“What choice would that be?” Victor asked from the doorway.
I stood up and smiled at the handsome vampire. “Victor. It’s nice to see you.”
Victor was wearing all black and looking as sleek as ever. His all black eyes no longer bothered me, but made me realize exactly how powerful he was. He looked me up and down and smiled. “You’re even more beautiful than you were when I first met you. Gaining your sidhe powers has done wonders for you.”
He walked forward and hugged me, ignoring Ares’ growl. I stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “You’re such a sweet talker. I just hope you’re willing to help us.”
Victor and I stared at each other for ten full minutes of silence as I played out my plan in my head to him. Victor’s vampiric ability, unlike any other of his kind, was to be able to hear people’s thoughts. Victor listened intently and then arched one of his elegant black eyebrows. “Have you discussed this with Ares?”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course not. I wanted to discuss it with you first.”
Victor laughed. “You’re getting to know him better. That’s good.” He looked at Achilles and his eyebrow rose again. “You bound her?”
I groaned. “How can everybody tell that?”
Victor waved his hand in the air between Achilles and me. “Anyone with slight magical abilities can see the silver rope dangling between you two.”
“I can’t,” I said sadly.
Victor patted my hand. “You will. You’re still very young. You have to remember, the rest of us have had hundreds of years to practice.”
Ares cleared his throat. “Can we get back to the matter at hand?”
Victor laughed. “Yes, of course.” He looked at me and sighed. “I fear Artemis is right. The only way to end the attacks on her and the craziness that is my father, is to fight him.”
Ares jumped up and shook his head. “No! Absolutely not! I will not risk Artemis in a fight against Maurice and his flock!”
“Excuse me,” said an incredibly deep French accented voice.
Ares looked towards the doorway and then grabbed me in his arms and growled loudly.
The man was obviously a vampire, sleek built yet omitting loads of evil. He should have had a sign above his head that read, “badass”.
He smiled and spoke softly, “I did not mean to upset you Groll.”
Ares snarled. “State your intentions.”
The man bowed. “I have come at Prince Victor’s request.”
Ares looked at Victor. “You brought, Fear?! You brought your father’s number one assassin into the presence of my mate?!”
Victor held up his hand and Ares stopped his rant, setting me down on my feet. Victor pointed at the man Ares referred to as Fear. “One, he is not my father’s assassin anymore. I blood bound him to me. Two, I brought him to assist me. Three, we will need his expertise if we are to fight my father’s newest vampires. Four, I like him. He plays chess better than you.”
I raised my hand and everyone looked at me. I held up one finger. “One, why did you call him ‘Groll’?” I held up a second finger. “Two, why did you call him ‘Fear’?”
Koda spoke from just behind me, having apparently moved forward when Ares growled, “He is referred to as ‘Fear’ because that’s the last thing you feel before he kills you. You don’t have a chance to look behind you or even to think someone might be behind you. All you know is that you feel fearful and then boom, you’re dead.”
Fear spoke then to me, “Groll literally means Anger. Ares was the embodiment of Groll for centuries.”
Ares had relaxed by then and linked his fingers with mine. “You will find that I no longer hold that title.”
Fear laughed. “Oh, I think you do. Perhaps you are no longer Groll all the time as you once were, but he lives within you. Given the right circumstances I believe Groll may resurrect himself. I believe when you fight to protect your mate you are not as calm as one should be.”
Ares growled. “Careful, Fear.”
The vampire bowed gracefully. “I meant no disrespect.”
“What’s your real name?” I asked Fear.
He smiled and it made my heart beat faster in alarm. “You need not be frightened of me. I will not harm you. My name is Dmitri.” He was suddenly in front of me and kissing the back of my hand. He inhaled loudly and smiled. “You smell good.”
Ares growled. “Step back from my mate.”
Dmitri winked at me and then was back by the door. How did he move so fast? I couldn’t even see a blurred trail of him.
