Adonis and Aphroditus Read online

  “Yes,” Adonis said disheartened. “It’s perfectly clear.”

  Hades punched his arm lightly. “Don’t be so upset. If this frees a god you’ll be rewarded. You’ll probably get extra time off the hotline.”

  Now Adonis smiled. That was what he was talking about. He was just sick and tired of the hotline but he knew it was necessary. A few gods were recovered and during their recovery one or more gods found their mates. The fact that secrets were being kept shouldn’t surprise him. Something was going on with Cronos and had started just before the New Year’s Ball. Only a short list of gods were allowed anywhere near his area, most of them leadership level. It was the trust they all placed in Zeus that made all of them go along with it and not asked any questions. Well they had asked questions but Zeus had asked them to let it go for now so they all had.

  Some of the gods speculated that Cronos had woke. That begged the question, did they put him back to sleep, did he escape, or had he died and Zeus didn’t want the rest of them disheartened. He was their leader, not really a father but more like an oldest brother although Adonis wasn’t sure who was the oldest only that Zeus had been bred to lead and no matter their opinion of Origin, they always seemed to know what a god was best at. Hades didn’t keep him any longer than necessary before sending him back.

  Even of the excitement had been more than what Adonis liked, it had made the rest of his time move quicker even with the crazy calls he still received. Now that it was nearly time for her to call back, so Hades kept his phone line open by having calls identified and switched to someone else. Adonis began to sweat it when she hadn’t called back at the specified time but maybe she wasn’t the prompt type of person. He waited on tenterhooks for his line to light up. He’d thought about her a lot and felt bad for her. It was wrong to steal a child from its mother like that. It wasn’t the worst thing Origin had done but it was just one more on a list of black misdeeds they had perpetrated.

  The phone rang and his line lit up. “Hello, this is the lost gods hotline. How may I direct your call?”

  “I spoke to you before about the fertility clinic. I recognize your voice. Have you gotten approval for the deal?”

  “I’ve gotten the authority to make you a deal within certain limits. Tell me exactly what you’ll give us and exactly what you want then I can tell you if we can do it.”

  “I can do that. I know where a god is being kept as well as where there are ex-Origin employees breeding women with god sperm. I’ll tell you where to go to free him, but you must free the babies they are holding as well. I want my baby back and I’m sure there are several other mothers who do too. Was that clear enough?” She said the last part as if she thought he was simple minded.

  It annoyed him but he couldn’t show it. “Very clear Ma’am. We can help you as long as your information turns out to be correct.”

  “Well it will be if you guys get off your ass and down here right away. I’m in Tulune, Mississippi which is a spot on the road that doesn’t even show on a map, but I’ll send you the coordinates.”

  They talked for thirty minutes with Hades whispering in one ear as he listened to her in the other. The female had a military mind and had given them some good suggestions. He wanted to know more about her. There was just something about her that called to him and made him want to meet her. He knew that would never happen unless she came here, but that was probably for the best anyway. The call finally ran down and Adonis thought everything had been covered. They said goodbye and he felt a slight ache at the thought he’d never see or speak to her again. He shrugged it off, it just wasn’t meant to be.

  “I guess I get out of hotline duty for a while now?” Adonis asked smiling at Hades.

  Hades smiled back but his smile didn’t make Adonis feel reassured. “You sure will. You’re going on the mission to free her daughter and Perseus. Congratulations, looks like you’ve been promoted.” Hades slapped him on the back hard enough to push him forward before he caught himself.

  “Wh-what?”

  “I know this is a lot to take in but you’ve now been approved for a trip to Mississippi. You’ll love this short getaway from Olympus and a chance to mix with humans. You’ll get the chance to do things you normally don’t and experience human delights. Go get some rest, we’re leaving in twelve hours. I’ll send you an email listing what you need to know and how to dress. Catch you later kid.”

  Adonis hated that Hades still called him kid even though he’d been grown for sometime now. Yes, he was younger than many of the gods, but some of them like Hades were older than they looked. Adonis was still nearly dizzy from the spin Hades had put on an unwanted trip to the human world. Was hades trying to become a politician? It was just so out of character for Hades to be so upbeat. The old Hades would have told him he was going and to suck it up if he didn’t like it. Could this be the result of mating? If it changed a god’s basic self, maybe it wasn’t such a good thing after all. Of course it was the only way to get children, and every god wanted children.

  Adonis went to eat supper and then he went to his room to rest. He wanted to sleep, but he had so much running through his head it took a couple hours before he settled down enough for sleep to come. He fell asleep slowly, but he woke up suddenly. He looked at the clock but there was no hurry. He had been having the weirdest dream and in it he was talking to Lucy Devlin the same female he’d spoke to on the phone. He’d been talking to her through a door and he’d been about to pull the door open and see what she looked like when he’d just woke up.

