Page 12 of Immortal Sun (Dark Olympus)

CHAPTER 12

CLEO

“ T hose you trust will disappoint you a dozen times, it’s up to you to choose forgiveness when they do. After all, they’re only human.” –Ethan, Immortal Vampire of The Dark Ones Council

After dreaming of meeting some random cop back in New York, I dreamed of giving birth to Cyrus’s child, which is strange even for me. I rarely dream, and when I do, they’re usually images or shapes, not actual futures that feel so real you could swear you felt the pain of actual labor. When I close my eyes again, I dream of swords. Of the sound of them clanging against each other. Metal on metal, the heaviness of the crown of whoever bears them.

Blood-caked knuckles.

A spear like the one downstairs, with spikes coming out of it. With a loud roar it smashes against a gold helmet and then drives into red

Screaming ensues all around me until my throat nearly closes up.

“Wait, it’s me!” I’m screaming. I try to silence my voice, but nothing happens as blood splatters everywhere, and I watch people I don’t recognize—but somehow love—die.

And then it happens, the sound of one last sword dragging across the ground.

Scraping the rocks in a terrifying melody as he emerges from the cave. The tip of the sword glides through everything it touches and turns it to ash, melted from the heat of it.

Fallen.

Fallen.

Fallen.

Rocks are now mere dust.

I’m not afraid anymore. He’s here. He’s come for us.

He has returned to kill off Chaos.

I’m perfectly at peace. I stand watch like everyone else near the mouth of the cave. The other army, dressed in red armor stops fighting immediately, like they are terrified to breathe.

The man takes off his helmet. His hair is jet-black, running down his back, tangled in a mass of blood and sweat.

But his eyes—they’re ice blue with fires of orange encircling them. He turns to me then. He’s familiar; he looks like Cyrus but doesn’t. “Why have you come?”

I jerk back in shock that he’s talking to me. “What?”

His eyes blaze orange as the ash around him lifts from the ground swirling around his body. “You should never have come,” he whispers. “Fallen one. Destroyer.”

I jolt upright and nearly fall out of bed. What the hell? Am I crying? I touch my right cheek, and my trembling finger comes back wet. I’m confused, and yet I’m at peace.

It was nice.

Where I was at. In my dreams. Despite the blood and the creepy Cyrus-looking god. He was so tall, heroic. The people in the red armor looked petrified; even the guy with the spear stopped fighting.

Maybe it’s all this ancient Egyptian studying that has my brain going crazy, or the fact that I read Jake’s notes last night and had that really good wine.

I remember Cyrus putting me to bed and saying something about me being drunk.

So far, I’m wondering if my first impressions have been that of an immature college girl grasping at straws to find her brother.

I need to get it together if I want to find Jake and work.

Ugh, I should not have drank last night. I hope I wasn’t too much of a burden to Cyrus. Should I go apologize or just go out? He’s so good looking and demanding it’s clearly messing with my head.

He’s my only key to Jake, and he’s been so willing to help.

I make a mental note to contact the police later, even if it is Daggon, who is on the same level of weird as everyone else in Deer Harbor and literally looks like he struggles tying his shoes.

Until then, I’m going to do what I can. Keep going through his research for clues, keep calling him, and keep praying he’s truly okay. I sigh and look out the window. The ocean seems grumpy, crashing against the rocks, splashing all over the place. I smile and whisper, “same.” Then I get up, pat Bast on the head, and go get ready.

Hopefully, Cyrus isn’t anywhere to be seen. I need at least five minutes alone with my coffee before dealing with his level of whatever he is. He’s so intense. Something is extremely off with him though. Extremely. Plus, I remember how close I was to him last night, how the heat from his body enveloped me, how he smelled like the hot sun. I clear my throat, then I do it again. I was drunk, I was not hitting on my boss, nor was I willing to climb him like the tree outside.

What the hell did they put in that wine?

Is that a Deer Harbor thing?

By the time I’m in the kitchen grabbing a mug, Cyrus is, of course, at the breakfast bar reading something on his phone, or shall I say glaring at something on his phone like the world’s about to end.

His coffee clearly didn’t do the trick. Or maybe he’s annoyed that the bar is closed, which would be a valid reason. I’m pouring my coffee and selecting a pastry from the counter when he clears his throat.

Always a super good sign. And by that, I mean never.

“You slept late.”

I roll my eyes. What is with him? He’s so impossible to understand. Protective. Then nice. Then mean. Argumentative.

“Noticed that, yup.”

“Let’s just say I had a comfortable bed.” Besides, he’s forgetting the fact that I obviously had too much to drink by way of his friend Enki.

