Hades Read online

  Her ears strained for sounds of combat but there were none. An outlying building came in sight, the guards already taken care of. The guards at the front moved in checking just to be sure they were all dealt with. She couldn’t help but look in the building as they walked by, but no one was in there. It was about thirty minutes later that they came to the main facility. It was clear there had been a battle here, but looking at the guards in place, their guards, it was clear who had won. Would Origin send in their soldiers to try to recover this place or would they write it off and save their strength for the next fight?

  Doc moved to the front pushing her way in to see if anyone needed her skills. Mostly minor wounds were on those she saw and only one fatality, it was one of Origin’s personnel. Hades had moved ahead and was now sitting with a man who was handcuffed to a chair. She moved up close to Hades looking at the man with a question in her eyes. Was this him?

  “This is Jones, he’s in charge here,” Hades said in answer to her look.

  She examined the average looking guy, neither tall, broad, nor muscular. The only exceptional thing this man had was an oversized ego. She had listened to and read some of the intercepted communications and this man thought the world of himself. He was bad, but Smith, the generally acknowledged leader of what was left of Origin, was much worse. Jones smiled at her giving her his most flirtatious look. Why did this jerk think she would be interested in him especially with what he had to know about her?

  “I think he likes you,” Hades whispered in her ear. Shivers ran through her as her heart sped up and her panties grew damp.

  “So, I don’t care what he likes,” she whispered back.

  “You have no patients, maybe you can help us with him.”

  He was right, she hadn’t seen one serious injury except the fatal one. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Show him some sympathy while I act like I don’t like the attention he’s getting from you.”

  Good cop, bad cop? Okay, she was game. She nodded, she could do that and Hades would fill his role effortlessly because he never liked her attention on another male. “So Jones, how did a nice guy like you end up in a mess like this?” She moved closer to him with a sweet smile on her face.

  “I don’t really know,” he said with a nervous laugh. “The job was just supposed to be supervising a lab that worked with DNA, no big deal right? But nothing was what it was suppose to be. I didn’t know they had men they had fucking made. What gives anyone the right to create people much less for your own particular purposes? By the time I realized exactly what was going on, it was too late, I was in, part and parcel.”

  “Why didn’t you just take off?”

  “At that point they said I was in and they wouldn’t let me go. I knew too much to be allowed to leave. I’ve never harmed anyone, I just do what they tell me which is mostly gather information, that was until they put me in charge of this place.”

  “Jones, you’re a fool if you think information never hurt anyone,” Hades growled.

  “I do what I have to do to survive, just like anyone else would.”

  “I’m not sure how this is going to work out for you, but if I was you, I’d tell them what they want to know and ask for mercy,” Doc advised.

  Jones hung his head, it was never smart to go along with the herd. He’d known it but he’d done it anyway, now he would pay the price.

  Hades sat in the corner watching Jones while others watched through a two way mirror. Achilles sat there, he was his second in command and one of the few gods that had come along. He spoke to Hades on his headpiece. “She’s a keeper. I think he’s ready to talk now.”

  “She’s a keeper, but she doesn’t want to be kept.”

  “You’re not a quitter. Go after what you want. You made a mistake, you’re as much man as god. She craves you, I see it, smell it. Make her see you two belong together, if that doesn’t work, throw her over your shoulder and take her to bed.”

  She and Hades stepped out the door into the hall leaving Jones alone to stew. Hades and Achilles would handle him now. Hades went to her, grabbed her arm leading her to a room set up for a doctor. “I need you to check out every god they kept here to be sure there isn’t anything we missed. Helicopters will be here in a few hours to start pickup.”

  “It looks like a standard set up in here,” Doc said as she looked around.

  The freed gods were already lining up. She was sure they would be glad to leave but they would miss the regular booty calls. Gods loved women, they saw the beauty in everyone of them. The only thing that turned a god off, was a lack of beauty on the inside. If they had to, they’d screw them anyway but it took away a lot of the enjoyment for them.

  “I’ll get right on it,” she said as she opened the door for the first god to come in.

  Hades left returning to Achilles to question Jones. Maybe they would find out something that would help them before Jones was turned over to the US government. Zeus had made a deal with Mark that would give them Jones once the gods were through with him. Hades wondered what Mark really wanted the Origin leaders for but he supposed it didn’t matter. Mark had financed this mission, supplied most of the soldiers, and was letting them keep most of the equipment they were using here including one of the helicopters, it was one of the new ones. It just seemed to Hades that they wanted Jones too much which meant they hadn’t been honest about why. He could only hope that someday when they found out, the gods didn’t regret letting him go.

  Doc was going through the line quickly and efficiently with help from a medic. These gods weren’t sex starved so they weren’t as bad as those at Olympus had been, but these gods didn’t realize Hades claimed rights to her so they hit on her. At least they did until Hades told a few of them they wouldn’t live to touch her. Everyone feared Hades, she couldn’t help wondering why. She worked through nearly a hundred gods. They were all healthy, handsome, and seemed to be in good spirits. Jones certainly hadn’t tortured, starved, or otherwise mistreated them. It was a point in his favor, of course they needed to be kept healthy for the role he needed them to fill.

