Wave of Memories: The Sons of the Zodiac (7 page)

BOOK: Wave of Memories: The Sons of the Zodiac
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CHAPTER NINE

Meg and Aidan didn’t have to wait long. A messenger had arrived on the front step of the brownstone, completely unaware of the contents of the package he delivered. They’d both known questioning him would only raise undue suspicion, so Aidan had accepted the parcel and sent him on his way with a big tip.

The simple package now lay on the counter, as she and Aidan circled around it. Along with a lock of dark hair that ensured Meg would have no doubt indentifying the sender, the enclosed note named of one of New York’s finest hotels as the site of Tyrus’s proposed showdown.

“He can’t possibly want all those bystanders around. The first rule of immortality is to avoid detection.”

“He has nothing to lose,” Aidan muttered as he flipped the note over in his hands. “Absolutely nothing.”

“How did he know we were here?”

“Because he’s made it his business to know everything about you. You think this just started a few weeks ago?”

“Of course not, but—” Meg broke off, knowing it was useless.

“We don’t advertise where we are, but our home’s not all that secret a location, either. All Tyrus needed was to know you came to me for help and he had the information he needed to find you.”

Aidan pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed a quick text, then turned toward her. “We need to go back to the library.”

“What for?”

“I just figured out what I was looking for. Quinn’s going to meet us there.”

Meg shook her head, confused by the change in topic. “You found something in the books?”

“I did, but I didn’t realize it at the time. Now I know.”

“What?”

“He’s not Enyo’s.”

Again, Meg couldn’t shake the sense of confusion, like she was swimming in syrup. “But the Destroyers. Who else would he belong to?”

“Her sister. Come on. We don’t have any time to lose.”

*  *  *

Aidan flipped through the old, brittle pages as fast as he dared. He hadn’t put it together before, even though the entry had grabbed his attention.

“What are you looking for?” Quinn paced behind him, the restless energy that drove him wearing a path in the ancient marble floor. Aidan had called the bull to meet them at the hotel as back up, but Quinn had pushed to come along.

“Don’t worry about that. Do you have a man at the hotel yet?”

“I’ve got a team watching and a sniper team across the way. The woman’s still alive and they think there may be a second hostage inside.”

“Let’s aim to keep her that way,” Aidan muttered as he continued flipping pages. Although they’d argued briefly about whether or not to free Tyrus’s hostage immediately, Meg had demanded they follow Tyrus’s instructions on the note. Keeping the woman alive was priority number one.

“Do your men know what they’re dealing with?” Meg probed.

“You mean immortals?”

“Yes.”

“No. All they know is they need to shoot to kill if he makes a move to hurt her. Otherwise, they’re to stay put and keep watch.”

Although Quinn kept who and what he was close to the vest, his security company had several trusted individuals who could be counted on in a pinch. Quinn used them sparingly, his instructions implicit.

“The snipers are trained on his head,” Quinn added. “A head shot’ll take down even an immortal, and my guys will be none the wiser.”

“Have you found what you’re looking for?” Meg leaned over his shoulder and Aidan found himself responding to her body heat as he leaned into her slightly.

“Not yet.”

“Why are we wasting time if you already know what you’re looking for?” Quinn demanded.

“Because we need to go to the source and I want to make absolutely sure I’m right. Tyrus is the instrument, nothing more. But if we want to destroy him, we have to understand what made him.”

“He’s not acting like an instrument, Aidan.” Meg leaned in even further. “He’s calling the shots.”

“That’s why we need to be sure. And if there is a hostage, to Quinn’s report, he may have turned on his creator.”

With a hard hand slap to the table, Aidan pointed to an entry on the newly-turned page. “Got it.”

“What?” Quinn and Meg asked in unison.

“Eris’s Golden Apple. That’s it.”

Meg shook her head as she pointed to a bright drawing on the page. “But the apple of discord causes problems. It doesn’t resurrect people from the dead, Aidan.”

“No, it’s exactly right.” Aidan turned in his chair to face both of them. “Think about it. Eris created the Golden Apple to cause problems at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the inciting incident that ultimately lead to the Trojan War.”

“I still don’t see the connection,” Quinn resumed pacing. “The apple was used as a tool. Tyrus is a resurrected human.”

“Who
is
a tool,” Meg added, “but that’s beside the point.”