  He felt a bitter disappointment that he’d not gotten to see what she looked like. He didn’t understand it, but he wanted to know everything about her. It must be because Hades was making him go in this mission. That had to be why, there wasn’t any other possible reason. He looked at the clock, he had plenty of time as long as he got going now. Hades had no tolerance for anyone who was late. He hopped out of bed and stretched his cramped muscles. Oh yeah. That felt so much better. He walked toward the shower ready to get clean. He considered giving himself a hand job but the need wasn’t bad enough. He just got in and washed himself. He rinsed and got out and dried. No big deal, everything was going just fine and would continue to be fine.

  He dressed in comfortable clothes since the flight would be long. He didn’t really care about flying one way or the other, except for the time it wasted. There was little to do on the plane and even though the seats were comfortable, hours of sitting wasn’t. He slipped an e-reader in his bag in case he got too bored, but he couldn’t think of any thing else to take. He brought his bag with him and went to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. He’d bet most of the guys present were going on the trip. Eudoras and Zelus were going which surprised him since they were both mated and neither mate was present.

  Hercules was there, but surely he wasn’t going. He was in charge of security here and that’s where he was needed most. Adonis knew he went on missions once in a while, but this one wasn’t even confirmed yet. It was true, though, that Perseus had been a close friend of Hercules and they were the same age. Maybe that made this mission personal. In this new world they were creating for themselves, all the gods had were each other. Well, except for those gods with mates which was a growing number but one that didn’t include Hercules.

  Chapter 2

  Getting There

  The gods going on the trip gathered just inside the doors each carrying a go bag, having one ready at all times was a habit Origin had instilled in them from an early age. The bag held the necessities of life, just enough to last a few days. It contained two full changes of clothing, a small pack of field rations, a liter of bottled water with a filter, and a selection of weapons. Cell phones, watches, and other small necessities were carried on the person in case their bag was liberated by the enemy. It was something a god would fight to keep hold of, but shit happened. It happened more for a god than the average human.

  They trudged through the snow and ice in the frigid temperatures that d
efined their new home. The climate here made it harder for their adversary, Origin, to sneak in spies and attackers. Not that it had stopped them completely but it had slowed them down. The plane sat on the end of the airport that was closest to their facility and all the snow had been cleared from the runway and the plane had been running a while. It would be comfortable inside and while it wasn’t necessary, it was appreciated.

  Adonis was in the middle of the line that was boarding and that meant he wouldn’t get a seat at the back of the plane where he preferred to sit. He’d end up in the middle since the leaders usually sat in the front and he didn’t want to be anywhere near them. He felt forced to be present anyway and he wanted his part in this operation to be as limited as possible. Out of sight was out of mind so he’d keep his head down and blend into the group.

  “Where’s Adonis?” he heard Hercules ask. He saw some of the other gods gesturing and pointing his way. Some days it didn’t pay to get out of bed.

  Adonis sighed, there was no use in hiding. He stood up and walked to where Hercules sat. “You were looking for me?”

  “Yes, Hades told me to work closely with you on this one since you’ve spoken to the female,” he explained.

  “I have, but only on the hotline when she called in.”

  “You’re the only one that’s spoken to her so you’ll be the one that talks to her when we arrive. Humans can be wary and we don’t want her to change her mind. We need the folder she has with all the surveillance she’s done. It will save us a week or more in time and much effort. It was lucky for us origin chose an intelligence operative to breed.”

  “She’s not really an intelligence operative. She’s a systems analyst that has some cross training. They wanted her trained in the work their people did so she would understand their needs and design around them.”

  “If she’s managed to do half the things she says she did and got the information she says she has, she’s an intelligence operative,” Hercules insisted. “I wonder what she looks like.”

  Adonis bristled, he wondered what she looked like too but she wasn’t for Hercules. She was, well shit when had he begun to think of her as his? After thinking it through he decided he had always thought of her as his. Even when he thought her crazy and resisted believing her, she was his. Damn! There were ten gods total on this mission and only Eudoris was mated. He would have his hands full keeping them away from his female.

  He noticed Jupiter scrunched down in his seat playing one of those two screened games. The kid was too young for a female old enough to have a child to take an interest in. That left eight horny female deprived gods, all great looking, athletic, and smarter than the average human. He noticed Eros was along too, it made him wonder why. It was probably to fill an empty space because most missions were well planned in advance and this had come up at a moments notice. It was led by second leadership level gods like Hercules and Eros. Adonis had noticed the older leaders stepping back and giving the next level a chance to run things.

  There was a time he would never have expected to go on a mission and sending Jupiter, a teenager, along to fill a team spot that was odd to say the least. A lot of the choices the leaders had been making lately, well since they were mated, seemed odd to Adonis. Maybe mating messed up your mind, it was possible. Just look at how crazy he was acting and he’d only talked to Lucy, he’d not even met her yet. Hercules gestured for him to sit near him. The trip was going to seem even longer now since they’d be rehashing the little information they had over and over.