  She was halfway through the check ups, when the first helicopter arrived. She had to smile, thank goodness they wouldn’t have to hike out of this place. She tried to speed up her work, home was calling and she was ready to answer. She finished the last physical she needed to do when Hades came in. The look on his face alarmed her, not for her safety but that he was bringing bad news.

  “Jones is spilling his guts and he told us there is an underground level he isn’t allowed to go to. We need you right away, we’ve found a small group of demons and they’ve been experimented on.”

  Doc grabbed a bag and filled it with the things she would most likely need. Her day had been going too well, she should have expected something bad to happen. She followed Hades to a wall that opened into an elevator, they went down one floor and it opened. The smell of death and sickness hit her nose almost causing her to retch. Without being told anymore she knew it was bad.

  Hades led her to a lab with demons restrained to the beds. She knew without asking that Hades had left them strapped in so they wouldn’t hurt her. The first one she saw was so close to death she could see, hear, and smell it. If she immediately started treating him with anything she could think of, it might prolong his life. If she could keep him alive long enough, his natural healing would cure him. She spoke to him softly telling him about Olympus and the freedom he would enjoy if he would just hold on a little longer.

  “Your leader is Lucifer, he is a wonderful guy full of life and fun. Some of the gods have families, Zeus is mated to Sierra and they have a beautiful daughter. Hermes is mated to Chastity and they are raising her younger brother. They are planning for a large family and I’m sure they will have a child soon. They have parties where they meet females, the demons attend as well. Darius met his soul mate at the first one. If you are better, you’ll be able to attend the next one.”

  Doc found herself talking to
him the whole time she treated him knowing that the frame of mind a patient was in, could often determine life or death. Finally she was to the point where she could do no more. The outcome was now up to him, she turned away to go to the next patient and he caught her arm.

  “I will live!” he vowed, his voice barely a whisper.

  None of the demons had been treated gently, but none of the others were at death’s door like the first had been. All but the first were ready to travel and two were placed on stretchers and put one per helicopter that left. Soon, the only one left was the first and he was much better then he had been. She walked beside his stretcher holding his hand until they arrived at the helicopter. Hades growled as he saw her hand in hand with the demon. She would have argued but the demon moved his hand. The possessiveness of these gods was extreme and they seemed to have little control of it. Hades had gotten worse since the start of this mission and she feared they would have a serious argument soon.

  He picked up Doc and jumped into the copter while two of his squad strapped the demon’s stretcher to the side of the copter. Hades pushed her into the seat next to him but against the wall where she could see her patient, but no one else could get near her. She looked at the god who claimed to be her mate but had not acted like it. He was a puzzle to her, made up of opposing actions. He growled at her patient but then placed her where she could see him. He was a mix of kindness and deviousness. He was a little devilish, like his name might imply. He gave a lot but he could take your soul. If she was honest, she wanted him, but she was afraid to have him.

  The ride was uneventful but hot and uncomfortable. They flew to a large city airport where half of those freed waited with part of Hades squad. The others had flown in another plane heading home ahead of them. Hades dragged her by her arm to the back of the plane where a private bedroom with a private bathroom was. He pulled out a drawer showing her it was full of clothes then he pushed her into the bathroom. It seemed he wanted her to clean up, she would but only because she wanted to. He never spoke much, but this trip he had said almost nothing to her. Maybe that was for the best, there was really nothing left to say.

  She showered, the water felt so good running over her skin but she washed quickly. She was sure everyone on the plane would want to clean up. She found a shirt long enough to call a dress and put that on with a pair of boxers, small ones, from who, she didn’t know. The sizes of the items of clothing in the drawers were all over the place. She hurried out to find a seat only to find Hades wanted her to stay in the room.

  “Those here first took showers in the building as did those with us while you showered here. I’m the only one left so you can rest in the bed.” He had backed her into the room then gently shoved her on the bed. He walked past to the bathroom and she heard the water turn on.

  In her naughty mind, she imagined him naked with the water running down his body. She had a good imagination and she let it take flight. At some point, she grew tired of waiting for him to come out of the bathroom, she fell asleep. Waking, she felt enveloped in warmth and smooth skin was wrapped around her. She felt something poking her rear end, it was probably what had woken her. It took her foggy mind a few moments to realize what had happened. Hades lay up against her, his arm pulling her up close to him. She waited a little while enjoying lying with him before she woke him so he would move.

  She finally turned to face him. “What do you think you were doing, getting in bed with me?”

  “Holding a beautiful woman who happens to be my mate?”

  “You know we’ll never be together and you know why.”

  “Is it because of Marlin?” She looked confused.

  “I know he proposed to you the night of the ball, I thought you accepted.”