“It’s good for you to sleep.” He keeps scrolling, refusing to make eye contact. Then suddenly sets down his phone and locks his icy blue eyes with mine. “I have to get to work in a few minutes. You know where my office is, and where your brother’s research is waiting.”

“Is there anything else of Jake’s I should be going through? All I saw were the two books he was going through and the piece of paper with names,” I bite into the pastry and grin while the sugary sweetness coats my tongue, at least something’s sweet this morning.

“Chew with your mouth closed.” He snaps and then sobers. “Sorry, I was caught off guard. A paper with names on them you say?”

I gape at him. “I was.” I don’t add the “ asshole ” my tongue clearly feels he deserves. What the hell is his problem today? Does have extreme mood swings. What changed?

“No.” He looks away. “Your lips were parted.”

“They have to part to eat.”

He scowls down at his phone then tosses it back onto the table, making a loud noise that startles me, and I jump away. “Regardless. What’s this piece of paper you speak of?”

Something tells me not to say. Something in my gut warns me against it. “Oh it was just some scribbles about the gods and human trials and then a few names crossed off. Is it important?”

He seems to relax at that. “No, no, that’s great, for a minute there I thought he’d made copies of something forbidden but it seems he was just doing his job. If you see anything else though that seems suspicious let me know.”

I will absolutely not let him know. “Alright.”

“I’m off.”

“To your office?”

“Actually.” He hesitates. “Change of plans. I’m headed to the mountains.” He stands. “I’m going to take the boat out to the island.”

I frown. “Why? Do you camp out there?”

He smiles sadly. “Nobody camps out there. It’s illegal, and people who do take the risk tend to disappear quite fast.”

Confused, I ask. “Because of the weather?”

He doesn’t answer. He just grabs his phone, puts on a pair of Ray-Bans, and sighs heavily. “I’ll be back for dinner.”

“More visitors?”

He hesitates. “No. Just us tonight. I think we should go over what Jake was researching so I can finally tell you how dangerous it really was. We can go over why his employment was so pivotal to our work here and what that means for Jakes future, and possibly yours.”

“Good! I mean that would be amazing. Thank you!” I take a bite of my pastry and almost moan, it’s so incredible.

Cyrus doesn’t answer right away. He just stares out the windows, dark sunglasses on, perfect black peacoat and black pants on with expensive looking shoes to match.

His hair looks like the earth got angry at him and decided to give it a good blow.

I almost choke just thinking about it.

The blow.

Him.

He’s too good looking and distracting.

I quickly look away.

“Seven,” he says finally. “Don’t be late. We have a lot to discuss.”

Foreboding never really meant anything to me—the word at least—until that moment.

Cyrus stomps out of the house, head lowered, body tense. He stops at the tree, touches it with his palm and then keeps walking like he needed strength to do whatever he’s about to do.

I quickly eat the rest of my pastry, chug my coffee, wash my black mug out and put it in the sink, then make my way downstairs. Whatever Cyrus is doing, he clearly doesn’t want company and would probably end up biting said company’s head off anyway.

By the time I make it into the warehouse, after struggling with the rain, torch, and keys, I have around two hours before lunch time. Jake’s research calls to me like a moth to the flame. I look behind me then up at the cameras in the room. I know for a fact I’m not supposed to bring anything out of here. I open up the other book then slowly slide the piece of paper into the pocket of my coat then keep reading. I’m sweating bullets but no alarms have gone off yet. I guess I’m in the clear.

After an hour of not getting arrested goes by. I walk to the worship area and up to the spear on the wall. I reach out to touch it and instantly jerk back. “That’s weird.” I frown. The spear is nearly scalding, then again it has been basking in the sun from the window.. I lean in closer and gasp. It’s covered in specks of red that look like blood at first, but they’re engrained in the fibers of the metal. I touch the red, my fingers come back clean. I look around the room and then decide to lift it from its spot on the wall, it’s not like it’s real anyway. I try to raise it, but it feels like it weighs at least fifty pounds. With a grunt, I lift it again and attempt to inspect it.

There are etchings on the handle, but they’re ancient and I can’t decipher what they mean. The writing is worn nearly smooth; I doubt I’d be able to find out what it actually says.

The longer I grip it, the more it burns. Panicked, I try to shake my hands free, but they won’t move.

“Get off!” I shriek, trying to pull a hand free from the heavy spear. “What the hell!”

When I turn around, spear now dragging on the ground, I decide to try to get it on the concrete slab artifact, so I have leverage.

“I wouldn’t do that,” a male voice warns.

