You think very loudly, human. Thanos’s voice in his mind made Leo push up to his feet. Where Thanos would’ve once held his ground, possibly even muscled him back as an intimidation tactic, the male backed up out of touching distance.
Well, your behavior earlier hurt my friend. I was just trying to explain why you were being such an ass.
“Leonidas.” His name was shouted from the room beyond, Alasdair no doubt warning him to shut his mouth. But before he left, before he did as he was being not-too-subtly told to do, Leo made sure to think, He doesn’t deserve your anger, Thanos. Save it for the one who does.
“Leonidas. Get out here—now.”
Leo rolled his eyes at Alasdair’s command, and then stepped around the broad-shouldered male. When Thanos took his wrist, Leo stopped and looked up only to see the vampire turn from him, shielding whatever horrors lay behind the cloak.
“You are right, Leonidas Chapel.”
Leo looked to Paris, who was now focused on the hand Thanos had on Leo’s arm. He then pulled away and said to Thanos, “Then fix it with him.”
Thanos inclined his head, and before Leo left the room, he thought with the utmost sincerity, I am so sorry for what Elias did to you. Then he left to find his Alasdair.
THANOS WATCHED ALASDAIR’S yielding leave the bathroom, and once he shut the door, Thanos closed his eyes and asked the one behind him, “Are you all right?”
The silence in the room was so thick that Thanos almost checked to see if Paris was still breathing. But then—thump, thump, thump. There he is.
“Yes. I’m all right,” he said. “As all right as I can be.”
Thanos brought a hand up to rub his chin in an automatic gesture of frustration, but when his fingers touched the mask, he balled his fist and cursed.
“Are you?”
Thanos ran his tongue over his mangled lip and steeled himself against the concern he heard in Paris’s voice. Ever since the attack, he’d shut himself away from the only ones who cared one way or another whether he lived or died, and even then, there was no real compassion there. No real fear of his demise beyond how it would affect them. Or how his death would affect Eton and disturb the order of the race.
So to sense the emotions coursing through a man he’d treated so callously was a bitter pill to swallow, and an unfamiliar one at that. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be? Don’t concern yourself with me. I’m not worth your worry, human.”
He heard the gasp of breath Paris took in response to his words, but refused to temper his own thoughts. He wasn’t worth this man’s time. Not only was he half the male he used to be, but he’d brought a threat upon their race from pure selfishness. And he’d done it with little to no concern of the consequences it would bring down on his Ancient.
He deserved the misery he was feeling, the disgust at himself, and in all honesty, he should just let Paris do what he was sent here to do and be done with it.
“I don’t believe that. And my name is Paris. I know you remember that. So stop trying to push me away by not using it.”
Thanos heard footsteps behind him as Paris moved closer, and when a light pressure touched his back, he flinched.
“Everyone deserves to have someone care for them.”
Thanos laughed at that, but it was devoid of any humor. “Really? Minutes ago I wouldn’t have cared if Vasilios had snapped your neck. Do you still think I am worthy of your concern?”
He counted the beats of Paris’s heart as the room remained otherwise silent, and when he figured the male would shrink away from him, Thanos was shocked to hear Paris say, “I didn’t know you had blond hair.”
What? He hadn’t said that out loud, but as though Paris heard him, he started talking again.
“Back in your room it was so dark. I couldn’t see anything. I had no idea you were so tall, either. Will you turn around?”
There was a time Thanos would’ve had this man against the wall, tearing his clothes off. But that was a long time ago. Before. And the last thing he wanted or needed was to see this particular man flinch from him.
“Thanos?”
“I will not.”
“But—”
“I said no,” he boomed. He heard Paris stumble away from him, and was shocked to feel the urge to go to him and apologize.
But he didn’t.
Wouldn’t.
It was time to remember who he was. Instead of a cowering shell of a male. “I know you think that if I turn around and show you what you wish to see that somehow you will understand me a little better. But nothing you see behind this mask will help you understand any of this. Do you understand? It will merely stay lodged inside that pretty little head of yours and give you nightmares you could never have imagined.” He paused and brought his hands up to his face and then whispered, “That I couldn’t have even imagined.”
What am I doing? Thanos thought, shaking his head. He then turned, ready to leave the room before he did something monumentally stupid, like confessing his deepest fears to the one who was supposed to end him. Because yeah, that would be a brilliant plan.
He headed for the door, and was almost there when out of the corner of his eye he saw Paris sway on his feet, and then reach out to put a hand on the tiled wall to steady himself. What the…?
“What’s wrong with you?” Thanos demanded, and when he got no response and the pulse he could usually hear thumping steadily in Paris’s veins slowed until it almost stopped, he snapped his head around to see Paris toppling over.
Thanos flashed over just in time to catch the male in his arms as his eyes rolled back and his entire body went limp.
Motherfucker.
This was the same kind of shit Alasdair had told him about with his yielding, and for that very reason, he called, “Alasdair!”
ALASDAIR WATCHED WITH sharp eyes as Leo walked out of the bathroom and headed in his direction. His yielding had wrapped one of Vasilios’s large, plush white robes around his naked body, and the tousled hair and marked flesh had Alasdair licking his lips.
