Ares (17 page)

Lifting his head slowly, Ares groaned. He had one fucking hell of a nasty headache. He tried to recall just why he had the headache but didn’t come up with anything to deserve it. He remembered going to dinner with Ava. They’d gone for a walk before going back to the house to sit in the hot tub. She’d gone in the house to go to bed while he shut off the tub and locked up. Then, nothing.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” a male voice said, sounding way too chipper and happy for Ares’s pounding temples. “I didn’t think it would work. Well, I did hope but I honestly had no idea if it would. This is so exciting, who would have thought I’d actually get one of the Olympians.”

Ares eyes shot open and he looked around. The first thing he noticed was the little weaseling man standing before him, tan slacks, brown shirt and little round glasses. The second thing he noticed was the little shit had Ava’s book in his hands. The third, and likely most important thing he noticed, he was strung up from the ceiling, from his wrists, in a pair of cuffs that were of the Gods making. He was so fucking screwed, especially since he knew without the key, or a Titan, he wasn’t getting out of them.

“Now, I know you probably are a little upset and likely have a bit of a headache. The headache I didn’t learn about until after I cast the spell, sorry, but I do have some aspirin for you and water. It will die down in time. The anger, well, you’ll just have to get over it, eventually. I know, you’re a God, you will outlive me, blah, blah, blah, but really, if you ever want to go home again, you will do what I want or I’ll just leave you here, where no one will ever find you.”

Ares cracked a smile that he knew had made legions of soldiers piss their pants. “Little man, when my woman gets here, you are in for a world of fucking hurt. You really should have picked another one. My uncle is going to love having you to toy with for the rest of time.”

“See, really,” the little man shook his head. Pushing up his glasses he let out a breath. “I think I’ll just give you a little time to think about your situation and you’ll see that if you do what I want of you then you can go home. It’s really that simple,” he said. Then he left the room.

Looking around Ares cursed under his breath. “Come on, baby, go get Dion and have him get the uncle.” Over and over he muttered it praying that Ava remembered what he’d told her and did exactly as he’d instructed.

*****

Ava all but felt it when Ares was taken from her. She grabbed the pendant and first began to scream for him, demanding he come, in panic. Dressing quickly, she next began to call for Dion. “Come on, come on. Dion, for fuck's sakes get your ass here, please,” she begged with tears flowing down her face even as she stepped into her shoes.

“For the love of all the Gods,” Dionysus thundered as he appeared before her. He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut. His expression went from pissed to concern so fast she almost felt like she’d gotten whiplash. “Ava? What’s going on?” he asked looking around. “Sweetheart, why are you crying and how the hell did you summon me?”

“Ares. He’s been taken.” She moved to Dion and put her hand out. “My family guards the books of the Gods. The book I was tasked with guarding was his. In the books there are spells to summon and tame the gods. It’s not a good situation. Ares was going to put it in his safe so it couldn’t be touched, but it had been already taken and now he’s gone. We have to get to your uncle?” She was not making a hell of a lot of sense. “Gods, they have him and it’s because of me,” she sobbed out again. “And whoever it is,” she paused, “I’m fucking killing them, period.” This was why she had guns and knives on her body now.

“Uh, okay,” he was looking at her like she’d gone off her rocker. She felt like it right then. With Ares gone she felt like she was missing a vital piece of herself. Dion stepped closer and put a light hand on her cheek, his eyes drifting shut. She could see his lids flickering, his eyes moving back and forth rapidly as he read her. Then his eyes snapped open, “Holy shit. Alright, alright,” he nodded and paced away from her. He stopped, closed his eyes again, tipped his head and didn’t move. Just as she went to ask what he was doing he held up a finger. A couple minutes later he looked at her. “Hades will see us. Whatever you do, say nothing, touch nothing and do not, under any circumstances, touch him without invitation. He is the keeper of Hell for a reason. He is one scary motherfucker.” Dion held out a hand to her and waited, “We have a ten minute window, let’s go.”

