Akras demons ravens of w.., p.8
Akra's Demons: Ravens Of War, page 8
“You’d try.” Helios smiled, arrogance in every line of his proud stance.
“I’d succeed, too.” Ichirou didn’t smile.
Helios clapped twice, making the flying horses disappeared. “Come, we can discuss this in my office.”
Balky waved for Helios to lead the way. The God didn’t waste time talking, flashing away in the blink of an eye. Ichirou wanted to roll his eyes at the show of power the other was exerting. Instead he followed the spiral path he and Balky had created. “Do you trust him?”
“Only as far as I can throw Earth.”
He and Ichirou nodded then followed the same path Helios took, each of them emerging across from Helios’s desk after ensuring the area was safe.
“Lovely place you’ve got here, Goldie,” Balky said, folding his arms over his chest.
“How...original. Not. So what do you want to know?” Helios asked from behind a large gold desk.
Ichirou contained the eye roll when he looked around at the gold encrusted room. Did the man not get the memo about blending into society?
“We need you to track Akra.” Balky said without preamble.
The sun was beginning to set behind the big picture window, meaning another day their female was out in the world without protection.
The Sun God steepled his fingers. “There’s a slight problem with that, boys.”
Balky growled.
“And what is that?” Ichirou asked before Balky could insult, or do something worse to the Sun God, like cut off his dick and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.
“My ability to find her is hindered without the sun. Now, if she is in a part of the world where the sun is shining, I can locate her there. Sadly, I can’t leave America at this time. If you wait until the sun rises in the morning, I can locate her anywhere.” His grin spread, showcasing pearly white teeth.
“What the fuck does that mean? Your blood runs through her as does your essence. You should be able to track her at any time,” Balky punctuated each word with a fist pound on the golden desk. Ichirou didn’t attempt to hold him back.
“Zeus asked us to save her. We did that, but we did not want to create another mixed demi whatever.” He shrugged his shoulders.
Ichirou flashed behind Helios. A shoto sword pressed to his neck. He felt the air stir as the Sun God tried to flash away, but when he was unable, Helios stilled.
“You need to tell us exactly what you did to our Fated. I suggest you don’t leave anything out. See my friend over there,” Ichirou paused, “I’ve seen him freeze Zeus, along with two of the Ravens without blinking. I’m pretty sure, you, being a lesser God and all, would be nothing for him to crush into golden fairy dust.”
“Well hello there you gorgeous men. Can anyone join the party?”
Balky raised his hand and pulled the blonde woman who spoke to him with ease, proving his power.
“Alectrona, I told you to stay home. Why do you never listen to me?” Helios roared.
“Now that you are both here, I suggest you start from the beginning. Again, I strongly suggest you don’t leave a fucking thing out. Or I won’t be responsible for what my friend there does to your daughter,” Ichirou punctuated his words with a nick to Helios’s neck, causing a bead of blood to well up and trickle down.
“We pulled the remaining lightning the Moon Goddess had sent into her body out, extracting the demon blood and all other essence she had within her as well. It was the only thing we could do to save her, per Zeus’s orders. He wanted her to have freedom to come to Earth without hinderance and said the blood running within her would prevent that. While we did have to give her a bit of our powers in order to save her we,” he paused, coughing a little before continuing. “I followed Zeus’s request, giving her what she needed, enough to bring her back from certain death. She is more human than demon now. The sun will revitalize her, but the moon will drain her. Sort of like a human, she will need to rest more at night.”
Helios’s words came out in a flood. Ichirou met Balky’s fierce amethyst look, hatred and disgust mirrored his own thoughts.
“So, you did what was asked of you, only with a twist. Is Zeus aware that you fucked over one of his own? You do know he considers Akra like a daughter?”
Ichirou enjoyed watching the golden hue on both their faces turn a pale version of themselves. He lifted the blade from Helios and shoving the other man away from him, he licked the blood off. If what the jackass said was true, then they’d be able to trace their Fated with his blood as easily as using Helios himself.
