing. “Please?”
For long moments, she thought he would absolutely refuse. But apparently to everyone’s surprise, he eased down onto the swing and gave it a push. He wasn’t exactly next to her, but given she’d just cracked him in the family jewels, the distance wasn’t exactly surprising. “You, too, might need to seek some professional help along with the God of War,” he finally commented.
Camilla snickered. “I could so see that couch session. ‘Well, you see, Doctor Whatever Your Name Is, I’m like this because I was raised by the God of War. I have bows created by a Titan weapons’ maker, and it looks like I’m descended from Artemis, another Greek god. Oh, and hey, did I mention that I have vampires and werewolves that want me so that they can kill me or tickle me or whatever?’” She grinned. “Yeah, that would go over so well I’d be in this amazing white coat that would let me hug myself all the time. Thanks, but no thanks.”