Morpheus (7 page)

“What do you want me to bring you back?”

He knew she meant food. “Just your sweet
self.”

She moved to him leaning down to kiss him. He
pulled her closer until she ended up lying on top of him. The kiss
was so deep and just went on and on until they heard the kids in
the other room. She pulled back and he let her. He couldn’t believe
how comfortable he was with her and the kids in such a small amount
of time. He just viewed them as his and he would keep and protect
them.

“I’d better go before they scream the place
down,” she said with a smile as she headed out to the living room
where she kissed both of the kids before grabbing her purse and
keys. She left without a glance back, that was two hours ago and he
was getting nervous.

The phone rang, should he answer it? He made
a quick decision and picked it up. “Morpheus,” Cutter’s cold voice
came over the line.

“What do you want?”

“I have your girlfriend here. I think she
wants to talk to you.”

“Morpheus,” El’s voice came over the line
full of worry. “Take the kids and run as fast as you can. Don’t
stop until you’re safe.”

“Aw, how sweet. You won’t do that, though,
will you? You know what I’ll do to her if you do. Do you want her
free? You’ll do what I say if you do.”

“What do you want?” he asked even though he
knew.

“You, you big lug. I want you here so we can
get to know each other intimately. No messing around and trying to
hold back. I want your complete cooperation in the experiment. Once
you do that, I’ll let her go.”

“No.”

“No? I don’t think you understand what I’m
willing to do to her. You will come back and you’ll do it now,”
Cutter screeched.

He hung up on her. It was a calculated risk,
his heart pounded in his chest and he felt like he was going to
throw up because of worry for his mate but he knew if he gave in,
Cutter would have them both. El, was no good to them without him
but as long as they thought they might get him, she should be safe.
It was the
should
that worried him. He breathed in one deep
breath, exhale, another, then exhale. The phone rang again,
Cutter’s horrible voice on the other end.

“I’ll give you one time free, hang up again,
she dies.”

“I’m not so stupid that I’ll turn myself in
to you without you letting her go at the same time. I also have to
find a safe place for the kids.”

“How sweet, a regular Mr. Mom. You have an
hour, then I’ll call you back and tell you where to come. Oh and
Morpheus, no tricks and you’d better be on time.”

Cutter hung up and the line went dead but he
just held onto the phone, maybe because he had nothing else to hold
on to. An hour wasn’t long enough. Not only did he have no one to
keep the kids, he would be alone with no back up to help him see
that El was safe. What the hell was he going to do?

Chapter 8

Too Little

Hades had a niggling feeling deep in his gut.
It was starting to make him sick and he pressed the gas pedal
harder. Luckily, this was a secondary highway and not patrolled as
heavily as the main ones. He had cut some time off the trip, at
least an hour with his heavy foot.

“What’s the hurry?” Lu asked quietly.

“I’ve got a bad feeling,” Hades admitted.

“Maybe we should call early and make sure
they’re okay,” Lu suggested.

“What good will that do if they’re not?”

“Maybe we can help them figure out what to
do?” Hades nodded and Lu picked up the phone laying on the console
between them. The number was already programmed in for the call. He
pushed the button and waited. It rang, once, twice, three times and
was picked up just before going to voice mail.

“Hello,” Morpheus said suspiciously. He had
looked at the phone like it was a snake ready to strike when it
started to ring. He had only answered it because he didn’t see any
way it could make his situation worse. He hadn’t even realized that
El had left the burner phone behind, but she’d had no reason to
take the thing with her.

“Morpheus, this is Lu. Is everything alright?
Hades is about to have a heart attack from an unexplainable worry
about you.”

“No, Cutter got El. She wants me to turn
myself in to her and she says once I follow her instructions,
she’ll release her. I don’t have anyone to watch the kids and I’m
not sure what to do. Once Cutter has me, I know she’ll either keep
El, or kill her.”

“When do you have to meet Cutter?”

“I just talked to her. She’s giving me an
hour to find a place for the kids, then she’s calling me to arrange
the meeting.”

