Apollo's Protection

by Anna Edwards

  “Pluto! Show yourself, you coward.”

  The men encircling us move uneasily but are yet to attack. Pluto’s minions. Not full gods but I sense some of them have traces of the divine in their blood. More of the children he’s been breeding? It sickens me to think how many innocents he’s corrupted over the centuries right under our noses.

  Orcus skulks out of the shadows at the end of the room near to a throne of gold and jewels.

  “You do not have permission to be here,” he remarks.

  Jupiter snorts. “Like that’s ever stopped your master before. Why should I give him a courtesy he doesn’t afford me?”

  It’s all I can do to hold myself back from running at the ugly brute and demanding my son.

  Orcus’ eyes narrow on my face, and his lips curve up as though he can sense my tightly leashed anger. “Pluto’s not available to see you.”

  “I don’t give a fuck,” I spit, my temper finally slipping. “I want my son returned to me now.”

  Orcus laughs. “Yours? The child produced by that little demigoddess is Pluto’s.”

  My breath seizes in my chest, and I shake my head in disbelief. “Bullshit, I don’t believe you.”

  “We’re not leaving until we see the baby.” My father’s tone is edged with command. When I glance his way, I see his expression is firm with determination. “The mother insists it’s Apollo’s, and even if it isn’t, Pluto had no right to take it from her arms.”

  What if Eva was wrong? What if the God of the Underworld is the father? He’d raped her more than once. How can she be so sure that it’s mine? She has Fontus and their son now. She’s betrothed to him—she won’t want me. Small insidious whispers. Ones that work their way through my thoughts.

  “Stay strong, Apollo,” my father murmurs, garnering my attention. “This place will use your inner doubts and fears against you. Do not fall prey to its influence, or Pluto will take advantage of it.”

  Manipulation and mind games. Something the evil god is known for. I should have realized the very air in his domain would ooze with it.

  Orcus motions to one of the guards. Whispering in the man’s ear, he sends him off with a message. A tense silence follows. My gaze sweeps over our captors, and I make a mental note of ways to disarm them. Electricity tingles in the air around my father. From his rigid stance, he’s clearly ready to fry anyone stupid enough to attempt to bring us down.

  “What is it you want?” Pluto questions as he steps into the room, his long legs gliding across the floor as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. There’s no sign of the baby or Ambrose.

  “You took something that doesn’t belong to you,” I growl. “You’ve held people captive to breed them like animals on a cloaked magical island, and you’ve used their children to fill the ranks of your unholy army. You must pay for your crimes.”

  Easing down onto his throne, he smirks. “What island? You have no proof if it doesn’t exist.”

  “Only because you destroyed it,” I reply, my rage boiling just beneath the surface of my outer calm. “I saw what you did there. We have survivors. An old woman, a cyclops, and some of the children you were using.”

  “Ah, the senile hag. Her mind is gone, and she doesn’t know the truth from a lie. The cyclops is an enemy, who’d say anything to get me into trouble, and as for the brats … foundlings without parents that I look under my wing out of the goodness of my heart.”

  My father snorts beside me. “Well we all know your lying about that.”

  Taking a step toward him, I push the tip of one of the spears aimed at me to the side with my finger. “Cut the crap, Pluto, and give me my son.

  The cool façade he’s been portraying shatters as his lips curl up in an unpleasant sneer. “He belongs to me now. If you're so desperate for another bastard, why don’t you go knock up that sea goddess again. I’m sure it won’t take much to get her to spread her legs for you a second time.”

  A red haze rises in front of my eyes. Before I even realize what I’m doing, I toss the soldiers aside. With all my centuries of training and fighting, I’ve become hardened over time—they don’t stand a chance against me as I fight to get my hands on the monster sitting on his throne.

  The air crackles as my father lets loose a couple of lightning bolts, clearing the way before me. Charging forward, I disarm a guard to my left, claiming his spear as I smack him onto his ass. Raising it, I hurl it with precision. Before it can hit Pluto in the chest, Orcus plucks it out of the air.

