Chapter 22

22

SELENE

F or a long moment, no one spoke. I wasn’t sure if it was shock or fear—perhaps a little of both. In all the recorded history of the Olympians, nothing like this had ever happened. For nearly two hundred years, they’d kept their pact with each other. They played their political games, yes. And they bickered and fought. They sometimes targeted someone special to make a statement. Just like Hera had done now.

But in all those years, with all that fighting and hate, it had never gone this far.

“Zeus—” Athena warned.

He held up a hand. “No. The words have been spoken. It is done.”

“You can’t ,” Dionysos whispered, his white-knuckled hands holding tight to his column.

“I don’t know why everyone is acting so worried,” Zeus said with narrowed eyes. “If Hera is innocent, Erebus will protect her. The Thirteen Crowns will prevail unless our god decides otherwise. And if he doesn’t? Then that means she’s gone so far. She forfeits her life, and Erebus gives her crown and her kingdom to me. It borders mine, so that’s easy enough. Does anyone truly object to that?”

Athena closed her eyes, though she didn’t argue. Zeus had backed us into a corner with his reasoning. To argue against him would be to argue against the vampire god, and none of them dared to do that. No one except Hera, it seemed, but she was strangely silent now, too. Her eyes gleamed even brighter. As if she wanted this trial to happen.

“Erebus will protect me,” she murmured.

Dionysos moved close to me and dropped his voice to an almost silent whisper. “We’ve never had a trial before. I heard you have them in Troy sometimes. What happens in one?”

It was alarming to learn that some Olympians knew this much about our kingdom. My mother had tried to hide that information, along with so much else. But then I remembered, she’d told him about her love for Gaia. She must have told him about this, too.

Zeus stalked across the arena, a vein bulging in his neck.

“Something tells me this will be nothing like the trials back in Troy,” I said to Dionysos.

The Archon suddenly halted, then whirled toward me. He lifted his finger and pointed it my way.

“Let’s not forget the Titan, either,” he snarled. “She’s to have a trial, too.”

“Now, Zeus,” Dionysos said, straightening. “I thought you said you’d wait until after Nekros.”

“That was before Hera showed herself for what she is,” he replied in a low, dangerous voice.

I pressed my lips together. I should have seen this coming the second he’d demanded a trial for Hera. Why hold off on mine now? If he was willing to sentence her to death before the end of the fortnight, he was certainly willing to do the same to me.

Most of the others shifted on their feet and looked around, clearly uncomfortable. Only Poseidon was smiling, and Hermes stood next to him looking a little smug, but the rest were frowning or staring down at their feet.

Hephaestus eventually muttered to himself and started to hobble away, like he couldn’t bear to stay here any longer. After a moment, Apollo followed, his blond hair bright even through the dense mist.

Demeter sighed and blocked their way. I hadn’t seen much of her since that first night—truth be told, I hadn’t seen that much of any of them—and she’d said very little tonight so far. Pushing the hood off her head, she surveyed the gathered monarchs, her eyes gleaming with an emotion I couldn’t name.

“Demeter, please move aside,” Hephaestus said, running his fingers through his dark hair.

“This is madness, I know,” she said. “But we must stay and see this through. Our god is watching, and Zeus has now called for him to enact his will. If any of us leave, it’ll only anger him.”

“He already seems pretty fucking angry,” Apollo said, indicating the sky.

“Then let’s not make it worse.” Demeter turned to me, brow arched. “I’m assuming you will do what must be done.”

“And what is that, exactly?” I asked. It could truly be anything. As I’d said to Dionysos, this would not be like the trials in Troy, where twelve citizens were invited to sit and listen to reasoned arguments on both sides. They didn’t do that kind of thing in the Olympian cities, and there was no way they’d do it now.

“You and Hera will fight.” Without warning, Zeus lunged for Athena’s sword. Caught off guard, she didn’t react quickly enough to stop him. He held it aloft, and the moonlight speared through the mist, glinting along the blade. “With this and only this.”

Muttering went through the Olympians, and my own heart joined the sound. Only one weapon meant one of us would have a severe advantage.

“Who gets it?” Hera asked.

Zeus smiled. “Well, that’s up to you, my love . Stand back.”

She squinted at him, but did as he said. Even after all she’d done, she still followed his orders. I wondered if she noticed how quickly she’d fallen in line.

“Come, High Queen Selene,” he said, beckoning me toward the statue.

