Chapter XIX

“She hurt you!” Athena exclaimed when Aphrodite materialized in her boudoir.  She tugged lightly at the hand covering her neck.  “Let me see, Dite.”  She eased the hand that hid Eden’s marks, wincing when the bruising was revealed.  She leaned forward and brushed a kiss over the affected area, seeing Aphrodite relax as healing warmth stole through her and caused the bruising to fade.  Athena gave her a look.  “Why did you let her accost you?  Why didn’t you tell her the whole truth?”

A blonde brow arched into her hairline.  “You were monitoring?”

Athena nodded.  “I was.  Artie’s watching Ares.  I’m telling you, Sister – he’s pretty cocksure about this bet.”  Aphrodite wrinkled her nose at the description, and Athena snorted before she sobered once more.  “Why didn’t you tell those kids the truth?”

“You saw what happened when I gave them a partial truth.  Knowing how wickedly volatile Eden can be, do you really think it would be wise to give her a reason to come in here with those gnarly guns blazing?  They would have all been totally destroyed from our reaction to attack – even my first response was to be radically aggressive when she first approached me, The.  I had to consciously allow her to touch me the second time she threatened me.  At least this way, they have a fighting chance.  If Ares or any of his allies cheats and breaks the wager protocol, they’ll be set upon by the rest of us and sent into the Void.  And if they totally surprise me and actually play by the rules of the game – well, I have complete faith in the soulbond and the awesomeness of this pair of soulmates particularly.  If their fury could do this to us, imagine what their reunion will do.”

“I thought they were already a couple.”

“They are.  They are even ‘mates’ by Eli’s traditions.  But I totally don’t think they have reached their full potential – I don’t think they realize what they truly are together.”

“And you don’t think Arianna will be put off by Eli’s alternative nature?”

“How do we know she isn’t already aware of it?” Aphrodite asked quietly.  “We’ve missed most of their lives.  But no – even if she doesn’t know the whole truth yet, I don’t think it will change her totally righteous feelings toward her bodacious babe.”  She paused.  “Besides, when Morph gave them the dream of their rending, he also planted the memories of their other lifetimes together.  That should help remind them not only who they really are, but of the fact that this could be their final trip through the circle if they make the right choices.”

Athena’s brows rose.  “You’re sure?”

Aphrodite shrugged.  “Mostly.  I started adding things up when they first popped into our awareness.  If I counted right, this is their last required journey through the circle.”

“Even though they split the last time?”

“Yeah – the rules don’t specify a number of successful connections... only lifetimes.”

“Good,” Athena commented as she moved to pour a glass of nectar.  Aphrodite nodded when Athena raised a glass in offering.  “We need for this to go in our favor.”

“It’ll probably end up a radically bumpy ride before we get to the end, but I totally think it will.”

“Even if Zeus and Ares cheat?”

“Even then.  I don’t think Eli or Arianna will let them get away with it.”  They lifted their glasses in silent toast, then drank before they turned back to their monitoring.  But before they could get a read on what was taking place with the majority of the Alpha Team or Eli and Arianna in particular, Artemis appeared beside them, almost frantic.

“Artie?” Athena questioned, setting down her half empty glass to clutch her sister by the arms.  “Artemis!!” garnering her attention.  “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Ares.  He’s made his move.”

“He broke the terms of the bet??” Aphrodite asked, calling Artemis’ attention to her.  Artemis shook her dark head.

“Not technically, no.  He was sleeping, so Ares can’t be accused of appearing to him.  For all intents and purposes, he’s following the letter of the wager.”

“But...??” Athena encouraged.

“I think Ares gave him the memories - you know of his past life… when he broke the soulbond between who Arianna and Eli were then.  I saw Ares touch him.”

“He can’t do that!”  Aphrodite stomped her foot in frustration.  “It’s not part of the contract for him to know about that.”

“But it’s also not expressly forbidden.  So unless he mentions a past life experience, we have no way to prove Ares’ has overstepped his bounds.  And you know he’ll argue that he has as much right to know as they do.”

Aphrodite rolled her blue eyes.  “He wanted them both to know.  He hopes the knowing will come between them and rip them apart forever!”  She clenched her fists.  “Gods, I hate that asshole brother of mine!”  She took a deep breath and met her sisters’ eyes.  “All right – how do we counter this??  And how do we bring those kids to our side, and thus to Eli’s and Arianna’s?  Because one of their own is the enemy now.”  She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.  “I wonder if the memories will make him as stupid and naïve as he was in that life.”

Athena frowned.  “Why should it?  How would his memories suddenly dissipate his intelligence?  If anything, we should be worried that his memories will make him more socially adept and likable.  That’s liable to cause more problems than his intelligence quotient.  Because Eli’s going to remember that – that’s going to trigger a very vicious response from her since that played into their rending.”

Aphrodite pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head in agitation.  “This is gonna be a total cluster.”

“Then I suggest we get to work on damage control before it gets out of hand,” Athena commented as she lifted her cat’s eye glasses to the bridge of her nose.  A pointed look at her sisters caused them both to sigh and don their own spectacles before they turned their attention back to the scrying bowl. 

“Dite?” Artemis asked as she acquired her target in the scrying bowl.  “I saw what you said to those kids, because of course Ares was watching you to be sure you didn’t breach the terms of the contract.  Why didn’t you tell them the truth... the real truth??”

“Because somehow I’m pretty sure telling a totally bitchin’ dudette like Eden – to say nothing of the rest of those gnarly kids – that I took the bet to protect them would have sounded condescending and lame.”

“But you did.”

“I know that and you know that, but think about it.  Do you really think me telling them that Ares threatened to destroy them all without mercy because of a bet that was made millennia before their lifetimes would have really gone over well?  Or at all?  Odds are they wouldn’t have believed it... or it would have made them angrier than they already are.  Let’s face it – they don’t really believe in us... all they see is a threat.  And this bet just adds insult to injury as far as they’re concerned... especially since it’s been standing so long.”

“I wonder what made Ares choose this pair of soulmates... now... to fulfill the obligation of the debt.  Like you said – the wager’s been around for millennia.  He could have chosen any pair at any time.  And yet he waited until now... after we’ve been banished and when we’re practically powerless... to demand satisfaction with this particular pair.”

“Because he’s got a thing for the warrior – he always has.  And he thinks he has a chance of succeeding now because of what happened in their last trip through the circle.”

“Given Eli’s reaction when she woke up, I’d have to agree with his choice.  He’s got a chance – more of one the longer Arianna and Eli don’t talk to each other and settle this between them.”

“At least those kids they have a real chance to survive intact now; they are focused on helping Eli and Arianna win instead of trying to destroy us.”

“You don’t think they’ll retaliate when this is over and destroy us anyway?”

“I’ll ask for a chance to speak when our girls win.  Perhaps there’ll be something I can offer in return that will allow me the opportunity.”

“If Morph did his job right, Eli and Arianna will at least hear you out.  They can make the others listen.”

“We can hope.”

************

“All right.  Now what?” Danny asked in the silence that had fallen since Aphrodite’s departure.  “Do we really believe that woman is some deity from some ancient culture?  Do we really believe everything she told us?  You know, about our heritage and soulmates and everything?”

Everyone looked at Eden whose unfocused eyes remained on the view screen as she pinched her lips in thought.  She remained pensive for another full minute before she blinked and looked around at her teammates, then blew out a breath.  “I don’t know about the deity thing, though she’s obviously got access to some kind of energy harness we haven’t discovered.  Otherwise she wouldn’t be able to vanish with or without the special effects.  The heritage thing??”  She shrugged.  “That would be something we could confirm if we had the ability to connect to the Alliance computers.  They have a compilation of all our histories.”

“So do we,” Deborah said.  “As the historian for the group I downloaded the material and brought it along.  I thought our descendants might be interested in knowing where they came from and how we ended up out here together.  I’ll do some checking... see what I can discover.  I do think it’s a little odd that we haven’t heard about it before though.”

“Maybe not so much.”  Every eye turned to Naomi when she spoke and she awkwardly tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.  “I mean... depending on how long ago this happened, it could have been glossed over or even left out of the history texts.”  She turned to Jacob.  “How much did you learn about the ancient civilizations on your planet?”

“How much was I taught, you mean?” waiting for her to nod.  “Not much really.  It’s all just seen as myth and legend – a waste of time unless you were into fantasy tales.  Ancient history was touched on briefly – the empires and wars; the inventions and innovations; things of that nature.  We didn’t take history seriously until the planet began waging full scale planetary wars – that’s where our in-depth studies began.”

“So if Jacob’s planet doesn’t study it, there is every possibility that our forebears may have simply skipped that part of our history.  I know on my planet we have grand old stories that no one actually believes about how we came to be and be there, but they are always fun to listen to.”

“And another thing – if we’re all from the same planet originally, how did we evolve so differently??  I can see where our societies and ideals might vary, but a lot of our physical characteristics are vastly different,” Paul pointed out.

“Yet we all share a number of similarities as well,” Eden cut in.  She looked at Deborah.  “See what you can find in the texts and call a team meeting when you have some answers.”

“Will do.”

“What about the soulmates thing, Eden?” Danny asked.

Eden sighed.  “That I’m a little more inclined to accept.  We’ve all seen the difference in both Eli and Arianna when they’re a couple and when they’re not.  Let’s face it – their separation affected all of us to some degree or another.  And remember – in Eli’s culture, they’re mates... something beyond joined or married or whatever definition your society gives to people who are in a committed relationship together.  So yeah... I’m kind of inclined to give the whole soulmates idea a little more credence than the rest of her story.”

“And what about the bet?” Esther asked.

“Yeah, what about that?” heard from several of the others.

Eden rubbed the back of her neck.  “I think we need to let the rest of the team know what’s going on.  And then we do whatever it takes to make sure our girls win.”  Her expression darkened.  “I want to give that Ares guy a swift kick in the laho,” smirking when every man in the room covered his privates.  “Let’s go – we don’t have time to waste.”

Jacob snorted and shook his head.  “When have we ever??”  Then he picked up his Pad to continue monitoring the bridge and motioned the rest out ahead of him.

************

“Report!” Eden demanded as she led the way into the infirmary.  She almost stumbled when she realized how easily she’d slid into the role of leadership and how much she mimicked Eli in her manner of command, but refused to allow anyone to see her response to the epiphany she’d just been handed.  The heads of those who were in the main room of the infirmary – Luke, Hannah and Abigail – snapped up and goggled at her in amazement.  The people that had been on the bridge with her and had already seen Eden in action simply filed into the room behind her and waited.

Luke swallowed his surprise and nodded.  “Everything’s been quiet here... literally.  Hannah mentioned the lack of a song about ten minutes after you all left here.”

Eden’s head whipped around and black eyes pinned dark brown.  “Really?”

“Yes,” Hannah replied softly as she pushed her hair off her face.  “It was so sudden, it was almost painful.  It went to complete, dead silence for me for a few seconds.  It wasn’t until I realized I was still getting all the other sounds from the ship and crew that I knew I hadn’t actually gone deaf.  But it was a little terrifying for a moment.”

Eden clasped her should gently before releasing Hannah with an awkward pat.  “I can only imagine,” she sympathized.  “Good to know, Hannah... thanks.  At least we have one less thing to worry about now, though I do think we should continue working on those sound blockers in our spare time,” with a glance at Esther and Deborah who nodded their acceptance of her directive.  “They’re just no longer a top priority for us at the moment.”  She turned to Abigail, whose face was scrunched up in discomfort.  Eden immediately crossed to her side.  “Gay?”

She held up a hand and Eden halted her movement.  Abigail took a deep breath.  “I’m all right.  They just have a lot of emotion roiling around in there.  And a lot of it’s negative.  The one positive sign for me so far is that they haven’t emerged from the room – they’re both still in there together.”

“Are they talking?”

Abigail shrugged.  “It’s hard to say.  Eli’s kept her back to the monitoring device the entire time I’ve been watching and Arianna has kept her head down.  They have to know they’re being observed – maybe they just want a little privacy to work things out between them.  After all, it’s not really our business.”

“Except it kind of is,” Eden replied, explaining everything Aphrodite had shared with them on the bridge.

“And we believe her?” Hannah asked.

“We’ve all seen how being apart affects Eli and Az, and how that affects all of us.  So regardless of how much of the rest of her story might be so much crap to us, the fact is it’s in all of our best interests to make sure that they get through whatever this little crisis is together.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Deborah asked without a hint of rancor in her tone.  “Like Jake pointed out earlier – we’re all entitled to some secrets; we all have an expectation of privacy from each other.  So how do we help get them through... whatever is going on in there without completely obliterating those ideals?”

“I don’t know that yet,” Eden said honestly.  “I think first we need to try and find out what happened to get them to this point.”

“Well, we know the Nebula’s song knocked Eli unconscious,” Luke replied.  “And I think it might have something to do with her wings emerging – because that obviously happened against her will.”

“Why do you say that?” from Titus.

“Because I saw her struggling despite her unconsciousness, though at the time I just thought she was still in pain despite the drugs.”  He paused.  “Come to think of it, she probably was, but she was so busy fighting, I couldn’t risk sedating her further.  It was just after we managed to get a dose of painkiller into her system when Arianna came running in and collapsed on the bed beside her.  Eli stopped all motion at the touch and Arianna pulled Eli into her.  The moment Eli was off her back, I’m guessing her wings emerged; I know at some point she covered both of them with them.  They were in that position until Eli woke up.”

“That’s when Eli punched you.”

Luke nodded.  “I don’t think she was aware of lashing out, much less knowing who I was.  I had been checking the monitor periodically, especially when their readings changed in any way.  When she pulled away from Arianna, I took that as a sign that she was awake and ready to be checked out.  She’s s healer – she knows how these things work.  But looking at it now... I don’t think she was even cognizant of anything; I think she was still in the throes of whatever caused her to hit me.  Because she was docile until I moved toward Arianna.”

“But she never left the room?  They’ve made no move to separate themselves from one another?”

“No.  They haven’t touched each other since Eli removed herself from the biobed, but they haven’t moved out of touching range either.  It’s... strange – in a good way, mind you, but still very odd.”

“It also means that we have a very good chance to make sure this situation turns out in their favor... and ours.”

“So what’s our first order of business?” Mordecai asked.  But before anyone could answer, Isaac came rushing frantically into the infirmary, looking around like a wild man.  Abigail rose to stop him, instinctively knowing why he was there - the harm he could cause and the damage he could do... not only to Eli and Arianna, but to the team as a whole.  Jacob didn’t understand her reaction, but he responded to her unease, jumping up to back her up.  Isaac pushed them aside forcefully as if they weren’t even there.  The others scrambled to catch them before they took a header into the floor and Isaac moved to the partition. 

“ARIANNA!!” he bellowed.  Eden had snatched up the Pad Abigail had dropped when Isaac had shoved her aside, and she watched in fascination as two heads jerked up at the sound.  But Arianna didn’t look toward the sound – she focused on Eli.  It was Eli that moved.  Her wings twitched and she spared a glance at Arianna before she moved through the screen to stand in front of Isaac.  And everyone in the infirmary stopped moving... waiting to see what would happen next.


Chapter XX

With Danny gone from their quarters, Eli and Arianna settled down into sleep to recover a little.  Their reaction to the song had been exhausting, so it really didn’t take much more effort than closing their eyes.  It was the call from Eden that awakened them and Arianna groggily responded before she collected her scattered wits and made her way down to engineering to help solve the shielding crisis.

Eli glanced around the room, shifting her shoulders in an effort to relieve some of the nagging pain caused by her reaction with Esther.  A glance at the chronometer made her frown when she realized it had been several hours since Danny had left to finish up the remaining testing on the rest of the team. So Eli decided to look in on Danny and Luke; she hoped they hadn’t run into any more reactions like hers and Arianna’s.

The pain was excruciating when she crossed the threshold into the med bay and Eli clutched at her ears in an effort to silence the Nebula’s song even as she dropped to her knees and rolled to her back to keep her wings from crashing through their cocoon.  She could hear Luke and Danny speaking, but their words were so much jibberish and their touches burned like fire.  She shifted and arched to get away, but that only made her wings twitch and flex harder in an effort to escape their binding.  The pain grew so enormous that her mind began to shut down, then the warmth of drugs Luke gave her rushed through her system, and her body followed suit.  She felt the coolness of Arianna’s skin against her own and unconsciously wrapped them together to keep them safe.  Then she knew nothing of the world around her – only what was happening in her mind.

