Chapter 29

29

SELENE

O utside, the forest’s dense canopy kept most of the sun’s rays off our backs, but Hestia and Ares both moved with laborious steps, as if the hazy daylight still drained their energy like a vampire’s deadly bite. I let them lead the way, while I kept an eye out behind us. Every so often, a snap echoed through the woods from somewhere in the distance. And in each instant, my body coiled tight, ready for battle.

I would welcome an appearance from the attacker. Together, I had no doubt Ares and I could at least subdue them, so long as they didn’t catch us unawares. And with my constant observation of the woods and Hector’s watch overhead, we’d know they were coming far before they reached us.

“How much further is it?” I called ahead after we’d walked for well over an hour. With the looming trees, it was impossible to chart the path of the sun through the sky, so it very well could have been much longer than that.

“Just across that ridge,” Ares said over his shoulder.

I frowned as we continued to forge onward, wondering—not for the first time—why I’d agreed to this. They’d ignored me for most of the hike, too busy catching each other up on what they’d missed and trying to puzzle out the mystery of the attacker. Neither had asked my opinion on the matter, and Hestia was walking just fine with only Ares’s help.

Why was I even here, other than to act as a look-out? They likely didn’t need that, either. With their keen vampiric hearing, they’d hear someone coming, too.

Frankly, I should be back at the palace attempting to sleep. It had eluded me most days since arriving on the island, and while vampires didn’t require sleep the same way humans did, it rejuvenated us and provided us with much-needed acuity.

And right now, with my bones warring against my mind, it was sorely needed. The rest of Nekros still loomed, and while the past two sacrifices had passed without incident, I wasn’t naive enough to think it would continue that way for much longer. Something would happen, especially now that we’d found Hestia.

Just as I made up my mind on the matter, endeavouring to turn around and leave them to handle the rest of their quest alone, we travelled over the ridge. The sight before us slowed my steps, nearly stealing my breath away. Moss-drenched foothills tumbled toward a crystalline sea that glimmered beneath the winter sun. An endless stretch of vibrant blue. White-capped waves frothed against a pale sandy beach, where the wind was interrupted by the towering cliffs that curved around the southern edge. Where the northern cove had been gray and drenched in a looming sense of dread, this side of the island was bursting with life and color. The sound of the rushing waves grew louder, salt thickening the air.

“How is this possible?” I found myself whispering to no one in particular.

“Erebus darkens the sky with clouds to protect the side of the island where we hold Nekros, but I suppose he doesn’t bother with the south,” Hestia said with a bit more zest in her voice now.

“Come,” Ares said. “The boat’s down there.”

I followed his line of sight. Indeed, a boat bobbed in the sea, attached to a small wooden dock that jutted out from the sandy beach. Further up the shore, a rickety house puffed smoke into the wintry air, the boards flecked and warped from time and wind. That would be where the sailors had been staying, then.

The three of us picked our way down the hills. Here, the path was steep and rocky. Hestia’s weariness quickly returned, compounded by the vanishing canopy. Sunlight bathed the entire southern edge of the island, illuminating the golden flowers and fragrant herbs bursting through the moss. Ares didn’t complain, but I could tell by his shuffling steps he was feeling the strain of it.

I shouldered one side of Hestia while he took the other. And together, we ventured down the path, reaching the beach as the sun inched closer to the horizon. In another couple of hours, it would vanish beyond the edge of the endless sea. We didn’t have long to make it back to the palace.

As soon as we reached the end of the path, Ares left me with Hestia and took off across the beach toward the hut, his boots kicking up sand. I noticed some specks of red and gold mixed in, just like the flecks I’d found in her Hestia’s ashes. Odd. Did that mean the attacker had come here, too?

Carefully, I led Hestia in the direction of the boat. The sooner she could sit, the better. Halfway there, the potent stench of blood gusted into us. Every muscle in my body tightened, and my fangs throbbed. Beside me, Hestia went preternaturally still.

“Something’s wrong,” she hissed, her crimson eyes flaring wide. Even with the hood cloaking most of her face, I could still see her bottom lip begin to tremble. The pounding of her heart was so loud I could feel it as if it were my own. Every single beat. It throbbed inside my skull, drowning out the roar of the sea.

I’d witnessed bloodlust countless times, and I knew the signs. Hestia displayed them all: the heightened color of her eyes, the trembling, the torturous way in which she spoke, like she wasn’t really talking to me at all but to that animal lurking inside her.

Thankfully, the blood scenting the air wasn’t human. There wasn’t much harm she could do.

“The sailors,” I said to her, resuming our shuffle toward the dock, “they’re vampires?”

Hestia blinked, coming back into herself. “Oh yes, of course. Zeus doesn’t allow mortals on the island. Well, other than those to be sacrificed, of course.”

“Does he know about this cove and Ares’s hidden boat?”

She peered out at me from beneath the hood. “No. But you need to let it go, Selene. Zeus adores me. He’d never do something like this to me. And when he hears about it, he’ll tear apart that entire palace to find out who did.”

I pressed my lips together, choosing not to argue. She sounded an awful lot like Hera must have, once upon a time. And look what he’d let happen to her. I didn’t believe for one moment that Zeus was capable of anything resembling adoration—for anyone but himself.

When we’d made it halfway to the dock, Ares stepped out onto the front stoop of the building. His steel-encased hands hung by his sides, painted with blood. I couldn’t see his expression with the helmet in the way, but I knew, just by the way he was standing, that it was pained.

And all that blood...

“They’re dead,” he said, his voice flat.

Hestia started to divert our path his way. “What happened to them?”

Ares shook his head. “You shouldn’t come inside. It’s a gruesome scene…there are pieces of them everywhere.”

I came to a sudden stop, still holding tight to Hestia. “In pieces? They’re not ash?”

