She returned to the office to watch the camera set on her recent obsession. Keven was right about one thing, that man would draw women like bees to honey. She saw that
Keven and his friend were gone and she hoped they had left the grounds all together. She did her chores until supper time then started cooking a meal. She shoved a couple chickens in the oven because she had a feeling the man in the cage could eat one by himself. She fixed mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and hot rolls with a southern style sweet tea to drink. Her stomach rumbled reminding her that she had fed others, but not herself. It was alright since she liked a meal like the one she was preparing better than sandwiches any day.
She kept busy while the chicken baked, cleaning and doing laundry. Her worst fear was realized when Keven came in with his buddy to see if there was any food available. “It isn’t time to eat yet, Keven.”
“I don’t care. Stu and I are hungry now so get us something to eat.”
Cherish fixed them sandwiches
which they wolfed down like they hadn’t eaten in a week and demanded more. She made them each another sandwich while she tried to keep distance between her and them.
“You know, Keven, you’re right.”
“I’m always right. What am I right about now?”
“Your sister might be worth something alive after all. I mean besides fucking.” Stu laughed like he had ju
st told the funniest joke ever.
“What would that be?” Keven asked as if he couldn’t imagine anything
she would be good for.
“She can cook and clean for us.” Stu explained.
“Whatever. Eat up and we have to go. We’ll be gone for a few days, Cher, so take care of the guest in the barn for me and make sure he doesn’t escape or you won’t survive that mistake. Just think of Fabian and you’ll do the right thing.”
“Who is Fabian?” Stu asked.
“Nobody important, at least not to us.”
She
listened to Keven, her brother, talk about Fabian and her as if they were nothing and she knew they would have to disappear. They would only be safe if he was in jail or dead and it pained her to think of him either way. She didn’t know how long the prisoner had been here since she generally avoided the barn. Keven tended to gather his ‘buds’, loose women, alcohol if he or one of his friends could afford it, and drugs that he always managed to have no matter how broke he was, in there. He could have had the prisoner for weeks, except she knew he would have died without food if he’d been there that long. She would wait until they were gone for a day, then she would free the man so he, she, and Fabian could run as fast and as far as possible.
She took the day after Keven left to pack her bags and set them in the closet where they wouldn’t be seen. She took the SUV to town to have the oil changed and fill it up with gas. She parked it in the garage when she returned home so she could load it with the supplies they would need and had a tarp to cover the back so they wouldn’t be noticeable.
It was hard to get through the day but even harder to try to sleep that night with the fear and uncertainty dogging her every step, every thought. It was surprising that the image of the prisoner, the one Keven had called Hermes, calmed her. She finally fell asleep hoping the new day would bring freedom for them all.
The alarm
went off and she was still tired, what a surprise. There was a sense of dread fighting with the hope for a new and better life if they could just escape Keven. It was time to get up and hopefully start the first day of their new life. She was cautious and careful, two habits that had served her well since her father had died. She cooked breakfast and fed Fabian, she usually ate last but today she ate before fixing more food for Hermes. She wouldn’t say anything to him until she was sure it was safe to go. She handed the breakfast she packed for him in through the bars. She couldn’t use a plate because it wouldn’t fit through the bars. She watched him wipe out all the food with gusto.
“Thank you, it was good. Will you tell me your name?” He asked with a smile that made him as beautiful as an angel. His purple eyes glowed as he watched her intently.
“Cherish.” She whispered before she scurried off back to the house. She knew she would think about him until she could come back hopefully to free him. She walked around the side of the house to the door when a familiar voice stopped her cold.
“Where were you
, my dear sister.” Keven asked with a smirk. He enjoyed her surprise at seeing him. There would be no escape today.
“Just taking a walk, it gets stuffy in the house sometimes.” He examined her closely as if he could detect a lie. She lied to him all the time and he usually believed her so clearly he couldn’t tell.
“Well, we want to keep you in good health. Stu really likes you, you should be flattered.”
She didn’t really know how to answer that without insulting Stu and she knew better than to upset her brother
from past experience. It only hardened her resolve to leave and made her more frustrated that Keven had returned. The next week had Keven hanging even closer to home than ever upsetting her and Fabian who was all but a prisoner in the attic apartment when Keven was around. She made him stay isolated when Keven was near since a year ago, when Keven had stabbed him. Her fear of losing Fabian overwhelmed her. Even though Keven was alive, she felt that Fabian was all she had.
Keven finally went on a trip at the beginning of the next week but it was only for part of the day.
The frustration was overwhelming as the need to escape pressed against her clawing to get out and away. When she saw Keven, every time she felt panic, pure and simple. He would kill them all and she just knew it, if they didn’t escape soon. Hermes might not die right away, but he would send him to those who would torture and kill him eventually just as surely as Keven planned to kill Fabian and give her to Stu who would be the death of her. Every time she got her hopes up that Keven would leave long enough to allow their escape, he returned or cancelled his trip. He had sent out information about Hermes to interested parties to prepare for the auction.
Keven and his friends were involved in some serious things and they feared a company called Origin,
which she knew worked with DNA, would come after them, maybe even kill them. They made it sound more like a criminal organization than a company. It was why they were trying to hide Hermes and why it was taking so long to auction him off. They were checking out every interested party and sending the information in a way they felt couldn’t be tracked. Keven had brought in a buddy that was a computer specialist and another that would ensure security for the delivery of Hermes to whoever the winning bidder was. The only bright spot was that he had no security in place now. He feared it would attract attention and he knew it would cost more of his profit to pay for it even though the security expert had recommended it. Keven’s sanity and the safety of everyone around him was barely kept in check. Time was running out.
