Chapter 37

37

ARES

T he clouds blocked the troublesome light of the blood moon, drowning the northern side of the island in shadow. I leaned against my balcony’s curved stone railing, the breeze snapping at my shirt. My eyes were resolutely focused on Selene.

She threw back her head, and her ginger hair tumbled across her back. I could tell she was relishing the night and the salt-thick air and the distant hiss of waves against the shore. There was something different about her tonight. Her gown flared from a tiny waist, far smaller than usual. It seemed she was wearing a corset for once.

Odd. But she still looked goddamn gorgeous.

I could stand here staring at her all night.

With a frustrated grunt, I shoved away from the railing and strode inside. I was being brutally haunted by the memory of her blood in my mouth, her skin against my tongue, and the water sloshing around the curves of her breast…

Fuck me. Fuck fate. Fuck everything.

The way she’d looked at me had nearly driven me to madness. I’d come so close to telling her the truth about it all, spilling out my fate in that steaming bath. But then she’d blinked those big eyes at me, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. If I did, she’d never speak to me again, and with her bare skin against mine, that had been an unbearable thought.

Of course, it would be for the best. If she avoided me like the plague, maybe I’d never kill her. The tragedy, of course, was that fate didn’t work like that. No matter what I did, it would follow me. And if I didn’t kill her—if I did somehow evade it—my kingdom would fall.

If Hestia were here, I could talk to her about this. She’d know exactly what I should do, if I should tell Selene about our fated future.

On my way out the door, I grabbed a cloak and tossed it around my shoulders. Hestia might not be here, but Demeter and I had been close friends several decades ago. In recent years, she’d grown aloof, but I knew that had more to do with Zeus than with me.

Out of everyone in this palace, she was the most trustworthy. If you told Demeter a secret, she never shared it with anyone. And she was smart, level-headed. She would likely smack some sense into me, and I needed that right now.

Her quarters were directly across from mine, so it didn’t require a diversion to knock on her door. Soon we’d be needed in the megaron, but there were a few moments yet to spare. I couldn’t bear to wait. The night loomed before me, the long hours threatening to lure me back to Selene’s side again. And if I spent any more time in her presence, I had no doubt I’d forget all the reasons I should keep my distance.

There was no answer to my knock. Frowning, I knocked again, harder this time. Again, silence was the only answer. Demeter must have already left for the megaron.

Goddamn it. How was I going to make it through another night?

As if in answer, a crash sounded from the room next door—Poseidon’s room. I tensed, my hand going to my waist, where I’d attached my scabbard tonight. An echoing thud came next, quickly followed by a string of expletives. I quickly moved to the door and tried the knob.

With a resounding creak, the door swung inward.

It took me a moment to understand what I was seeing, because it defied logic. An enormous wolf loomed over a prone figure on the blood-splattered floor. The face was ruined, but with his blue-tinted skin and broad shoulders, there was no mistaking Poseidon. His chest rose and fell. A pain-filled hiss was the only other sign he was still alive.

The wolf whipped his head my way, his orange eyes gleaming in the shadowy room. I withdrew my wooden stake, but knew it was no use. My weapon was meant for vampires. This…I didn’t understand what this was. I’d never seen a wolf so large, and his eyes…There was intelligence in his eyes as he observed me.

Without removing his gaze from my face, he took his viciously sharp claw and shoved it through Poseidon’s heart. I choked, nearly stumbling forward. Blood gushed across the floor, turning the pale carpet a vicious red. A gurgling sounded, and Poseidon bucked on the floor. And then his chest went still.

I stared at him, frozen in place by shock and fear. Surely he wasn’t dead. He was an Olympian, a nearly immortal vampire. No animal had ever harmed one of us. And yet…this was no normal wolf.

The creature rose and stalked toward me. The tips of his claws punched the floor. I lifted my blade and readied myself for a fight. It was coming for me next.

The dull sound of boots thudding against carpet came from the corridor, and the wolf whipped his head toward the open door. Jasmine perfume drifted toward me, and I swore I could hear the familiar tremor of her breath.

Selene.

An ungodly amount of fear clutched me by the throat. With a shuddering breath, I angled my body in front of the door to block the wolf’s path, desperate to do whatever it took to protect Selene. No matter what happened next, I couldn’t let this creature get to her.

The sound of her footsteps grew nearer. The wolf snarled, saliva dripping from its enormous fangs.

“Ares? Are you in there?” Her voice came from further down the corridor. She must have stopped outside of my room.

I didn’t respond. When she found it empty, hopefully she’d turn back around and go to the megaron. I tried not to think about what that meant for me. The truth was, Poseidon was a good fighter. He was strong and brutal, unafraid to get his hands dirty.

It didn’t look like he’d stood a chance against this creature.

As the wolf stalked closer, I cast a quick glance around the room, searching for another weapon. If I could get my hands on some steel, I could do some damage. Enough damage that I could then get close enough to rip into this beast and tear his fucking heart out.

The beast growled and snapped his jaws at me. I wheeled to the side, out of range of his enormous maw. He leapt at me. I flattened myself to the floor, rolled onto my back, and threw myself to my feet. I was on the beast before he knew what was happening.

He jerked, loosing a rumbling roar that shook through his body. Clinging on to his rough fur, I sank my teeth into his back. Slick blood spread across my canines, but where the sweet taste normally sparked feverish pleasure, this tasted of sewage and grime and rot. I reared back and spit it out. A spray of black hit the floor.

What the fuck is this thing?

Suddenly, he whipped sideways, throwing me off. My fingers slipped, and I fell, slamming into the hard floor. Right next to Poseidon. Heart pounding, I glanced at the monarch’s broken limbs. His entire body had been brutally mauled.

A gasp sounded from the door.

Clenching my jaw, I climbed to my feet, now behind the creature. There was nothing standing between him and the doorway now. He could be on Selene within seconds.

“Hey!” I shouted at the beast. “You forgot to kill me first!”

“Ares, no. Don’t fight this thing. You need to run!” Selene shouted back.

“I’m not leaving you here to face it alone,” I said, taking slow and steady steps toward the creature. It looked at Selene, then whipped its head toward me, clearly trying to decide which of us to attack first.

Selene pulled up her skirts and withdrew a silver blade. She waved it at the creature. “Go. Get out of here and leave us be.”

I lowered my hands to my side as the beast crept back. This goddamn woman. She’d hidden weapons beneath her skirt. I should have known. I should have fucking known. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, she was a force to be reckoned with. And now here she was, facing a creature three times the size of her with courageous abandon.

As she stood there, bending her knees in a stance only known by trained warriors and showing not even a hint of fear on her face, I thought back to how well she’d faced Hera in the amphitheatre, too. Selene was clearly no stranger to fighting. And god, she looked bloody glorious doing it.

Suddenly, Selene lunged toward the beast, slashing the tip of the blade at his face. The beast whined, whipping his tail from side to side. He ducked his head and backed away, clearly terrified of her little blade. Then, without warning, he turned and threw himself toward the open balcony doors, forcing me to stumble out of his way.

In a whorling mass of gray fur, he vanished into the night.