Crossfire (Book 1) (The Omega Group) (4 page)

“So, how do I fit into all of this?” Mirissa asked Greco.

“It is in your blood. You are an Amazon, just like your
mother, and her mother before her. Every generation of Amazons brings about the
next to ensure that there will always be a force to fight the Kakodaemons. When
a child comes of age and is deemed ready to join the fight, they are given their
ring. Once the ring is in place, it bonds with the wearer and, after insuring
that the wearer is, in fact, an Amazon, it becomes a link to Tritonia. As you
progress, it will also become your greatest weapon.

This was all a little too much for Mirissa to take in. Her
head was spinning with each new revelation and with every question Greco
answered, three more came to the front. It felt as though she were living in
some weird science fiction movie and that her future of prom, graduation,
college, and everything else that she hadn’t even thought about, was crumbling
away around her.

Through all the tumult in her mind, one question was clear
and concise. “So, my mother was a part of all this?”

Before Greco could answer, her father spoke up. “Yes, she
was. In fact, it was how we first met.”

Now, that was unexpected, Mirissa thought.

“I was in between tours and stationed here in Jacksonville
at Mayport. One night my buddies and I went to Neptune Beach to hang out at
Pete’s. It was our favorite bar. We’d been there for a couple of hours when I
saw some sort of commotion outside. My curiosity got the better of me, so I
went to check it out. There was a woman leaning against the wall just down the
street. She was crying and had blood all over her. I ran over to see if I could
help, and when I got there I saw that the lower part of her neck had been torn
open and blood was pouring out. I was about to run for the payphone across the
street to call an ambulance when someone grabbed me and pushed me aside.

“My fighting instincts took over and I started to take a
swing at whomever it was that had attacked me but they were already at the
other end of the alley. It was her—in all her warrior glory. She was amazing.
She was taking on three men that looked as though they wanted nothing more than
to tear her to pieces, and she was holding her own. She’d taken out the first
one with a ferocious snap kick, and then backhanded the second to break his
nose. The third guy hung back until it was clear the other two were going down,
and then he got into the fight. She fought brilliantly and had almost succeeded
when the first guy to go down got back on his feet and went for her throat.

“Without thinking I ran in to help her. We stood back to
back and, with the odds evened up a bit, had little trouble knocking the three
of them unconscious.

“I ran out to the street to check on the injured woman I’d
seen earlier and called her an ambulance from the payphone. When I got back to
the alley, your mother was standing there, alone. When I asked her what
happened to the three guys, she just smiled at me and started to walk away. And
that was it. I was smitten.

“I followed her for three blocks before she finally turned
around and talked to me. I convinced her to go with me to a coffee shop I knew,
and we spent the next three hours just talking.”

Mirissa watched her father as he told the story of meeting
her mother and saw that his eyes had taken on a faraway look. It was then that
she realized he was still in love with her mother. Mirissa had mistakenly
thought that his lack of interest in women over the past decade had been for
her benefit, even though she’d tried to get him to start dating. It had never
occurred to her that he would still be in love with a woman that had left him
so long ago.

“So, she told you about all of this… stuff?” Mirissa asked.

“Not right away. We were together almost two years before
she finally let me in on her secret, and even then it was only because I’d
asked her to marry me. I’m pretty sure she thought I’d get scared off, but boy
was she wrong. Knowing how hard she worked and how much she’d sacrificed to
make the world a safer place, just made me love her even more.

“I guess, in a weird way, I felt even more connected to her.
I was serving my country in the Navy with the same feeling of commitment and
obligation that she had, so I understood. The bloodsucking Kakos and Greek gods
were a little more difficult for me to digest, but in time they were as real to
me as everything else in my life.”

“Bloodsucking?” Mirissa asked.

“Yes, Mirissa.” Greco spoke for the first time since her
father’s story began. “That is how they send their victims’ souls to Hades.
They have elongated canine teeth that they sink into the necks of their targets.
After their blood is drained, their soul is taken to the underworld.”