“We are about an hour and a half from you
according to our GPS. Hades is already speeding like crazy so I
doubt we’ll get there much sooner. If worse comes to worse, you can
leave the kids and we’ll get them first. Call us back when she
gives you directions to the meeting. Good luck, Brother.” Lu hung
up because he didn’t know what to say to Morpheus. Emotions were
difficult for him, he just tried to avoid them. He was too battered
and broken to ever be any help to someone as distraught as Morpheus
was right now.

“What do we do?” Doc asked. They had all
heard since Lu had the phone on speaker, but none of them had said
a thing either. With no plan in mind, what the hell was there to
say? Sometimes saying nothing was better than saying the wrong
thing.

“Get there as quick as we can,” Hades
growled. He was cutting time, but it wouldn’t be enough if Cutter
stayed on schedule.

“Call Morpheus back,” Doc said.

Lu pressed the redial even as he wondered
what she had planned. “Hello,” Morpeus said as he answered on the
first ring this time.

“Morpheus, you don’t know me, but I’m Doc.
I’m Hades mate and I’m human.” The guys all smiled. Of course she
was human, there were no female gods. “When Cutter calls, tell her
the babysitter hasn’t arrived yet. As soon as we get there, I’ll
come up alone to see to the kids because I’m sure they’re watching
your room. Hades has shaved off some time and you’ll only have to
stall about ten minutes if all continues to go as it has.”

“What if she won’t agree?”

“Convince her.”

“I’ll try, just hurry, please.” Doc was
surprised, gods didn’t plead.

“You think he’ll manage?” Hades asked
skeptically.

“All he can do is try,” she replied.

“Cutter is one cold bitch. She makes an
impression and it’s not a good one,” Lu said looking the most
serious Doc had ever seen him.

“You know her?” she asked.

“Only too well,” Lu said and Doc was quickly
drawing shocking conclusions.

“How did Morpheus end up with her?”

“Morpheus was sent on a mission, she went
along. She often went on certain types of missions. They used her
as an interrogator and a punisher,” Hades explained.

“What’s a punisher?” Doc asked, her voice
hoarse and low.

“She handled gods who didn’t have successful
missions or prisoners who refused to talk. Origin wanted everyone
to know what happened when someone didn’t cooperate with them. She
would abuse them to near death and send them back to their people.
Most of them died, but the ones who survived, they were seriously
fucked up after she was through with them. It sent a powerful
statement,” Lu answered.

“What could make a woman become like that?”
Doc wondered.

“Those people are born that way and some of
the females, they’re the worst. We have to get there in time to
save Morpheus’s mate because Cutter won’t just kill her. That’s to
merciful and she doesn’t have it in her,” Hercules joined in.

Hades was eating up the miles, but he had to
be careful. If he drove too fast he might have an accident or get
stopped. The atmosphere among them was concerned and tinged with
fear. That part must be Doc because gods showed no fear. But if
they ever did, it would be in a situation like this where the fear
was for an innocent that might become a victim soon if they didn’t
make it in time.

Twenty more miles and Morpheus hadn’t called
yet. Had he not received the call yet or had he ignored Doc’s
suggestion in order to race in like a conquering hero? They could
easily lose both Morpheus and his mate. Ten more miles and the
tension could be cut with a knife. Still no call and that just
seemed too much to be a good thing. He took the right turn that
would take him right to the hotel in five more miles.

“Oh, for God’s sake, would someone talk about
something!” Doc exclaimed. The stress was getting to her and she
hated counting down the minutes. She knew she would be left in
charge of the kids while the rest of the team saved the day, or at
least hopefully saved the day.

They finally made it there, still without
hearing a word from Morpheus. They pulled into the parking lot of
the building he was at, just as the phone rang. “Hello,” Lu
said.

“She just called and she gave me twenty
minutes to make it across town. Where are you guys?”

“Downstairs, I’m sending Doc to you. Leave as
soon as she comes, I’ll call you a cab and we’ll follow out of
sight. She’s on her way right now. Give me the location for the
meet,” Hades instructed as he wrote everything down. Cutter’s delay
had been helpful in allowing them to follow Morpheus. The odds of
catching Cutter and her crew while saving Morpheus and his mate,
had just gone up.

