Legacy of Olympus (In the Gods' Secret Service) (16 page)

Jules grew paler, if that were possible. “If Mallaki’s as bad as all this, we have to stop him. There’s no time to waste.”

Alec scrutinized each of them as they nodded in agreement. Eleni’s well being depended on them. They all had to be fully committed. “No one’s forcing you to help us.”

“Stephanos is.” Quinn’s lips turned upward into a brief smirk.

At hearing his name, Stephanos turned from his side conversation with Adrian and raised a brow.

“I was just telling your weatherman how you’d kick my ass if I refused to accompany you.” Quinn crossed his meaty arms in front of his chest, flexing his inordinately large biceps on purpose.

“Hell yeah.”

Laughter bulleted around the small room at the American slang spoken with a heavy Greek accent.

Once everyone quieted, Alec’s thoughts wandered. Who would win such a competition, Quinn or Stephanos? Alec suspected Quinn would respond with brawn, Stephanos with brains. With those combined qualities, they made a good pair. Add a slim Amazon, a pit bull of a warrior, and the invisible man into the mix and they had one helluva team.

Alec surveyed the group as they huddled up like a football team awaiting the next play. He gritted his teeth. They’d arrived at this marina hours ago, and it felt like they were getting nowhere. The sun hung low in the sky, and thunderheads formed on the horizon. Late afternoon showers weren’t too far away.

Tension crept along his temples, then settled north of there, tightening his scalp muscles, making his eyes hurt as he tried to study Stephanos’s ship
The
Argon
. They had to get moving. He stepped closer to the others.

“I tell you, the weakest point of entry into Mallaki’s estate is by water.” Stephanos strode to the front of
The Argon
and ran a loving hand down the teakwood bow of his vessel.

“Why attack by sea?” Adrian made a face. “I mean, if he’s a descendant of Poseidon, isn’t that a little foolish?”

“Our intel tells us he’s got men posted at all the mainland entrances. The ocean is our best hope.” Stephanos met each of their eyes in turn. “Don’t forget we have a pretty formidable team ourselves. With Alec going as Mallaki’s guest, we have the element of surprise.”

“But...”

Alec couldn’t hear Quinn’s retort.

Adara shook her head, walked away from the bickering, and came to stand at his side. He thought he heard her mutter “men” under her breath. He glanced at the group, still engaged in a lively debate. “Can we really go up against someone like Mallaki and expect to win?” he murmured.

She gave him a stony stare. “We have no choice, do we?”

“I’ve been curious. What are Stephanos’s abilities?”

“No one knows.” She shot a look toward the man in question, then lowered her voice. “We heard he could control both the seas and earth, but something happened, years ago. No one from recent times has seen him use his power.”

Recent times? Just how old was Stephanos?

Adara got a faraway look. “You know, before forming Amalgamated, Stephanos was pretty famous. He practically lived on his ship. He even participated in major sailing competitions around the world, winning more than he lost.”

“Why’d he give it up?”

She shot him a sharp, patronizing look. “Why did we all give up our past lives?”

“I didn’t. I won’t. Once we’re through here, I’m taking that job at CNN.” Even to his own ears, the words sounded hollow, almost desperate. Was he trying to convince her? Or himself?

“Right.” She slanted her gaze downward, intently focused on getting the knot out of the end of the rope she held in her hands.

When she met his gaze again, light danced in the depths of her frosty blue eyes. A sound escaped her, then another. “Sorry.”

The ensuing titter of laughter from her caused the hair on his arms to rise into tiny spikes.

She didn’t look sorry. In fact, she looked like she’d been on the receiving end of some hilarious joke.

Adara darted away, got to mid-ship, then threw her head back and laughed, not a pleasant sound, rough around the edges with a bitter quality about it.

Adrian walked up to Alec, a curious expression on his face. “What got her going? I haven’t seen her crack a smile, let alone laugh, since...” He glanced at Quinn. “Well, forever.”

The muscles along Alec’s jaw and between his brows tensed. He bit out the words, half-afraid Adrian would find them as amusing as Adara. “I told her I fully intend to return to my job as meteorologist once we stop Mallaki.”

“Oh.” The edges of Adrian’s lips twitched, and a gleam similar to Adara’s appeared in the depths of his dark eyes before he turned and walked away, shoulders shaking.

