Paragons 2 Read online

  Unlike the talk of me being attracted to Felicity, this was a talk I was looking forward to. One that I had wanted for a while now, and it looked like I was finally going to get it. If I was having it with Fleur there was a chance it would be with Lola in the very near future.

  The red-haired woman was the hardest to get to come around to me. In pretty much every way. When we first met, she hated me. Thought I was a disgusting pig, and she only agreed to work with me since I had knowledge of Eris, and they needed that. If I hadn’t had the information she desired, she and I might have never become friends or more. Fleur was a stubborn one and held to her guns.

  It took a long time before she opened up to me and even trusted me. I fought hard for that that trust and love. More than I had ever in my life before. I wasn’t much of a chaser in my life. Letting the woman come to me was more normal, as I was a God. That was the usual outcome on Earth, but times were different these days with the Paragons.

  The arrival of wannabe Gods on Earth really changed the landscape for the other Gods and me. It was no wonder my father was scared of Earth now. I hoped though, that I had shown him we need not be afraid of the Paragons. That the real horrors of the world are the ones right in front of us. The ones we have known about for a very long time. Whether that be Hera, the Titans, or the Primordial Gods.

  My mother and the latter were the ones that scared me. I know I should be scared of the Titans, but I wasn’t. But Gaia, that was a scary thing, much like my mother. I wanted nothing to do with them.

  “You’re a God,” Fleur said.

  “I’ve been saying that for a long time.” I was focused on her now. Nothing but Fleur mattered. I let thoughts of the Gods, Titans, and more vanish. Taking in Fleur and her amazing body. I could see her eyes darting across me. “What?”

  “I just have trouble wrapping my head around it.”

  “Don’t wrap your head around anything,” I said. “I’m Ares. God of War. Nothing about me is different than last night. Or the night before that.”

  She crinkled her nose. “How can you say that? I’ve read the stories of you. Dating back to eons ago. You’re old. Like really old.”

  I shrugged. “All a matter of perspective. I’m old by your standards. But compared to the Titans or Gaia, I’m not.”

  “It’s all real.”

  “Not all,” I said. “Things have been shifted and altered to suit what the current people can or can’t handle. But the Gods, the Titans, and the Underworld are. Many of the monsters are too.”

  Fleur groaned. “We are going to have to fight monsters, aren’t we?”

  “There is a chance of that,” I said. “We have no idea what Hera will do.”

  “Why don’t you call her Mother?”

  “Would you?”

  “Fair point.”

  She stared at me, muttering under her breath. “I’ve slept with a God.”

  I laughed. “More than once.”

  She giggled. “And I will again.”

  “Good.”

  That was what I wanted to hear. “It really is no wonder you’re so good in bed.”

  “I’ve had years of practice,” I admitted.

  With all my years, that meant I’ve been with more women than any human had ever heard. Wilt the Silt and his claim did come close to my number. Not that it mattered anymore. Or ever did. They weren't ever notched on my belt and never would be. Fleur, Lola, and Felicity were much more than that.

  Love changed a man. Altered him in a way, and it did me. I had never thought I would feel the way I did about a person. Let alone more than one.

  “I love you,” I said. Those are three words I haven’t said much in my life. They meant something special to me, and always would. Reserved for someone special, and Fleur was that.

  “I love you too.” She looked deep into my eyes. “How can one compare to a God?”

  “Trust me,” I said. “You do. You’re better than a God. The best. Never in my life have I experienced the stuff I have with you. Not with anyone, no human or God.”

  Fleur smiled. “You are incredible, amazing. I can’t believe I didn’t trust you at first.”

  “I can,” I said. “I was a cocky God. A man talking like that. Hard to trust him.”

  Fleur smiled. “You were so much a manly man.”

  “I am the God of War, that is expected of me.”

  She laughed. Today might be a dreary day at the stakeout, but at least Fleur and I were in a great place.

  19

  The Calm Before the Storm

  That night back at the warehouse, I stood in the central area. Lola had been busy for most of the day. As had Athena, and Felicity too. The squirrelkin had been out getting supplies for us, and other useful things.

  One of the bad things about letting her go out and get our food was that she got a lot of vegetables. As I was looking in the fridge that held the snacks, I closed it and turned back to the others. “She’s not allowed to get food again.”

  “What?” Felicity said. “I got us some good stuff.”

  “All I saw was celery and cheese.”

  Fleur walked over and opened the fridge and confirmed what I said. “Okay. I’m going to have to agree with Ares. While I don’t mind this, I need more in my diet.”

  Felicity crinkled her nose. “You all have terrible taste buds.’

  “I’m a God,” I said. “I have amazing taste buds, and I’m a manly man.”

  Fleur giggled next to me.

  “So I’ve heard,” Felicity said. “Yet, I haven’t seen any real truth to that.”

  That wasn’t entirely true, but we still hadn’t made love. It was clear that she was teasing me about that. I wanted her and she knew it. If I hadn’t changed as much as I had since I arrived, she and I would have done it yesterday in the car. Not caring about who saw, or what the others thought. Since I was a changed God, that just wasn’t possible.