I gave my sleeves a quick tug and joined them, a dozen pairs of eyes watching my every step. When I passed Athena, she gave me an almost imperceptible nod. And then I stood on the opposite side of Zeus, only steps from the sacrifice’s body. Wind gusted the scent of blood into my face, shooting an aching pain of hunger through my teeth.

But I stood firm, far more ready for this fight than I ought to be.

For I’d been trained in more than courtly ways.

I cast a quick glance at Dionysos, wondering if he knew that, too…He nodded at me, his eyes sparking. Stomach twisting, I turned back toward Zeus. My mother really had trusted Dionysos. She’d told him everything.

Everything but, presumably, the truth about our family.

Zeus looked at Hera and me in turn, then he reverently shoved the sword into the ground. The hilt pointed toward the sky, and the blade cut a sharp path through the moss and mud. The blood moon shimmered beneath the mask of mist, transforming the entire arena into a world that glowed red.

“At the next flash of lightning, this trial shall begin. You may not move toward the weapon until then. Erebus will protect whichever of you is innocent.” His voice grew darker, deeper, and he no longer sounded like himself at all—almost like he truly was channeling the voice of his god. “If you must yield, it is over. If you flee, it is done. And if you are incapacitated at any moment, you are finished. The guilty party will be sentenced to death, but by the grace of Erebus, you will remain here on the island until the end of Nekros. Your crimes will not stop the sacrifices. Any questions?”

I wet my lips, sizing up my opponent. Hera was much older than me, which made her much stronger. She’d fought against the Titans two hundred years ago, so she had experience, but her life had been incredibly luxurious since then. The little fighting she did was against humans when she wanted to feed, and that wasn’t a true test of strength, agility, and speed.

Hera’s eyes were alight with excitement. She was fuelled by anger and a lust for vengeance. It would give her an edge. Emotions always made people fight like the fate of the whole fucking world depended on it. And to Hera, it did .

“I’m ready,” I said, curling my hands into fists.

Hera tsked. “It’s a shame, Selene. You and I, we could have been allies against this brute. The king who killed your mother. I wonder, what would Theia think of you if she could see you now? I daresay she’d be displeased if she knew how readily you gave into him.”

My cheeks burned, but I brushed her words aside. The truth was, my mother would likely applaud me. She’d made me into what I was, a servant of Troy and nothing more. My own wishes, desires, and dreams…none of that truly mattered. If it did, I wouldn’t be here now.

I would have attacked Zeus a long time ago.

“Stop heckling her, Hera,” Dionysos called out. “And stop pretending that Theia had any love in her heart for you. To her, you were just as bad as Zeus. She confided in me, you know. She abhorred your human farms.”

I tensed, jerking my head toward Dionysos. He gave a slight nod, as if confirming he’d meant every word. My heart pounded. I’d always suspected at least some of the other Olympians treated mortals like Zeus did, but after everything Hera had said and done, I’d assumed she and Zeus did not share the same beliefs.

No, all she cared about was the pain he’d caused her. That and power.

Anger clenched my gut.

“Enough, Dionysos,” Zeus snapped, shooting a glare in Dion’s direction. “I don’t want to hear the name of that bloody traitor any more tonight. Or for the rest of the Nekros, for that matter.” Then he turned and looked me dead in the eye. “Now, is there a problem?”

I imagined what it would feel like to stab him in the eye.

“No,” I said as calmly as I could.

In fact, I’d never felt more ready for a fight. Shifting my gaze back to Hera, my teeth began to ache, as a different kind of bloodlust swirled through my veins. She was no better than Zeus. In fact, she might very well be worse. At least he made it clear what he was. Hera hid it behind innocent doe eyes and meaningless objections about the Archon and his power.

I’d thought she wanted things to be different, but all she wanted was the same. The same but with her in charge, most likely. And the humans would continue to suffer. She kept them in dirty cages. Bred them. Murdered them.

A low growl threatened to spill from my lips. Briefly, I closed my eyes to steady my anger. I had to keep control of myself if I wanted to win this fight.

“Good. Prepare yourselves.” Lightning crashed as Zeus stepped back, raising his arm. “Now fight.”

Hera bent her knees, sizing me up. She bounced on her feet and darted to the side, but her eyes never left my face. I stayed where I was. Tension tightened my shoulders, but I kept my arms and hands relaxed, pulling slow breaths in through my nose. My heartbeat remained calm.

It reminded me of all those long hours spent in the fighting ring with Prometheus ten years ago. Before Zeus had gotten to him. He’d been an excellent fighter, far better than my mother—or so she’d said. And so he’d taught me everything he knew.

Despite that, he still hadn’t been strong enough to resist Zeus.

