“So, are you guys ever going to tell me why I’m not supposed to go into town alone? I mean, considering everything that’s happened since then, I think you need to tell me.” Echo took a few steps back, rested his hands on his hips, and tilted his head to the side in question. “There really isn’t much that can surprise me at this point.”

  Onyx opened his mouth to tell his mate the truth, but Hex cleared his throat, cutting him off. “I’ll tell you later.”

  He didn’t argue, but Onyx didn’t understand what the big deal was, or why Hex was keeping it from their mate. The big alpha never did anything without a reason, though. Trusting in his lover and commander had kept Onyx alive for over three thousand years. He wasn’t about to start questioning the man now.

  Echo huffed and shook his head. “I had a feeling you were going to say that. What’s so bad about this town that you feel you need to protect me from the people here?”

  Hex took a step closer to Echo, cupped his cheek, and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll tell you later,” he repeated. “Let’s get inside.”

  * * * *

  Jinx and Syn were suspiciously absent around the house over the next week, though Echo saw plenty of Craze. More than he’d like if he was being honest. He understood why the big blond had to be there. He knew his mates didn’t desire the guy. Hell, Craze had mates of his own.

  He just didn’t like the asshole.

  “Are Syn and Jinx avoiding me?” he asked no one in particular as they lounged about the living room.

  “Yes,” Fiero answered bluntly. “Now, shut up. I’m trying to watch this.”

  Echo huffed and elbowed his lover in the ribs. “You have the charm of a fucking porcupine.”

  “I think they’re kind of cute,” Fiero countered. “So, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  He would. Echo rolled his eyes and settled more comfortably against Fiero’s side. He tried to watch television, tried to keep from asking the question on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn’t help himself. “Why are they avoiding me?”

  “Because they like breathing.”

  Okay, apparently, he was missing something important. “Can you just spell it out for me?”

  “They think you smell good,” Myst answered him before shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

  “Like the main course on the menu good?”

  “Yep.” Fiero wound his arm around Echo’s shoulders and squeezed. “I know you like them, but it’s better for everyone this way. They’ve kind of grown on me, and I don’t want to have to kill them.”

  Several grunts of agreement went around the room. Gods, he was mated to a cheery group. “That doesn’t mean you need to lock them in the attic.”

  “We didn’t,” Hex said distractedly. “It was their idea.”

  Echo snorted. “Yes, and I’m sure you did nothing to influence that decision.”

  “We might have growled a little,” Eyce answered. “Nothing major, though.”

  “Oh, this is ridiculous. They’re not going to bite me.” Echo pushed away from Fiero, jumped up from the sofa, and marched over to the staircase. “I’m going to get them. Then you’re going to apologize, and everyone is going to be fucking happy. Clear?”

  His lovers only shrugged. “Whatever flicks your Bic, babe,” Myst called.

  Echo hurried up the stairs and marched straight to the attic. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his hand and pounded on the door. “Jinx! Syn! Open up.”

  The door eased open a moment later, and Jinx peered through the crack at him. “Hey, Echo. What’s up?”

  “Why are you hiding up here? Come downstairs. I know I smell all delicious and whatnot, but you’re not really going to bite me, are you?”

  Jinx blinked at him. “I’d really rather not chance it. Your mates were very clear on what would happen if there was a…mishap.”

  “Okay, well I’m going to trust that you have more self-control than that. If you feel the urge to snack on me, turn your attentions on Craze. I’m sure he’d love it.”

  “I’m sick of this stupid attic,” Syn whined as he appeared over Jinx’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  Jinx seemed less eager, but nodded and opened the door wider for Syn to slip past him. “I really wish I knew what you were now.”

  Echo laughed and clapped the vampire on the shoulder. “That makes two of us. Hex had a dream, and the Oracle says that we’ll all know when the time is right.”

  “Do you really trust the Oracle?” Jinx asked quietly as they descended the stairs into the living room.

  “She hasn’t given me reason not to, so I guess I do. Why? Do you know something?”

  Jinx shook his head. “No, just a feeling that she’s hiding something.”