  Pluto’s chuckle is sinister. “Hmmm a hot head just like your brother Mars.”

  “Apollo, wait!” my father bellows, but I don’t heed his words.

  When the God of the Underworld rises and dashes for a door, I follow with every intention of beating the whereabouts of my son out of his slimy hide. Running along a corridor, he vanishes through another door. With my mind focused on catching him and making him pay, I don’t stop to consider it might be a trap.

  Pain erupts through my body the second I pass the threshold. Screaming out in agony, it blinds me as my knees hit the floor. Jerking, spasming, I fall sideways, gasping for breath.

  “Foolish boy,” Pluto taunts. “How simple it was to lead you away. You made my plan as easy as taking candy from a baby.”

  Ambrose grins, his powers still arcing through every one of my nerve endings and paralyzing me in place. In the crook of his other arm, a baby lies sleeping, swaddled in a towel.

  “Give … give me … my son,” I demand, struggling to speak. I’m unable to move and overwhelmed.

  Crouching down, Pluto runs a bony finger along my jaw. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll have plenty more. We’re going to extract your sperm and implant it into the other demigoddesses we have detained.”

  More of his camps. More innocent lives suffering at his hands. How many? How many does he have? The thought of him forcing females to bear my children to become his slaves sends my stomach twisting with bile. I can’t let this happen. I’d rather die than allow it even if it means being parted from Fontus and Eva forever.

  Eyes glazed and unfocused, I stare up into his evil face. “No.”

  “It won’t take long. Ambrose is very good at what he does. By the time your father comes racing to your rescue, I’ll already have what I need.”

  The principal hands the sleeping boy into the arms of a guard before collecting a worn leather bag from a table. “Strip him. We’ll do it on the floor.”

  I’m grabbed roughly and turned onto my back. Swearing and thrashing about, my feeble attempts to smack away the intrusive hands that strip me of my shorts do little good. Pain builds inside me every time I call on my powers.

  I’m in a choke hold—it’s keeping me in check and preventing me from fighting. Fury collides with impotent helplessness. I’m Apollo. A fucking god, and this son of a bitch is blocking me.

  Pluto chuckles above me. “I’ll let you into a little secret. Ambrose isn’t just the principal of my camps. He’s also one of the first children produced from them. That old hag that helped you. She’s his mother.”

  Before I can even process Pluto’s words, I see the white-haired bastard has a needle in his hand. “I’m not going to lie this will hurt you a lot more than it will me, but I’ll enjoy hearing your screams,” Ambrose says and grins, his eyes gleaming with sadistic pleasure.

  I’m not particularly looking forward to visiting Hell again, but I know it’s the only way we’re going to be able to find Apollo and my other son. I’ll not let Pluto win. This time, I’m ready for him.

  My mind is full of thoughts of my blond-haired lover as we land down in the depths of the Underworld. I expected a fight to be ensuing but not the scene I see before me. Apollo is laid bare on the floor while Ambrose strokes my lover’s dick.

  “No!” Fontus shouts toward them, and the anguish in his voice tells me this is what the principal did to him as well. My brown-haired lover forms energy balls in his hand and in fury launches them at the principal, but the
y are all deflected.

  “For fuck’s sake, I thought we had guards at the gates of Hell. Are they just letting anyone in now?” Pluto curses and makes his way toward one of the guards. It’s then I see my child in the man’s arms.

  Mars rushes for Pluto, the God of War having his own score to settle with the God of the Underworld, but my focus is purely on my baby.

  “Fontus, Diana, help Apollo,” I order, taking charge. Diana starts to argue with me, but when she sees me heading for my son, she shuts her mouth tightly and heads for Ambrose with Fontus.

  “Guards!” Pluto shouts.

  Mars transforms into his warrior state. A massive spear appears in his hand, and he charges at the God of the Underworld.

  “Did you not learn your lesson last time?” Mars roars.

  “Did you?” Pluto snarls back and swipes the God of War into a wall.