Ava nodded and wiped her eyes, the mascara smearing but she didn’t give a shit. “All right, let’s go and see him please. If he can save Ares I don’t care who he is. I just want my soul mate back and I want him back now,” she demanded fiercely. Damn her, why did she have to let that book go for one damn minute?

“I know,” he said softly. Taking her hand in his, he pulled her close. “Close your eyes, take a breath and we’ll be there.” He was rubbing a hand up and down her back. As soon as she did as he asked she felt the change in air pressure. “Uncle,” Dion said at her side. “Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”

“You said this was important. What is it?” the rumbling voice straight from the bowels of Hell asked. Out of the shadows stepped a large male, tall, dressed in black, dark hair, dark eyes and looking like he’d rather kill you than let you breathe in his space.

“Ares has been taken. One of the books was stolen from its keeper, Ares book to be specific. We don’t know where he is or who has him but Ava couldn’t go to him with the medallion he gave her so he’s being blocked. You’re the only person Ares trusted to find him if this happened.”

“He should have warded better,” was the growled reply.

“He thought he had, uncle. Ava’s memories clearly show he thought he’d done enough in regards to the book. We need your assistance in this, please.”

One of the dark brows went up slightly. “You know how this works, nephew. Are you asking for a favor?”

Dionysus threw her a long look and then nodded. “I am, uncle.”

The chuckle that came from the mammoth male sounded like an avalanche. “Well done, Dion, well done.” He moved closer to them and stared down into her eyes. Ava couldn’t look away, all she could do was stare at him, unblinking as she fell deeper and deeper into his gaze. Then he blinked and she stumbled, would have fallen if Dion hadn’t caught her. “Stay here a moment,” he ordered and then vanished.

“That went a hell of a lot better than I’d hoped,” Dionysus muttered. “Are you okay? That whole Titan mindreading thing of his is intense, trust me, been there, done that shit.”

“Yeah, yeah I’m okay.” She gulped, literally. “Holy smokes that man is massive.” However, she knew she was losing it with this thought,
she felt intensely sad for the man
.
She felt as weird as it was, she felt intense loneliness from him which broke her heart. “He will get Ares back for me, right?”

“He hasn’t left to find Ares yet. He went down into the bowels of this place to search for him. I don’t know exactly how he does it but something, and no I don’t know what, down there helps to focus him so he can literally scan the entire globe. When he finds Ares he’ll be back for us and then we’ll go get your man.”

“Found him,” the deep voice behind her made her scream. “Really female?” She heard a snort before a large, tanned hand landed on her shoulder. “Suck it up and deal, woman.” A moment later they were in some sort of warehouse building. “He’s here,” Hades said moving around them both. He tipped his head to the side slightly and then spun toward his left. He began to stalk across the concrete.

“Come on,” Dion snagged her arm and jogged after the long legged strides of the other man.

Hades held up a hand, making them both come to a stop. The air started to feel charged, like a lightning strike about to happen, only warmer and yet freezing all at the same time. One of his, holy shit look at the size of those feet, big boots connected with a door. It tore right off the hinges and flew into the room beyond slamming into the opposite wall and turning into kindling.

Ducking his head, Hades stepped into the space. “Ares, boy, when will you learn?”

A chuckle she recognized came from the space, “Hello to you too, uncle.” A rattle of chains could be heard, “Care to let me down so I can pummel the little shit who strung me up?”

“As long as he holds the book you’re not going anywhere. So you may as well relax while I locate him.”

“Hey, seriously, not cool here, Hades,” Ares bitched. A pause and then, “Ava? You brought Ava with you?” he sounded pissed.

“She seems to have a vested interest in a certain part of your anatomy so yes, I brought her along. Besides, she’s actually a bit amusing.” Hades turned to give her a look. “You should come and keep him occupied while Dionysus and I find this human and get the book back for you.”

“Or Dion can keep him company and I can come with you so I can kill whoever dared to touch a hair on my man’s head,” Ava growled. “I don’t give a shit who they are, they’re dead.” She pulled her gun and shrugged at the looks. “Hey, you are all Gods, whoever is handling the book is human or the spells wouldn’t work. I’m killing the little fucker.”