“So, Kakodaemons are vampires.” Mirissa was less shocked
than she probably should have been.
Sure
, she thought,
why not? Maybe
werewolves and leprechauns are real, too.

“Not in the way you think,” Greco continued. “Although
Hollywood vampires were inspired by the Kakos, very little truth followed that
inspiration. They
are
confined to the night as the sun
will
burn
them, but wooden stakes and crosses have no effect on them. The only way to
kill a Kakodaemon is to sever its head. It then turns to ash.”

“Which explains what happened to the three that your mother
and I fought the night we met.” Her dad interjected.

 Although Mirissa was still unsure about so much, and
had so many more questions about who she was and what was expected of her, she
decided to handle this situation the same way she handled everything else in
her life—head-on. “So, what now?”

“Now, we begin your training,” said Greco. The talk of her
family seemed to make him uncomfortable, and he was visibly relieved to be
moving on to something else.

He grabbed a wooden chest from the floor and placed it on
the table in front of Mirissa. “This chest is now yours. It can only be opened
with the ring you are wearing, so it is a safe place to keep the items you will
need to pass on to your daughter.”

“Slow down, cowboy. There aren’t going to be any daughters
anytime soon.” Mirissa said.

“Amen to that,” Steve mumbled under his breath.

Once again pulled out of his comfort zone, Mirissa watched
as Greco tried to bring the conversation back on task. “I only meant that it is
secure. Your mother left this for you.”

Looking at the chest in a new light, Mirissa felt torn. On
the one hand, she wanted desperately to see what was inside. To learn about the
mother she hadn’t known since she was seven years old. On the other hand, she
was afraid. What if whatever was inside didn’t change anything? What if, after
opening it, she was still just a girl that was abandoned by her mother?

The chest was made of a beautiful dark wood with dozens of
symbols carved on every side. The lid of the box was secured with iron hinges
at the back and an intricately designed iron locking mechanism at the front.
The center of the lock was a mirror image of her ring and Mirissa found herself
unconsciously rubbing it as she studied the chest. “What do all of these
symbols mean?”

Unexpectedly, it was her father who answered. “Those are
from the ancient language of the Amazons. Your mom translated it for me years ago.
It tells the story of the rise of the tribe, the creation of the Kakodaemons,
and the mission given by Artemis to all Amazons, past, present and future.”

Without even realizing she was doing it, Mirissa placed her
ring over the lock and watched as the iron around it pulled back in a series of
smooth, almost beautiful movements, and the lid popped open.

There were only two items in the chest. The first was a book
that looked to be older than anything she had ever seen in any museum. There
was a drawing on the front cover that looked uncannily like the woman from her
dream. Above it were more symbols, and underneath, the words “Queens Myrine”
were inscribed in an artful script.

Mirissa carefully lifted the book out of the chest and
placed it on her lap. Her hands shaking, she opened the cover to find page
after page written in the same symbolic language as was on the chest.
Disappointed, she looked at Greco for an explanation.

“This book,” he began, “has been handed down to each of the
Amazon queens since the time of Tritonia. When Artemis brought all of the
remaining Amazons to the island, Myrine, the woman you met earlier today, was
their queen. As a sign of respect for her strength, wisdom, and courage, every
queen from that point forward has taken that name.”

Mirissa sat quietly for a moment, digesting this new bit of
information. “So, my mother was a queen?” she asked.

“Your mother
is
the queen,” Greco corrected. “Each
queen, in succession, has added pages to the book whenever new information came
to light that needed to be recorded. You will find your mother’s entries at the
end.”

Mirissa quickly flipped through the pages. There were
drawings of each of the queens, presumably added at the beginning of their
reigns. The language used changed several times throughout, until it finally
became English. Several pages later, she found the one picture she had been
waiting to see—her mother’s.

