Evans, Gabrielle - Upon Crimson Waters [Fatefully Yours 2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) (17 page)

“No fucking way, dickhead. He likes me best,” Myst said and shoved Eyce with enough force to send him stumbling into the counter.

“You’re all full of shit.” Hex smoothed a hand down his thin cotton shirt. “Echo would pick me over any of you.”

They bickered back and forth good-naturedly, and Fiero sighed in relief. Echo wouldn’t let him hide forever, but at least he had a little more time to work up to the pledges of love and devotion.

Chapter Twelve

“Okay, we’ve tried everything!” Echo stomped up and down the edge of the pond. “What are we missing?”

Eyce sat on the ground, the unseasonably warm air drifting over his face, and sighed. “If I knew what we were missing, it wouldn’t be missing, would it?”

“There’s no reason to be a dick. I’m trying to help.” Echo stopped his pacing to turn and cross his arms as he glared at Eyce.

Pushing to his feet with a grunt, Eyce ignored Echo’s comment and walked past him to crouch down on the edge of the pond. “It’s not algae like we originally thought. It’s not blood. It’s not pollution, toxins, or iron. No one can figure out what it is, and I haven’t the slightest clue.”

He dipped his fingers in the water, flicking at the cool water. “It looks almost like syrup, but it doesn’t feel sticky or slimy. It’s like someone dunked a big red cloud in the water and it just got stuck there.”

“People are dying!” Echo shouted.

Closing his eyes, Eyce dropped his head as he battled to hold on to his anger and frustration. Nine days since the new moon, and he may as well been banging his head against a wall for all the progress he was making.

He’d heard the news reports over the last week, but he didn’t see how the two were connected. “Those people drowned, Echo. How is that related to this?” He snapped his wrist, sending droplets of water splashing over the surface of the pond.

“I don’t know,” Echo growled. “Doesn’t it seem a little odd to you? The water turns red, then all these people suddenly start drowning—only in the affected ponds and lakes.”

“Fighting amongst ourselves isn’t going to solve this.”

Standing and wiping his hand on his jeans, Eyce turned to face their leader. “Maybe we’re looking at this wrong. We’ve been searching out natural phenomenon, but this is Hades were dealing with here.”

“I’ve considered that.” Syx scratched at the back of neck as he spoke. “Those people didn’t just drown, Eyce. They were chewed and gnawed on.” He grimaced and shook his head. “Echo,” he called, “tell me about the dream you had right before Christmas. The one with the Oracle.”

“Just that it felt like I was drowning, like something was pulling me under the water. There was this awful smell that made me want to gag. It was kind of like dead fish, I guess. I could see everyone, but it no one could see or hear me.”

“Dead fish, drowning, being pulled under the water,” Syx mumbled under his breath as he started pacing. “Anything else?” he called to Echo.

“Not that I can remember.” Echo shrugged. “I remember feeling like someone was pushing on my back, right between my shoulder blades, like they wanted me to bow. I don’t really see how that’s helpful, though.”

Eyce’s head snapped up, and he stared at his mate as the pieces began to fall into place. “Echo, come here,” he said quietly, but firmly. “Get away from the water.”

“Echo, now,” Syx growled. “Move away from the water.”

Though he looked like he thought they’d all lost their minds, Echo nodded and took a step forward away from the edge of the pond. He lifted his foot to take another step, not moving nearly fast enough for Eyce’s liking, when water splashed up behind him, and along scaly arms wrapped around his torso.

“No!” Eyce charged forward, reaching Echo in only two steps, but it was too late. The water monster hissed something at him that he couldn’t understand then dove backward into the pond, taking a screaming Echo with him.

Without thought, Eyce continued toward the water, intent on saving his mate. Two sets of arms caught him around the waist and shoulders, dragging him back from the water’s edge as he roared his protest.

“Let me go!”

“You’re going to get yourself killed, and that sure as shit isn’t going to help Echo!” Fiero shoved him roughly, sending him to the ground to land on his ass. “You’re a goddamn water demon. Use your fucking head.”

Snarling up at his lover, Eyce sprang to his feet and took off running for the water before anyone could stop him again. His power flowed through him, more intense than he’d ever felt it before. It was almost physical, something he could bend and shape inside his mind.

He slowed to a walk when he reached the bank, but didn’t stop. He marched straight out into the middle of the pond, ignoring the gasps and mutter from the warriors behind him, as he strode upon the crimson waters.

The love he felt for Echo, the need to protect his mate raged inside him, pushing his powers to a strength he never knew he possessed. He’d finally admitted his feelings for the little imp, and he’d be damned if he would lose him now.

Once he reached the center, he stopped, took a deep breath, and threw his arms wide as he growled deep from within his chest. The water flowed away from the bottom of the lake to rise on three sides like an enormous, fifty-foot wall, revealing Eyce’s mate surrounded by five small creatures with lily pad-like indentions on the top of their heads.

“Kappas,” Eyce snarled at the beasts.

The water monsters dropped Echo’s limp body to the mud as they hissed and screeched, scrambling toward the wall of water. Eyce just smirked nastily, waving one hand and vanishing the water inside the indentions on the tops of their heads.

The kappas froze immediately, unable to move without the water to give them power. “Guys!”

