Their Starlet (Heroes of Olympus Book 5)

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2017 April Zyon

  ISBN: 978-1-77339-491-6

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  THEIR STARLET

  Heroes of Olympus, 5

  April Zyon

  Copyright © 2017

  Chapter One

  Laughing out loud, again, Brooklyn shook her head at her cousin and snorted. How embarrassing! “Oh, God.” She laughed even harder. “Dion, I swear you are killing me here.”

  “Oh, not killing you, Brook, just trying to get you drunk.”

  “I’m already halfway there, cousin, dear, but I thought people got drunk to forget?”

  “That’s the plebes, darling. You have never been, nor will you ever be, one of them. I need you drunk so that you can see the truth.”

  Brooklyn snorted and giggled. “I snorted.” She was lost in giggles as she spoke. “What is it that I need to see, oh great and powerful Dion?”

  “That your future husband is a douche-nozzle.”

  She snickered again. She knew she shouldn’t, but couldn’t help it. “He’s so uptight. He said no sex before marriage. Who does that? I thought that all men wanted sex. Right?” She enjoyed sex, had always been uber-safe with it, but she loved making love.

  “There’s a reason, Brook. Trust me. I know what I am talking about.” Dionysus wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her out of the way of the people milling around in the bar that they were in. “There.” There was a definite note of glee and happiness in Dion’s voice that had Brooklyn looking up at him.

  “You are looking very chipper, Dion. What’s up?” She took another long swig of her mixed drink.

  “I need you to see, Brooklyn. Really see. I need you to break free of the shroud of lies that he’s woven. Look, really look.” Dion turned her head for her as he spoke against her ear. Her body was in front of his, and he was holding her head so she had to see what was there.

  “Bloody hell,” Brooklyn whispered, which was comical in the loud club that they were in. “That rat bastard.” Her so-called fiancé was right there in a booth fucking a woman. She saw that his pants were open, and that bitch was riding his junk like he was a racehorse.

  She was shaking she was so angry. Gone was the good buzz that she’d had going. Instead, in its place was a slow-burning anger. “Take me home,” she said to her cousin, and turned to walk out. The lying, cheating bastard wasn’t even worth her making a scene. It wasn’t the woman’s fault; it was the asshole-who-would-never-be-named-again’s fault.

  “He played a good game, Brook. Honey, you couldn’t have possibly known that he was going to step out on you.”

  “I should have known. There is no way on God's green earth that any man would be in a relationship with a woman for two years and not want sex. I think deep down I knew he had to be either cheating or gay, or both.” Brooklyn was buckled in on the passenger side of Dion’s Porsche, leaning her head back.

  Once they were on the interstate heading toward her family home Dion spoke. “There are men out there for you, Brook. I know that you will find yourself with them. You were blinded for a time. I get that.”

  “Yeah, but I never get blinded. Ever. Then again, people seem to fall in love and marry all around me.” She was the one who was unlucky in love. If she was dating a man, or even casually seeing one, it never failed that he would find his one true love very shortly after that. She didn’t understand it, at all.

  “Why did you have to be related to me, Dion?” she asked her cousin, turning her head to watch him. “You are panty-dropping hot and single, so why did we have to be related? And why did you say they were out there for me?”

  “One, we are related, so knock it off. I’m not to be tempted by you, Brook.” He looked over at her and winked. Taking her hand in his, he continued. “Second, I mentioned ‘men’ because I know that there are two men that are going to walk into your life. They will take you by surprise. Your reactions to them will be visceral, and you will know it. They will be different from any of the other men you’ve dated in your life.”

  “Is that a reading?” Her cousin seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to things. He had saved her life when he refused to let her go on a blind date with a man that turned out to be a mass murderer. She shivered in reaction to the thoughts of that man.

  “It’s the gospel, Brooklyn. I swear to you on all that I am, one day you will find the love that all the others around you are finding. You are going to learn soon just how to love and be loved.”

  “I hope that you are right, Dion. I really do.” She sounded tired, even to herself. Grabbing her cell phone out of her small clutch, she broke up with her fiancé via text message. Yeah, that was an asshole thing to do, but he was the one who was balls deep inside some blonde bimbo.

  Brooklyn couldn’t understand why she couldn’t find love. She knew she was beautiful. The string of pageant wins, right up to Miss America, proved it. However, she was more than the sum of her looks and knew that, too. She deserved happiness, and she deserved to find her one, or if Dion was correct, two, true loves.

  “Wave your magic wand, cuz, and have them call me?” Brooklyn asked with a smile. She looked at her text from the now-ex and shrugged. “And Alan is taking it like I figured. I should have snapped a picture of him with the woman riding him and sent it to him.” She muttered as her fingers flew across the screen of her phone. “There, that should get my point across,” she muttered darkly and then leaned back again. “Do you think that Daddy will be swayed into using another security firm now that we know that good ol’ Alan is fucking his way across town?”

