Ashes of War (Sons of War) (5 page)

He faced her and an ache formed in his chest. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was twisted in a messy bun on top of her head. Reaching out, he brushed a finger across her cheek. She jerked away from the touch, which only made him advance and grab her into a tight hug. “You haven’t slept since then?”

She pressed her paint-stained hands to his chest. His skin under his black, cotton shirt burned from the touch. After a moment she relaxed into him. “No. I felt his pain. I’ve never done that before.”

Zavier picked her up and carried her to the sofa on his side of the room. Sitting, he cradled her against his chest and stared at the painting. She’d captured Ty towered over a dead female inside some kind of lab or torture room—Zavier couldn’t tell which due to the lack of details in the background of the image. He had a hunch that once it was finished, it’d resemble the room where he’d found Ty. Standing in front of Ty, Garrick held a large dagger that looked identical to the one Hades guarded in the Underworld. The dagger was supposed to be a one of a kind and the only thing that could kill an immortal dragon or a god.

Pulling out his cell from his pocket, he snapped a picture and texted it to Ty and Markus.

****

Ty stared at the phone screen, frozen in place. Anger mixed with confusion as he studied the painting. No one but Zavier knew the details of his captivity and Z didn’t know much beyond what he’d walked into.

Yet, here it was, a moment in time ripped out of the day Z found him—only it wasn’t like he remembered. He didn’t recall Garrick being there or possessing the divine dagger. The more he stared at the photo, the more familiar the scene became. A dull ache formed in the middle of his forehead, then images flashed through his mind.

His vision blurred as he scanned the room. Too clean. Everything was too clean and smelled of beach and something else he couldn’t place. A shuffle of feet against concrete sounded from behind him, but he couldn’t turn to see who it was.

“Hello?” His voice sounded hoarse and his throat ached from screaming during the last torture session. He shuddered at the memory. They’d bound his legs and arms with magically enhanced chains he couldn’t break and something dripped down on his face. Drop by slow, agonizing drop, the mystery fluid hit his eye, burning and eating away at his skin.

“Don’t speak. They will hear you.” The male voice came from behind him.

“Who are you?” he asked in a lower tone.

“One of your brothers. Tyson, it’s Nik…”

The male’s voice cut off the instant the door opened. A moment later Elizabeth’s face filled Ty’s vision. She grinned as she took the time to appreciate her handiwork on his face.

Ty dropped his phone and clenched his head as sharp pain sliced through his skull. He stumbled backward. Rage filled his veins and his dragon roared in his mind, making the headache intensify.

Cool feminine fingers wrapped around his forearm and he shot out one hand, grabbing her by the throat and twisting to slam her back against the wall. A fierce growl erupted from him, shaking the house.

A male spoke from a few feet behind him. “Ty, what the hell is wrong with you?”

Cyrus? Why is the griffin here?
Confusion moved into his already clouded mind. Shaking his head, he focused on the female he trapped against the wall. Emerald eyes set into a rounded, creamy-toned face stared back at him.

“What trick is this?” he growled.

“No trick. It’s Ashlynn, remember?” She removed her hand from his arm and placed her palm against his heart. “Feel me? I’m here. You’re here. We’re safe.”

Footsteps behind him shuffled to the door, making him jerk his head toward them. Ashlynn’s hand touched his cheek and she continued to speak in soft soothing tones. “Let them go and focus on me.”

He returned his gaze to hers and frowned. “Ash?”

She smiled. “Are you back?”

Yes, no…where in Hades did he go?
Unsure if any of it was real, he glanced over his shoulder in time to see Cyrus usher a protesting Amissa out the door. Then he met Ash’s gaze and watched how the deep emerald green seemed to lighten, then darkened as he traced her bottom lip with his thumb. Her cheek blushed as her skin heated. He dipped his head and brushed his lips across hers.

A jolt of familiar, sensual energy rushed through him and straight to his cock. He flattened his body to Ashlynn’s and deepened the kiss. Her tongue thrust inside his mouth, tangling with his. He released her throat and roamed her body with his hand, needing to feel her. When he didn’t find bare skin, he ripped her clothes from her in one swift motion.