“Are you going to tell Zeus what we’ve done?” Alectrona asked.
Balky was careful not to injure the Goddess, surprising Ichirou with his gentleness. “I won’t need to tell my brother anything.” The shocked gasps from both Helios and his daughter had a wicked grin lighting Balky’s face. “You will tell him yourselves.”
In the next instant, both gods were gone, leaving Ichirou and Balky alone in the office. “I think that went rather well. Why do you think he was so keen on staying in the United States?”
Balky shrugged his massive shoulders. “Don’t know, don’t care. Think you can track her with his blood?”
Mirroring Balky’s stance, Ichirou focused on the blood he’d ingested. The electrical charge Selena had done to Akra, in her fit of temper, had decimated any connection he’d had with the woman who’d captivated him. The spiral path he hoped would lead him to her snapped back on him like a rubber band. “Fuck!”
“I’m guessing we’ll need to make sure Zeus doesn’t kill the two idiot Gods until after the sun rises tomorrow?” Balky growled.
Although it galled him to acknowledge the two beings held a purpose, and therefore, needed to live to see another day, Ichirou nodded.
“I suggest we blink back to Olympus quickly then. I fear brother dear has an itch to do some damage.”
Ichirou laughed at the term the demons used, and now seemed to be catching on amongst them all. He wanted to blink to wherever Akra was, blink away all her clothes, followed by his and do what comes naturally. Heck, if he was honest, he wanted to be inside her more than he wanted his next breath, but he didn’t want to move too fast.
Chapter Five
AKRA WOKE TO THE SOUND of incessant buzzing. The sun was shining through the windows, almost blinding in its brightness. She, who’d lived in darkness for thousands of years, felt the rays drawing her closer, invigorating every pore in her body.
Stretching her arms above her head, the first stirring of hunger hit, reminding her of the cheeseburger she’d ordered the night before. “I wonder if they make burgers this early.” She snickered.
Being in Hell, she’d gone several days, sometimes over a week without sustenance. She wasn’t sure when the last time she’d actually eaten two days in a row, but Akra was pretty sure it was in the last forty-eight hours. Why she was having these hunger pangs as if she’d gone weeks without anything to eat, puzzled her. She brushed it off as a side effect of the healing she’d had to go through after her brush with Selena, getting out of bed a little slower than normal.
After ordering extra crispy waffles with the syrup on the side since they didn’t make lunch yet, she dressed in a pair of jeans and a silky tank top that showed off the streaks running down her arm. She hated the reminder of what was done to her. Without using her powers, she picked the phone up from beside the sofa and called the concierge desk. Within moments, she had the name of a tattoo shop and an artist who was recommended by several of the rich and famous.
She paced the floor waiting for her breakfast, feeling nervous and alone. She had never truly been by herself. Always having one or more of her sisters in her mind or near was a constant she’d taken for granted. Now, she had to learn to survive alone.
The sound of the elevator, along with the scent of maple alerted her to the arrival of her food. Knowing it was customary to tip, she made sure to give the young man a generous one. His gaze lingered overly long on her breasts, then went to her right arm. Clearly they were instructed not to speak unless spoken to. Akra decided she wouldn’t talk and pointedly ignored him. He left with a nod.
The waffles were cooked exactly as she’d ordered, and the syrup was so sweet she wanted to order a vat of it. “Goddess, these are the best.” She swirled the last bite around the plate before popping it into her mouth. Finally, she loaded her backpack with a few necessities, just in case she couldn’t make it back for some reason. Akra had always planned ahead. That was why she was the leader. Her chest ached at the thought of never seeing the other females but knew Bakra would step up. They’d all been prepared to take over...just in case.
Hefting the backpack with the LV logo on it, she strode out of the suite without a backward glance. If life tossed her another shitstorm she’d figure out another location to call hers. Nothing was permanent, that was a lesson learned the hard way.
