Chapter 18

18

SELENE

I plunged into the sea. The frigid cold consumed me, stabbing me with a thousand tiny blades and filling my nose until it felt as if it might burst. Screaming, I thrashed, fighting the current and the weight of my velvet gown dragging me down.

Calm thoughts eluded me. I wouldn’t die here, but I could sink, forever trapped in the cloudy darkness. I’d heard stories of others who’d fought the ocean and lost. They were never seen again, and yet…they were alive out there, unable to feed or breathe. Slowly, they transformed into a husk of themselves. Lost in the oceans for an eternity.

The idea seized my heart with terror. I screamed again, saltwater filling my throat.

I’d rather die than end up like this.

Trying to still my racing heart, I reached up, kicking my legs. But it was useless. My dress was too heavy, and I didn’t know how to swim, and I just went down, down, down.

Down into the shrouded depths.

A hand seized mine and tugged . Heart leaping into my throat, I held tight to a powerful arm, sending up a silent thanks to whichever god was looking out for me. Orpheus had found me. He’d get me to safety.

And then I would never step foot in the sea again.

The hand pulled harder. Suddenly, my face crested the waves. Sweet air swept across me, and my lungs expelled the water I’d sucked in through my screams. My chest burned; my whole body shook with cold and fear, and another wave crashed against me, threatening to drag me down once more.

“I’ve got you,” a rough voice murmured. His other hand grabbed my waist, helping to keep my head above water.

But my heart went cold—as cold as the rest of me. That voice did not belong to Orpheus.

“Ares,” I croaked, hating how utterly weak I sounded.

He spun me around so I could see him now. Curly silver hair smeared across his forehead, and his crimson eyes were scorchingly bright against the gray mist surrounding us. I started to pull back, but his hand tightened around my waist.

“Don’t fight me. I just saved your fucking life.”

I coughed again. “Vampires can’t die by drowning.”

“You’re right. It’s a fate far worse than death, if you ask me. Now I’m going to pull you onto the shore, and when we get there, you aren’t going to fight me.”

I ground my teeth. “Fine.”

Ares, against all odds, began to swim. He moved through the waves, his hands still on me, gently pushing me forward. I’d never met another vampire who went into the sea—not willingly, at least. There was something about it, something that set my teeth on edge. The sky felt like home, like a beacon calling me toward it. The sea felt like the opposite of that, like it curdled the blood in my veins.

Only moments later, my boots hit the sloped sand leading up onto the shore. At long last, Ares released me. I threw myself forward and sloshed up the bank. My wet velvet dress engulfed me, and my hair was plastered to my face, hanging into my eyes, and dripping everywhere.

Ares strode out of the waters with surprising ease. Beneath his wet cloak, his white shirt clung to his chest, highlighting every ridge of muscle. Through the thin material, I could see that tattoo more clearly. It was one of his symbols—two torches, their flames entwined.

I still didn’t understand how he’d managed to keep the ink inside his skin, but that hardly mattered right now.

“See something you like?” he asked.

I dragged my gaze up to his face. Rivulets of saltwater trailed down his cheeks. “What the fuck was that?”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t play dumb,” I countered, walking toward him. Sand clung to my boots and the bottom edges of my gown. “You hate me, and you’ve made it clear you want me dead. Gods, you tried to kill me , Ares. Letting me sink to the ocean floor? That takes care of your little problem really easily. But you just saved me. From a fate even worse than death, like you so happily pointed out. Now I need you to be extremely clear. Why the fuck did you do that?”

Ares folded his arms over his chest and rocked back on his heels. His expression betrayed nothing. “I saw someone push you.”

The hooded figure that had lurched out of the darkness. In the terror of the moment, I’d almost forgotten why I’d even ended up in the sea.

He continued. “I followed you when you left the palace, and I figured what you were doing. You wanted to run. And I had every intention of stopping you until…well, I saw someone push you.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. It was storming too hard for me to get more than a glimpse of them. The rain washed away their scent, too. And then you were falling, Orpheus was crying, and that raven of yours screeched like the world itself was ending. So I decided to pull you out of the water.”