“Ava love, you don’t want to do that, sweetheart,” Ares tried.

“Actually,” Hades was watching her closely, too closely. “I think she does and honestly, I can’t really blame her but then, she doesn’t truly understand the ramifications of the act just yet.” He walked toward her slowly.

Ares thrashed from the chains, “Hades, don’t, please don’t!”

“She’ll be fine, Ares,” the large man said as he loomed over her. His hand came up and took the gun from her suddenly nerveless fingers. Then he put a finger from his free hand to her forehead. “Each decision you make has resounding consequences, Ava. Are you ready to face the consequences should you kill this man?” he asked.

The next moment her head spun out of control. She saw herself shooting a human male, feeling triumphant and pleased. Events began to spin through her head. A wedding, children, and eventually death from a source she couldn’t identify, but no peaceful rest for her. She found herself locked in a cell, ten by ten, and the screams from around her let her know just where she was. Hades realm, Hell. “One act chosen unwisely can forever damn a soul,” the large God told her dropping his hand. As her eyes cleared she saw him holding the gun out toward her, in the flat of his palm. “Choose wisely, Ava Von Maur.”

Ava swallowed hard and pulled back. She was gasping for air and nodded. Tears flowing down her cheeks she whispered, “I never want to leave Ares alone. If it means I don’t get the satisfaction of killing the asshole that took my love, then so be it. Just promise me he will pay dearly for hurting my Ares?”

“He will pay, you have my word on that,” Hades said. The gun vanished from his hand. “Stay with Ares while we find him, Ava. We won’t be long,” he promised. “Coming, nephew?” he asked before he turned and headed out the door.

“Holy shit,” Dionysus looked like he’d shit his pants. “Coming, uncle,” he called out and then raced out of the room on his uncle's heels.

“Ava, baby, look at me damn it,” Ares demanded of her.

Ava looked at him and then moved closer. “I let you down and it hurts. It’s killing me to see you strung up like you are,” she whispered. “I hate that you are hurt, it’s all my fault.” She swallowed, hard. “If only I had put the damn book away immediately.” She hated herself right now, so much.

“Shh, baby,” he whispered. Lifting a leg, he wrapped it around her waist and tugged her in closer. “Hades will let me down when he comes back with the little shit. I warned the fucker he’d regret coming after me. Told him I’d sic my big, bad uncle on him. He didn’t listen, he didn’t believe, but he will. A few thousand years in the Pits will make anyone a believer.” Dropping his leg, he leaned his head down more. “What did he show you, love?”

“That if I went after him I would one day die and be in a cell in the Pits. I can’t do that. I refuse to give up even a second of time with you.” She wrapped her arms around him and held onto him. “Are you okay? I wish I could let you down. That can’t be comfortable. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not comfortable but I’ll survive,” he told her. He pressed his lips to her hair, “I have you here and that’s all that matters. I could dangle here for a few more hours if needed as long as you stay close. How’d you get Hades to agree to assist so quickly?” he asked softly.

“Dion offered something in return. I have no idea what,” she shrugged. “Honestly it’s kind of a blur to me. So you might have to look into my memory and see why he agreed so quickly, but really shouldn't he? He is your uncle after all. Doesn’t family mean something?”

“Yeah, but he’s a Titan and not really the most liked in the family. There are some, not us obviously, but there are some amongst the Olympians that would rather he just stay in Hell and out of the way. Until of course they want something. Nothing pisses him off more than someone just waltzing into his territory and demanding his help. I doubt he’ll ever collect from Dionysus, or if he does it’ll be something small and stupid, but such dealings are standard in my world.”

“Well that’s just sucky. No one should ever be treated like that. Yes, he made me want to wet myself, but holy crap he’s freaking huge,” she said with the shake of her head.

“Is she always this impatient?” Hades voice from behind her made her jump.