The doorman held the door open, and she stepped out onto the busy New York sidewalk. A man bumped her shoulder, knocking her into another person. She reached for her inner demon and found nothing. She was so shocked the tug on her arm almost went unnoticed, but the miscreant trying to steal her bag was the same one who had hit her. The demon part of her may be gone, but thousands of years of ass kicking were still there.
She made sure the straps were securely fastened as she stood to her full height, facing her would be attacker. His spiked green hair and black clothes with more chains than rips were very eighties in a not sexy fashion, in her opinion, but whatever. He most definitely wouldn’t have ranked on the DTFN list. Bakra had created the make believe check-list, saying if none of them could look at the creature and think they were ‘Down to fuck them now’ then they killed them. Granted, in Hell they pretty much killed everyone.
The idiot faced her with cold brown eyes, not taking any notice of anyone around them. A switchblade appeared in his hand as people flowed by without stopping to see if she was okay or not. Which was fine, she’d take care of him herself. She motioned for him to come at her, smiling a confident grin. His cocky look left his pimply face. He slashed down from his taller height with the blade in hand.
“Really, so predictable,” Akra murmured, blocking his arm with her own, too late realizing he had another blade in his left hand until the burn sliced across her abdomen. “You fucking prick.” She nailed him in the nose with her forehead, followed with a knee to his nuts. The sound of metal hitting the concrete didn’t stop her from grabbing onto his wrist. Bones snapped under the pressure she applied.
On his knees he looked up at her. “I’m sorry, let me go, please.” His whimper was almost comical.
She had wanted to be more human. Now, looking at the piece of trash in front of her, she wished she was a demon. If she had been, she’d have flashed him into the lowest levels of Hell so fast his green tinted hair would’ve been standing on end for a whole other reason. “You know what? Today is your lucky day, asshole. I have places to go and people to see.” Not to mention the scratch on her side sort of burned, which just pissed her the fuck off.
His hand on the ground reached for the blade he’d dropped. Akra shook her head, amazed at his stupidity. Here she had his fingers bent back touching his wrist of one hand, and she was sure he would be singing a few octaves higher from her knee to his nuts, and the dude was still trying to hurt her. She gave him points for trying. Adding more pressure to the one hand, she kicked him in the side of the head before he could pick up the knife.
“I said I had places to go you fuck, now, be a good boy and just lay there while these good people walk around your prone form.” She shoved him away from her, completely okay with the oopsie of his broken fingers. My bad.
Akra stood up, dusting off her hands a little louder than necessary. She was amazed nobody stopped to see if she was injured or not. “Hello, smallish human girl attacked in broad daylight,” she muttered.
She’d gotten used to having someone care about her, or at least pretend to. The spiked-haired idiot curled up in a ball, whimpering like a damn baby. Maybe she shouldn’t have kneed him again, but he’d reached for the blade even after she’d disarmed him, so it was his own fault. She turned from him, making her way to what she hoped was her first step in taking back her life. Covering the ugly streaks left by the Goddess.
“THIS IS HER BLOOD.” Balky knelt on the pavement, touching the flakes of red as rage threatened to boil over. His heightened senses picked up her unique essence, mixed with so many others. “Someone drew her blood. I want to find this person and kill them slowly.”
Ichirou nodded. “I can’t trace her any further than here.”
Balky growled as several pedestrians bumped him. He didn’t want to go into ghost mode and miss any detail they’d only find in the flesh. Cameras were mounted on the building across the street and above the lamppost where Akra’s blood was found. Although he hated to use modern technology, he’d do it to find his Fated.
“Let’s go inside there and check out the security footage. We find out who hurt Akra, maybe see which way she went.” Balky pointed toward a café.
“I don’t want to rain on your parade, but this is New York. The chance of us finding her without help, is like finding a needle in a haystack.” Ichirou didn’t look any more pleased than he was.
Balky turned from his friend. “I can’t sit around and wait for the two sun idiots to find her.” He still wanted to rip both their hearts out, but Zeus had other plans.
