20

ARES

W e were in the middle of an active military threat, and I was personally offended that three necessary people for this bullshit meeting were late.

I didn’t give a fuck where Fae Menace went, and Bash said he and Diana were working on her mental shields, but I wasn’t born yesterday?—

No, genius. You weren’t even technically born . You were created. Hera just sorta said ‘surprise’ and lo and behold you came to be, Voice reminded me .

Yeah, yeah yeah, don’t remind me. She probably did it to outshadow one of Zeus’ bastards being born, I quipped.

I stopped thinking about my toxic parents, cosmos forbid that summoned them somehow, and glared at Bash as he led Diana into the room. He tried to sit next to her, but I threw him onto the other side of the room and took the spot. I was still cranky about being assaulted by a dinosaur and needed my Little Goddess by my side to ease the hurt.

You twat, he grumbled, taking another seat close to us.

“Just waiting on Fae PA,” Lucifer said in an unaffected voice while checking his watch.

The pointy-eared asshole strode into the room as he quipped “Not anymore.”

His disheveled hair and swollen lips immediately caught my attention. Then I clocked his wrinkled suit. He never had a wrinkled suit or uniform. Quelier was late because he was smooching someone.

Judas’ low, gravelly growl cut through the room as he glared daggers at Fae Menace. I knew gossip was technically bad, but I’d make sure to ask Mal what was going down later. He knew everything about everyone.

“Now that we’re all here, I can announce the breaking news Ares and I received.” Lucifer turned on the projector thing that showed 3-D images in the middle of the table. “Red has attacked New York City and L.A. He’s currently blowing through the human’s forces, and has already leveled parts of each city.”

Diana’s face settled into a cold rage, her face twisted in pure anger. She was a New Yorker through and through, and Red would pay for attacking her city. I leaned forward in my chair, switching the projector to side by side maps of each city.

“When do we leave?” Diana demanded.

“LG, we operate as a special unit. I’ve deployed troops to both cities, and they’re exterminating Red’s soldiers as we speak. He isn’t at either site, but if word comes in of him showing up, I’m ready to deploy us to capture him,” I reported.

“Good, because I want to rip him to shreds,” she growled.

No worries, my beautiful Goddess. One day you will, and I’ll take pictures for the trophy room, I promised her. She smiled at me briefly, before her face settled back to a murderous frown.

“We need to address the larger issue at play here. Red is openly attacking humans in cities, places where he can do large-scale damage that will garner media coverage.” Michael vaguely gestured to the maps. “He chose two densely populated cities in the U.S.”

“If humans are scared of us, it doesn’t help our cause,” Oisín said.

“If Red can manage to capture the cities and expand Hell to earth, he’ll keep going.” Desmond’s shadows swirled around him as he talked.

Ares, we managed to secure New York. Minimal casualties from our side, Apollo linked me. I hadn’t heard about L.A. yet, but I trusted Morrigan to get the job done.

“Apollo secured NYC. Just waiting on news of L.A.,” I updated everyone. Every visibly relaxed, and a few sighs permeated the air.

“We can keep fighting small battles, but we won’t neutralize the threat until we know where his army is located,” Diana said as she leaned back in her chair, her eyes lost in thought.

Red is here, Morrigan shouted down the link.

“Get ready to move. Red is in LA,” I announced.

Everyone jumped into action. Those who weren’t dressed in uniform used magic to change quickly. Weapons were summoned. Mal joined hands with me, using my mental link with Morrigan to open a portal for us.

“Let’s go!” Lucifer said, running through the portal first, the rest of us following. I made sure to stick close to Diana. She was a force to be reckoned with, but I meant what I had promised myself when Red took her from us. I would never separate from her again.

The urban battle ground’s acrid smell of magic, burning buildings, and death hit my nose like a slap to the face. Red’s forces held their ground, and the armies seemed to be evenly matched. Car alarms sounded like a battle cry, and civilian magical folk and humans alike were running for their lives. The soldiers the Morrigan spared to evacuate them were trying to get them to a portal, but most of them wouldn’t go—probably because they were scared shitless of us. They didn’t make the distinction between the two armies. The sooner this battle ended, the sooner Lucifer could think of a way to fix the major breach of secrecy.

Diana cut down Red’s soldiers one by one, leaving a trail of corpses in her wake. I followed her, taking out targets with fireballs and assessing the best course of action. The fight was a complete melee, with groups of people fighting all over the place. At this point, the best method of attack would be to get as many people airborne as possible, corral the opposition toward the center, and take them out in a mass magical strike.

I linked all of my soldiers and leadership. If you have wings or can make them, get in the air. Herd Red’s soldiers to the center and those on the ground, take them out. If you see Red, let me know and only engage to hold. His death is in Diana’s hands.

I’ll pass it along to the hive, A-Bomb, Judas replied. He burst into a hundred bats, moving like a tornado on the ground to move scared soldiers toward the center. Many of his higher level vampires followed suit.

Feathers, you focus on finding Red. I know you can.

Copy, he responded.

The screams of humans in business casual and formal clothing sounded like nails on a chalkboard. They were in the midst of their workday—they didn’t belong here. Red’s total disregard for their safety and for the secrecy we as a community swore to uphold made me steaming mad.

Desmond, use your powers to calm the humans. Shift back to your human-looking form and try to convince them to go to the Morrigan’s evacuation spot.

On it, he growled.

I heard screeching from behind me. I turned to see an entire squad of Queliers copies taking down a massive unit of lizard shifters. I had heard he could multiply like that…but seeing it was a completely different thing.

For fuck’s sake, he can multiply?! Voice screamed. You made the wrong enemy, Ares. You guys could barely take down one of him. But seven?

