Chapter 2
Hektor
For Drakkons, the pursuit of wealth came above all else. When creatures and monsters began to settle into Vale Crossing after their exodus from the Upperworld, the Drakkons took their time looking for a place where they could establish themselves.
They searched far and wide until they found a mountain range in the far west, declaring it to be their new home and calling it Drakkoria.
The rocky formations made an ideal abode for their kind, but the mountains also contained something extremely valuable—gold.
The tough rocks hid veins of gold in high concentrations, which, by chance could only be mined by blasting it with high heat.
A most fortunate coincidence because one of the Drakkon’s natural abilities was to spew out fire from their mouths and direct at their enemies, something that had been useful when they fought in the war against the Titans as they pulled Zeus’s chariots.
When they won, as a reward, the king of the gods freed them from their servitude and gave them bipedal, human-like bodies while retaining their tough, diamond-like hide.
Over the centuries, the Drakkons used this gold to barter for services and goods, and eventually they became one of the richest groups in Vale Crossing.
They also developed a love of wealth, and so amassing their hoard became a status symbol for Drakkons, sitting on literal piles of gold in their well-protected dens deep in their mountain stronghold.
Yes, Drakkons loved their gold, but there was only one thing even more valuable than all the riches in the world: a mate.
Unfortunately, there were no female Drakkons in existence nor could they produce any female offspring, and so they had to procreate with other creatures and human women.
A mate was considered far more valuable than any treasure, as they were much harder to come by for Drakkons.
Which is why Hektor rushed to the capital city of Alindale when he heard that Eros was in town. The god of desire and love, after all, was the reason Hektor would never find his greatest treasure and would be alone forever. It was his arrow that turned Eleanora’s affections toward another.
“You have cost us our mates!” Hektor had snarled.
He and the other Drakkons whose females had been struck by Eros’s arrows had hunted down the god, tracking him to the highest peaks of the mountains around Drakkoria. They surrounded him, ready to confront him and demand he reverse the effects of his magic.
The god merely laughed, silvery blue eyes ablaze with contempt. “So what? I was just having a little fun. Can’t you guys take a joke?”
It all happened in a blur. Half a dozen or so Drakkons leaped on the god.
Eros didn’t expect the attack and he didn’t have time to escape, so he hit the ground as the Drakkons piled on him.
Fists and claws and tails flew. Hektor didn’t manage to get a hit in, but somehow in the fray, Eros somehow managed to extricate himself from the mob.
None of the others noticed him crawling away, but Hektor did.
As Eros crept away, Hektor blasted the god with his fire.
He knew he couldn’t kill Eros, but he relished watching the god writhe and scream in agony as his dragon fire consumed his hair and the once snowy-white feathers of his wings turned to ash.
The force of his flames pushed the god off the edge of a cliff, sending him plummeting toward the ground.
It had been over a year since the incident, yet Hektor could still feel the sting from Eleanora’s rejection.
But lately, he thought he had been doing well, as he kept himself busy with amassing his hoard and growing his treasure trove to a point that he had to renovate the eastern wing of his den.
Truly, he thought he was making progress.
Sometimes days passed and he didn’t even think of Eleanora.
But then he heard she was expecting her first child.
The news made him spiral deep into depression. So when he found out Eros was in this realm, he wanted to burn the god again, to make him feel the same anguish that Hektor had been living with, if only for a little while.
Yet here he was, about to have a sit down with that very blackguard, his mortal enemy. Perhaps it was because Eros’s words had turned him inside out.
She never loved you.
“I know we did not leave on good terms the last time we met, Hektor,” Eros said as he led him out toward the main reception area.
“An understatement,” Hektor replied with a grunt.
“Indeed.” Eros’s mouth twitched into a small smile. “You tried to kill me. I was already bleeding from your friends’ fists when you blasted me with your Drakkon fire, you know.”
“And you deserved it,” he retorted.
“I did.”
Now that took Hektor aback. The god sounded almost…repentant?
A vast difference from their encounter over a year ago.
“Please, have a seat.” He gestured to one of the black leather chairs in the room.