I drop the spear back onto the ground, hands still attached and glance at the door. Apep is standing there, arms crossed, staring at the spear with narrowed eyes. He’s in another three-piece suit, this one pure white, and he has a large gray overcoat laying over his shoulders and he’s wearing black leather gloves. He looks like he belongs in a Bond movie as the villain.

“Why?” I grunt out. “I think I’m stuck.”

“You think?” He cracks a smile. “Some of the artifacts clearly have a mind of their own. Allow me.” He walks up to me and presses a hand over mine. Immediately, the heat from the spear lessens until my hands finally break free, and the spear clamors to the ground, with an echo through the room.

I wince, I know it’s a replica but still. “I hope I didn’t hurt it.”

“It’s a replica and even if it was the real thing, I think it would most likely prefer to be damaged rather than be fixed.” His smile is warm and open. “Isn’t that the case so often with all things? You think you want a certain thing, but you’re so much happier when you’re broken because at least then you have something to complain about.”

“That’s very glass half full.”

“I’m a glass half full sort of guy. Makes disappointment so much easier to swallow.” He winks. “I was stopping by to see if you’d like to join me for lunch, I guess Cyrus could tag along as well.” He looks around the room. “Is he working today?”

“Oh, um…” I pick up the spear, careful not to touch the hilt, and put it on the table. “He’s on the island.”

“Ah.” Apep nods. “It must be getting close then.”

“What?” I ask.

He holds out his arm. I take it; it would be rude not to. “He always gets moody when an eclipse is close, it reminds him of things lost whereas for me—” He pats my arm. “It reminds me of all the things I’ve found.”

“And what have you found? What has he lost?”

“She wants a story, hmmm?”

“She likes distracting stories,” I quip back. “Especially when attached to an ancient artifact and having a nervous breakdown.”

We walk up the stairs together. “Never forget this, not even for a minute. Not everything you see is real, but not everything unseen is fake.”

“Well, that was confusing.”

“It’s my specialty.” He laughs.

We make our way through the house to the back where a sleek black Lamborghini is waiting. It’s beautiful and clearly expensive. It doesn’t even look like it’s been driven a lot. Apep escorts me to the passenger side then settles himself behind the wheel and off we go.

I didn’t even bring my purse. All I have is my phone in my back pocket. When I look out the window, I see Cyrus sitting in his boat at the island. He doesn’t seem to be doing anything.

“What does he do out there?” I ask Apep.

He turns up the heat and the music. “How the hell would I know? He’s a mystery. Half the time he’s barking orders at people, the other half he’s on the island or hunting down more…er, artifacts. The man needs a little fun in his life if you ask me.”

I turn my head and study Apep. His side profile is almost too perfect. His white hair is slicked back. “And you? Do you have fun?”

“Had an orgy last night,” he deadpans.

My jaw drops.

“I was kidding.” He laughs. “You should have seen your face.” The car turns left into a parking lot behind his pub. “Let’s get you some good food and wine.”

“I’d like that.” I unbuckle my seatbelt. “I’m starving.”

“Good.” He’s at my door, opening it before I’m able to do it myself. His place has a garage door that’s open on one side with heaters above every single outdoor seat. It’s modern and edgy with dark wood colors and black paint, and there are white accents at the bar in the middle of the pub. It looks like it belongs on a TV set, everything is immaculate and expensive looking right down to the red leather wingback chairs and black marble tables.

“It’s beautiful.” I beam up at him. “I like the feel of it.”

“Good.” His warm smile is the first thing that makes me feel relaxed in the last two days. I follow him to a corner seat where I can experience the outside and inside at the same time.

The view of the mountains is right across the street, men and women in boats are going in and out from the marina. Moms are walking with their kids and dogs, people are laughing and talking.

It’s alive and beautiful. I could probably sit there forever.

I don’t realize Apep’s gone until I look back at the bar. He’s grabbing a chilled bottle of white wine and instructs the bartender to do something, hopefully get us food.

Apep sets the wine glasses on the table with the uncorked bottle. He doesn’t even ask, just pours me a healthy amount and does the same for himself before sitting down and glancing at the view. “It’s precious, Deer Harbor.”

“What a great word for it.” I reach for the wine. “It feels like I’ve stepped into a different country.”

“You’re not the first to say that.” He swirls the wine in his glass. “Most people come here for the view of Puget Sound and the mountains. Others for relaxation.” His face falls. He sips his wine like he’s deep in thought then sets the glass down on the table. “Most come to take the relaxation we provide only to go back to chaos.”

“I can see why people stay then, though I’m not feeling super relaxed after that spear incident.” I laugh.