  “You’ll see me in my glory. Soon. Very soon.”

  Athena groaned. “You are unbelievable. I swear all you do is think with your dick. What I don’t get is why they fawn over you. It’s not that good of a penis. I’ve seen it.”

  The other three all looked at me. “We haven’t,” I said. It was known that many of the Gods crossed a line that humans frowned upon. Athena and I never did, and never would.

  “How has she seen it?” Lola asked. She was playing with her glasses, having taken them off, and was nipping on the end of one of them. She did that when she was nervous, and when trying to be sexy. This time it was definitely nerves.

  “We have lived for a long time. I’ve walked in on him before,” Athena said. “More than once.”

  I laughed. “I forgot about that.”

  “I haven’t.” Athena appeared to try to erase the memory that was playing in her head.

  “You poor woman,” Felicity said. “If I ever walked in on my brother or a family member…” Her body shivered at the thought. Clearly it was the last thing in the world she wanted to happen.

  “Not the best thing to see,” Athena said. “And like I said, I don’t get it.”

  “Well, I haven’t actually seen it.” Felicity was looking at me. “Yet,” she added.

  “Oy vey,” Athena said. “We need to focus. We are no closer to finding Reign or Elric.”

  “That isn’t strictly true,” Lola said. All the eyes in the room turned to her. The Guardian smirked. “I’ve been hard at work too.”

  “No one said otherwise,” Fleur said.

  “Oh, I know,” Lola said. “Just happy to be back at my computer and doing what I do best. Not that I mind spending my days with Athena.”

  Despite what she said, I was sure that she was glad not to be doing that anymore. While my sister was a God, and one of the smartest around, she had a tendency to let everyone around her know that she was indeed the brightest in the room.

  Since she had been here, Athena had been better about it. That was a shock to me, and I remained silent on the matter
.

  “So what have you learned?” I asked.

  “Just before everyone returned, my system sent up alerts of spotting Elric, Stefan, and Marie.”

  “You found them?” I asked. This was terrific news and meant we might be able to take the fight to them. I was itching for a fight and a reason to call forth my sword. This was what I lived for, and I needed it. The only thing better than the thrill of battle was being with the woman I loved.

  “I think I found them,” Lola said. She didn’t appear to be too keen on saying she had them. “It’s not the best info.”

  “Don’t tease us like this,” Fleur said. “Show us.”

  Lola darted back to the computer and projected it up on the big screen on the walls so we didn’t have to move. Every monitor in the room had her screen on it. There were dozens of them. How she did that I wouldn’t know, but it was damn cool.

  There was a series of fuzzy pictures. The resolution was terrible and it was hard to see who was in the photos.

  “How can you tell it’s them?” Athena asked.

  “It's hard to see with the human eye, or God’s eye,” Lola said. “But the computer isn’t either. I have precise dimensions that it is looking for.”

  That made sense, but an image this distorted had to be hard to make out. Even for a computer. The picture was a very different setting than our own. The main area of the lair was very techie as it was really Lola’s domain. It had a Silicon Valley feel. Besides the corner that was clearly for Fleur to practice her martial arts in while she waited for Lola and her data.

  On the screen, it appeared to be buildings out in the Broadway area. Not that I was certain of that. But it had a vaguely familiar feel to the picture that I’ve been in the area before.

  “This looks familiar,” Fleur said.

  Not that I could see her, but I was sure that Lola was smiling. I could hear it in her voice. “It is,” she said. “It’s right around the corner from where he ambushed the three of you.”

  It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that it was close to there. It was then I remembered the alley and the building. The part of the street it was on.

  “Tomorrow night,” I said. “We strike.”

  The room all turned to me and remained silent. There was no changing my mind.

  20

  Marie Summers

  The next day we skipped the stakeout to prepare for a fight. One that might anger both Reign and Hera. I was actually planning on that. I was ready to get the edge for a change. This was going to be a great victory for us. One that we needed.

  The day dragged on, but I wanted to wait until the streets weren’t as busy, when the shows on Broadway had closed for a while. It was a Tuesday, and that meant one show that usually started around seven at night.

  It was nearly eleven when we left the hideout. All of us were dressed in superhero outfits, or in the case of Athena and I, our Greek warrior uniforms. The looks that the others gave Athena was one that was both shock and awe. She really looked a Goddess in the outfit. Not that I didn’t.

  Mine let my muscles out for the world to see. My body looked ripped in the uniform, and I had to look like a man that didn’t want to be messed with.

  Out in the hub of the building, all of us stood. Lola was the only one not going, as she was going to stay behind to do her job. Monitor the fight and what was going down. Lola was the real hero with her ability to keep us all connected even if we weren’t close to each other. She would be able to keep us all up to date on what was going on around us.

  She handed us all new comms devices. “No more relying on phones,” Lola said. “I’ve spent all day working on these.”

  “Are these what I think they are?” Fleur asked.

  Lola smiled. “Yup.”

  “You’ve been working on these for years.”

  I was reminded just how long they had been a team and how well they knew each other. That the rest of us were really just getting to be part of the group, and understand them.

