Legacy of Olympus (In the Gods' Secret Service) (19 page)
Read Legacy of Olympus (In the Gods' Secret Service) Online
Authors: Teri Gilbert
Tags: #Romance, #ebook
As much as Alec wanted to refuse, he couldn’t. This is what he’d come for. They had to find out what Mallaki was up to. He tilted his head in silent acceptance.
He watched as Eleni turned and exited, but not before he’d seen her lower lip quiver.
Again the thought that he should just take her and leave nagged at him. But before he could do that, he had to find out what the hell was going on, otherwise, he could foresee an endless cycle of kidnapping, escape, kidnapping, escape, until the only possible end result would be death.
Eleni felt her knees give out and braced her hand on the cool stone surface of the corridor wall to steady herself. The rape of the maiden had been directed at her. She took several deep breaths, struggling to slow her rapid heartbeat and keep the contents of her roiling stomach in check.
Did Mallaki get some twisted pleasure out of making her sit through the girl’s humiliation? Of course he did. Otherwise, why the new material in the first act? From the audience’s shocked reaction, this wasn’t something Mallaki had performed on a regular basis. He wanted her to understand what he’d do to her if she didn’t cooperate and obey him.
She continued forward with a quick series of small steps, forcing her back straight, when all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball. Mallaki’s men would report her actions to him, and she damn well refused to let him know how much he’d upset her with the content of the initial performance. Her chest tightened. Not to mention keeping her from talking to Alec. But Mallaki had made it clear before dinner that he wouldn’t hesitate to harm Alec if she contacted him in any way.
But Alec needed to know what was going on. She’d never had a chance to fill Alec in on what Mallaki had planned. She had to find a way to get Alec alone, regardless of what Mallaki might do to her.
Alec watched as Mallaki picked up a tiny remote and gestured for Alec to sit in one of the leather chairs in the center of the small theater. He preferred to stand, but sat anyway, half expecting straps to spring out of the seat and hold him prisoner. A staggering sense of relief washed over him when nothing happened. He’d seen far too many spy movies.
The screen illuminated, showing a map of the world. There were clusters of red and green dots over many of the major cities of the United States, Australia, and a particularly dense collection of red ones in the Mediterranean.
“Can you tell which color belongs to my side?”
“Of course.” Red clearly dominated the map. “Green.”
The lines around Mallaki’s mouth tightened, and anger shimmered in his eyes before he flashed his teeth in a false smile. “We’re red, but I suspect you know that.” He jutted his chin toward the screen. “
You
can be part of our success.”
“What are your goals?” Besides being terrorists who murder men and women at their places of work.
“Our long-term goal is to unite our people.”
Alec hadn’t known what to expect, but something altruistic wasn’t in the top ten. “And what exactly do you hope to gain?”
“To go back to the way it was before the gods turned on each other and destroyed paradise. Much like the apple in the Christian Garden of Eden. Our ancestors had it all. They ruled the world. We are gods. We can have this again.”
Not if I have anything to say about it
.
“You’re describing Utopia.”
“I prefer Elysian Fields. Whatever you want to call it. We have the ability to create a perfect world.”
For the elite. Alec stared at the map again. Apparently there were others who felt the same.
“I suppose you’ll want me to call you
Master
.” Somehow Alec couldn’t imagine his colleagues being too happy with the idea of calling him
Master
all day. But he could see the attraction for someone like Mallaki.
There was a short pause. “No. If you prove to be what we think you are, you’ll be a god, like me, and have your own private domain.”
Mallaki was offering him the chance to live like a king, complete with palace, servants, and more money than he could ever use, never to worry about security ever again. “What do you want?”
“A chance to convince you that this is where you belong. My houseguests and I are conducting a trial run tomorrow night. You can judge for yourself whether you think we’re capable of executing this plan, and decide if you’d like to be a part of history. But for now, I’d like to take a dip in the hot tub before retiring for the night, and I’d like you to join me. We can talk more about your future.”
