Mercenary Read Online Free Page A

as a mercenary, I had
been accepted into the Gladiator Guild, an elite organization for
skilled single combat fighters where violence was cheered on by
millions of viewers watching on television.
    With a knife in one hand and handgun in
another, I tore through four of the men, leaving none of them alive
to threaten Tommy, before I crept into the main chamber. Another
four or five were waiting for me. I snatched the first, preparing
to drive a knife through his eye into his brain, when someone
spoke.
    “Niko!”
    I paused.
    “Gods, man, are you trying to finish off the
rest of my detail?” Cleon snapped in indignation.
    I slowly released my grip on the man I’d
pinned between my body and the wall. Easing away, I checked with my
senses to ensure no one else was ready to attack or headed towards
the corridor where Tommy was.
    “You couldn’t announce yourself?” I snapped
in return.
    “I texted you.”
    I rolled my eyes and sheathed my
weapons.
    “We don’t have much time. Do you know how to
get out of here?” Cleon asked, approaching me.
    “Not a clue.”
    He barked orders for two of the remaining
members of his security team to find an exit before addressing me
again. “I find it interesting you knew to come here, the
destination I was trying to reach.”
    “And?” I challenged.
    “Did you find any survivors?” By the note in
his voice, Cleon didn’t expect anyone to have lived through the
crash.
    “Why do you care about a helicopter
crashing?” I asked warily.
    “When the gods made you, they replaced your
brain with muscle,” he said in rare anger. “I was tracking the
Queen of Greece’s escape from New York when I heard through secure
channels that the military shot her down. The only reason I am here
is to determine if she survived.”
    The pieces fell into place. Theodocia was
the High Priestess of Artemis entrusted with the duty of raising
and guiding the Queen of Greece. I had only been thinking of Tommy
from the first time I heard his voice.
    “She’s alive,” I said.
    Cleon’s silence was one of surprise.
    “C’mon.” I led him back towards the small
room with the survivors. Turning on the flashlight of the cell
phone, I shone it towards the five. Tommy was back in the lap of
the girl I assumed to be the Queen of Greece.
    Cleon stepped into the room, his eyes
widening. “How is this possible?” he asked.
    I shifted weight between my feet, uncertain
why I tensed when he entered. My gaze was on Tommy. I didn’t care
at all about the girl, and I shouldn’t have cared about Tommy.
    “Daddy, who is that?” Tommy asked.
    Gods dammit, kid, I thought.
    “Daddy?” Cleon’s focus shifted to me then
back to the unconscious men and woman. “Of course. You knew to come
because your ex called you. You never mentioned she was in the
service of the Queen.”
    Cleon had been using Tommy and Theodocia
against me for several years. Whenever I was reluctant to take a
job he sent me, he threatened to cut off my ex and son financially.
Tommy’s trust was maintained by Cleon’s financial management team,
and he dumped all my earnings from the contracts he hired me for
into it. Cleon had always known about the existence of Theodocia
and Tommy, but something about the three of them being in the same
room together rubbed me the wrong way.
    The teen girl looked up at us. Her eyes were
sky blue, her slender frame borderline frail. She nudged Tommy from
her lap and climbed to her feet, wobbled, and then straightened
fully.
    “Phoibe would like to thank you for finding
us,” Tommy said.
    My brow furrowed.
    Cleon bowed his head and offered a warm
smile. “It is my pleasure, Your Majesty,” he purred. “May I ask
what happened?”
    Tommy looked up at the Queen, waiting. After
a moment, he spoke. “We were shot down by the military. Thanatos
saved us.”
    “Who is Thanatos?” I asked, eyeing the
unconscious man who appeared to be part of their security
detail.
    Tommy giggled again.
    “The God of