“One should never turn their back on war,” I said, moving my hand behind me. “I also remember you saying that.”
And I also remember Persephone saying that about…
Romvi’s gaze dropped. “No. One should never turn his back on war. I believe that is why we are where we are today. The fools have turned their back on it, even though war always exists.”
Suddenly, the weird, edgy feeling and the marks made sense. It wasn’t nervousness or hyperactivity. No, not at all. And the automatons. There was one other god who could wield control over them—they were creatures created to fight. There were the mortal armies that were backing Lucian. That made sense now.
Son of a daimon donkey.
Moving lightning quick, I pulled the Covenant dagger from my back pocket. With speed and perfect precision, I threw the blade across the room.
The pointy end embedded deep into Romvi’s chest before he could take his next breath.
“What the hell?” Marcus exploded, whirling on me. “What is wrong—?”
Aiden turned wide eyes on me. “Alex…? Holy crap…”
The Dean of the University started toward Romvi, but drew up short. And Marcus and Aiden quieted down, because Romvi was still standing.
And he was laughing.
Marcus took a step back. “What the…?”
The Guards and Dominic exchanged looks, and then moved toward the Dean, surrounding him and edging him toward the door.
Romvi’s laughter faded. “I was beginning to think you weren’t that clever, Miss Andros.”
Then a blue shimmery cast surrounded Romvi’s body, swirling around him until we couldn’t see the man behind the eerie, god-like glow. Then it receded, revealing what stood behind it.
Ares was impressive.
Well over seven feet tall, he neared Godzilla-size with his height and bulk. He had more muscles than a pro wrestler, like Apollo on steroids.
He wore leather pants and a tunic that was punctured by the Covenant dagger still in his chest. Snakelike bands covered his biceps, but as he lifted an arm, I realized they weren’t bands at all.
They were bronze snakes, pulsing and slithering around his arms.
“Holy crap,” I whispered.
Reaching up, Ares wrapped a meaty hand around the handle of the hilt and pulled the dagger free. It turned to dust in his hands. “That wasn’t very nice, Miss Andros. The gods and the Council fear the First, but who’s the one lobbing daggers at a god?”
To say I wasn’t scared would be a bald-faced lie. Ares was the god of war and discord. Armies trembled at his feet and nations fell under his wrath. His children were gods of terror and misery. There wasn’t a single thing about him that didn’t send a spike of fear straight through me or any other living, breathing creature.
This must be the god who was a part of Seth’s bloodline, the one who’d been working behind the scenes with Lucian.
We were so screwed.
At least now I could understand how Romvi could kick my ass day, night, and on Sundays. It struck me then. I’d been sparring with Ares. Dear gods…
His cold, apathetic gaze drifted over us. “Silence? No one is going to cower before me? Beg for mercy, like thousands have before you? How disappointing. But there will be time for that in the future.”
“How?” Marcus choked out.
“How what?” Ares’ dark brows rose. “How have I been right under your noses this entire time? The same way apparently Apollo was, I assume. I avoided him whenever he was around, and therefore he never sensed me. The Golden Boy had his suspicions, I am sure, but… well, he just isn’t that smart, is he?”
“What do you want?” I was proud that my voice didn’t shake.
Ares brushed the dust off his hand. “Oh, you know. Just… everything. And to get everything, I need you to connect with the First.”
Aware that Marcus and Aiden were moving in behind me, I tipped my chin up. “That’s not going to happen.”
He sighed. “I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to tack on the ever cliché ‘or else’ at the end of that, but I see that I do. You can make this very easy, very painless. You know what I am, what I am capable of. Apollyon or not, you cannot even begin to hope to defeat me. I am the god of war. Connect with the First or else.”
I held my ground. “Or else what? You’re going to stand there and glare me to death? You can’t kill me. And you can’t force me to connect with the First.”
