Evans, Gabrielle - Upon Crimson Waters [Fatefully Yours 2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove)

Fatefully Yours 2

GABRIELLE EVANS

Copyright © 2011

Chapter One

They gathered in a large circle, each watching the Oracle intently.

Casting a look about the group, Eyce met each man’s eyes, holding their gaze for just a moment before moving on to the next.

“The gates of Tartarus will burst open wide, releasing its evil upon the world,” the Oracle began, speaking in her robotic monotone. “Those who have escaped the flames must stand together and fight, or return to the bowels of whence they crawled.”

This didn’t feel like the other dreams. Eyce could feel the heat surrounding him from the wall of fire that rose up on all sides. The Oracle’s voice rang through the night, but everything seemed fuzzy around the edges—more like a memory than a dream.

“Each gift must be united, sealed together in eternal bond.”

This was the part where Eyce usually became annoyed. He understood the Oracle was this mystical being, but if they were in so much danger, why couldn’t she just tell it to him straight? The dreams were obviously meant to be a warning, preparing them for things to come. Didn’t do a lot of good if they couldn’t understand what the hell she was talking about, though.

Blocking out the Oracle’s words, Eyce took a deep breath and almost choked it back out when the stench of death and decay filled his nose. Snapping his head one way and then the other, he looked for the source of the foul odor. All he could see, though, was the Oracle, his lovers, and the wall of flames surrounding them.

The smell grew stronger, causing his stomach to roll as he fought not to gag. He couldn’t even concentrate on what the Oracle was saying. Casting glances around the other men gathered in the circle, he noticed they all stared straight ahead with blank expressions on their faces. How were they not affected by the horrible smell?

“Nurture and protect your sacred bond with your very lives.”

Then the Oracle lifted her head and turned slowly to pierce Eyce with her gaze. Suddenly, everything became clear, and he gasped, knowing the words she would speak before they flowed from her lips.

“The heart is coming with whispered echoes. Seek its shelter and win your struggle.”

* * * *

Eyce came awake with a gasp, pushing to a sitting position and scrubbing his hands over his face. His heart thundered inside his chest, and he panted for breath, his body cold and shuddering. What the hell was wrong with him? It wasn’t as though that had been the first time the Oracle had slipped into his dreams.

A small hand glided over his thigh and patted lightly. Trying to pull himself together, Eyce looked down at Echo and did his best imitation of a smile. “Sorry I woke you, baby. Go back to sleep.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Echo wiggled closer, resting his blond head in Eyce’s lap. “I’m not so tired,” he slurred around a huge yawn.

Eyce gave him a genuine smile this time as he brushed the hair back from his mate’s face. “Let’s wait until the others wake up. We’ll have a meeting, and I’ll tell you everything then.”

“M’kay,” Echo mumbled, closing his eyes and drifting back to sleep almost immediately.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Syx moved closer to Eyce’s other side, curling around him and stroking his stomach as he rested his head on Eyce’s hip. “We’re all in this together.”

“I’ll tell everyone in the morning.” Eyce smoothed his knuckles down Syx’s cheek. “Go back to sleep.”

“You look like shit.” Syx pushed up to sit beside him, nudging him with his shoulder. “You’re pale and shaking, and you’re breathing like you just ran a mile. Spill it.”

“Nothing. It was just a dream. That’s all.”

“Look, I’m not really in the mood to play this game with you right now. It was more than a dream, or you wouldn’t be so upset.” He wrapped an arm around Eyce’s waist and kissed the side of his neck. “You can tell, or I can just look for myself.”

Eyce rested his head against Syx’s and sighed in resignation. With the warrior’s ability to see inside his head, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hide. “It was the Oracle. The same dream we all had a few weeks ago, but…different. Everyone was there, but not there. Am I making any sense?”

“Not in the least.” Syx chuckled and kissed Eyce’s temple. “How about you start over?”

“It was the dream about the prophecy. We were all there, except Echo. There was this awful smell—like something rotting. I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, though.” Eyce took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he continued. “It was like I was the only one who could smell it. Everyone else just looked like they were in some kind of trance.”

“Then what happened?”

“That’s about it. Just before the Oracle finished the prophecy, I realized that I was having kind of a re-dreaming. I knew what she was going to say before she spoke. She told me the heart was coming, but she said something else after that.”

Syx rubbed his palm over Eyce’s bicep when he began to shudder. “What did she say?”

“She told me that the heart would be my shelter. Something about me needing it to win my struggle.”

“Your struggle?” Syx stopped rubbing his arm and leaned away to look in his eyes. “Just you?”

“That’s what she said.” Eyce pushed a hand through his shoulder-length black hair and sighed. “I don’t know what it means.”

“She told you to seek the heart or seek shelter?”

“Both, I guess. She said to seek the heart’s shelter.”

“Well, we know Echo is our heart—the one that binds us together.” Syx looked down at the little man sleeping beside them.

Eyce followed his gaze, and a soft smile spread over his lips. Only six weeks since Echo had practically landed in their laps, and he already couldn’t picture his life without him. Reaching out slowly, he combed his fingers through Echo’s golden-blond hair, loving the feel of the silky strands sliding over his hand. “I know,” Eyce whispered. “Look at him, though. What shelter is he going to offer? He’s so…fragile.”