“But…” None of that explained why he, of all people, had helped me.

He stepped closer. Dense mist whorled around us, a whirlwind of wind and wet . His hand found his hair, and he ran his fingers through it. Droplets fell like coins on the beach. And there was something so… predatory about the way he moved, in long, fluid motions. So silent and smooth, like he was a lion stalking prey that had spotted him but did not yet know that he wanted to eat its flesh.

“I suppose I want you to face your trial,” he said.

I arched my brow. “And you think Erebus will sentence me to something worse than…. that ?” I waved at the water, shivering when the wind gusted against us once more.

He heaved a sigh. “I don’t think you killed Hestia.”

I blinked at him. Surely I hadn’t heard that right.

“I overheard you talking to Orpheus just before you fell. The things you said…well, they aren’t the kind of things a guilty person says.” He gazed out at the sea, his jaw tight. “That means someone else here did it, likely whoever pushed you. And I want you to help me track them down.”

A bitter laugh scraped from my throat. Drawing back my shoulders, I erased the small distance between us and pushed my finger into his immovable chest. “How dare you, Ares. You threw my mother’s ashes at my feet, and then tried to kill me. It was the worst day of my life, and it felt like my world was ending. And yet…and yet you want me to help you?”

“But I stayed my hand,” he said intently. “I didn’t commit. If I had, you’d be dead.”

I shook my head, scarcely believing the words coming out of his mouth. “Why didn’t you?”

“You know why I didn’t. Demeter told you.”

“Because there must always be a Titan on the throne in Troy.”

He inclined his head in the approximation of a nod.

My eyes narrowed, and I waited—waited for him to drop the hammer and reveal everything he knew. But he didn’t say a word. He just continued to stare at me, his eyes locked on mine, his expression unshifting, as if he were daring me to do the same.

“So what do you say?” he murmured.

“To helping you?” With a frustrated sigh, I lifted my gaze to the ridge above, where the steps vanished into the misty gloam. Orpheus would be out of his mind with worry. He and Hector had to be somewhere close. I had to find them. “Where is my advisor? Is he far behind you? I’ll need to—”

Ares took my chin between his fingers and yanked it sideways so that I faced him once more. “This decision is yours and yours alone. You can’t ask him for help with this one. I don’t want anyone else to know.”

I jerked my chin out of his grip. “You want me to hide this from Orpheus?”

“The fewer who know our suspicions, the better. I don’t want any of the others to know we’re looking into this together. As it stands, none of them would never guess it. That gives us an advantage.”

I huffed a laugh. “This is madness.”

“It might be, but Hestia is dead, and I can’t bear to stand aside and do nothing ,” he said, his voice rough. Deep pain flared in the depths of his eyes, and for a brief moment, I truly felt for him.

“Selene!” a hoarse voice shouted, barely audible over the waves crashing against the shore.

“Ah.” Ares’s face tightened. “Your minion has found us. What’s your decision?”

I frowned, ready to tell him I didn’t want to be near him, let alone help him. But then a single thought shuddered through my mind. The truth was, someone had just tried to get rid of me. It would have worked, too, if not for Ares. And even though that should frighten me, all it did was make me angry. Despite the mask of calm I wore outside the privacy of my own rooms, a bloody darkness had slumbered inside me most of my life.

And now it was awake.

“Selene!” Orpheus called again, this time closer.

Ares arched his brow.

“I’ll help. But only because I don’t appreciate feeling like a drowned rat.” I motioned at the soaking velvet, where the skirts clung to my legs. Even now, a chill seeped into my skin, making my bones ache.

Ares nodded, still solemn. “Good. Now return to your rooms and make sure Orpheus locks you inside. I’ll convince Zeus to move up your trial. If we do it after the next sacrifice instead of at the end of Nekros, you’ll have the freedom to move around the palace again.”