She didn’t recognize herself at first – she was taller with dark hair and piercing blue eyes.  It was obvious from her walk, weapons and mode of dress that she was a warrior of some sort.  Then she turned to the blonde haired, green-eyed woman beside her and smiled.  She remembered this night, and many others like it in this lifetime.  It had been a good life together... until the end, and had they known the truth then, different choices would have governed their actions.  Instead their separation by a horrific and brutal death had been agonizing... causing them grief as they felt their souls rend.  Once they were finally reunited, they tried to remain in the afterlife together; then they discovered that Ares had interfered with the natural order of things.  When they learned what was required of them to allow them to be together in eternal peace, they had wept.  That was when they had started looking for others like them – that was when the soulmates had begun plotting and planning their revenge.  They couldn’t have imagined how long it would take for their plans to come to fruition for payment to be made in full – nor the ultimate price they would pay for vengeance.

The clanging of swords brought her attention round in a different direction, and she grimaced slightly as she recalled her life as a male gladiator.  It wasn’t the worst lifetime she had lived through by far, but it was still hard and dangerous and not what she would consider exceptionally happy.  The high point, of course, had been that she and her mate had found one another and were able to be lovers.  The down side was that they were unable to belong to each other alone because of their commitments as pleasure slaves.  Still they’d found one another in more than passing and that was more than they had managed in previous lifetimes after their initial separation.

She remembered their escape from slavery, though freedom had not lasted long and death had taken them quite quickly.  And it was several more lifetimes before they found one another again.

************

Arianna was almost frantic when she felt Eli’s distress and she sprinted out of the engine room without a word to anyone.  She ran into the infirmary, only to be stopped by Luke’s gentle touch and soft words.  But the moment he released her, she clambered into bed beside Eli and sighed in relief.  A tear escaped her eye and she smiled greatly when Eli unconsciously let her wings enfold them both, then closed her eyes to focus on opening herself to Eli.  It only took two heartbeats for their rhythm to sync and for Arianna to slide into sleep.

Even with blonde hair and green eyes, she recognized herself as the princess who stood before her.  A knock on the door preceded the entrance of the dark haired, blue-eyed knight that she knew without a doubt belonged to her.  A smile crossed her face, causing an answering one to flash across the knight’s before she was scooped up into strong armored arms.  Their laughter was infectious and a smile graced Arianna’s face in repose, though it didn’t last long.

A blink of her eyes brought a new memory.  She could almost feel the cold that permeated the new scene – leafless trees rattled as the wind blew through bare branches and snow covered the ground.  But it was the noose hanging from a thick branch that sent a chill into Arianna’s body, producing a shiver that caused Eli to hold her tighter. 

Two men sat on horses, naked with their hands bound behind them, waiting to be hanged.  They had been enemy spies, opposite numbers during a war between two factions fighting for world domination.  Still they had managed to find one another and fall in love.  And for a very brief time, they had been happy.  But discovery of their passion had led to charges of treason and perversion, and now they were poised to be executed together for their crimes. 

There was a measure of peace that flowed through them as they held one another’s eyes – ignoring their accuser as they spent their last few moments sharing unspoken thoughts.  And death, though it cut their time together short and not markedly welcome, was met with the knowledge that it brought them one step closer to their final trip through the circle.

************

Eli watched as she held on tightly to the thick hemp rope under her hand and grinned in wicked delight when the woman in her arms tucked herself closer into her body.  She had been a privateer for the better part of her career, but her lover was new to this life.  And her men were showing off, tacking the ship with every sail unfurled in an effort to coax as much speed as they could to impress the new lady of the boat.

The men were singing a ribald, sailing song, and the woman in her arms blushed a furious shade of red even as laughter shook her body.  She hugged the smaller woman to her and kissed the top of her head before she took up the song, causing her men to cheer and sing louder.  When the song was over, the Captain commanded the pilot to a new course, then she released her hold on the rope and tugged on the other woman until she released her grip and clasped the proffered hand.  Before they could move below decks, the Lady squeezed the hand she held and the Captain looked her question, but the Lady just smiled before turning to the men and thanking them for their welcome.  Then she led the Captain to their quarters, accompanied by the cheers and whistles of the men.

It wasn’t an easy life – there were always fights and skirmishes and injuries.  But they were together, and that more than made up for the hardships they lived through. And it was a long life – they were able to retire and grow old together.  And for two that had many of their lifetimes together cut short, it was an extraordinary blessing.

************

Eli’s expression went pensive, even in her unconscious state.  She knew she wasn’t dreaming, but she didn’t understand why she was remembering – why now, and why these particular memories.  There were a lot of holes – times when they never met; times when they passed on the periphery of each others’ lives; times when they had no time together as soulmates before being once more whisked into the afterlife to await their next time through the circle. 

She watched as two young men appeared in her mind’s eye – two brothers, made family by the parents that had adopted a child who was different.  One was a carpenter, gifted with his hands; the other dreamed of being a doctor.  The elder, the carpenter, did what he could to help his younger sibling reach his full potential, and with a lot of effort from both of them, the younger man’s dreams finally came true.

When he returned home after he finished school, he – the little boy that had been an outcast because of the color of his skin – was welcomed almost as a conquering hero... not just by the brother he adored, but by most of the town that had shunned him before his adoption.  Eli remembered how proud she had been of her little brother.  But she was sad as well – she knew that their status of soulmates notwithstanding, they would have to share each other with wives and children... because in this lifetime, they were bound to one another only as family... brothers and best friends.  And it was a good life – long and happy – but less fulfilling than it would have been had things worked out differently, though she found it hard to begrudge any time spent with her soulmate.  At least they had been part of one another’s lives for nearly their whole lifetime on that trip.

************

Arianna cuddled closer to Eli’s body heat, wondering why all of her dreamscapes appeared to be cold and why she felt so in tune with them that the cold seemed to pervade the air around her.  This time, she could feel the wind as it blew across the prairie when her mate pushed aside the flap of the hide home they shared.  The fire actually flickered and she added another chip before turning her attention to the woman who was carefully tying the flap closed behind her.

They had been on their way to the winter encampment to visit their tribe when trouble had crossed their path.  Not that it was unusual given her mate’s previous occupation as a bounty hunter, but they had hoped to escape that legacy during their travels farther north and west.  Apparently, they had not yet been gone long enough.

The dark haired woman gasped slightly as she seated herself and green eyes pierced blue until she removed the thick fur coat she was wearing with a sigh.  The green-eyed woman didn’t speak – she simply chose the herbs from her kit and began a familiar ritual of healing between them... knowing what to do from the many times she’d utilized the skill in her role as healer and shamaness of her tribe.   The former bounty hunter remained still and quiet, comforted as much by the touch as she was by the love and caring she could feel flowing from her mate.

Arianna observed in fascination as the dream around her morphed into something different – gone were the native clothes and hide dwelling.  Now she wore a gingham prairie dress covered with an apron, and her mate, who had previously been a dark skinned woman, was now a tanned man with calloused hands and a weather beaten face.  She remembered he had been a soldier for the other side when the country had been divided over social and economic issues.  But that was over and done when they’d met, and she’d loved him from the moment they’d been introduced.

It wasn’t an easy life, carving out a living on the vast plain, but it had been a long, happy existence.  There had been children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren before an accident claimed the life of her mate, and the rending had been so excruciating, she had followed almost immediately.

************

Eli sucked in a breath as she watched her mate quickly follow her in death.  She hadn’t realized her death had been so painful for her half – it was as if she felt the pain as her own.  Despite the happiness and fulfillment she’d known in that lifetime, it was a relief when the memory faded into something new.  They were ranchers – sharing a comfortable home in a place that felt... familiar in a way the others hadn’t.  There were mountains in the distance, and though the color scheme was different than what she’d grown up with, the tall waving grasses and the trees and flowers were as recognizable to her as anything she’d ever known.

She smiled at the happiness that radiated from both of them here – there was a peace and comfort here beyond what they had shared before.  Because this time – this time – her mate had stood up for them.  She had walked away from the bosom of her family despite their insistence that she give them up because they were unsuitable to one another.  Instead she had chosen her soulmate.   Instead she had chosen them.

Eli shivered in reflex as darkness fell around them – not from the temperature, but from the menace she could feel in the atmosphere.  She locker her jaw together as a flood of memories washed over her.  This had been one of the worst cycles they had traveled together – because here they were born enemies... sons of fathers posturing over a tiny bit of turf.  And though they’d been friends as children, as adults they were naturally on opposite sides... expected to stand for family.

The only gratifying experience of that lifetime was they had made their peace... and died together within the space of a few minutes.  But nothing could change the fact that it was a childhood spent as best friends and a lifetime lived as enemies.

************

Arianna felt Eli’s anguish roll through her when she shivered and she tucked herself in more closely than before.  She felt Eli return the ferventness of her embrace and smiled despite the sadness she felt.  If they could have shared a single skin, they would have melded together with the effort, and the reassurance was profoundly comforting.

She glanced around as her memories changed, recognizing the USO as it had been at the height of its popularity.  She was a man in uniform and her soulmate was the beautifully flawed, self-conscious nurse in her arms.  She remembered the stories they’d shared – what had turned her soulmate into such a defensive, introverted woman.  The thought of the abuse she had suffered made her angry, and the fact that they were being separated by war after so little time together....

They had written for a while, but war took its toll.  She’d felt the rending, then had received word that her half had been killed in the waning days of the war – a plane bringing nurses and doctors to field hospitals to treat the wounded shot down in supposedly neutral territory.  It had been on the eve of one of the Allies’ biggest offensive movements and it had taken all she had to remain on the battlefield.  But it also made her careless and recklessly brave.  She would be accorded her nation’s highest honor for her actions that day, but all she cared about was that she would once more be reunited in the afterlife with her soulbond.

But she could feel a change in them – they both could.  There was a huge buildup of anger and resentment at the circumstances surrounding them and despite their connection, it began to bleed over into their lives together.  They were headed toward disaster.

************

They were scientists... part of a team that was working on a volatile project together.  If they were successful, they would advance science years beyond its present course.  But if they failed....

They were friends outside the laboratory, but they didn’t recognize their soulbond for what it was – just knowing that they shared... something.  And neither of them felt comfortable enough to take the action necessary to move them past the realm of friendship.  So while they were not miserable in their existence, neither of them was truly happy, and then their time was cut short.

A lack of communication caused hurt feelings – but worse than that, it caused a chain reaction that destroyed the lab, the team and once more ripped them from the mortal realm.

************

Eli frowned.  She remembered being so angry – lifetimes wasted for lack of time; another wasted because fear held them back.  She determined to lose the fear when they next met in life so they could be together – not as friends or family - as soulmates were meant to be, but she never released the fury and it continued to build... in both of them.  And when they came together again, anger was all they knew for a long time.

It wasn’t until their families forced them into isolation to work out their anger and hatred that they understood the frustration that caused their volatile interaction and realized just how thin the line between love and hate truly was.  Once they recognized that, things went back to what passed as normal for them for the remainder of that lifetime.  There were still fights and arguments – their passionate personalities wouldn’t allow for anything else – but the anger seemed to be gone.  They didn’t try to hurt one another anymore and they were happy together. 

Eli remembered being hopeful that they were past whatever karma glitch had made their last few trips through the circle so unpleasant and bumpy.  They were long resigned to the fact their trips through the circle were never going to end, and most of them would be less-than-fulfilling at best.  They couldn’t waste any opportunities they had to be together.

It was that mindset they brought into their last lifetime together before they tore apart the fabric of... everything.

************

She had been a child actor turned teen supermodel and college was her first attempt at a normal life.  Her soulmate was the sheltered only child of a wealthy entrepreneur who had spent her life in foreign boarding schools.  She had been surprised when they’d been made roommates – she’d expected to be alone since most college kids didn’t want to subject themselves to the scrutiny that would be brought to bear on anyone that was placed in her orbit... not matter the reason.  She’d been even more stunned to learn that she had been requested as a roommate.

“But why?” she asked.

Brown eyes twinkled as her whole countenance smiled.  “Because I’ve been the new kid – no one should have to endure that.”  Her smiled became a wicked grin.  “Besides... have you met you?  You’re hot!!”

Eli could feel the blush she’d felt then as she flushed to the roots of her blonde hair, but accepted the compliment with grace and a hint of humor.  It had laid the foundation for a fabulous friendship.

And it had been a fantastic friendship – one filled with laughter and tears; sharing and caring; hugs and handholding.  Eventually it had grown into something beyond friendship – something they were unwilling to define to the world but acknowledged between themselves.  And it was magical... for just a little while.

But there were eyes on them – lots of eyes and not all of them approving.

Eli remembered their downfall – it had started with a visit to her soulmate’s parents... and a mother whose face remained pinched in disapproval during her entire stay.  Then the father had gotten involved.  At first it was minor – making offhand comments about the close nature of their friendship or suggesting the sons of business partners as suitable husbands for his daughter.  But as time passed, his interference grew to the point that when they returned to college for their third year of study, they were no longer roommates.

As difficult as that was, they could have overcome it had it not been for the man the father thrust between them.  Eli watched as he presented it as her soulmate’s duty – a favor to him because of the debt he would incur from a prominent client if she did this.  It didn’t seem like much to begin with – just to keep an eye on the son at parties; he had a tendency to party a little too hard whenever the opportunity presented itself and his father was concerned.

His father should have been more than concerned, Eli remembered thinking at the time.  The young man was a liability – a catastrophe waiting to happen.  He found reasons to indulge in whatever was available to him – to celebrate; to commiserate; to cheer; to mourn; when he was happy; when he was sad.  The only good thing that could be said about him was that he tended to stay where the party was until he passed out.  But more and more, he was taking time and attention that should have been hers and Eli tensed as the remembered anger coursed through her veins.

What was worse – to her mind anyway – was that her soulmate not only allowed it to happen, but chose that course of action.  She shunted Eli to the edges of her life while she focused on tending to the man who had been assigned to her care.  And after one argument too many, Eli had walked away.

It had taken a while for her soulmate to notice Eli’s absence, but when she did, she was furious.  But Eli’s anger had burned hot and fast for so long that she let calls and messages go unanswered, and when they finally confronted one another face to face, the rending was vicious and hurtful and mean.  Things were said that couldn’t be unsaid and Eli had left college to return to acting and modeling, turning her back on her education and all but a very few, select friends from that experience.

It would be the last time she saw her soulmate...  for lifetimes.

************

Eli could feel the rage flowing through her body as she slowly blinked her eyes open.  She felt Arianna tucked into her, and knew that though this was the same soulmate that had inflicted so much pain on her – both in this lifetime and the one previous – they were both very different people than they had been.  It didn’t cool her ire, but it did stop her from doing anything rash.

She gently untangled herself from Arianna’s embrace and slipped from the bed.  She went to the warming cabinet and removed a blanket, tucking it in carefully around Arianna’s body.  Arianna blinked open her eyes.  “Amado?”

Eli shook her head and stepped away from the bed before she turned her back... and simply breathed.  She needed to be calm before they could talk rationally.  And they were going to have to talk about what had happened... if only to keep it from happening again.  They had to clear the air and resolve any hurt or angry feelings between them. They wouldn’t survive another separation.


Chapter XXI

Arianna remembered the relief when she was accepted into the university of her choice.  Her life to date had followed the prescribed path her parents had chosen for her, and despite the distance between them, she knew that she’d been carefully watched during her secondary education tenure.  Now that she was an adult, she could make her own choices and decisions – including asking for a roommate everyone else seemed a little leery of because of the lack of privacy involved in sharing space with her.

They had hit it off almost immediately.  They had enough in common to have plenty to talk about and were different enough that they balanced one another out.  There were ups and down, naturally, but by and large it was a wonderful, liberating experience.  For all her worldly experience, her roommate was adorably oblivious to many things, and Arianna made it a point to look out for her whenever they were together.  Despite her sheltered upbringing – or maybe because of it – Arianna had learned a lot about the world around her and how to work things to her advantage whenever possible.  It’s what had allowed her to survive and thrive.

And their first year passed with them becoming something beyond best friends.  Then they went to visit Arianna’s parents together, and though they didn’t realize it then, that was the beginning of the end – when things started to unravel for them.

Her parents had been cold and disapproving and Arianna recognized little tactics that were used to try and create a wedge between them.  But instead of allowing her parents to dictate to her, they returned to school and their life together.  It wasn’t until the end of their second year that things began to noticeably change.

Her roommate never said anything about what they were together – never answered any questions about it even when asked directly – but it was evident from their actions that there was something between them.  It was enough of an indication that people suspected something more than friendship because there were questions... constantly.  Arianna supposed her soulmate shouldn’t have to hide the happiness she felt during press interviews or even when she was just talking to people, but things were becoming more and more difficult for Arianna and more pressure was being brought to bear from a number of corners, but her parents especially.  She knew her roommate didn’t understand – after all, her soulmate’s parents were loving and supportive and treated Arianna like another daughter.