In the pages that followed, her mother had recorded
everything she knew about the current force of Amazons. From their geographical
locations, which spanned the entire world, to their training methods and
weapons, which were almost as vast. She’d detailed everything she knew about
the Kakos; how they fought, how they lived, and, most importantly, how they
died.

Mirissa was enraptured by the story. Her mother had done so
much, saved so many, and she’d done it all in secrecy. It was unbelievable.

After reading the last page, which spoke of an unusually
difficult coven of Kakodaemons that were plaguing her mother, Mirissa closed
the book. Only then did she remember the second item in the chest.

It was a single skeleton key. She held it up to the light
but found no identifying marks of any kind.

“What does this open?” Mirissa asked both men, not knowing
which of them would have the answer.

Steve and Greco shared a confused look, and said at the same
time, “No idea.”

“All right then. I guess I’ll figure that out later,”
Mirissa said. “So, what’s this training you mentioned?”

The next few months for Mirissa were a blur. Training, in
Greco’s world, was more like hardcore boot camp. Mirissa remembered her father
talking about his SEAL training and thought that the Navy didn’t have anything
on the Amazons.

After she said goodbye to her father, promised to call him
every night, and gave Henry one last kiss on his head, Greco had taken her to a
farm outside of Ocala, Florida where a sweet, older couple was waiting in the
kitchen. They introduced themselves as Walter and Laura Baxter. Walter stood
about five foot ten. His short gray hair was still thick and he had an easy
smile. Laura was a good six inches shorter than her husband and could easily be
mistaken for Mrs. Claus if she wore a red dress. They said they’d been the
caretakers of the farm for over twenty years.

Looking around, Mirissa couldn’t understand why Greco
brought her here. The farmhouse was exactly like she’d expect one to be. The
living room was small and cozy, with a big wood-burning fireplace in the
corner. The walls were covered in prints that reminded her of the Norman
Rockwell paintings she’d seen when her twelfth grade class had taken a field
trip to the Cummer Museum. The kitchen, though definitely not what you’d call
luxurious, was simple and comfortable. The whitewashed cabinets perfectly
blended with the homey feel of the house.

Although Mr. and Mrs. Baxter seemed content to let Mirissa
wander through the house, Greco was getting a little testy.

“Put your things in your room so we can get started. I’ll
meet you in the barn.” With that, Greco walked out the old wooden screen door
and let it slam closed behind him.

“Pay no mind to him, sweetheart. Some men are all business.
Let me show you to your room.” Mrs. Baxter put her hand on Mirissa’s elbow and
showed her down the hall to the bedroom that was to be hers for the foreseeable
future.

“Thank you, Mrs. Baxter.” Mirissa said with the first smile
she’d had since the deliveryman came earlier that day.

“Please, call me Laura, and I suppose you better get moving
before your Guardian gets a hankering to come back and get you.”

Excellent point
, thought Mirissa. With another quick
smile at the woman who’d made her feel at home so quickly, Mirissa trotted out
of the house in search of the barn.

Greco was waiting outside the huge wooden door that led into
what looked to be a condemned fire hazard posing as a barn.
One strong
breeze and this whole thing will come down,
Mirissa mused.

As though sensing her trepidation at going inside, Greco
smiled—actually smiled—and said, “Don’t worry. Things aren’t always what they
seem.” With that, he opened the door and waited for Mirissa to go in.

“Holy crap!” Mirissa blurted out. She couldn’t believe what
she was seeing. The barn, if you could call it that, housed what looked to be a
state of the art gym along the left wall, followed by a full sized boxing ring.
The gym had free weights of all sizes and every machine she had ever seen in
the many gyms she’d belonged to. On the right, there was a tactical firing
range complete with ballistic rubber tiles on the walls and ceiling, suspended
targets, and ballistic glass separating the lanes. Every inch of the interior
walls and ceiling of the barn was covered in soundproofing acoustical foam,
giving the entire space a rather intimidating feel.