Before I could respond, Orpheus scrabbled down from the rocks and hobbled across the sand. Hector was right behind him, screeching painfully.

“I can’t tell them about your attack or the destruction of the boats,” Ares murmured, almost too low for me to hear. “Zeus can never know you tried to flee, or that either of us were ever down here in the cove. Do you understand?”

Swallowing, I nodded just as Orpheus reached us. He came to a sudden stop, spraying sand onto my gown. Wetting his lips, he glanced from Ares to me and back to Ares again. He opened his mouth. No words came out.

Hector landed on my shoulder, digging his talons into my dress. He clutched so hard it made me gasp.

“What is this, Your Majesty? Are you…quite all right?” Orpheus asked.

“Yes, it’s come as a surprise to all of us, but I did indeed pull your High Queen from the water. Now you must return to the palace immediately before it’s all for nought. Careful not to leave a trail of water through the corridors,” Ares said.

Orpheus frowned, then looked at me. But truth be told, I didn’t know how to answer the many questions swirling in his eyes. I still didn’t really understand this strange turn of events, either. Only yesterday, Ares had seemed eager to shove a wooden blade into my back. His spoken threats still echoed in my mind.

I should kill you now and be done with it.

He must know that letting me drown wouldn’t break the Hellas Agreement, which could only mean he actually did want me to help him. But how? How could he stomach working alongside me when he wanted to watch my body fleck apart, piece by piece, until I was nothing but dirt beneath his feet?

How could I ?

“Your Majesty?” Orpheus asked, turning toward me.

“Ares pulled me out of the sea, and now we must go. Come. We don’t want anyone to find my room empty.” I clutched his arm and dragged him down the shore, praying he wouldn’t resist.

Thankfully, he remained silent until we’d reached the safety of my rooms, having avoiding running into any of the monarchs. I passed him a towel so he could clean up our tracks, but he hovered in the doorway when I made a move to shut it behind him.

“There is much we need to discuss,” he whispered.

Hector dug his claws deeper into my shoulder, nearly piercing my skin. It was as if he sensed my tension, my hesitance. I could strangle Ares for forcing me into this vow of silence. Orpheus was one of the few people in the world I trusted, and it felt wrong not to tell him about my strange alliance with Ares. But I knew what he’d say if I did.

He’d tell me it was a terrible idea and beg me to get out of it.

But I didn’t want to get out of it. I wanted to find out what was going on inside this damned palace. So I would go along with what Ares wanted. For now, at least.

“Today was…definitely eventful,” I said.

Those three lines appeared between his eyes. “Why, in god’s name, would Ares save you from the sea? Don’t you remember what he said to you yesterday? He wants you gone.”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“I don’t like this, Your Majesty,” he answered quickly. “There’s something very off about this, and I worry what it means. The boats, the cloaked figure shoving you off the cliff, Ares saving you. Nothing about this smells right.”

“I know, but there’s nothing I can do other than proceed with caution. Now you should go before someone finds you here.” I patted his arm and peered past him into the empty corridor. We’d been gone a while, and Achilles could come back at any moment.

His jaw ticked, but he bowed his head and clutched the towel to his chest. “I’ll lock the door. Hector can return the key before Achilles wakes. Just…be on your guard, my queen. We don’t yet know what game Ares is playing. All I know is we can’t trust it.”

I nodded and whispered to Hector. He shook his feathers in agitation. After my near-drowning, he didn’t want to leave my side, and I didn’t much want him to go, either. But if Achilles woke and found the key was gone, he’d know something had happened and likely investigate.

Unless, of course, he’d been the one to push me.

It was entirely possible. In fact, it could have been any of them. Those Olympian monarchs were out for blood, especially mine. If I were going to survive and keep the people of Troy safe, I had to find whoever wanted me dead.

And then I had to kill them before they could kill me, Erebus and his fucking rules be damned.