Alec hesitated. He wanted to decline, but gave a sharp nod instead and trailed after Mallaki to the pool. He needed more details. As much as he hated the thought, Eleni would have to wait.
Whatever he could get out of Mallaki now could only help in the end. He would stay and attend the trial run, but time was running out. He had to get this information back to Stephanos and put an end to whatever evil plan Mallaki had designed.
Mallaki had claimed the Androulakis’s were a powerful line. But that wasn’t true in his case. He was no match for Mallaki and his worshipers. Not now.
An ice-cold ridge of determination snaked down his spine. But maybe he could be.
Statues of various gods and goddesses rivaling those Alec had seen at the Louvre encircled an Olympic-size pool. The expected odor of chlorine filled the air, as well as a sickeningly sweet, almost floral aroma. An enormous marble depiction of Poseidon rose from the water at one end, taking up at least two-thirds of the pool’s width. The god wore a dark, fearsome expression, his shoulder-length mane of wild hair and stone beard billowed up and outward, as if blown by the wind. He carried a raised trident in one hand, and his bare, ripped torso arched backward, towering over the blue and white tiles at the edge of the pool.
Alec heard the slap of sandals and turned to see Mallaki striding in from another entrance, wearing a black terrycloth robe.
“We have a wet sauna and dry one, if you’re so inclined.” Mallaki headed toward the picture windows lining the back wall. Lights from Mallaki’s property shined upon the pitch-black ocean, where an occasional whitecap burst upward from the restless sea. “I prefer using the hot tub first.”
At first Alec didn’t understand where they were going, but what he’d assumed was the end of the room was actually one side of a stone grotto with two hot tubs nestled inside. Steam rose in pillars from the heated water.
Mallaki studied him. “I see you found swim trunks. I find bathing attire quite cumbersome and unnecessary, but I somehow got the impression you wouldn’t be comfortable if I didn’t wear a suit.”
Not much of one, Alec noted, as Mallaki eased into the hot tub. The tiny black Speedo was enough to fuel the male competitor in him and to not want Eleni anywhere near the man.
“I can’t help but wonder what you’re thinking.” Mallaki’s dark gaze danced with amusement.
As if he’d give him the satisfaction. Mallaki had worn the skimpy suit to make a point. “I was wondering how you got the money for a place like this.”
Mallaki leaned back in the spa, sinking to his shoulders, arms at his side, the embodiment of relaxation. There were no servants around, no one to keep him from acting on his darkest thoughts of wrestling Mallaki into the heated water, holding him down, making sure he could never harm anyone ever again. But his host obviously didn’t consider him a real threat.
Alec glanced down at his chest, not wanting Mallaki to sense what was going through his mind. Damn, his skin was pale. He hadn’t seen the sun in...how long? What did he expect? He hadn’t taken a vacation in over a year. He lifted weights a couple of times a week, did sit-ups every day, so he wasn’t bad in the muscle department. If it ever came to a physical encounter, he and Mallaki would be closely matched.
He let those thoughts run their course, and when he’d finally banished the violent images from his mind, he stared back at his host again.
Mallaki smiled, revealing evenly spaced white teeth and reminding Alec for a split second of Stephanos.
“Why
are
you here, Mr. Androulakis?”
Alec hesitated.
“Did you
follow
Eleni?”
Implying she had come to Mallaki’s estate of her own free will.
Had she? Has she been playing you all along?
“I came to get answers.”
The silence between them thickened as Mallaki stared at him. “You know about your ancestors?”
“I’m supposedly a descendant of Apollo.”
“Yes. But there are many such descendants around.” Mallaki raised a hand to his mouth, pretending to yawn.
“Then why force me here?”
“The same reason I eliminated everyone at Amalgamated. No one is going to stand in my way.”
Shocked, Alec could only stare. Mallaki was admitting to mass murder?
