by Staci Hart
Ares closed his eyes.
He’d lost her. She was gone. And she would never forgive him.
Never.
He was too angry to feel the loss as rage pumped through him, blood pumping from his wounds with every heartbeat.
She would pay. Zeus would pay. Apollo would pay.
He would deliver retribution to each of them, one by one.
Ares opened his eyes, everything in sharp focus. Every shard of glass on the ground sparkled, every fiber of the carpet around the pieces shone.
If he couldn’t have her, no one would.
He looked out the window at the black night.
Fuck the competition and fuck the players. He’d win now, make his play when she was down. Those girls would die, and Aphrodite’s punishment would begin.
An infomercial for spray-on hair yammered on the television screen, but Eric’s eyes were out of focus.
Kiki. It’s time.
His phone rang.
Eric blinked, his eyes snapping back into focus when he looked down at it buzzing in his hand.
“Yeah?” he answered.
Darren’s voice was high and excited, his words coming almost too fast to make sense. “Listen, I just ran into Louie—”
“What the fuck do you want, Darren?”
“Get this, man. He ran into Kat at a race. In New York.”
Eric leaned forward, a genuinely disturbing smile on his face.
She never should have raced if she didn’t want to be found.
It was all going to be over.
Soon.
“Are you still there?” Darren asked impatiently.
“Tell me everything.”
Day 13
Branches slapped and swatted at Dita as she ran through Elysium, the trees looming and dark, the sun hidden behind twisting clouds. The trees and bushes slashed at her palms shielding her face, shredding her arms to ribbons as they reached for her, clung to her, tangled her robes in their craggy fingers until she could go no further. She was caught, paralyzed, and when she looked behind her, terror rose in her throat.
She could hear him crashing through the forest behind her, snorting and grunting, as she desperately pulled at the fabric, unable to get free.
The bundle of robes in her hands turned from white to blood red, the crimson spreading, climbing up her body like a living thing.
A boar burst through the brush, his eyes red and glowing, eyes that marked her. And she knew it was her end. He would kill her before he’d let her go.
He slashed his tusks and charged, descending on her with such heat, such rumbling, the forest itself trembled.
Dita shot up in bed, a scream caught in her throat, hair matted to her face, wrenched in pain and fear, eyes seeing nothing but his, red as blood, glowing like coals, looking for her.
She smelled smoke and fire, felt the warmth of Heff’s arms around her, so strong, so safe as he pulled her into his lap. And she curled into him like a child and cried.
She cried for her fears and her losses, cried for her pain and for the lies, so many lies. And she’d believed Ares.
Heff rocked her slowly, his thick fingers smoothing her hair, his lips whispering words of comfort. But there was no comfort to be found. Because Ares would never let her go.
Never.
Time passed as Heff held her — whether minutes or hours, she couldn’t say. But it was a very long time before she exhausted her tears, and she never left Heff’s arms, her face placid, her mind numb, cold as ice.
“Drink this,” he said after a while with a gentle rumble, handing her a glass of water.
She took it stupidly, sipping it as he peered at her, his eyes so blue, so full of worry.
When she handed the glass back, he set it down and wrapped her in his arms again.
The clock didn’t move until Perry entered the room.
Cerberus uncurled himself from where he lay, snuggled with Bisoux, trotting to Perry to snuffle into her hand. But she didn’t seem to notice.
“Thank the gods you’re awake.”
Perry looked to Heff for answers, but he only shook his head and rocked her a little more, his cheek resting against her crown.
She sat, tucking a lock of hair behind her friend’s ear. “What can we do?” she asked quietly.
Dita didn’t move, didn’t answer.
“Would you like to go to Cyprus?”
Her head rose, chin trembling. She nodded.
Perry smiled at Heff as black smoke encircled them until they were enclosed entirely, and when a gentle breeze passed over them, it carried the smoke away.
They sat on the white sands of a beach, the ocean blue as a jewel in the sunshine.
Dita unfolded herself from Heff’s lap, her limbs stiff and aching as she stood, eyes on the sea.
Petra tou Romiou.
The cluster of gigantic rocks, nicknamed Aphrodite’s Rock, jutted up from the water, tall and white. The stones of the rocky beach pressed into her feet, the sun warm on her skin, the salt on the air kissing her sweetly.
The ocean called to her, and she moved to it in answer, shedding her clothes in a trail until the icy water lapped at her feet.
She was home.
She waded into the still water and dived in, following the shallow slope of the earth down into the sea.
Massive rocks clustered before her, and she swam between them and around, past small schools of reef fish unfazed by her presence. An eel emerged from a crag and swam by, its body a continuous wave, its striped skin undulating and eerie eyes peering, mouth gaping as it found another crack to disappear into.
The rocks, covered in coral and kelp and anemones with dancing tentacles, bore cracks that each seemed to home to something — octopus and squid, cuttlefish and crab. And she swam on, casting her shadow on the ocean floor where starfish and sea snails crept.