Victor, who had been standing idly by, now began speaking, “We need to go to my father and speak to him and if he won’t listen to reason attack him. He won’t expect us to come there.”
“He won’t expect us to come there because it’s a suicide mission!” Ares yelled as he started pacing around the room.
Victor scoffed. “You have two of the most powerful vampires, the second in line of the sidhe and Artemis at your side and you believe we cannot defeat an army of vampires and the King? You have no faith in us.”
Ares rolled his eyes. “We have five, I will not count Artemis because I don’t want her to fight. So, five of us against two hundred or more vampires, some of them three hundred years old, and you think we can win?”
Victor smiled with a gleam in his solid black eyes. “Yes.”
Ares sighed. “I hate when you have that look. It means you have a plan that will involve me almost dying.”
Victor groaned. “That was only once.”
Ares said, “No, it was twice! The first time was when we battled the dragons. The second time was when we battled Genghis Khan.”
Victor rubbed his temples. “The dragon incident was my fault, but you’re the one who felt insulted by Genghis Khan. I didn’t want to start a war with him.”
Ares folded his arms over his chest. “You called his mother a whore.”
Victor spread his arms out in emphasis. “She was! She took money from men in exchange for…”
“Dragons are real?” I asked loudly to sidetrack them.
Ares smiled. “They were real.”
My mouth gaped open. “You killed all the dragons?”
Victor said, “It wasn’t our fault really. The dragons wouldn’t stop attacking us and before we knew it we’d kill all of them.”
“What about their eggs?” I asked.
Ares and Victor looked at each other a moment before looking back at me. “What do you mean?” Ares asked.
I laughed. “You’re kidding, right?” Both men just stared at me. “Dragons are born from eggs, like birds, right?” Both men nodded their heads. “So, if you killed all of the living dragons that still leaves behind whatever eggs they had laid.”
Victor laughed. “Well that explains the dragon sightings a few years ago.”
Ares shook his head. “Why didn’t we think about the eggs?”
Victor shrugged. “Perhaps because we were both trying not to bleed to death from the various wounds we had. It was a long, delirious trip back down that mountain.”
Achilles raised his hand and everyone turned to him. “I could bring a few additional sidhe with us.”
Ares growled. “No.”
“You would rather risk Artemis’ life than have a few extra sidhe around you?” Achilles asked angrily.
Ares’ jaw clenched tightly for a few moments before he spoke. “I would rather not have to owe you any favors.”
Achilles muttered under his breath and then said, “What if we agree that it’s mutually beneficial for us to assist you and agree that you owe us nothing?”
Ares growled and I ran my hand down his forearm. “It would help if we had some extra magic. Especially since fire is a big weakness for vampires.”
Ares sighed and wrapped his arms around me. “I hate it when you’re right.”
I laughed. “No, you just hate it when you’re wrong.”
* * *
It took them two days to agree upon the sidhe we would be bringing
and then an additional day to agree on the plan. Each day of sitting made my irritation grow and with it, the need to kill something. It horrified me how easy it was for me to kill now. It was as if once you killed someone the next ones were nothing since you’d already broken the barrier. I wanted to believe that things could be accomplished by simple discussions, but after living in this world for only a few weeks I realized that killing was the only way to solve anything with them.
My attraction to Achilles continued to grow and soon I found I needed his touch almost as much as I needed Ares’. Ares explained that my attraction and the need for touch were side effects from being bound to Achilles.
Every day we were in the Light Court I practiced my magic. With Erebus’ help I was able to summon fire as easily as twitching my finger. He also helped me learn how to fly and how to use my wings properly. Koda and Dmitri helped me with my fighting skills at other times. By the fourth day when we were preparing to depart I felt as though I could take on the entire vampire army on my own.
Ares prepared a bag for me with some of the dresses and things from the dresser in Achilles’ room. I sat on the bed behind him as he packed. “So, we’re going to walk in the front door of the vampire estate and just ask to speak to Maurice?”