The smile that etched over his lips sent an icy Shockwave through me. “You are right and wrong. I may not be able to kill you, but I can bend you to my will and I can make you wish for death. And I can kill all those you love.”
Ares threw out his arm, and several things happened within a matter of seconds. The Guard closest to him was flung across the room and through the window I’d wanted to toss Romvi/Ares out of. The second Guard moved toward him and Ares closed his fist. The Guard crumbled to the floor, blood streaming from his nose, mouth, and ears. Dominic was next. He was thrown back, his body contorting and twisting in air. Bones snapped through skin. He was nothing but a mangled mess when he hit the floor. Then, Ares turned on the Dean of the University.
Ares turned his wrist and the man’s head twisted to the side. The crack of bone echoed through the room.
Aiden started around me and true terror stole my breath. In a flash of horror, I saw him taking the place of Dominic, as would Marcus. Ares would kill them. Everything was happening too fast, but there was no way I could allow this.
I did the only thing I could do.
Throwing my arm toward the door, I summoned the element of air and I used it against Aiden and Marcus. The gust of wind was so strong there was nothing they could do but submit to it.
There was a second when my eyes met Aiden’s, before he was pushed through the door along with Marcus, when I saw the stark horror in his silver eyes. When I knew there was a good chance he’d never forgive me for this.
The heavy doors swung shut and locked from the inside.
“Aren’t you a killjoy,” Ares said, chuckling softly. “I was really looking forward to ripping the heart out of St. Delphi in front of you. But there’s always later.”
I turned around slowly, my breath catching in my throat.
Ares winked. “Now it’s just you and me.”
“Well, that’s not freaky or anything.”
“Ah, that’s so like you. To joke when you’re afraid.” His large boots thumped as he took a step forward. “Or what do they call it? You’re ‘snarky’?”
My chest rose sharply as fists pounded on the door behind me. The thick titanium muted their voices. “That’s what some people say.”
“Hmm…” Ares tilted his head to the side, brows raised. “You know what I think about this snarky thing you have going on? It’s a poor attempt to mask how affected you are by things. What?” He grinned. “You look so surprised. Do you think I don’t know you? That I haven’t watched you just as long as Apollo has? See, I’m just smarter than him. After all, I am a great strategist.”
“The god of war has been stalking me? Wow, I feel all kinds of special. Usually the other gods are known for such creep things, but you? Wow.”
He laughed again, the sound deep but flat. “You are amusing. Very pretty, too. I see why Seth is quite fond of you.”
“I’m guessing, since you’re here, Seth won’t be too far behind.”
Ares just smiled, and the fists on the door continued.
“How did you find me, by the way?” I asked, buying time—time for what, I wasn’t sure.
“Oh, I have comrades everywhere, little girl. Ways to get around stupid talismans.” One more step and he was only two feet away from me. “You’re shaking,” he whispered.
I was?
“You went to the Underworld recently. Pray tell, what for?”
My throat felt like it was closing up. “Well, I guess you don’t have comrades everywhere if you don’t know.”
Ares smirke
d. “Charming. You will tell me what you were doing there, or this will end with you not being able to talk. It’s your choice.”
I refused to back up even though every instinct screamed that I do so. “I thought I was going to end this begging for death. How can I do that when I can’t talk?”
He laughed again. “You are so simple, little girl. There are other ways to beg for death than with words.”
“Are there?” My voice cracked a little and I winced.
His all-white eyes gleamed. “I’ve seen it all in battle. There is the way the body curls into itself when it wants death. There is the silent scream for release. There are the eyes, and they speak even when the tongue no longer works. And then there is the soul that rots so poorly when death is wanted but withheld that it carries a certain stench.”
Ice shot through my veins, turning my blood to slush. At that moment I knew, no matter how much I fought, this… this was going to suck.
“So unless you want to experience these things firsthand, you will tell me why you were in the Underworld, and then you will submit.”
I swallowed, wincing as fists hit the door behind me again. “I’m not big on the whole submission thing.”