Now isn’t the time to remind me of my stupidity, I reminded Voice. You’re supposed to be pumping me up when I’m mid battle.

I picked a corpse up from the pavement, using it to shield a werewolf who thought clawing at me was a bright idea. Bain stood across from me, and pointed at the pavement beneath me. A magical vine grew from a crack a few inches from my foot. It wrapped around the wolf’s leg and dragged it right in front of a moving car that was trying to escape the chaos.

We nodded at each other, then moved on. Diana had found some of Morrigan's fighters, and flew with them in her raven form. No matter what form she took, I always knew where my goddess was—I could feel her presence, her danger. The unkindness swarmed around one of Red’s higher ranking generals, pecking him hundreds of times until he fell to the ground. Deep empty holes remained where his eyes used to be.

Do we have an aerial confirmation of where Red is? I asked Feathers.

I peered up, immediately finding his marbled wings. They stood out from the smoke and clouds. His shield rippled when a bolt of magic bounced off it, but it remained intact.

He’s near the center. Lucifer is fighting him right now, he responded.

I had an idea.

Every time you say that something fucked up happens, Voice sighs.

Yeah, like how we’re about to fuck Red up, I shouted back.

Fuck him up! Fuck him up! Fuck him up! Fuck him up! The rest of the voices chanted. That was the kind of pumping up I needed. What was the point of having voices in your head if they weren’t your hype squad?

Just don’t burn a mountain down or accidentally crumble a temple, and we’ll be fine. Go forth and fuck shit up! Voice cheered.

Hey, can you morph into a dragon? I want to hop onto your back and try something, I linked my little killing machine.

Give me a few seconds, she gritted through the link as she snapped a soldier’s neck, lit it with a brilliant pink fire, and lobbed it at one of Red’s lizard shifters. The poor thing caught fire, then exploded.

Fuck, that’s new. Seems like all her training was paying off.

She morphed into a massive black dragon, complete with brilliant, shining scales. They had a prism effect, catching the light and blinding Red’s soldiers around us. I didn’t waste time admiring her magic, hopping onto her back and holding on as she shot off like a bullet.

Two o’clock, Red and your fathers. Bank left but don’t land.

Okay, she agreed. She cut a sharp bank, bringing us close enough to their fight that I saw the strain on Michael’s face as he weaved a magical shield around him and Lucifer.

I held onto the ridge of her back, channeling some of her magic for good measure. This had to stick—to be able to counteract the magic of someone of Red’s abilities. I cast a ring of fire around them, ensuring the ends were sealed. But it wasn’t ordinary fire. Or explosive fire. It was a containment spell. If it panned out, Red wouldn’t be able to leave.

Diana stayed close to her dads in the sky, burning down soldiers who came to Red’s aid to a crisp. The air reeked of spoiled barbeque. The smell made me nauseous, but I persisted, casting magical speers through the air.

Not to be an asshole, but you’ve never let barbeque go spoiled once in your life. It runs when it sees you coming, Voice quipped, cackling his figurative ass off.

I refused to be shamed by you. I’m on a bulk right now. Gotta feed the muscles to get ripped, I said, trying no to sound indignant.

Mhmmm, you’ve been on a bulk for centuries. Your muscles are well fed. Oh! Watch your six, bro, he warned me.

Duck! I screamed down the mindlink at Diana. She dropped altitude, and I saw a bolt of green magic streak above us.

She turned, flying directly for the thing behind us. I had no clue what it was. It was a bat-humanoid combo with fangs and membrane wings. It charged us, but Diana didn’t even hesitate. I felt her ribcage expand beneath me. Her entire body heated, and lick of pink fire shot from her mouth. The bat-thing didn’t even know what hit it before it turned to ash.

Screams from below caught my attention. The buildings that were still standing rattled, and soldiers from both armies fell to the ground. Lucifer was shifted into his true form, and his growl sliced through the air. Michael was on the ground, but I couldn’t see what was happening through the fire ring.

Michael is hurt, I’m landing, she linked me. I felt her massive body shake, and even though I couldn’t see her face, I knew she was panicking. She almost lost her dad too many times since reuniting.

Diana swooped in, landing right behind her Dads inside the ring. She morphed as soon as her claws hit the ground, throwing me off her back without warning. She stared Red down, and it felt as if the whole world stopped. I felt her magic ripple through the air, multiplying and crackling to an unprecedented level. She was positioning herself to attack. She waved her hand, ripping Red’s cloak off him. He looked as if he was wasting away. His eyes were sunken in, and he seemed to have aged in the little time since we last saw him. His magic was draining him dry. All she needed to do was wield the death knell that would take him out for good.

Azazel landed behind her, and she took his hand. Then she reached out and grabbed Red’s.

The red bolts of light that shot from their joined hands blinded me.

I can’t see her! I linked Lucifer.

This was not the time to lose sight of her, when she was in the most danger. I knew this wasn’t the battle from her vision, but the future changed. If he hurt her, when I was this close and able to save her, I’d never forgive myself.

I can’t either, what the fuck is going on! His shifted voice sounded ten times deeper, like an echo that shot straight to my soul.

Reach out and grab me. Touch me now, before I move, she ordered me. She didn’t have to tell me twice. I always wanted to touch her.

I stumbled forward, grabbing her arm. I knew it was her’s, even if it was encased in her uniform. The entire battlefield went black, and I felt my body dropping, as if I was falling from a great height.

Hold onto your barbeque, Greek Daddy. I think she’s fading us somewhere! Voice cackled, as if he was on an amusement ride and not hurtling through the void.

Don’t fucking call me that! I snapped. I had no clue where we were going, but I knew one thing…

If Red had her other hand, it wasn’t somewhere safe. I’d protect my Goddess, no matter what. She wasn’t going to actualize that vision as long as I was alive to stop it.