They took a trip together the summer between their second and third year of school, and it was almost like a honeymoon for them.  No paparazzi; no disapproving parents; no eyes watching - just them.  It didn’t seem like anything could come between them.

When they came home, however, they discovered they had been separated, and no amount of complaining or cajoling or deal making seemed to be able to overcome the financial donation Arianna’s father had made to the school.  Then he had been introduced to them, and things rapidly deteriorated.

Arianna had tried to explain that it was a favor to her father – her duty to him.  What she didn’t share was the threat her father had made.  Oh, he had been subtle about it; nothing overt was ever directly stated.  But Arianna got the message loud and clear – she would do this and her father wouldn’t destroy not only her soulmate, but her soulmate’s parents as well.  He’d ensured she understood he had the resources necessary to do so.  It sickened her, but she capitulated, unable to allow him to inflict that kind of harm.  She didn’t realize she was going to cause far, far worse.

It hadn’t been too difficult at first.  The young man was nice and personable and fairly charming if a little on the dense side, so it wasn’t a complete hardship to spend time with him.  They had enough in common to make dialogue interesting and he did curtail his carousing whenever they were together.  And Arianna was so thrilled to be able to make such an impact that she didn’t see how she was pushing her soulmate out of her life.

She still couldn’t say exactly when her lover was no longer around anymore – with them in separate housing, it wasn’t like they were together constantly – but Arianna found she couldn’t remember the last time they had been together.  She definitely couldn’t recall the last time they’d spent together doing anything besides fighting.

Once she was enlightened, she waited... she waited for almost a month for a call that never came.  Arianna waited another two weeks after that – calling, texting and emailing - before she went to the apartment her lover had hired when she’d been removed from their dorm room.  It was a place, she realized with a sinking heart, she had only rarely visited since the school year had begun.

Her soulmate hadn’t been home when Arianna showed up, and she sat on the stoop and let her anger simmer as she waited for several hours.  It was late when she finally showed up and she hesitated when she saw Arianna waiting for her.  Arianna watched as her soulmate’s expression hardened and fell into a neutral mask. 

She’d followed her the other woman into the apartment, and words had been exchanged – heated, ugly, hateful words... words meant to hurt and do damage.  And when it was over, they were no longer lovers and her soulmate had exited from Arianna’s life as smoothly as if she had never been in it.

With her soulmate gone, having cut off all contact between them, Arianna started spending more and more time with her charge.  He was comfortable and attentive in his own way and he appreciated whatever attention she gave him.  It didn’t end his wild days and nights, but at least he was mostly sedate when she was around and had toned it down a lot when she wasn’t.  Her father took their spending more time together as a sign that they were a couple, and he presented them at one of the many business parties he held for his partners and clients.  Arianna never confirmed and she never denied, and suddenly she was constantly being linked to the new man in her life.

She watched her soulmate’s career grow and flourish, and a tiny part of her was glad for her success.  But a larger part yearned and envied and wished.  But her ex never even glanced Arianna’s way again – it was as if she had never existed.

************

Arianna felt Eli slip out from behind her and a chill set in almost immediately.  Another instant and she felt the heat of a warming blanket surround her.  She struggled to open her eyes and blinked against the lethargy she felt.  “Amado?”

Eli met her eyes and Arianna gasped at the emotion she could see swirling in the green-gold depths.  Eli shook her head and raised a hand to keep Arianna from saying anything else.  Then she moved away from the bed and turned to lean her forehead against the wall.  She stretched her wings until they shook from the effort and simply breathed.  Arianna could feel her racing heartbeat calm, and she sat up slowly, keeping the blanket wrapped securely around her.  She let her eyes focus on her knees and waited.  If Eli had seen and experienced the things she had just dreamed about and remembered, they had a lot to talk about.

************

Luke glanced at the monitors when he heard the change in breathing and heart rates.  He looked at Danny who had refocused his attention on the screens as soon as he felt Luke shift.  Danny paused their work and cocked an eyebrow; Luke nodded toward the isolated biobed.

“They’re awake.  I’m going to go check on them.  Will you be all right...?”

Danny rolled his eyes.  “Go do your check.  I’ll keep an eye on things here.”  He made a shooing motion even as he turned back to their research.  “Call if you need me.”  Luke nodded and glided out of the lab and into the main body of the infirmary.

Danny watched – a few minutes wasn’t going to make much difference in their work.  And given how strangely and strongly the Nebula’s song had affected Eli especially, he believed it prudent to keep an eye on them.  It was a good thing – he saw Eli’s violent reaction to Luke’s presence even as he heard Luke scream for Eden’s assistance.  Danny sped out of the lab and into the med bay, hoping beyond hope he could get Luke’s unconscious body away from Eli before she did worse than hit him.

************

Eli had closed her eyes and was focused solely on breathing.  She felt Arianna’s heartbeat slow to match hers and smiled grimly because she was no closer to serenity than she had been when she’d woken from her memory dreams.  She could still feel the fury flowing hot and heavy through her veins and she didn’t dare turn to confront Arianna in this state.  She flexed her wings again, allowing them to shudder with the effort of stretching to their maximum reach.  She felt an alteration in the air around her.  It wasn’t Arianna – she hadn’t moved since she’d sat up and pulled the blanket tighter around her.  The current brought a new scent and her eyes augmented as she turned to greet whatever threat was approaching.

She heard words, but they were just so much noise against her ears.  She didn’t recognize Luke – her mind only sensed an intruder... a danger to her and her mate.  She didn’t even slow as she came around the biobed to stand between him and Arianna.  When he raised his hands – a gesture of surrender that she failed to recognize – she hit him hard enough to knock him unconscious.

Almost instantly, there was the sound another voice – that of her mate singing.  Despite her previous ire, Eli found the sound soothing and she allowed Danny to retrieve Luke from their cubicle.  Then she turned back to the wall - facing away from the monitor... and Arianna.

************

Arianna could feel the rage that Eli felt, but only as a distant emotion.  Most of her anger had long since bled into sadness and exhaustion and heartache.  She saw Luke approach – the privacy screen was only set to protect them from prying eyes at the moment – but before she could warn him off or intercept him, he crossed the threshold with a smile.  He approached Arianna first since she was the closest to him, and then things moved so quickly that Eli literally took action against Luke between one breath and the next.

Arianna started singing to Eli softly – knowing instinctually that touching her would be a mistake right then.  But the sound of her voice was something Eli had never been able to ignore completely unless she removed herself from wherever Arianna was.  So Arianna kept up her soft song and motioned for Danny to remove Luke from their little corner of the med bay.  It was only when the men were gone and Eli was shut off from her again that Arianna allowed the song to lapse into silence.  She knew they were going to have to talk, but she was going to let Eli determine their pace.

************

With her enhanced senses, Eli could easily distinguish her teammates’ entry into the infirmary, but since Abigail kept Eden from crossing the threshold of the privacy shield, Eli was content to dismiss their presence as non-threatening.  She didn’t listen to their conversation – she wasn’t really interested.  She was too concerned about Arianna’s past actions... and what they meant for them now.

A wave of misery shot through her, and Eli cut her eyes over to the screen that automatically recorded their vital signs where she could see a reflection of Arianna’s form.  The anger she’d felt since before she’d awakened cooled at the despondency she could visibly see in the set of her mate’s body language.  She closed her eyes and sighed.

“You chose him,” she accused, though there was no real heat behind the allegation.  “We had a life with each other, and you chose him anyway.”

Arianna’s head nodded once very slowly, but otherwise she didn’t move.  “I did,” she affirms.  “But not in the way you believe and not for the reasons you think.”

“The reasons don’t matter.  You chose him.”

“Because you and your family would have been destroyed otherwise,” Arianna snapped.  “My father was going to annihilate all of you.  I couldn’t let that happen!”

“So you destroyed us instead!”

Arianna’s hands clenched into fists, but otherwise she didn’t move.  “That was never my intent,” she whispered.  “I was trying to protect you... all of you.  I was trying to protect us.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Eli asked.  “Why didn’t you tell me he had threatened us??  We could have figured something out... together.”

“It wouldn’t have been that easy. He had people everywhere.  I couldn’t risk....”

“So you decided to throw us away.”

“What??  NO!!  No, Eli – I just wanted....”  She blew out a frustrated breath.  “What happened between us is on us, Eli.  I didn’t throw us away on my own!”

“So you’re saying it’s my fault then???”

“No.  I’m not saying that at all.  Most of the responsibility is mine, but you do have a certain amount of culpability too.  We both made mistakes; we both said terrible things that we couldn’t take back, and....”  Arianna sighed.  “I watched you, you know... from a distance... once we were over.  I tried to contact you a few times after he... after....”

“After the accident he caused, you mean?”

Arianna nodded.  “Yes.  I wanted you to know why; I wanted you to know the truth about everything.  But I couldn’t get past your entourage... none of them would even take a message for me.”

“They had strict instructions not to – you were persona non grata in my life.  I wasn’t going to allow you to devastate me again.”  Eli sighed.  “I wouldn’t have survived it.  So I kept you away.  You couldn’t hurt me then.  Besides, I was still so furious with you....”

Arianna nodded.  “I was with you as well... for the longest time.  And then I was stuck playing the grieving widow for someone who was nothing more than a friend.  By the time it was over, all I had left was sadness... and grief over lost opportunities.”

“Did you love him?”

“I cared for him,” she replied honestly.  “He was a good guy in many ways, but....”  She shrugged.  “I never loved him the way I loved you.  I felt sorry for him mostly.”  Eli nodded but she didn’t reply aloud.  Only the sound of her wings shifting gave Arianna any clue that she had responded at all.  They remained silent for a few minutes before Arianna drew breath to speak again.  “So what now?  Does this change things for us in this life?”

Eli felt her teammates return on the periphery of her awareness, but it was just so much background noise in her consciousness.  She was focused on how she felt – she wanted to laugh or cry or scream or hit something.  What she did was release a measured breath.  “Would you still choose him?”

“I would never choose him – I would never have chosen him before if I had known what it would do to us.  I only chose him then to protect you, Amado.  You have to believe that.  You’ve never been a choice for me, Eli – you’ve always been my one... my destiny.  If I could do it over....”  Arianna could hear the sad smirk in Eli’s tone.

“A lot of things would be vastly different,” she conceded.

“So what happens now?”

“What do you want to happen?”

“I want you, Amado.  I want to be with you – as your mate; as your wife; as your lover; as your friend.  I want us.”

Eli nodded.  “I want that too... so much.  You’re still my mate, Angel – the one that I’m bound to and the one that I love.  What happened in the past is gone; we can’t change it.  What we can do is work to make our future better.  To that end, I think we need to talk a lot more... share a lot more.  If you had the same dream memories that I did, we have a lot of history between us to discover.  There has to be a reason that we’re remembering now.” 

“Maybe that’s the reason the Nebula was singing,” Arianna commented.  “Because I don’t hear it now.” 

Eli cocked her head.  “Neither do I.  Thank the gods.”  She let her gaze go inward in thought as something else occurred to her.

Eli remembered the stories of the origin of her people.  Legend said that they were whisked from the afterlife and deposited on their home world when the gods decided they wanted their own legacy races.  Each patron had gifted their chosen clan with a special ability – speed; flight; strength; invisibility; exceptional senses; elemental control; endurance; exceptional brilliance.  Only a few – a very, very few – were selected for blessing by every god.  The Chosen were given the power of transformation... when all the gifts combined to create a new being.

Eli had discovered her ability to transform when she had been a small child, but she’d never shared her secret with anyone... including her mother.  It was enough for her that she had wings and could fly.  She wasn’t going to give anyone a reason to detain her at home.  She wanted into the terraforming project too badly.  So she kept the knowledge to herself and learned to control it on her own.

She wondered now if there was more to the origin legend than anyone had been told... because she’d be willing to bet good credits that her past and Arianna’s had something to do with it.  Something was tickling at the back of her mind – she just needed to let it simmer until the answer came to the fore.

She turned to face Arianna.  “Do you know the story of your peoples’ origin?  How you came to be on the planet you call home?”

Arianna frowned.  The question seemed to come out of nowhere, but she’d long since learned to respect the workings of Eli’s mind.  “We were taught that we were created there. Why?”

“Because we obviously lived on the same planet once – it’s the only way we could have continued to encounter one another the way we did.  I think we may need to look into this further because something obviously happened to separate us.”

“You think it has something to do with what’s going on now?”

Eli nodded.  “I do.  Too many coincidences otherwise, and you know how I feel about those.”

“I do... and I agree.  So what should we do first?”

“What I’d like to do and what we need to do are two different things.  I’d like to go back to our quarters and talk about... a lot of things actually.”

“But we need to find out what’s been going on since we’ve been in here.”

“Exactly.  Sometimes being in charge....”  Before Eli could finish her thought, there was a commotion in the infirmary.  They turned towards the sound, hearing the scuffle before Isaac’s voice rang throughout the space.

“ARIANNA!!!”

Eli turned toward the sound and growled, but Arianna never moved.  Eli looked back at Arianna who met her augmented eyes with nothing but love and devotion in her expression.  Eli held her gaze for a long moment, then turned to meet the challenge waiting just beyond the privacy screen.



Chapter XXII

Isaac frowned when Eli crossed through the partition.  He glanced over her shoulder then bared his teeth at her and glowered.  “I know she’s here, Eli – you can’t keep her from me!”

Eli chuckled, but it was a dark, menacing sound, and it sent shivers through their unwitting audience.  The fact that her wings were still extended just added to her fearsome image.  “She’s not yours, Isaac.  She never has been.”

The smile he offered was cruel.  “Liar,” he mocked.  “You know she chose me before.  You know she’d choose me again... because she and I shared something special.  That’s why you’re afraid to let her speak for herself,” stepping into Eli’s personal space and poking a finger at her chest.  He expected her to flinch.  He expected her to step back and cower.  But the look in her eyes wasn’t fear; it was disgust and anger and disdain.

Instead of moving away from him, Eli moved forward, eliminating any space between them. She gripped the finger that was poking her and bent it back slightly, watching impassively when he winced and squeezing even tighter when he tried to pull away.  Then she stretched her wings to their fullest and let her augmented eyes flash their rage.  “Keep pushing me, Isaac,” she egged on softly.  “Go ahead – I dare you.”

He hesitated a moment before he sneered at her and straightened to his full height.  “Really??” he mocked.  “What are you gonna do to me, huh?  Why don’t you just walk away... before I take her away from you again?”  Then he shivered in reflex when Eli started to morph in front of him.

She grew significantly taller... until she was able to look down at him.  She clenched her jaw together for a moment and focused; when she was sure she had stopped the transformation process, she relaxed and spoke almost casually, though there was no mistaking the feralness of her tone.  “I won’t give you the chance.  I won’t walk away from her again like I did before, and there’s no ‘Daddy’ around here to compel her to do his bidding this time.”

“It wouldn’t matter.  She chose me, Eli.  She’d choose me again if she knew I was an option.”

“No, I wouldn’t, Isaac,” Arianna declared from her spot hidden behind Eli’s feathers and larger presence.  She’d stepped out of the partition when she’d felt the change in Eli.  “I wouldn’t choose you if you were the only choice.”  She moved around in front of Eli to step between them, reaching for the finger Eli still held.  She turned her back to Isaac and met golden, glowing eyes.  “I would never choose him, Amado,” she reiterated.  “You’re my only.”

She put one hand on Eli’s face and cupped her cheek gently, thumb stroking softly against a sharply planed cheekbone.  The other eased Isaac’s finger from Eli’s tight grasp – an act Eli was happy to comply with as it allowed her to hold Arianna’s face in both hands.  It was too bad Isaac’s brain didn’t quite get the memo, as the identical minute Arianna released him, he dropped his hand to her shoulder and spun her around to face him.

That was all it took.  Only the gasps from around the room alerted Arianna to what was taking place behind her.  But Isaac was so intent on making his point that he missed what everyone else saw.

Eli continued to grow, her body elongating until she could touch both ends of the infirmary without moving, and she needed to duck her head to keep from hitting it on the ceiling.  Her wings lost their feathers – or rather, they darkened and coalesced until they were smooth, black and silky – a tightly, interwoven web without a hint of space or light.  Her nails grew until they were sharp, pointed talons and her body shimmered with iridescence as her green skin became scales of green and blue and purple and black.  When she stood as upright as could be managed in the med bay, there was the faintest wisp of smoke trailing from between her lips.

