Hydra
As soon as they appeared in the paddock, Kayden summoned his team. The men received the message and were waiting at the house for their return. As soon as they trotted into the barn, Kayden knew there’d been a shift in their dynamics. Only Ethan and Conor came out to meet them. Jason and Woody were inside waiting, which was highly unusual. Once the horses were taken care of, Kayden followed them into the house. Jason and Woody both had their girls. Jason, the little surprise package, had proposed to Sonia and she was now part of their secret too. But they had kept the girls inside until Kayden had given permission for them to view the team in their magical form.
Business came first with Kayden so the men and their issues would have to wait. Jason and Woody left the girls to chat and have a drink while they followed Kayden and the rest of the team down to the satellite room. Kayden was in no mood after Aldebaran had upset Cassie. He felt sure in Aldebaran’s state of mind, that he would be planning something to coincide with the mission they were now being sent on and wanted to be ready for anything he might throw at them while they were up there.
While Kayden worked on coordinates, Cassie filled her team mates in on their trip away. Even now Kayden felt blown away at the work she did up there and yet knew she really had no idea what she had accomplished.
Conom was a real threat to the universe and when they had first come out of the trance, he was almost the same man they had all met in Sydney. His features were hard, eyes black as coal, deep-set and, angry-looking, his body rigid and pumped, ready to battle with Kayden at any moment. How Cassie was able to see through that and not be frightened of him was beyond him. In fact it was so disturbing that he nearly brought her home, but she refused to leave because she couldn’t see the way he saw the situation. She had laughed at the way he perceived the warlord and accused him of just being a little over-possessive.
Well, hell yes I was! He punched harder on the keyboard and the guys stopped talking and looked over. He took a deep breath and smiled to show them he was cool. He watched as they went back to their conversation.
In the end he’d caved in and given her a couple more days to see what she was capable of doing. Hour by hour he had watched as the most ferocious-looking character mellowed and in the end practically bowed at her feet, swearing his allegiance to her, to be in her life in whatever way she would have him, never taking up arms against her again.
The boys will go ape shit when I tell them later, privately.
He tuned in on Cassie talking about her dad and even though he liked the guy when he was around Cassie, there was a side he saw before they left that he just did not want to cross. His adoration for Cassie could not be denied. Yet maybe it was because they were father and daughter that her power didn’t work on him. She was wearing him down but had not won.
The fight in his eyes when we left showed me he is the strongest son of a bitch I have ever met and it is just going to take a bit more time for my stealer of hearts as Conom calls her to get her dad to lay down his sword against her as well.
Kayden switched on all the monitors and called for quiet. Woody as always stood with his arm around Cassie and Kayden was glad he now had Ella and would leave Cassie the hell alone. Not that I’m jealous of course. Much! He grinned. She might be a stealer of hearts but her body and soul belong to me. And here with my men I’m not going to share her ever again. Well, not unless the bastards steal her. Then I’ll just kill ’em. He almost chuckled at his thoughts. He smiled at her, loving his little lady with all he had to give. He just wanted to get this out of the way so he could snatch her away from them and hold her possessively until it was time to leave.
She grinned up at him as she took a step away from the boys and giggled, making him laugh more. The little bitch knows she’s stirring me up and knows exactly what I’m thinking. His men wanted to know what was so funny and he told them with an amused expression to mind their own Goddamned business.
‘Well, its official,’ Woody chuckled. ‘The turncoat has dumped us for married life.’
Kayden laughed louder. ‘You bet I have, so keep the hell away from my woman or I’ll replace you all with robots.’
They all couldn’t stop laughing. They had their boss back and loved it. Pulling himself together, he turned back to the screens. ‘Okay, enough fooling around. Let’s get this out the way.’ He became serious and so did they.
‘The long feuding between the constellations Corvus, Crater and Hydra has come to a head.’ Cassie looked unsure of that particular feud. Kayden smiled at her, knowing she needed to know the full story to understand. ‘This is for you, gorgeous one. The story goes that Apollo sent his raven called Corvus to get water in the god’s cup called Crater but on the way the raven saw a fig tree and stayed on it until the fruit ripened. He then ate all the figs before returning with the water. When he did return, in one hand, the crow had water in the cup and in the other, a water snake called Hydra. He blamed the snake he carried for being so late. Apollo was furious and knew the raven was lying. As punishment he banished the raven into the sky with the snake, the cup of water and until this day the snake keeps water from the eternally thirsty raven. They now make up the constellation Hydra, Corvis and Crater.’