  Echo bobbed his head. He’d had the same feeling, but without anything to base it on, he’d written it off as paranoia. “Well, she hasn’t steered us wrong yet, so I have to believe that she’s really trying to help.”

  Jinx shrugged, not looking convinced in the least. Echo didn’t know what to say to Jinx’s accusations, so he decided to let it go for the time being. He just wanted to have a quiet night, watch a little TV, and forget all their problems. Surely that wasn’t too much to ask.

  Apparently, it was.

  Mac screamed, the most unholy, ear-piercing sound. He stiffened in Gage’s arms then began to convulse, his body jerking and flopping around like a fish out of water. Gage pressed him into the floor, holding his shoulders firmly as Mac’s feet beat against the carpet. Sony scrambled to hold his legs still, and everyone stared in horror.

  “Mac! Mac!” Gage’s voice was frantic. “C’mon, baby, snap out of it!”

  Echo felt like an insensitive bastard, but he couldn’t take the screaming. It pierced his eardrums, drilled into his brain, and even made his eyes water. He pressed his palms over his ears, squeezing tightly to block out as much of the sound as possible.

  Pressure built inside his head. Warm wetness trickled from his nose and over his lips. Wiping at his mouth, Echo grimaced when his fingers came away bloody then smashed his palms back over his ears.

  Mac’s screams rose in volume and intensity until the sounds falling from his mouth were completely inhuman. Echo had never heard a more awful sound. Just when he thought it would go on forever, Mac cut off abruptly, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he sagged to the floor limply.

  “Mac?” Gage whispered. “Mac!” He grabbed the little man by the shoulders and began shaking him roughly. “Open your eyes, baby. C’mon, Mac.”

  “He’s okay,” Syx mumbled around a groan. “What the fuck was that?”

  “The hell if I know,” Hex answered as he rubbed his temples. “I think it needs to go on that board of yours, though. I thought my head was going to explode—literally.”

  Echo nodded, opening his mouth to agree, when a loud roar reverberated throughout the room, rattling the windows and shaking the floor. His attention went to the front door, his heart galloping inside his chest, and he froze in place, unable to move.

  Screeches, squawks, screams, and wails came together in a cacophony of morbid harmony. “Hex!” Ares’s voice boomed, filling the room as though he stood just beside Echo. A flash of light through the window illuminated trees beyond. Thunder cracked and rolled. The wind blew, whistling against the windows and rattling the door in its frame.

  Without moving any other part of his body, Echo focused his eyes on Hex, pleading without words for the man to remain inside. He didn’t know what they’d done to anger the bloodthirsty god, but no good could come from stepping outside those doors.

  “Echo,” Syx called softly to him. “He’s not a vampire, and this isn’t the movies. He is more than capable of entering this house if he chooses. It’s better if we prevent that.”

  Hex rose gracefully from the sofa, squared his shoulders, and took a deep breath. “Eyce, Syx, and Fiero, come with me. Everyone else stay put.”

  “Fuck that,” Vapre spat, launching to his feet and marching over to the door. “I’m not going to hide in the house like a coward.”

  Echo still couldn’t move. His mates seemed hell-bent on facing Ares, their pride causing them to act foolishly. Why couldn’t he have fallen in love with an accountant? Sure, his life would be a lot less exciting, but right then, Echo would embrace dull and boring like a long-lost friend.

  “Bring me the Watcher,” Ares yelled. “I only want the daemon.”

  Echo eyed the men gathered in the living room. Who was Ares talking about? What the hell was a Watcher? “Uh, which demon?”

  “Daemon, baby,” Eyce muttered. “Not demon.”

  “Is there a difference?”

  “I’ll explain later. Stay inside.” Eyce wouldn’t even look at him, and Echo had a sinking feeling in his gut that he was this daemon Ares wanted.

  “Me?”

  “Stay inside,” Eyce repeated. “Craze?”

  “I’ll keep him safe,” Craze swore.

  “Wait, wait, wait! What the hell is a daemon? What’s a Watcher?”

