The Heart of War (46 page)

He had used it on dozens upon dozens of women, some to their deaths, and others merely to the ending of their childbearing ability. “Listen to me, you of all people should know just how treacherous women can be. They are no different from men; they lie, they scheme, they kill and you know it. Don’t you?”

She didn’t drop her hand from her mouth when answered him. “Yes, but…”

“No buts, Alena,” Ares warned as he bounced the heavy metal pear in the palm of his hand. “This is the definition of Equal Rights.”

Both hands went to the sides of her head to grab up tresses of silver-gray hair as her eyes closed and she took a step away from him.

Ares knew what she was most afraid of and it was not the women who came before her. “Never you, understand me? I will never put you down there. I will never use this or any of those things on you. I love you, Alena; I have no desire to harm you.” The small but effective torture device in his hand disappeared as Ares reached out for the hands Alena was using to pull her own hair. “Never you.”

With her eyes still closed, Alena felt it as Ares knelt in front of her and she opened them in surprise. “Get up,” she whispered, not liking the sight of the God of War on his knees before her. “Get up.”

Rather than rise, Ares took her hand and held it against his heart. “I swear to you, my Love, on my Life, I will never do anything to bring you pain.”

Gazing down into the sincerely pleading onyx eyes, Alena took her hand away from her stomach and ran it along his bearded cheek. “I know,” she whispered softly. “I believe you, my Love. I do. Now please get up.” Alena gave his hand a tug and Ares got to his feet. This time when she rose up on her tiptoes, he did not hesitate to bend down and bestow the kiss she had been searching for earlier. Though her lips trembled at first she soon greeted him with open arms and a warm tongue. “I love you.” She did and she would not be afraid of him, she would not let Cernunnos or his hired thug ruin this for her. For them. She would not betray Ares and she would not doubt him. “What about our guest?” she asked, wanting to get rid of him as soon as possible.

“I’ll take care of him,” Ares promised. “I’m going to send him back to Cernunnos. I’m sure the Old Bastard saw the battle but can’t hurt to send him a little souvenir.” Ares grinned. “You stay here while I bring him up, promise you will not go back into that room.”

“No problem, I promise. Your key.” Wanting to ask him to burn everything in that room, Alena plucked the key from the small table by the bed and pressed it into his hand. “Maybe you’ll find a new hiding place for it…just in case.”

“Not a bad idea,” Ares agreed just before he went down to the torture chamber to collect the Druid.

Martin heard the heavy footsteps long before he saw the God of War and he touched the small medallion around his neck. It was a pewter willow tree much like the one Alena wore but smaller and it held the power to spy. Cernunnos gave one to each Druid so that he could keep an eye on them, watch them and see what they were doing whenever he wanted. Too bad Cernunnos had not come up with this half a century earlier when he could have done the same with Alena then she would never have escaped.

4

In Cernunnos’ Great Hall, in his throne room where he was indulging in all of the pleasures his Daughter had to offer, the crystal ball began to glow. The Great Horned God shoved Maven away from him as he went for it. “Look here, Daughter, I think soon you will see that interesting thing.”

5

“In your case? Fun,” Martin said slyly and then let his eyes dart around the room. “Or won’t your little bitch let you have any fun anymore? What’s the matter Ares, the little whore got you pussy-whipped already?”

Ares’ large hand snapped out to slap the Druid hard across the face. Martin went stumbling backward, hitting his head against the open cell door. “If I was you and that were true, I’d be grateful.” Grabbing hold of the rather small man by the scruff of the neck, Ares roughly escorted him up the levels of the cave and through the throne room where he found Alena standing by the throne with Adrian’s Staff in her hand. “I thought I told you to wait in your room.”

“You did, but I have a message that I would like our guest to deliver to Cernunnos.”

Ares thought about it for a moment. He remembered how vehement she had been on the beach when she insisted the Druid live. “What is it?”

“Pick it up,” she hissed at Martin and point to the hearth where the chastity belt she had worn still lay. “Go on, get it.”