Ares grinned down at her, “Yeah, pretty much. Part of the reason I love her.”

A snort sounded right behind her. “You may want to move, little human. Preferably out of the room so the percussive wave that’s about to occur doesn’t flatten you. He will be fine but you likely wouldn’t, so go now.”

Ava looked up at Ares and when he nodded she moved away from him. Looking to Hades, she said, “Thank you for doing this, for going out of your way for us like this.” She then shocked them all by giving the Titan a fast hug before high tailing it out of the room as ordered.

Dion was waiting outside the room with a man hog-tied and gagged on the floor. A man who was squirming, shrieking behind the gag and just plain looking frantic. “I take it Hades is letting Ares down?” he asked her. As she nodded she felt a buildup of power, then the very air around them seemed to be sucked away before rushing past them all.

Ava stumbled, bumping into Dion as she did. “Sorry,” she whispered to him and nodded. “I think I might have shocked your uncle a little,” she confessed quietly. “I gave him a hug on the way out the door," she whispered and looked down at the man. “I want to kick you so badly, to hurt you, but I’m going to let Hades take care of you. I would say I feel sorry for you, but I don’t. You took my lover, my soul mate and you deserve anything you get, asshat.”

“He’s a cousin of yours,” Dion said, no expression, just watchful of her.

“He’s what?” Ares’s voice sounded from behind her. Spinning, she raced to him and jumped into his arms. He caught her of course, holding her tight and kissing her gently. Unlike when he’d been dangling in his swim trunks, he was now dressed in old jeans and a t-shirt.

“He’s her cousin, about four times removed as best as Hades and I could figure,” Dion said.

“It’s true,” the hulking Titan added, moving past where she and Ares were holding each other tightly.

“Well wonderful,” she muttered and looked down at the man. Shaking her head, she sighed. “You are a disgrace. That you are related to me just completely blows my mind. I hope you enjoyed your life because it ends, now.” She looked to Hades and bowed her head. “Thank you for saving Ares, and I hope you make him pay dearly for taking him from me.”

“Oh, he will pay.” He turned to look at her and walked a little closer. Looking down at her, he touched her cheek lightly. “I like you, bring her around some time, Ares, open invite.” He stepped back, grabbed the man under an arm, hauling him up, and disappeared.

When she looked, both Ares and Dion were standing there, mouths open, looking stunned.

Ava smiled, “I like your uncle.” She squeezed Ares’s arm and looked up at him, and then Dion. Her smile turned into a frown and she asked, “All right, what’s up? What did I do? Did I just break some rule or something?” Maybe she shouldn’t have hugged the big scary Titan, but she hadn’t been able to keep herself in check, gosh blessed it.

Ares blinked and snapped his mouth shut as he shook his head. “No, but an invitation from Hades is like. It’s like. Fuck, Dion, help me out here.”

“Fucking end of the world shit right there. She broke him, how the hell?” Dionysus moved toward her. Leaning in, he squinted at her, “What did you do to him?”

“We’re his family and we still have to request permission to enter his turf, but you, baby, you managed to get him to relax his rules. He just gave us free passage. In his world, that’s apocalyptic shit.”

Ave flushed colors and shrugged, “I just hugged him and thanked him. Have you guys ever thanked him for saving your asses? Ares, I didn’t hear you telling him thanks, did you do it in the other room? It’s the small things that mean so much. You can’t take your family for granted at all. It pushes them away. Trust me.” She was right there with hers. She didn’t want anything to do with her family because of the assumptions they made.

“Of course I thanked him. He can rip out my guts with a flick of his wrist if he feels like it. One doesn’t ever not thank a Titan, Ava. Besides, he is my uncle,” he grinned. Kissing her again, he squeezed her close. “I think we should go home, love. Thank you for helping her get to Hades, Dion, and for being here.”

“Always willing to assist, bro,” Dionysus said. “I’ll see you two later,” he added and then vanished.

Ava looked up to Ares and touched his face. “You are hurt.” She didn’t like that, at all. “Now, can we take that damn book and bury it in your shielded safe so no other soul will ever find it again?” She would do anything to keep him safe.

