Paragons 2

by Gideon Mills

  I just hoped that the information he gave us was good. We had to strike fast and within the law. McGarrett was going to see what we needed to do and get back to us. My phone went off.

  I answered it. “Hey.”

  “Raiding them is allowed, but you must have a team of police with you,” McGarrett said. No beating around the bush at all.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Reign also said that both had to be raided at the same time.”

  I groaned. That meant splitting up the team and working with police officers, and most likely Reign. “I don’t like that.”

  “Neither do I,” McGarrett admitted.

  “Can you see what place Reign wants to be part of, and when he wants to do it.”

  There was silence on the other end. A full minute later. “You really like to put me in tough places, and situations I’m uncomfortable with.”

  “Sorry,” I said. “But I have a feeling he will do his best to help his puppet.”

  “Me too,” McGarrett said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thanks.”

  The line went dead. I glanced back to Lola and Felicity, and both were laughing their asses off. I was never going to live this down. I walked over to them.

  “If you two are down, I just talked to McGarrett.”

  I relayed the information, and both cringed. “Not good,” Lola said. Thankfully she didn’t bring up the Stefan talk.

  The three of us looked at the location of the two other safe houses and went over what we thought the best course of action would be. Waiting to hear back from McGarrett was long. The day started to drag on, and Athena and Fleur still hadn’t returned.

  The tension in the room thickened the longer the day went with no word. Lola turned on the news, and nothing in the city was being reported. The hacker checked her internet sources for any underground activity and nothing.

  Soon the sun was setting, and Athena and Fleur were nowhere to be seen.

  “That’s it,” I said. “I’m going out to find them.”

  Felicity placed her hand on my arm. “Don’t. You’ll just be wandering the city, New York is huge. You’ll never find them.”

  I hung my head. “I know. I’m worried about them.”

  “We both are. All of us are.”

  All I could do was wait, and that was what I did.

  28

  Trouble

  The warehouse’s sensors went off. My heart skipped a beat and I rushed over to Lola and her monitoring equipment. Felicity did as well.

  We waited with bated breath to see who appeared on the screen. Hoping it was Fleur or Athena, but I feared it might be someone that got to them.

  When the person came into view, it was Athena. She was covered in blood and panting. I had no idea what happened, but if she was that battered it was very very bad.

  I sprinted to the door in a blink of an eye, before any else could even react, and opened the door for Athena. My half-sister nodded. “Thanks.”

  Stumbling in, she didn’t look good. Felicity was next to me now, and so was Lola. “What in the kale happened?” Felicity asked.

  The door shut behind Athena, and she slumped against it. Taking deep breaths to steady herself. “Elric ambushed Fleur and me.”

  “Where is Fleur?” My heart was racing, fearing the worst, that she was dead. Gone. If that was the case, I was going to kill Elric and Reign. I didn’t care if that gave Hera what she wanted. Fleur was pure and one of the most amazing people I had ever met.

  “We got separated,” Athena said. “I couldn’t get back to her, Elric kidnapped her.”

  “She’s alive?” Lola asked with a tentative voice.

  The Goddess of Warfare and Intelligence nodded. “She is, but I don’t know for how much longer. Please tell me you found his second hideout?”

  “He has two more,” I said. “But Reign is being stubborn.”

  “Fuck that man,” Lola said. “Elric has Fleur. I will not wait for his permission to save her.”

  I was with her full heartedly in that. Reign and Elric weren’t going to win this. “How did he get the best of you two?”

  Athena and Fleur were two of the fiercest fighters on the planet. Taking them both out like this was no simple task, and one I honestly didn’t think possible. I always worry about my love, but it was just out of love. Not that I actually thought this could happen.

  I took a deep breath in and readied myself to leave. “Ares,” Athena said. “You can’t just rush out there and try to save her.”

  Barely stopping, I snapped, “Why not?”

  “Look at me,” she said. “Yes, you are stronger than me, but they nearly took me out.”

  It was true that hadn’t been expected. She didn’t appear to have a scratch on her, but she was exhausted and completely drained. I was relieved to find the blood wasn’t hers.

  “I can’t let them have her,” I said.

  “None of us want that,” Felicity said. Lola’s and Felicity’s faces were sad and afraid, much like I imagined mine was right now. I had to look like a mess. “But we have to be smart about it.”

  “I don’t give a damn about being smart,” I said. “If Elric and Reign hurt her, I will destroy every inch of this city to find them and make them pay.”

  Lola took a step back from me. As did Felicity, both had terror on their faces, and it was from me. My inner God of War was coming out right now, and it wasn’t pretty. None of them here, outside of Athena had seen that side of me before.

  Pausing, I took a deep breath in. Scaring two people I care deeply about wasn’t who I was anymore. Elric, Reign, and Hera were getting just what they wanted. “You’re right,” I said. “I can’t just go and kill. I’ll be playing into mother’s hand.”

