Omega Series: Omega Part 38

The front door was being smashed to pieces. We raced through the villa to the wine cellar, down the stairs, and into the darkness of the bas.e.m.e.nt.

"Rendezvous point at the wall," I snapped at the Royal Guard members present. "I'm blowing the cellar. You've got ninety seconds to vacate the villa. Got it?"

They nodded and ran. We'd all practiced for a quick exit many times, but my hands still shook knowing this was it. This was the day the protection of Artemis we'd always enjoyed was going to be tested by the merciless intensity of Ares.

The Silent Queen was halfway through the cellar, headed towards the secret elevator in the far corner. I paused as I went and triggered the bombs hiding in several of the kegs along the cellar. We had enough plastic explosives to level the entire villa, and an engineer had placed the explosives in such a way that would completely destroy the secret entrance to the underground world.

Niko's text drew my gaze as I trotted to the elevator. I'll take care of him. He's better off with me since you're in hiding anyway.

I missed a step.

Sometimes, in my anger and emotion, I forgot how shrewd Niko really was. He had survived the underworld, the monster arena, and the Supreme Magistrate with nothing more than physical strength and street smarts. Bullheaded, selfish Niko had been planning this. I didn't think it possible it was a coincidence he asked for Tommy on this weekend when he was close enough to the Magistrate to know his innermost plans.

My ex was smarter than he let on, and that infuriated me more than anything.

Theodocia! The Silent Queen signaled me.

Shoving my emotions and phone away, I hopped into the elevator. "You remember the plan?" I asked her. "To the wall and out of here to our Virginia safe house."

She nodded. The unflappable royal was pale. She was cutthroat at politics, but this was my area of expertise: keeping us alive and her from falling into the clutches of G.o.ds or men.

The trip to the underground city had never felt so long. No sooner did we touch down and exit than fire flashed and a distant boom sounded overhead as her home was destroyed.

The city was a flurry of activity. As practiced, Royal Guards in civilian clothes greeted us. They surrounded the queen and started herding her towards the emergency exit. I raced through the crowds to Gus, my chief of operations during a crisis.

"G.o.ds, Gus, please tell me you got those wall busters out this morning!" I exclaimed as I burst into the active a.r.s.enal area. He stood overseeing his staff checking out men and weapons as fast as possible.

"Two," he said grimly. "We stopped when you triggered the alarm. They're on their way out of the city."

"Two is better than none. Activate the training units, and send out orders to liquidate all holdings and bring the cash here."

He nodded, typing in the orders.

"Docia."

I turned. Herakles stood frowning, watching the movement around us. My heart dropped to my feet at the thought of revealing that his adopted daughter was at the mercy of a man who wanted only to return things to the way they were. How would he react if I told him the truth?

"What's going on? Is this a drill?" Herakles' sharp eyes took in everything.

"No, it's not."

"Then what do you need me to do?"

I considered. His size, training and strength were advantageous, and he had the added bonus of raising a spirited teen girl with magic powers. "I need you to make sure the Silent Queen gets out of the city," I said finally. "To a safe house."

"What has happened?"

"The other two made their move," I said vaguely. "She's in danger, and our plans just got moved up."

"What're you not telling me?" He was studying me closely. "Is Alessandra safe?"

Gazing up at him, I couldn't find the heart to lie to him. "No, she's not. But they won't kill her like they will Phoibe. I'm staying here because "

He started to protest, and I raised my hand.

" because I know the city, Herakles," I said firmly. "I know the players, the danger and the best way to help her. If you want to a.s.sist us, go with the Silent Queen. She is Alessandra's best hope of surviving this."

"Docia "

"Please." I rested a hand on his chest. The warmth of his skin reached me through his t-s.h.i.+rt, and I found myself pausing at the intimate sensation, once more experiencing attraction I shouldn't. Shaking off the thoughts, I continued. "Artemis has plans for Alessandra. I will stay to ensure those plans come to fruition. But this is about to become a war zone. I need you out of here. I need the Silent Queen alive for us to succeed. Please."

