Fallen Gods II Read online

  “Rest? I’m doing everything but resting!” He threw back another glass.

  “You know the danger is not over. Hades or his allies could re-emerge at any time.”

  “Possibly, and until that time, I’m going to have some fun,” he smiled.

  “Didn’t you hear me? Vulcan is missing.”

  “Yes, I heard you. I just don’t know that I care that much. He’s a big boy. He can handle himself.”

  “Handle himself? Can you even hear what you’re saying?”

  “Come on, Theo, you’re really ruining the whole vibe here. Have you even seen this place? Beautiful people everywhere you look, and the finest beverages at our fingertips.”

  “We didn’t put everything on the line against Hades for this,” she snapped.

  “Really? Are you sure about that? Because you told me we were doing it for our freedom, well this is what freedom looks like. And I intend to enjoy every moment of it.”

  “That’s it? One of our own might be in trouble, and you don’t care?”

  Thanatos sighed as he put his glass down without taking another sip.

  “Come on, live a little. With Hades gone, and all of his immortals scattered and banished, who is there who could even pose any threat to Vulcan? He’s a beast, and one with the finest arsenal of weapons known to man and god alike. Who could pose a threat to him?”

  “I don’t know. That’s the problem.”

  “Perhaps he just doesn’t want to talk to you? We fought hard to win all of this, and now it’s time to enjoy the spoils. He’s probably off doing, you know, whatever he likes doing.”

  Theodosia drew out a knife and slammed the tip into the table, shaking the glassware, and scaring the women beside him.

  “Thanatos, I’m asking for your help. You came through for us when we needed you most. When I thought you were the most unlikely of allies. Will you leave us now?”

  “There’s nothing to leave. The day Hades comes back, or one of his kind, you come and tell me. Until then, we don’t have anything to worry about,” he said with a smile, threw back another shot, and sat back in his seat.

  Theodosia sighed as she pulled out her knife and sheathed it angrily.

  “When you find him, you say hi from me. Just remember, if he wanted to be found, he would be.”

  “Unless he’s in trouble, Thanatos.”

  “He’s not in trouble. We won, remember?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she sighed and walked away.

  “All right, then, where were we?” Thanatos stretched his arms out around the women huddling up beside him.

  * * *

  “One!” Aaron shouted as a line of students cut against their sparring partners, who promptly parried it.

  “Two!” The attacker lifted the hilt of their two-handed sword high and tried to cut with the back edge against the head of their opponent, which was parried, too.

  “Three!” The attacked cut around with a rotational cut towards their arm.

  “Four!” The attacker pivoted once again.

  “Five!” They closed to drive the pommel of their sword into the face of their opponent.

  Giggles rang out as one of the pairs started to mess about while all the others were in the end position, waiting for the command to recover.

  “You think this is funny!” Aaron yelled.

  The pair soon stopped laughing and looked horrified that they were being ridiculed so openly. Aaron was furious.

  “We’re here to learn to fight. Not for show. Not to score points or show off to your friends! We’re learning to fight for real, for one day it might be! You will take it seriously, or not at all!”

  Most of the class looked astonished, besides Mikey and two others that had fought Hades beside him. They knew the score, and they didn’t question it. Aaron looked at the clock. It was 10.33pm, and several minutes past the class time. He’d drilled them hard, but was not apologetic for it.

  “Time’s up. We’ll pick this up in two days’ time. But take note. You may come here of your own free will, but once you are here, you’ll do it my way, or not at all! Session’s over. Good work.”

  He retreated to the far side of the hall where he kept it personal gear. Mikey and Ava approached with concern on their faces as the others grabbed their gear and headed for the door.

  “Running them a little hard, don’t you think?”

  “No harder than they need, Ava. Why? You don’t agree?”

  “If they knew what we knew, and had been through that, I would,” replied Mikey.

  “It’s because we have I do this. I held you all to a high standard, but not high enough.”

  “But we won, didn’t we?”

  “Yes, but not without two dead and many wounded. Two dead, of our own. That I can’t even be honest with about how they died. I had to go to their families and tell them their loves ones had died. But not as a friend or instructor, as a cop. Worse still, I had to lie about what really happened to them. Do you have any idea how that feels?”

  “I’ve got some. We lived through it as well. For those still here that went through it, we’re in the same boat.”

  He nodded in agreement, knowing he couldn’t take it out on those who fought beside him.

  “I just want them to be ready, you know? So that next time, we don’t lose anyone. There’s been enough death in my life. They have to be ready for anything.”

  “We get it. We really do.”

  They all fell silent with little idea where to go from here, but Ava could tell he wasn’t in the best of places.

  “You want to get a beer?”

  He shook his head.

  “No, it’s been a long day. I’ll lock up here, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “You sure?”