Meanwhile, Isaac was trying to make his argument to Arianna about why they belonged together and Arianna was pushing against his hold in an effort to protect him from what she knew was coming.  She froze – standing stock still – when she saw black talons and green scales reach over her shoulders and wrap around Isaac’s wrists.  He instinctively tried to jerk his hands away, but Eli merely tightened her grasp.  Arianna took the opportunity to turn and face Eli.  Eli kept her focus on Isaac, leaning forward protectively over Arianna to put her almost nose to nose with her perceived enemy.

“Mine,” she growled.

Isaac tried to jerk his hands out of her grip, and she closed her hands to prevent his escape, though she was exceedingly careful not to dig her claws into his skin.

“MINE.” She repeated more fiercely.

“Let go of me, you freak!” Isaac shouted as he tried to push away from her.  Arianna whirled around so quickly she almost lost her balance, but she didn’t let that deter her from emerging from Eli’s protective embrace and into his space with a finger pointed in his face.

“Don’t you ever call her that again!”  She put her hands on Eli’s and rubbed the underside of her wrists, turning her head slightly to address her.  “Let him go, Beloved. He is of no importance to us right now,” feeling the trembling beneath her touch.  She looked back at Isaac.  “Relax, and when she slackens her grip, ease your hands away and step back.  No, Isaac!” she commanded when he would have interrupted even as she kept up her gentle ministrations.  “She’s keeping herself under very tight control to keep from growing anymore – she’s not even half her normal size.”  Actually, Arianna didn’t think Eli was even a third of her normal size, but she wasn’t going to share that with the team now, if ever.  “She’s trying very hard to maintain her control.  So you simply need to do what I’m telling you.”  She turned back to Eli without waiting for Isaac to agree.  “It’s okay, Amado.  You can release him.  He’s not a threat to us – not now... not ever again.”

Eli leaned forward, this time touching her snout to his nose and exhaling a bit of smoke into his face.  “MINE,” she growled a third time, puffing slightly so he could feel the heat and smell the sulfur that surrounded the fire she could feel building inside her.  She waited for him to try to rip his hands from her grasp, then simply released her hold and watched him fall on his ass with a soft snort of laughter.

“That wasn’t nice,” Arianna reproached in a quiet voice.  Eli shrugged, her smirk apparent to Arianna.

“What the hell?” Isaac demanded as he scrambled back to his feet.  “What was that for?”

“I told you to relax, Isaac.”

“So this is my fault then?”

“Essentially, yes.  You would’ve still been standing if you hadn’t tried to pull away so hard.”

“And the fact that Eli’s some sort of freaking reptilian giant??  That’s my fault too, I suppose?”

“She’s a dragon, Isaac, and not even close,” Arianna assured him.  “It’s her gift.”

“Yeah... sure.  Then how come we didn’t know about it?  She ashamed of being some sort of...?”  He trailed of when he caught the look of rage on Arianna’s face.  He watched her calm visibly when green-scaled hands rested lightly on her shoulders, and he seethed. 

“Because it’s not your business, nor is it your concern.”

“So I’m just imagining that fact that she threatened me.”

“Not at all.  She absolutely did threaten you.  But you threatened her first.  You don’t get to play the aggrieved party here.  You brought this upon yourself when you decided to disregard the marriage vows and the bonding that Eli and I share as mates.  It doesn’t matter what you think you know about some past incarnation – that is irrelevant to this discussion.  You were working under the misguided presumption that one brief interlude in a singular past life gave you the right to claim me.  So let me clear that up for you right here and now in front of Eli, the Holy Father and our teammates.  I am Eli’s and Eli is mine.  Nothing is going to change that.  We are mates in this life, and we have been soulbonds for all the lifetimes before this one whether we found one another or not.  My interaction with you before was a fluke, brought on by threats and coercion.  We can be friends, Isaac, but that’s all.  That is all I’m willing to give or accept from you.”

“And if I pursue this?  If I want more?”

“I won’t stand between you and Eli when she makes her claim.  She’ll do more than simply threaten you next time.”

He glared before putting his hands on his hips and turning to face the rest of the Alpha team that had been watching the unfolding drama with wide, unblinking eyes.  “Are we gonna stand for this?” he demanded.  “We’re just gonna let her get away with threatening us because ‘Eli can do no wrong’?”

“She didn’t threaten us, Isaac; she threatened you.  And in this case, she didn’t do anything wrong.  You threatened her and you threatened her mate.  Did you expect her to just take that lying down?”

“Of course you’d back her, Eden.  You’re her second.  What about the rest of you?” His frown deepened when they all shifted to stand behind Eden in a show of solidarity.  Isaac flung his hands out in exasperation.  “Doesn’t it bother you guys even a little that she’s lied to us for months about her true nature?” gesturing at the dragon that was slowly morphing back into a more humanoid state.

“I’ll admit that I’m curious about this alternative personality,” Eden conceded.  “But I understand her need to keep it private as well.  After all, it could have washed her from the program had the Committee known.  Hell, if the people on her world had known, they could have grounded her.”

“So that makes it acceptable then??  That’s what you’re saying?  Lying is okay as long as you get the results you want??”

“She wasn’t really lying; she simply didn’t share every single aspect of her physical nature with everyone.  Have you told us every personal detail there is to know about you?” Eden asked.  “Because I know I haven’t shared a lot of things with you guys – stuff I may never actually tell anyone.”  She saw nods of agreement from around the room and sighed.  “It wasn’t really our business, Isaac, and we already agreed we’re all entitled to keep some secrets.”

“Even if her secret makes her a monster?”

Before Arianna or Eden could react, Abigail stepped forward.  “She’s not a monster, Isaac.  She’s a woman with a very rare gift and a mate that needed protection.  She wasn’t a threat until she was threatened, and even then her reaction was fairly sedate, all things considered.”

He looked around the room and found exactly no support for his position or claims.  He dropped his hands back to his side and shook his head.  “Don’t come running to me to fix this mess when she turns on you too.”  Then he walked out of the infirmary and headed back to his quarters.

Silence fell over the room, and everyone turned to look at Eden.  She kept her eyes focused on Eli and Arianna, still standing at the other side of the room.  They were totally engrossed in one another, and Eden could see Arianna providing comfort and assurance as Eli clung to her gently.  After a few moments, she softly cleared her throat, glad when they both raised reluctant eyes to meet hers.  She nodded.  “I think we need to talk... all of us.”

Eli nodded slowly.  “I think you’re right.  But you better get comfortable.  This will probably take a while.”

Eden smirked.  “I know it will.  You haven’t heard our story yet either.”

Eli exchanged looks with Arianna, then cocked an eyebrow in Eden’s direction.  “All right.  I promise I will share with you all and answer any questions you have, but I want to hear your story first.  I believe it may help tie everything together.”

“So there’s more to this than just...?” motioning up and down Eli’s now fully humanoid body.

“Lifetimes,” Arianna replied quietly.

“Oooh, Girlfriend – this just gets better and better.  I can’t wait to hear about it,” Esther said with an enthusiastic smile.

“All in good time,” Eli assured them.  But before she could ask Eden to begin her tale, Jacob spoke up.

“Hey, Boss?  You think we need to go check on Isaac?” not missing the brief hardening of her eyes before a neutral mask fell over her countenance.  “I mean he’s still one of us... even if we don’t agree with what he did.”

Titus shook his head and Eli motioned for him to speak.  “I don’t think it would help.  He knows we all sided with Eden, and therefore Eli, when he asked us to choose.  Besides, he’s been a little off since we encountered the Nebula.  Nothing like what we just saw, but still not completely right.”

“How so?” Eli asked, taking Arianna’s hand and walking toward their teammates.  She was pleased to receive a total non-reaction from them aside from them shifting to create a circle in which they could all participate.  Eli sat down and tugged Arianna down next to her, glad when the rest seated themselves almost immediately.  She turned her attention to Titus who had been pinching his lip in thought as he collected his words.

“He was a lot shorter - I mean like impatient and terse... almost angry.  The slightest thing seemed to set him off too.  We put it down to the Nebula’s song.  We knew he was in a lot of pain from the sounds it was emitting, and that can make anyone cross and unhappy.  It wasn’t like it didn’t affect us all in some way or other, and all the side effects were annoying at best.”

Eli looked around at the group and saw a number of heads nodding their agreement.  “All right – we’ll try to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t do anything... rash – to himself or us.  I have to believe he’s suffering from some kind of outside influence... because I’m fairly certain Arianna and I are as well.”

“More than you know, Boss.”

“You know something,” she stated plainly.  Eden nodded.

“We do indeed.  And you’re not going to like it.”

“Of course I’m not,” Eli wryly agreed.  “That would make things far too easy.  Talk to me – tell me your story.”

“Yours more than ours, Boss.”  She held up a hand before either Eli or Arianna could probe further.  “Let me tell it, and then you can ask your questions.”  She looked around the circle.  “You guys jump in with any details I miss, all right?”

************

Eli turned to Arianna when Eden finished the story of their encounter with Aphrodite.  “Well, things make much more sense now.”

“How so?” Mordecai asked into the silence that followed.  “Except for the whole soulmates’ bond thing, we were all a little skeptical about the whole story.”

Eli smiled.  “I probably would be too if positions were reversed.  But you’re seeing the situation as a new experience, while we’re pulling from lifetimes of memories.”

“So that line of crap Aphrodite gave us is true?” Deborah asked.  “We’re all from the same place and we’re residual damage from some millennia old bet?”

“Well, I can’t speak about the bet,” Eli confessed.  “I don’t have any recollection of being part of something like that.”  She glanced at Arianna, who shook her head.  “Right – but we do believe that we at least originated from the same place.  It’s the only way to explain all the lifetimes we remember being together.”

“And you’re sure they’re the same memories?”

“No,” Arianna said.  “We haven’t had time to talk about them yet.  But we know... I know... that what I remember is real.  Eli and I are soulmates, and we were part of the same karmic circle until we blew everything apart.”

“Yeah... about that – how’d you do that anyway?”

Eli shook her head.  “We don’t know.  We don’t know a lot of things yet.  We have a lot to talk about when we get done here,” motioning around the circle.  “But we know you’ve got questions, so let’s hear them.”

“About your transformation ability?” Jacob asked, waiting for Eli to nod.  “You’re right – we do.  But we’re not really entitled to ask.  If and when you’re ready to share that side of yourself with us, just know that we’ll be here ready to listen.”

“I actually do have one question that needs answering right now,” Titus cut in, ignoring the looks the rest of the team sent his way.  Eli gestured for him to continue.  “Would telling people about this ability really have kept you out of the program like Eden said it would?”

“Yes,” she replied starkly.  “My people would have been loath to let me leave my planet.  And even if I had managed to convince them, getting through the Committee would have been impossible.”

They all nodded then, remembering of the uptightness of the Committee Members and well aware of how nitpicky they had been.

Then Abigail raised her hand.  “I have a question.  You know you’re soulmates and you clearly remember at least some of your lifetimes together....” waiting for them to agree.  “Right – and you’ve chosen each other in this lifetime as well....” seeing them nod again.  “Doesn’t this mean you’ve won the bet Aphrodite told us about?” glancing around the room at the others. 

“It should,” Danny replied.  “Unless....”

“Unless what?”

He sighed.  “Unless there is some kind of time limit on things – where Ares has a certain amount of time to try and separate them from each other.”

“Destroy us, you mean,” was Arianna’s soft rejoinder.  All eyes turned her way, but the only eyes she saw were the sad green ones in the face of the one she loved.

“What do you mean, Az?” Eden voiced softly, not wanting to interrupt the tableau between Eli and Arianna, but needing to know what was going on.

“He doesn’t want to separate us; he wants to destroy us so he can lay claim to the Warrior’s soul once more forever.”  Dark eyes burned in fury and Eli’s expression changed at the look of fierce love and possession Arianna directed her way.  “I won’t let him win, Amado.  You are MINE!”

“Always, Beloved,” Eli assured, cradling one side of Arianna’s face in her hand.

“GREAT!” Luke said, clapping his hands together and breaking the tender moment.  “So let’s figure out how to beat this son of a bubble bump!”  Laughter broke out around the circle and filled the room.  Luke looked around in confusion.  “What??” crossing his arms over his chest with a slight pout.

Danny clasped his hand and squeezed it lightly.  “They’re not laughing at you, Honey – they’re celebrating.  If the peace monger of our group is ready to kick some old god behind, those people stand no chance against us.”

Luke’s laughter rang out above the rest.



Chapter XXIII

“Don’t come running to me to fix this mess when she turns on you too,” was the last thing they heard before the scrying bowls went dark.  Not a moment later, Ares came storming into Aphrodite’s boudoir.

“Bring it back!” he demanded.  “I have as much right to know what’s happening over there as you do!  Or are you forfeiting the bet??”  His smile resembled more of a sneer.  “If I can’t break the rules, then neither can you.”

Aphrodite met his eyes with a glare, then rose from her seat at the desk, not surprised when Artemis and Athena immediately flanked her on either side.  She removed her glasses and set them carefully in their place, never losing Ares’ gaze, smiling darkly when he took an instinctive step away from her.

“First of all,” she replied lowly, “if you don’t learn how to knock and wait for an invitation to come in, I will reset the barriers around my home to do damage to you to keep you from barging in.  Secondly,” she continued over him as he sputtered out a protest, ”I didn’t take anything away.”  She motioned to the screen behind her.  “It went dark for me too.  They chose each other and the team chose to stand with them.”

“That doesn’t mean the bet is over!” Ares complained.  “I still have time to convince them otherwise.”

“Somehow I doubt that will work very well in your favor, Brother,” Athena said mockingly.  “They may be the same souls, but these are not the same people they were in their previous lifetime, and their circumstances are very, very different.  Arianna knows about Eli’s alternate nature, and she chose her in spite of it.”

“Or maybe because of it – we don’t know,” Artemis added.  “But either way, she’s already made it clear that Isaac has no chance.  She won’t choose him.”

“You can just surrender gracefully, Ares,” Aphrodite said, her expression perfectly serious.  “Maybe the rest will even go easy on you when it comes time for judgment.  No one will mock you if you admit defeat now – not after what we all just saw and heard.”

“You can’t be serious!” he snarled at her.  “I’m not gonna accept defeat – I haven’t been beaten yet!”

Dite shrugged.  “As you say.  Now please leave.  You’re not welcome here anymore.  Just remember... time is running out, and when it’s gone and you’ve lost for good, the consequences will be much more severe.  And you’re gonna be the only one left to pay them.”

Ares froze at her words, then smirked at her.  “I think you forget who my allies are.  Do you really think they’ll let anything happen to me?  We swore a blood oath remember.”

“Oh, I remember, Ares.  Maybe you should remember that they refused to participate in this bet.  This is strictly between you and me.  Does that really sound like they’re that vested in your success?”  She gave him a sickly sweet smile before she let her gaze harden.  “Now get out.”

Ares looked like he desperately wanted to make a smart comeback, but realizing he was outnumbered, he just sneered at her before he strode out the door.

Artemis followed him out, making sure he dematerialized before she raised the barriers to keep anyone else from simply ‘popping in’.  Not that anyone else would – the rest were either allies or neutral, but the allies would understand their caution and the neutrals wouldn’t care.

“He’s gone,” she announced as she returned to Aphrodite’s lair.  “Now what?”

“Now we wait,” Aphrodite announced.  “There’s nothing we can do until they invite us in or time runs out.”

“There may be one other option,” Athena commented almost to herself.

Aphrodite and Artemis exchanged glances before turning to Athena.  “Start talking.”

************

“So if Danny is right and that asshat has a certain amount of time to try to break your bond, then Luke is also right – we need to figure out a way to destroy him before he destroys us,” Deborah commented, motioning around the circle.  “Because I’d be willing to bet good credit that despite what that Aphrodite woman said, all of our futures are on the line with the outcome of this wager.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Jacob responded.  “If I recall correctly, the gods were a bunch of tricksters... no matter which theology you subscribed to.  Some were better than others, of course – there were good and bad gods – but basically their priority was themselves.”

Eden pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Where does that leave us then?”

“If I could make a few suggestions?” Eli offered.  She and Arianna had been watching in silence, fascinated by the change in dynamics in the short time they had been locked in their dreamscapes.  Maybe something good would come of this experience – if it brought the team closer together and made them a more cohesive working unit with everyone stepping up.

“Of course, Boss!” Eden affirmed with alacrity.  “Just because we can do things without you at the helm doesn’t mean we would choose to... especially when you’re here.”  She blushed slightly at the raised eyebrow look Eli was giving.  “What??  It’s the truth!!” relaxing slightly when she saw the others nodding their agreement.