  Athena nodded and slowly rose from the floor that she had fallen to. “Tell me what you know, all of it, and then we’ll make a plan.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. This was a very Athena way to go about it, and the opposite of me. Hera would never expect it. She was going to be furious with this change in me.

  Later that night, we waited to hear back from McGarrett. What he told us would affect the plan immensely, but we did have a plan in place. An outline of one at least. Reign was going to get what he wanted. To split us up, and make it easier to take us out.

  That part I hated, and being down Fleur meant that Lola was going to have to go out with us. There was no way that I would let Athena or Felicity go out alone. Not a chance.

  Lola and I would go with Reign. I had a feeling that was going to be the hideout that had the best chance to find Elric. Though the longer this dragged on the more likely that Elric had found a new place altogether, and we weren’t going to find a thing.

  My phone rang and I answered it before the second ring. “Please tell me we can attack tonight.”

  “Wow,” McGarrett said. “You want to move fast. Reign won’t like that.”

  “I don’t give a damn,” I said. “Elric got Fleur.”

  There was silence, and then McGarrett spoke in a whisper. “That explains the smile on Reign. I’ll text you the details you wanted and the time of the raid.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “Try to be with Reign tonight. I think he’ll be where she is.”

  “I will try, and I think you’re right.”

  29

  Hurry up and Wait

  McGarrett indeed sent the info I had asked for and the time. Reign was going to be at the hideout in Broadway. That meant I was going to be there as well. I turned to Lola as we were about to leave.

  “You sure you’re up for this?” I asked her. She had put on some clothes that Fleur had gotten her for this occasion. It was a superhero outfit. She was registered with the city as The Guardian, and this was going to be her first actual mission.

  “I’m ready,” she said. “No way we are going to let Fleur stay captured any longer than she needs to be.”

  “Agreed,” Felicity said. “I just wish we all could go to the
same place.”

  I did as well, but Reign was looking for any way to split us up and arrest us. We couldn’t allow that to happen. There was very little wiggle room with Reign and Elric. Especially now that they had Fleur.

  “We’ll get her,” I said. “We’ll get Elric too.”

  That was the goal, save Fleur and eliminate Elric. Then we would make our move on Reign. How that move was going to happen or what it was I didn’t know.

  “Please,” Felicity said.

  “We will,” Lola assured her. The two hugged each other.

  As they did, Athena leaned close to me. “Be careful,” she said. “They have a lot of men. And one of them found a dagger that is adamant plated.” While adamant wouldn’t kill me like celestial bronze, but it would hurt like hell. It was no wonder that they gave her such a hard time.

  “I’ll be careful,” I said. “I won’t let some schmuck get lucky with a dagger.”

  Athena poked me in the side. “Lucky is right.”

  Then we were all on our way.

  When Lola pulled up to the staging point, McGarrett was there to meet us. And he wasn’t alone, next to him was the man I hated most in the world at the moment. While Elric had Fleur, it was all because of this douche bag.

  “Ares,” McGarrett said. “Guardian.”

  Reign took us both in. “The last member of the team,” he said. “Did you send the other three to the other hideout?”

  “White Angel was taken by Elric,” Lola said.

  “I see,” Reign said. “If that is truly the case, we’ll make Elric and his gang pay.”

  My phone buzzed, and it was Jose.

  “This isn’t a great time,” I said.

  “Boss,” he said. “I can prove Reign and Elric are working together.”

  He had my interest. I pulled Lola away and said, “Give him your email. He has info we need for tomorrow.”

  Lola took the phone and talked for a few minutes. “He emailed it, but he said he would need to speak to you in person as soon as you can. I told him we were on a raid, but he was insistent.”

  I nodded and took the phone back. Just one more thing I had to deal with tonight. Though that was good news and would help with the next step in Reign’s removal. That man was grating on me, and I had to move fast.

  It was clear to me that my freedom, with him on the loose, was running out. He was going to get what he wanted, and I had to let him do it. If I fought him and started a battle in the city, I would be no better than my sister, Eris. Hera would win, and she was counting on me fighting the man.

  I had to imagine this wasn’t part of her plan. The two of us here fighting against Elric. Though it very well could be, and that was a scary thought. I marched over to McGarrett and Reign. “Ready when you two are.”

  “We breach in two,” Reign said. The man was in full tactical gear. All the police officers were. I was the only one that didn’t have protection against bullets or knives. Not that I needed it. My own magical skin was all I needed.

  Two minutes dragged on, and on. I was in my place with Lola right behind me. She had a gun with plastic bullets in it. While it wouldn’t generally kill anyone, it would keep her safe. “You sure you know how to use it?” I asked.

  Lola groaned. “For the millionth time, I know how to use a gun. I grew up in the country. While I might have spent more time on a computer, my father made sure I knew how to fire his Winchester.”

  I smiled and focused on the door in front of me. McGarrett laid out the plan, and I was to be the first one in. The battering ram to bust the door, and take the brunt of the initial attack, if there was one.

  That part of the plan I loved, and I was ready to take on all the soldiers that Elric had lined up. I didn’t care who they were. They were going to go down. Nothing was going to stop me from getting to Fleur and bringing her home.