He cracks a smile. “It’s a conduit, the spear. It needs to be attached to heat to actually come off. Nobody truly knows why. Some say it’s the metal, others say it’s because it was wielded by Ra himself even though it wasn’t the real thing. Either way, all you need…” He leans forward and presses a hand on mine. “…is either the heat of the sun or someone who can disrupt it and the spear releases itself, in our case, it was just muscle.”

“Wow, and here I thought the spear was alive,” I joke, offering a weak laugh.

“All things are, though.” He shrugs. “Even metals.”

I don’t argue. “Well, maybe the world should see how cool it is? Cyrus is in charge of the local museum, that might be a cool addition.”

He nods his head. “You’d have to run it by him, but I’m sure loads of people would love to see a replica of Ra’s weapon. If anything it would give them some hope, however fake.?”

“It feels mean, but at least they can dream.” I lean forward. “I found some really crazy things from my brother’s research.” I can feel the paper in my coat. It’s loud like it wants to be read and seen. “Anyway, it mentions a spear, and a book of old mythologies that are interesting, but it’s not like it’s truth.”

He’s quiet for a minute. “I don’t think it matters if it’s true or not, it’s a story and people need that in order to survive their mundane lives, don’t you think? Isn’t that why you’re here? Because you have hope to find your brother?”

“You’re right.” I nod. “I’ll see what Cyrus says, I mean I’m not an intern but maybe I can at least suggest it.”

“Good girl.” Apep grins. “Ah, the Spear of Ra out in the open, what a glorious night that would be.”

I frown. Night? Doesn’t he mean day?

The bartender walks up with three different plates of food. One has cheeses, nuts, and an assortment of breads and jams, the other has small sandwiches, and the third has vegetables and hummus.

It’s exactly like something you’d eat in New York but also pay at least two hundred dollars for because the cheese was somehow milked from a special European goat and only kept in specific temperatures all before its milk was made into cheese.

“Enjoy.” Apep reaches for the wine bottle and tops both of us off. “I had them prepare a bit of everything. I wasn’t sure how hungry you’d be.”

“I’m starving, actually.” Once I get into my work or, you know, attached to an artifact, I forget to eat.” I dive in and grab a few pieces of fruit and two mini-sandwiches. The minute I bite into the first sandwich, I almost moan. Why does it taste so good? The wine’s incredible too. Everything just seems…better. Not that Cyrus’s breakfast the other day was bad, this just has an almost sweet fresh flavor to it. “Mmm.” I take another bite. “I was so hungry!”

Apep chuckles and reaches for one solitary nut, pops it in his mouth, and makes a face. “Can’t say the same, so eat up.”

“You’re not going to eat?”

“I eat less and less the older I get.” He sighs like he’s ancient.

I roll my eyes. “Be honest, did you sell your soul to Satan to look so young with full grown sons?”

He bursts out laughing. “As if she could beat me.”

“She?” I question.

He waves me off. “Anyway, like I said, the water is good and I’m very careful with my body, all of us that settled in the town feel a certain responsibility toward its people, it’s important to stay healthy in order to make sure they thrive.”

I tilt my head in thought. “That’s really selfless.”

“That’s me.” He crosses his arms. “So, have you heard from your brother at all?”

My smile feels tight as I reach for an apple slice and put it on my plate. “I, um…” Why do I suddenly feel like crying?

Lips trembling, I try to force my smile to widen while staring at the stupid apple slice. Then I look up.

Apep isn’t across from me anymore.

He’s next to me, his arm wrapped around me. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me, just don’t cry.”

I sniffle. “I, um, got something in my eye.”

“Are you calling my restaurant dusty?”

“No.” I cough out a laugh. “Sorry, I’m just—” I shake my head as he squeezes my shoulder one more time then goes back to his seat. “I’m still worried about him. Cyrus says not to worry, but it’s kind of hard not to when I still haven’t heard from him.” There, I said it, and now it feels even more real. “He's not picking up his phone and it’s just, something feels off. I can feel him, if that makes sense.” I touch my bracelet. “But it just seems odd he hasn’t at least reached out.”

Apep’s eyes focus in on the bracelet. “Half of the sun, how interesting, I’m assuming he has the other half?”

I nod. “We only put them together once. Some weird electrical surge happened, so we never tried it again. Mom got pissed, and well here I am, searching for a brother who suddenly turned off his phone.”

Apep leans forward, his eyes tense. “What if he doesn’t want to be found?”

I shake my head no. “I’m his twin. There’s no way. I would know, I would feel it, our last conversation he said he found something in one of the caves. The next day his phone was off, and it has been for a week. As you know, I just recently got here. I get that he goes off grid sometimes but something feels different this time.”

Apep presses a hand to his mouth. “Hmm. Would you like me to look into it for you?”