  “It’s like an angel,” Jinx answered him quietly. “It’s what you are.”

  “No.” Echo shook his head vehemently. “Angels do not drink blood. They have wings and halos and play the harp. I am not an angel!” Sprinting across the room, ducking and dodging his lovers, Echo wrenched open the front door and stepped out into the night.

  After all the noise he’d heard moments before, he was more than a little surprised to find Ares standing alone in the middle of their front yard. His chest was bare as always. His black, leather pants clung to his massive thighs. His long, dark hair swirled behind him in the wind. He looked just like what he was—a pissed off Greek god.

  “You’re wrong, Ares,” Echo called. He could feel the warmth of his lovers at his back as he slowly stepped down the stairs. “I’m not what you think I am.”

  “You were supposed to die.” Ares growled viciously, his eyes flashing in the dark. “But you couldn’t even do that right, could you?”

  The comment might have hurt Echo’s feelings if he knew what the hell it was supposed to mean. All he got out of it was that Ares had tried to kill him. “I thought you wanted me? How am I useful to you if I’m dead?”

  “I don’t want you!”

  Uh, okay. Echo was becoming more confused by the minute. “Then why are you here?”

  Strong fingers curled over Echo’s shoulder, preventing him from going any closer to the irate god. “You made a deal, Ares. You are bound by your covenants to see it through.” Hex stepped in front of Echo, blocking his view of the half-naked man on their lawn.

  “Rules are made to be broken,” Ares answered snidely.

  “Ares!” a feminine voice called. “You are behaving as a child. You have made your case before the gods of Olympus and have been granted your right to battle on the autumnal equinox.”

  Echo peeked around Hex’s arm, his mouth falling open as a tall, voluptuous, and amazingly beautiful woman stepped between them and Ares. He’d never seen anything like her. Long legs, flowing, dark brown hair, and flawless skin stretched over softly defined muscles—she could only be a goddess.

  Clothed in a short dress of soft leather, the woman held herself proudly. She held a bow in one hand, hanging loosely and non-threateningly by her side. A quiver of arrows settled against her back, held in place by a strap across her bare shoulder.

  “Sister,” Ares sneered. “You have a nasty habit of sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Tell me”—Ares waved a hand toward Echo—“is this your doing?”

  The woman turned slowly, gracing Echo with a soft smile. “You took what did not belong to you, Ares. I simply returned him.”

  “It was not your place!” Ares roared.

  The goddess spun around with an angry hiss. “No, brother. You have overstepped your boundaries, and now must pay the consequences. I’ve been sent to return you to Olympus to face Father.”

  “Zeus,” Hex whispered for Echo’s benefit.

  “And that one?” Ares demanded, pointing at Onyx.

  The woman shrugged. “He is a strong warrior. Not even your pack of beasts could bring him down.”

  “I sent seven of my best wolves for him,” Ares argued. “You lie. This is your doing as well.”

  She shrugged again. “Father wishes to see you.”

  “Father does not control me.”

  The goddess laughed softly. “We shall see.” She looked over her shoulder and dipped her head. “Do not forsake your gift.” Then her hand landed on Ares’s shoulder, and they both disappeared in a flash of blindingly white light.

  “That explains a lot,” Fiero grumbled. “What the hell was she doing here?”

  “Was that…” Echo looked around the small circle at his lovers.

  “Athena,” they chorused at the same time Echo said, “the Oracle?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Onyx was just as confused as Echo. Athena was the Oracle? Why would Ares’s sister be trying to help them? Athena brought Echo over as a daemon? The thought made his blood run cold.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Echo whispered.

  Shaking his head, Onyx pulled his mate to him and kissed the top of his head. “I’m just glad that you’re okay.”

  They filed back into the living room, no one speaking as they found their original seats on the sofa, love seat, or floor. “What happened?” Jet asked immediately. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Everyone is fine,” Hex answered. “Just a little confused, I think.”

  “So, what happened?”