She came to a clearing and released the last air from her lungs, sinking to the floor on her back, face tilted to the sun so far above, her hair hanging in the water around her.
The endless ocean cradled her, her smallness comforting, humbling, a reminder.
She was born in those waters. When she’d woken on that very beach, she was fully grown, fully aware from the moment she opened her eyes. Her father was Uranus, God of the Sky, murdered and castrated by Cronus, Zeus’s father. Cronus had thrown Uranus’s severed appendage into the sea, and she was born of the foam. The waters calmed her and healed her. They always had.
A school of jellyfish pumped their way past, long tentacles trailing behind them. And she wished to be free. She wished to be whole.
But Ares had stolen a part of her that would never be returned. She would never be truly whole again.
Lies. Deceit. Betrayal.
Such was their way.
She thought of all the times he’d tricked her. So many lies he’d told, too many to count over too many years to comprehend.
But the worst was that she’d accepted his lies. Because lies were easier than the truth.
Her anguish drained out of her with the current, and resolve took its place.
There was no time to mourn.
She had work to do.
To the surface she swam, taking a moment to float on her back, eyes closed, the sound of the ocean in her ears and the warmth of the sun on her face.
And then it was time.
She made her way back to the shore and onto the beach, wet hair hanging down her naked back as she walked toward Perry and Heff. His jeans were rolled up, arms wrapped around his knees, his eyes on her, hot and reverent and commanding her attention without asking a single thing of her, without demand. And her heart sought his for a long moment, selfishly wishing for his selflessness to heal her.
But she was too broken to love, the shattered pieces of her too sharp to touch.
Perry stood as Dita approached, handing her the clothes she’d shed.
“Better?” Perry asked.
“Much,” she answered as she dressed.
/>
Dita embraced her friend, releasing her only to move to Heff, who stood, dusting off his pants to hide his eyes. But she found them anyway, silently thanking them as she slipped her small hand into his large one.
He looked down at her with love and concern and pain. “Tell me you’ll be all right.”
“I’ll be all right,” she lied and squeezed his hand. “Let’s go home.”
Ares ran his hand across his stubbled jaw, watching with bloodshot eyes while Eric talked to the owner of the bar where the girls worked.
Eric wore a winning smile as he chatted with Jerry, who eyed Eric with suspicion.
“Where did you say you came from?” Jerry’s arms were spread, palms resting on the edge of the bar.
“Vegas. They didn’t mention me?”
“Funny, but no. They didn’t.” The words were flat and harsh.
Eric’s smile fell. “I really need to find out where they are.”
“You mentioned that. Thing is, I don’t know you, but it occurs to me that they might not be so happy to see you. So, sorry, kid, but I can’t help you.”
Eric nodded, resigned as he stood, extending his hand. “I understand. Thanks anyway.”
Jerry grasped Eric’s hand with an affirming nod and a brief look of relief — until Eric yanked him forward, grabbed the back of his head, and slammed it into the bar with a sick thunk in a silent bar. Jerry slid behind the bar and to the floor.
Eric squared his shoulders and walked to the back of the bar and into the office. The laptop on the desk was open, everything he needed right there, easy as pie.
Just like the end of the sisters.
Dita twisted her hair up in a knot that smelled of salt and sunshine.
Perry and Heff sat with her in the silence of her living room, the three of them watching Eric, his face glowing from the light of the computer screen as he jotted down the girls’ address, scribbling furiously on a notepad.
Her thumbnail found itself between her teeth.
“This is it,” she said to no one, to herself. “He’s timed it perfectly. Kiki’s by herself at the apartment.”
Eric slipped the pad in his pocket, not even sparing a glance for the man lying in a heap behind the bar.
And Dita turned to Kiki and whispered a plea to the stars.
The television played quietly in the dark, but Kiki wasn’t watching. Her eyes were on her fingers as she filed her nails in blissful solitude, alone for the first time in days.
Owen hadn’t let her go easily.
They’d gotten into an argument about it, though she used the word lightly. Really it was just a slight pressing of opposing opinions, ending with a kiss and a promise she’d see him in two hours.
He’d maintained, as a final push, that Kat would kill him if she found out he’d let her leave. He wasn’t wrong.
But it wasn’t either of their decisions to make. She’d only wanted a moment to go home and pack a few things, and then she would call Owen to come get her. He’d tried to insist on driving her, but he would have stayed with her. So she had insisted that a ride home on the subway and a few minutes to herself wouldn’t be the end of the world.
He’d reluctantly agreed. And the train ride home with nothing but her music in her earbuds had brought her more peace than she’d had in days.
Kat wasn’t home, still absent, though they were set to talk at work. They’d call their father that night.
It would all be over soon.
She clicked off the television, throwing the room into darkness.
But something was wrong.
Gooseflesh broke out across her skin, fear seizing her. She reached over to turn on a lamp, creating an island of light.
Roses in the air, the smell overpowering, and a single thought possessed her.
Owen. I have to call Owen.