Suddenly, Hera darted toward me and threw out her fist. I simply stepped to the side and watched her fly past. She stumbled, boots slipping across the bloodied ground. When she whirled on me, her pixie face was twisted into a vicious scowl.

“What are you playing at?” she spat. “Fight me!”

“I am fighting you,” I replied with a shrug.

Hera growled, then launched toward me once more. I darted back and danced around to the other side of the statue, where the shadows were thinner. It also blocked me from her sight, temporarily. I knelt and ripped the bottom of my gown, tying the edges together to form makeshift trousers.

It looked entirely ridiculous, but I’d rather look dumb than dead.

She whirled around the statue, fists raised. When she caught sight of me, she stopped short and smirked. “Really? You think that will actually give you an edge against me? Just give up, Selene. Yield. You’re too young to have any hope of winning this fight.”

I lifted my gaze to the sky. The clouds were thinning.

In that brief moment, Hera erased the distance between us. She threw herself against me, and this time, I wasn’t fast enough to retreat. Her sharp nails scraped against my cheek, and the weight of her knocked me off my feet. My hip smacked against the ground, and a sharp stab of pain lanced through me.

I gritted my teeth and rolled to the side, taking her with me. With a grunt, I grabbed her shoulders and pinned her in the mud, an uncontrollable snarl curling back my lips. The urge to rip into her neck made my jaw ache. Everything about this vampire was everything I hated, and I wanted to make her pay for what she’d done—for what Zeus had done.

The murmur of voices sounded from the other side of the statue, and hurried footsteps soon followed. The Olympians clearly didn’t want to miss this.

I shoved her harder against the ground, straddling her. A dribble of blood went down my cheek from where she’d scraped me. It splatted onto her chin, and a few droplets hit her mouth. With a laugh, she licked it from her lips.

“Delicious,” she hissed up at me. “I can’t wait to feast upon you when all this is over.”

I arched a brow. “Your mask has dropped, Hera. Don’t want to be allies, after all?”

Her smile faltered. “We’re all enemies and always have been. Any semblance of alliance is a lie. Any spoken words of affection are nothing more than a way to lull you into a false sense of security. Even those we believe are our closest friends hate us. You will see, Selene. Or you would, if you could win this battle. But I can’t let you do that. A Titan will not be the end of me.”

Shrieking, Hera shoved against me with a speed and strength that caught me off guard. I went flying, my hands slipping from her shoulders. Landing on my back, I scrambled to my feet, but she kicked the back of my knee before I could make purchase. My body collapsed forward, and I threw out my hands to stop my face from slamming into the ground. A jolt rattled my skull, my teeth knocking together.

Bright lights filled my vision.

Hera grabbed my hair and tugged me backward. Pain exploded in my neck, my boots slipping across the mud. Eyes blurring, I reached back to dig my nails into her hands, but she was too fast, too strong, too brutal for me to grab her.

I clawed at the ground, digging my fingers into the mud. With a grunt, Hera slowed. I launched my legs off the ground and kicked at her face. My boot made contact with a sickening crunch , and for the smallest of moments, Hera’s grip on me loosened.

I yanked my hair away from her, flung myself onto my stomach, and leapt to my feet. My entire body heaved, splatters of mud and blood covering every inch of me. I narrowed my gaze as Hera lifted her eyes to my face. Tangled strands of her honey blonde hair dripped mud onto her cheeks. She rubbed her jaw, wincing.

“You broke a bone.” She narrowed her gaze. “How?”

Because I’ve spent my entire life training to fight you. Because your ex-lover murdered my mother. Because you trap humans in farms. And because there’s far, far more to me than meets the eye.

“It’ll heal,” I merely replied.

“Oh, stop blabbering and get on with it,” Poseidon barked. We both turned toward the gathered monarchs. They’d moved to this side of the statue now, so they could better see the fight. Ares stood beside Zeus, flanking him alongside Poseidon, like the sycophants they both were.

Ares knew I wasn’t guilty. Would he say something if Hera won? Or would he let Zeus vanquish me? He’d always wanted me dead. I supposed not much had really changed, regardless of the brief alliance he’d offered.

My top lip curled back. I should have expected nothing less.

Hera stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Ares. She smirked as she glanced between the two of us, then chuckled to herself.

“You will get burned, my love,” she whispered, keeping her back facing the others.

Overhead, the clouds began to part, and the blood moon’s light flooded the arena, dousing everything in a vicious red.

And so I levelled my gaze on Hera’s mud-splattered face and smiled. “No, I don’t think so, love . You’re the one who’s going to burn.”