Despite the storm brewing inside him, he sat down. He could not deny that he was intrigued by the god’s proposition about joining his team of…whatever they were.
“Tell me about what you do here.”
Eros draped himself over the armchair opposite him. “As I said, this is a special place. Normally I wouldn’t just give out the details of what we do, but since you’re interested in working with us, I’ll just tell you. We are looking for some very specific people.”
“What kind of people?”
“The progeny of Zeus.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me.” Eros leaned forward. “Specifically, the children of Zeus and creatures. Demigods who are part monster.”
“Why?”
“We believe they are in danger.”
Hektor grunted. “From whom?”
“That’s also something we need to find out. Someone else is looking for the children of Zeus as well, but they have more nefarious intentions. They’ve already attempted to kill my brother-in-law, Perseus, who is one of Zeus’s sons by a wolf shifter from the Upperworld.”
“Why?
Eros paused. “The reason is confidential, but I suppose if I’m asking you to come work for us, you should know. There was a prophecy that said one of Zeus’s children by a non-human would someday either free him from his current prison or unseat him and take Olympus’s throne.”
“You’re not sure?”
“The prophecy was worded vaguely. Really, I don’t even know why they’re called prophecies when they’re more like indefinite predictions,” the god said with a chuckle. “Anyway, someone kidnapped Perseus because they thought he might fulfill this prophecy.”
“And did he?”
“No,” Eros said. “But they tried to kill him anyway, to prevent their nefarious intentions from coming to light and so they could continue their hunt without anyone else interfering. So, whoever it is that the prophecy is referring to, they’re still out there and in danger.
And since we know that monsters and creatures settled here in Vale Crossing, we established our headquarters here so we can find demigods here in Vale Crossing and warn them. ”
“So, you’re kind of a private investigative team?”
“Exactly. And we recruit people who can help us. Like Zara back there.”
“Who?”
He gestured behind them. “The young girl in the office that you blasted through. She’s an empath of sorts.”
Ah yes, the petite young woman standing off to the side. He couldn’t recall anything else about her.
Except her words.
Angry.
Disappointed.
Lonely.
She didn’t know him, yet exposed him and his innermost feelings. And he’d been too furious to put up the mental shields all Drakkons learned from childhood.
He had to remember to be careful around that female, and never let his guard down.
Perhaps staying here was a bad idea.
He should just go back to Drakkoria and accept his fate. He would be alone forever, watching his peers meet their mates and grow their families and share their hoards.
A pit formed in his stomach at the thought of Eleanora. At the thought of seeing her with her burgeoning belly. To run into her at the town square or market, with a youngling clinging to her side.
She should have been mine. That should have been our child.
The fire burned in Hektor once again. He was about to refocus his rage back to Eros when the god said something that disarmed him.
“I truly am sorry for the hurt I have caused you. I didn’t just apologize to calm you down.”
It wasn’t just the words, but also the pensive tone that made Hektor draw back.
Narrowing his eyes, he carefully assessed the god.
Back when they had first encountered each other, Eros was brash, haughty and had an arrogant air about him. He still did have that same air, but there was something different about him now.
There was no trace of malice or spite in his countenance. No, in fact there was only an aura of peaceful confidence in the way he held himself. Even his silvery blue eyes had changed, and there was no contempt or scorn in them, only a contented stillness.
“But I am telling you the truth about my arrows. Love is a complicated emotion, even more powerful than any god or Titan and it cannot be manipulated by magic,” Eros continued. “I’m sorry if she was being untruthful to you.”
“She said…she said she cared about me and that she would be happy living under my protection, in my den…” His heart sank as he began to accept the truth. “I believed her.”
“Perhaps she cared about you, in her own way. But the heart cannot lie. She was being untruthful, not just to you, but to herself. Do you understand?”
“I…I think so.”
His love for Eleanora had been intense. He had been ready to give her the world, to hold her above everything else, even his hoard. He’d been courting her for over a year at that point. In fact, he’d been ready to finalize the mating ritual with her, to prove that he was worthy of being her mate.
But maybe, even if she had said yes, her heart would not have been in it.
“She wasn’t in the same place I was.”
And perhaps she never would have.