  But she already had her answer as Aaron hung his sword on the wall and gathered his gear. The two of them left as he began turning lights off. He pulled out his holstered off duty weapon from a bag at the side of the room and slipped it onto his belt, just as the main door swung open. He looked around to see a shadowy figure in the doorway, wearing a long coat. His pulse raced, as he could tell from the body language that it was no casual visitor.

  “We’re closed!”

  His hand reached for his weapon, while he glanced over at the wall to check that his sharp messer was there, and ready to use if need be. He was on edge, and always hyper vigilant. More so than any other time in his life. It wasn’t a nice way to live, but he couldn’t unsee all of the things they had been through.

  “Did you hear me? Class is over. I’m shutting up!”

  He firmly gripped his pistol with his hand. The mysterious figure suddenly came forward without a word, and he snatched his pistol from its holster.

  “Who are you?”

  As the figure stepped into the light, he realized it was Theodosia, and lowered his weapon.

  “Jeez, do you have to be so melodramatic? I could have shot you? Oh, right, that doesn’t concern you.” He shook his head as he holstered it once more.

  “You’ve been training hard, every night and every weekend. All the hours you can get you are in the gym or here, or doing the same thing elsewhere,” she said, looking at his body. He’d lost several pounds since the fight with Hades, and looked fitter and stronger than he’d ever been.

  “You’ve been keeping tabs on me?”

  “I like to know what my allies are up to just as much as my enemies. Information is a powerful thing.”

  “Yes it is,” he replied with a smile.

  He relaxed, understanding she was the only one not judging him for his efforts and focus.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “I need your help.”

  He perked up, for this is what he’d been waiting for.

  “Me? Is Thanatos not around, then?”

  “He is, but he’s not proving helpful.”

  “So I’m not your first choice? Right. Between a mere mortal and a god, I get it.”

  “Look, I think Vulc
an is in trouble. I’ve not been able to contact him. I’m concerned something has happened to him.”

  “And Thanatos isn’t?”

  “What?”

  “Concerned?”

  “He says Vulcan can take care of himself, and we have nothing to worry about.”

  Aaron smiled.

  “Yeah, he can that. He’s a beast. But you know, even the mightiest warrior can be defeated, and he sure took a beating in that last fight. I thought he was running with you out of that warehouse?”

  “Yes, he was. He was starting to assemble a forge. Says he wants to train an apprentice.”

  “A forge? Can’t he just make one like that?” He clicked his fingers.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I was never close with Vulcan. But I know his heart is in the right place, and that we need him.”

  “All right, so what do you want from me?”

  “You’re a detective, and a friend.”

  “You want my help to find him?”

  “It’s not like you have anything better to do with your time.”

  “Are you kidding me? I’ve got work first thing in the morning.”

  “We both know that isn’t true.”

  He looked confused.

  “You’ve not been to work for weeks.”

  He sighed, as if hoping his secret was safe.

  “I am not judging. But you haven’t done it to lie about idle, far from it. You need something to fill your time. You’ve been preparing for another war.”

  “I just want to be ready for anything. I used to think that meant giving my all to the job, but now I realize there are things the police department cannot protect this city from.”

  “Or maybe they could, if you just told them what really happened?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think anyone is ready for that, and even if they were, why would we want to? The fight is over.”

  “For now. Look, I need some help, and you have the time and skills for this, will you help me?”

  He took a deep breath, realizing it was just what he needed, a change of scenery. “Sure, why not?”

  Chapter 2

  “He really was making something here.”

  Aaron was impressed with the huge cast forge in a room of the warehouse Theodosia and her people had been using to assemble.

  “He was gathering all this stuff. I don’t know why, but I didn’t question it. That’s the way Vulcan was. Nobody questioned his actions. They left him be to make, well, the most amazing weapons you’ve ever seen.”

  “I get it.”

  “I don’t think you do.”

  “I saw one of his blades cut through an armored vehicle. Trust me, I do.”

  He continued to study everything around them, though there seemed no useful clues at all. There was nothing in the room besides tooling and equipment for smithing.

  “What are you and your people even doing, now that Hades is out of the picture?”

  “Honestly? I’m not sure. We’ve never had to live like this.”

  “On Earth?”

  “No, without a leader and a purpose. What are we supposed to do?”

  Aaron shrugged. “What have you been doing?”

  “Training, preparing for the next battle.”

  “And if that never comes?”

  “It’ll come, trust me. We didn’t kill Hades. He’s not gone forever. I don’t know where he is or how long it will take for him to return.”

  “But you’re sure he will?”

  “Of course. He’s hungry for power.”

  “How long are we talking?”

  “For what?”

  “For Hades to return?”

  “I don’t know. Weeks, months, centuries.”

  “What?” Aaron gasped.

  “You think there is a rulebook for all of this?”

  “If you don’t know, who would?”

  “Maybe go and ask the doctor. She seems to know more about this than any of us.”

  “Don’t you think you should be getting her help, too?”

  “I tried. She wouldn’t see me.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ll have to ask her. Look, I brought you here to help find Vulcan, can you do that or not?”