“Just what the hell is so funny about that?” Alec shouted after him. He scowled and turned his back on the lot of them.

About fifteen minutes or so later, Stephanos approached. “We’ll give you a night and a day. If we haven’t heard from you, we’ll come by ship.”

“You’ll bring my bow and arrow.”

Stephanos clapped a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll bring more than that.”

“I hope you won’t need to come.”

“But if we do, we’ll be ready.”

The nervous tension in his chest released. With such a team, surely they couldn’t fail.

“The way I saw the people at Amalgamated?” Anger and fear flashed through him.

“No. I assure you, she’s fine.” Mallaki indicated a hallway directly in front of them. “Come, I’ll show you to your room. I have houseguests in from out of town. You’ll meet some of them at dinner tonight. You can freshen up before we eat.”

As they walked through the halls, the height of the ceilings and width of the floors made Alec feel small and insignificant. He was sure if he shouted, his voice would echo.

They entered his suite, and Mallaki turned to him. “So, Mr. Androulakis, what do you think of my house?”

“The only thing I can compare it to are pictures I’ve seen of Hearst Castle.”

His reply seemed to satisfy Mallaki, whose dark eyes flashed with excitement. “That was my intent. Wait until you see the pool later on. It surpasses Hearst’s in every way.”

Alec had to clamp his jaw tight. Mallaki did like to show off his wealth. Yes, Alec did like nice things, but all he really cared about was a place to call his own, one the creditors couldn’t take away. After that, all this stuff, the marble trim, gold-accented bathroom, the luxury bed, was expendable.

But, he had to admit, he did like the tranquil view of the Atlantic stretched out before him. Several yachts and motorboats were tied to a pier out front, while a few fishermen were tying up their more practical craft to a neighboring dock. Judging from their work clothing, the temperature was still somewhere in the mid seventies with low humidity. Non-threatening cumulous clouds hung low in the sky. He turned his back on the serene panorama and surveyed his room again. Were all the suites like this, or was Mallaki baiting him?

Half an hour later, after a refreshing shower, he tested the doorknob. He half-expected to be locked in, but the door opened without resistance. As he walked out into the marble hallways, he found himself scanning the corridors for Eleni, but saw no sign of her. Where the hell was she?

Eleni took a quivering breath and stepped back into the shadows, flattening herself against the cold marble wall. She’d used her power, briefly, to encourage Zander to look the other way while she snuck out of the room. All the houseguests had arrived and were so engrossed in what Mallaki had to say that they would never even notice her slipping in to view the presentation, she was sure of it. So she had followed silently in the direction everyone had gone.

She peered around the doorway into a miniature theater that could accommodate around thirty people but was only about half full. The projector was mounted on the ceiling, and a white screen hung in the middle of a stage.

Mallaki, front and center, held a remote in his hand. Her pulse quickened. Finally, she was on the verge of discovering what he was up to. There was a hush of anticipation as the lights dimmed and the presentation started. Eleni took the opportunity to slip in before everyone’s eyes adjusted to the lower light level.

“This, ladies and gentlemen, is where all the money is.” Mallaki used a red laser pointer and outlined the United States Atlantic coastline. “Beachfront condos, vacation homes, billionaire’s estates.” The next image was a high-quality animated shot of the world. The camera zoomed in on the polar ice caps. “Scientists have been worried about the effect global warming has on these.” He tapped the ice caps with the red dot from the laser pointer. “After volumes of research, all the facts point to one thing. Get the temperature around them high enough, and they’ll melt. The result...” He paused for dramatic effect.

Eleni swallowed a gasp. The animation showed the sea levels rising as the ice caps melted. The next shot showed water slamming over the coastline, heading inward for hundreds of miles.

With the pointer, Mallaki drew a new curved line from the middle of New York State down to the edge of Louisiana. “This, my friends, will be the new coastline.”

Mallaki’s gaze swept the crowd. Heart pounding wildly, Eleni retreated back into the shadows before his perusal reached mid-room. She didn’t have to worry about the audience members. They seemed rooted to their seats, mesmerized by the man in front of them.

“You may be wondering why this matters, since the polar ice caps won’t melt overnight.” Mallaki paused again, making sure people were hanging onto his every word.

“What would you say if I told you we can speed up the process? That we’ve been practicing, manipulating the weather for years now?”