Strange Love

CHAPTER 31: Call it as I see it

Ry answered his phone on the third ring and was instantly taken aback. "Wait, wait, wait!" He yelled toward the phone as he held it away from his ear and quickly pressed the speaker button.

[-asshole! You could have gotten him in serious trouble or even killed! What were you thinking! It's your JOB to protect him, not come up with new ways of endangering his life!] Jos's voice became shriller with each word.

"It's nice to hear from you too, Jos. Oh, what? Yes, the weather is nice here. We're doing fine..." Ry answered sarcastically.

[Orion, I swear to the gods, I will come over there and smack that smart mouth of yours with all ten tentacles at the same damn time if you don't cut the shit!] Jos yelled with building frustration.

Russ chuckled, recalling the many times she'd taken that same tone with him or Shelly when they were much younger. He sent Ry a devilish smile as he leaned forward. "Oh, what all were you told? I'm sure it wasn't even half of the trouble this crazy bastard has gotten me into! Did they tell you we broke into the Embassy prison, Ry seduced the guard, and taught me how to torture information out of people?! AND we broke-"

Ry tossed the phone onto the table as he shot both hands out to cover Russ's mouth. "Damnit, kid!" He turned his attention back to the phone. "I'm not sure what Arei has told you, but I'm sure it was an over-exaggeration." His words came out broken as he struggled against Russ who was dead set on stirring up trouble.

[I'm sure he didn't over-exaggerate, considering he seemed to think I already knew!] Jos yelled back.

Ry arched a brow toward the screen. "Why are you so upset. You sound more like a pissed-off mother hen than a love-scorned ex."

Anger was audible in her voice now as she growled her reply. [Orion, don't you dare think by bringing that up, it will make me any less tempted to storm over there and shove my tentacle so far up your a.s.s you taste calamari for a damn year!]

"HE WOULD LIKE THAT!" Russ called out as he broke free of Ry's grip for a brief second. He kicked away from the hulking man as he yelled. "He's forcing me to share a room with him too! I think he's trying to-"

"You little shit!" Ry yelled as he launched himself at Russ.

"OH NO!! He just touched one of my no-no spots-" Russ's last words were only muffled briefly. "Save me!" He called out barely able to contain laughter.

"Do something with him!" Ry growled toward Poseidon, who to this point had only been listening and watching in amus.e.m.e.nt.

Poseidon flicked his wrist and sent his son a faux bored look before turning back to the diary he read. "There better?"

Barking sounded and Jos began yelling again. [Did you turn him into a dog again!]

Ry rolled his eyes as the hyper Pomeranian barked louder, hiding under the sectional sofa just out of reach. "No, he's just putting on-"

"Yes, of course, we did!" Poseidon threw in, drowning out Ry's lies. "Now dear, is there any other reason you're calling other than to yell and threaten my son? If not then by all means continue, but if there is some information, please divulge it before continuing."

Arei couldn't control his amused laughter as he plucked the phone from Jos's angry grip and pressed it to his ear. "We do have information, as you can guess it involves the illegal interrogation Ry and Russ performed and the party you all crashed. Two of those party guests were none other than Vivian and Bionca's sons by Xavier DeMarco. I guarantee they recognized Russ instantly and, if I had to guess, will be after revenge before too long. Depending on how much of a show the kid put on with the guard, I'd say they may even try something before leaving the island."

Ry let out an awkward laugh. [ I wouldn't count on them coming at him by themselves. It was a pretty impressive show...]

"How could you let that happen!" Jos yelled as she tugged against Arei's arm, trying her best to reach the phone far above her head.

Arei laughed down at her, unable to hide his amus.e.m.e.nt at how cute and short she seemed as she tried to reach the phone still at his ear. "How about I let you lead the first couple training fights against Jos when we get to the island. She seems more than eager to get a tentacle or two around you, Ry."

[Pass. I've fought against her when I wasn't her target, I'm not about to go up against her when I am.] Ry said as he finally gave up on retrieving the yapping dog. "Just turn the little shit back already. The barking's more annoying than his irritating voice." Ry said away from the phone.

A loud crash sounded before Russ yelled out. "You could have waited until I'd gotten out from under the couch!"