Breaking the kiss, he lifted his head to gaze into her eyes. “I’m back, goddess.”

She smiled and nipped at his bottom lip. “Good. Now fuck me.”

He should walk away. Leave the female alone. They couldn’t be trusted. Yet, he couldn’t make his feet move, or make his hands stop roaming over her clothed body, seeking bare skin.

Ashlynn was a drug to him and his dragon. They couldn’t get enough of her.

He lifted her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Against his better judgment, he was going to savor every moment. Laying her down on the bed, he hovered over her, studying her. She was beautiful. Her long red hair fanned out over the white comforter. “What is it about you?”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “Stop thinking. Take what you need.”

The fire in her green eyes dimmed slightly, inviting compassion and a promising passion. Yet so had Elizabeth’s gaze, he recalled, the night he saw her at the bar. The same night she lured him to Garrick and his torture began.

Pain shot through his skull. He gripped his head with both hands and rolled to his back. Ashlynn’s cool fingers brushed across his skin as she began to message his scalp. Instantly, the headache eased. “How do you do that?”

Continuing to rub circles on his head and temples, she shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

Her scent said she lied, but somehow it didn’t bother him. In fact, he feared he already knew the answer. Neither of them were ready to admit it. The feelings and the draw toward her were similar to what he’d felt with Elizabeth. Only with Ashlynn the pull was stronger, the desire more intense. “Ashlynn?”

“Call me Ash, please.”

“Ash.” He liked the sound of her name.

She sighed and pushed off the bed and moved toward the door, then turned. “We need to call a meeting with your brothers. We have six days to figure this shit out.”

He stilled and scowled. “Six days?”

“Eros has moved up your judgment.”

Rising from the bed he stalked to her, hands fisted and irritation building. “When were you going to tell me?”

She placed a hand on his chest and pushed. “Don’t go dragon on me. I was going to at my townhouse before we were interrupted, then Amissa and Cyrus came by. It slipped my mind.”

He should call her out on the oversight, but he couldn’t. Shit just seemed to be coming at them ninety miles a second. “Fuck.”

“Yep.” She pivoted and left him standing in the doorway, watching her ass as she stormed down the hallway.

Fuck.

Chapter Six

Garrick entered his office at the east coast headquarters of the Imperial Order and froze at the sight of Eros gazing out the window. Without turning, the god of desire spoke in a deep raspy tone. “It’s a great view of the ocean you have.”

“What do you want?” Garrick growled.

Eros chuckled and glanced over his shoulder, dark blue eyes boring into him. “I have some information about your brother, Tyson. I think you’ll find it very interesting.”

The hairs on the back of Garrick’s neck rose and he scented the air, taking in the aromas of the room. The one smell he expected wasn’t there. Eros was telling the truth, or what the god of desire believed to be the truth. “Say what you came here for and leave. I’m busy.”

Eros chuckled as he sat in Garrick’s office chair. “Sophia’s child is alive.”

Garrick’s heart stopped for a brief moment. His dragon growled and nudged him to ask where she was so they could bring her home. “Where is she?”

The god smiled. “I do not know.”

Garrick fisted his hands. “Why are you wasting my time?”

Holding up a hand, Eros rolled his eyes. “The woman is not your daughter, as Sophia wanted you to believe.”

Enough with the riddle crap
. “Eros, I’m out of patience.”

“She is Tyson’s daughter. It seems she played both of you.”

Fiery rage filled him. The child
was
his. “You lie.”

The god raised a brow. “You need to tread lightly before you accuse a god. There are very few of us who give a shit about the Sons of War.”

Screw that. He’d be damned if Ty would take another thing from him. However, Garrick wasn’t stupid. He could play nice until he got what he wanted. “How do you know for sure?”

“I overheard your brother tell Ashlynn. Because he refused to join a triad with you and Sophia, the storm daemon tricked him into getting her pregnant before she went to you to complete the bond.”

Not possible.
He’d have known, wouldn’t he? Ty would had told him. Or not. Yet another betrayal from his brothers. “I don’t believe Ty’s side of the story. He was jealous of my mating. They all were.”

