Healed by Fire Artemis Lupine 3

by Banks, Catherine

  I stepped out of Ares’ arms and rubbed my throat angrily. Koda stood up from the ground. “Dammit.”

  I smiled at him. “At least I beat you.”

  Koda sighed. “Yeah, whatever.”

  Theseus laughed. “Dad got beat by a girl.”

  Koda growled, but the rest of the pack laughed with Theseus, making Koda turn bright red.

  * * *

  We continued the same daily routine of eating, training, and sleeping for four weeks until Ares and Achilles decided to relocate. I was surprised they’d waited so long to relocate since Apollo knew where we were, but they didn’t seem worried.

  We stood outside on the beach preparing to leave so I decided then was a good time to show them the trick the dragons had taught me. “Well, are we all ready to go?”

  Everyone nodded and I said, “Will everyone please crowd around us and be sure to touch each other?”

  Ares looked at me quizzically, but everyone obeyed my order, even Victor and Achilles. I closed my eyes, summoned my power and said, “Try not to puke.”

  The dizzying vortex sucked us in and then spit us out just in front of the entrance to the Light Court. All of the members of the pack groaned as they resisted the urge to throw up. Victor, Ares and Achilles stared at me with wide eyes. Achilles asked, “Who taught you that?”

  I smiled. “The dragons taught me it so I wouldn’t kill Draco-Blu or Theseus in my worry over Ares before I had regained my memories. They told me it would take practice to be able to do this, but once I felt the amount of power I’d had returned to me, I knew I could do it now.”

  Victor whistled. “You are quite an interesting woman. Ares is going to have to keep a tight watch on you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Like that’s not already happening.”

  All of the men laughed and Achilles opened the staircase, which I knew was actually a portal to the dimension that contained the Sidhe courts. “Single file,” he said as he started down the stairs. I summoned my powers so I would glow and be able to see as I walked down the stairs and smiled when I noticed the rest of the pack doing the same.

  It didn’t take long for us to make it through the door and into the open grassy field where I’d talked with Achilles the last time I’d come here. Hera was waiting for us, but as soon as Achilles walked to her, she took his arm and led him away. Erebos and Heracles stood guard and smiled at me as I stepped out. I bowed to them and they bowed back.

  “Greetings, Artemis,” said Erebos in his deep booming voice.

  “It pleases us to see you well,” said Heracles.

  I smiled back. “Thank you. I am glad to see that neither of you was hurt after I was abducted.”

  Erebos and Heracles kept their smiles in place, but did not respond. Hera and Achilles came back a moment later and Hera addressed Ares and me, “I have rooms for your pack, if you’d like my guards to show them there?”

  Ares bowed his head respectfully. “I would greatly appreciate that, Queen of the Light Court.”

  Hera snapped her fingers and Erebos and Heracles waved the pack forward. Ares pulled me against him and held me still. “Wait, I want to show you something,” he whispered.

  I relaxed against his warm body and waited as the rest of the pack, including Koda and Theseus were led to the castle. Achilles glanced at us, but then turned and followed his mother.

  I’m still supposed to get alone time with you too, Artemis. Don’t forget. Achilles said through my mind.

  I smiled. I have not forgotten and I will be sure to pencil you in.

  Ares kissed the top of my head and then began leading me through the town. Sidhe peeked out their windows at us, but if we looked, they quickly turned away. I didn’t understand their aversion to us. It wasn’t like we were lepers or anything crazy. We were just two mixed bloods. Sadly I knew that being a mixed blood was exactly why they hid. Once this was over, I intended to fix the Sidhe’s belief system.

  Ares wove his way expertly through the town’s streets and seemed to know where he was going. I on the other hand was completely lost. I remembered coming here with him before, but we hadn’t explored this area then.

  Did it pain him to be back here? I tried to sense his feelings, but he had blocked me from them.

