Ashes of War (Sons of War) (11 page)

Why the hell was he bothering with explanations? Oh, yes, because he need Eros and he was the only god he could persuade to his side. Desire was a strong power after all. “You could join me and take your rightful place as next on the throne.”

“Why should I help you?”

Pulling a beer from the fridge, Garrick grinned. “You would have the power to bring down the Sons of War and avenge Elizabeth’s death lawfully, without a trial.”

Eros let out a bitter, humorless laugh. “I’m bringing Tyson down for her death.”

The idea did intrigue the god. Garrick could sense it in the way the male’s scent changed at the mention of having the power to take down Ty. So he threw him another little piece of information to chew on. “I have in my possession the divine dagger and two very powerful weavers fully capable of harvesting the gods’ powers and containing them until we find the right candidates to hold the power.”

Eros froze and stared at him for a long moment as if considering his options. “How do I know you speak the truth?”

Garrick reached behind him, pulled out the dagger from its sheath at his back, and held it out between them. “The weavers are isolated and cloaked from the gods and my brothers. They have already prepared the spell and the containment unit.”

Amusement along with greed lit the blue depths of Eros’s gaze as he stepped forward. When he reached out for the dagger, Garrick snatched it back and slipped it back inside the sheath.

Locking gazes with Garrick, Eros smiled coolly. “You have it all figured out, don’t you?”

“I like being prepared. With or without you, I will not fail.”

****

Ty entered the great room and met Gwen’s gaze. He broke the eye contact to search his surroundings. Aphrodite sat at the piano with a smile on her face and Elle sat next to Gwen on the sofa. Yet, there was no sign of his brothers. “Where’s Markus? And the weaver? You found one, right?”

Gwen gestured to the chair across from her. “Please sit and relax. Markus should be here anytime. Yes, we found a weaver.”

He strode over to the chair and sat. The feeling of shock coming from Aphrodite made his lips lift in a slight smile. “Have you given up on me so fast, goddess?”

“Of course not. I’m amazed at how calm you are in a room full of women.”

Letting out a low, playful growl, he drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair, not knowing how much of the silence he could take. The goddess of love was wrong. Calm was far from what he felt. In fact, he was about to jump up and go for a run or something. The mansion was too quiet, yet there were people everywhere. His daughter and Cyrus rested in their rooms. He could feel Ash somewhere with the nymphs. Maxwell was in the kitchen, most likely preparing for lunch. All the quiet made him edgy. Well, edgier than normal.

He should be used to the quiet. He’d craved it at one time. Since Ash entered his life and he realized she was his mate, his outlook on the world changed. He had a new purpose, a renewed hope he might just make it out of the whole damned mess alive. He actually cared. It was Ash’s doing. Her inability to give up on him pushed him find the answers he’d avoided for far too long.

The sound of the front door opening and closing followed by two sets of footsteps made him jump to his feet. When he turned to the foyer, he froze. The petite redhead dressed in faded blue jeans and a green top stared at him while she held a toddler in her arms. The female resembled Sophia in so many ways, she could be a daughter or sister. She also favored Amissa in looks, only shorter.

Markus stepped forward, blocking the female from Ty’s view. Meeting his brother’s glare, Ty asked, “Who is she?”

Markus growled. “Be aware of yourself, brother.”

Ty rolled his eyes. “Do you realize who she looks like?”

Markus paused, then glanced at the female over his shoulder. “Sophia came to mind when I first saw her, but she is not her.”

“How can you be sure?” Ty lowered his voice to a level only Markus could hear with the impeccable hearing they possessed as dragon-shifters.

“I’m not. It doesn’t matter right now. She is here and is under our protection. She is also the weaver we seek,” Markus countered, then walked passed him.

Ty studied the weaver for a moment before speaking. “I’m Ty.”

She gave a nod and rubbed small circles on the child’s back. “I’m Selene.”

“Ty?”

He turned toward Gwen. Her lips lifted in a soft smile. Warmth grew inside his chest and spread. The minor goddess of love had found a way inside his heart. It was odd how he felt connected to her, much like the blood bond he shared with his brothers. Maybe because she and Markus were bonded mates…?

