Ashes of War (Sons of War) (2 page)

Not any ordinary female, either. A minor goddess, whom he thought at the time was his mate, or could have been, betrayed him. The endless taunts and physical torture damn near drove him insane. She’d succeeded in breaking his dragon. The man was on the verge of breaking when Zavier found him and brought him home to their brothers. By the time Z found him, Ty’s dragon had taken over and killed several Imperials—including the female, a minor goddess of desire and the daughter of Eros.

Z never revealed Ty’s state of mind. No, his quiet and private brother just said, “I found him and he’s alive. Nothing else matters.”

At least Ty believed he’d killed his captors. His memories of the events were unclear at best. In recent months, he’d been plagued with nightmares of his captivity. Yet, the events in the dreams didn’t match what he thought happened. He didn’t know if they were real or shit his mind conjured. Zavier had said he found Ty naked and pissed off, but unable to shift. It’d been several weeks after his escape before the potion completely left his system and his dragon burst out.

Ever since, they’d waited for the gods to deliver punishment. He’d killed a goddess and would one day have to pay for his crimes. Until then, they would continue to fight Garrick and protect the worlds from falling into his bloodstained hands.

Ty sensed Zavier long before he stepped up beside him. They stood there in silence for several moments before Ty spoke. “I’m taking off for a while.”

Zavier nodded. “I figured. We all knew it was coming. We’re just surprised you’ve waited this long.”

Of course
. He and his brothers were linked together by a blood bond they forged when banished from Olympus.
Also all because of a female.

A storm daemon and the daughter of Typhon—the gatekeeper to the fiery pits of Tartarus—Sophia had also been Ty’s close friend and lover before Garrick claimed her as his mate.

Back then, Garrick was different. He was kind and a male of honor. He was the first to step up and take on any task the gods required…at least until the day Sophia died and Garrick succumbed to his dragon’s rage.

Ty found her decapitated body. The child she carried—the little girl everyone thought was Garrick’s—gone, stolen from her mother’s womb.

When the information of Sophia’s death reached Typhon, the daemon threatened to break out of Tartarus and destroy the world as they knew it. As a result, the gods punished the brothers, exiling all of Ares’s sons to the human realm, and Sophia had been reborn as a mortal.

The latter news came to their attention a few weeks prior when they met Gwen—Aphrodite’s granddaughter—and Elle—the daughter of Nyx, goddess of night. They discovered Gwen’s father worked for Garrick, not knowing the dragon’s true purpose until it was too late. From the contents of her father’s journal, Gwen was able to help them piece together certain facts such as Sophia’s rebirth.

After Sophia’s death, Garrick became obsessed with the idea Ty killed his mate and stole his child. Soon after their fall to earth, he began searching for descendants and over the years formed the Imperial Order. When the gods got wind of his plot, they charged Ty and his brothers with the task of stopping Garrick from raising another war on the gods.

Five hundred years had passed since their exile from Olympus, a brief period of time for immortal dragons. After a century or so, Garrick fell quiet. It was like he’d given up the fight. However, Ty and the others knew better. A dragon would search until the end of time to gain revenge for his dead mate. About two years ago, Garrick’s little army started making appearances in public, not bothering to hide their powers and magical abilities. The attention they drew caused panic among the humans. Stories of daemons and magical beings popped up everywhere. Some villages even put curfews in place.

Markus had stepped up and all but forced their father to give them more information, anything to help them find Garrick’s whereabouts and what type of power they faced. Luckily, Ares was just as motivated as they were to stop their brother.

Then Ty let his dick think for him one night while out having a few beers with Seth and Zavier. Shortly after meeting the bitch, he found himself held captive by Garrick’s fucked up band of minions.

Females couldn’t be trusted. Period.

Yet here he was, about to chase after Ashlynn, a goddess by all rights of the divine laws and a hunter sent by the gods.

The latter made Ty even more suspicious of the female.

“I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone,” Ty said to break his destructive train of thought.

Zavier offered him a handheld device. “This has a GPS tracker. If you need us and can’t call, for whatever reason, just push the green button.”