  We made what felt like a circle around a large building and stopped. I stared in shock at the river surrounding a small island. The island was covered in green grass, weeping willows whose branches dropped into the river and cherry trees whose pink blossoms drifted to the ground lazily. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, something straight out of a poem and yet here it was in front of me. We definitely had not visited this spot last time.

  “It’s beautiful,” I whispered as we started across the wooden bridge to the island.

  Ares stayed silent, but I could see the small smile tugging up the corners of his lips. We stepped onto the island and I could feel an immense amount of power in the plants and ground of the island. A small sound escaped my lips as the power filled me and opened me up, my skin glowing softly and my vines sparkling brightly.

  We walked around the small island until we were underneath the cherry tree which had the most blossoms and the most power. Ares reached up and plucked one of the small pink blossoms and held it out to me. “This is an area of power. The Sidhe call the island the ‘cor’ which means heart. This tree is the real center of all the power and is called ‘mater’ which means mother.”

  I took the blossom from him and gasped as the power drained from the blossom and into me. I staggered backwards and ended up leaning against the tree. Power poured into me like a wave of fire, scalding me from the inside. I screamed, but couldn’t move away from the tree to stop the overload of power. Ares grabbed my hand, but instead of pulling me away from the tree and releasing me from the power, the power spread to him and pulled him against me and the tree.

  We screamed in our shared pain and pleasure as the power scalded us and yet filled us with euphoria. I felt as though my eyes were going to pop out of their sockets from the pressure of so much power in me. The power flared and then disappeared as Ares and I fell away from the tree.

  I landed on top of Ares and we both gasped for breath and moaned in pain. I started to push off of him when I realized that I wasn’t the only one glowing. “Ares,” I whispered.

  He looked up at me and frowned. “What? What is it?”

  I pointed at his body. “You…you’re glowing.”

  I moved off of him and he quickly walked to the river, staring in shock at his reflection. I stayed sitting on the ground as my body absorbed the power the tree had given me. How was it possible that I could hold so much power in me? When I borrowed power from plants I always had to use it or it tried to destroy me, but mater had given me power to store. Was mater a cognizant being? Could she really understand and did she know battle was looming?

  A noise made me look at the bridge where I could see a crowd had gathered. No doubt they’d felt the power the tree was giving us and come to see who the lucky Sidhe was. Judging by their faces, they weren’t pleased.

  Ares laughed suddenly, making me jump. He ran to me and picked me up, swinging me around as he hugged me.

  “Ares? Why are you laughing?” I asked nervously.

  He set me down and I stared in shock at the new marks on his body. I ripped his shirt off and gasped. Ares’ arms and chest were now decorated with tattoo-like, black images of running wolves. I touched one of the little black wolves and jumped as it moved, biting the wolf in front of it, and causing all of the wolves on Ares to begin to run. The wolves ran together and even yipped.

  I looked up and Ares’ eyes were white pearls. I’d only seen this once before when I had released Achilles’ power. It meant that I was his destined mate, but then again Ares and I already knew that. “How is this possible?” I asked softly.

  Ares smiled. “Do you mean the fact that you are my destined mate and can activate my powers?”

  I shook my head at him. �
�No, we both already know I’m your mate. I mean, how is it possible that you have Sidhe powers?”

  “Perhaps I had them all along, but since my wolf nature was so strong it lay dormant until you activated them.”

  “I didn’t activate them, mater did.”

  Ares cupped my face in his hands. “You are always underestimating yourself. I touched this tree thousands of times when I was young in hopes that it would do this exact thing. The only reason this happened was because you were the one I touched.”

  “Out of the way! Make room,” Hera yelled. Ares and I turned to find Hera pushing through the crowd which had gathered. She stopped at the edge of the bridge, just a foot away from the island and gasped. “No. It cannot be.”

  Ares walked towards her with his arms spread. “You see it. There are others here who witnessed it. My powers have surfaced. It seems you were wrong about me.”

  Hera pointed at me. “You! You did this!”

  I shrugged. “That’s what Ares said, but I didn’t do it on purpose. I would do it again though.”

