Giving It Up for the Gods (20 page)

That’s it, then. Cardea will always come first with him. And what is with that nymph’s cloud of dark hair? Jase hasn’t just brushed it, has he?

The upper cave was rough-hewn from solid rock. Pluto’s cells riddled the ground like holes in Swiss cheese. The torches flared, casting scarlet and orange patches of light across the rock floor.

A hand landed on Lindy’s shoulder, and she swung her bolt cutters.

“I’m on your side.” Jase grinned, shoved her behind him. He stripped off his jacket. “Here, put this on. So, are you okay?”

She refused to cower behind her man—not that he was hers, no matter how much she’d ached to complete the claiming. Those magic few seconds, when he’d plunged his fangs into her neck and screwed her so gently, would live with her for all time. Almost, she’d been his.

With a forced smile, she told him, “I’ve been better.”

A demon crept up behind her. She dropped Jase’s jacket, yanked a lit torch from the wall, and brandished it in the demon’s face. She’d thought demons would be immune to fire, but it wailed and stepped back. Again she realized she was naked, but she needed two hands to fight. Besides anything was better than wearing Jase’s clothes now she knew he loved Cardea.

The demon took an instinctive step backward, tangled its foot in the discarded jacket, and tumbled into the cell she’d recently vacated. The jacket slid after it. After that, she leaped around the room, using her Siren speed and strength to pot demons into holes like a pool shark. Saul copied her, but Jase freed his demon. He tore heads from shoulders and ripped limbs from sockets. Then Merc was back, leaping around like a grasshopper as he too used a flaming torch to ram demons into cells.

“Take Lindy!” Jase yelled.

Merc ignored him and scooped up his net. It shrank to the size of a bandanna, and he shoved it in his pocket. As he straightened, a demon jumped in front of him. He screamed like a girl. He half jumped, half transported to safety. Then he ran. And ran.

“Merc. Come back, you moron!” Saul bellowed. “Come on. I don’t want to lose him in hell.” Lindy forgot she was naked and tore after him.

Saul shoved another demon into an empty oubliette and ran past her. Jase crossed the room in three bounds and pelted toward the dingy corridor.

Chapter Twenty

Lindy gasped as two demons leaped onto Jase’s back, but a nimble piece of footwork kept him from tumbling into an oubliette. His horns shone like polished black ebony in the flickering torchlight. She started back to help him, but he shook his head.

“I’ve got this. Keep up with the others. And make one of them lend you a shirt,” he rumbled, more demon than man.

Torch in hand, she took a last look at Jase. Her heart splintered when she accepted that he didn’t want her.
Yeah, that’d be right. He doesn’t need me, and I sure as hell don’t need him.

So why did her heart whisper
you can’t live without him?

Rather than stay and get underfoot, she followed the others. Behind her, she heard sounds of a scuffle; then a demon—not Jase—shrieked out his death throes. The other demon’s panicked yell faded slowly as it tumbled into an ice-covered oubliette. Ahead, footsteps clattered over the uneven ground, guiding her toward Saul and Merc. She just wished the loose stones didn’t cut into her feet.

Lindy chased Saul as he ran after Merc. The stone corridor spiraled steeply upward. She thanked the stars for the luminous stones set in the walls. Their soft glow kept the darkness at bay and showed her the way. Even using her Siren speed, she couldn’t catch the gods she followed. Her feet hurt. Her bare breasts jiggled with every step she took. She panted hard and ran until she developed a pain in her side. She didn’t dare stop, not until she found her companions, but she longed for Jase to catch up.

To Lindy, Jase was safety and shelter, so strong that she wanted to throw her arms around him and snuggle up close. If she could just run her finger down his chest or inhale his earthy essence, it’d ease the pain in her heart. How could he have chosen Cardea over her? That was okay, really.
No, it damn well wasn’t
. Sirens fought for the things they loved, but sometimes the only solution was to let go. It was time for her to leave, after she found Merc, of course. The kid was obnoxious, but she couldn’t just leave him.

With a nervous look over her shoulder, she sighed and kept moving until the passage forked. She paused, chest heaving, bent almost double by the stitch in her side. She wrapped her right arm around her breasts and rested the other on the wall for support. Sulfur fumes made her eyes water.
Sirens don’t cry. It’s just that the fumes irritate my eyes—honest.