“Yes, yes we can. I’ll heal in a few minutes. He had me trapped so my God abilities were useless. Soon you won’t even notice anything is wrong.” Pressing a kiss to her lips, he let her down to her feet. “Grab the book, love, and let’s get the hell out of here.”

She grabbed the book and moved back to him. Wrapping her arms around him, she buried her face against his chest and breathed him in. “Take us home. Olympus, so you can heal and we can put this damn book under lock and key and shields and everything you can think of, please?”

Squeezing her close, he rubbed a hand over her back. “Yes, love,” he said softly. A moment later the scent in the air changed and she knew they were on Olympus. “Come, we’ll go put it somewhere safe so we both know it’s tucked out of sight.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ava moved closely at his side, her hand never leaving his as they moved. “You do know that I’m going to all but attach myself to you from here on out, right? And you need to do whatever warding is necessary so you are never, ever taken from me again.”

“Without the book no one can pull me away against my will. With it locked away here, protected here, no one will get near it again.” Squeezing her hand, he led her into the bedroom and to a spot on the floor. He knelt, pressing his palm to a blank spot. A moment later a chunk of the floor slid out of sight. Reaching into the hole, he pressed his hand to the scanner on the safe and then punched in a code on the keypad. Pulling the door open, he looked to her since she still held the book clutched to her chest.

Passing him the book, she whispered, “You are sure?” She had to be sure. She couldn’t do this again. Gods, she nearly lost him. When he nodded and resealed the safe she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. “Never again, Ares. I can't go through that again. I can’t lose you, not when I’ve just found you. Promise me never again.”

“Never, love,” he whispered against her hair. He was rocking her in his arms, stroking her hair slowly. “Hades gave me something else while you were out of the room.” He pulled back to show her what he had in his hand. “I don’t know where he got it, but he said he knew we’d need it. It’s the only way for you to be immortal and with me for eternity. If you want to do it that is. It’s a bit hard on the system apparently and you’ll likely feel like you’re being torn in half if you go through with it, but I don’t ever want to lose you, Ava, not in sixty years, not in a thousand. I need an eternity and whatever comes after.”

“I don’t care how hard it is on the system. I want to do it,” she said quickly. “Whatever it takes, I will do it because nothing less than eternity and beyond will be enough for me. I need forever with you. We’ll do it because you and I both need each other for the rest of forever.”

He stared into her eyes for a long, long time before nodding. “Alright, a couple things you apparently need to be aware of, and I only know this because apparently, Hades has a woman whom he’s planning on marrying. Don’t ask,” he shook his head, looking stunned. “He just said he’d been through it with his female. You will feel the urge to throw up, you can’t. He said a hot bath with me helping to keep you calm is the best way to get through that period as well as some juice and relaxation. After that you will want to sleep and you should, as long as you need to. From there we play it by ear on what you can eat immediately after until you’re back to your old self. He warned me that it does a number on the internal system since it is basically pushing out crap and settling. You will be immortal within a couple of days, fully and completely. No abilities or anything, but only a Gods weapon can harm or kill you.”

“But we will be together until the end of time, right? That’s the important part. I don’t need power. I don’t need abilities. I need you forever. A moment short of that is not long enough so whatever it takes we will do it.” Hesitating she added, “And I really don’t do puking well at all so let's please, please not let me do that?”

“I’ll make the juice he recommended and then we can decide when to begin this. Do you want to do it now? Before we go any further?” he asked softly. He lifted a hand and stroked back her hair lightly. “The choice is yours, but if you’d like to proceed you should likely go and run a hot bath. As hot as you can stand and add a scent you find soothing, relaxing and not nauseating.”

“Then no scent at all because I don’t want to take a chance at something making me ill,” Ava said with a smile. “And yes, now please. I want to do this now if you think that you’re up for it. Then we can have the rest of forever together. Please.”