  Hera was glaring at me and looked ready to attack, but she held her ground and kept from releasing her powers. Was she holding back because of our truce or was she frightened of how much more powerful I’d become?

  Ares exhaled and his eyes returned to normal and his body stopped glowing. “It seems I may be able to join the Sidhe’s ranks after all.”

  Hera glared at him. “If that is the case, then I demand that you bow to me, your queen.”

  Achilles was standing beside Hera and up until that point, his face had remained perfectly blank. As soon as she said it, he rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief.

  Ares bowed his head at the neck. “I acknowledge that you are queen of this domain, but I will join my father in his Court.”

  Hera glared harder at Ares, her skin starting to glow softly as she grew angrier. “Very well. Come now, let’s return to the Prince’s quarters and discuss this upcoming battle.” Hera spun on her heel and marched back through the crowd of people.

  Achilles walked down the bridge to stand in front of Ares. “You look better now,” Achilles teased.

  Ares laughed. “Don’t worry, brother, I will not try to steal your throne. I have no intention of taking your title.”

  Achilles frowned. “You are a Prince of the Sidhe as much as I am and you will be given that title as soon as father sees you. I was simply meaning that I much prefer your decorated Sidhe body to the boring werewolf one.”

  Ares was frowning too. “You will of course be next in line for the throne though.”

  Achilles smiled. “Of course.”

  Ares held out his hand with a smile. Achilles stared at Ares’ hand a moment before clasping it and then pulling Ares into a hug. Tears pricked my eyes as I watched the two men I loved hug and completely forgive each other for the first time in over four hundred years.

  I realized one thing though as I stared at them. “Ares?” Ares and Achilles broke from their hug and turned to me. I waved them over, not wanting everyone to hear what I was about to say. They walked to me and the urge to touch them overtook what I needed to say. I reached out and clasped each of their nearest hands. I exhaled happily and then whispered, “Ares, I don’t think you have wings.”

  Achilles’ eyes spread wide. “She’s right. Whenever she released my powers before, my wings automatically popped out.” He pointed to my wings, which were out. “Even hers are out.”

  Ares shrugged. “It’s alright. I don’t like flying much anyways. I prefer the ground under my paws.”

  Achilles walked across the bridge and stopped when he noticed all of the angry looking Sidhe gathered. “From this day forward all shall recognize Ares, Prince of the Werewolves as Ares, Prince of the Werewolves and Sidhe. If any disagrees, let them challenge me.”

  The Sidhe gasped and then began whispering loudly to each other. Ares picked up his ripped shirt and smiled at me. “I wish this had been done in other circumstances.”

  I blushed and took the shirt. “I’m sorry.”

  He laughed and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Don’t be. I liked it. Besides, I’ve ruined more clothes in fits of anger than you’ve probably ever owned in your life.”

  I giggled as I imagined Ares ripping his shirt off like the Marvel character the Hulk when he gets angry and turns into a large green monster.

  “What are you laughing about?” he asked.

  The giggle turned into a laugh and I spoke in the deepest voice I could muster, “You won’t like me when I’m angry.”

  Ares smiled and then lunged for me. “You think that’s funny?”

  “Uh oh, you better watch out! I think he’s turning green!” I yelled as I jumped away from him and ran across the bridge.

  Achilles laughed. “The Hulk is a rather fitting character comparison for you, Ares.”

  Ares snorted, a sound much better suited to his canine form. “I don’t turn green.”

  “No, but you do get furry and rip your shirts off,” I answered as another fit of laughter took me and I had to stop to hold my stomach.

  “I think I’m more like Wolverine,” Ares said seriously.

  “Well you are grumpy like him and way too full of yourself,” Achilles said in the same serious tone as Ares.

  Ares flexed his abdominals and then lifted his arms, flexing his biceps and chest. “Have you seen me? How can I not be full of myself?”

  My laughter disappeared as I looked at him. He was definitely way too perfect.