When her panting subsided, she heard nothing. With a flip of a mental coin, she veered off to the right. At least she was still heading upward. Logically, that seemed right. A few twists and turns later, and the stench of sulfur and death lessened. The rock floor was well worn and smooth now. At least that spared her poor feet. When she looked back, a trail of tiny bloodstains—like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumbs—marked her route.

She sucked great gasps into her lungs and pushed on. She was lost. Alone. In Pluto’s underworld. How stupid could one Siren be? Another stop, a few deep breaths, and she finally stopped panting. Even if she followed her blood trail and retraced her steps, she’d still have to find Merc. He’d taken off like a startled jackrabbit, heedless of anyone or anything. That kid was really starting to get on her nerves. He’d badmouthed her, let her down at Aldborough, and abandoned her in Pluto’s realm. Most of the time she wanted to strangle him, but deep down, she had a soft spot for him.

Right now, finding clothes topped Lindy’s to-do list. At least she didn’t have to worry about her virginity anymore. She smiled when she thought how Jase had taken care of that.

Jase… Cardea… Don’t think about them. Stay strong and safe. Stand on my own two feet and get out of here
. Once she found her way home, she’d let that trio of gods know she was safe and move on. She’d given her all, but she was collateral damage that they abandoned as soon as she’d served her purpose. Her life had just fallen apart, what with her broken heart, bruised feet, and aching sense of loss. Right now she needed to forget everything and keep moving. That way she’d stay sharp and survive.

After what seemed like miles of twisting corridors, she finally faced a maze of doors. If she ever needed a god of doors and transitions, it was now, but he was back there in the darkness, dealing with the demons that had tortured Cardea. Besides, Sirens were proud, independent females, renowned for their inner strength. She’d get out of here without any help from men or gods or whatever. She’d keep going if it killed her, but she’d give anything for an unlocked door and a chance to steal some clothes. She rattled every doorknob she passed.

All locked. Damn it.

She’d feel safer if she wasn’t bare-ass naked. Slowly, she edged through the vast corridor. Adrenaline flowing, she readied herself for a fight. But one siren? Against a squad of demons? She was so screwed. Maybe literally.

She paused, listening and checking she was safe.
Not like I’ve got anywhere to hide, but forewarned and all that
. A door opened. A slender hand grabbed her wrist. Someone jerked her into a pink-painted boudoir. Then the door slammed behind her.

“Welcome to my parlor.” Circe smiled as she walked to the fire and took a sip of wine.

* * * *

Saul chased after Merc, determined to protect the young cub he’d adopted—his grandson, for fuck’s sake. With any luck, they’d find Neptune. It sickened Saul that his children had coveted his rings so much they’d murdered their mother to possess them.
What sort of bottom-feeders did I raise?

He’d watched over them, played childhood games with them, and bandaged up their scraped knees. He’d even helped them master their powers—the ones they’d used to kill Lua.
Unfeeling bastards, the lot of them.

Saul lost everything the day he lost his wife, Lua. He hated his sons for that, and he’d never forgive his daughter Juno for the way she’d lured her mother into a trap, then stood by and watched. If she’d just called for him sooner, he’d have given them the damn rings to save Lua—the minor goddess he’d soul-bonded with. Lua had been the best part of him, and when he lost her, he lost the will to live. As the goddess of captured weapons, Lua had been the deity Rome’s legions had honored when they destroyed their enemy’s spears, arrows, and swords. Even as she was dying, she’d protected him. She’d shattered the soul link between them, and that was supposed to be impossible. Her sacrifice meant he’d survived, but he’d rather have died alongside her. Instead of using their soul bond to feed her his life force as he’d wanted, he’d fallen to the ground—stunned and powerless—and seen everything through her eyes.

Somehow, he’d dredged up every remaining vestige of power inside him and hurled it at his treacherous children. Neptune caught the worst of the blast, and if Circe hadn’t used her dark magic to turn him into Olympus’s version of the green man, Saul would have had one less son to contend with. Instead, Neptune screwed virgin Sirens to stay young and survive.

Saul had vowed never to love again. It hurt too much. Even friendship left wounds. Jase was more family than Merc, and when Pluto held him prisoner, Saul had turned the world upside down trying to track down his friend; then Jase escaped unaided—unless you counted the demon lord inside him.