Greco led her over to the boxing ring, shrugged off his
lightweight jacket, and said, “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Now we’re talking
, Mirissa thought. Although her
consciousness had been sparring in Tritonia, her body was still waiting for its
turn. She needed a good bout to help focus her mind after all of the craziness
this day had flooded her with, and, she had to admit, she was kind of looking
forward to kicking Greco’s ass.

Climbing in the ring, Mirissa watched Greco loosen up with
some side stretches and shoulder rolls.
He’s confident
, she thought.
Most men were when faced with a female opponent, so Mirissa just smiled,
looking forward even more to taking him down.

The match started slowly, with both of them circling, sizing
up their opponent and deciding on the best way to incapacitate them. Mirissa
was the first to make her move, with a head fake to the left, she let loose a
vicious blow to Greco’s mid-section, only to find that he had anticipated her
move and pivoted easily out of her reach
. OK,
she thought
, he has
some skills.
Stepping back to regroup, Mirissa decided on a different tack.
She pivoted on her front foot and gave a roundhouse kick aimed at his head,
only to be blocked by a quick forearm move. Not waiting this time, she followed
up by planting her right foot and using her momentum to spin around into a back
kick. This one landed.

Greco let out an “Oomph” but recovered quickly. Sensing
weakness, Mirissa went in for the kill. A straight punch to the chest, followed
by a flurry of combinations, pushed him against the ropes and Mirissa knew the
fight was over. She stepped back, lowered her hips, and took out his feet with
a sweeping kick. Once he was on the mat, she put her foot on his chest and
said, “So, are we done?”

“Not even close,” Greco said as he pushed himself up off the
mat. “Now let’s see how you do when I actually fight back.”

It took Mirissa a moment to realize that he was right. He
hadn’t thrown even one punch the whole time she was attacking him. Feeling a
little embarrassed by her misplaced bravado, she just nodded her head.

“Ready when you are,” she challenged.

This round was a little different. Mirissa still took the
lead with an opening move of a punch to his chest, but this time, after Greco
easily blocked it by pivoting and pushing her arm to the side, he followed with
a sharp jab to her kidney. Although he could have continued, he simply backed
up a few steps and waited for Mirissa’s next attack.

Mirissa realized that she had seriously underestimated
Greco, and in doing so, had allowed herself to fall into old habits. She’d
learned early on in her martial arts training that decimating her opponents,
although fun for her, didn’t go over well with her fellow students. So she had
begun holding back in her matches, allowing her opponent to land strikes that
she could have easily blocked or dodged, and not using her full force or speed
in her own attacks. She would give just enough to win the match but no more.
That was a mindset that would do her no good here, so she decided to put it
aside and give this fight everything she had, something she hadn’t done in a
very long time.

This time it was Greco’s turn to advance. He came at her
with a right leg sidekick that Mirissa dodged by moving slightly to his
supporting leg’s side, then she countered with a right leg roundhouse to his
body. When her leg came down she was too close for another kick, so she went
with a left uppercut to his jaw and a right hook that would have landed just
above Greco’s left eye, had he not blocked it.

“Now that’s more like it,” he said while bouncing on the
balls of his feet, readying for his next attack.

Greco came at her with a 360-degree spin kick, forcing
Mirissa to block instead of dodge, leaving her open for his left hook. All she
could do was pull in her chin and lower her hips to lessen her head’s exposure
to the punch. Shaking off the momentary disorientation caused by the impact,
Mirissa jumped high into the air, gathering her knees to her chest, and lashed
out with a stunning side kick to Greco’s chest, knocking him far enough back
and off balance that she could lay a combination of kicks on him before he
fully recovered.

Feeling more confident now, Mirissa ducked under and inside
Greco’s reach and laid an upward elbow strike to his abdomen, rising into an
open palm to his jaw, then swinging her elbow in from the side to shatter his
cheek bone. A split second before impact, Greco pulled his head back, her elbow
sailing past his face, hitting nothing, and he countered with an excruciating
punch that landed right between her shoulder blades.