“Understandable, love,” he pressed a kiss to her lips. “Go and start the bath. I’ll bring in the juice and then you can drink this.” He shook the little vial in his hand. “I should be about three minutes and then we can get this started.”

“Fair enough, I trust you,” she said with a smile. “We will do this and then you are stuck with me forever.” Leaning in, she kissed him, “Not a word back on that one. Just tell me that you love me and you are happy to have me with you. That’s it.”

He cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes for a time. “I love you, Ava Von Maur. I’m ecstatic to have you with me. I can’t wait to spend the rest of time with you at my side. I’ve always been missing a piece of myself and when we met, I found it in you.” Leaning in, he kissed her back, again. “Go and ready the bath, my little goddess.”

“That’s good because you are mine forever as well, my most amazing God.” She touched his cheek and left him standing there so she could get their bath started. When it was as full as it would go without spilling over Ava stripped and stepped into the bath. Leaning back she sighed, waiting on Ares to come to her.

“You started without me?” he asked, with laughter in his voice. “Unfair,” he teased her. Crouching by the tub, he held out the vial. “Throw that down, fast, like the nastiest shot of your life. Then you’re going to drink this,” he handed her a bottle of water. “After that you’ll start to sip on the juice. Don’t gulp it, you’ll want and need it for a while according to Hades.”

“Sounds good,” she took the vial he handed her, lifted it as if in a toast, and sighed. “I love you,” she whispered only a half a second before she tossed the liquid down and nearly gagged before catching herself in time. “Water,” she demanded and swallowed several times.

He handed it to her quickly, cap already off. “Drink it slowly so it rinses all the residue down. You don’t want to make yourself ill from it,” he said quietly. As she drank from the chilled bottle he moved away and stripped down. Then he collected the glass of juice, “Sit forward, love.”

She moved forward in the tub and taking a deep breath, she felt him sliding in behind her. She gladly turned slightly so she could lean against him. Closing her eyes, she held the bottle of water and took slow sips from it before sighing. Eyes closed she whispered, “That stuff was horrible, absolutely terrible. Someone seriously needs to work on making it taste better.”

His chuckle was a low rumble under her ear. “Yeah, apparently someone else had something similar to say about it, but if it works, who the fuck cares how it tastes, love. Here,” he took the nearly empty water. Reaching over the side of the tub, he came back with the glass. “Drink this, little sips. It should remove the rest of the taste from your mouth. Save most though for when your stomach starts to do a nosedive.”

“Sounds good.” Well it didn’t sound good. She really hoped her stomach didn’t take a nosedive. She prayed she would get through all of this without being ill. “If I get sick, it undoes everything we just did, doesn’t it?” she asked and shivered just a bit. “Will you turn up the heat in here and turn on the jets of the tub, please?” She knew he would be able to do it without even moving, which was a bonus for her.

The jets kicked on and the room began to warm slightly, just as the door shut to trap the heat in. “It does and the Gods only know what state you’d be left in. The entire elixir has to absorb into your body.” Ares put a hand on her belly, “I’ll help keep your stomach as settled as I can.”

“Thank you.” She didn’t get sick easily, which was a bonus, but when she did get sick it was like a tsunami of insurmountable proportions. Ava then told him what she had been thinking. Even if he had heard her thoughts she put it forward vocally as well and simply rested against him, her head on his shoulder, cheek to his chest and legs up and over his. Cradled in his arms, she let the heat of the room, the jets and his body comfort her and soothe her unease and discomfort.

He stroked his hand up and down her arm slowly. “Shh,” he said softly to her. “It’ll be alright, darling. Just focus on your breathing, in and out nice and slow and me. I have you. You’ll be just fine, Ava. We’ll get through this together.”

“I know we will. We can do anything as long as we do it as a team, right?” she asked softly and sighed. “We can do this. Somehow and someway we will get me through this. The best part, I really don’t get sick easily, the worst part, when I do it’s of epic sized proportions.” Snuggling closer to him though, she sighed, closed her eyes, and weirdly enough...drifted off to sleep.