After today, the balance would change. He owed Lindy for going along with the solstice ceremony. Her courage meant he could take the first steps toward reclaiming his powers. His children were shits, and his vengeance had become a seething monster that ruled his life.

Gradually, as he chased down Merc, a new stink mingled with the sulfur—rotting fish and seaweed decomposing on the beach at low tide. Here in the middle of Pluto’s realm, another of Saul’s sons, Neptune, was close by. Thanks to Lindy and Jase, the god of the sea had aged…badly.

He raced after his grandson. When he caught a glimpse of Merc up ahead, Saul yelled, “Merc. Stop and think. We both hate him, but we’re outnumbered in the middle of Pluto’s kingdom. No way am I leaving without my ring, but a little caution here, please.”

Finally the youngster stopped. He threw a door open so hard it banged on the interior wall. Six of Neptune’s elite squad played poker as they sat around a table. They stood. Bodies tense, eyes bright, they fell into battle-ready stance. Behind them, another door led who knew where, but Saul had to go through the guards to reach it.

Their leader sneered when he spotted Merc. “Looks like the little shit wants back in his cage.”

Merc backed up. Saul stepped forward. Razor blades shot from the sides of his gloves and the toes of his biker boots as he too fell into fight mode. “Now, ladies, play nice. Dance with me, and the survivors walk out of here. Don’t worry, Merc.” He grinned over his shoulder. “Killing mermaids is like shooting fish in a barrel.”

The leader swaggered half a pace forward. “Mermen. We’re fucking mermen, you asshole.”

He lunged at Saul. The god’s swift roundhouse kick drew a bloody green line around his throat. He barely had time to raise his hands before his legs crumpled and he bled out on the floor. The other warriors stepped over the pools of green ichor and the corpse, and homed in on Saul.

With a grin colder than Pluto’s oubliettes, he demanded, “Who’s next?”

The mermen rushed him. Saul spun, twirled, and slashed. Martial arts and knife skills combined in deadly accuracy. Two merfolk down in an instant. Three more to go.

Merc cast his net, tangling two merwarriors in its folds. They kicked and yelled, even tried to bite through the strands. Crafted by Vulcan, it was indestructible. They didn’t stand a chance.

The thickset one with legs like tree trunks was still free. For a muscle-bound minion, he was fast on his feet. He ducked around Saul and closed his ham-hock fist around Merc’s throat. One-handed, he lifted the teen off his feet. With a nod toward the trapped minions, he growled, “Release them, or the animal dies.”

Saul froze. He’d already lost his wife. He wouldn’t lose Merc too. “It’s not my net. The kid’s the only one who can get them loose.”

The warrior’s gaze stayed on Saul as he choked the life out of the teenager. “This piece of shit should have stayed in his cage. The dumb bastard should respect his betters.”

His words broke something inside Merc. Even as the youngster struggled to breathe, his face contorted in fury. He threw his head forward and shattered the warrior’s nose. He arched his back and kicked his feet into the warrior’s groin. His captor dropped him as if he were on fire.

Merc lay on the floor, gasping. The warrior doubled over. A swift flash of Saul’s blades, and more green blood spurted. The merwarrior was dead in seconds. Merc grabbed his net, and as it shrank back to pocket size, he ran for the back door.

“Wait!” Saul called. The warriors Merc had just released from his net closed in on him, but the kid vanished through the door. Saul’s heart told him to follow, but he’d assumed bodyguard duties. He’d had them thrust on him, more like.

The two mermen exchanged nervous glances and nodded. Shoulder to shoulder, they slow marched toward him.

Saul leaped onto the table. The overhead light reflected on his blades. Balanced on the balls of his feet, he raised one hand and used all four fingers to beckon them closer. They charged the table. Saul scissor-kicked upward. The blade from his left foot took out a merwarrior’s eye. The other ducked sideways, but the knife in Saul’s shoe slashed a green stripe across his cheek.

The first fell screaming, his hands covering his empty eye socket. The second lunged for Saul’s feet. Saul’s leap cleared the warrior’s head. He tapped him on the shoulder. The merman turned, and Saul’s fist slammed into his face. The merman’s eyes rolled back in his head. His knees crumpled, and he lay unconscious among green slime and corpses.

Saul kicked a bloody corpse aside, determined to catch up with Merc.

Before he took two paces, a red-skinned demon filled the doorway. “Where the fuck is she?”