“One way to get back at Tyson would be to take his daughter or his mate.”

Casting a narrow-eyed glare at Eros, Garrick asked, “What’s in it for you?”

A wickedly evil grin formed on the god’s face. “Revenge for the death of my Elizabeth.”

****

Ty paced the living room of his beach house while his brothers watched via Skype. Ash sat on the sofa waiting for someone to say something. Moments ago, he’d told Markus, Seth, and Drake about his captivity and lack of memory. Oh, and the real reason why Ash was with him.

After a long, painful silence, Markus spoke. “Gwen and I will search for a weaver. In the meantime, you need to try to remember what happened. Even the smallest clues can be helpful.”

Nodding, Ty stopped pacing and rubbed his eyes under the shades. “I’ll try.”

The name Nik kept turning around in his mind and for the life of him he couldn’t remember ever knowing anyone by the name. At least he hadn’t remembered coming in contact with a Nik in the five centuries he’d been on earth.

Then there was Ash. The female captivated his dragon. The damn beast paced under his skin, wanting to feel her soft, creamy skin. To drown in her strawberry scent.

Giving the female his back as well as the others in the room with him, he met Markus’s heavy stare in the monitor and snarled. Of course his brother watched him. Markus was more like Ares than the rest of them, meaning the male always watched, listened, and plotted their next move.

“Six days. I should just have Ash take me now, but the female is too damn stubborn. Do you know anyone by the name of Nik?”

Markus raked a hand through his hair. “I agree with Ash. You will remain with us for as long as we have. We will find the proof. As far as Nik…I’m not sure. We do have a brother named Nikolas. However, the last I heard, he moved around too much for Ares to keep track of him.”

Ty stilled, his mind racing through possibilities. When they were created, there were thousands of warriors who’d fought in the war between the gods and their earth-bound children. All but about a dozen of them died, only six stayed in Olympus.

He never bothered to get to know any except Markus and Seth. For some reason Ty felt a deeper connection with them, like he was meant to stay with them. Now it all made sense. He was meant to serve a purpose in protecting not only earth, but Olympus as well.

“Do you think it’s possible he is being held by Garrick?” Why else would he be in the same room as Ty during his torture?

Markus sat back in his chair, brows drawn together as if in deep in thought. “It is possible. It’s also possible he’s there by choice.”

Great
. That’s all they needed, two Sons of War working together. “Like he is on Garrick’s side? No, that doesn’t fit my flashback. The male who tried to talk to me was locked in a cage.”

Ash stepped forward. “Are you sure?”

Ty shrugged. “Maybe sixty-five percent? The voice came from behind me.” The dull ache returned in his temples as he tried to remember. Shoving the pain away, he focused until what he searched for surfaced. Then everything faded. It was like the spell Garrick placed on him didn’t allow anything else to be revealed. “I heard chains as he spoke.”

Ash paced the floor. “Garrick moved his prisoners around periodically. The locations were something he never shared with me. At the time, I didn’t press or nose around because I didn’t think he’d actually capture a dragon and be able to hold him.”

Ty grunted and folded his arms as he leaned against the wall. “We know better now.”

With a quick jerk of her head, she glared at him with narrowed eyes. Just as quick, her lips dipped into a frown and she averted her gaze. “I should have stayed longer, learned more about his operations.”

Without another word, she stormed out the front door. Ty pushed off the wall to follow her, but Markus cleared his throat. “You need to reconsider coming home. Together we can figure this shit out.”

Instead of answering his brother, Ty shut off the computer and chased down his female.

He found her sitting in the sand several feet from the beach house, her back to him. When he reached her, he sat down beside her. “The past can’t be changed. All we can do is move forward.”

“I was sent to build a case, to find out the truth about Elizabeth’s death. I got nothing from Garrick but anger, jealousy, and hatred. It was draining to be around. I should have been stronger.” The sickly, sour scent of her anger drifted around him.

“You’re not mad at yourself, so stop acting like it. Point the anger at the right person.”