Boredom could be heard in Poseidon's voice. "As Ry said, the barking was annoying." His voice came closer to the phone. [Is there any other news?]

"No, not at the moment. Only that Peg wants to request a formal investigation into the DeMarco's and Fern." Arei said as he rested the phone against his shoulder and pulled Jos into a tight hug. He let her weight rest against him as he leaned against the heavy library doors. He stroked her back as he waited for the three men on the other end of the phone to discuss the pros and cons of doing such a thing.

[Let me speak with Prometheus first before you boys launch a formal request.] Poseidon finally answered. He was just about to end the call when another thought came to mind. [Oh yes, ask Jos which room was Cam's old bedroom.]

Arei flipped the call over to speaker. "Dad wants to know if you remember which room Cam stayed in as a girl before she and Ales got married.

Jos took a few minutes to think back. "When she was younger, it was the second floor... third or fourth room on the left. Ales's old room would have been two doors down from that on the opposite side of the hall if that helps. After Ales was forced to move into his parents' room, she stayed in the attached bridal suites until they were married... then they shared his room."

[It will make it a bit harder not knowing the exact room, but it's definitely better than going in completely blind. We've read through enough of her journals by now to suspect secret passages in at least her old bedroom. We're going to zap in there later tonight and try to find them.] Poseidon informed them. [So, if you come across any more information tonight, text it. We will call once we are back here if we find anything.]

"Alright, keep us updated, and I'll tell Peg to hold off for now." Arei said as he was about to hang up the phone.

Jos yelled out. "Stay safe, guys!" Her troubled eyes moved up to Arei's as he ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket.

He ran a hand along her jaw. Stroking her chin with the pad of his thumb, he whispered. "It's been a long time since I've seen that spark in your eyes." His smile widened. "I have to say, I'm equal parts happy to see it return and glad that it's not directed at me this time."

Jos narrowed her eyes recalling their encounter at the USVA a few months ago. "You intentionally kept trying to make me mad?!"

He laughed as he held his hands up in surrender. "Only because you looked so damn cute!" His wide grin faded as he leaned down and caught her face between his large palms, holding her gently. "I was jealous though, I'm man enough to admit it. I had gotten so excited to have the chance to finally run into you organically after all that time, and you were with DeMarco... one of the sc.u.mbags I'd spent the better part of the decade trying to bring down."

Jos furrowed her brows. "But I thought you were being forced to work for Zeus still yet at that time?"

Arei nodded. "That particular vampire group was becoming too powerful for his liking. He wanted to see them brought down a peg or two but couldn't be bothered to do it himself. So, I was sent to deal with them." He shrugged. "The USVA was overall easy to work for. They never asked for much out of me and rarely stirred up trouble, but Draco DeMarco was set on his own version of world domination, and his son's followed in his every footstep."

Jos frowned, "It doesn't make sense. From what Xavier told me about his dad, he didn't like the man much. He blamed him for his mother's death."

Arei stroked her cheek. She was still so naive and trusting, only ever wanting to see people as either fully good or fully bad. He shook his head. "Xavier was what most would refer to as a wolf in sheep's clothing. He liked to lure people in with a false sense of safety, feeding them what they wanted to hear. His ability to read, control, and manipulate emotion made it easy for him to keep his hands clean. All the while, he would have his brother do all the dirty work for him." His frown deepened. "I'm not in any way excusing the man's treatment of Shelly or any of his actions. He was a deranged individual, but a lot of Dante's actions were ordered by Xavier himself... The man was a sociopath." He shrugged. "Maybe it happened after his mother was killed if she was killed... maybe it was due to being raised by a psychopath, but there's no doubt that in the end, he was likely trying to finish what his father started. I'd even go as far to guess had you and Shelly not interfered with their plans they may have succeeded."

Jos furrowed her brows as a heavy frown settled over her features. "Do you think his wife and kids are going to pick up where he left off?"

He gave an unhappy nod. "If they are meeting with Fern, then chances are very likely." He tightened his hold around Jos's waist as he rested his head against the doors. "That only leaves one question, however, what part is Fern playing in all this exactly."