He nodded but said no more.

“Surely they’re not dead, then?”

In all my years, I’d never heard of a vampire ending up in pieces . Even bloodborn vampires were immune to that sort of death. Sunlight and wooden stakes. That was it. Other things could harm us, yes. But we healed.

It was the way of our world.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ares said, as if echoing my thoughts. “But someone, or something, attacked them. With what, I do not know. They’re not healing. There’s no life left in that hut.”

Hestia loosed a trembling breath and leaned heavily against me. “Everything feels like it’s falling apart.”

It certainly did. My mother and Orpheus had told me many stories about past Nekros. Nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. The monarchs were too devoted to their god to step a toe out of line. The most that ever happened was the occasional fight after an evening of too much wine. They’d bicker or get in a few punches, but never more than that.

And for all this to happen at once…it wasn’t a coincidence.

“Something tells me whoever did this also took Hestia,” I said, deciding to voice my concerns. As much as I didn’t trust Ares, he was the only one of the Olympians I could be certain wasn’t involved in this.

“I didn’t think about that, but you’re right.” He stomped down the steps and joined us on the beach, gently putting his arm under Hestia’s legs. After carefully tucking the cloak around her body, he lifted her from the sand. “I’m getting you out of here.”

Ares took off toward the dock. I frowned after him. “You can’t sail the boat yourself, Ares.”

“I can, and I will.” There was something in his voice I’d never heard before. The hard edges were still there, yes, but there was an undercurrent of deep, unwavering love. I only recognized it because I’d heard it in my mother’s voice at times. Ares would do literally anything for Hestia.

And while I could not blame him for that, I couldn’t ignore my rising panic, either. “If you don’t attend the ceremony, she’ll be doomed anyway.”

Ares merely continued across the sand, as if my words merely rolled across him like the wind. “I have every intention of returning to the palace far before the end of the night. The journey to Thrinacia only takes an hour.”

I started to follow, at a loss. He wasn’t going to listen to me, regardless of what I said. But somehow, I couldn’t let this happen, either. “The ceremony starts promptly at sundown.”

“That’s just Zeus’s preference, and he’ll let it slide once, for me. Just so long as I’m back by sunrise. That gives me at least twelve hours.”

He reached the dock, and the wooden planks creaked beneath his heavy boots. With an ease that defied logic, he climbed inside the small sailboat and gently tucked Hestia into a corner of it, where a wooden shelter protected her from the sun. Her body was fully slack now. She’d clearly drifted to sleep.

I approached slowly, my heart pounding. He really was going through with this.

As he examined the mainsail, he called up at me. “Obviously, it might take me a bit longer, since I’ll be manning the boat alone. It’s easier with two.”

I folded my arms, understanding the hidden meaning behind his words. “You can’t actually expect me to join you.”

“I assume the contrary, actually. You’ve already helped far more than I expected. But I meant what I said. It’s going to be difficult to sail this on my own, and I’d be more likely to return in time if I had a second pair of hands.”

For fuck’s sake.

With the sea breeze on my face, I lowered my head and closed my eyes. It was incomprehensible, what he was asking of me. He’d threatened my life only days before, and now he expected me to help him at the expense of being late to the upcoming sacrifice.

Of course, if he was late, it wouldn’t matter if I was on time. The ceremony required all members of the Thirteen Crowns to attend and partake in the sacrificial blood. For any of us to miss it meant all of us missed it. And he was much more likely to return without incident if someone else could sail with him.

It’s just…why did that someone have to be me ?

After a moment, I steadied my breath and opened my eyes. Ares stood on the bow of the boat, his head turned in my direction, though his face was still hidden behind that ridiculous contraption he wore. More evidence he needed help sailing this damn boat. It would be difficult for him to move quickly around the deck wearing that thing.

“All right,” I said, half-hating myself for it. “I’ll come with you. On one condition.”

He inclined his head, awaiting my next statement.

“Accept me as a member of the Thirteen Crowns and stop plotting my demise.” I held up a hand to stop any argument. “Don’t protest. We both know you figured out a way to get rid of me without breaking the treaty. Those things you keep saying about my family…well, I need you to leave it be.”

Silence stretched between us, the crash of the waves against the shore growing louder with every moment Ares refrained from speaking. I knew what he was thinking. He still wanted me out of the way so Hestia could take the crown. My kingdom bordered his, and they could rule in peace side by side. No more Titans. No more threat of Gaia worship.

It took him so long to answer that I started to believe he never would. He’d risk sailing the boat alone, damn the consequences.

He truly hated me that much.

But then he motioned me forward with the flick of his steel-encased hand. “I accept you as a member of the Thirteen Crowns.”

“And you won’t use my family against me so that Hestia can take my crown,” I repeated, just to ensure we were clear.

“Hestia refuses to take the crown, even if you’re dead, so that’s an easy thing to agree to,” he answered.

I frowned. It still felt like he was dancing around the issue. “Say it more clearly than that, or I’m not getting on that damn boat.”

He grunted. “I won’t kill you so that Hestia can take your crown. All right? Is that good enough for you now?”

There was something about it I still didn’t like. I squinted at him, debating if I should continue to press. But the truth of the matter was, Ares could parrot whatever I wanted him to say, but I still wouldn’t believe he saw me as anything but an antagonist.

Besides, he wasn’t the reason I was doing this.

I was here for Hestia’s safety. And I was here to make sure Ares returned on time, so that Nekros continued as it should. If I didn’t go with him, both those things would be at risk.

And so, despite the hectic thrumming of my heart, I climbed into the boat and shook the armored hand of my enemy, sealing our deal. For now, we were fully allies.

For now, we would work together.

But I knew better than to believe anything he’d said. I hadn’t forgotten what the Fates had once told me. One day, Ares would come for me again.