Ares nodded his head as he stuffed a few pairs of socks into the duffel bag. “Yep.”
“Are you scared?” I asked him.
He stopped packing and turned around to face me. “I’m only worried about you. Victor is right that Maurice will not stop hunting you. I won’t let him have you.”
I smiled. “I know that you’ll protect me as best as you can. I’m not asking that. I’m asking what you feel as you prepare for a battle?”
Ares shrugged. “I’ve gone into thousands of battles. Two thirds of those battles I wasn’t expected to win and I did. I guess it’s like stage fright. After the first few times you get over the fear and just accept that you have to do it.”
Ares and I were alone in the bedroom since everyone else was off preparing for the battle. I hopped down off the bed and ran my fingertip down his chest. “This could be our last night together,” I whispered.
Ares tilted my chin up and looked in my eyes. “This will not be our last night together. I will not lose you.” He kissed me with the same passion with which he spoke to me. It made my toes curl and my head spin. He picked me up and laid me down gently on the bed, as he began untying the dress and corset. He was being gentle when I knew he was holding himself back, the need to mate was driving us both crazy. With both hands I grabbed the collar of his shirt and ripped it in half, exposing his upper body. He had a truly splendid body. I ran my hands along his muscles and then kissed his upper chest. Ares moaned and then ripped my dress and corset in half, exposing me. It took me less than ten seconds to tear at his pants, but it was worth it. The first time I’d ever seen him naked I hadn’t truly appreciated his glory. Now, I sat back and took in every inch of him, starting from the top of his head and ending at his knees.
“I love you, Ares,” I whispered before I kissed his lips.
He pulled back from our kiss and smiled, giving me one of beautiful, true smiles and whispered, “I love you too.”
* * *
Ares and I walked hand-in-hand through the castle courtyard out to where everyone was gathered to step through the portal back into the human world. Various sidhe watched us walk by, some with glares, while others just watched us with curious expressions. Erebus, Eros and Heracles, or as the Western States called him, Hercules, were the three sidhe chosen to go with us.
Achilles kept his back to us as we walked up and instead of speaking to us, he simply opened the portal and stepped through, holding the door open for Erebus who was behind him. I could tell he was upset, but I couldn’t figure out why. Athena ran forward and hugged me tightly. “Stay safe, daughter.”
I kissed her cheek. “I’m well protected.”
She looked at Ares and sighed. “As much as I dislike this, I must admit that you are a different man with her. If she weren’t so happy I would press the issue.” She stopped talking and looked at the ground before looking back up, a fierce expression on her face. “Keep her safe or you’ll have to answer to me.” She kissed my cheek and then walked away.
Everyone filed through the portal single file. Once inside, the portal closed behind us and darkness surrounded us. Koda, Ares and I growled softly and whined as we walked through the confined space. It still amazed me how a portal between dimensions felt like a stone staircase.
Achilles opened the other end of the portal and stepped out into sunlight. Everyone hurried out. I basked in the sunlight for a moment and then walked to Achilles. “Hey.”
Achilles turned away from me and pointed behind us where a forest started. “This is the way to go.”
He started to walk away and I grabbed his arm. “Achilles.”
He sighed. “Yes, Artemis.”
I moved to stand in front of him. “Why are you refusing to look at me? You’re acting like I did something wrong?”
Ares grabbed my other hand and started to pull me away. “It’s alright. He just needs a few moments alone,” he said softly.
I growled. “Dammit stop acting like a sulking teenage boy! Talk to me.”
Ares released my hand and Achilles looked down at me. “I’m trying not to be mad at you because I understand that you don’t know how this bond works, but my emotions are on edge on the moment.”
“Explain,” I said softly.
He sighed and rubbed his temples. “Through the bond it lets me feel what you are feeling. I can’t read your thoughts, though we can communicate telepathically when you don’t have a wall up. For some reason you’re blocking me out so you don’t feel anything I feel, which is why you don’t understand…” He stopped talking and looked up at the sun.