  Her face flushed slightly. “I don’t know how you found out about that. I turned him down and stopped seeing him after that. I’m not what he needs, I’m not what any man needs.”

  “You’re what I need and I don’t know that we’ll never be together and I know your reasons but I don’t agree with them. Even if I did what you accuse me of, we were only to the friend level, we weren’t dating and we weren’t having sex so I couldn’t cheat on you.”

  She had to admit he had a point, but his actions had just cut her too deeply. He moved to where they were touching and while her mind tried to reason through what he had said, he claimed her lips in a kiss the like of which she had never felt before. Heat flowed through her body, her mind was like jelly, all she could do was cling to him riding out the kiss and the touch of his hands which seemed to be everywhere at once. Before she could utter a protest, he ended the kiss leaving the room without a backward glance.

  She didn’t know what to do, was it possible to be in love with someone who had no morals? Could she put that aside if she stopped considering how she and her sisters had been raised? And most importantly, could he change and learn the way a male should treat his mate, his wife? She knew she was grasping at straws because the truth was, in the time they had become friends, she had realized she wanted to be so much more.

  Chapter 2

  The List

  Sierra watched with interest as Darius squirmed. “I’m not sure what you want me to do, Darius.”

  “Tell her she has to stay with me.”

  Sierra fought not to laugh at him. He was a typical god, arrogant and clueless about how to handle a relationship with a woman. They were good at brief sexual contact, but a mate or a wife, that was a whole new world for them. He wasn’t doing any better then Hermes or Zeus for that matter.

  “I can’t do that. You need to resolve your problems between the two of you. Others can and often will give advice ask for or not, but the resolution is up to the two of you. If you’ve done something wrong, the resolution is up to you if you want her as your mate. Now tell me, what have you done?”

  “I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said with a slight whine to his voice. “I just told her that she’s going to stay home to care for me and whatever children we might have. She doesn’t need a job, taking care of me is now her job.”

  “So you don’t see anything wrong with telling her that?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “What would you do if she told you that?”

  “Why would she tell me that? I have a very important job, I am Zeus’s personal assistant,” he said full of self importance.

  “Why indeed? Did it occur to you she might feel her job was important too?”

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t, I just want to take care of her.”

  “You can take care of her better if you consider her job as important as yours, her opinions as valuable as yours.”

  He sighed like only a long suffering male could. “I’ll try.”

  “Maybe you should send some flowers first.” Sierra remembered there was no flower shop. “Why don’t you go to the greenhouse and pick her a bouquet before you see her again.” He just nodded, at least he was listening now.

  Once Darius was gone, she called Nioma to see if she had any results on Hades blood tests yet. “Hey, Nioma, this is Sierra.”

  “I’ll tell you what I told you five minutes ago.”

  “It’s just been five minutes? I would swear it’s been longer.”

  “It hasn’t. Why don’t we meet for lunch? I’ll have all the results by then.”

  “Okay, we’ll meet in my office, yours smells funny.”

  “All labs smell like disinfectant.”

  “That’s why we’re meeting in my office.”

  “Okay, see you in about an hour.”

  Sierra thought again about what the results might be and what they might mean. As soon as she had heard about what Hades had done or allegedly done, she had thought something was just not right about it. The clip she had seen had seemed off somehow. Her instincts had immediately rejected what her eyes had seen. She hadn’t followed up on her feelings and now she regretted it. She didn’t want to be a busybody but it was her sister she was talking about. She fi
nally sent the video to an expert and was waiting for those results too. They would be coming in soon and she would know what had happened before Doc got back.

  Her computer went ding so she checked her email finding the results from the analysis of the video. She felt her heart race, it was faked. Hades hadn’t slept with Dee or at least not on the video. Why would someone fake such a thing? The video was actually of Dee fucking one of Killer’s guys before it was altered by putting Hades’s face on his body. Killer was the nickname of Sierra’s ex lover who had been brought in after they had liberated the gods to be in charge of a US military presence at Olympus. Doc was going to go crazy when she heard. Why hadn’t Hades denied being with the bitch?

  Nioma’s results no longer mattered but Sierra decided to have lunch with her anyway. She picked up the phone ordering lunch for the two of them. It should arrive about the time Nioma did or sooner. The food came first, Nioma came right after that. She seemed tense but excited about what she had to say. She sat down, but she didn’t even look at her food.

  “What I found is monumental and will impact gods and demons alike.”

  “Was it something that interferes with the mating instincts?” Sierra asked, surprised since she didn’t believe Hades had been with another female at all so the drug must not have worked.

  “Hades was drugged with something I don’t recognize. I don’t have enough isolated to figure out exactly what it is.”

  “What does it do?”

  “All I can guess is that it interferes or at least is intended to interfere with the mating chemicals released into a god’s system when they meet their mate. I’m not sure about demons because none have met their mate yet.”

  “That may change soon, Mullen seems to think the lady who we brought in for laundry is his mate. He met her the night of the ball, but he wasn’t sure. You might want to test him and her.”