Aidan couldn’t hold back his bark of laughter, but he did have to agree with her. “He is a tool, both literally and figuratively.”

“I’m still not following,” Quinn said.

“Eris had to create the apple. The absence of matter into matter. She engineered Tyrus in the same way.”

“I still don’t get it. What did she do? I assumed she resurrected Tyrus the same way Themis resurrected you both. And,” Meg added, “Enyo creates Destroyers. Isn’t this the same thing?”

“Different gifts, different manifestation of those gifts.” Aidan ran a hand through his hair and tugged, trying to think of the best way to explain it.

“Eris is the goddess of discord. Part of her gift—the same gift that allows her to create that discord—is the ability to create a sense of dissonance out of nothing. The apple is simply a physical manifestation of that.”

“But Tyrus was a human. And he still has all the same traits he had before, but now he’s immortal.”

“That’s where it gets interesting. If my estimates are correct, he’s really only a vessel.”

“Just like the apple?” Quinn pressed.

“Exactly. His new life was created out of nothing. It’s now a matter of sending him back to nothing.”

“But why would Eris give him up? If she created him, presumably she has a use for him.”

Aidan closed the book gently. “That’s what we need to find out.”

*  *  *

The woman remained unconscious and Eris was grateful for that. While she had no particular love of humans, this wasn’t what she had in mind as a way to lure Meg out.

Even if she chalked the prostitute up to collateral damage, the whole thing sat badly.

“Tyrus. We don’t need her. In fact, she’s going to call more attention to what we’re doing here. Why don’t you let her go?”

“No.”

His single word was immediate and implacable and, if she wasn’t mistaken, a little bit mad.

“So this is what you do when you’re not helping me? You tie up helpless women?”

“I do a whole lot more than tie them up.” Tyrus ran a hand down the woman’s leg, the gesture more than a little creepy for how gentle it was.

“I can’t let you do this, Tyrus.”

That hand flexed on the woman’s thigh before he turned toward her. “You don’t have a choice.”

“I do have some say in what you do and where you go. You’re here because of me.”

“You’ve been more than willing to overlook my personal interests in exchange for my services. But I think it’s time to renegotiate our deal.”

Eris debated the wisdom of porting from the room and going for help, but another glance at the helpless woman and the freak of nature she’d help bring back into the world and Eris rethought that approach.

There had to be another way.

Before she could think on it any further, the air around them exploded with activity.

And three people landed in the center of the room.

*  *  *

Meg didn’t miss the woman who lay unconscious on the bed as she landed in the hotel room wrapped in Aidan’s arms. Nor did she miss Eris, her lifelong enemy, where she sat across the room. Quinn had called off the snipers so they could port into the room undetected but now that they were here, she wasn’t quite sure how they were going to pull off Aidan’s plan.

He was convinced they could disassemble Tyrus, almost as if he were a piece of machinery.

But they hadn’t counted on Eris.

Meg wanted to have faith in Aidan—wanted to believe he knew what he was doing—but the entire process wasn’t logical. Tyrus was a flesh and blood human.

An immortal one, to boot.

How could Aidan possibly believe they could simply disarm him?

“I was hoping you’d bring him.” Tyrus never left the side of the woman who lay on the bed, instead turning to face them so he had her positioned behind him. “My childhood enemy.”

“We’re no longer children.”

“Ah, but the events of our childhood that made us are still alive and well,” Tyrus tapped his forehead. “Up here. Surely you know that better than anyone, Aidan.”

“Those years are long past.”

“Then why do I see fear in your eyes?”

Meg refused to glance at Aidan—refused to give Tyrus the satisfaction to see any hesitation in her gaze—but his words worried her all the same.

Especially in light of Aidan’s outburst earlier.

Did he live in the shadow of his father’s expectations?

Or could he find the strength to overcome his childhood enemy?

CHAPTER TEN

Aidan grit his teeth and allowed Tyrus’s words to bounce off of him. What had once had the power to wound, now was simply something to be endured until he could act.

Until he could leap on the asshole and fucking end him.

Quinn shifted, moving behind and to the left so they formed a phalanx. As the bull repositioned himself, Aidan took the opportunity to remove Meg from the immediate line of fire, placing his body between her and Tyrus.

There was no way he was letting go of her now.