  Alan was head of the security team her father used for her. Now it looked like it was time to start some new interviews. Wonderful, simply wonderful. With Alan screwing around that meant that he was easily compromised and couldn’t be trusted. She couldn’t trust him any longer either, and that hurt her more than she cared to admit.

  Dionysus snickered. “I’m sure I will be able to talk your dad into someone else to be your protection while you do what you have to do. Speaking of, how long is the next shoot going to be?”

  Who would have guessed that little Brooklyn Anderson from Nowheresville, USA, would be one of the leading starlets in Hollywood? When she’d told her mother that she refused to continue to do pageants, she had gone to college, where she received degrees in Theater and English lit, with a minor in photography. She was determined to make her own path and did. Her pageant momma ended up proud of her when she hit it big in Hollywood. Sadly, however, with fame came a shitload of headaches.

  “Thanks, Dion. At least Daddy will listen to you.” One of the headaches of fame was the need to have protection with her. There had been several abduction attempts, as well as threats to her life. Lots of those. Joy be to the world.

  “Don’t worry, cuz. I have just the right team for you. I promise.”

  Chapter Two

  “Now that she’s broken it off with Alan you know that the attempts will increase?” Ares asked Dionysus as he walked into the viewing room on Olympus.

  “Believe me, I know. She would have never se
en Alan for the cheater that he was. I hope she never sees the darkness in his soul. He’s evil, pure and simple. Now that we know what he is, that only confirms what we had been thinking for far too long.”

  “That Hades’s acolytes are very active and have found at least one of the keys?” Ares asked as he turned away, trying to figure everything out. It seemed that no matter how hard they tried to keep the keys safe, Hades found a way to slither in. With Alan being an acolyte for Hades, it made him, and the rest of the team, question how many more they hadn’t found yet.

  “We just don’t know how many more of them are out there in the shadows and waiting to come out when we aren’t ready for them.”

  “That, too,” Dion said with a sad sigh. “I just never thought that his acolytes were still alive.”

  “So Brooklyn is starting a new movie?”

  “Yes, and she needs ’round the clock guards. Think that you can get a four-man team out to Hollywood to watch over her?” They didn’t need all twelve of the Gods’ Knights. Four of them they could cover almost anything. That, and two of the four would be her mates. “Do you know which ones are destined to be Brooklyn’s yet?”

  “I have a feeling. I’ll go and talk to them tonight. It’s BBQ night, and there is no way in hell I’m missing that BBQ. Want to come with me?”

  “I would love to.” Dion rubbed his hands together. “I’ll even bring the booze.” With that, both gods disappeared from the viewing room and made their way to Earth.

  Chapter Three

  “Thank you for the wonderful meal. It was perfection as usual,” Ares told the men that were gathered round.

  “As you know, we were here for more than just your cooking,” Dion stated. “The Descendant that I’ve been watching over is in trouble. She was almost snatched a couple of times. She’s high-profile, and I think that’s the only reason she hasn’t been taken before now. She’s the descendant of Aphrodite and will need protection around the clock when she goes back to Hollywood for the final filming of the movie she’s in.”

  “I’m assuming that you want us to watch over her?” Gareth asked. “Though high-profile isn’t exactly something we’ve taken on as of yet. We’re always up for new challenges, even if it is in Tinseltown.”

  “Yes, at least four of you. Two for the daytime and two for at night. Make sure that they are the ones that you will be able to spare for the next two months, perhaps less, but no longer. They will need to be versatile and able to blend in with a crowd as well.”

  “We don’t split the team up,” Mikhail said. “At least not without all hell breaking loose. We work together for a reason, and it’s because we each bring a particular skill to the table. It might never be needed, but it’s better to have available than left at home. So give us a damn good reason to send only four on this job.”

  “Because you will need the other eight here. Trouble is going to come to your doorstep. We don’t know exactly what sort yet, but there is trouble coming. You will be needed here while the four going will be required there for her. The four single men need to go.”

  “Well that at least lets us off the hook of picking straws,” James said. “Though sending the singles makes sense, especially if she’s one of the Descendants like he’s suggesting. I don’t like the idea of us splitting up either, but if something is coming our way, no way in hell am I leaving Kasper here without us. No offense, babe, I know you’re damn handy with that rifle, but that’s one gun against apparently not even the gods know what.”

  “I agree,” Kasper said simply.

  “She is one of the Descendants. She’s also just broken up from an engagement. The man she was engaged to was one of Hades’s acolytes. He was dangerous, and she’d cut off all communication with him. It pissed him off all the more. He was unsalvageable, and in fact he has been killed by Hades’s other acolytes for failing.”

  “Good to know,” Stefan muttered. “Well, at least we’ll see some action. We’ll need all the information of course, plus the locations we’ll be at on this trip, and the woman as well. Anything and everything, per the usual. Might as well start studying up on this. When do we start?”