“Don’t understand what?” I asked.
“I can feel your emotions, such as love, lust and…euphoria,” he said through gritted teeth.
I blushed and stepped back from him with my eyes on the ground. “Oh.” He’d felt my emotions while Ares and I mated. I hadn’t even considered that. I hadn’t even thought about Achilles at the time. “I’m sorry.”
Victor cleared his throat. “We should keep moving.”
Everyone started walking away, but I stayed still, wanting a moment alone with Achilles. Ares seemed to understand and followed Koda who was walking behind Victor.
I looked up at Achilles. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. You should have told me this before. I hate that you guys keep so much from me and than just let me stumble upon it like this. I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
He smiled at me. “Thank you. All I wanted was a sincere apology.” He pushed back a strand of my hair and whispered, “I love you, Artemis, which makes it incredibly difficult to stay mad at you.”
I stared at him in shock. “You love me? Or do you mean you love me because of the bond thing?”
He shook his head and whispered, “I’ve loved you since you were born. Every summer I would sneak near your house to watch you grow up. Since the time you were sixteen I could see how beautiful you were going to be. Now that I can see you since you’ve gained your sidhe powers and can witness how great a woman you are, I love you even more.”
I swallowed nervously. “Achilles…”
He put his fingertip to my mouth. “I know that you do not love me yet. I just hope that soon you will see that I love you as much as Ares does. Perhaps we can figure out a way for you to be happy with both of us. Whatever happens, it will not change the fact that for me, you’re the only woman I want to be with. Verus amor vincit omnia. True love conquers all.”
Before I could respond he kissed me on the lips. The kiss started off gentle and then became more passionate. He caressed my back softly and I lost myself in his touch. The barrier he’d been talking about in my head broke and images of him watching me as I grew up and then his current feelings bombarded me. He
truly did love me and I knew he would do anything to keep me near him.
We broke apart and I gasped for air as I returned to my own thoughts. Achilles took my hand gently. “We should catch up with the others.”
I realized his body and eyes were glowing and giggled. “Oops. Looks like I activated your powers again.”
He sighed. “Yes, so it seems.”
We started walking and Victor called from within the trees. “Could you turn off the light? You look like a damn Glowworm doll.”
I giggled and then focused on my sidhe powers and the connection I could now feel between Achilles and me. I poked him in the arm and said, “Off.” His body returned to normal. I poke him again and said, “On,” and he began glowing again.
Achilles smacked my hand as I reached towards him again. “That’s enough. No more Glowworm jokes.”
We caught up to the others, who had waited for us in a clearing and I hurried to walk between Ares and Achilles.
Ares asked, “Aren’t Glowworm’s supposed to sing when you turn them on?”
I giggled. “No, they just play music.”
Achilles snapped his fingers. “Darn I forgot my flute.”
Erebus said, “I just happen to have…”
Achilles sighed. “Enough with the Glowworm references.”
We continued walking for three hours and then we came to the ocean. I frowned as I looked up and down the beach for a boat. “Um, how are we going to cross this?”
Dmitri’s and Victor’s bodies convulsed and shrunk as they changed shapes. I stared in shock at the two black bats they had turned in to. Vampires could turn into shadow, mist, wolves and bats. I really needed a notebook to keep track of it all.
Erebus, Eros, Achilles and Heracles let their wings out and I smiled. “Oh I see.” I was very glad that I’d put on a top with a low back as I let my wings out.
Ares and Koda walked to stand in front of Erebus and Achilles who would carry them and then everyone was airborne. I flew up after them and then followed the two black bats as they lead the way to France. I trailed my hand in the ocean for a little bit and then flew up as high as I could, reaching for the moon before coming back down and joining the others. “I love flying,” I said wistfully.
Kiss of a Star Artemis Lupine Page 14