Martin looked up at Ares who still had a hold of him. “Your call, Boss.”

“Do what she says.” Ares let go of the man’s arm and watched carefully as Martin crossed the three or four yards to the hearth and the place where the chastity belt waited.

Martin’s heart began to beat swiftly in his chest as he felt his one and only chance at accomplishing this last task was now in his hand. He bent down slowly until he was on the floor on both knees. As he reached out for the belt with one hand, the other dragged a second or two behind to snatch the pewter willow trees from the leather strap. With it hidden in his hand, he picked up the belt the little bitch wore for so long. Reaching up to the mantle with the hand holding the medallion, the Druid made as though his back hurt and he needed the leverage to stand once more. Actually he was planting his bug, pushing it back over the hearth where it would go unseen. On his feet, he lingered for just a moment, holding the hand with the belt in it to his back as though to ease the ache. Gingerly he stood the medallion upright and nestled it between a pair of dueling pistols. Cernunnos would have a good view, he would be able to hear everything said within this room, and Martin thought, like Cernunnos, Ares probably used his throne room quite a bit. “The message, you little bitch?”

“Never again,” Alena whispered heatedly. “That’s all.”

“Short and sweet,” Ares mused, “at least you won’t be able to forget it.” He shoved the Druid out of the throne room and toward the entrance to the cave. “You’ll make sure he gets that message and this one—she’s mine. You tell him that. You tell him I am coming for him. I will avenge my Sister. He will not escape my wrath.”

“Somehow, I think he already knows.”

6

The sights in the crystal ball captivated Maven’s eyes. The man she saw first was massive and incredibly handsome but the room was horrid. Then someone spoke his name and she understood he was Ares, the Greek God of War. The view moved like someone with a hand-held camera and for a while all she saw were the rock walls of a cave. Then something wonderful came into view. A woman. She had silver hair and she was leaning against a mighty Staff. “Is that?” With trembling fingers, Maven reached out to touch the crystal but Cernunnos slapped her hand away. “Is that Magdalena?”

“Yes, it’s my Granddaughter,” Cernunnos whispered. “She lives and I have found her. I am sure you will be reunited soon, Mae. This must make you happy.”

The sight of Maggie made Mae’s heart soar. The idea that Cernunnos knew where she was and what he intended to do made it plummet. “Ares? Why? Where?”

“He’s her Lover,” The Great Horned One whispered. “What do you think of that, Mae? Your Daughter lies in the bed of that filthy warmonger when she should be in mine.”

“She never belonged in your bed.”

With a strong hand, Cernunnos grabbed the small Fey’s throat and squeezed hard. “Is that right? We’ll see about that.”

Maven found herself wishing that he would kill her, that this time he would go too far and this nightmare would end. Hopefully not before she saw Maggie once more even if it was only for a moment. Mae’s hand landed over his and she began to pry it away from her delicate throat.

“That’s it, fight. You know how much I like it when you fight.” With the crystal ball in one hand showing Maggie’s image as she stood alone in Ares throne room, Cernunnos picked Maven up off her feet with the hand at her throat and then cast her to the ground. “I’ll have both of you…together. The things I will have you do with her and him, the perversions I will put you through before you die, Mae, they will bring me pleasurable memories for a thousand years."

Chapter Twenty

Thunder Road

1

Alena stood in the throne room while Ares dispatched the Druid. There was a sudden chill in the air and she moved closer to the fire, absently stroking her stomach while she gazed into the flames. It had been many years since she tried to scry, but now it seemed to come naturally without any effort whatsoever. In the bright red and orange flames of Ares’ hearth she watched the images in her mind play themselves out just beyond the fire’s reach.

A family. A happy family. She, Ares, and their child—maybe even children. They were living here on this island far away from the outside world where they could be left in peace. Ares was smiling, he was so very happy as he held his Son aloft in the air, twirling him around and around, laughing. It was a beautiful little dream that brought a tear to her eyes. She wanted that future.

