Chapter 46

46

SELENE

W ith Hector perched on my shoulder, I sat with my legs tucked into my chest, gazing out the tower window at the sea. A beast slid beneath the surface of the water, her scales glimmering beneath the silver light of the full moon that hung low on the horizon. The salty breeze rustled the hair around my shoulders, and there was a hint of warmth in the air. Winter was behind us now. Soon spring would come, bringing with it golden flowers and shorter nights.

Ares had taken me to Thrinacia, and I’d been locked in this tower for weeks. In all that time, he’d not been to visit me once. I’d managed to tease some information out of Odysseus on occasion. Orpheus was alive, though he’d been regulated to the dungeons. Much to my dismay, the human sacrifices had been lost to the fire, and the other monarchs had returned to their kingdoms. In my place, Ares ruled, though I’d heard he’d only visited a time or two. Just to make sure things were running smoothly.

I had no idea what that meant for my people. By now, Ares would know the people of Troy worshipped Gaia. Had he forced them to tear down her statues? Were my mortal citizens penned in gruesome cages and surviving in their own waste? Without me around to stop him, Ares could do whatever he wanted to them now.

Technically, the throne and crown were still mine. They’d managed to salvage all the crowns from the fire, and mine was somewhere in this tower. To avoid breaking Zeus’s agreement with Erebus, the Olympians were keeping me here without formally taking my reign from me.

That was their first mistake. Eventually, I would escape from this place, and every Olympian who’d chosen Zeus’s side would pay for this. Some of them I didn’t blame. They couldn’t rescue me without risking their own necks. But the others? Ares, Hermes, Zeus, and Artemis? For them, I only had rage.

As I sat in the window, I made notes in my journal—Hector had saved it from my rooms before the flames could consume it—and I got lost in thoughts of vengeance. So when the lock clicked in the door, it took me a moment to register the sound.

Ares was striding into the tower before I even knew what was happening.

Hector cawed angrily and snapped his wings at the intruder.

I tensed, forcing myself to remain still. The High King of Pergamon looked even better than the last time I’d seen him. His wavy hair was longer now, dusting the back of his neck. In place of his standard attire, he wore leather armor. It hugged his muscular frame, highlighting just how powerfully he was built.

When his eyes met mine, a piece of my heart trembled in response. It was impossible not to react to him. Even now, a part of me yearned for what might have been. That other life he talked about, I sometimes dreamed I’d travelled through the fabric of fate to find it. We were happy there.

“Selene,” he said. “You’re looking well.”

I arched my brow, not deigning to respond.

He frowned. “You know I didn’t want to do this, but your actions—”

“Why are you here, Ares?” I asked him coldly.

Clenching his jaw, he looked away. “I heard what Orpheus said about your connection to the moon, but Zeus didn’t. I got to the building before he did, and he only heard what you said after we starting talking. If he knew about your moon, he would have sent you to Tartarus, and it would have been a smart move. It would mean no mortal could ever transform into one of those wolves again. That threat to us would be exterminated.”

I swallowed, my heart pounding. I’d wondered.

Ares inched further into the room. “I’ve kept that to myself, along with a host of other secrets. You know which ones I mean. And I’ll continue to keep them. I only have one requirement.”

Still silent, I turned to look out the window again. I hated everything about this. Not just his words, but that he was the one who was speaking them. I could still picture him now—in the bath, in the bedroom, and even in the room of masks. The way he’d looked at me then had been nothing like this.

Oh, how wrong I’d been to hope.

Ares crossed the room. He took my chin between his fingers and forced me to look at him. “I know you hate me right now, but I did what I had to do. You must believe that, Selene.”

“What I believe is that you’ve betrayed any trust I had in you.”

He frowned. “I could say the same about you.”

“Tell me what you want, Ares. What’s your requirement?”

His jaw tensed. “I want you to give me your crown. Willingly. If you do, Erebus will accept it.”

“Never,” I whispered, leaning so close I could see every speck of gold in his eyes. “You’ll have to kill me if you want to take it.”

A long moment passed, where the only sound was the distant hiss of the waves against the shore. Ares and I locked gazes, daring each other to speak the words that would condemn us to our fate. The tension in the room was so thick, I struggled to breathe. But he was the first to break.

He brushed his lips against my ear, and he whispered, “Careful. Let’s not tempt fate.”