Syx snorted and elbowed him in the ribs. “Don’t let him hear you say that.”

“He’s kind of beautiful, huh?” Eyce ignored Syx’s jab as he continued to study their mate’s sleeping face. “I mean, he’s prettier than most women I’ve met.”

“Dude, you better hope he’s sleeping.”

“I’m not.” Echo’s eyelids fluttered open, revealing his deep blue eyes, framed by impossibly long lashes. “I’m okay with being beautiful. Keep going.” Then he smiled impishly and closed his eyes again.

“So modest,” Syx mumbled under his breath, but Eyce could hear the humor in his voice. Echo just pulled that kind of response from all of them. They couldn’t help but be enamored by his charm. Even if he was a brat more times than not.

“Go back to sleep,” Echo mumbled. “You’re making my head hurt with all this prophecy crap. I don’t want to think right now.”

Eyce agreed. Exhausted didn’t begin to describe how he felt. They would talk to the others when the sun came up, and hopefully someone would have an idea of what his dream meant.

Scooting down in the bed, he maneuvered his arm under Echo’s neck and pulled him close. Syx inched down as well, curling himself around Eyce’s other side and reaching over him to rest his hand on Echo’s hips.

Surrounded by the warmth of his lovers, Eyce sighed in contentment, closed his eyes, and waited for sleep to claim him.

* * * *

Shuffling into the kitchen with only a pair of boxers on, Eyce scrubbed the sleep from his eyes with the back of his knuckles. Syx plodded behind him, pressing close enough for Eyce to feel the warmth of his bare chest.

“Where’s Echo?” Hex asked from near the counter as he poured a cup of coffee.

Eyce’s eyes raked over their leader, taking in his bare chest and tanned skin stretched over flexing muscles. His dick twitched in interest, but he pushed away his desire. It was damn hard living in a house with seven gorgeous men and not feeling the need to be naked and moaning all the time.

“Good morning to you, too, asshole,” he mumbled instead, but he couldn’t stop the slow grin that spread over his face. He knew Hex hadn’t meant it the way it sounded, but he just had to rib the guy a little.

Hex looked properly chastised, and his cheeks flushed adorably. Eyce would never say it out loud, but the huge demon’s tendency to blush was one of the things he found most appealing about the man. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Eyce chuckled as he moved over to the table and plopped down in a chair next to Myst. Looking around the table, he eyed his men, curious to see if any of them had shared a dream similar to his. Though Syx said he hadn’t dreamed last night, that didn’t mean that no one had. Well, at least he hoped not. He didn’t like the idea of the Oracle speaking directly to him. It kind of made him feel like a kid who’d been called to the principal’s office.

None of the warriors seemed upset or even thoughtful, though. Eyce sighed, leaning back in his chair and dipping his head in thanks as Hex sat a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. “Thanks, man. I needed this.” He lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip, groaning in appreciation that Hex had made it just the way he liked it.

“What happened?” Hex settled into his seat across the table from him with a frown. “You look like shit.”

“Gods, you’re such a charmer.” Eyce couldn’t quite muster a smile this time, though. He kept replaying the Oracles words over and over in head, trying desperately to figure out their meaning.

“Just tell them,” Syx encouraged as he sat beside Hex and reached across the table to take Eyce’s hand. “We can help.”

“Help with what?” Onyx strolled into the kitchen with Fiero right behind him. His hair was tousled, his lips swollen, and he moved gingerly as he walked to the counter to pull down two more mugs for coffee.

Eyce smirked as Fiero took a chair at the end of the table, looking and moving much the same as Onyx. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what the men had been up to before joining them in the kitchen.

“Where’s Vapre?” Eyce scanned the table, and even checked over his shoulder, searching the doorway, but he didn’t see the other warrior.

“He went into town to get some supplies,” Myst answered around a mouthful of toast. “Supposed to be a big storm coming in tonight.”

“He went alone?” Eyce felt his brow furrow, and he shook his head. They never went anywhere alone if they could help it. For over two thousand years, they’d been watching each other’s backs and looking over their shoulders, waiting for the day Hades would rise from the Underworld to reclaim his creations. It didn’t make sense that the demon would venture out without backup.

“He was gone when we woke up.” Hex shrugged, seemingly unconcerned, but Eyce saw the tick in his jaw as he spoke—heard the tightness in his voice. “He left a note.”

“Vapre’s gone?” asked a frightened voice from the kitchen threshold.

They all turned as one, and Eyce smiled as he watched Echo enter the kitchen. He looked worried, his bottom lip sucked in between his teeth and his eyes darted around the room as though to confirm Hex’s words. “Is he…Is he coming back? Did I do something wrong?”

Before Eyce had even fully registered their mate’s distress, Myst was out of his seat and lifting Echo into his arms, petting and stroking him as he whispered into his hair. “He just went into town, baby. You didn’t do anything wrong, and he’ll be back soon.”

Moving to stand from the seats as a unit, they all converged on Myst and Echo, touching and soothing their mate as he continued to cling to Myst’s neck, burying his face against the demon’s throat.