“Correction,
almost
everyone died there. Stephanos...” Mallaki pinned him with a hard stare. “I hear he’s alive. My men insist Stephanos had no pulse, yet my sources tell me he’s alive. Like the Christian Lazarus, rising from the dead.” He spread his hands. “I don’t believe the reason he’s alive is the result of Haitian voodoo, more like...the work of a Greek demigod.”
A sheen of sweat having nothing to do with the heated spa covered Alec’s body in a swift, all-encompassing wave. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You have a gift, Alec, something no mere mortal could begin to comprehend.”
“What do you want with me?”
“You’re a brilliant scientist with one hell of an ability. You could, how do you say, streamline my efforts by helping me analyze weather systems, figure out what would need only a tweak here or a tweak there to develop into the storms I require. Beyond that, your healing ability can keep my key agents alive, perhaps forever.”
And when he was finished with whatever Mallaki wanted him to do, what then? Mallaki had admitted killing the members of Amalgamated. There was only one plausible end result. Mallaki intended to kill him, and Eleni, when their usefulness to him and his organization had expired.
“Stephanos must have discovered your potential for helping me reach my goal about the same time I did.” A brief, annoyed expression passed over Mallaki’s face. “But he got to you first. Instead, I propose you come over to my side.”
“Why?”
The maniacal quality of Mallaki’s laugh as it echoed off the stone and marble raised the fine hair on Alec’s arms, causing goose bumps to form, despite the warmth of their surroundings.
“Why, you’re the Fountain of Youth. Well, not youth perhaps, but the key to immortality we gods have been looking for. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.” He slapped his leg, sending a wave of water rippling across the surface of the spa. “Hah. That’s a good one.” Mallaki was talking too fast, shedding those refined manners as his excitement and intensity grew. “So, are you in?”
“Do I have a choice?” Not likely. Not if he wanted to leave there alive. But he’d be damned if he’d threaten someone else’s life to save his own.
“Everyone has a choice, even the most desperate. Do I steal this apple, knowing my hand will be taken if I’m caught? Do I advance my army, knowing half will be lost? Do I risk my life trying to stop an impossible enemy?” He met Alec’s gaze. “Do I risk someone else’s life?”
Alec swallowed past the knot in his throat.
“Eleni
is
extraordinary. It would be a shame if something were to happen to her.”
Alec blew out a breath, then struggled to take another. Mallaki’s tone was so damnably casual as he outwardly threatened Eleni. Anger suffused him from head to toe, once again conjuring an image of his taking Mallaki by the neck and burying his face in the water until he could no longer breathe.
“I can see by your expression I’ve upset you. You ask what motivates me? It’s simple—greed. Life is short. Why not indulge in your every whim, your every fantasy?”
Mallaki pursed his lips in an almost feminine fashion. “Now, I ask what motivates you. From outward appearances, one might think
work
, but would someone who’s so devoted to his career risk throwing it away on something so foolish as a woman? Unless there’s a deep, underlying emotion attached. Do you love Eleni, Mr. Androulakis?”
Alec sensed they were about to come to blows, either physical or emotional, but irreversible nonetheless, when the sound of a splash broke the rising tension. He and Mallaki both turned and watched the object of their discussion rise from pool.
Eleni was wearing a sleek beige one-piece suit with a wide, gold belt. As it was at dinner, her hair was remained piled high on her head, but ringlets had escaped and now framed her face. Droplets of water streamed over her shoulders and down her chest. Standing next to the imposing statue of Poseidon, she came across as defenseless and vulnerable, but Alec knew appearances could be deceiving. Eleni had an inner strength and determination that rivaled anyone he’d ever met.
“I would have turned on the pool lights if I’d known you were coming, my dear.” The words themselves were pleasant enough, but Mallaki’s tone was not. Neither was his body language. A muscle in his jaw clenched and unclenched. The man was pissed.