Kiki picked up her phone, tapped his name, and pressed the phone to her ear, eyes trained on the dark corners of the living room.
“Hey, you ready?” he answered cheerfully.
“Yes …”
The cheer was erased, replaced by alarm. “What’s the matter?”
“Something’s wrong. I … I don’t know what.” Her voice wavered, the terror climbing up her back, into her mind.
She could hear shuffling, the clinking of keys on the line. “Stay on the phone. We’re on our way.”
The front door boomed as a fist banged against it.
“Someone’s here,” she whispered.
“Don’t answer it.” Dillon’s car roared to life on the other end of the line.
“I know you’re in there, Kiki!” Eric yelled through the door.
And her blood ran cold. “It’s him.”
“Stay with me!” Owen yelled, desperate. “Dillon, go. Go!”
“Open the door.”
Thump, thump, thump went the door and her heart.
They wouldn’t make it. They couldn’t get there fast enough.
Eric wouldn’t wait.
“Open the fucking door!”
She jumped, the jolt jostling a tear from her brimming lids.
“Owen, I love you. I want you to know.”
“Kiki, no—” He was broken, the words crumbling.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” A sob shuddered through her.
“Don’t hang up, Kiki. Please, God, don’t hang up,” he begged. “I love you too. I love you. Don’t leave me.”
There was a scraping on the other side of the door, then a groan of wood, and the door popped open.
And there Eric stood with a crowbar, a slash of a smile, and eyes deeper than hell itself.
Kiki screamed.
Kat sighed, the wind blowing through her hair, her radio too loud, not too far from the house. She’d slept most of the day, leaving that afternoon to drive through the city, feeling more herself than she had in days.
Which was good. It was time for them all to move on and move forward. Put the past at their backs where it belonged.
She was ready to go home.
Her phone rang from the passenger seat, and she turned the radio down, reaching for it. Owen’s name was on the screen.
Her heart stopped.
“Owen?” she answered, pulse ticking.
“Kat, it’s Kiki,” he said, frantic and wild.
“What happened?”
“It’s Eric.”
The world spun away from her, the ground gone.
“She went home to get her things; she said she’d be okay. It was just for a minute, not enough time, but he found her. Ka,t he’s there. You’ve got to get to her. He was breaking the door down when I lost her.”
She let off the gas, downshifting as she turned with smoking tires. “Goddammit. You fucking let her leave.”
“I tried, I … I tried. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” His breath hitched. “She needed some time. I just didn’t think…”
She pushed the accusation away. She’d left Kiki too, and for days. It was just as much her fault as his, and she wouldn’t blame him. Not for that.
“It’s not your fault,” was the extent of what she could say. There was no time. “Don’t call the cops. I’m calling my father.”
“All right. We’re on our way as fast as we can.”
Kat hung up and called her father, her breath shallow as it rang.
“Hai.”
“Papa …” Her voice quaked.
The worry in his words rang in her ears. “What has happened?”
“Kiki’s in trouble. He’s come after her, Papa. He’s got her in the house.”
“Eric?”
He’d known. He’d known all along, just not everything.
“Yes.”
“Chikusho,” he swore. “I will send help, Katsumi.”
“I’m on my way. I’ll keep her safe.”
“I know. Now, go.”
And she broke, a tear slipping from her eye. “I love you, Papa.”
He p
aused, his voice rough when he answered, “As I love you, masume.”
She hung up, tossing the phone in the seat and wiping her eyes before gripping her wheel and flying home.
Kat pulled up to the curb in front of the brownstone, reaching under her seat for her Sig, clutching it in both hands as she ran up the stairs, a tremor of fear shooting through her when the bullet clicked into the chamber.
She pulled open the outer door, standing motionless for a moment, taking in everything she could. The front door hung open, the wood reduced to splinters where it had been locked, and the room beyond was pitch-black except for a single lamp that lit only a small circle of the living room. Both hands held the grip of the pistol, her back against the wall.
And she closed her eyes and listened.
Her heartbeat in her ears. Her breath, shallow and quiet. The city hummed. A car thundered by, and when it was quiet again, she heard a muffled sob.
Her eyes flew open.
“Eric, let her go,” she called to him through the open door.
“And why would I do that, Kat?”
“Because if you’re too stupid to listen, you’re going to be in deeper shit than you already are.”
“Funny, because the gun I have against her temple would disagree.”
Kat froze. She’d stupidly believed he’d show up with only his fists to protect him. And in the dark, with a gun to Kiki’s head, there was no way she could get off a clean shot. She had no idea where in the room he even was.
Fuck.
She couldn’t do anything from where she was. So she took a breath and stepped into the dark room, pistol scanning the room.
“Ah, ah, ah.”
Eric emerged from the shadows. His massive arm gripped Kiki by the neck, her small hands hanging onto the thick bands of muscle, nails biting into his skin. As promised, the barrel of his gun was pressed to Kiki’s temple hard enough to bend her neck.
Kat trained the sight of her Sig between his eyebrows. “Let her go.”