Eli smiled.  “Well, it’s nice to be appreciated, but it’s good to know you all will be all right even if I’m not leading the team.”

“Oh no... no No NO!!” Eden protested loudly.  “We do okay in a pinch, but don’t you do something that leaves me in charge.  I would find you and haunt you for the rest of your eternal life.”

Eli chuckled.  “I’m not planning on going anywhere except to our quarters when we’re done here, but I’ll keep that in mind.”

Eden narrowed her eyes.  “See that you do.”

“Not to put a fine point on things,” Hannah said, clearing her throat, “but can we get back to Eli’s suggestions?  If that Ares guy is running on time, we’re running out of it to be able to find a way to defeat him.”

“Right,” Eli agreed before anyone else could reply.  “First, I think we need to try and include Isaac... or at least don’t dismiss him out of hand.”  She blew out a breath.  “I personally am going to have difficulty with this, but I believe it’s imperative that we approach this as a unified team.”

“A house against itself crumbles into the sand,” Eden commented.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand,” Jacob corrected.  Eden frowned at him and he shook his head.  “You always seem to mix up your idioms.  I mean – I get the gist of what you’re saying, but they’re never really right either.”

“Back on track,” Eli said, ending the argument before it began.  “Deb, I’d like you to do some research into our histories.  See what you can find out about these gods and goddesses, and see if there is any mention of a bet between them.”

“The history part I can do.  The wager will probably be impossible.  I got the impression that is was something strictly between Aphrodite and that Ares dude.”

“Do the best you can.”

“You got it, Boss.”

“Also, we need to know if there is a way to physically defeat them.  They have to have at least one weakness.  Otherwise, how did we banish them into what was then, the middle of the vast unknown?”

“I’ll take that, Boss,” Luke said.  Eli nodded.

“Work with Deb.  There may be something in all that history.”

“Will do.”

“Eden, you and Paul keep working on those shields.”

“Actually, Kai and Titus and I will be working on the shields.  Paul’s been working on some stronger defensive measures.”  Eli looked at Paul and he nodded.

“I think I can create a planet killer.  I don’t want...,  I know it goes against our code of ethics to deliberately set out to destroy any kind of life, but I figure we should only need one.  If they come after us, it would make a very telling statement to return the aggression in a similar manner.”

“You think they would?”

“I think they are able to harness energy in ways we haven’t even considered yet.  I’d rather not be surprised by anything.”

“All right,” Eli agreed after a long moment’s thought.  “But make at least three.  That way there is still a viable threat even after your point is made.”

“You got it, Boss.”

“Gay, keep an eye on Isaac.”

“I can’t... not the way you mean.”  She held up a hand before Eli could form her question.  “Right now, you and Arianna are the only two I can feel.  The Nebula is keeping everyone else blocked to my senses.”

“Are you okay?  Is there anything we can do?”

Abigail smiled and shook her head.  “I don’t think so.  Eden and I think it’s a temporary effect of the Nebula’s song.  Now that it is silent, I’m hoping my ability will return sooner rather than later.”

“All right – are you okay to go with Danny?  Set up some surveillance on Isaac?  You’re still the very best at being able to read and understand body language and facial expressions. Between the two of you, you should be able to spot anything out of the ordinary.”

“I can do that,” sharing a look with Danny and nodding.

“Good - everyone else, pitch in to help where you can.  If you think of anything else that needs to be followed up on or needs investigating, do it.  I can’t stress enough how important it is that we approach this as a team.  I think that going to be the key.  Arianna and I are going to go to our quarters and discuss the things we experienced in the dreamscape.  We need to see if we can find out how we defeated this asshat before.”  She turned to look at Arianna.  “Why is it we seem to be surrounded by asshats??”

Arianna covered her mouth and nose when she snorted in surprise.  Then her laughter rang out.  Eli tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow in question.  Arianna just shook her head, unable to stop laughing, and pointed to the people surrounding them on either side.

Eli flinched when it dawned on her what Arianna meant as it occurred to her exactly what she’d said and how it could be construed.  She scrunched up her face and turned her head towards the circle, peeking out from one eyeball to find every one of her teammates looking back at her with stoic expressions – arms crossed over chests and eyebrows raised.  She cleared her throat.  “Sorry, guys.  I just... I meant....”

Abigail giggled, then leaned across the circle to give Eli a hug.  “We know.  It was just too perfect an opportunity to pass up.”  The rest chuckled and Eli relaxed.

“Yes,” she mumbled as she scratched the back of her neck.  “Because I never set myself up like that.”

Eden snorted.  “And we never take advantage of it,” causing the rest to titter.

Arianna chuckled and rose, extending her hand down to Eli.  She tugged gently and then leaned into the body that wrapped around hers when they were both standing.  “And on that note we’re going to take our leave,” she announced.  “If you really need us, we’ll of course be available.  But....”

“Az, even without Gay’s senses we know you two need some time alone together.  Unless we’re on the brink of disaster, we won’t bother you.  You’ve got whatever time you need,” leaving unspoken the unknown deadline of which they were all only too conscious.

“Thanks, Eden,” Eli replied, taking Arianna’s hand in her own.  “And all of you,” meeting the eyes of each team member before she and Arianna left without another word.  The Alpha team watched them go, and only when they heard the whoosh of the lift doors close did they turn back to one another.

Eden cleared her throat.  “All right – we don’t know what kind of time line we’re looking at here, but I’m willing to bet it’s not gonna be very long.  So let’s move.  Jake, you’ll let me know if anything changes?”

He nodded.  “I’ll keep an eye on everything I can.”

“Everyone keep Jake in the loop,” Eden instructed.  “That way at least one of us has a handle on everything we’ve got going on.”  She looked around the group again.  “Anything else?”

“Um... yeah,” Naomi answered slowly.  “I think I’d like to try talking to that Aphrodite person again.  I have some questions, and she’s the only one that can answer them.”

Eden’s eyebrows flew into her hairline.  “And how do you propose to accomplish that?” she asked without malice.

“Well, I thought I’d just ask to speak to her.  Since it seems pretty clear that they can monitor us to some degree, hopefully she’ll get the message.”

“And just appear?  Mimi, I kind of threatened her the last time she was here remember.”

“I know.  I’m working on that part, but I think it’s important to talk to her.”  She held up her hands to keep anyone from interrupting as she gathered her thoughts.  “I was thinking about it while we were waiting for Eli and Arianna to emerge from behind the privacy screen.  We know she made some kind of bet that involves at least part of us.  And we know there are rules involved – as well as a blood oath, correct?”  She watched heads nod slowly as they tried to figure out where she was going.  “Right – so what if one of the rules says we can’t be told unless we ask.  There have to be loopholes – there always are.  And if this bet is as serious as I think it is, then both sides would have left some loopholes to wiggle around the rules to assure their win.”  She looked around again and took a deep breath.  “I don’t think we have anything to lose by asking.”

“Girlfriend’s right,” Esther piped up.  “She and I got this.”

“Thanks, Es,” Naomi whispered.

“S’all good, Mimi.  I think you’re right.  She was pretty free with sharing information before.”

Eden pinched her bottom lip before nodding slowly.  “All right.  You two do this together.”

“And we’ll let you know if anything comes of it and what we find out.”

“Good enough.  Now let’s move.  We’ve got stuff to do before our day is over.”

As one, the group rose and separated, everyone headed to their next duty.

************

“So what are we going to do about Isaac?” Arianna asked when the doors to their quarters were sealed behind them. 

“What I’d like to do and what I’m going to do right now are two entirely different things,” Eli stated plainly.  “Because if I did what I wanted to do, I’d set him on fire and send him out an air lock to extinguish the flames.  However, I have to believe he’s under the influence of something beyond himself... much like we were - because something gave us those dreams.  Our biggest concern is whether it was friend or foe.”  She guided them by their linked hands to the couch and curled into the corner, gratified when Arianna naturally curled into her.

“Given what Eden and the rest shared I think it was both – friend for us and foe for Isaac.  My question is why?  What is the point?  I refused his attentions before... when I didn’t know we were already mated.  Why would anyone – including him – think I would choose him now?  We made vows and promises to one another.  We chose one another before we knew anything about being soulbonds.”

Eli shook her head.  “I don’t know, Angel.  All I do know is that asshat is not going to succeed in destroying us.  I will do my very best not to obliterate Isaac in the process, but I won’t let anyone or anything come between us again.”

“Nor will I,” Arianna asserted.  She furrowed her brow in thought.  “I am curious about something though.”

“Just one thing?” asked with a smile.

“Many things, actually, but one stands out above the rest.”

“And that is...?”

“Why us?  Why here?  Why now?”  She waved her hands at Eli’s smirk.  “Technically three things, I know, but it still comes down to WHY?  We annihilated everything we knew when we separated during our last known trip through the circle - our bond; our memories; the gods; the other soulmates.  So what is so important about us finding our way to one another again?  Why is it so important that not only are we part of some divine bet, but that one of our teammates us being pitted against us to try to make us fail?  We must be missing something.”

Eli tugged on the hand that had dropped back to cover hers.  “Come.  Let’s prepare something to eat and share our dreams, Angel.  Maybe we can find our answers there.”

“And if we can’t?”

“Then we’ll go straight to the source and ask.”



Chapter XXIV

“I don’t know, The.  What you’re suggesting comes very close to breaking the rules,” Artemis protested when Athena finished outlining her idea.

“Close, but it still skirts inside the lines of propriety, Art.  There is nothing in the rules that says we can’t influence their dreams and make suggestions.  We’ve already done the first with Eli and Arianna and Ares did the second with Isaac.  I’m not proposing we do anything overt, but can it really hurt if we nudge them in the right direction?”

“We may not have to,” Aphrodite said, cutting off their argument mid-statement and tilting her head in a listening manner.  “Remember these kids are among the best and the brightest their worlds have to offer.  I think they may have figured it out for themselves.”

“Dite?”

In reply, she grasped their hands in hers and shimmered out of existence.  Her sisters took the hint and followed suit.

They weren’t surprised to be back on the ship, but they were a little stunned by the people they appeared before.  It wasn’t Eli and Arianna – instead it was Naomi and Esther.  They spent a moment staring at one another before Aphrodite cleared her throat delicately and stepped forward.

“You called?”

Naomi nodded.  “We did.  We have some questions.  We thought you might be amenable to answering them.  We didn’t know you were bringing reinforcements.”

“Given what happened the last time I showed up unexpectedly, can you really blame me?”

“Not at all, Girlfriend,” Esther replied, garnering a raised eyebrow from Aphrodite and snickers from Artemis and Athena.  “But you were invited this time.  Still, it’s cool and all.  You want to introduce us to your friends?”

“My sisters, actually – Artemis and Athena.”

Esther and Naomi nodded and introduced themselves.  “Charmed, I’m sure,” Naomi added.  Artemis and Athena just stared at them in astonishment before blinking and turning to Aphrodite.

“They really don’t know who we are, do they?  Or who we were once upon a time.”

“We really don’t,” Naomi said as she nervously tucked a lock of hair behind an ear.  “We’re just hoping you have the answers to our questions.”

“And what makes you think we’d answer them?” Aphrodite asked.  “After all, Eden did threaten me when I was here last.  Does she know I’m here now?”

“Yes, actually... she does.  And considering the circumstances surrounding your last visit, can you really blame her for her reaction or response?”

Aphrodite frowned.  She hated it when someone made a point she couldn’t really refute.  She put a hand on her hip and gestured.  “So whaddya wanna like, know?”

Esther and Naomi traded glances.  “Would you like to sit down?” motioning to the couch and chair that remained empty.  The three goddesses looked at one another, then Aphrodite shrugged and dropped into the chair.  Artemis and Athena accepted the couch as a matter of course.  “Can I offer you some refreshment?”

“You can get to the point,” Aphrodite grumbled.  Esther frowned as did Athena and Artemis.  Naomi cleared her throat awkwardly and tucked her hair back again.

“I’m sorry,” she offered quietly.  “I know your introduction to us was less than stellar.  I was just trying to show you a little hospitality, but....”

“I’d love something to drink,” Artemis cut in.

“So would I,” Athena commented.  “Whatever you have on hand would be lovely.”

“O... okay,” Naomi said with a small smile.  “I won’t be but a minute.  Es, could you help me?”  Esther looked between the three visitors, then rose without a word and followed Naomi into the kitchen area.  Athena waited until they were behind the counter before she turned to Aphrodite.

“Be nice,” she hissed, then held up a hand to forestall Aphrodite’s protests.  “We were worried about us trying to circumvent the rules.  Now we don’t have to.  So stop being a grump and chill out.  These kids solved a problem for us without even trying.  Don’t screw this up!”

Aphrodite’s jaw swung from its hinges, then she snapped her mouth shut with an audible click when Naomi and Esther approached.  She stood and cleared space on the table, smiling slightly at the look of bewilderment on Naomi’s face.  “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely.  “I was being harsh before and it was uncalled for... despite my unease.”

Naomi set the tray down and took one of Aphrodite’s hands in her own as Esther assumed hostess duties with Artemis and Athena.  Aphrodite’s jaw dropped open for the second time in two minutes, and she clutched at the hand holding hers.  It had been an eternity since anyone beyond her family had touched her so familiarly, and until that very moment, she hadn’t realized how she missed it.

“It’s okay,” Naomi assured her, covering their clasped hands with her free one.  “I don’t blame you for being uneasy and unsure after your first encounter with us, but this time you’re an invited guest.  We asked for you to join us, and Eden really does know you’re here.  She encouraged us to talk to you.”

“But it was your idea, Mimi.  Don’t downplay that.  You’re the one who recognized we needed to talk to Aphrodite.”

“And why do you need to talk to me?  How do you think I can help you?” releasing the hand she held and accepting a glass from Esther before she resumed her seat.  She looked at Naomi expectantly.

Naomi tucked her hair behind her ear once more.  “I think there are loopholes in those rules you told us about.  And I’d be willing to bet one of those loopholes means we have to ask if we want answers; we can’t simply be told.  So we’d like to ask some questions to clarify some things for us, and we’re hoping you’ll answer them.”

“You ask,” Athena said as Aphrodite sat regarding them.  “We’ll answer whatever we can.”

************

“So we did share the same dreams,” Arianna commented some time later.  Dinner had been prepared and eaten; clean up had been taken care of; and they had resumed their place curled up together on the larger divan since that allowed them to occasionally stretch out.

“It seems so.  I know it felt less like remembering and more like....”

“... reliving – like we were there again.”

“Exactly.  That has to be important – because I remember seeing other lives that I didn’t really feel and I certainly don’t remember.”

Arianna shifted until she could meet Eli’s eyes with a frown.  “Like what?  I don’t understand.”

Eli sighed.  “I’m not sure I do either,” rubbing a hand over her face.  “It felt like....  It was almost like glimpses into other people’s lives – a peacekeeper and a barrister; an auditor and an artist; a musician and a scientist; two students; a vigilante and a teacher – the list goes on, but you get the idea.”

Arianna nodded.  “I do.  I don’t recall those, but I did see some of my own.”  She bit her lip until she felt soft fingers coax it gently from her teeth.  She scowled and looked her question at Eli who blushed and chuckled.

“I know that helps you think, but I’m kind of fond of that part of you.  I’d prefer if you didn’t do damage to it... you know, in case the focus of our discussion changes at some point.”

Arianna smiled coyly.  “Oh really?  That’s good to know.  I’ll have to keep it in mind for later.”

“You do that.  But we need to figure this out first.”

“I know.  I hate having to be an adult sometimes.”

Eli smiled.  “We all do.  But then there are other times,” she offered, wiggling her eyebrows and laughing aloud when Arianna slapped at her before dropping a kiss onto her forehead.  “So what did you see?” reaching up to smooth the wrinkles from Arianna’s face when her brow furrowed.  “If you didn’t see the same fleeting life previews that I saw, what did you see?”

“I saw two lawmakers; a writer and a healer; a computer tech and a botanist; two athletes; a toymaker and a personal assistant.”  She shook her head. “I’m sure there were more, but those stand out for me.”

“I wonder if they were lives of some of the other soulbonds.”

“You think that’s possible?”

Eli snorted.  “So much about this entire situation borders on the impossible.  BUT... if what Eden said is true – if what Aphrodite shared with her is factual - it is quite possible that the soulmates that were still traveling through the karmic circle were pulled together by the same force that propelled us apart.  That may be how we managed to banish the gods and send everyone else to safety.”

“You think that’s what we did?  Sent the rest to safety?”

“It does make an odd sort of sense.  By separating the soulmate population from the single-souled individuals and sending them to other planets, the gods would no longer be able to toy with them.  We paid the price to make that possible – our anger made us able to protect the rest, but it kept us apart as well.”