Damn human has gotten right under my skin.
“Not so human anymore, though. Am I?” the smart ass said, and Alasdair folded his arms over his chest.
“I don’t suppose you are. Makes more sense now as to why I couldn’t keep away from you.”
When Leo stopped in front of him and he reached up to trail a fingertip along Alasdair’s jaw, he winked. “And still can’t, I hope.”
“Hmm. I think that was proven last night, was it not, file mou?”
It was. Over and over again, Leo shoved into his mind, and Alasdair could tell by the flirty grin that accompanied the thought that Leo very much like that new trick of his. His yielding then brought the pads of his fingers up to touch the marks he and Vasilios had left on his neck, and Alasdair couldn’t stop his smirk.
“Proud of yourself?”
“Maybe,” Leo said. “Would that be so wrong of me?”
“No. In fact, it would make much sense.” Alasdair ran his finger in under the lapel of Leo’s robe and then clenched a fist around the material to tug him in close. “You just joined your life with two—”
“Of the sexiest beings to walk the earth?”
“I was going to say the most powerful. But I suppose we can go with your version.”
“How gracious of you,” Leo whispered, and kissed Alasdair’s lips. “That still doesn’t mean I’m going to just give up my job, my place, and everything I ever was. We need to discuss—”
Alasdair crushed his lips to Leo’s, but true to his man’s nature, he just continued to think—loudly.
You can’t just kiss me quiet every time you disagree with me…although it is a more pleasurable way of getting your point across than yelling or threatening me… Ahhh, yes, do that again, he thought as Alasdair scraped a fang along his lip.
We need you safe, file mou, Alasdair thought. And the only way that can happen is to have you here, with us. That means we go and get your things. We need to e
nd your ties…make sure no one is searching for you.
When Leo pulled his head back and his grey eyes found Alasdair’s, that new feeling that had been starting to resurface and slip through the shadows of his soul had him frowning. “What have you done to me, Leonidas Chapel?”
Leo placed a hand over the chest Alasdair had always assumed was nothing more than a shell for his hollow heart and said, “Loved you.”
Alasdair gripped the wrist of the hand Leo had resting over his heart, and he shook his head. “I do not understand you, or any of this, at all. You were sent to kill me. Kill us. And now…”
Leo blinked up at him. “And now?”
“Now you seem to be the one thing bringing us, all of us, back to life.”
Leo cocked his head to the side, a question in his eyes, not understanding what he was talking of.
“What you said to Thanos…” Alasdair paused, and thought about his words. “He listened to you. He hasn’t heeded any of our advice. But a few words from you and he’s doing as you bid. He’s talking to that friend of yours. What spell are you weaving over us, file mou, that you have Thanos and even have Vasilios changing?”
Leo brought his hands up to cradle Alasdair’s face, and he had to consciously remind himself not to flinch from the gentle touch. This was his male’s way. This was his Leonidas’s way.
“I’m not doing anything,” he whispered. “I’m just being me.”
Alasdair searched the perfection of the face in front of his and said softly, “An angel. I thought so the minute we met.”
“Not an angel,” Leo said, and kissed him again.
“No. A god.”
Leo had opened his mouth to reply when suddenly Thanos bellowed from the bathroom, calling his name, and there was no time to wait around. Alasdair faded both him and Leo into the tiled room in an instant.
THANOS STARED DOWN at the male lying prone across his lap. Paris’s legs were sprawled out in front of himself. His long hair that was pulled back in a tail was strewn across one of Thanos’s thighs, and his arms were limp by his side. But those eyes of his, the ones that were a rich brown, had swirled and changed to a coal-like color before they’d rolled back, and his entire body seemed to go into some trancelike state.
Thanos knew the second Alasdair arrived without even glancing up. He could sense his cousin’s presence instantly. But if there was any doubt he was no longer alone, the racing heartbeat of the one Alasdair had brought with him alerted Thanos in an instant that Paris’s friend was there too.
“Oh my God. What did you do to him?” Leonidas asked, and when he rushed over and crouched down, Thanos curled into himself, drawing his knees up and bringing Paris with him away from Alasdair’s male.
“Nothing,” he said. “I did nothing to him. We were talking and then he fell and this happened.”
“Leonidas, come. Move away,” Alasdair said, and placed a hand on his yielding’s shoulder. When Leo stood and took a step back, Thanos couldn’t help but study the two of them standing there together. It was clear there was now a deep connection forged between the pair, and he had a sudden urge to feel something that tangible once again. “This is what used to happen to you, is it not?” Alasdair asked.
“Yes…actually, it is. I’m sorry, Thanos. I wasn’t thinking,” Leo said. “I just reacted. This is exactly what used to happen to me. At first when you kissed me,” Leo told Alasdair. “But then it would happen more frequently. It would happen when they wanted to talk to me. When—”
“Apollo summoned you.”
“Yes,” Leo said. “Oh shit.” Leo placed a hand over his mouth, and when his eyes became as large as saucers, Thanos demanded, “What? What’s wrong?”