“You may want to rethink that.” He sounded civil as he suggested it. “Look at this rationally, little girl. All that I ask is that you connect with Seth. Allow him to do what he was made to. That is all. He will take care of you. You know that. How is that so bad?”
“He will strip me of who I am.”
“So what? You’ll be happy and alive. You will want for nothing.” He tipped his chin down almost playfully. “I’ll even let the ones you love live. It’s a win/win situation.”
“Except for the gods you want taken out, and the thousands, if not millions, of people who will die.”
He shrugged. “Consequences of war.”
“Sickening,” I said.
“It is the truth.”
My stomach churned. “Why… why are you doing this?”
“Why not?” He tapped a long finger off my chin. “For too long the Olympians have sat on their thrones doing nothing. Letting the entire world be overrun with the children of demigods and mortals while we are sequestered on Mount Olympus. The world should be ours.”
I shook my head. “The world belongs to humankind.”
“The world belongs to the gods!” he roared, eyes crackling. “To me and any other god who sees the truth. That is who the world belongs to.”
My fingers curled helplessly. “Why don’t you just take me to Seth? Why try to convince me?”
“Well, I can’t really just pop you there, now can I?”
“You didn’t think this through, did you?” I forced out a laugh. “You could just knock me out and stuff me in a car. Why go through this?”
His brows slammed down and a muscle ticked in his jaw.
“There’s something. You can’t force me to go with you.” My pulse sped up. “Can you?”
The god was seething. “You are the Apollyon. Therefore I cannot force you, but keep in mind, little girl, I can and will hurt you.”
“This ‘little girl’ is having a hard time believing that.” Courage fed my bravado, which usually was never a good combination. “Unless you’re like every villain who wants to give a long, unnecessarily boring speech, I’d figured you were a more-action-and-less-words kind of god.”
Ares’ lips parted. “You have no idea. The rules that protect the Apollyon are like all things in nature—balanced. While you cannot be forced with compulsion or by hand, you can be persuaded by certain other means.”
“You suck as a salesman, so you aren’t persuading crap.”
He let out a low, deep growl. “Submit, or so be it.”
I met the eerie all-white eyes. “Go to hell.”
For a moment, he almost looked disappointed, like the kind of disapproval parents feel when their kid is too stupid to figure something out, but then he smiled broadly. “I don’t think Seth will like this, but oh, well.”
“What do—?”
Ares shot forth, in my face in half a second. All thoughts of Seth fled, and instinct kicked in. I summoned forth akasha, knowing it wouldn’t kill but hoping it would send him back to Olympus with his tail between his legs, but that wasn’t what happened.
He caught my arm by the wrist and squeezed with what was probably the slightest pressure, but the spike of pain caused me to lose my concentration. “You will not like my persuasion, little girl.”
Then he pushed, and I hit the door with enough force to knock the air out of me. Unfortunately, his Dr. Evil speech hadn’t been all pomp. But if he could hurt me, I could take it. I wasn’t submitting. Too much was at stake. Too many lives. I could deal with this, and all I could hope was that he forgot about Aiden and Marcus when he was through, or they got with the program and got the hell out of Dodge.
I can deal with this.
Pushing off the wall, I spun to the right and extended my arm, but where his chest had been was empty space, and I stumbled into it.
“Missed me.”
I whirled around, finding him behind me. Dropping down, I swept my leg at his… but hit nothing but air.
“You can keep this up if you want.”
Looking up, he was leaning against the door, arms crossed. Now I was starting to get pissed off. Launching to my feet, I gained momentum and pushed into the air, twisting into the perfect butterfly kick that—
Arms snagged me out of the air from behind and I let out a surprised gasp.
He held me like I was nothing more than a sack of rice. “I am the god of war, little girl. There is no move that you know, no method of battle or maneuver that I do not.”
Crap.
“I will always be one step ahead. I will always outthink you. You cannot fight me.”