  “What, what happened to you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re grouchy, mean, angry.”

  “What? I’m not…” she stopped herself mid-sentence, seeing the irony of what she was about to say.

  “Look, none of this was ever supposed to happen, but we have to get on with it. It would just be nice if people didn’t have to make it so difficult.”

  “Wow, Thanatos really got to you.”

  She clearly didn’t like to admit it.

  “I thought he’d come around. He fought for good, but now the battle is over, he is…well…”

  “Enjoying life?”

  “Yes.”

  “All that time in Olympus, and yet this is like a playground for him?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “We have a saying you know, the grass is always greener on the other side.”

  “Why would you care how green the grass is?”

  Aaron chuckled. “It means you always think someone else has got it better than you. In Thanatos’ case, this is probably a dream come true. But he’ll realize he’s no better or worse off eventually.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because that’s just the way life works. The things we all went through to defeat Hades. It affects us all in different ways.”

  “And that’s why you’re training so hard, every day and night?”

  “Yeah,” he sighed as it dawned on him he hadn’t even noticed himself falling into the same trap.

  “You could live your entire lifetime and never have to fight Hades again.”

  “But you don’t believe that, do you?”

  “I sincerely hope it is the case.”

  “And still you train and prepare?”

  “Yes. Because you may be gone when he returns, but we will endure. It doesn’t matter if it is tomorrow or a thousand years from now. Hades will be back, and we must be ready for him.”

  Aaron was lost deep in thought for a moment. It was so much to take in, and he felt so alone in it all.

  “So, what do you think?”

  “Can’t say I exactly know him well, but he doesn’t strike me as one to just pick up and leave without a word.”

  “No, I do not believe so either. Maybe he’s hurt, or a captive? If he’s still alive.”

  “Wait, wait, wait, slow down. You don’t know anything yet. Let’s not jump to the conclusion that he’s in a bad way. What if he’s just gone away for a little while, or is spending his time somewhere else?”

  “Like where? Where would he go?”

  “To the other smith we know. Carter was working with him on weapons, and they certainly spent a lot of time together.”

  “You think he could have gone back there, but why?”

  “It never occurred to you he might have found a friend.”

  She looked confused.

  “You still don’t see us as anything, do you?”

  “I’ve lived among gods. Mortals were never…”

  He wouldn’t let her go on, as he had a lot more to say on the subject.

  “And yet here you are. For all your immortal friends, you come to me for help.”

  “I…”

  “And you question that Vulcan could have done the same? You may be stronger than us, and live longer than us, but that doesn’t mean you’re smarter. You may have lived many of my lifetimes, but you’ve not lived even a year among us.”

  She looked humbled and surprised she was feeling that way, as if they were emotions she’d never felt before.

  “When you needed us, we were there, and you did need us. Individually, you’re strong, but something we all know here is we’re stronger together. We…” he stopped himself. He was pushing too far. Theodosia was already
looking sheepish.

  “I get it, and I’m sorry. This is a big change for us, and it’s going to take time to get used to this new life. I really am sorry. I just thought Thanatos would be the one to help me on this.”

  “The war is over for him, so why would he care?”

  “I just thought… I thought he’d changed.”

  “I’m not sure any of us ever change all that much.”

  “But he stood with us against Hades.”

  “I don’t think that’s because he changed. He never really wanted to fight your father, and you know it.”

  She grimaced as conflicting thoughts bounced around in her head.

  “If you want help, then sure. I haven’t been doing all this training for nothing. Let’s go.”

  He grabbed his coat and reached behind a rack of weapons. He pulled out a sheathed Olympian sword that had been concealed there and stuffed it into his pack. The hilt just protruded out from the top, and he zipped it up.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  He was astonished to see she really meant it.

  “No partner?” They headed out of the door, “Luca?”

  “He’ll be back when he’s ready,” he replied with a sigh as they climbed into his truck. He placed the bag on the seat between them so that it was ready at a moment’s notice.

  “What kind of trouble are you expecting to find?”

  He fired up the engine and checked all around, as if someone was watching them, before finally pulling out.

  “Hopefully none, but these days, trouble seems to find me even when I’m not looking for it.”

  “You know it was you who found us.”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “That night at the museum. You were not in there when that fight broke out. You were not on duty. You never needed to get involved. Even after you encountered us, you could have stayed out of it, but you didn’t.”

  “That’s not my job.”

  “It wasn’t your job, though, was it? Everything you did, you did in your own time because you wanted to, because you had to.”

  “Yeah, well, my duty is not to the job, it’s to the people.”

  “Okay.”

  “What?” Clearly, there was something she wanted to say, “Come on, out with it.”

  “You’ve spent your life learning to use weapons you had no use for. Swords, in a world where you have such advanced firearms? Part of you wanted this. The excitement. The adventure. A chance to really test these skills you have honed without any end in sight.”