Authors: Gabrielle Evans
“I don’t know, Mac.” Echo rubbed a hand over his face, watching as Sony walked Gage toward the back door. They spoke quietly, Sony keeping his fingers locked around Gage’s wrist. “I’m sorry I caused problems between the three of you.” Then he pushed past his friend and hurried out of the kitchen.
He made it to the stairs just as Hex and Eyce came jogging down them. “What’s all the yelling about?” Eyce asked.
“Nothing.” Echo wasn’t going to start any more trouble by telling the truth. From now on, he’d just keep his mouth shut and his opinions to himself.
“Echo, what happened?” The commanding tone of Hex’s voice let Echo know it wasn’t a request. The alpha demanded an answer.
Now what the hell did he do? If he lied and Hex found out, it would stir up trouble. If he told the truth, it would start a fight. Some days it really sucked to be him. “Gage is a little upset. That’s all.”
“Why is he pissed?”
“Because I told him it wasn’t a good idea to go into the woods alone.”
“Well, that’s smart,” Eyce agreed. “None of us should be out there until we find out what attacked you and Onyx.”
“What else happened?” Hex crossed his arms over his chest in a no-nonsense gesture. “Don’t lie to me, Echo.”
“Nothing,” Echo lied as he looked away from his mates. “He’s talking to Sony and Mac now. I’m sure they’ll talk some sense into him.”
“So, where are you going?”
Echo shrugged. “Tired. Just going to go take a little nap.”
“Mmm,” Hex hummed. “Nice try.” Before Echo could react, Hex had him draped over one broad, muscled shoulder. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll just have to find out for myself.”
He marched them into the kitchen, Eyce following along and looking a lot less friendly than he had a moment before. Echo just hung limply over Hex’s shoulder. There was no point in struggling. Something shitty was about to happen, and as always, he’d be right in the middle of it.
Yippee!
“Okay, so what’s the problem?” Hex asked casually.
“Why is Myst about to shift?” Eyce pointed at the warrior and arched an eyebrow.
Echo closed his eyes and placed a hand over them for good measure. All hell was about to break loose, and he didn’t want any part of it. Ironic, considering the whole damn mess was his fault to begin with.
“Gage,” Onyx said coldly, “needs to apologize to Echo.”
“Oh, go to hell,” Gage countered with a snarl.
“Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.” Onyx’s voice held such icy steel that it made Echo shiver.
“Okay, everyone calm down.” Hex still spoke calmly, but Echo could feel his lover’s shoulder tense beneath him. “Start from the beginning, and tell me what’s going on here.”
“Something is wrong with Gage,” Mac answered quietly. “He’s not acting like himself.”
“There is nothing wrong with me besides the fact that I’m stuck in this house with two sniveling mates and a houseful of men that fall to their knees every time Echo walks in the fucking room.”
Echo groaned when he heard Mac’s loud gasp and Sony’s quiet growl. He was beginning to understand Mac’s point, though. No matter how Gage felt about him, Echo knew the man loved his mates more than anything.
Gage was also a smart man, military trained, and always cool and levelheaded. No way would he go traipsing out into the forest alone after dark. “It’s a trick, a trap,” Echo said urgently as he lifted his head to look at Eyce. “Get Syx.”
“Already here,” Syx said, stepping up behind Hex and rolling his eyes at Echo. “Is there a reason he’s carrying you around like a sack of laundry?”
Echo shrugged as much as his position would allow. “I think he likes it, to be honest.”
“So, why do we need to get Syx?”
It was Echo’s turn to roll his eyes at the demon. “Because I need you to take a look inside Gage’s head. I think there might be someone else taking up residency there.”
“Like Sage?”
“Exactly. So, do you think you could get with the mind thing before everyone starts fighting? I’m kind of partial to not being beaten up.”
Syx kissed Echo’s forehead and stepped around Hex. “Gage, how’s it going, man?”
Gage just snarled.
“Right. I guess that means you’re having a pretty crappy day.”
Echo kicked his foot out, smirking when he connected with something solid and Syx grunted. “Get on with it.”
“It would seem we have a visitor,” Syx drawled.
“Sage,” Echo growled. “How do we get rid of him?” That little demon had hurt the people he cared about for the last time. Wiggling in Hex’s hold until the alpha finally set him on his feet, Echo marched over to Gage and placed both hands on the man’s chest.
Gage growled, but Echo ignored him. He’d never been so furious in his life. What they faced each new moon wasn’t enough? Going to war wasn’t enough? Ares had to send his vile little henchmen to mess with them in between? Well, fuck that.
“Echo,” Hex warned. “Come here, baby. Step away from him.”
“Leave us alone!” Echo yelled up into Gage’s face. “Be a man and face us. Stop sneaking around like a coward!” He continued to yell, to taunt the demon as well as the god who controlled him. The longer he talked, the madder he got, and without warning, bright light shot from his hands, hitting Gage in the chest and knocking him backward with enough force to send him careening into the back door.