Chapter 2
On the Run
She hid in the shadows again waiting to be sure it was safe to come to him. Most men wouldn’t cast a second glance her way thinking she was just a mousy, unattractive female unworthy of attention. He wasn’t most men, he picked up on the things others didn’t. Her baggy clothes covered a slim physique with well rounded curves. She was shorter than most, maybe five foot one or two tops. She wore her hair long and pulled over part of her face not because she was shy, but to hide from the predators all around her. This place wasn’t safe for Cherish and he raged internally that he couldn’t help her, save her like he wanted to. Of the two of them, she was the one with the most power but she was afraid to use it. He saw the fear she showed when the male who called the shots was near.
He’d caught her feeding him a couple times and had spoken down to her as if she was a slave. He wasn’t sure who this Fabian was, but she cared for him a lot. It hurt him to think he might be her mate and he tried not to think about what that might mean. She walked closer carrying the customary sack she always carried his food to him in. She smiled as she handed him the bag and it lit up her whole face making her appear dazzling to him. She rarely spoke a word and even then it was just that, a word whispered low.
He wanted to know more about her
, like who she was, where she stayed, and if she was mated or free. He wanted to hug her and thank her for trying to take care of him. He wanted to kiss her, whoa, where had that come from? He didn’t need or want a mate, not now when they had just been freed. He would admit that he was jealous of what Zeus had, but Sierra was a special female. He was sure Cherish was special as well, but he couldn’t imagine being mated, which was forever, to a female that wouldn’t stand up for herself. So what if she was beautiful and kind? A god needed a strong female to balance him or she would be no good to him except for sex and breeding more gods. He wanted more and she deserved a male that would be happy with what she was and what she had to give.
Today, she had brought him lasagna, garlic bread, asparagus, and a piece of chocolate cake for des
sert. She had put a lot of time into his meal and he saw other signs that he might interest her. He felt bad that he would have to let her down. Of course, if he was sold like the one called Keven told him he would be, he wouldn’t be here to break her heart. Life could, and often was, so unfair. He had been freed from a life of confinement only to be imprisoned again. The world of the outsiders was too hard for even a god to manage by himself.
He tasted the lasagna thinking it the best he ever had. It was so far above what he had in the past there was no comparison. The girl could cook
, just one more positive thing about her. He had never cared for most of the vegetables they had served him in the cafeteria, but the asparagus was crisp and well favored. The chocolate cake, his favorite dessert, was to die for. She watched him eat, her eyes following every move he made. Maybe he should mate her just for her cooking skills, but no, that wouldn’t be fair. She’d pushed her hair out of her face for the first time since he had met her. She was lovely beyond description so he paused in eating his food just to look at her.
“What? Do I have dirt on my face?” She asked forgetting what he could only imagine was her rule of silence. Her voice was sweet as an angel
’s, or what he imagined one might sound like. He sat there like a fool smiling at her and neither speaking nor moving. She looked at him wondering what was wrong. “Hermes what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Cherish. I was just struck with the worries of my situation.” Not a lie, he just realized he wanted to mate a female who was completely wrong for him. His heart would not listen to reason and his body ached for her.
Damn, it seemed that he would be a fool for love.
Ha, ha.
Maybe he would be lucky and find happiness with his mate as Zeus had. He only needed to accept her shortcomings and love her anyway. Now the only question was how did she feel about him. He finished eating and handed her back the bag.
She scurried away as she always did, but this time he saw her in a different light. She was surrounded by his love
and he knew she would be back. Hermes lay down on the bed relaxing and thinking back to how he had arrived at this point. He remembered his surprise when Sierra had unlocked his door and beckoned him out into the hall. At first he had made the same mistake as Zeus and others had. He had thought her an attractive female brought in as a reward for something he had done that his keepers had approved of. It wasn’t unusual to be rewarded and unsure of why you were getting the reward. Life at Origin wasn’t always simple but it was the only life he had known up to that point, so he followed the temptress into the hall and was surprised to find it full of his brothers.
It wasn’t a big surprise that Zeus had claimed the sexy woman before any other had a chance to. He was their leader in all things including being the first to mate. Would he be the second when he convinced Cherish
to mate with him or had others been joined while he was away? He wished that for all his brothers but for now he had to get free. His gift and his abilities as a god would help him but only once he was free from his cage.
He saw Keven come in not much longer after Cherish had left. He and the other guy, the one that stared at Cherish as if he owned her. He would never own her, she belonged to Hermes and no other.
“Hey, money man.” Keven said happily. “You are worth so much money and I have a shot at another one of you.” He chuckled gleefully.
Hermes wondered who was giving these jerks all their information. He thought back to when he had agreed to go to Washington as a liais
on between the gods and the US government. The first day he had arrived they had put him in a hotel room and told him to take the day to acclimate himself. The first meeting wasn’t until the next morning so he had time to explore and do whatever he wanted. Origin had never allowed them any real freedom and he had always wanted a tattoo so he found the nearest tattoo parlor and had a set of wings put on his back. He was, after all, the messenger god. So what if the original Hermes had a pair of winged shoes, he could put his wings wherever he wanted now that he was free.
He went out for a drink or two while the pain from his tattoo dulled a
nd the redness eased and healed. He was relaxing and enjoying the attention of several women that had flocked around him. Heady stuff for a god newly freed when female companionship had been such a premium all his life. He should have been more alert, more cautious when dealing with so much unknown. He had followed them out to the alley, just a continuation of the party as the bar closed. The blonde was all over him but who was he to complain?