“If the same thing that happened to me is happening to him, then…” As Leo’s words trailed off, he looked to Alasdair and then back down to where Thanos was still waiting with Paris in his arms.
“Then what?” Thanos said.
“Then he’s with Hades. He’s with the god of the fucking Underworld.”
Present Day—Somewhere…
JESUS…WHAT THE hell was that? Paris thought as he opened his eyes. His head was pounding as though he had the world’s worst hangover, and no matter how much he blinked, all he saw in front of him was black. It was as though all light had been extinguished and night had taken over.
Seemed fitting, really, considering the way his life was going right now. Why wouldn’t he suddenly be sucked into some kind of black, creepy hole?
Maybe Thanos had taken them back to his chambers? But as Paris felt around in front of himself, there was nothing there but the cool feel of stone beneath his palm. Yeah, okay, not in any kind of room. The painful throbbing at the base of his skull slowly began to dissipate, but in its place tendrils of fear started to flood his mind and senses as he realized for the first time that he had absolutely no idea where he was—or where anyone else was, for that matter.
“Paris Antoniou… Finally we meet.”
The eerie voice that filled every molecule of space around him made gooseflesh spread across his skin as Paris searched frantically for the one who had spoken.
“Do not bother. You will only see me if I wish to show myself. And for now, I do not.”
Fuck. Paris willed himself to wake up if this was some kind of warped nightmare, but when nothing happened, he instead tried to focus on everything he’d been told. Everything Leo had said to him. Everything Elias had.
He’d heard this voice once before. Back in Thanos’s chambers. It had said it’d been waiting for him, and that could only mean one thing—this was Hades.
“How correct you are. I have been waiting a long time to meet you, friend.”
Friend? He wasn’t so sure about that, and not knowing how he was supposed to respond, Paris decided to go with silence. That seemed the safest route.
“Probably wise. We have much to catch up on, you and I. As always, Apollo and his infuriatingly self-righteous sister deemed it my place to go last in the way of events.”
Paris knew he should be paying extremely close attention to the details he was being given right now. But if what was going on was in fact truly going on, then Hades, god of the Underworld was—shit—he was telling him about what? A family spat?
“More than a spat, dear boy…” The words slithered out of wherever the man, or god, was, and as they wrapped around Paris where he sat with his knees drawn up, he felt the cool pinpricks of terror race all over his nerve endings. “This has been an eternal struggle. One which I am sick of fighting. I no longer wish to be bound to a mistake made by a prideful fool. Apollo created this blasted curse to punish a male who shared affections for the one he loved—”
“Ambrogio.”
“Correct. But predictably, he did not have enough spine to make the curse as dark as he wished it to be.”
Paris tried to recall the tale of Ambrogio, racked his brain searching for all the little details. But being frightened out of one’s mind had the same impact on his memory as an eraser had on carbon paper. One thing he did remember, though, was the family tree, so he went with that. “So, umm… Apollo came to you. His uncle.”
“Ahh, I do like your inquisitive mind, Paris Antoniou. Yes. He came to me. He wanted the curse to bind them to the darkness, away from the sunlight. So I gave it to him under the condition he would leave his revenge at Ambrogio and whatever three he created to inhabit the shadows with him.”
“But it didn’t end there,” Paris said, thinking of Thanos and the others.
“No, it did not. It spread like a plague. A disease put upon the earth that was quickly getting out of hand, running rampant. So I decided to give my nephew an incentive to eliminate his little project.”
“Eliminate. As in kill? That’s where we come in. Why you created us.”
“Correct again. However, two of you thus far have been very disappointing,” Hades said, and then before Paris knew it, there was a presence before him. An apparition of sorts with red eyes that
had everything inside of him wishing he would wake the hell up. “I hope you will prove otherwise.”
“I…I don’t know what you want. What you’re even talking about. Incentive? What incentive could possibly make someone want to commit genocide?”
A warped chuckle slid in Paris’s ear as though Hades, or whatever the fuck it was in front of him, had moved by his side. But that couldn’t be, because Paris could still see the silhouette before him.
“I infected one of them. One of the three originally created. He is afflicted in a way that brings forth all the demons that lie within this abomination Apollo has set upon the earth. And ever since Apollo witnessed it firsthand, he has set about putting this annihilation in play. And now, dear boy…you will be the one to complete it.”
Eton. He has to mean Thanos’s sire. The one they talked of earlier.
“Yes. Poor Eton. But perhaps this is a good reminder that things aren’t always as they appear. Eton and his cherubic face, for example, has quite the ugly side. But you will see that for yourself, soon enough. Because finally all the pieces are in place. Thanos and his all-consuming guilt for condemning the one he swore to always stand by. And Eton. A male who doesn’t quite understand why he enjoys exacting such atrocities on the innocent. A male who will continue to do so now that the one who used to hold his leash has let go—for you. All that self-loathing, doubt, and guilt the three of you harbor will give us the exact fuel we need to smite this plague once and for all.”
“That’s horrible. You’re banking on our misfortune? Our pain? You’re…you’re evil.”
“What can I say? I was cursed down here for a reason, and you…Paris Antoniou, you were born and put exactly where you are for a reason.”