Doc disappeared in the door and five minutes
later Morpheus stood outside waiting for a cab. The cab pulled in
two minutes after that and Hades noticed a familiar looking guy
slip into a car and follow the cab. He couldn’t remember his name
right off, didn’t really want to have to remember the weasel, but
he was one of Cutter’s favorites. That meant he was a low down
slime bag, that was the way she liked them.

The cab made its way across town with
Cutter’s man behind it. They followed him as far back as they could
without risking losing him. It would almost be funny, a line of
cars following each other all over town, if the matter at hand
wasn’t so serious and life threatening. The cab pulled in at a park
of some sort. Cutter’s man pulled in after it. Hades pulled past
and stopped. Hercules and Eres got out to check things out on foot.
They would let him know when he and Lu were needed.

“Isn’t it just the damnedest thing?” Lu
asked.

“What?” Hades asked wondering what the hell
Lu was talking about.

“We escaped Origin only to have them come
after our mates. They still hold our fate in the palm of their
filthy hands. Will it ever end?” Lu turned angry eyes to Hades.

“I don’t know, but we’re damn sure going to
try to finish it.”

The phone rang, it was Hercules. “They didn’t
bring the mate with them. She told Morpheus he’ll have to come with
her or take the risk of trying to leave. Lying fucking bitch set
him up.”

“Tell me when to follow them,” Hades
replied.

“They seem to be on foot. I remember they
like to set up near parks, government offices, public lands, and
such. Eres and I are following at a distance. She’s got two of her
goons with her.”

“Are there any buildings nearby?” Hades
asked.

“There are buildings all around. The back
side of this park connects to some kind of small business area or
mall. I’ll let you know when they enter one.”

With nothing to do now but think, Hades
wondered how Doc and the kids were doing.

Chapter 9

Little Angels

Morpheus had just left and she had these two
sweet little kids left in her charge. All she really knew about
them was that they were Morpheus’s mate’s children and their names.
“So what do you two usually do when you stay at a hotel like
this?”

“Mom takes us on vacations and we get to do
all kindsa fun stuff. Are you going to take us to eat? We haven’t
had a thing all day long. Mom went to buy us food, but she’s not
back yet and Morpheus went to get her,” Cassie said.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to stay here, but
maybe we can have delivery. What do you guys want?”

The two of them started to fight about what
they should order. Donnie wanted pizza while Cassie wanted anything
Chinese. The fight started to get ugly. “Okay, I’m going to write
down a number between one and ten. The one who guesses closest to
the number, picks what we eat,” Doc suggested.

“What if we both pick numbers the same
distance from your number?” Cassie asked.

“We’ll do it until there’s a clear winner.
I’m writing the number down. Okay, Cassie what’s your number?”

“That’s not fair, she gets to go first,”
Donnie complained.

“You might as well learn to be a gentleman.
Morpheus would let your mom go first,” Doc pointed out.

“That’s because he kisses her. She’s his girl
friend. Cassie is just my sister,” he complained.

“Big strong men let women go first in things
like this,” Doc said with a smile.

“Alright,” Donnie said drawing the word out
and acting like he was very put upon.

“I pick five,” Cassie said.

“Okay, what’s your number Donnie?” Doc
asked.

“I pick eight,” he said.

Doc turned the paper over. The number was
nine. Donnie jumped up and down shouting with happiness.

“Brother,” Cassie said with a big smile.
“Maybe we can make a deal.”

Donnie couldn’t have looked at her with more
suspicion. “What kind of deal?”

“Maybe we can make a trade. You go with
Chinese food now and when we get home, you can cook two times in a
row,” Cassie said. Tuesday and Thursday nights, Mom let them cook
supper. She helped them as needed but they had a book they were
allowed to pick anything they wanted from and they shopped for
groceries on Sunday so they would have what they needed for the
meals.

Donnie looked at her with interest. “Really?
You’re not tryin’ to trick me?” Doc tried to remember back to a
time when she would have wanted to cook for the family that much.
No, wasn’t happening. She had enjoyed cooking more when she was
younger, but it had still been a chore and time away from other
things she loved more. She would bet Cherish would see the lure
though.