***

Andy was still laughing several minutes after the call had ended. "Gods, I've missed her! Who could have guessed that older more m.a.t.u.r.e Jos could be so fiery still! I can't wait to see how it goes once she settled back into the family." She let out an amused giggle as she rested her head on Peg's shoulder.

Chary nodded as her attention moved to the library doors. "It would be great to see them both settled into the family, but I worry Arei will never get over those early years... and in turn not give her the fair chance she deserves, yet again..." When the wolf's head shot over to hers in confusion, Chary elaborated with a heavy sigh. "It's not easy being the children or even ancestors of main Olympians. The early years of their rule was a power struggle... none of us got out unscathed." Her eyes became unfocused. "Unfortunately, not all scars can be hidden by tattoos and transformations... some are engraved in our very souls."

Scylla pushed herself farther out of the pool they had set the table up beside of and wrapped her hand around Chary's leg before placing a kiss on her calf. She rested her head against Chary's calf as Chary bent slightly and began running her fingers through Scylla's short jet-black hair. "There's no denying it each child of Poseidon has been crushed past repair at some point... as has most of us old enough to have lived through those early years... but as someone who has found love with one of you... I can honestly say," She lifted her head and brought Chary's hand down to cup the sharp lines of her cheek. "For all the pain and torment, you've each endured, you love with equal intensity... once you let down your guards and allow yourselves to be loved..."

The single tear that ran down Chary's perfect makeup was the only outward sign of the emotional kink in the demi-goddess's well-placed mask of armor. She lowered to the ground on her knees and pulled Scylla into a tight embrace before kissing her deeply. "It's only because of your constant caring and nurturing over several millennia that I'm able to be as happy and content with life... I'm not sure how I would have ended up had dad not brought you to me..."

Scylla brushed away the single tear with the pad of her thumb as she searched deep into the love of her life's beautiful sea, green eyes. "I have faith that our dear Arei has found the same in Jos... I felt it then and even more so now. They both have pains to push past, but it will be in trying to heal one another's traumas that they will find peace within their own souls."

Peg rolled his eyes. "Damn, Scylla, you really need to stop falling asleep to those self-help audiobooks..." He sent her a teasing smile. "Or at least try to make something out of it and start writing your own cheesy romance novels..."

Scylla leaned away from Chary and narrowed her eyes at her brother-in-law. "Be glad you're sitting in front of a computer right now, or I would drown you..."

Peg arched a brow as his smile widened. "Ah... There she is, the Scylla we are used to... I'm not sure I can take much of the gushy one..."

Scylla through a middle finger up in the air. "Get f.u.c.k.e.d!"

Peg laughed as he scooted the chair out and held his hand out for Andy. "You know what? I think I will!" He turned his attention back down to Andy. "What do you say we head home for the night?"

Andy giggled as she took his hand and through a wave to everyone else. "Tell Jos and Arei we're rooting for them!" She scooped up a few of the diaries she was yet to read through and held them up. "I'll take these with me and continue reading through them as I can."

Chary gave Scylla another affectionate kiss before pushing up from the floor. She walked around the table and gave her brother and Andy a hug. "Call or text if you find anything." She sent Peg a teasing smile as she squeezed Andy tighter. "And if you need help giving him the f.u.c.k.i.n.g he deserves for being so rude to my dear Scylla, please let me know I have this one new strap-on that's the same size and shape as an elephant's d.i.c.k..." She narrowed her eyes at her brother. "If it won't fit into his smart a.s.s maybe it can at least fill that smart mouth of his..." She sent Andy a wink as she released her and returned back to the chair, she was sitting in.

Shelly gave a wolfish grin but didn't take her eyes away from the diary she was reading. Peg and Andy, both, gave her friendly pats as they left the room.

Chary watched the wolf for a long time, amazed at how effectively she could still work in her animal form. Sitting forward, curiosity winning out, Chary leaned over the wolf's furry shoulder. "What have you found that's so interesting?"

Chary's brows went up in surprise. "Well, this is interesting."

"What is it?" Scylla asked as she pushed up from the pool for a better look.

"I think this is one of the volumes Jos was talking about. Listen to what it says." Chary said as she began to read the passage out loud.