“I see her point, Pyth. If we can lure him to a particular spot, we can even the odds a bit and try to ensure we come out the victors here. I don’t trust Linos, he’s always had something up his sleeve.”
Pythias paced in front of them, scowling.
You risk her life by doing this!
We risk her life by doing nothing
, Damon didn’t hesitate to return.
Aella ignored them, or at least she tried to. They may care about her in some way but it still didn’t change the fact that they were beholden to her father. Poseidon wasn’t one to let go of his possessions easily. And that’s exactly how he’d see the two men. They had served him for millennia, doing his bidding. Oh, she knew all about the things her father demanded of his warriors. They were all immortals, some of them were even her siblings. They did a number of duties ranging from spying for him, to killing for him.
Some merely protected his sanctuaries, but she had a feeling her father wouldn’t have sent untrained men to watch over her. He was a little too protective of her for that. No, he’d send men that he knew would be able to meet any threat. It made her respect the two men even more. For Poseidon to trust them with such a task meant he valued them highly. She knew exactly how hard it was to impress her father.
“Fine. I understand the need to do something now. I’m not exactly happy about the idea of waiting to see what his next move is either.” Pythias rotated his shoulders, stopping to look at Damon.
She turned to the other man as well. This might have been her plan but she had no idea how to execute it.
“We have to get him into one of the temples. It’s the only place I can think of where we might have the advantage. Even if Zeus tries to help him in any way, we’ll still have the advantage of home ground. Poseidon would know the instant we stepped into one of his temples.”
“So it wouldn’t matter if Zeus is trying to block us from communicating. Even he can’t block another god from hearing what goes on inside his own temple. He doesn’t have the power to do that.” Pythias grinned. “We may just be able to pull this off after all.”
Turning to Aella, Pythias lifted her off her feet, causing her to squeal. He planted a smacking kiss on her mouth, before releasing her to walk out of the room. She touched her lips, staring after him.
Damon laughed. “Don’t mind him, he gets like this when he’s excited about something. He’ll be planning strategies all day, going over them and over them until he has every angle worked out.”
She glanced at him, looking away. “So, what do we do now?”
She was starting to sound like a damn recording, but she had no clue what step to take next. Ask her to look after animals, or where the best place to get bargain shoes in Athens and she was the right girl. Find and dupe an insane immortal? Uh, not exactly something she was used to.
“We figure out which temple is the best location. Your father has his fair share of places where people come to seek him out, but they aren’t all appropriate for what we need. The biggest temples are damn tourist attractions today, and it would be almost impossible to stage anything within them without having the police breathing down our necks within minutes. No, it will have to be something small, out of the way, unknown to the general population. Any ideas?”
Aella thought about what he was describing. She hadn’t been to all the places dedicated to her father, like Damon had said, there were a hell of a lot of them. But she’d done her fair share of exploring when she went through a phase a while back. She had attempted to learn as much as possible about her father so she could discover where she came from. She supposed it wasn’t all that different from the way humans studied their genealogy. Granted, it was a lot easier for her to get information on her immortal family, but there were still places that weren’t covered in any history book or website dedicated to Greek mythology.
“There’s a temple not far from here that isn’t on any map you’ll ever find. Father took me there once when I tried to get him to tell me more about his past. It’s no secret that this area is plagued with deep focused earthquakes. More than one has been the cause of some ancient building disappearing or cities lying in ruins. Well, that’s what happened here. The temple was hit by an earthquake, and the entire section of land it was sitting on slid into the sea. It had once been one of Poseidon’s favorite spots so he preserved it, letting it sink underwater but not letting it decay as it normally would.”
“How far away is it?”
“Uh, we can swim there in a few hours. I think. I haven’t been in a few years, but I know where it is.”
Did you get all that, Pyth?
Damon asked.
Got it. We leave in an hour. Make sure the Princess is ready.
“I heard that, you ass.” Aella scowled, desperate to hide her smile. Pythias’ deep laughter rang out from the next room.
