Sherrilyn Kenyon - Dark Bites

They had more than proven themselves worthy successors to the Chthonians who continued to war against one another. Most of the pantheons had now learned to behave, but still the Greeks warred on with reckless abandon and disregard. It infuriated her that Apollo, Ares, Zeus, Poseidon, and Leto couldn’t stop preying on the humans.

Or worse, they would raid the Atlanteans as if they wanted war between the two pantheons so that there would be countless mortal lives lost.

It was something she couldn’t allow.

So she kept her vigil over her men as they returned from battle. Ever since Apollo’s vicious attack on Aricles, she knew to watch for more treachery from him.

And speaking of, she felt Apollo’s presence behind her.

“Well, well… I was hoping you’d come.”

Turning away from the procession below, she faced the young Greek god. “Why do you continue to tip the scales of justice?”

“Don’t you know?”

“Not at all.”

He reached out to touch her face. “It’s to get your attention.”

She scowled at him. “I beg your pardon?”

“Don’t beg. It’s unbecoming of a goddess so beautiful.” He put his hands on each side of her waist and pulled her against him. “Is it really true you have no feelings?”

She pushed against him, but couldn’t loosen his grip. Stamping down her irritation, she knew better than to show it. “It is.”

“So if we were to have sex, you would be ambivalent to it?”

“I would assume.”

“Should we test it and see?”

She blasted him away from her. “No. We shall not.”

Apollo caught himself against the wall and glared furiously. “You shouldn’t deny me, Bathymaas. I don’t take rejection well.”

“You should learn.”

That only angered him more. He flashed himself to stand in front of her then backhanded her so hard, she fell to the floor. Blood suffused her mouth as a most foul pain exploded through her head, stunning her. She’d never dreamed how much a blow hurt, and it gave her an all new respect for her Ēperon and what they went through in battle.

“Did you feel that ?” Apollo growled as he seized her again. He reached for the top of her gown.

Suddenly, he went flying past her as an enraged bellow sounded.

A blur followed after him and slammed him into the wall. It took her several seconds before she realized it was Aricles beating on the god.

“Aricles!” she breathed, rushing toward him before Apollo recovered enough to return the attack.

As soon as she touched his arm, he stopped pounding on Apollo and stepped back. “Are you all right, my goddess?”

She cupped his cheek and nodded then she turned to face Apollo.

He pushed himself up from the floor, glaring at them. “I demand retribution for his hubris.”

She bit back her furious disbelief. “Hubris? How so?”

“He attacked a god.”

“To protect a god. His actions were justified and you should be grateful I don’t unleash him on you for what you dared. You know better.”

Apollo spat the blood in his mouth onto the ground, where it made a bright red splatter. “I will have my revenge on him for this.”

“Touch him and I will have your heart in my fist. Now get out of here while you’re able.”

Aricles didn’t dare move for fear of what he’d do to Apollo until the god was gone. But as soon as they were alone, he cupped Bathymaas’s cheek in his hand to study the bruise that was forming on her delicate skin. “You should have allowed me to kill him.”

“And risk his mother or father calling out for your head? Never.”

He pulled her gently against him and held her in the safety of his arms. “I should have been here for you.”

“You were.”

A tic worked furiously in his jaw. “What if he attacks you again?”

“I will be careful.”

“Bathia…”

She kissed him lightly to silence his protest. “Nothing’s going to happen to me. You’re the one I worry over. How did you know I needed you?”

“I don’t know. I had a bad feeling and I couldn’t breathe until I got here.”

Rising up on her tiptoes, she hugged him close. “I’m glad you came to investigate it.”

Apollo cursed as he saw his face in the mirror. That human bastard had ravaged his beauty. Fury made his hand tremble as he washed the blood from his lips, nose, and cheek.

“What happened to you?”

He met his mother’s shocked gaze in the mirror. Like him, she had golden-blond hair, but her eyes were the same color green as his twin sister, Artemis. “One of Bathymaas’s Ēperon attacked me.”

“On the battlefield?”

“No. I was just teasing her and the bastard started pounding on me.”

His mother gaped. “Did she not punish him for it?”

“Of course not. They’re her pets.”

Leto lifted her chin as fury darkened her eyes. “And you are my son. How dare a mortal lay hand to you!” She closed the distance between them to gently inspect his face. “I will take this up with her immediately.”

“She won’t listen. I already demanded restitution and she said it was justified.”

Leto curled her lip. “She’s no business being the final say on our kind. She’s too capricious with her laws of fairness. I’m still seething over how you and Artemis were forced to be born, and the curse Hera gave you both with no repercussions. No matter what that bitch says, it was not justified.”

“Believe me, Matisera , I know. I should rip the throat out of her Ēperon guard with my fangs and let her see for herself how fair that curse is.”

“I would agree, but she’d only kill you for it and claim that as justice, too. No… we need something to take to the other gods. Something that shows she’s not impartial.”

“Like what?”

Leto let out a heavy sigh. “We have to catch her breaking the rules.”

“And how do we do that?”

“We follow her, dear boy. Sooner or later, she’s bound to screw up something.”

“Is it just me or does it seem like the gods have a vendetta against us?”

Aricles looked up from his carving to meet Hector’s gaze. “They want us dead.”

“Ah, good. I’m not the only one who’s noticed. And here I thought it was just me.”

Grimacing, Galen moved to sit on the foot of Aricles’s bed. “It is disconcerting, isn’t it? And battle isn’t all I thought it’d be.”

Aricles arched his brow at his brother’s somber tone. “Is that remorse I hear?”

“It’s remorse. I keep going back to that day on the farm when they came to recruit us. Do you remember what you said to me while we packed?”

“Not to forget your cloak?”

Galen laughed and shook his head. “You told me that battle wouldn’t be the same as the war games I’d played. That the day would come when I’d grow tired of walking through blood-saturated fields.”

“And has that day come, brother?”

He nodded. “I never gave thought to how young some soldiers would be. Or how wroth the gods would become with us.”

Hector let out a heavy sigh. “I think we are all feeling that. I swear one of the soldiers I killed today couldn’t have been any older than fifteen… if that.”

Haides moved to sit on Galen’s bed next to them. “It’ll soon be four years since I was last at home. My sister has married and had two children since I left… I miss my family.”

Galen sat back. “Our brother had a baby… a son almost a year ago and we’ve seen nothing of him. And for some reason, I keep thinking of Talia.” He met Aricles’s gaze. “Do you remember her?”

“She was beautiful and thought you hung the very moon in the sky.”