  Mars instantly comes back at Pluto, and I realize he’s distracting the God of the Underworld to prevent him disappearing with my child again. I take my opportunity and descend upon the guard holding my son. He tries to run, but I block his path, and he’s left stranded in the room.

  “Anyone ever told you not to get between a mother and her child? It’s a certain path to death,” I sneer.

  Two additional guards appear in front of him, and shots are fired directly at me. I sense the water of the river of pain nearby, which is just what I need. I call it forth and dispel the shots back at the guards as well as the water. It flows into their ears, nostrils, any orifice it can find, and I watch as the pain starts. Death stalks them with untold agony.

  A few moments later, the guards are dead, and the one behind them holds my son closer to his chest, more in fear than in menace.

  “Give him back,” I demand, leaving little leeway as to my intention.

  “Watch out!” Diana shouts from behind me, and I spin around in time to see Orcus heading for me with a sword drawn.

  “Get out of here,” he orders the guard, but I make it impossible for the man to move by using yet more water to anchor his feet to the ground.

  “He’s going nowhere,” I say through gritted teeth. A guttural growl of fury comes from deep within my stomach. I’m a woman possessed now. I’ve had enough. I want to be at home with Apollo, Fontus, and our sons. I’m done with this shit. You can only push me so far. I thought they’d hit those buttons already, but no, now I’m really pissed. Seriously pissed off and Orcus is going to experience the brunt of it.

  Summoning up a mixture of my water abilities and Apollo’s strength with arrows, I hit Orcus with as much power as I can muster. He staggers backward, his mouth open in shock. Hundreds of arrows stick out of his body, and water from the river of pain seeps into the holes. He starts screaming in agony before he shuts his eyes, and all his injuries disappear.

  “You aren’t the only one with magic, little princess,” he chuckles before calling forth black mists that swirl around my body, pulling tighter and tighter to restrict my breathing. I’m too strong and disintegrate them to nothing before they can reach my face and completely stop me breathing.

  “Yes, but as I said to those idiots lying on the floor, don’t get between a mother and her child. Your scheme with Pluto is at an end. It’s discovered and will be destroyed, no matter how much you try to hide the evidence. I will personally swim to every island and free every single woman and man you hold captive, and all who’ve been raped by you and Pluto. I’ll give them sanctuary and hope, not the magical lust that you seem to thrive on. But my greatest gift to them will be ensuring that you’ll never again be able to treat a woman the way you did me and the others.

  Orcus raises a skeptical eyebrow at me.

  “Confidence leads to a downfall.”

  I smirk.

  “Not in this case.”

  Before Orcus has a chance to act, I call forth the water again and have it travel up his legs. He tries to shake it away before magically trying to expel it from his body. My intentions are too strong though, and I wrap it around his dick, which is hanging loose in his pants.

  “Stop!” he shouts, but I have no intention of doing so. With a click of my fingers, the water pulls tightly, and like a shard of the sharpest glass, it severs his cock from his body.

  Orcus scream out in pain, and then in a flash, he disappears from the room.

  Turning back to the guard, I lick my lips. A new found appreciation for revenge courses through my body.

  “I believe you have something of mine, and I want it back.”

  The guard takes one look at me and then at Pluto, who’s in deep battle with Mars. The two of them are paying little attention to us as they trade blow after blow. I should want to destroy Pluto for what he’s done to me. I should be the one fighting him, but all I want is my child. The guy recognizes he’d be stupid to mess with me, and he shoots his arms out toward me with my son held in them.

  “T-Take him,” the man stutters. I step forward, and keeping my attention on both the man and the baby to prevent any last minute tricks, I take my other son into my arms for the first time. He’s the spitting image of Apollo: handsome with blond hair and blue eyes. My heart melts for a second time that day. The guard prepares to scamper from the room, but he’s involved in this plan, and I can’t let him get away. He may be a child of this project, but he’s too old to be changed back now, his mind has been broken by Pluto’s ploy to create an army. I’m kind and end his life with a quick twist of magic to his neck. He doesn’t need to suffer like Orcus is at this very moment.