“Okay... say that’s true and that’s exactly what happened.  Why wait until now to try to destroy us and claim the Warrior’s soul?  Why not take it while we were already separated and angry with everything, including each other?”

“There are a couple possibilities that I can see.  The first and most obvious is that they simply couldn’t find us.  Remember… according to Eden, they lost a great deal of their power when they were banished.  I doubt we were little more than an afterthought if we even crossed their minds.”

“Okay, then why bother with us now?”

“Because we came back into their purview.”

Arianna shook her head.  “No.  There’s something else there.  They’re still as powerless as they were when we sent them here – as they were when we were still broken.  Why try to destroy something that is strong again – stronger than it’s ever been – when they couldn’t destroy us before?  No – there’s a reason beyond proximity, and I’d be willing to wager it has something to do with our dream memories.”

“That brings us to the second possibility and more likely option.  Because they deliberately drew us here.  Not initially, of course – it was our choice to come in this direction when we deviated from our original flight plan.  But the Nebula – the gods – pursued us once we were within range of their influence; tormented us with that infernal song; shared with us specific memories of our lifetimes together.  We both know there were more than the few we saw.  So what is so important about this trip through the karmic cycle?  What significance does it hold for us that they felt the need to bring us here and show us these things?  What’s in it for them?  And what’s behind that bet?”

“So we believe that their interference is opportunist, but is also being done for a specific reason.”

“That about sums it up, yes.”

“That is just so contradictory!” Arianna huffed.  “It also makes the most outrageous amount of sense.  We need to know what that reason is.”

“We do.  Unfortunately, I believe the quickest way to find that answer is going to be to go directly to the source and ask.”

“Do you really think she’ll share?”

“She bet on us, Angel.  She has a vested interest in seeing that we succeed.”

Arianna nodded.  “All right.  Let’s invite Aphrodite into our home and see if we can get some answers.”

************

“Jake?” Hannah said as she turned from her console to face him.  He looked at her and cocked an eyebrow at her in mute question.  “There’s something... peculiar... happening,” motioning to her monitor.

He sighed and set his Pad to one side and leaned over her shoulder to see what she was showing him.  He frowned and leaned closer.  “What the hell?  What is that?”

“I don’t know.  I’m hoping Danny or Gay have eyes on... whatever it is.”

“It kinda looks like....”  He picked up his Pad and expanded it.  “Look,” showing her what he meant. 

“Okay, but why are there three signatures there?  And why is there one in Isaac’s room as well?”

“I dunno.  See if you can find out anything from Danny or Gay.  I’m gonna try to talk to Mimi or Es.”  He pinched the bridge of his nose.  “I’ll be glad when Eli’s done with her stuff and can be the boss again.  I hate being in charge!”

“Yeah, I don’t envy you that,” Hannah replied sympathetically.  Then she turned back to her control panel in an effort to contact her teammates.

************

“Es, this is Jake.  Is there something going on I should be aware of?”

Esther looked around the room and found amused faces looking back at her.  “Probably a few things, Jake,” she answered honestly.  “Is there something specific I can help you with right now?”

“Yeah – is there a reason we’re getting two extra heat signatures from Mimi’s room... you know, beyond the one we were actually expecting?”

“Yep, and I promise you’ll get the whole story soon.  But they’re on our side, Jake.”

“All of them?”

“All of them.”

“All right, Es.  Thanks.”

“So why didn’t you explain things to him now?” Athena asked when Esther lowered her comm device.

“Because he’s going to need to hear everything... just like the rest of the team will.  And I’d rather not have to keep repeating it.”

“Just as well,” Aphrodite offered as she rose from the chair she’d been ensconced in.  “I’m being summoned elsewhere.”

“Eli and Arianna?” Naomi asked with a smile.

“How did you...?”

“They are the best and brightest among us.  If I figured out we needed to ask you directly, then they certainly could do the same.  Especially since they have been the focus of your interference since we entered your sphere of awareness.”  She held up her hands to keep Aphrodite from protesting aloud.  “I understand your reasoning as well as your intentions, but you have to see this from our side as well.  And from where we’re sitting, it looks a lot like meddling.”

“Fair enough,” Aphrodite conceded.  “But if you’ll excuse me....  Athena and Artemis will stay here and answer whatever questions you have left.”

“Of course.  They’re more than welcome.”

“Thank you.  I’ll return as soon as I’m done.”  And without another word she disappeared.  Esther and Naomi traded glances with Athena and Artemis, then they got back to the conversation Jake had interrupted.

************

Isaac looked around the room that had suddenly become his prison.  With the entire Alpha Team siding against him, he felt compelled to find sanctuary.  Unfortunately, the only place he could do that was his quarters – even his work area was off-limits as, like the rest of the ship, it was an open space where everyone was allowed.

“It’s not fair,” he grumbled, slamming his fist into the cushion.  “She chose me.  She would have chosen me again if it wasn’t for that freak.”  He closed his eyes as pain and exhaustion radiated through his entire body.  “If I could just figure out a way to get rid of Eli, Arianna would have to choose me.  But the team needs her.”

“Do they?”

Isaac blinked and swung his head around trying to find the source of the voice he heard.  “All right, guys – this isn’t funny.”

“No, it really isn’t,” Ares said as he materialized across the room from where Isaac sat.  He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.  “But the real question is which is more important to you – having Arianna or the team’s welfare?”

“Why can’t it be both?”

“Because that’s not the way things work.  You’re gonna have to make a choice.”  Isaac clutched his head as a searing pain flared; Ares watched dispassionately.  “You figure out what’s more important to you – if you make the right choice, I’ll even help you destroy the freak so you can have the Princess.  But,” he added, pushing away from the wall and striding toward Isaac, “my offer has a time limit, so you need to choose quickly.”

Isaac pressed against his temples and sucked in a breath.  “Why?  Why would you care?  No one else does – they all think Eli’s a golden child that can do no wrong.”

“Let’s just say I have a personal stake in this as well, and leave it at that.”

“And how do I contact you?”

“Give a little whistle,” frowning when a look of confusion crossed Isaac’s face.  “You don’t know how to put your lips together and blow?” snorting when Isaac shook his head.  “Just call out for me, Isaac.”

“And who are you?”

“There was a time....”  He sighed.  “I am Ares, God of War.”  Isaac showed no signed of recognition and Ares slumped just slightly as the truth dawned on him.  There was no fanfare as he shimmered out of sight, but just before he completely faded from view, he reminded, “Don’t take too long, remember; this is a limited time offer.  After that....”  He shrugged and disappeared.  Isaac rubbed his temples as another pain lanced through his head and closed his eyes once more.



Chapter XXV

“Hey, Bodacious Babes!” Aphrodite greeted as she materialized in front of Eli and Arianna.  “Howzit hanging?”

Eli and Arianna exchanged confused glances, frowning when they returned their attention to the love goddess standing in their midst.  “Pretty sure nothing is hanging at the moment,” Eli offered with a shrug.

Aphrodite blew out a frustrated breath that disturbed the bangs on her forehead.  “Sometimes it totally astounds me to know that we once spoke like, the same freaking language,” shaking her head.  “So what can I do for you righteous chicks?”

Eli cleared her throat.  “We have some questions, and we think you might have the answers.”  She met Aphrodite’s eyes seriously.  “We deserve to know.”

“You do,” she agreed with a nod as she collapsed into the smaller couch, then curled her legs up under her.  “What’s more – you need to know if you’re going to win and end this thing once and for all.  But you have to ask everything you want to know.  I can’t just tell you anything.”

“You’d better get comfortable then,” Arianna warned.  “We’re going to be here a little while.”

************

“What do you mean you didn’t see anything?” Hannah demanded of Danny.  “We registered two heat signatures in Isaac room when everyone else was accounted for.  He should have been alone.”

“He was alone according to our surveillance.  Nothing unusual was recorded on any device we had observing him, beyond him talking to himself in his sleep.”  He paused.  “Although Isaac did move around a lot, come to think of it, but that could be due to whatever pain he’s experiencing.  Gay didn’t get any weird vibes either, though that could have as much to do with what the Nebula did to her senses as it could with the fact that there was nothing there.”

“There was something, Danny,” Hannah growled.  “I know what I saw; Jake witnessed it as well.”

“In that case, we’ve got a bigger problem than we thought,” Abigail spoke up.  “Contact Mimi and see if she can get some answers.  We’ll work on it from this end.”

“Will do.   Thanks, guys.”

Danny looked at Abigail seriously.  “Have you ever noticed that Eli and Arianna always seem to be in the middle of a vortex of trouble?”

“Yes, but how interesting they make things for the rest of us,” said with only a hint of snark.

“One day we’ll have to try something different – you know, like no crises or something.”

Abigail snorted.  “We wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves.”

Danny laughed.  “We’d probably be too worried about when things would go wonky again to really enjoy the break from all the drama.  Come on – we’ve got work to do.”

They turned back to their surveillance and started making adjustments.

************

“Are you certain of that, Hannah?”

Hannah frowned and looked at her comm device, wishing not for the first time that they had opted for the video link.  Then she blushed as she recalled exactly why they had chosen audio only units and cleared her throat.  “Who is this?” she demanded.

“I am known as Athena or Minerva.  I prefer Athena as it was my original designation.”

“Uh huh.  Just who exactly are you and why are you here, AthenaMinerva?” Hannah inquired.  “And why are you responding instead of Mimi or Es?”

Athena looked affronted, but she managed to keep her equilibrium in her tone.  “I promise to explain who we are and why we’re here when everyone is present to hear the explanation, but please understand that even though he is our brother, we are backing Eli and Arianna against Ares in their present struggle against him.  I asked Naomi to allow me to answer because if what I suspect is true, Ares was Isaac’s uninvited guest and his presence here marks a blatant flaunting of the rules.  It’s something that my sisters and I need to address.”

Hannah rubbed a hand over her face in an effort to try and clear her mind of the frustration she could feel roiling through it.  “Es, can you and Mimi escort your guests to the mess hall, please?  I’m going to contact Eden and call a team meeting.  I think it’s time we pool our resources and knowledge.”

“We can do that,” Esther agreed as Artemis and Athena nodded.

“Thanks – we should have everyone there within ten standard.”

“Make sure you invite Isaac,” Athena cautioned, causing more frowns.  She sighed.  “As Eli pointed out to you, he is still part of your team.  He should be included.  Besides, he may be able to shed some light on what happened when that second heat signature registered on your consoles.”

“She’s right,” Esther said.  “He’s not really the enemy here.”

“Eli may not feel that way.”

“Maybe, but that’s personal.  This is professional – this is about us as a team. He needs to know he’s still part of that – part of us – regardless of whatever personal crap is going on.”

“All right,” Hannah replied.  “All I can do is inform him of the meeting; I can’t make him attend.  What about Eli and Arianna?”

“No.  They’re with Aphrodite, and that takes precedence to this.  They need the information she has.”

Hannah sighed.  “Very well.  Let me call Eden and give her a heads up.  Then we’ll all meet in the mess hall.  It’s almost meal time anyway.”  She cut the connection and Esther glanced at Naomi before turning to their guests.

“I’m sorry.  I know this hasn’t been a fabulous experience for any of you.”

“Actually, it’s been mostly pleasant,” Artemis cut in.  “Given the circumstances, it’s been exceptional.”

“So you don’t mind accompanying us to the mess hall for a team meeting?”

“I’m kinda thrilled to be included in such to tell you the truth,” Athena proclaimed with a small smile.  “It’s been a long time since we’ve had such excitement.  It doesn’t hurt that we expect Eli and Arianna to come out victorious.  That will be good for all of us.”

“Even Isaac?”

“In the broader scheme of things, yes.  His pride might be hurt for a little while, but that should be the extent of the damage.”  She held up her hand before Esther or Naomi could question.  “I promise to share at the meeting, but like you, I’d prefer not to have to repeat myself.”

Naomi nodded and rose.  “In that case, shall we adjourn to the mess hall?  I think everyone will be glad to have your input to help us understand.”

The rest rose as a singular body and headed to the door.

************

“Eden, this is Jake.”

Eden blew out a breath and straightened, walking away from the work that she and Titus and Kai were doing.  They didn’t even look up.  “What’s up, Jake?” she asked when she was far enough away to have a tiny bit of privacy.

“Hannah’s asked for a team meeting, and I wanted you to know first.  Some things have happened since Eli and Arianna retired to their quarters and the rest of the team needs to be aware.”  He paused.  “It’s important, Eden.  We wouldn’t be doing this otherwise... not right now.”

Eden sighed.  “Fair enough.  Have you notified Eli and Arianna?  Or Isaac?”

“No.  Eli and Az are with Aphrodite at the moment, and that’s more important.  But I believe it’s time everyone else knows what’s going on.  I’m on my way to talk to Isaac now.”

Eden rubbed the back of her neck.  “All right,” she said after a long moment.  “Do it.  We’ll be in the mess hall in five minutes.”

“Thanks, Eden.”

“Yep.”  She tapped her comm unit and lowered it before she turned back to her teammates.  A touch on each of their shoulders brought their eyes to hers in question.  “C’mon.  We’ve got a team meeting in the mess hall.”  Three stomachs growled in tandem.  “And yeah, it’s time to eat as well.”

“What about...?” motioning around them.

Eden shrugged.  “It’s not like we’re making spectacular progress at the moment and we do kinda need to stay in the loop.”

“I’ll go grab Paulie,” Titus volunteered.  “Has anyone told Isaac?”

“Jake was on his way to speak to him.”

Titus nodded.  “Okay – I’ll meet you guys in the dining hall in a few.”

Eden and Mordecai waved, then headed in the opposite direction.

************

“Thanks, Jake,” Hannah offered as soon as he was off the comm with Eden.

“No problem.  You did the hard part.  Now I just need to go fetch Isaac.”

“You need some backup?”

Jacob released a slow breath and shook his head.  “No.  I don’t think he’ll be violent towards me even if he’s resentful.  That will be something that will happen with Eli and since we’re not telling her and Az about this little get together....”

Hannah blew out a breath that puffed up her bangs.  “I have to agree with you about one thing,” she said ruefully.  He cocked an eyebrow at her.  “This being in charge gig kinda bites and blows.”

Jacob snorted and nodded his head as he smiled, then stepped off the bridge with his ever-present Pad in hand.  Next stop, Isaac’s quarters.

************

“Go away,” Isaac yelled out at the persistent knocking on his door.

“Isaac, let me in,” Jake commanded softly.

“No.  You chose Eli.  I don’t want you here.  I don’t want any of you here.”

“Isaac, we can have this conversation publicly through the door, or you can let me in and we can have a private discussion between two friends.”

“None of you are my friends,” Isaac scoffed.  “Not one of you took my side against that freak.”

“Because you really don’t have a side, and you’d recognize that if the Nebula hadn’t made you crazy.”

“I’m not crazy!!”

“Really??  You don’t feel like something is wrong with you – that something’s been off since we encountered the Nebula?  I want you to think about something, Ike – and be honest with yourself even if you can’t be honest with anyone else.  When did the thought of having Arianna become so all-consuming for you?  I know you wanted her when you thought she returned your affections and was apparently free from any relationship commitments or entanglements.  But both she and Eli patiently explained things to you long before they were joined in front of all of us – you were their first and biggest supporter when they decided to marry.  So what changed?”

Isaac snorted.  “Did you not see what Eli really is, Jake?  She’s a freak... an anomaly.  She doesn’t deserve....”

“What?” Jake asked when the silence dragged on.  “Happiness?  Fulfillment?  The love of her mate?  Isaac, whether you like it or not, they are mates and they are married.  They chose one another and they made promises and commitments to one another with all of us as witnesses.  Your lack of understanding Eli’s alternative nature doesn’t negate their marriage or their status as mates.”

“You’re taking their side again,” Isaac whined.

“I’m not – I’m trying to understand what changed for you.”

“She was mine once, you know... in another lifetime.  She chose me over Eli.  That has to count for something.”

“I don’t think it does – it certainly doesn’t to them.  We all heard Arianna’s speech in the infirmary.  She doesn’t recognize your claim.”  He paused when he heard something crash against the wall.  “I’m curious though,” said when it was silent again, “why do you even remember it?  And why do you think it would change anything in this life?”

“Because she chose me once – who’s to say she wouldn’t do it again?”

“She would – she did... in front of all of us.  That’s why we stood with them; she made her choice, and you need to respect that.  Maybe you should try to figure out who’s trying to manipulate you.  Who would benefit the most if you were successful in breaking up Eli and Az?”