“Why do you think we can’t track her?” Ichirou’s question was one he was wondering himself.
Frustration overwhelmed Balky. “Fuck, we need to go back to Olympus and see what Zeus has found out.” As Ichirou sighed in frustration, he flashed them both back to the room he’d last seen Zeus. They didn’t have to wait long before the god flowed in.
“First, I owe you both an apology, along with Akra when we find her. Trust me when I say both Helios and the daughter are being punished for their duplicity. Although, I may have not explained to them what Akra meant to me and my family, they shouldn’t have taken it upon themselves to make a decision on how they saved her.” Each word was said with sincerity, anger burning in the silver eyes.
From his time with Cronus, Balky had learned to read between the lines. Zeus had fucked up and was apologizing in his own way. He didn’t want to give a part of himself to save Akra, instead ordering the other two gods, who also didn’t want to give too much of themselves. What the fuck ever...Gods were all fucking selfish in Balky’s opinion. Helios and Alectrona were no different. They didn’t so much as disobey the King Of Gods as go around his words, and insure she lived, but they, just like Zeus didn’t want to give up their precious blood to someone as unworthy as Akra. Balky wanted to rip their hearts out while they watched, knowing they’d regenerate, only to have them suffer again and again.
“Get to the point, Zeus. Why can’t we locate her even during the day? We found traces of her blood, but as soon as it dried up, so did her trail,” Ichirou growled.
Silver eyes tracked to where Ichirou leaned against the wall. “When the sun is up, her power is also at its fullest. That means, unless she’s bleeding during the day, you won’t be able to track her unless she is bound to you. At night, it’s the same.”
“Can I have five minutes alone with the fucker who did this? Or better question, since it was your child who did the deed that put our Fated at such a perilous edge, why you didn’t just infuse her with your own essence? Did you think you were too good to give her some of your lifeblood?” Balky asked, his jaw locking.
The air grew thick as his brother turned to stare at him. “If I’d allowed my too good essence to go into her, she’d have been part of me. Part of you. How do you think that would have affected you and your Fated?” Zeus raised his eyebrows.
When his words penetrated Balky’s mind, he realized Zeus hadn’t been thinking about preserving his precious bloodline, but protecting the bond that was forming between Akra, Balky, and Ichirou. Balky hated eating crow, both the real bird and the kind that he was now going to have to do.
“You’re the King Of Gods. Surely you could’ve done something?”
Zeus looked away, turning swirling silver eyes back to face them. “There’s more going on that I can’t say right now. Trust me even though you have no reason. I did what I thought was best and made an error, for which I am truly sorry. I thought Helios and Alectrona were the right ones to bring Akra back to us.”
Balky could sense lies. His entire existed had depended on him being able to tell when a being was being truthful or not.
“I apologize, Zeus. All I can think about is our Fated being out there unprotected.”
Zeus nodded. “I understand. When we couldn’t find Selena, I was a madman. For over twenty-four years we searched, and not a moment of the day or night went by I didn’t wonder what atrocities she may be facing. So, yes, I do know what you’re going through, times a billion.”
As far as chastisements went, Zeus was a professional at giving them.
“Be that as it may, you do have a way we can find our woman. Helios and his daughter. What do they say?”
For the first time, his brother looked uncomfortable. “I’ve seemed to have lost them.” He held up his hand. “I don’t know how they did it, but somehow they’ve escaped. I can only assume they had help. The kind of help they would’ve secured doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzies.” Zeus’s fingers flexed, little saps springing from the tips.
Balky opened his senses, searching for anything that would alert him to a link of Cronus. He remembered the vague conversation and the way the god didn’t want to leave the United States. Cronus had an affinity for that part of the world as well. It didn’t bode well for the Ravens who’d claimed their Fated and settled there. Not finding anything other than the Gods and Goddesses who resided on Olympus, he pulled back.
“You have freaky swirling purple eyes, you know,” Zeus pointed out.