That image faded away as the doubt in her mind began to take over her thoughts. She swore the flames grew higher and the fire hotter as she heard screaming. Alena looked deeper into the flames only to realize it was the sound of her own voice. There was Ares, angry, snarling, snapping, telling her never loved her and he never wanted her. He certainly did not want any bastard child spawn by a filthy whore Celt. Except for Hera, neither did his Family.

On the verge of tears, lost in the vision, Alena hugged the growing life in her a little tighter. “I love you, no matter what, I love you.”

“Who are you talking to?”

Alena almost froze at the sound of her Lover’s deep voice but she retained her composure by the merest thread. “You my Love, you.” When she felt him come near, she turned around and embraced Ares as tightly as she could. “I will always love you.”

“And I you. What’s wrong?” Her embrace felt less like a wanton lover and more as though she were hanging onto him for dear life. “That room still bothering you?” Ares put his big arms around her and stroked her hair. “I’ll get rid of it, all of it. I don’t need it.”

“You would do that…for me?”

Alena looked at him with frightened, watery gray eyes. “If it makes you cry, if you fear me because of it, yes, I will get rid of everything that is down there. I’ll dump it all in the ocean where it will never harm you and you will never have to be afraid again.” He traced his thumb along her cheek to brush away a falling tear. “Watch,” Ares invited. With a wave of his hand, there was a great rumble and a wind kicked up inside the cave. The ground at their feet began to shake and then a most amazing thing happened. From the doorway at the far side of the room, the one that led down to the spa and the torture room beyond, items flew around the corner at a tremendous speed. With gaping eyes, Alena (and Cernunnos through his crystal ball) watched as all of the devices of agony flew past them in a great whirlwind. The Rack, the Stocks, and even the full chamber Iron Maiden, which Alena thought must weigh at least a ton, whizzed out of the room and then out of the cave to land in the deep blue sea with a mighty splash that could clearly be heard in the cave.

Alena stood there in his arms stunned into silence as she watched the room empty itself.

“Better?” Ares asked when it was over and cave was still once more.

She looked at him with those wide watery eyes and then to the door where the items came and to the passageway where they exited. Some of those things were very heavy; she could not believe she had watched them fly through the air like newspaper in a strong wind. “Why are you so good to me?”

Ares ran his hand over her cheek again and then cupped her delicate face in his hands. “I
love
you Magdalena, I would do anything for you. Fend off mighty beasts. Slay dragons with my bare hands. Climb mountains. Swim across oceans. Even bring the moon down from the sky. Anything to make you smile at me, look up at me with those beautiful eyes and tell me that you love me.”

2

In Cernunnos’ throne room, Maven let out a little sound; it was a sigh combined with a squeal. Ares or not, that man loved her daughter, he would care for her and make sure no harm came to her. For this, Maven was eternally grateful. “Are you really going to go up against
him
…father?”

Cernunnos gave her a cold stare but did not answer.

“I think this time you’ve bit off more than you can chew.” Maven knew it was a daring thing to say and she would pay a price for it but that was all right with her. Maggie was happy, she was healthy, she was strong and in love. Nothing else in the whole world mattered now.

The price came in the form of a backhand to the face that sent Maven to her knees and cut open her left eyelid. “He’s no match for me. He’s been cursed, he
will
turn on her.”

Maven swiped her hand over her cheek, leaving a smear of blood behind as she shook her head and smiled a cold grin of her own. “Even your cold heart can’t defeat Love.” She looked into the ball again. The way Ares was gazing at Maggie, his dark eyes overflowing with love and desire for her daughter, Maven felt confident there was no way Adrian’s spell would work. Ares would not turn on Maggie; even if it did work, even if Ares felt a desire to harm Maggie, he would fight it. He would win.

“My magick, my power defeats all comers,” Cernunnos challenged. “Even the great God of War.”

“I think his power is stronger, dear father.”

This time her outrageous insult did not produce a simple slap across the face, Cernunnos reached down, hauled Mae to her tiny feet by her hair, held her in place and hit her with a right jab to the jaw. He gave her a second just for good measure before letting her crumple to the floor. “Shut up or I won’t let you watch her any longer.”