“Little eavesdroppers never hear what they want to.”
“I can’t help listening in when you’re broadcasting so loud.”
Damon drew her attention back to him. “I don’t like leaving the seals unprotected here but we can’t bring them with us. Will Phocas and the others be safe?”
Touched that he’d think of her seals, Aella thought about it. “I have my own protections set up around my home. I don’t think anyone short of one of the Olympian gods could enter here and destroy anything. I don’t want to leave them either, but we don’t have much of a choice. I can’t think of anywhere we can put them for the moment and I don’t even think I could contact anyone to come and look after them.”
Pythias returned, throwing a small bundle to Damon. “We should leave now, to make sure we don’t tip him off. It won’t take long to get to the temple but still, I don’t like leaving anything to chance.”
She angled her head, trying to see what Damon now held but he turned it away from her. Hmph.
Aella led the way down to the shoreline. She would have loved to take her boat partway, but the
Whirlwind
was too noticeable and if anyone was watching them they’d be able to follow them easily. She wasn’t sure what powers this Linos had after living for centuries but she figured she would be able to out swim him any day. This was her territory.
Looking around for any surprise visitors in the area -- it wasn’t unheard of for fishermen to set up nets near her home -- Aella quickly shed the robe she had donned this morning. She walked into the waves, quickly moving through them until she was chest deep. Here, she dove under, swimming under the sea and calling forth her tail.
Before long, two powerful shapes shadowed her on either side. They were letting her lead them but Damon and Pythias were definitely in protector mode. There were no smiles or teasing glances being sent her way. They were utterly focused. Now, why did that serve to make her hot? Gods, she was starting to act like a sex starved ninny. Absolutely everything was making her wet these days.
Pythias cracked a smile at that, turning to pierce her with smoldering eyes. He’d obviously caught that thought. She ducked her head, embarrassed. His dark chuckle surrounded her for a moment, joined by the smoky tenor of Damon.
I can see things will never get dull around you.
Damon whispered to her.
Enough of that. We have a madman to catch.
She shot out, flicking her tail and daring them to catch her.
* * * * *
Studying the pile of rocks in front of them, Pythias considered the idea that his little Princess was lost.
“I’m not lost, and stop calling me Princess!”
He smiled, turning his head so she couldn’t see his amusement. He loved riling her, she was so damn cute when she got agitated. He wouldn’t grow tired of this, that was for sure.
Damon looked at him, obviously catching the tail end of his thought. They’d been friends for so long that sometimes they didn’t even need to communicate in their minds to understand what the other was thinking. Right now, they were both thinking the same thing.
They’d challenge Poseidon himself to stay with Aella. There wasn’t anything that could stand in their way of claiming their mate.
Pythias could hardly believe it, but he couldn’t imagine a world without her in it. Within a matter of days, she’d squeezed her way into his heart, the gods’ damned organ that he previously thought only had room for his friend. The love the two men shared was a product of centuries spent together, of trusting only each other through rough times. He sometimes thought he knew Damon better than he knew himself. It was certain that Damon knew him better than Pythias did.
Poseidon once accused them of sharing one mind because they so often shared the same opinion. It had been no different when they saw Aella recently. He’d known instantly she would be his and Damon’s. He’d known when his body had hardened, his cock hard enough to drill through solid rock. He’d never been so affected in all his years.
She was different, special, and he wanted her. As stupid as it sounded to a man accustomed to being alone with only Damon for company, he wanted to wake up beside her for eternity.
He wanted to smell the sweet fragrance of her hair, watch the play of emotions across her face, and see the joy as she raced through tunnels chasing after a seal. He wanted to see the rapture on her face as she came for them, over and over again.
He just didn’t know how to tell her that. He wasn’t any good at emotional stuff like this. Pythias usually just relied on Damon when it came to talking about the important things. He didn’t have the way with words his friend had been born with.