Stepping to the side, he motioned to Selene toward the great room. Disbelief still churned within him. How could she look so much like Sophia and not be her?

As he followed behind her, her son stared at him with interest. Ty smiled at him. In return the child smiled back right before he buried his face in his mother’s shoulder. A sense of nervousness surrounded the child. The slight fear on his scent and way he clung to Selene, especially when he or Markus were close, told Ty the boy had witnessed things no child should see.

No doubt Garrick had something to do with it. After all Selene favored Sophia in looks and was a powerful weaver—another thing Ty clued into the moment he saw her. He hadn’t seen a magical signature so bright and strong from anyone before. Then again, he’d not encountered many weavers.

Instead of taking a seat, he stood with his back against the wall next to the bar tucked in the far corner of the great room. Beside him were the French doors that lead out onto the patio overlooking the backyard. Seth, Zavier, and Drake entered and took their usual spots at the bar. His brothers remained quiet as they studied Selene, sending him curious glances, which he ignored. Even Seth seemed to be a loss for words, making Ty wonder if there was something wrong with him.

Aphrodite glided over to Selene, arms extended to the boy in her arms. “May I?”

Selene nodded and allowed the goddess to take her son. Aphrodite smiled wide. “What’s his name?”

“Trenton.”

“What a beautiful, yet strong, name for a handsome little man.” Aphrodite motioned toward the empty seat on the sofa next to Gwen. “Please have a seat.”

The goddess took Trenton over to the piano where she sat him on her lap and began to play a soft classical tune Ty didn’t recognize.

“Ares.” Markus’s deep boomed through the room, drawing everyone’s attention.

A moment later, the god of war appeared in the middle of the room, his gaze instantly falling on Selene. “I see you found a weaver.”

On the heels of his statement, Ares focused on Gwen. His lips twitched slightly before he turned his attention to Markus. “Eros’s patience grows thin.”

Ty snorted. “Yes, I’ve already had a little visit from Cupid. Then Amissa was attacked in her home by Imperials.”

Markus spoke up next. “That seems too much of a coincidence. Do you know if he and Garrick have teamed up?”

Ares folded his arms over his chest and glanced to Aphrodite, who pretended not to pay attention to them. Ty guessed he didn’t blame her. Eros was her son. “I’m not his keeper. But I have noticed he hasn’t been around much. It’s perfectly reasonable he’d go to Garrick to get at you. Where is Amissa?”

Ty set his jaw and considered not answering his father’s question. The problem was Ares knew she was inside the mansion. “She is resting. Did you know Garrick has the divine dagger?”

Narrowing his eyes, Ares studied Ty for several moments. “Not possible.”

Elle stood up and paced to the covered painting in the corner to Ares’s left Ty hadn’t noticed before. With a quick jerk, she uncovered it and stepped back. Ares unfolded his arms and advanced toward the painting. As if transfixed, he didn’t speak for a few moments. When he turned back to them, Ty saw the fury burning in his black eyes.

“Tyson, is the scene accurate?”

“I believe so, but I’m not a hundred percent. That’s the reason we sought out a weaver. Ash has a theory Garrick killed Elizabeth and placed a memory spell over me to make me believe I did it.” Ty fisted his hands. Ares, as a god and his father, knew what he’d gone through.

“I don’t know as much as you think. I only know what I can pull from your thoughts. The power to see into the future is not one of my gifts. Those are reserved for the Fates and their children.” Ares gave a pointed stare at Elle, and then Gwen.

Seth cursed from his bar stool. “Of fucking course. Elle is the daughter of Nyx. The Fates are daughters of Nyx.”

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that is why she has visions, right?” Gwen asked.

Ares shrugged. “In her case, yes, she did get the visions from Nyx. However, it is possible Nyx gifted her with the sight and it could be limited. We won’t really know until she comes into her powers.”

Next to Ty at the bar, Zavier shifted on his stool, but said nothing. All the signs were there, Ty noted. His brother’s inability to stay away from Elle, yet the frustration flowing around him said the male battled some kind of internal conflict. A conflict Ty knew too well—Zavier was fighting the urge to mate.

Ty would leave it alone because his brother had to solve his own issues. Besides, Ty had his hands full with Ash.