  “The full files will be in your inboxes, all of the scans of the threats against her as well as the images of the men who have all been part of some sort of plot to kidnap her. Although wouldn’t it be woman-nap?” Dion’s voice seemed as if he were bored instead of talking about a woman that he helped to raise.

  “Complete dossiers will be available to you all. If you need anything, just ask, and we will try to get it to you. You all understand that we aren’t able to give the whole ball of wax away, but we will try to give you enough to make a candle,” Ares said, proud of himself for the references he was making.

  All the people at the table stared at him for a long, very uncomfortable moment before they began to talk among themselves. “We’ll need to get you out there as early as we can so that you can get a feel for the place,” Mik said. “The jet will have to come right back here in case we need it for whatever reason.”

  “We should also go over the areas she’ll be residing in, and working to cover all the bases. Without the additional manpower you guys will have to be on your game fully,” Gareth commented. “It would be helpful to have a god on standby in the case of an emergency if they happen to need backup from this end temporarily.”

  “Well, good ole cousin Dion will be there with her. I travel with her everywhere. So get used to me.” Dion all but preened. “I adore that girl, so whoever is hers had better be damn thankful that she’s theirs. She’s an amazing being. The only trouble is…” He looked to Ares.

  Ares sighed and said, “The trouble is that she is love.”

  The four men shared a look, one even a god couldn’t translate. Whatever it was had them all nodding. “Won’t be an issue,” Lincoln said quietly. “Though the peacock,” he jerked his thumb in Dion’s direction, “we could likely do without. Might as well pin a bullseye to her back now and be done with it.”

  “I will have you know that I’m far more than a peacock.” The look on Dion’s face was one of offended indignation. “I have battled alongside my brothers many times. Just because I see the finer things in life does not make me a waste of space, understand?”

  “Methinks the peacock doth protest a bit too much,” Thomas commented. “I’m wracking my brain trying to recall history. Got Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Zeus, and numerous others with copious notes of their battle prowess. Not recalling any for Dionysus. Lincoln, remind me to do a search on that later so if I’m incorrect I can apologize.”

  “So noted.”

  “I am so fabulous that each year New Orleans breaks out in a party for me. Mardi Gras was created by me, for me and all my glory.”

  Ares was laughing. “Not helping yourself, D. Not at all. You are actually digging the hole a bit deeper.”

  “Well, Brook loves me for who I am and knows that I would do anything to protect her.”

  “Now that I actually believe,” Antonio said. “First thing out of your mouth I’ve actually bought. Besides the Mardi Gras bit. Hell, even I knew that one, and Ares was right. It really doesn’t help your cause, nor bolster your rep, to be using that as a promotional piece. I’d be looking for some new material if I were you.”

  “You will be damn happy to have me there when the chips are down,” Dion said with a shrug. “For now, I need to get back to Brooklyn. I hate that she’s alone again. Her bodyguards come and go on four-hour shifts, and I like to be there during shift change to ensure nothing funny happens. Until later.” He waved and left.

  Ares sighed and shook his head. “Don’t let him fool you. He really does care for Brooklyn and would do anything at all for her. He’s good to have in your corner as well. He seems flamboyant and as if he would run at the first sign of trouble, but he wouldn’t. Not with her life on the line.”

  “We know that,” Mikhail said. “Like you, we like to know who we’re working with. Owen can find anything he
sets his mind to with enough time. He’s done a lot of digging into lost texts and tablets. It’s truly amazing what folks will put on the Net these days.”

  “While he definitely doesn’t have the rep of some at this dinner table,” Owen said with a grin at Ares. The god tipped his head with a smirk. “Dionysus does have his own bag of tricks he can pull out when required. For the most part, the partying playboy routine is an act. Well, except for that one century that seems a little blurry from all reports. Personally, I think if they hadn’t all been indulging so much we’d know more, but that’s a different story. You guys can trust him. He’s solid. Unfortunately, you’ll have to put up with the frat boy attitude as well for most of the trip, as it seems to be his go-to defense mechanism.”

  “Fucking fantastic,” Stefan muttered.

  “On the bright side, you get to meet and protect Brooklyn Anderson.” Ares saw the looks on the men’s faces and smiled. “Told you she was a high-profile target. And the way that he acted here, he doesn’t do that around her. Too much. He’s her manager and takes care of her. And two of you will have him hanging around you for the rest of your time on Earth. Aren’t you the lucky bastards?” Ares had to keep from laughing as he said that last bit.

  “Pretty easy gig since we all have to put up with you hanging around,” Antonio pointed out. “Not a one of them takes shit from you,” he pointed down the table toward Mik, Camilla, and Gareth.

  “Makes it easy when they are bound by certain rules here in this realm,” Mik said. “That and they know we can cut them off from dinners around here at any moment if they piss us off too much. It’s amazing how quickly they fall into line when their stomachs are in charge of decisions.”

  “There was once a time when you would have been killed for talking to me like that,” Ares muttered, but with a grin. “But those times are gone, and this is Ares 2.0 you are dealing with now. I’m a lot more mellow.”