  They talked, slept, talked, ate, and talked some more. He’d never realized Hercules was as anal as those other leaders, Zeus, Hades, and the rest. Maybe it was part of the burden of leadership and it made him glad he wasn’t one. He had never gone over the same information so many times in his life and it was relief, pure and simple that washed through him when they landed.

  Chapter 3

  Baby Blues

  Nothing had ever hurt as bad as losing her baby. It had been terrible physically, but she felt like part of her soul had been ripped away and she was left aching for it. She was amazed that they were doing this to other women and none of them questioned it. They mourned the loss and moved on. Some of the pregnancies were unintentional, at least on the woman’s part. That was mostly their employees who hadn’t realized when they were signing on that they were expected to give origin a baby. Impregnated without their consent or even knowledge, some of these women were as devastated when they found out they were expecting as they were later when they were told the baby had died.

  She had never even seen her daughter, but she had heard her cry. It was what had caused her to start her investigation. It tested all the skills she had learned when she had started working for her super secret agency. Those talents had come in handy once she had decided that her little girl was alive and needed her. No one would keep her from her little one but she needed help. Once she had discovered origin backed the facility she had gone to, she had no problem finding out what was really going on behind closed doors. After she found out they had a captive god, she knew exactly where to turn to for help.

  The slightly thick headed god that manned the line she called had worried her at first, but the woman she spoke to had to be a mother too. It came across in her tone and her words. She would see to it she got the help she needed in return for the information they sought. It was odd, she had really liked his voice. She could almost visualize him and it gave her a small sense of comfort. They would arrive today and by tomorrow her baby would be back in her arms.

  The folder sat on her desk in her home office. She had upgraded to a three bedroom apartment in preparation for the baby. It infuriated her that this organization thought so little of what they did to the women they victimized and the gods they had created. Lucy didn’t intend to stop with freeing her child. There were other mothers who’d had babies ripped from their bodies literally and told they’d died. They had no reason to doubt a doctor who quietly and mournfully told them they couldn’t save the little one. The guy should be an actor because he looked on the verge of tears the whole time he had talked to her.

  As usual, thinking about that hellish day upset her but no more than her empty arms. She thought back to when she had discovered what had really transpired. She’d hacked their computer finding all kinds of secrets hidden within. She had scrolled and searched finding everything they wanted to hide. Her baby was still being kept on site for now but there was talk of moving her and the other babies that they had stolen from their mothers. Glutted with arrogance because of the success they had achieved, they had become careless with their security.

  Lucy was the best that she knew of. She could do things other computer specialists couldn’t. That was why she worked for what she called the inner circle. It was the most secret agency of all. They were so secret, she’d never heard even a whisper of their existence before. They worked behind the scenes sending information to the well known agencies when it was time to take public action. Much of the action they took was not public. It might even be considered illegal but her agency was above the law and operated under a special mandate. They saved hostages just to hand them off and let others take the glory. They assassinated enemies of the state, but were never caught. That old saying about the best of the best applied to the people she worked with.

  Extensive training in what they did was given to all, even computer nerds. She had learned from the best and she had found she was good at the things a spy needed to know. It had come ion handy with her current dealings with origin and would be just as valuable in her campaign against them. They had messed with the wrong woman and she would make them pay again and again. She checked her watch, it wouldn’t be long now. She had to admit to curiosity about what Adonis looked like. Would he resemble his namesake? She knew he would be tall and built, all the gods were. His voice had been husky, sexy. She needed to get him out of her mind especially until her baby was in her arms again even though she needed a distraction f
rom the constant worry and stress. It was just a little harmless imagining after all. She had nothing to do until they arrived which would be anytime now.

  The call came none too soon and she answered her phone. “Lucy?”

  “Yes, is this Adonis?” she asked even though she recognized his voice.

  “It is. We need to meet. We’re at a hotel two blocks from you’re address. It’s on Hunter Street. Are you familiar with it?”

  “Is it the one next to the mall?”

  “Yes, there is a large mall next door,” he replied.

  “I can be there in ten.”

  “Come to conference room 145. We will be waiting for you.”

  “I’m on my way.” Lucy grabbed her keys and tossed the folder into her bag along with her laptop. For some reason she had thought they would meet her here but if they had a large team this place wouldn’t hold them all. She looked around to be sure she had everything, grabbed her car keys, and hurried out the door to her car. Her precious, her sixty-five mustang, sat waiting for her. She got in, the motor roared to life and she was there in five minutes flat.

  She entered the hotel, butterflies danced in her stomach her palms were sweaty. She wasn’t the nervous type but so much rode on the success or failure of this mission. Her heart ached at just the thought of failure. She had the gods on her side, failure wasn’t an option. She stood in front of room 145 and stared at the handle as if it was alive. She should just reach out and grab the handle twisting it until the door opened. Yeah, that what she should do.

  She drew in a deep breath to calm and steady herself. She grabbed the door handle and it twisted by itself. Startled she jumped back staring at it in amazement until she realized it was just someone coming out. He opened the door and looked up right at her. Oh my god! He was amazing!