“What about the dagger?” Markus asked, bringing the meeting back to the main issue.

Ares shook his head. “It’s not possible for Garrick to have it. I just came from meeting with Hades and he assured me the dagger is being protected by the
drakon
Zander.”

Zander was the son of Typhon, brother of Sophia, and a two-headed serpent-like dragon who lived in the Underworld and protected the divine dagger.
Drakons
were born dragons able to take human form whereas the Sons of War were earth-born immortal men who possessed the dragon spirit of the Drakon Ismenios, making them dragon-shifters.

Although Zander was a wanderer and not very sane. Ty growled. “Does Hades know where Zander is?”

Ares growled back. “He couldn’t confirm his location.”

Fuck
. Shit just kept getting deeper…

Markus cleared his throat. “My head is starting to ache. Let’s deal with one issue at a time. Selene is here to help unlock Ty’s memories and in exchange she is under our protection from the Imperials. They killed her husband about six months ago. I’m guessing they are looking for her and her son.”

Ty nodded. “When and where do we do this? I’m tired of losing my shit every time I have a flashback. Speaking of which, Elizabeth admitted to me she killed Sophia.”

Aphrodite jumped up from the bench at the piano, holding a sleeping Trenton in her arms, and faced him. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“This changes things. It doesn’t matter if you killed Elizabeth. Zeus will consider it a public service. Your duties were to track down her killer and keep a new war from starting.” Aphrodite frowned at her words. Sadness and a sense of relief drifted from her thick and frequent. “I’m sorry my granddaughter caused you so much pain.”

Ty held the goddess’s gaze for several moments before he pushed off the wall and paced over to her. Dipping his head, he kissed on the cheek. “Elizabeth was lost to her power of desire. She was no longer the granddaughter you knew and loved.”

With tears in her eyes, Aphrodite cupped his right cheek, purposely touching the scar peeking from under his shades. “I know. That’s what saddens me so. She was filled with jealousy and allowed her desire for power to rule her. I am happy you are whole again.”

He laughed softly. “I’ll never be whole again, but I’m learning to love again.”

She glanced over his shoulder a second before Ash pressed into him from behind and wrapped her arms around his waist. “We just need a witness to Elizabeth’s admission.”

“What about Nik? Have you figured out where he is?”

Ty turned to Markus and shook his head. “No.”

Ares stilled, his body going taught and fisted his hands. “Nikolas?”

The bastard must have pulled out the memory from Ty’s thoughts just then. “Stay out of my head. Where is Nikolas?”

“Fuck if I know. I lost contact with him about four years ago. I never thought too much about it. After all he was known for hiding out and making me track him down. Only this time I didn’t bother. Too much going on with Garrick to invest energy to Nik’s games.”

Renewed hope bloomed in Ty’s chest. Nik was in the room the whole time Ty was there. He knew this because he felt the male’s presence when he was awake. “Can you track him now?”

“Sure. It may take a few hours, but I can track any of my sons.”

Ty ground his molars together to keep from starting a verbal war with his father. The bastard could have found him and had his brothers get him a lot sooner. Then again, if that happened, would he have found out Elizabeth was Sophia’s murderer?

Seth stood and stretched. “What about your memories?”

Ty glanced at Selene and shrugged. “I’d like to get them back of course, but it’ll have to wait until after we find Nik and bring him home.”

Ash squeezed him a little harder and kissed his shoulder blade. He circled an arm around her and twisted to face her. “Thank you.”

She smiled and pressed her lips to his. “Just doing my job.”

He bit down on her lower lip, making her moan softly. “I’ll repay you for that later. Now we have work to do.”

Chapter Sixteen

Ty materialized outside a cave in the Rocky Mountains. The smell of damp rock and earth differed from his time of captivity. Which meant Garrick moved the location. No surprise there. It was actually one of the smartest things he’d done. Although he hadn’t taken into consideration Ares might help them locate their brother.

Markus and Seth took form next to him. Together they entered the cave and instantly Ty felt a familiar presence, a draw to someone he should know. He took off down the corridor to his left. All the while his brothers’ footfalls against the stone floor sounded behind him, closing in.