Free At Year's End (The 12 Olympians) by Sandrine Gasq-Dion Page A

Chance and the warlock answered on the second ring.
    “What’s going on?”
    “How do you know something’s going on?”
    “I just had this shiver pass down my spine. Something’s shifted. A darkness was extinguished.”
    “I have no idea what that means. I’m calling to ask if you can come to Washington state. We just found Elijah’s adoptive parents torn to shreds, and the house has been ransacked. We think they may have been trying to hide something.”
    “On my way.”
    “Thanks, Chance.”
    “Anything for Elijah.” Chance paused. “Why didn’t you just talk to me telepathically?”
    “I’d like to actually use my minutes . I’m paying for them.”
    Chance chuckled and hung up.
    Jaxon stepped back inside the house and met with Justice and Caden in the kitchen.
    “Looks like we’ll all be hanging around.”
    “Chance is coming?” Caden asked.
    “Yep. And we have some packing to do.”
     
    Four hours later, the Santorno cleaning team arrived. Jaxon stood with his brother in the kitchen as Caden spoke to them. They were accompanied by Lorenzo Costa and Dimitri Voronova, two assassins on Stefan Santorno’s team. Stefan, the notorious head of the Italian Mob, had joined forces with James’ Skull Blaster team after Vince Markov had fallen for James’ FBI agent, Keegan Ripley. Who was now Keegan Markov.
    The teams kept running into each other at assignments and it finally occurred to James that it made more sense for the two groups to work together. Since he was exactly Vince Markov’s type, Keegan had been the bait to get the talks started. The plan was to win over one man — Vince — and the rest would follow.
    The men spent a few minutes discussing the current situation. They had met Lorenzo at a meeting held by James, and Dimitri was well known throughout the group due to his affiliation with Andrei Panchenko, the head of the Russian Mob. And Vince’s ex-husband.
    Lorenzo sighed loudly as he surveyed the mess.
    “These rogues, it is not surprising you want them eliminated. They make such a mess.”
    Jaxon had to smile. Neither Lorenzo nor Dimitri seemed fazed at all by the mess in the house, which said a lot about what type of men they were.
    “We’re such a fun group, aren’t we?” Jaxon winked at the cleaning team. They were huge, at least six-foot-four, and looked like they’d tear your head off for looking at them sideways. “You guys got here fast.”
    “We have a jet as well ,” Lorenzo grinned.
    “ Lorenzo, how is your husband?” Caden asked.
    “Reece is well. He is working with the team in Turkey.”
    Reece Costa was a doctor and had gotten training to accompany the men on missions in that capacity. It hadn’t gone over well with his over-protective husband at first, but after extensive training, Lorenzo had finally relented.
    “This is Elijah’s guardians?” Dimitri motioned to the bits on the floor.
    “Yes. What’s left of them ,” Justice answered.
    “Jesus!”
    They all turned, the Santorno men pulling their weapons out immediately. A loud growl shook the house as Logan MacLeod stepped in front of Chance Christianson.
    “I’d rethink that if I were you ,” Logan snarled.
    “Oh , shush!” Chance pushed past his mate. He stopped and surveyed the room. “My God, this was a bloodbath.” He closed his eyes and concentrated. “They weren’t expecting it at all. The man, he ran and tried to make it out the back door.”
    “You can see it?” Jaxon eyes widened.
    Chance nodded, keeping his eyes closed. “There were six other rogues, I can’t hear what they’re saying, but the woman was the first to die. They tried to get the man to talk, but he knew what was coming whether he talked or not. He tried to stall them, waving his hands around the house.”
    Chance opened his eyes and shivered. “Yeah, I don’t want to see anymore.” He put his hands out in front of him and slowly walked around the room.
    Lorenzo leaned into Logan’s ear. “What is he