  Nestling the baby into my chest, I smile down at him.

  “Time to get your daddies and go home.”

  "Careful now." Ambrose smirks. "You wouldn't want to hit your lover now, would you?"

  The energy ball I'm aiming at him in my palm wavers. Apollo is still on the floor locked in agony under the principal's influence. The thought of hurting him accidentally holds me back.

  "Just fucking do it, Fontus," the blond god snaps, his muscled body shuddering with his suffering. There's enough steel in his voice to make my uncertainty ebb.

  Ambrose kicks him in the ribs to silence him.

  I toss the energy ball at his white-haired head, but he raises his hand at the last moment and deflects it.

  “You’re no match for me alone, demigod,” Ambrose boasts with a sneer.

  “Who said anything about him being alone?” Diana steps up beside me, letting loose some arrows from her crossbow. Agile and swift, the principal moves his body in a blur, managing to dodge all but one of her deadly arrows. The one that found its target has buried itself in his shoulder. A hiss of pain escapes from his lips.

  It's enough of a distraction for Apollo to break free. Rolling away from Ambrose, he sends an energy ball crashing into the principal’s back. His slender frame is thrown across the room to crash into the wall with a crack.

  “Put your junk away,” Diana snaps at her brother, her eyes looking anywhere but his dick.

  Snatching up his shorts, he quickly stabs his legs through the holes. “It’s not like I had a choice. I was being molested for my sperm!”

  Nausea burns in my throat at the knowledge. The same treatment I’d suffered at Ambrose’s hands sends echoes of disgust roiling through me. I want to punish him for what he’s done. Make him feel as helpless as I’d felt when he’d been forcing me to orgasm with his bony hand.

  “Easy, Fontus,” Apollo tells me, gently reaching my side and squeezing my shoulder. “He’ll pay for all his crimes. I promise.”

  I can see Diana to the left of us, engaging with enemy reinforcements. We’re still knee deep in the underbelly of Hell, and I know eventually even we will be overrun by Pluto’s forces. We need to leave. Get out before the God of the Underworld overpowers us and has us all at his mercy.

  “Watch out!”

  Diana’s warning comes just in time. Pushing Apollo aside, the spear meant for his back meets empty air instead. Baring his teeth, his gaze wild, Ambrose thrusts the weapon tow
ard me this time, Diana’s arrow is still buried deep in his shoulder. Leaping backward, the razor edged tip slices through my skin, leaving a crimson line in its wake.

  My blond lover bellows in anger. Charging the slender male, Apollo ploughs his shoulder into Ambrose’s chest. The force is enough to take the principal off his feet and have him landing on his ass. The spear flies out of his grip.

  “Not so much fun when those your picking on have their powers,” Apollo snarls at the white-haired male. When Ambrose goes to raise his hand, Apollo smashes it into the wall, preventing him from using his powers to inflict pain.

  The sickening sound of bones shattering gives me a sliver of satisfaction. After all the misery and torture he’s dished out over god-knows-how-long, he deserves to feel it returned to him tenfold.

  Ambrose glowers. “You think you’ve won, but this is nothing but a battle. The war is far from over. We have islands in places not even you will find. You’ve barely scratched the surface of our setup. It’s been running for centuries right under your ignorant noses.”

  Scooping up the weapon he’s dropped, I aim the deadly pointed end at his face. “We found one, so there’s nothing stopping us from finding the others. You won’t be around to see the end result, but know this, everything you have created will come to nothing but ruin.”

  “Don’t.” Apollo clutches my wrist, preventing me from ending the vile creature. “He could be useful to us. We could interrogate him for the locations we need.”

  The spear wavers in my grip. A need for vengeance crashes through me, but Apollo’s words stop me from killing the monster still slumped on the floor. Across the room, I see Eva protectively cradling the child we’ve come for as she watches us in silence.

  Although everything in me wants to kill Ambrose, I know it can’t end this way. Apollo is right. The information we can torture out of him is far too valuable. Innocent lives are at stake. It’s our duty to find them and bring them home safely.