Page 7 of Found In Destruction

Ares dropped to his knees and held the sides of his head as he thrashed in pain. His teeth were gritted in pure rage as he death-glared Bash. Sweat started rolling down his forehead as he tilted his head toward Desmond slightly, who must have given him some kind of trick to block Bash’s intrusion. His face relaxed a bit, and he was able to get back up on his feet. He formed a blue fireball, but when he threw it at Bash, it encapsulated him instead of burning him, like a barrier between him and the world.

Ares’ manic laughter rang throughout the room, and I clapped.The show is getting better now.He touched the fire barrier, and Bash writhed in agony.

“Since you want to be a fucking bully and verbally abuse people, let’s see if you can take your own medicine,” the Greek god sneered. His voice adopted a deep, preternatural echo. “Diana never had a choice but to be with you, because you claimed her—without asking. If she had the choice, she wouldn’t want a toxic mess like you. You couldn’t even manage to make a relationship with your best friend and the nicest guy we know work, because you’re selfish, narcissistic, and dumb as fuck.”

“Says the psychotic jackass who was so scared of her leaving that he tried to trick her into getting knocked up—without asking. I guess you’d actually try to be a father to this one,” Bash said with a derisive sneer.

I had asked Zeus about Ares and his children, because I didn’t want Diana with a deadbeat dad. He explained that neither Aphrodite nor Hephaestus let him publicly claim them as his own. He did as much as he could for them as their uncle, and was involved in their childhood, but he wasn’t allowed tosee them after he was exiled. The situation was a sore spot for him, and I definitely knew how he felt—I wasn’t permitted to see Diana for years and missed her childhood completely, spare glimpses from afar.

The whole room felt the weight of Bash’s low blow, falling eerily quiet. The appliances stopped humming, and it seemed as if all the air was sucked out of the room. Ares’ expressionless face spoke volumes—I’d never seen him not smiling, even when angry or bloodthirsty. The temperature in the room skyrocketed, and even after taking my suit jacket off, the sweltering heat was oppressive. Bash was sweating in his fire bubble, coughing from the dry, acrid air. Even Desmond frowned, his brows furrowed.

The door opened, and Azazel came in with a harried look on his face, fully aware of the chaos that had erupted.

“Ares, please let him go? He isn’t worth it,” he calmly asked.

“Fuck no, he won’t get away with verbally abusing you or me. He needs to learn his place,” Ares growled.

“Bash is who he is, Ares. Nothing will change that. But if we keep arguing amongst ourselves, we’ll never be able to work together to bring her home.” Azazel put his hand on Ares’ arm, and they shared a meaningful look for several moments before Bash was set free from his bubble and dropped right onto the floor.

Bash glared at both men, then sat in his original chair and pointedly ignored everyone. Azazel didn’t seem that bothered by it though. He and Ares must be mindlinked, because they were quietly staring at each other, not even noticing the others in the room.

“If you’re all done squabbling, we have a new development to discuss,” I announce. “I want us all to listen to the message from Michael a day after he, Diana, Mal, and O left again.”

Waving my hand, I brought up the message bubble and played it. Michael’s disembodied voice floated through the room, as if he was here with us.

Luci, Diana broke up with her men, except Mal. A messy break-up, too. She’s taking sometimeaway. O, Mal, and I will be with her, so she’s safe. Will talk soon.

“Anyone notice anything interesting about the message?” I ask, giving them a chance to dust off their detective skills.

“The way he said ‘time’,” Ares sighed. “We suspected that we can’t find her anywhere because they’re hiding in another time period.”

“I’d put money on it. Diana’s time travel ability is unknown—untested, unpracticed, and we have no clue what she’s capable of doing with it,” I explained. “She’s risking some serious health and magical complications by staying out of her original time period this long.”

“Okay, so what’s new? We already know all of this.” Desmond ran his hand through his fiery hair in irritation.

“I got a reply message from Azazel’s friend Tempus,” I replied, watching their faces lift with hope. “Azazel, you need to open it. He put an identity lock ward on it.”

I passed the bubble to Ares, who passed it to Azazel. As soon as he touched the message bubble, it glowed a light shade of blue. He nonverbally willed it to play, and a deep, lilting voice filled the room.

“I’m finally back from my assignment. I’m concerned about how long Diana has been in other time periods and the impact that could have on the space-time continuum. The transfer of powerful people between time periods can weaken the barriers, like when you stretch woven fabric too much. Things can change drastically. We need to meet up before this blows up into a major timeline alteration.”

“Can you contact him? Maybe we can use your and Diana’s soulbound to locate her and he can take us to her?” Ares seemed so excited to find her that he was smoking from his ears. It was better than watching him sob as he demolished an entire ice cream gallon.

“Our mindlink is rusty, let me see if I can.” Azazel closed his eyes, his face contorting in concentration.

After a minute, his face grew pale, and his eyebrows furrowed. Desmond took his hand, lending him some magic to boost his abilities. Ares took his other hand, and between the three of them, Zaz was able to make a connection.

“He said he can come here immediately, he just needs to know where we are.”

“How do we know we can trust this guy?” Bash’s question was legit, but I could feel his jealousy and anger clouding his judgment. “What if he gives our enemies our location?”

“He’d never do that. He’s one of the most principled men I’ve ever met.” He swings his gaze to me, waiting for my permission. “Lucifer?”

I nodded, and a few seconds later, a large, imposing man stood in the back of the room. He lumbered over everyone, even Desmond and Ares. His long black hair was tied in a bun, which showed off his hard jawline and prominent features. Dark olive skin complemented deep brown eyes and full lips. He wore modern black jeans and a sweater, but something about him seemed ancient. Beyond even the paranormal world. Although his magic was potent, it was gentle. Something told me that this man wasn’t a fighter, but could hold his own if he had to.

“Thank you for meeting with us, Tempus,” Azazel said as he walked toward the man. They shook hands, then the man wrapped Azazel in a hug so tight I heard the former’s bones crack.

“I had to—youranimaspeclu’sabsence from her own time period is concerning.” His accent was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was every accent of the four realms and none of them at the same time.

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