I saw the torment in his eyes, the same in my heart when I realized how true Niko's words were. My son was safer with him, under the protection of the Magistrate and military, than he'd ever be with me down here, now that the next stage of our struggle had begun.

"I will see her to safety. And then I will return," Herakles said at last. "War or no, I will not leave my Lyssa in the hands of these monsters."

"Fair enough." I didn't have time to argue or negotiate. "Gus, call if you need anything!" He nodded. "Herakles, come with me." I jogged through the armies mobilizing for battle beneath the city towards the exit where the Silent Queen would await me. She and her small force of elite guards stood at the foot of the wall, and her eyes were on her phone.

I approached her and saw the tightness around her eyes, the sorrow in their depths, a rare sign of emotion from the queen of stoicism. "What is it?" I asked immediately.

Lantos sends his love and his apology for betraying me. How am I to take this?

I squeezed her arm, aware of the affair between them no one else knew about. "You are to survive. Always survive."

He says the Magistrate will turn Alessandra against us. He suspects what we've been doing.

"And Lantos? Is he going to tell what he knows?"

He says not.

"Like I trust that rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d." I waved Herakles over. "I'm sending Herakles with you. Extra security."

The Silent Queen squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, all emotion gone. Even so, I knew the depth of her emotion for the Supreme Priest. Years ago, he had brought me to her to become her mentor and seen to it I had the training and skills to protect her. He had loved her far longer than she loved him, but it didn't make the intensity of her feelings any less.

Neither of us really ever thought he'd go this far as to lash out at her. But it fit. No member of the Triumvirate was any less ruthless than the next, when it came down to it. If Lantos were in the Queen's way, she'd order me to take care of him, no matter how much it hurt her.

We were alike in this. The greater good, our higher calling, meant more than the life of any one person.

"It's an honor," Herakles said softly. "I swear on my life I will see you to safety."

She nodded her head in a simple bow.

"Go. Don't look back. Ditch your phones and any other electronics," I instructed her. "Herakles, you kept Alessandra safe and hidden for twelve years. I need you to do the same for the queen."

"Of course."

The Silent Queen gave me a long look then threw her arms around me, squeezing me to her tightly. You must survive, too. You are all I have, Dosy, she told me. Moments like these reminded me of how young she truly was. I'd helped raise her since she was six, and I didn't want to be apart any more than she did.

"I will. I swear it." I released her. "Now go. Don't stop until you're safe."

She pulled up the hood of her coat and nodded with a glance at Herakles.

I stood back and watched them enter the wall. Our revolution was not yet ready to launch, but we no longer had the luxury of waiting.

Turning away from them, my mind went to Tommy. Every maternal instinct in my body was screaming for me to make his rescue my first priority. But Niko wasn't going to let anything happen to him. He probably planned on using our son against me, but he'd never hurt him or let anyone else near him.

These kind of rea.s.surances had to do for now. I had to prepare for the first stage of our rebellion, which left no room for distraction.

Take care of our son, I texted to Niko. I didn't wait for his response. With a heavy heart and dread twisting my gut, I dropped the cell phone and smashed it with my heel then returned to Gus to take up my role as Mama. When the city was safe, and the fighting over, the Queen could take her rightful place leading the revolt against the G.o.ds.

And I'd go back for my son.

Chapter Twenty Five: Alessandra.

A common danger unites even the bitterest enemies Aristotle The voices came from the darkness of my mind. At first, I didn't know them, where they came from or why they spoke to me.

We are not your enemies. This one was female.

You have been misled. This one male.

Destroy us, and you destroy your world. Help us, and we will help you.

More voices, more messages like these continued to whisper into my thoughts. No one gave a name, but the theme was the same across the speakers.

Gradually, as the darkness lifted and my slumber slid away, I became aware of myself again. I was cold, lying on what felt like metal, and my head throbbed. The calming scents of amber, sulfur, and other spices soothed my initial fear of not knowing where I was or what had happened.

Those freaky memories surfaced when I was about to open my eyes.