Aella swam back and forth in front of them, studying the rocks. “I know the entrance is around here somewhere. Father buried it so that enterprising divers wouldn’t be able to happen upon it by accident.”
She tapped her chin, wrinkling her nose in thought. Damon waited patiently, flicking his tail occasionally to stay in place. Pythias angled his neck, trying to relax his tense shoulders.
“Here it is!” Aella crowed with glee, rushing headlong toward a crack set near the bottom of the rocks. Pythias immediately thrust forward, putting his larger body in front of hers. Damon came up behind him, holding Aella by the hips while Pythias explored the crack, studying it.
“Pyth?”
“I don’t think anyone’s here. It’s possible Zeus knows where we’re headed but he isn’t here yet. Give me a minute, I’ll check out the inside. Keep an eye out for trouble.”
Not giving them a chance to argue, Pythias wiggled through the small opening. It was just large enough to let his shoulder through. Lucky for him, although he’d had no fear he’d be able to make it in, Poseidon wasn’t exactly a small man.
The crack widened out up ahead. Squeezing his way through the opening he found himself in crystal clear waters. He swam to the surface, peering at the temple in front of him. The temple sat on a small island within the open cavern, surrounded by water, but untouched by it. It was definitely impressive. Made him remember the old days. It looked almost exactly as it would have centuries ago when it was first built. There was no decay here, everything was pristine, right down to the burning fires set along the path leading up to the columns. They would lead him right to the central hall of the temple.
Pythias swam toward the columns, shifting his tail for legs to walk up the steps. At the first fire, he bent to one knee.
“Poseidon, watch over us. We are here at your bidding. Protect your daughter within these walls, I pray to you.”
He stood up, grabbing the dagger he’d placed at his waist this morning. Glancing around, he studied the surroundings, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He finally shrugged, turning and diving back into the water. In no time, he was back through the crack and motioning for Damon and Aella to follow him in.
Leading them back through and up the steps, they walked past the columns toward the main hall. It was a windowless, rectangular room set in the very centre. Reaching the doorway, Aella gasped at the sight of her father, made massive. The statue rose up above them, the figure of Poseidon with trident in his hand. He was positioned as if he was going to throw the trident at some threat.
“I always get a tingle down my spine when I see his statue. It looks exactly like him,” she whispered.
“Not quite. My brother never did throw his trident like that. Too much of a coward to face anyone in battle.”
Pythias swung around, facing the figure of Zeus. Damon swore softly, coming beside him and herding Aella back.
“You’re not welcome here, Zeus. This is a place of worship. I do believe you’re trespassing.”
Zeus threw back his head, laughing loudly and shaking the foundation of the temple. “Do you dare to tell me what to do? I can go wherever I want.”
All trace of amusement was now gone from his face. He stepped forward, menacingly.
Pythias grabbed his dagger, holding it in front of him.
“Well, well. Looks like the great Damon and Pythias are now the ones without a god to protect them. Where’s your precious ruler?” Linos stepped forward, sneering at them.
Linos was a waste of air, as he’d always been. He was small and pale. Covered by billowing robes, he stepped grandly into the room behind Zeus. The god must have transported him inside, he wouldn’t have swum in after them. His hooked nose, and narrow beady eyes were set over a twisted, cocky mouth.
Pythias wanted dearly to end the man’s existence but there were bigger threats then him in the room. He remained silent, not allowing Linos to bait him.
“What? Can’t figure out how to answer me, servant to the sea god? Bet you had enough to say when you found all the dead seals. That was my idea, by the way. Brilliant, wasn’t it? Just the right amount of pathos, but not enough to debilitate you. I bet she cried, didn’t she?”
Aella gasped, a small sound full of pain. Damon snarled behind him. Pythias wanted badly to turn around and comfort Aella, but he couldn’t take his gaze off Linos. The squirrelly man was strutting forward, assuming his safety because the god he served was looking on.
Fool. The gods changed allegiances when it suited them, anyone knew that. To take their protection for granted was beyond foolish.