I almost fall out of my chair, and my jaw drops. “You would do that?”

He frowns. “I have power here where you have none. I’m not surprised Cyrus hasn’t been more aggressive in his help. Even if he promised he would, he won’t.” He clasps his hands together resting them on the table. “Just say the word, I’ll talk to Daggon and find your brother’s last known location, What’s his name?”

“Jake,” I blurt excitedly. “I actually have a picture of him too, hold on.” I look for my purse then remember I only brought my phone. “I forgot my purse, can I text it to you?”

He grins. “Absolutely.”

I grab my phone out of my pocket and hand it to him. “Just type in your number and save it, and I’ll text it later tonight.”

His hands fly across the screen, he starts smiling and turns the phone toward me, dangling it in the air. “Looks like your brother’s boss misses you.”

“Crap.” I take the phone and quickly answer. “Hi, Cyrus?—”

“Where the hell are you?”

I pull the phone away from my ear. He sounds worried.

“It’s been two hours. ” he says loudly it’s like he’s at the table with us.

Apep’s examining his fingernails.

“What?” I look around the restaurant. “No, we just got here.”

He’s quiet, all I hear is heavy breathing and then. “Who is we?”

“Um, Apep stopped by to see you and took me to lunch.”

“Stay there.” The call drops.

I set the phone carefully on the table. “So… he’s not happy.”

“He’s never satisfied.” Apep shrugs. “It’s best to know that now. He’ll be as nice as he can possibly be, but he’s not…human sometimes, he only sees the beginning and the end result, a blessing and a curse, I suppose.” He finishes off his wine. “I should be going so it doesn’t turn into a fist fight.”

I gulp and point to the door. “Too late.”

“He must have sped, how very daring of him.” Apep chuckles to himself and holds out his hand to Cyrus. “I hope it’s okay that I stole her for a few hours. She was starving, and we both know how hard it is when your blood sugar drops.”

Cyrus grips Apep by the front of his shirt and shoves him aside. “Let’s go,” he says to me.

I jump to my feet, grab my phone, and walk past Apep. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, Cleo,” he says with a warm smile. “And I mean that. Truly, anytime I can be of service, I’m only a phone call away.”

I nod my head and follow Cyrus out to his car. He doesn’t open my door, nor does he speak the entire way back to the mansion. He gets out of the car first. I follow him into the house. He stops in the entryway.

“It was just lunch,” I murmur under my breath.

He grabs me by the arm and jerks me back until I collide with his front. Bending, he whispers in my ear, “No. It really wasn’t.”

I jerk away from him. “You’re a bit possessive for being my boss, you barely know me.”

His eyes narrow. “ Oh I know everything about you. I know your desires. I know your fears. I know,” His eyes go completely black. “Everything.”

I stumble away. He grabs me by the elbow. “Let go of me.”

He frowns. “Something wrong? You look like you saw a ghost or something.” He feels my forehead. “Hmm, you feel warm, maybe you should go lay down for a bit?”

Maybe I should? What just happened?

He curses and walks away.

What is with this guy and my reaction to him? He’s a stranger that acts familiar. At first I thought he was just being nice but now I’m wondering if something sinister is going on. He controls me or attempts to like he has a right to, but he’s also, other than Apep, the only key to finding Jake.

I numbly walk down the stairs and towards the warehouse.

My purse is in the third chamber next to the spear. I grab it and look behind me, then send the latest picture of Jake to Apep.

I frown when I find his name.

It has his email and his phone number, but that’s not the strange part, the strange part is his name.

Apep Kaos.

That’s a weird last name.

I send the text.

Apep Kaos

I’ll send this to Daggon and get one of my personal investigators on it. If he’s on the island, we’ll find him.

Tears burn my eyes, then one escapes down my cheek.

Me

Thank you, thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me.

Apep Kaos

Family, should always be together, don’t you think?

Me

Yes.

Apep Kaos

Try to stay out of trouble, I’ll text you if I have any updates, and don’t touch the spear unless you want Cyrus to yell at you, and have to be the one to remove it.

Me

Done.

Apep Kaos

Have a lovely evening, Cleo. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.

I yawn, gather my things, and take up Cyrus’s suggestion. I’ll go nap for a bit, and then I’ll join him for dinner—punctually, at seven. I shiver when I think about us being alone. Part of me craves it the other part tells me to run. .

I don’t know what switch flipped in his head, but I have a sinking feeling it’s my fault. And that he’s going to be more than happy to let me know why me, the new guest of the house, is getting on his nerves.

I don’t know what I did wrong.

I’m sure I’m going to find out at dinner.