Adonis and Aphroditus Read Free Page B

head it took a couple hours before he settled down
enough for sleep to come. He fell asleep slowly, but he woke up
suddenly. He looked at the clock but there was no hurry. He had
been having the weirdest dream and in it he was talking to Lucy
Devlin the same female he’d spoke to on the phone. He’d been
talking to her through a door and he’d been about to pull the door
open and see what she looked like when he’d just woke up.
    He felt a bitter disappointment that he’d not
gotten to see what she looked like. He didn’t understand it, but he
wanted to know everything about her. It must be because Hades was
making him go in this mission. That had to be why, there wasn’t any
other possible reason. He looked at the clock, he had plenty of
time as long as he got going now. Hades had no tolerance for anyone
who was late. He hopped out of bed and stretched his cramped
muscles. Oh yeah. That felt so much better. He walked toward the
shower ready to get clean. He considered giving himself a hand job
but the need wasn’t bad enough. He just got in and washed himself.
He rinsed and got out and dried. No big deal, everything was going
just fine and would continue to be fine.
    He dressed in comfortable clothes since the
flight would be long. He didn’t really care about flying one way or
the other, except for the time it wasted. There was little to do on
the plane and even though the seats were comfortable, hours of
sitting wasn’t. He slipped an e-reader in his bag in case he got
too bored, but he couldn’t think of any thing else to take. He
brought his bag with him and went to the cafeteria to eat
breakfast. He’d bet most of the guys present were going on the
trip. Eudoras and Zelus were going which surprised him since they
were both mated and neither mate was present.
    Hercules was there, but surely he wasn’t
going. He was in charge of security here and that’s where he was
needed most. Adonis knew he went on missions once in a while, but
this one wasn’t even confirmed yet. It was true, though, that
Perseus had been a close friend of Hercules and they were the same
age. Maybe that made this mission personal. In this new world they
were creating for themselves, all the gods had were each other.
Well, except for those gods with mates which was a growing number
but one that didn’t include Hercules.

Chapter 2
    Getting There
    The gods going on the trip gathered just
inside the doors each carrying a go bag, having one
ready at all times was a habit Origin had instilled in them from an
early age. The bag held the necessities of life, just enough to
last a few days. It contained two full changes of clothing, a small
pack of field rations, a liter of bottled water with a filter, and
a selection of weapons. Cell phones, watches, and other small
necessities were carried on the person in case their bag was
liberated by the enemy. It was something a god would fight to keep
hold of, but shit happened. It happened more for a god than the
average human.
    They trudged through the snow and ice in the
frigid temperatures that defined their new home. The climate here
made it harder for their adversary, Origin, to sneak in spies and
attackers. Not that it had stopped them completely but it had
slowed them down. The plane sat on the end of the airport that was
closest to their facility and all the snow had been cleared from
the runway and the plane had been running a while. It would be
comfortable inside and while it wasn’t necessary, it was
appreciated.
    Adonis was in the middle of the line that was
boarding and that meant he wouldn’t get a seat at the back of the
plane where he preferred to sit. He’d end up in the middle since
the leaders usually sat in the front and he didn’t want to be
anywhere near them. He felt forced to be present anyway and he
wanted his part in this operation to be as limited as possible. Out
of sight was out of mind so he’d keep his head down and blend into
the group.
    “Where’s Adonis?” he