“I would,” Isaac stated without compunction.

“Would you?  Because Arianna already made it clear that she wouldn’t choose you if you were the only option.  And you already gave them your blessing.  So who benefits if you continue to pursue this course of action?  Arianna already said she wouldn’t stand between you and Eli, and I don’t care how big you are.  You can’t defeat Eli’s dragon form.”

“But I could defeat her human one.  Why would I let her transform before the challenge started?”

Jacob sighed and shook his head.  He obviously wasn’t getting through to Isaac.  “And you really think Az would turn to you if you harmed one hair on Eli’s head?”  He shook his head when Isaac remained silent.  “Whatever, Ike.  I think you’re walking down a very dangerous road alone.  You’re gonna find it’s not the best place to be regardless of the outcome between you and Eli.  Arianna won’t forgive you either way.  I just came to let you know we’re having a team meeting in the mess hall in five standard.  There’s been a lot going on that we all need to know about, so please join us.  You’re still part of this team.”

Jacob waited, but Isaac didn’t respond.  After a moment, Jacob shook his head and walked away.  He didn’t see Isaac wrap his arms around himself and moan in pain.  Isaac slid down the wall and closed his eyes, hoping for a respite from the pain that now wracked his entire body.

************

“So what’s this about?” Luke asked, looking around the room as he slid into a chair.  “Am I the last?”

“You are,” Eden replied as she pushed away from the wall against which she had been leaning.  “Apparently Isaac doesn’t want to be here and Eli and Az are still taking care of their stuff.  Hannah asked for a team meeting.  Enough has happened in the hours we’ve been apart that we need to be brought up to date.  Everyone will get a chance to share what kind of progress they’ve made, but our first order of business deals with some unexpected visitors from within the Nebula.”  She motioned to where they sat ensconced between Esther and Naomi.  “This is Artemis and Athena.  They are Aphrodite’s sisters.”

“Why are they here?” from Paul.

Athena rose before Eden could answer and Eden motioned her forward as she stepped back to lean against the wall again.  Athena nodded graciously and looked around the room meeting the eyes of each team member, then took a deep breath.  “We came with Aphrodite when she was summoned.”

“But why?  Naomi only called for Aphrodite.”

“It’s my belief that Dite wanted the support.  We were there when the summons came.  She simply clasped our hands and brought us with her.”

“It’s a good thing,” Naomi broke in.  “They have been very helpful and informative – even after Aphrodite left us to go speak with Eli and Arianna.”

“So what do you know about what’s going on?”

“Quite a bit actually.  Since Esther and Naomi have already asked a lot of the questions that needed answers, perhaps we should allow them to tell what they know.  They we can open the floor for questions.”  She held up a hand before anyone could interrupt.  “We can’t tell you – you have to ask.”

“This has to do with those rules of yours, doesn’t it?”

“It does, Titus.”  She motioned to Esther and Naomi.  “They’ve done a good job asking the right questions, so they know a lot of what is going on now and what brought us to this point.  Let them talk, and then you can ask whatever you need to.”

The Alpha Team looked around the room at each other, holding a silent conversation before all eyes turned to Eden.  She nodded and stepped forward again.

“Fair enough,” gesturing Esther and Naomi forward.  “Let’s hear it, guys.  Then we’ll go from there.”

“Aw right, Girlfriend.  Ya’ll get comfortable,” Esther instructed.  “This is gonna take a few.”



Chapter XXVI

“So what do you babes wanna like, know?” Aphrodite asked as she took a seat across from the couch on which Eli and Arianna were curled up together.

“Tell us about this bet you and the asshat made,” smirking when Aphrodite snorted at the moniker Eli had picked up from Eden.  “And we want the whole story – not the watered down, bare facts version you gave to Eden either.  We want to know exactly what the bet is; when it was made; why it was made and how our team ended up being part of it... because I don’t believe it started out that way.”

“You’d be right about that,” Aphrodite sighed, raking a hand through her curls.  “Better get some refreshment, though.  This story’s gonna take a bit to tell – though on the plus side, it should answer most of your questions, including the ones you haven’t voiced yet.”

Eli and Arianna traded glances, then Eli grabbed some energy shots while Arianna fetched a full pitcher and some glasses.  They reseated themselves and looked at Aphrodite expectantly even as Arianna poured them each a glass of water.  Aphrodite accepted her glass with a gracious nod and leaned back against the corner of the sofa upon which she was seated, taking a sip and clearing her throat lightly before she began to speak.

“Did Eden tell you everything I shared with her earlier... about the soulmates and Ares’ blood oath and all that?” waiting for Eli and Arianna to nod.  “Okay, so you like totally know the basics of what I’m gonna tell you now.”

“Can I ask why you didn’t tell them?”

Aphrodite stared at Eli a long moment before she lost the ‘giddy blonde goddess’ expression and her countenance became serious.  “Knowing Eden’s temperament and the distrust your team would have for any of us given the situation as it stands, I think you’ll understand better once I explain everything to you.  But the truth is they didn’t ask the right questions, and they don’t really have a right to know – not like you two do.  If you want to share when we’re done here, that’s fine – it’s your story.  But it’s not really my place to go into that kind of detail.”

“Then why share at all?”

“Because they needed to know enough to stand behind you when the time came.”

“You mean when Isaac tried to come between us?” Arianna asked with a bite in her tone.

“That too,” Aphrodite agreed.  “But this is going to come to a head soon, and you’re gonna need your team to be in your corner.  I don’t think that’s going to happen with Isaac.”  Aphrodite shrugged.  “Then again, he might surprise us all.  We’re not omniscient.  It’s one reason there’s a bet in the first place – we don’t actually know the outcome of these events.”

“Why don’t you tell us about this bet?” Eli suggested darkly, “and we’ll go from there.” 

Aphrodite nodded and sighed, taking another sip of water before she started to tell them the story.

“Millennia ago, you were born into this world together as soulmates.  Your soulbond was particularly strong, though it was not the only one so tightly woven.  So when the rending came to you because of Zeus’ pride and Ares’ machinations, it was acutely felt within you... strongly enough that you would have happily returned to the Well of Souls and remained there had it been an option.”

“But it wasn’t.”

“No, it wasn’t and it infuriated you beyond the agony you felt at the rending.  All of you stayed in Hades’ domain for as long as he allowed it, but you were all eventually reborn into the mortal world as separate souls searching for its half.  It took several tries... several lifetimes… before you finally found one another for the first time, and by then your rage had taken on a life of its own.  This was especially true in the warrior half of the soul.”

“My half,” Eli whispered, keeping her eyes locked on Aphrodite for confirmation.

Aphrodite nodded.  “Your half,” she agreed.  “And it was strong and passionate and something Ares’ coveted for his own.”

“It’s the reason for the bet, isn’t it?”

“It’s part of the reason,” Aphrodite said, holding up her hands.  “See, when you arrived in the lifetime that brought about this bet, you were... gods, you were so full of latent fury and hatred because you and your soulmate had yet to encounter one another since the rending... even in Hades’ realm.  And Ares used that to pull you from your path and bind you to him as his Chosen.”

“That’s the reason,” Arianna whispered.  “To give us a chance to defeat him.  Because once he claimed you and you pledged allegiance to him, it would make it easier for him to come between us in every lifetime and eventually keep us apart forever.”

“Yes,” Aphrodite said.  “And with that kind of power behind him, none of us would have ever been able to defeat him.”

“And that’s what was important to you?  To be able to defeat him?”  Eli’s tone was a little snide.  Aphrodite met her eyes frankly.

“It was important for us – none of us wanted him to overthrow the Pantheon.  We would have lost our powers and become his lessers... slaves at best,” giving a light shudder of disgust.  “But it was also important for the soulbonds and the rest of humanity.  It’s our belief that if Ares had succeeded then, he would have destroyed the soulmates; he would have claimed each warrior half as his own while leaving the bard half to die excruciatingly alone.  The remainder of humanity would have become enslaved and war would have been worldwide and never-ending... moreso than it already was throughout the planet’s history.  We know that was his goal – he said as much.”

Eli and Arianna looked at one another questioningly.  “Guess we can look it up later,” Eli said after a moment.

“You should,” Aphrodite commented, “but trust me when I tell you it was pretty bloody.  Humans have never been a very peaceful species – or at least they weren’t until you scattered them to the winds.”

“Good to know something good came from our suffering,” Arianna said sharply before blowing out a calming breath when Eli clasped her hand and stroked her thumb over Arianna’s white knuckles.  “I’m sorry, Aphrodite.  Please continue.”

“When Artemis and I joined forces and blessed the bard half of your bond, we did something unprecedented, and it allowed us to defeat Ares and bring the warrior half back under Athena’s protection, though that protection was not as strong as it would have been had Ares not interfered in the first place.  It made him realize he was onto something though, and he suggested the bet.”

“Wait... he had already lost his claim on the warrior’s soul?” Arianna asked, waiting for Aphrodite to nod.  “Then why in all that’s holy would you take this bet??  You had already WON!”

“Temporarily, perhaps,” Aphrodite conceded, holding up her hands in supplication.  “We won for that lifetime, but we all knew you still had a number of trips through the circle to take, and that you would be vulnerable to his scheming during each and every incarnation you lived through, regardless of whether you were together or not.  And he had already proven he could bring the warrior to his side if the rage had grown great enough; all that was needed to ensure that outcome was for the soulmates to miss one another for a few lifetimes.  At least the bet allowed us to control some of the variables.”

“Such as?”

“He would have a set time limit during each trip through the circle your souls shared to actively try and claim the warrior again, and only through the lifetimes you were together.  If he succeeded and the warrior half rejected its mate in favor of choosing Ares by the time the required cycles were complete, the warrior and bard would belong to him to do with as he saw fit.  If not, he would forfeit his challenge and his godhood.”

“Why would he agree to that?  He would’ve had a much better shot at winning if we were never together.  Why not just keep us apart until our trips through the circle were complete?”

“He couldn’t keep you apart – your trips through the circle were at the whims of the Fates, and even Ares wasn’t going to cross them.  He couldn’t risk it... not then.”

“Even though it would have given him an advantage?  I mean... had we remained separated, the warrior’s anger would have been....”

“Unmanageable.  Even Ares thought that.  After his inability to control the warrior despite her initial anger, we all believed he couldn’t have controlled the warrior’s passion had it grown any fiercer, which was later proven out by what happened in your last lifetime together.”

“But you didn’t know that at the time?” seeing Aphrodite shake her head.  “So why would he agree to such restrictions?”

“Because it gave him a fight... and a fighting chance – the odds were in our favor after our victory over him, but this gave him a chance to level the playing field because the warrior’s anger gravitated naturally toward Ares.”  Aphrodite closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.  This part made them out to be vain and petty and manipulative – truth at the time, but it didn’t make the humiliation any less to admit even millennia later.  “We agreed because we had already shown that we could defeat him; we assumed we could do it again.  So part of it was pride; part of it was arrogance; but a big part of it was boredom.”  She met their eyes with something kin to shame in her own.  “We were spoiled children and humanity was our favorite plaything.”  The outrage in their eyes grew, but they remained silent.  Aphrodite glanced at her hands before meeting their eyes again.  “I am sincerely sorry – we all are... well, most of us anyway.  If we could go back and change things....”

“So what happened?” Eli asked calmly after several minutes of strained silence, though her hand and Arianna’s remained clenched together in a fierce grip.

“He tried; gods, how he tried.  Every lifetime he seemed to escalate a little more in his efforts against you, but still you resisted.  Despite the growing anger that we could all sense, you refused to call out for him.  So in your last incarnation, he threw everything he had at you, and he was certain he had succeeded at last.  He knew your last trip through together was your last mandatory trip together; he was positive that his success in ultimately separating you was enough so that you,” looking at Eli, “would finally call out to him.”

Eli snorted.  “I didn’t even know who he was.  I was an artist in that life – we both were.”

Aphrodite chuckled, glad for the release of tension.  “Well, won’t that just chap his ass to know,” laughing even harder when Eli and Arianna both giggled.  She fanned her face and sipped at her water in an effort to calm down.  “Sorry,” she added.

“Don’t be; it was funny.”

Aphrodite smirked.  “It was a little bit,” she confessed.  “But the fact was, he miscounted.  Your last trip through the circle wasn’t your final compulsory trip.  But your fury did manage to blow us to kingdom come and gone and frankly we forgot about the soulmates in our efforts to survive.”

“So how does that explain what’s happening now?  Or why our teammates have suddenly become part of this bet?”

“When you suddenly reappeared within our purview, Ares’... well, we were all stunned, quite frankly.  We certainly never expected to see any of the soulmates again.  After all, that concept had disappeared for us a long time ago.  We didn’t know there were any left.  The fact that it was you....  Ares has always had a bit of a hard on for you,” Aphrodite said, looking at Eli.  “I don’t think he would have made a play for you if Zeus hadn’t opened up the field first....”

“Why?” Arianna asked.  “He doesn’t strike me as the type to show any kind of restraint.  He’s a selfish prick.”

“You haven’t even met him.”

Arianna cocked an eyebrow at Aphrodite, but her expression didn’t soften.  “Knowing what we know – what you shared and what we remember living through?  I don’t need to meet him in this lifetime to know he’s an asshat.”

Aphrodite blinked.  “You’re not the same bard that I remember.”

“No, I’m not.”

Aphrodite sighed.  “Fair enough.  To answer your question, before Zeus separated the soulmates, they reacted... violently... towards anyone trying to engage them intimately.  It was even worse when only one half of the bond was approached.  Several demigods actually died pursing a physical relationship with a soulbond.”

“So Ares and Zeus are cowards.  That’s what you’re saying.”

Aphrodite’s eyes sparked as she flushed, but she nodded sharply.  “Essentially yes.  But when the opportunity arose, he latched on like a....”

“... malignant tumor,” Eli supplied.

“Not quite the way I would’ve put it,” Aphrodite acknowledged with a grimace, “but close enough to the truth.  So when he realized just who you were, he decided to remind us of the bet we’d made.  Because obviously, your last trip through wasn’t your final one and that meant he still had a chance.  We tried to tell him no; we showed him that you had already committed to each other; we even offered to forget the terms and let him keep his godhood if he would just forget the whole thing.  Instead, he told us that he would use the crew – your teammates – to separate and destroy you if we didn’t agree to uphold the terms of the bet.”

“He would have used them against us?”

“He would have decimated them.  So we took the bet to keep them safe.  This way, it’s between you and him.”

“What about Isaac?” Eli asked.  “Given his level of suffering, I’m not sure he’s in his right mind.”

Aphrodite shrugged.  “He’s a pawn... a very unfortunate pawn.  We’re not convinced he’s doing this of his own free will either – we believe he’s being coerced.  We’re still scrambling to do some research – to find out if all of you tie back to each other somewhere in your pasts.  But we do know Ares used Isaac’s soul in your last incarnation to split you up.  That’s what he’s playing on now – hoping that what happened between you three before will allow him to recreate the warrior’s anger.”

“Not going to happen,” Eli replied.  “We’ve made our peace with it.  We’re still learning one another and growing together, but we’ve made our choice.”

Arianna nodded.   “Isaac was never an option for me... even when I didn’t know all that Eli was to me.”

“Do you know now?”

“Like Eli said,” Arianna said with a shrug, “we’re learning each other and growing into our true potential as mates.  Though that seems to be advancing by leaps and bounds recently,” glancing at Eli who nodded her agreement.

“It really has.  Necessity and all, I guess,” lifting their clasped hands to her lips and brushing a kiss over Arianna’s knuckles.  Arianna blushed and Aphrodite clapped her hands as she bounced slightly in her seat.

“Ooooo... you two are so totally awesome together.  Keep working at it though,” she urged, serious once more.  “The stronger you are together, the better for everyone... especially you.”

“So what happens now?” Eli asked through a yawn.  “What’s our next move?”

Aphrodite frowned.   “When’s the last time either of you slept?” noting the exhaustion so evident on their faces.

“Aside from when we were basically knocked out by the Nebula and given the soulmate dreams?”  Eli asked as she turned to Arianna.  “What time is it?”

Arianna snorted.  “I’m not sure what day it is, to tell you the truth.  I lost track.” 

Aphrodite blew out a frustrated breath as she ran a hand through her curls.  “I think you girls need to go get some real rest.  You can strengthen your bond in your dreams, and you’re gonna need to be as prepared as possible when Ares makes his final attempt.”

“You don’t think he’ll try something while we’re sleeping?”

“No... for two reasons.  One is because my sisters and I will watch over you and your teammates while you’re sleeping.  The other is because of his pride.  He wants you to be aware of your rending when he claims the warrior half of your soul.”