  “We’ll get to that later.” Hex shifted on the couch cushion until he could face Echo. Onyx looped his arm around the small man, holding him tightly to his chest and offering comfort the only way he knew how. “Echo do you understand what just happened?”

  Echo shook his head slowly. “What did she mean that Ares took me away? And what is a daemon or a Watcher?”

  “I believe Ares is the one who abducted you after the party.” Hex took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he shoved both hands through his long hair. “Baby, I don’t know how to say this…”

  “He killed you,” Onyx finished when Hex didn’t continue. “A daemon is like a spirit. Benevolent and good, they’re usually the ghosts of heroes.”

  Echo’s hand patted at his chest hastily. “I’m not a ghost. I can feel me. You can feel me, right? I’m not a ghost!”

  “No, sweetheart.” Eyce moved to kneel at Echo’s feet. “You’re not a ghost. To give a daemon a corporeal form requires sacrifice. Our blood, not to put too fine a point on it.”

  “So, if I don’t drink from you then I’ll what? Fade away? Die? What?”

  Eyce nodded reluctantly. “You will not die, but yes, you will fade away from your body.”

  Onyx smoothed his hand up and down Echo’s chest, petting his mate’s hair with the other. Echo trembled in his arms, his chest heaving, and his heart kicking against Onyx’s palm. “No, no, no,” Echo chanted in a pathetic whimper.

  “You were okay with being a vampire,” Onyx teased, “but this is too much?”

  A sharp elbow caught him in the ribs. “Shut up.”

  Onyx chuckled and pressed his lips to Echo’s temple. “It doesn’t mean anything, sweetheart. You were always ours. You always will be. You just have a new kink now, and to be honest, I think it’s pretty hot.”

  “Really?” So much hope dripped from the word that Onyx smiled.

  “Do you think it matters to us? It doesn’t matter what package you come in, Echo. We’re not letting you go.”

  “He really killed me?”

  “Yes, and I’m so sorry.” Onyx’s chest tightened with the realization that he could have lost everything. He would always be indebted to Athena.

  “I died,” Echo whispered. “Wow, what a prick.”

  The words were so unexpected that it drew a quiet laugh from Onyx. “You are amazing,” he breathed into Echo’s hair.

  “I’ll remind you of that next time you complain about doing the laundry.” He kissed Onyx’s cheek and turned his attention to Mac. “Are you okay?”

  Mac tried to smile, but it fell short. “Yeah, I feel tired and a little dizzy, but I’ll be fine.”

  “Did you see something?” Hex asked.

  “Not really. It was more like something stabbing me in the brain. I think the other residents are in danger.”

  “Mac, you’re not one of them anymore.” Gage brushed his mate’s hair back from his face. “You’re never going back there.”

  Mac waved him away. “Oh, I know. That doesn’t change the fact that they’re in trouble.”

  “You saw this?” Hex asked.

  “Just flashes. Things are not coming as clearly as they usually do. It feels kind of like a tug-of-war inside my head. As though something is trying to block the visions, while something else is forcing them through.”

  “We need to help them.”

  Onyx closed his eyes and groaned at Echo’s words. While he felt sorry for the men trapped inside that facility, hated what they were forced to endure at Ares’s hands, it wasn’t their problem. They didn’t have the time or the resources to execute a rescue mission of that magnitude. “They can help,” Echo said quickly, anticipating the argument. “We can’t just leave them there. It’s not right!”

  “We don’t even know where they are,” Eyce said reasonably. “The new moon is in less than a week. I think we have enough on our plate without adding to it.”

  “You’d come for me.”

  Eyce sighed. “That’s different, and you know it. I’m sorry, Echo, but the answer is no.”

  “I know the kind of power they have. Wouldn’t it be better to have that on our side instead of Ares’s?”

  Onyx started to argue, but Hex cleared his throat and stood, commanding their attention. “We’ll talk about it more tomorrow. I’m not saying yes,” he told Echo directly, “but I’m not saying no, either. I need to think about this, weigh the advantages against the trouble it will bring us.”

  Echo dipped his head and smiled. “I can work with that.”

  * * * *