  “Now you look like Koda,” Achilles said with a chuckle.

  Ares swung at Achilles, but he jumped back and Ares growled. “Run, he’s turning green!” Achilles said and grabbed my hand, running down the bridge with me in tow. A new fit of laughter forced me to stop running as I was bent over holding my stomach with tears falling down my face.

  “Ha. Ha. Very funny,” Ares said as he caught up to us.

  Hera appeared in front of me. “Why are you delaying? Come, let’s get on with our planning. We don’t have much time.”

  I stopped laughing and took a couple of deep breaths to calm down before I let the anger control my tongue. “I apologize for enjoying the renewed time with my mate. I forgot that the world revolves around you, Your Highness.”

  Achilles groaned softly and Ares sighed. Hera’s face turned red, but for once she held her tongue. She held out her hands and Ares and Achilles each took one and then took my hands. Hera started to draw power in, but I beat her to it and teleported us into her court room where she conducted her important business. We landed in front of a large conference table and eyes popped open from all of the Sidhe and halfbreeds gathered.

  Hera’s face was the most priceless of all. “You can teleport?”

  I smiled. “A gift from the dragons to me for my friendship.”

  Several of the Sidhe gasped. Hera’s face paled and she asked, “You’re friends with dragons?”

  I pulled out Blu’s scale and showed it to the room. “I am.”

  “Perhaps now is not the time for this discussion? Let’s work on our plan for the battle,” said Achilles in a strong and demanding voice.

  Victor was sitting in one of the many chairs and nodded his head. “Yes, we need to discuss strategy.”

  I dropped into one of the chairs. “Do we really need a strategy? We just need to have Maurice and as many of his vampires in the area so I can toast them. Wham, Bam, Thank you Ma’am and we’ve won.”

  “You think you’re so powerful?” asked a female Sidhe with green filigree designs around her eyes. She obviously didn’t like me and her glare was most impressive despite her small frame and delicate, doll-like face.

  I covered my hand in sunlight and smiled as I said, “I know I am.”

  Victor nodded his head. “Yes, she is, but the problem is getting my father to the battleground. He prefers to let others fight his battles.”

  I shrugged, releasing the sunlight. “Then we storm his home and I toast
him.”

  Koda sighed. “Darlin’ it won’t be easy like last time. Last time he was trying to capture you to make you his. Now, he just wants you dead.”

  “So how do we get him on the battlefield then?” I asked angrily.

  “We have to offer him something he can’t refuse,” said Ares quietly.

  Victor gasped. “No. There are too many variables and too many things that could go wrong.”

  “You think I don’t know that?!” yelled Ares. “Unless you can come up with a better plan, that’s the only way.”

  “We need to fight a battle which we lose first and then do that,” said Victor.

  “No! We cannot lose a battle on purpose. That would mean letting our people die!” I yelled.

  “Artemis,” Achilles started.

  I stood up from my chair and slapped my hands down on the table. “No! I will not sacrifice anyone. We can fight one battle and then discuss whatever it is that Ares wants to do. We do not have to lose that first battle though. I can refrain from using my sunlight magic and that way Maurice won’t know I can do it.”

  The room was silent for several minutes until Hera said, “I agree with Artemis. We can fight this first battle no matter the outcome. I would like to know what it is that Ares is suggesting.”

  Ares looked at the table a moment and then said, “The only way I can foresee Maurice coming out to the battlefield is if we agree to surrender and to give Artemis to him as a good faith gift.”

  “You want to give him Artemis?” Hera asked softly.

  Ares smiled. “Well we wouldn’t really be giving her to him, but we could make it look authentic. I could be bound and guarded by several of your Sidhe warriors while Artemis is bound with her hands in front of her. Then when Maurice takes the bait and comes near her, she can fry him and those nearest him.”

  “I like it,” I said with a smile on my face.

  Koda laughed. “You would like that idea.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked with a glare in his direction.

  He held his hands up in surrender. “Nothing. Never mind.”