Gage opened his mouth and roared, but it sounded nothing like him. Primal, feral, and animalistic, the sound seemed to go on forever. Then suddenly, everything went quiet, and Gage dropped to the floor on his hands and knees and panted heavily.
His mates converged on him, touching, stroking, and whispering encouragements to him. Echo felt exhausted. His knees trembled, and he reached for something to steady himself. Silly of him since he had such big mates who were more than happy to hold him. Eyce caught him before his knees buckled, cradling him against his chest. “What the hell was that?”
“I have no idea, but it worked.”
“Echo,” Gage said raggedly. “I’m sorry, man. I swear I didn’t mean any of that shit. I could hear myself saying it, but I just couldn’t stop it.”
“I know. I don’t blame you. Are you okay?”
“Tired and sore, but yeah, I’m good.” Gage clutched his lovers to him and began his apologies all over again.
“I guess this is going up on the board,” Syx mumbled.
Echo craned his neck to look at the warrior. “What board?”
“The dry-erase board I made to keep track of all the questions we still need answers to.”
“And how is that working out for you?”
Syx frowned. “I think I’m going to need a bigger board.”
Chapter Eleven
Hex couldn’t help but laugh. Syx really had a dry-erase board set up in the office with a list of questions scrawled down the one side, and possible answers on the other. “You weren’t joking.”
Syx shook his head. “It’s easier if I have something tangible to look at, even if it’s just words on a white board.”
“I can understand that. So, what do we have?”
Syx walked over to the board and jabbed a finger at it as though it had morally offended him. “Okay, so here are the last parts of the prophecy leading up to the war.” Hex nodded, and Syx continued. “We need to find out why Ares has a raging boner for you. Don’t deny it.”
“I never said a word.”
“Okay, so then we need to know what importance the lab will play in this war. Why is it so important to Ares? Why are there only men and no women?”
“Got it. What’s next?”
Syx jabbed the board again. “What attacked Onyx? What happened to Echo? What is he now?”
All excellent questions, and Hex just wished he had answers. “What’s that last one?”
“I still haven’t heard back from Lexi about the missing money. It’s been almost two weeks. It’s not like her to not return my calls.”
“It is strange, but what does it have to do with everything else that’s going on?”
Syx stared him in the eyes and shook his head. “I’m not dismissing anything. No matter how far out in left field it seems, I’m assuming it’s all connected until I can prove otherwise.”
“Smart.” Hex tilted his head to the side and frowned when Syx took a black marker and began scribbling something else on the board. “What are you writing now?”
“We’re dropping like flies, man. That shit that happened with Gage in the kitchen is nuts. It’s the third time someone has succumbed to that evil little prick, too. We can’t let it happen again.”
“What do we do about it?”
Syx waved a hand behind him. “I don’t know. That’s why it’s on the board.”
* * * *
If Gage apologized one more time, Echo was going to scream. “Look, I’ve been there. I know you can’t help it. I know you didn’t mean it. I just know, okay?”
Gage bit his lip and turned to his mates. Mac held a hand up. “Don’t. I forgave you the minute you said it. I knew something wasn’t right.”
“Then let me say this.” Gage brushed his lips over Mac’s. “Thank you for believing in me and knowing I’d never hurt you that way.”
“Hey, I believed you, too,” Sony huffed.
“Then let me show you my gratitude.” Gage smiled wickedly as he grabbed up both of his mates and ran them out of the kitchen.
Echo chuckled under his breath and eased into the seat beside Myst. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah, sorry, baby.” Myst propped his elbows up on the table and rested his chin in his palms. “I didn’t mean to wig out like that.”
Leaning over, Echo kissed the underside of Myst’s jaw. “Well, it was a bit hostile, but it was also kind of sexy. It’s nice to know that you’d defend me no matter what.”
“Every time,” Myst answered with sincerity.
Echo kissed his mate again and cleared the roughness from his throat. “Okay, the full moon is tonight. The new moon is in two weeks. We haven’t done anything to prepare for it.”
“That seems to be our standard operating procedure.”
Echo turned in his seat to find Fiero leaning against the kitchen doorway. “You’re right, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good practice.”
Standing up straight, Fiero shrugged and walked over to plop down in one of the chairs. “It’s been working so far. I say if it’s not broke, don’t fuck with it.”
Echo snorted and rolled his eyes. “Yes, very eloquent.” He started to say something else, but bit his lip and looked down at his hands where they rested in his lap. Although it hadn’t technically been Gage who’d said those awful things, maybe the man had a point. Maybe Echo was too bossy.
Onyx reached over and tapped the end of his nose. “What’s all this? If you have something to say then just say it. Don’t let what Gage said get to you.”
“Yeah, we like you bossy,” Myst added.
“Quiet and submissive is not your style.” Fiero gave a dramatic shudder. “Thank the gods for that.”
“Fine.” Echo huffed and stuck his tongue out. “You asked for it. We need someone to stand guard outside of Gage’s room tonight. I know Mac and Sony normally calm him, but after what happened earlier, I don’t think we should take any chances.”