In another time—before his capture—Ty would’ve been cocky enough to tell Z where he could stick the GPS. Not anymore. Life was too short, even for an immortal dragon.

He closed his hand around the device. His lips twitched and his heart warmed a little. “This Markus’s idea?”

“Gwen’s.”

The twitch in his lips was back. Markus’s female was the only one in a long time Ty felt he could trust. Even he admitted she possessed a pure soul and kind heart. Plus, she was incapable of lying. Being the granddaughter of Aphrodite and one of the Fates meant she was very powerful and Garrick wanted her power.

“Tell Gwen thanks,” Ty said, then jumped off the cliff, shifting at the same time in a flash of red and gold. The burn of his wings extended from his back and the hard change rolled over the rest of his body. The shift into a dragon shot through him like an electric current.

His wings caught an updraft and he was yanked out of his freefall. Leaning into his left side, he turned and flew over the mansion. From there, he spotted the ruins where Ashlynn had last been seen, about a quarter mile away.

He touched down about fifteen feet from the stone remains of Garrick’s lab based on the backpack full of shit Gwen brought back. Actually, Ashlynn stuffed random items, from a laptop to flash drives and other devices Ty didn’t recognize, in the bag the day the lab exploded, not Gwen. Z was still searching through the computer files and breaking codes. They all hoped the information in the files would give them a one up on Garrick’s grand plan to take over Olympus.

Shifting back to his human form and willing clothes to cover his body, he walked to the fallen building. He and Markus combed the area for anything useful to locate their quarries with no luck. It was as if they both disappeared from Earth. Gwen said the building blew up a moment after she was teleported out by Ashlynn, but she didn’t know anything else about how it exploded.

He clenched his jaw and fisted his hands. His blood heated in his veins, intensifying his dragon’s rage. They needed to find Ashlynn because they refused to believe she was dead. Taking deep, calming breaths, Ty tried to rein in his dragon. “We’ll find her.”

A twig snapped and he whirled to face the intruder. As soon as the redheaded goddess came into to full view, he froze and his heart pounded. Her hair hung in silky waves around her shoulders and her green eyes sparkled like emeralds. He let his gaze travel down her body. A tight black V-neck sweater and black jeans clung to her modest curves and his palms itched to touch her, to see if she was real.

“Are you going to stand there and stare at me all day?” Ashlynn stepped toward him, her expression a mysterious blend of coyness and invitation.

The dragon snapped his teeth and paced beneath his skin. A hot, dizzying rush of desire filled him. Ashlynn’s strawberry scent called to the beast, stirring a fiery need only she could calm. Every day and night she’d been gone, the dragon grew more impatient. Seeing her, being close enough they could touch in two long strides didn’t ease some of the darkness he succumbed to over the past weeks. No, being close to her raised a need within him that drove his dragon insane with lust.

The man had no intentions on claiming the female. Not yet, anyway. How did he know she could be trusted?

With a low growl to warn the dragon to back the fuck off, Ty watched her pass him to stare at the ruins. “Where have you been?” he gritted out.

She took a deep breath before answering. “At my mother’s. Healing.”

“Sounds like she lives nearby.”

She turned to look at him, brows raised. “What if she did?”

He growled and took one step forward, wrapped an arm around her waist to jerk her against him. Her body meshed into his, electrifying each nerve ending, and he tried to ignore how perfectly she fit against him. “Don’t play with me, female.”

A sensual smile lifted her full, kissable lips. “Oh, believe me, I haven’t begun to play. Yet.”

His dick jerked at the purr in her voice. He inhaled deeply, taking the scents of earth and forest around them. Ashlynn’s natural strawberry fragrance intensified, drowning out the other smells, silently telling him she was as turned on as him. With another low growl, he released her and stepped away.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he gave her his back, not wanting her to see just how much she affected him. No, he couldn’t allow her to ever see his weakness, or any others he hid from the world. He needed to stay away from her or he might do something stupid—like fuck her and claim her as his dragon wanted.

“Why are you here?” he bit out.

“Same reason as you. I was looking for you.”