Throwing my head back, I hit his broad, hard shoulder. Then I swung my legs, but Ares dropped me. Stumbling to my feet, I saw he wasn’t in front of me.
Double crap.
Whirling around, I kicked out into nothing. I spun back and suddenly—dear gods—his hand was on my throat, lifting me off the ground as I kicked and clawed at his hand, too panicked and distracted to try to summon akasha again.
“You will wish for death by the time I am through.” His fingers dug in deep, cutting off my air supply. “You will beg for it in all the ways I listed. You had your choice. You had your fun. Game over.”
For a terrifying second, I thought he’d crush my windpipe, and I told myself again that I could deal with this. But then I was suddenly flying backward through the air. I crashed through the aquarium. Sharp glass sliced through my back as water and fish poured out around me.
I hit the floor on my side. Vibrantly striped pink-and-blue fish flopped on the marble floors. Sucking in a sharp inhale against the pain, I put my hand down and pushed up. I grunted as glass sliced open my palm. Blood mixed with water.
I can deal with this.
I stood up, breathing raggedly as I lifted my head.
Ares stood in front of me. Without a single word, his backhand hit the side of my face. Starbursts flooded my vision like a dozen firecrackers going off at once. I smacked into the leather chair behind the desk. Blood pooled in my mouth as I caught myself on the edge of the desk. Something had split. My cheek? Entire face? I had no idea. And over the pounding pain, I could hear them at the door.
I can deal with this.
Grabbing the keyboard, I ripped it free and swung around, aiming for his head. Ares caught the keyboard, yanked it free and then snapped it in two like it was a twig.
I stumbled back, reaching blindly for something. Daggers and swords hung from the wall, but he was on me before I could go for them.
Ares picked me up like I was nothing more than a helpless kitten. Before I could wiggle free, before I could taste the raw fear building in the back of my throat, he flipped me over, slamming my back into the corner of the upturned desk.
There was a crack I heard and fel
t. Sharp pain came in a flash of light, and then every nerve ending fired at once. My senses overloaded as I slipped to the ground, eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Something had come unhinged inside me. I could feel it. A searing hurt roared through me like a gunshot blast. I was wet and warm on the inside and if I hadn’t been the Apollyon—if I had been only a half-blood or a mortal—I knew whatever Ares had done would’ve been fatal.
But I wouldn’t die and I couldn’t move. Something bad was broken. The tips of my fingers were numb, and I couldn’t feel my toes, but I felt everything else. And I figured that, if anyone knew the right place to snap the spine to immobilize someone but ensure they could still feel everything, it would be Ares.
I can deal with this—oh gods, I can deal with this.
He loomed over me, smiling, eyes all-white. “This can all end now, little one. Just say the words.”
My throat worked, and my tongue felt way too heavy. It took everything to get the words out. “Fuck… you…”
The smile slipped from his face and then he moved lightning fast. Pain… it was everywhere. Another bone cracked—maybe my leg, or a kneecap, but I couldn’t be sure. My mouth opened to scream, but a wet, warm whimper came out instead.
I…I can deal with this. I had to… I had to.
When he snapped my other leg and then each rib, one at a time, the pain became my world. There was no escaping it—no breathing around it or hiding. Consciousness was slipping away from me and I fought the fog, because when he was done with me, if he’d ever be done with me, he would move on to Aiden and Marcus, to the whole University. He was the god of war and he would lay waste to everything.
But that pain… it rotted me from the inside. It reached down into the tiny part where I was still a person, where I was still Alex, and the pain took over. I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t deal with it. My shields crashed down and the cord roared, but the growing hum was overshadowed by the terrible pain, and the growing hopelessness dug in deep with razor-sharp claws and pulled away my entire sense of being.
I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was, or maybe I’d just hit my limit, because I wanted out—I wanted to die. There was no pride in this. There was no purpose. My soul fragmented and I broke wide open.
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