He’d no more than spoken the words when his lovers raced past him, Hex dropping to his knees and scooping Echo into his arms. “I can’t hold it much longer,” Eyce warned. He could feel his power ebbing, the effort to hold back the waters becoming too much.

“Get the little fuckers,” Hex orders as he ran back toward the bank with Echo cradled against his chest.

The other demons moved fast, snatching up the kappas none too gently and dragging them across the muddy floor of the pond. Once his men had made it safely to the other side, Eyce started after them, closing his eyes as he walked and concentrating on keeping the water back.

He reached the shore just as he felt his power slip, giving way to the massive wall of water. Crawling up the embankment, he rolled to his back, gasping for breath as the water crashed back to the earth, refilling the pond in only seconds.

“Impressive.” Fiero smirked down at him, his face blocking out Eyce’s view of the night sky.

“Echo?” Eyce panted.

“Not happy, but he’s alive.”

Eyce flopped over to his side, feeling weak and disoriented, but needing to see his mate for himself. Echo coughed and gagged, his skin pale and his wet hair plastered to his face. He looked like shit, but Eyce decided he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

Then Echo finally looked up to meet his gaze, his lower lip trembling, and his eyes glistening with unshed tears. He crawled across the grass, and Eyce opened his arms, catching his mate as Echo fell against him, shaking, sobbing, and clutching at his shirt.

Everyone gathered around them, stroking Echo’s back and Eyce’s chest, whispering words of comfort. Eventually, Echo’s sobs quieted, his tremors subsided, but he still leaned heavily against Eyce, his fingers twined in the fabric covering his chest.

“What are those things?” he asked softly, his voice breaking only once.

“Kappas,” Syx answered quietly. “Water sprites from Japanese folklore.”

“I’m looking right at them,” Echo said as he stretched out next to Eyce, resting his head on his chest. “They don’t look like fairy tales to me.”

“No, they’re very real.”

“Are they dead?”

“No, just paralyzed.” Syx stood and walked over to one of the creatures. “See the dip on their head that looks like a bowl? It has to be filled when they’re away from the water, or they are unable to move.”

“I’ve read about them.” Echo sat up slowly, but didn’t move away from Eyce’s side. “None of the myths mention anything about them turning the waters red, though.”

“They don’t.” Vapre sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. “I would guess that was just a diversionary tactic so we end up chasing our own asses. It worked.”

“So, what do we do with them now?”

“We put them back,” Eyce rolled to his side and pushed up on one arm with a groan. “We gather the other ones and bring them here as well.”

“What? Have you lost your fucking mind? They tried to eat me!”

“You said you’ve read about them?” He waited for Echo to nod. “So, if we refill the indentations on their heads…”

“They’ll serve us for eternity,” Echo mumbled slowly before a big shit-eating grin spread across his face. “They’d come in pretty handy in a war.”

Eyce leaned over and kissed the tip of Echo’s nose. “Exactly.” His heart still thundered inside his chest, making it difficult to form words. He had his entire world, his whole future, right here in his hands, and he’d almost lost it. He didn’t exactly understand it, but somewhere in the corner of his pounding heart, he knew Echo’s love had saved them all.

The Oracle spoke of surrender, and though the concept had made Eyce curl his lip in the beginning, he now knew what she’d meant. He hadn’t needed to surrender to his enemy, or even to Echo, though the man owned him heart and soul. The battle had been within him. Once he’d surrendered to himself, acknowledged and stop fighting his feelings for his lovers, everything had seemed so simple.

The idea had him rolling his eyes internally as a ironic grin spread over his lips.
Love conquers all
, he thought.

“So, how do we lure them out?” Fiero interrupted Eyce’s inner ramblings. He still knelt beside Echo, touching him everywhere he could reach. “I’m not keen on the idea of using Echo as bait again.”

“No, I don’t think I’d like that either.” Echo shook his head, the look on his face so serious that Eyce couldn’t help but chuckle.

“No, we don’t need bait,” he answered slowly. “We’re going to boil the lakes.”

* * * *

“That’s the last of them.” Echo groaned and slumped down on the ground. “We need to get some cucumbers.”

“Uh, why do we need cucumbers?” Onyx plopped down beside him and bumped their shoulders together.

“That’s what they eat. I guess it’s like a delicacy to them or something. I read it somewhere.”

“Hmm, well we certainly want to keep the little bastards happy.”

“They’re indebted to us now.” Syx sighed as he crouched down in front of them. “We still need to be careful near the pond, though.”

“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere near that thing.” Echo shook his head defiantly. “That was way worse than my dream.” He paused and took a deep breath. “That was way worse than my dream,” he added in a whisper.

“Hex just called. They’ve check all the ponds, lakes, and rivers, and everything is clear.” Eyce strolled up to them, slipping his cell phone back into his pocket. “The waters are back to normal.”

“I knew you could do it.” Echo beamed up at his lover, so proud, he felt his heart would jump right out of his chest.

“I didn’t really do anything.” Eyce waved away the praise. “You were amazing, though.”

Echo didn’t feel like he had contributed much at all. The only thing he’d done was act as a conduit between Eyce and Fiero, so that they could combine their powers to boil the lakes. It had been kind of funny to see the little sprites come bursting out of the steaming waters, yelping and squealing.