The reality of that—the sheer simplicity of it—filled him, pushing away whatever residual muck Tyrus’s words had turned up.

He loved her and had never stopped loving her. And with startling clarity, Aidan knew what came before would never matter again.

“You are right about something, Tyrus. We aren’t children any longer. And the depraved games you’ve been playing since you were young are going to stop.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

Aidan shrugged. “Fine.”

At his simple shrug, Tyrus leaped. Aidan saw Meg’s flash of movement as she headed toward the bed, dragging the woman off of the satiny cover and onto the floor, against the far wall.

Eris ran from her side of the room to join them, shifting with Meg so the two of them covered the mortal woman.

Satisfied Meg was as safe as she could be for the moment, Aidan turned to face Tyrus.

The tattoo on his back quivered with anticipation of the battle, but Aidan refused to let it out.

He’d do this all by himself.

Even Quinn seemed to recognize Aidan’s need to fight on his own. While the bull was clearly in place should he be needed, he hung stoically back, his feet planted in a battle-ready stance.

Tyrus’s first attack was low and dirty, the move designed to catch him off balance. Aidan shifted, allowing Tyrus’s forward movement to carry him across the room before he tumbled into a large armoire.

As the enemy of his childhood tossed his head, trying to shake off the tumble, Aidan leapt. With fists and feet, he landed as many blows as he could, determined to inflict as much pain as possible. With deliberate movements, he maintained the force of his body, shifting to use his feet so his hands were free to capture the knife that gleamed wickedly from a sheath at Tyrus’s waist.

“You’re nothing but a spoiled brat.” Tyrus’s breath whooshed out on a rush of air as Aidan’s foot connected with his kidney. “A disappointment to your father,” he wheezed, while his eyes went wide as Aidan held the knife high.

Riding that moment, Aidan stood, towering over the man who’d reveled in tormenting a child, one heavy, booted foot planted firmly on his chest. And as he stared down, he knew his past had no hold over him any longer. “You were created from nothing and you’re less than nothing.” With a glance over his shoulder, he motioned Eris forward. “You have the power to end him.”

“I don’t know how.”

“You do. To create the Golden Apple, you inscribed something on its flesh.”

Eris nodded. “To the fairest.”

“And what did you inscribe onto Tyrus?”

Aidan saw the moment Eris understood. As she leaned over, she dragged on his sleeve, lifting the material to reveal a faded scar, etched with a knife. “The Avenger.”

Tyrus’s eyes widened in fear as he sensed the shift in Eris’s understanding and his struggles returned anew. Eris never moved her gaze from her creation, but simply nodded.

Aidan slashed downward, dragging the knife cleanly through the scar. Tyrus’s loud scream echoed through the room before abruptly fading. His body evaporated, the ensuing two thousand years of his immortality vanishing as if they never were.

Eris shifted her gaze. “How’d you figure it out?”

Quinn grinned before slapping him on the back. “Because he’s an ass kicker, that’s why.”

Aidan glanced across the room to where Meg still cradled the unconscious woman in her arms. “Take the woman and make her well,” he said to Eris.

“That’s it?”

“It’s the least you can do. I’ve got other things that need my attention. But she requires help and you’re going to be the one to give it to her.”

Eris moved to take the woman from Meg, but stopped once she had the woman in her arms. “You know this isn’t over.”

Aidan nodded before pulling Meg into his arms. “Another day.”

Eris vanished into a port with the woman in her arms.

Quinn slapped him on the back once more before leaning down and pressing a kiss to Meg’s cheek. “I’m going to go let my team off duty.”

Aidan barely paid him any mind before pulling Meg to him and pressing his lips to hers. She opened for him, meeting him as an equal partner.

When they finally broke off the kiss, curiosity and wonder filled her voice in equal measure. “How’d you know?”

“I figured it out.”

Meg laid a hand over his heart. “My scholar and warrior.” Her caramel gaze grew thoughtful as she stared into his eyes. “Something else has changed, though. I can see it. Feel it.”

“I’m free of the past.”

Hope filled her eyes as tears filled the rims. “Does that mean you’re willing to give us a second chance?”

“I’d be a fool not to.”

“Others would say you’re a fool to do so.”

“A fool in love.” Aidan leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, murmuring against their lush fullness. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

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BOOK: Wave of Memories: The Sons of the Zodiac
4.67Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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