Knowing she was exposed, with her back to her opponent,
Mirissa let her momentum carry her around until she could execute a back kick
followed by an immediate sidekick. Back on even footing, she let loose a flurry
of punches—hooks, jabs, uppercuts, rabbit punches—but so did Greco. Then came
the kicks—side, front, back, and axe. Both of them striking, blocking, and
counter striking at furious speeds, almost like a choreographed dance. Mirissa
imagined it would look quite beautiful, if you could ignore the underlying
violence and pain involved.

With one final sidekick that succeeded in pushing Mirissa
back against the ropes, Greco stopped. “That’s enough for today. Go back to the
house and get cleaned up for dinner,” he said.

Mirissa nodded and climbed out of the ring, trying to bring
herself down from the adrenaline rush caused by sparring with someone that
matched her in both ability and speed. How was that even possible? Other than
when she’d visited Tritonia earlier that day and sparred with Asteria, Mirissa
had never gone up against an opponent that could keep up with her when she
didn’t hold back. She made a mental note to ask Greco about that, assuming, of
course, that they would have an actual conversation at some point.

When she walked in the front door to the farmhouse, Mrs.
Baxter was waiting for her with fresh towels and a bag of toiletries. She
obviously knew that Mirissa was going to need a shower after visiting the barn
and showed her to her bathroom.

“Dinner will be ready in a half hour,” she said over her
shoulder as she left Mirissa to get cleaned up.

Twenty minutes later, showered and feeling hungrier than she
had expected, Mirissa walked into the dining room. Like all of the other rooms
in the house, it was small and cozy. More prints that still looked like
Rockwell paintings hung on the walls, and fresh flowers in a vase shaped like
an old watering can sat on the wood dining table that looked like it had seen
better days.

Mr. Baxter was already seated at the head of the table, with
Greco at the opposite end. When Mrs. Baxter came out of the kitchen holding a
huge serving bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, the incredible aroma immediately
filled the room and Mirissa’s stomach let out a growl.

“Sounds like somebody worked up an appetite,” Mrs. Baxter
said as she motioned Mirissa to one of the empty chairs. “Dig in, honey. You’re
going to need some extra calories while you’re here.”

The spaghetti was delicious and the peach cobbler they had
for desert was the perfect end to a superb meal.
I could get used to this
,
Mirissa thought. Not that she didn’t eat well at home, but neither she nor her
father had ever been culinary experts, so most of their meals either came from
a box or were simple meat and potatoes. She told herself to remember to ask for
Mrs. Baxter’s recipes to bring home with her when this was all through.

Once Mirissa got her fill of the meal, she turned to Greco.
“So, tell me about my ring. What is its significance?”

“When you’re ready. And, before you ask, you are definitely
not ready now,” Greco said, and left the table before she could push any
further.

“Thank you very much for dinner, Mrs. Baxter. It was really
fantastic.”

“You are very welcome, dear. It’s always a joy to cook for
someone that loves food, but remember, please call me Laura.”

After helping to clear the table and clean all of the
dishes, Mirissa went back to her room to call her father.

“Hey, sweetheart! How’s it going?” Her dad tried to sound
happy and upbeat, but he didn’t quite pull it off, and Mirissa found herself
wishing that he were with her. It hadn’t even been a full day, but she already
missed him terribly, and she knew that with all of this craziness that was now
her life, she would need him more than ever.

Giving him the same, fake, upbeat tone, Mirissa went through
all of the details of her day, spending more time than was probably necessary
describing their dinner, and assured him that she was doing fine.

“I like the sound of those Baxters. You make sure they take
good care of you, and if you need anything, anything at all, you just call me.
I can be there in a couple of hours.”

Feeling better knowing that her dad would come running if
she needed him, they said their goodbyes and Mirissa faded off to sleep.