  “What are these?” Felicity asked. Each of held a little earbud in our hand. To me, it looked like a teeny tiny hearing aid. Or a wireless Bluetooth headset.

  “I was able to create an earbud that works as both a receiver and a transmitter.”

  It didn’t look big enough to do both, but I went with it. “So a super wireless headset,” Felicity said.

  “That’s one way to look at it,” Lola said. “But small and not noticeable to most people, and piggybacks off the current cell phone structure without needing an actual cellphone.”

  That was handy and meant we could leave our cellphones behind. At great as cellphone technology was, they were just another way to track us and get us in trouble. Even with the outstanding decryption that Lola put on them.

  We all put in the earbud and readied to leave. Lola looked at all of us and licked her lips. I was sure she was having some un-pure thoughts, and I approved. I would have too, if I wasn’t about to go into battle. Leaving to fight Elric and his team was both exhilarating and scary.

  Those feelings persisted no matter how many times I’ve been in battle, and the number was high. More than any of the other Gods. Even Athena couldn’t compare to me and the fights I’ve been part of. I sought them out for many years of my life.

  Even some of the lesser-known conflicts that most didn’t talk about or remember. I let that thought go and mentally prepared to fight. This time no arriving in separate teams, or different times. We would rush the hideout and fight them. The element of surprise was all we had, and there was no way they would predict a straight-on onslaught from us.

  Taking both cars, we parked not far from the location. Again, I was annoyed by the cost of paying to park in the city. One would think that parking your mode of transport in this day and age would be free.

  I understood back in the day when we had to feed the mounts and care for them. That wasn’t the case nowadays. Yet, it cost even more here than it had in the past. That just rubbed me the wrong way.

  Leaving the car, we walked to the location. There was a good chance they would see us coming the closer we got. Elric had to have some sort of system in place to notify him. Otherwise, how did he know we’d found him the last time, when he’d ambushed us.

  We picked up the pace to a sprint, and Athena and I left the other two behind. As fast as Felicity was—and she was quicker than the average person, and even most Paragons—she couldn’t keep up with a God and Goddess.

  We arrived at the location Lola found, and as if in my head she spoke. “You’re there. No alarms going off that I notice.”

  “Roger that,” I answered.

  I slammed my fist into the door, and it shattered under the force of the blow. That was when the alarms sounded around us. Felicity arrived a moment later, and not too long thereafter Fleur.

  Neither of them was out of breath; they were ready to fight. I knew that Fleur could handle her own, and I was sure that Felicity could too. The squirrelkin’s outfight was tight, and showed some skin. It was mostly dark, with blue in it.

  With everyone here I took the lead, as I was the big bruiser of the group. In gaming terms I was the tank or the brute of the group. That meant I had to take the brunt of the attacks from the gang. Not that others couldn’t hold their own. They sure could, and I’ve seen both Fleur and Athena do it more than once.

  “Elric!” I shouted as I entered the hideout. The first area was little more than a landing area to go down some stairs.

  I bounded down the stairs, building up my fury and rage. It had been too long since I had a good fight. Not to mention the last time that Elric and I were face to face he pwned me. I didn’t like that one bit.

  At the bottom of the stairs, was the first trap laid for us. It was little more than spikes shooting at me. I brushed them off and continued onward. They would have slowed down most Paragons and humans.

  “Have to do better than that,” I bellowed. Right now, I was in full berserk mode and loving it. My streng
th had to be near its peak right now.

  Fleur appeared at my side. In the building, I couldn’t move as fast with the tiny hallways and needing to look into every room. “Ares,” she said. “You need to slow down. Calm down. Work as a team.”

  I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. She was right about working as a team. If what we thought these Paragons were capable of was true, we would have to be careful and calculated.

  “Okay,” I said. “But I’m still taking the lead.”

  Fleur nodded. “Good.”

  Now we moved as a unit, much I had a million times in the past, with many of my warriors. I had even done this with Eris on numerous occasions. Going room to room and clearing it out.

  It was clear that we all had done this in the past. That this wasn’t the first rodeo for any of us. We weren’t playing a hero shooter and didn’t have a spawn point for us. It was life and death for the actual Paragons. I highly doubted that Elric had anything here that could mortally wound a God.

  Hera couldn’t have gone that far. I was her son, and I was sure most of what I have done since arriving was part of her plan. She wouldn’t want to risk losing me. Not yet anyway. The Paragons were still a threat to her.

  “You will leave,” a voice said. I stood stunned. Then it spoke to me, more of a command, and a suggestion combined.

  “Stefan,” Felicity said. “Fight it.”

  I turned to do just as he commanded. The desire to leave this place and go home, to never come back, was intense. It was all that mattered to me in the world. Around me, I heard him speaking, but it had no effect on the others.

  They had pulled out the ear protection that we had brought. I felt like an idiot. We had talked about putting it on and making sure none of us were caught by Stefan. I reached into my uniform and put mine on.

  I steeled myself and tried not to leave. Instead, I focused on staying, and my rage at Elric. I fought each step I took toward the exit. I was getting slower and I could see on Stefan’s face that he was in shock. He turned to run as the others were dealing with goons that I hadn’t thought about.