He glared at her over his shoulder. “What makes you think I was looking for you?”

She stared back at him, arms folded over her chest, and shrugged, but a smile lifted one corner of her lips. “I’m a goddess, remember?”

Like he needed a reminder. The otherworldly glow of her skin told him she wasn’t lying about healing. “Artemis pull you out?” He nodded to the pile of stone.

Her gaze flicked to the ruins. “Yes. She said I wounded Garrick pretty badly, although I don’t remember much after I teleported Gwen to safety. How is she?”

He turned to face her fully, thrown off slightly by her short ramblings. “Gwen is well and safe with her mate.”

“That’s good. I like her.”

Ty’s lips twitched again and he decided he really needed to get the muscle spasms looked at. “Gwen kind of grows on you the more you’re near her.”

Ash blinked at him and for a moment he thought she was about to give some kind of smart-assed response. Instead she looked away after a few moments to scan the area. “Look, I need to talk with you, but not here.”

She pulled a slip of paper from her front jeans pocket and handed it to him. “That’s the address to my townhouse in Serenity Cove.”

Then she dematerialized.

Ty read the address and growled. How long had she lived in the same town as they while she worked for Garrick?

****

Ash materialized inside her townhouse, her heart still stuttering and her body flushed from being so close to Ty. Gods, he looked good, and his scent… It clung to her, seeping into her mind and skin. Tamping down rising desire, she walked to the fridge and jerked it open to grab a bottle of water.

What she was about to do went against all logic of being Ty’s judge and jury, however, Ash couldn’t see any other way to prove his innocence in regard to Elizabeth’s death. No one in Olympus could tell her anything other than he had done it. Yet, Ash’s gut told her there was more to the story, secrets the gods didn’t want to reveal.

Her mother’s words rang inside her head.
Seduce the dragon if you must. Either way, he will face judgment in seven days
.

A heavy knock sounded on the door, making her jump. Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a deep breath then pushed off the counter. She yanked the door open and strode to the living room, allowing Ty to follow her inside the townhouse. Her hands shook, but it wasn’t from fear. No, she didn’t fear him. She wanted him so badly it hurt to be close to him.

Her only explanation for the reaction was she’d lost her edge, or perhaps she was just losing her mind. “Would you like a beer?” she asked, peeking over her shoulder.

He shook his head and crossed his arms over his broad chest, pulling his long sleeved shirt tighter against his muscles. “What do you need to talk to me about?”

She held her tongue like she’d done at the ruins of Garrick’s lab. Fighting with Ty would only make her job more difficult. She needed his trust and cooperation.

Even though she could sense the darkness within him, she also picked up on his light—the little inner peace he clung to. Meeting his stare, she said, “I need your help, but I know you don’t trust me.”

The muscles in his temples flexed. “I trust no one but my brothers.”

Yes, she’d known that. Steeling her back, she stared into the dark lenses of the shades he always wore. “My true mission is to find Elizabeth’s killer and pass judgment.”

He didn’t move, just stood there staring at her through those damned shades. “Why are you telling me?”

She closed her eyes briefly before she sat on the sofa facing him. “I need you to trust me and help me. Lying to you about my true purpose would give you more reason not to trust me. I also need you to believe I’m on your side.”

He let out a humorless laugh and unfolded his arms. “So coming clean is supposed to make me trust you? You have to earn my trust, female.”

She didn’t need this shit. She stood, stepped into his space, and glared into the lenses of his shades. “Fine, then. You can leave. I’ll get my answers from Garrick instead.”

She pushed past him, but he stopped her by grabbing her upper arm. Then he leaned close, his lips barely brushing her ear. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t help you.”

“I can’t work with someone who doesn’t trust me.”

She swore she saw the corner of his lips twitch before he said, “I learned a long time ago that the people closest to you can screw you, so don’t take it personally.”

Jerking her arm free from his grasp, she walked to the refrigerator and pulled out two beers. She rounded the corner and ran into Ty. He slid his hands up her arms and held her in place. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. The intensity of his sage scent and the power surrounding him made her weak in the knees and heat pooled between her legs.