“He’s so sure he’ll be able to do that?”

“It’s all he has,” Aphrodite replied. 

“That’s pathetic,” Arianna snorted. 

“It is,” Aphrodite agreed sadly.  “But there’s nothing to do for it now but to see it through to the end.”

“I wish I could feel compassion for him,” Arianna stated.  “But all I feel when I think about him and the misery he’s caused us for not only our lifetimes, but the lifetimes of the others like us is anger.  I want him to suffer like we have.”

“Just remember – he’s never known the love and joy and completion you’ve known together.  None of us have.  It was our jealousy over that circumstance that caused this situation to begin with.  Now,” continuing before Arianna or Eli could say another word, “go get some rest.  I’ll speak to Morpheus about making your sleep deep and restful.  I’ll take care of your team as well.”  She met Arianna’s sorrowful eyes.  “I don’t blame you for feeling the way you do toward him, and I don’t expect you to forgive him for everything he’s done to you both.  But maybe now you understand a little better why he is the way he is.”

“Not really, because he wants to take what was rightfully mine – what he knows is mine.  But I don’t blame him for wanting what we have either.  It’s worth everything.”  She rose from her place and tugged Eli up beside her, then leaned forward and brushed a kiss over Aphrodite’s cheek.  “Thank you, Aphrodite.”

“Goodnight, ladies.  Rest well,” eyes following them until the bedroom door closed behind them.  “Watch over them, Morph,” she whispered.  “They’re gonna need every wink of sleep they can get before Ares makes his move.”

“You got it, Cuz,” he replied.  “We’re all watching in shifts.  You go talk to your sisters and those kids.”

“Thanks, Morph.”  Then she rose from the couch and walked out the door and back to the mess hall where the others were still gathered.  It was time to kick things into high gear.



Chapter XXVII

The Alpha Team sat silently around the table, looking at one another with jaws dropped and eyes agog, Finally Eden snapped her mouth shut audibly and shook her head.  “That has to be the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.  Why would that asshat think we would help him for any reason??  They are our friends and family.”

“So is Isaac, and he seems to have taken Ares’ side,” Artemis commented.

“No,” Jake said, shaking his head vehemently as he stood.  “Not buying it.”  He held up his hands to quell the questions he could see in his comrades’ faces.  “Hear me out.  I know he tried to stake some kind of claim earlier, but I’m not sure it was him.  Ike’s been acting weird since we encountered the Nebula, and only when the song changed did he start actively pursuing Az.  I’m not convinced there’s not something else driving him to do it.”

“You don’t think I can claim Arianna on my own, Jake?  Is that what you’re saying?” Isaac asked belligerently as he leaned against the doorframe.  “I’m pretty sure I’m man enough to go after what I want.”

“I never said you weren’t, Ike.  I’m just not sure you’re the one choosing what you want right now.”  Jacob paused and glanced around the room without fully taking his eyes off Isaac’s tense form.  “I mean... did you ever consider that your physical pain might be being caused because you were at odds with yourself?”

“What?!  C’mon, Jake - that’s reaching... even for you.”

“Not really,” Luke cut in.  “And it makes a lot of sense.  If your mind and body are out of synch, it can manifest itself as a massive amount of physical pain.”

“That blasted music is causing my pain.  Eli already figured that out.  It’s doing the same thing to her, remember?”

“It did.  But when the song changed, she was no longer affected by it... and neither was Arianna.”

“What do you mean – when the song changed??  It’s still the same painful, nerve-racking misery it was before!!  Only now there are periodic spikes of agony!!”  Isaac slammed his fist into the metal doorjamb, causing it to bend beneath his strength.  “She did this!!  She did this to me so that she could keep Arianna for herself!!  I’m gonna go....”  Isaac turned to leave the mess hall and almost ran over Aphrodite.  “Who in blazes are you??”

“My name’s Aphrodite, and I think we need to talk.”

“Do I know you?  Should I know you??  And how did you get aboard this ship??”  He looked around the room, only then noticing Artemis and Athena.  “Who are all you people??”

“Maybe you should sit down, Isaac,” Aphrodite offered.

“I don’t think so,” he growled.  “You’re trying to keep me from Arianna.  Now get out of my way!” shoving her roughly.  Aphrodite stumbled backward, but was caught by her sisters who had shifted to back her up instinctively.  He tried to shove through again, but this time Athena pushed back, causing him to land on his ass.

“I’m sorry, Isaac.  You don’t have to listen and you don’t have to believe us.  But we’re not going to allow you to take any kind of forceful action against us or anyone else.  When you finally get back to yourself, you’re going to regret a lot of what is happening right now.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” as he scrambled to his feet.

“Perhaps,” Athena agreed.  “But if there’s a chance I’m right, and we can mitigate the damage....”

“The damage to Eli, you mean.   Why is she so much more important than the rest of us?? What makes her so damned special??”

“The damage to all of you, Isaac.  You can’t see that now, but you will.  As for Eli, she’s the one with the target on her back – a target she carries through no fault of her own, but simply because of who she is and who she has been for all of her lifetimes.”

“What?!  You’re saying she’s the reason for all this??”  He turned to his teammates.  “Now do you believe me??”

“Isaac, sit down and shut up before I kick your ass into a different quadrant,” Eden said as she stepped right into his personal space and crossed her arms over her chest.  “Don’t think I can’t,” glaring at him.  “I’m stronger than ever thanks to Eli; I’m not going to let you continue to malign her because you’re a moron.”

Blood suffused his face, turning his skin a bright red.  “You don’t get to talk to me that way just because you don’t like what I’m saying, Eden,” he spat, pointing a finger in her face.  “I’m still part of this team!”

She grabbed his finger and twisted, watching dispassionately as he sank to his knees trying to loosen her grip.  “You’re going to learn one day not to try and intimidate with your size and to not go sticking your fingers where they don’t belong.”  She squeezed once hard before releasing his hand.  “And if you’re still a part of this team, then you better start acting like it – you’re the one trying to destroy everything we’ve built together.”

He looked at her as confusion passed over his face.  “Huh?  What do you mean??  I’m the only one trying to keep us from being annihilated.”

“No, Isaac.  You’re the danger here.  Now sit down and shut up and listen to what Aphrodite and her sisters have to say.  Maybe then you’ll get a grasp on what’s truly happening.”

“Do it, Ike,” Jacob advised.  “For all of us.”

Isaac looked around at all of his friends, grimacing when he realized they were all nodding their agreement.  With a glower, he dragged himself off the floor and dropped into the nearest chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Go ahead,” he gestured.  “Apparently, I don’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice, Isaac, but it would behoove you to listen.  You really don’t want to have regrets later.”

Isaac snorted.  “The only regret I have I letting Arianna get away when I should have claimed her.  But please,” he added sarcastically, waving a hand in her direction.  “Science forbid that I don’t allow you to speak.”

Aphrodite nodded and gracefully took a seat beside him, discretely motioning the rest to the periphery of the room.  “Thank you, Isaac.  I think you’ll find this story... enlightening.”

“Then please,” with more than a hint of snark, “do tell on.”

************

“What do you think I should do about Isaac?” Eli asked as they went through their evening ablutions together.

“What do you want to do?”

Eli snickered.  “What I’d like to do is to smack some sense into that thick skull of his.  What I’m going to do....”  She sighed and shrugged, looking at the ground a moment before meeting Arianna’s eyes in the mirror squarely.  “What do you want me to do?”

Arianna shrugged.  “I meant what I said about not standing between you if he tried to stake his claim on me again.”  She rinsed her mouth and wiped the excess wetness from her lips before wrapping her arms around Eli’s thin waist and resting her head on the folded wings that twitched beneath her touch.  “I made a mistake during our last trip through the circle when I allowed my father to dictate terms to me and push you out of my life.  I will not permit anything or anyone to come between us ever again.”

“So you want me to...?” turning in Arianna’s embrace and wrapping both arms around narrow shoulders.

“Do what you need to do, Amado,” Arianna said as brown eyes met green.  “Do what it takes to make Isaac understand he has no right and no claim.  But remember that Isaac is still part of our team and that he is being used by the enemy.”

“You know if I transform fully into my dragon form, he runs a very real risk of dying at my hand.  As a humanoid, I don’t always play well with others and sharing is not my forte.  As a dragon...”  She shrugged.  “I don’t play... except with you.  And I don’t share at all.”

“Whether you confront him as a humanoid or as a dragon, I will be standing right beside you.  I won’t let you do too much damage to him.”

Eli snorted.  “All things being equal, you mean?”

Arianna grinned and hugged Eli hard.  “Yes... exactly.”  She unwrapped herself from Eli’s body and caught one hand in her own.  “Come on,” she said around a yawn.  “I am so tired; I just want to wrap up together for a while and get some sleep.”

“That is the best idea I’ve heard in a while,” Eli agreed through a yawn of her own.  “Maybe we can dream together again.”

Arianna arched an eyebrow.  “As long as they are good dreams.”

Eli smiled.  “As long as we’re together at the end of it, they will be.  Maybe it will help us to bond a little more.”  She shifted slightly and curled her body around Arianna’s.  “Aphrodite seemed to think it was important.”

“You don’t?”

Eli nipped at the juncture of Arianna’s neck and shoulder, laving it lightly when Arianna squawked in outrage before turning to give her a look.  “You know I do.  I just don’t think we should rush the process.  It will be harder to undo any damage we do than it will be to get things right the first time.”

“Hmm,” Arianna replied as she snuggled back into Eli’s warmth.  “I’m just glad we have the chance to try.”

Eli kissed her neck.  “Me too.  I love you, Beloved.”

“As I love you, Amado.”

Silence fell between them as they drifted into sleep, and in moments, darkness fell throughout their quarters.

************

Isaac just stared at them for a long moment when Aphrodite finished speaking.  Then he roared with laughter.  After a minute, he visibly calmed himself and wiped at his eyes.  “Seriously?  You expect me to believe that – that some god has coerced me into pursuing Arianna for my own??  Like I told Jake earlier, I’m pretty sure I’m man enough to claim Arianna myself.  I don’t need some sort of freak being to help me out.”

“Then why now, Isaac?” Aphrodite asked softly, ignoring the flinch she’d felt run through her and her sisters at being referred to as freak beings.  “What is so urgent that you need to force a claim on her now?  You had several opportunities before, and Arianna shut you down each time you tried.”

“That’s because she didn’t remember what we were to one another!”

“But she remembers that past life now – and she still refused your advances.  So why is this so important to you??  Maybe you should figure that out first.  Because you gave up any claim to her affections when you blessed her joining to Eli.”

“Because I didn’t know!!!”

“And it doesn’t change the fact that she turned you down – before she knew all that Eli was to her; after she and Eli exchanged vows; and especially after she learned of her actions in her past life.  No matter what you think you feel or know or deserve, the fact remains that Arianna has consistently spurned your amorous gestures.  Even in your previous life, she never chose you.  She chose to protect Eli... even when that meant it destroyed what they had together.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do… and so do you.  Deep down in your heart, you know it’s the truth.”

“I don’t have to listen to this!” Isaac roared as he jumped from his seat.  He stomped to the door, then whirled around as he reached the threshold.  “I get that none of you are on my side in this.  Just leave me alone and stay out of my way.”  He walked out before anyone could respond.

Everyone looked around the room at each other in the uncomfortable silence that followed Isaac’s departure.  Finally Aphrodite ran a hand through her curls and sighed.  “That could have gone a lot better.”

“It also could have been much, much worse,” Eden replied.  “We’ll do what we can to assuage the consequences of Isaac’s actions, but it’s gone too far to stop him.  We need to let this play out.”

“Why can’t we just anesthetize him until whatever that Ares asshat did to him wears off?” from Titus.

“Because it won’t.  It’s going to build until it explodes – one way or another.  We just need to make sure Isaac doesn’t do any real damage to himself or anyone else until this is over.  I’ll see if I can work out a reasonable schedule where we can keep an eye on him,” Eden replied.

“And Eli?  What about her?  Do we really think we have any influence on her when she’s a dragon?”

“No.  But I’m counting on the fact that Az does.  Eli will do anything to protect Az – humanoid or dragon – I have to believe that she’ll know we’re protecting Az too.”

“And if she doesn’t?  Eden, that’s a hell of a risk.”

“I know, Jake.  But I don’t think we’re going to have a choice.”  She pushed off the wall she was leaning against.  “C’mon,” then looked at the three goddesses.  “How long til this all goes down?”

“If we have it figured right, it should be within sixty-eight of your standard hours.  He has to make a move by then or this lifetime becomes forfeit in regards to his interference.  He’s not going to miss this opportunity.”

Eden stared at Athena for another long minute, trying to decipher just what exactly wasn’t being said, but Athena never balked under her regard.  Eden shrugged and turned her attention to her fellow teammates.  “All right,” she said.  “C’mon, guys.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could use a few minutes of sleep before all this goes down.”

“What about a guard for Isaac?” Deborah asked.  “Wouldn’t the best time for him to try something be when we’re all sleeping?”

“We’ll watch,” Artemis assured them.  “But we think he’ll wait to make a stand when everyone is awake – so you’ll see how right he was.  That way, you’ll finally back his claim.”

“Aphrodite, how much of this is he going to remember?”

Dite stared into Abigail’s sorrowful blue eyes.  “I’m thinking he’s totally gonna remember the whole craptastic situation.  But there’s nothing we can do about it now.  We’ll have to worry about it when the time comes.  For now, you all need some sleep.  We’ll be here in case anything happens in the meantime, but like Artie said, we expect Isaac to wait until he has an audience.  Ares has something to prove, and he’s gonna want witnesses.”

“He really thinks he can win?” Esther asked.

“It’s all he’s got left.”  The Alpha Team glanced at one another, then the goddesses before exiting the mess hall silently and heading toward their rooms.  The goddesses waited until they were sure everyone was ensconced in their quarters before risking a glance at each other.  Then they separated to set up their monitoring units, knowing a lot depended on them now.

************

“Ares.”

It took a moment, but Isaac’s soft call was soon answered by the non-theatrical appearance of the dark god he had seen in his quarters once before.  Ares crossed his arms over his chest and smiled forebodingly.  “You rang?”

Isaac took a minute to size the other man up.  Ares was tall, though not as large as Isaac himself; muscular, though not bulky like Isaac.  But the biggest difference was the confidence and power that seemed to radiate through him.  Ares had a swagger even standing perfectly still and he was cocky and self-assured to the point of being smug as his eyebrow crawled up toward his hairline.  Isaac swallowed hard and cleared his throat.  “I’ve decided.  I want Arianna.”

Ares smile became a predator’s grin.  “Excellent.  And your teammates?”

Isaac glanced at the floor before returning his gaze to Ares and offering a slight shrug.  “I don’t want them deliberately targeted, but if they interfere or get in the way, I’m not responsible for what happens to them, right?”

Ares smirked.  “Right,” he drawled.  “Do you think they will?”

“I dunno.  I know they’re on Eli’s side in all this, so maybe?”

Ares straightened from his spot in the corner and crossed into the light to stand at Isaac’s side.  “Well then, I suppose they’ll deserve whatever consequences befall them, won’t they?  Here,” he continued before Isaac could question him further, extending his hand to Isaac.  Isaac opened his hand automatically to receive whatever it was Ares was giving him, and was surprised by the coolness of the metal circlet that was placed there.

“What’s this?”

“This is your way to defeat Eli.  Once this is put around her wrist or ankle, it will prevent her from being able to transform.  If she can’t utilize her dragon self against you....” 

“... she can’t defeat me.  And once I’ve defeated her, Arianna will be mine!” excitement coloring his voice.

“Something like that,” Ares agreed solemnly, though his expression told a different story.  “You just need to make sure it’s fastened securely.  Once it’s locked in place, no one will be able to remove it.”

“It won’t do permanent damage to her, will it?  I mean she’s totally pissed me off and everything, but the team really does need her.”

“You’ll be the one causing the damage, Isaac, so I suppose that is completely up to you.  But don’t be surprised if she doesn’t surrender regardless of what you inflict upon her.  She was never one to quit or give up.”  Isaac frowned, wondering if those tall tales the goddess women had shared with him had been closer to the truth then he was willing to acknowledge.  But before he could question further, Ares put a hand on his shoulder.  “It doesn’t matter.  Just make sure you use this as soon as you see her again.  The enchantment on it won’t last forever and it does get weaker over time.”  Isaac nodded. “Good luck, Isaac.”

“Yeah,” he said distractedly as he studied the object in his hand.  “Thanks, Ares.”  He didn’t notice the malevolent look he got as Ares faded from sight.

Part 4