"Can you hear them?" This voice was outside my head.

My eyelashes fluttered open. I was lying on my belly on the metal table where I'd been knocked out, staring at the floor through the cut out for my face. Groggy from drugs, intoxicated to the point of dizzy from the fumes, I wasn't able to react how I felt I probably should have.

"Alessandra."

"Oh, G.o.ds ... what now?" I lifted my head and gasped. The pain drove away the fog, and I stretched back with one wooden arm to touch the part of my head that hurt. They'd shaved a strip of hair away above the back of my head. I couldn't feel what they'd done but I felt the roughness of a bandage and smelled blood beneath pungent astringent.

"Don't bother it. The microchip is fused to your spine." Someone grasped my hand to keep me from picking at the bandage. "I only have a minute."

Blinking, I sat up and met Lantos' gaze. He steadied me, the sparkle gone from his eyes for the first time since we'd met. Before I could curse him back to the day he was born, he held up the teal gem, a reminder of how he'd threatened Adonis.

"I can't call him back. Not yet, but I will soon. In the meantime, you need to make the Magistrate believe you're on his side," he said. "I don't have time to explain what I've done and why."

"You're an a.s.shole. You threatened your own friend."

"So you would cooperate. I'd never hurt him. Send him to the monster arena? In a heartbeat, but he likes it there." He gave a small smile. "My goal has always been the same. This was the only way to reach it," he said without apology. "But ... I am not an ally of the Magistrate's. He's a means to an end for me. I swore to Adonis I'd never let your fate come to you, and this was the only way to keep that promise."

No part of me believed him sincere or capable of regret or compa.s.sion. If I had any sort of strength, I'd punch him.

"Do you hear them?" he asked again.

The whispers had faded to the point I couldn't make out the words. "Who are they?"

"The Magistrate needs me because I'm an amba.s.sador to the G.o.ds. They asked a favor of me. They asked for the ability to speak to you as they do me."

"So ... you put them in my head?" I was having a hard time following anything. I simultaneously wanted to dance and nap, and my headache was so intense behind one eye, I was pretty sure I'd vomit if I attempted either.

"You were born with the skill to speak to them. I simply lifted the last block in your mind we put to help control your magic. Your memories are fully returned. No trace of my father's magic remains. I did, however, block Adonis. Your connection runs quite deep. I can't have him returning before I'm done."

"Adonis will not forgive you so easily." His betrayal of Adonis felt personal, as if he were betraying me. In a way, I knew he was. Adonis swore to protect me and trusted Lantos.

"I am prepared to confess when the timing is right for him to return." Regret flickered in Lantos' eyes.

"Why are they talking to me? I want them gone from the Earth."

"You have much to learn about what's really going on." He stepped back from the table. "And I am out of time." He retreated to a shadowy corner and became one with it.

Even his lies have lies. I couldn't imagine how anything ever got done among the members of the Triumvirate or how I was supposed to trust anything any of them told me. I squinted then grimaced at the pain. Seconds later, a doctor approached and checked my vitals. I struggled to hear the voices without success.

"Any pain?" the doctor asked.

"You just did brain surgery on me. What do you think?" I snapped moodily.

He withdrew a syringe from his pocket and injected its contents into me. "The Magistrate wants you awake, so no morphine. This will take the edge off," he said.

Its effects were immediate, and I released a sigh as the pain from my right eye receded. "Thanks."

Before he entered the room, I felt him. It was similar to the sense I had about Adonis yet different as well. This was superficial. Adonis was entwined with me on a primal level, an extension of me and me of him.

But the Magistrate ... he was like a permanent burr in my sock. I didn't like how he felt inside my head. It was unnatural. He didn't belong.

"I felt you awaken." The normally subdued man was borderline excited for once. Cunningness gleamed in his eyes, and his hands were clenching and releasing. "I have never experienced such a connection."

Ugh. Great.

He was studying me closely.

I pushed off the table, wobbled, and touched the back of my skull gingerly.

"You can see the rainbows?" he asked.

"Rainbows?"