  “Go, go, go,” sounded around me.

  That was my cue, and I sprinted around the corner to the door that McGarrett pointed out. I smashed into it with my shoulder, not even hesitating. The steel door shattered as I ran through it. It might as well not even have been there. Metal shards flew through the air as I ran. Ignoring them, I continued into the hideout.

  Sirens sounded within the building as I ran. I had to remember to slow down; Lola was with me, and there was no way for her to keep up with me. I stopped and let her and the SWAT team join me. Then we methodically made our way through the abandoned building. This one was ten stories tall and had seen better days. Much of the area around it was stunning, and then there was this eyesore.

  The first floor was empty, but with the sirens I knew it was being used. McGarrett had informed me that the building was owned by a company from Athens. I knew that there was a good chance that it was a company that Hera had her fingers in.

  “Stairs, or elevator?” Lola asked. Going up was dangerous, no matter the method we picked. Going up or down funneled us into a location that was easy to ambush.

  I gritted my teeth. “Stairs.” The first floor was empty, and the only sounds were the alarms going off. There were signs that people had been here. No dust on the floor. Clean for a building that was supposedly not being used. Almost too clean, and sterile. It put me on edge.

  All the stark white walls held nothing at all. Not even traps for us. That didn’t seem right to me. Elric had had a trap at the other place for us when we arrived.

  Entering the stairwell, I started up to the second floor. Lola was right behind me, and so were a few police officers. Ones that I didn’t know, but McGarrett trusted them. We stopped at the second floor and opened the door.

  That was my first mistake.

  30

  Fuck

  An explosion engulfed me and threated to harm Lola and the police officers. Only my speed and strength kept them safe as I spun and hurled us all down the stairs. This improvised explosive device was filled with metal fragments, nails.

  “Holy shit,” Lola said.

  “That should have killed you,” an officer said.

  “Not much can kill me,” I said.

  “That’s a damn good thing,” the officer said. He appeared to be rattled. The walls around us were covered in the nails sticking out of them. And on the ground too. Around the door was charred, but I could see through the new opening, and no one was in sight.

  “You okay to continue?” I asked.

  Everyone nodded. With that, we cautiously made our way back up the stairs and went through the hole in the wall that was once a door.

  This time being cautious was the game, and I wasn’t going to risk Lola. She was just as important to me as Fleur was. Over the comms system, I heard Felicity.

  “This place is empty,” she said. “We breached ten minutes ago and nothing.”

  That meant I had to be right, or that Elric had already moved on. There was a good chance that he was long gone. Reign could have seen to that, and if he had I would make him pay.

  “Roger,” Lola said, just loud enough for the others to hear.

  We continued through the floor, and the second one was empty as well. With the way that Athena had talked, I figured the hideout would be teeming with gang members and Paragons.

  I heard from the officers that the others weren’t finding anyone either. That was the only people we were seeing, other police officers. This had better not be a bust. If it was, I was going to go back to Stefan Cole and break his jaw. Make him speak again and punish him for lying to us.

  As we left the second floor, I commanded, “You all stay here. I’ll open the door alone. In case it’s boobytrapped again.”

  “Good idea,” Lola said.

  One of the officers grunted. “Go for it, my ears are still ringing from the last one.”

  I felt bad about that, but there was nothing I could do about it now. Ascending the stairs, I arrived at the third door. Taking a deep breath in I wondered what waited for me this time. When I opened the door, at first nothing happened. When I stepped through the trap
was set into motion, and a vat of acid exploded in my face.

  My instincts were to cover my face, but the acid did nothing to me. Thankfully. I couldn’t help but remember the one guy that had hurt me when attacking my sister, and his acid power. This had to something different and one that I was immune to. Though my clothes were not. The shirt was melting away, and so was the rest. I did my best to stop it before I was completely naked.

  Once I was satisfied it wasn’t going to melt all my clothes or be a danger to the others, I called for them. One of the officers was the first to arrive. He laughed when he saw me. “What in the world?” he asked.

  “Acid,” I said.

  “Man,” the officer said. “You really are immune to everything.”

  “Not everything, but close to it.” Being a Greek God had many advantages, and I was going to use as many of them as I could to save Fleur and to keep the others safe. I didn’t care if that made me look or appear like a chauvinist pig. I wasn’t, and the ones that knew me and loved me knew that.

  Lola saw me, and her eyes widened in shock. “You okay?” she asked.

  “Perfectly fine,” I said. “Just feeling a bit drafty at the moment.”

  That loosened the tension in the room. Seeing my anger had put them on edge, and I understood. “We got this,” I said. “Elric isn’t getting out of here tonight.”

  That much I was confident in. The rage that filled me wouldn’t allow him to win. Reign could try all he wanted to stop me from getting my vengeance, but he wouldn’t succeed. Elric and his little minion Marie were going down.

  We rounded the corner of the central corridor, and standing in front of us was an old friend. One that I thought had been depowered and put in prison.