We ate in silence and then returned to Ares’ building to sleep. I only had one more day to travel, which meant only a few more places we could visit. Even though I knew Achilles was right, I felt as though I wasn’t doing enough. As if there was something more that I could do. Something I could do to save all of humankind.
Ares woke me up by gently rubbing my back. “Mmm,” I said half-consciously. He started to pull the blankets down, but I held on tight. “Cold,” I protested.
Ares nipped my earlobe, successfully waking me up. “Come on. I have a surprise for you.”
I wanted to groan and protest, but I was too curious to do either. After stretching and forcing myself up and out of the bed, I pulled on clothes and shuffled to the bathroom like a zombie, arms raised in front of me to avoid running into anything and feet shuffling across the carpet. I think I even moaned a little, which earned soft laughter from Ares’ direction. I ignored him and hurriedly brushed my teeth and used the restroom before returning to him.
Ares hugged me against him and kissed my cheek. “I didn’t know that you were also part zombie.”
I snarled at him. “I am NOT a morning person.” I looked towards the window and my mouth agape. “The sun isn’t even out yet! It is way too early to be up.”
Ares’ fingers intertwined with mine, and he kissed my lips gently. “Come on. You’ll forget all about the time when you see what I have planned.”
I doubted him, but obligingly followed. Besides, any time I got to spend alone with Ares was worth the loss of sleep. We walked silently out of the bedroom, past Koda, Achilles and Hera, who were all sleeping peacefully, and out into the hallway. Ares pushed open a door that had a sign with some type of warning, but I couldn’t read Russian to decipher it’s meaning.
“Ares, where are we going?”
He smiled his full, true smile I cherished so much and said, “It’s a surprise.”
I hated surprises, but for him and for that smile, I’d endure. We walked up a set of stairs and then Ares pushed open a door and we stepped out onto the roof of the building. The view was spectacular, even at night. I walked around the roof, but avoided getting too close to the edge. Even though I had wings now, I couldn’t stand the thought of leaning out over the edge of the building.
Ares cleared his throat and I turned to find a blanket set on the snow covered roof with a picnic basket and wine. Ares had also set up two candles beside the blanket. I walked over to him and snapped my fingers, a small flame flickering to life above my finger, and lit the candles. I sat on the blanket beside Ares as he pulled out bread and cheese from the basket. He ripped a piece of the bread off and handed it to me. “It’s come to my attention that we rarely have any alone time together. I intend to change that.”
I took a bite of the warm bread and listened to him. He was right. We hardly ever got to enjoy time alone together. If he could arrange more dates like this, I was going to be a very happy woman.
“I’m sorry the beginning of your life with the preternaturals has been so difficult. I hope you know that I will do everything within my power to make up for this once the world has settled down.”
I swallowed the bread and moved closer to him on the blanket, looking up into his blue eyes. “And how do you intend to make up for this?”
He smiled and my heart skipped a beat. “That is a need to know basis and you don’t need to know. Yet.”
I laughed and kissed his lips softly. “Tease.”
The sun began to rise, and my breath caught in my throat as the lights changed colors in the sky and the buildings around us lit up. It was gorgeous.
Ares wrapped his arms around me and whispered, “I love you and every time I see the sun, I’ll think of you, my Sunshine.”
I relaxed against him and watched the sun rise, it was the best morning I’d had in a while. Ares and I ate the bread and cheese and then watched as the city’s inhabitants began to rise.
“Ares?”
“Hm?”
“I have so many unanswered questions and it seems like I never have time to ask them. I don’t want to ruin our date, but…”
Ares nodded. “You’re right. Ask away.”
I tried to think what to ask him first and my brain decided to draw blanks. I sat in the early morning light thinking for two full minutes until the first question popped into my head. “What’s the prophecy you’ve talked about?”
Ares shifted until he was leaning back on his elbows and squinting at the sun. “Two hundred years ago an oracle made a prophecy which rocked the entire preternatural world. The oracle said, ‘a mixed blood woman of great power will fight the evil which holds the world in darkness and right the balance of good and evil’. Many were confused since the current times weren’t in darkness and so, we took it as an omen for the future. Most people forgot about the prophecy and decided the oracle was losing her touch and simply looking for attention. Now, it seems you may be the woman she was talking about.”
“But the world isn’t really unbalanced right now. I mean, I know the humans aren’t ruling anymore, but that doesn’t mean that the balance of good and evil is, well, unbalanced.”
“Perhaps not right now, but if Maurice succeeds, he may tilt the balance.”
Of course. “So, he wants me because he believes that after his plan is underway, I will be the only one capable of ending his tyranny?”
Ares wrapped his arms around me, growling softly. “I won’t let him have you.”
It was a very possessive gesture, but I scooted closer to him and allowed myself to relax in his hold. Strangely I enjoyed the possessiveness he showed. “I know. I trust you.”
Ares rubbed his face against my hair and growled again. “Mine.”
I leaned against him with all my weight, surprising him and forcing him onto his back. I straddled his body and pinned his arms down with my hands. “Mine.” I nuzzled his neck and flicked my tongue along his pulse.
He smiled happily and pulled me down to squish me against his chest in a tight hug. “Yes. Forever.”
I struggled out of his hold and then nipped his ear playfully before jumping away from him and squatting down. Ares sat up and smiled. I had to stop myself from shaking my butt since I didn’t have a tail to wag and instead put my hands down in the snow of the rooftop and whined. Ares dashed towards me, and I tossed the snow I had in his face. He sputtered and wiped the snow off, but I was on the other side of the roof already, gathering up a snowball. He turned to me and I threw the ball, hitting him in the center of the chest. He looked down at the watery ball and watched as it slid down his stomach and to the ground.
He squatted down and began packing snow into a ball. “You asked for it now. You do realize this means war?”
I giggled and packed my own ball. “Bring it on, Your Highness.”
His ball hit me in the stomach just as I threw mine and hit his shoulder. We both grabbed more ammunition and continued firing at each other. I packed my ball and aimed carefully, throwing it and watching with pure delight as it hit him on the head. The ball slid down his hair and plopped onto his shoulder.
I couldn’t help it, I doubled over with laughter.
“You think that’s funny?” Ares asked. I looked up at him, but couldn’t stop laughing so I just nodded. His body blurred and I watched as he covered the distance of the roof to me in under one second. His body pressed up against mine as he smashed snow on the top of my head and squished it into my hair.
I gasped and pushed away from him, shaking my hair and trying to get the cold snow out. He laughed and returned to his side of the roof. I noticed he was inching towards the door and quickly threw the ball at him. At that moment, the door flung open, Achilles stepped out, and the snow ball hit him right in the face.
My hands covered my mouth as I fought not to laugh. The fight didn’t last long as both Ares and I broke down and laughed hysterically. Achilles wiped the snow from his face and looked from me to Ares. “Now I understand what all the raucous wa
s.” He bent down and started making a large snow ball.
I shook my head and held up my hand. “No, Achilles, don’t you even…” He tossed the large ball with deadly accuracy. It hit me in the chest and knocked me off my feet. I groaned as I sat up and glared at the laughing princes who seemed for the first time to have forgotten their differences as they shared a laugh at my expense. I made two balls and threw them at the two men, making them stop laughing and wipe at their faces.
Achilles looked at Ares. “Alliance?”
Ares smiled at Achilles. “Alliance.”
Well, that couldn’t be good. “Hey, no teaming up its not…” I screeched as I was forced to duck from the first few balls they tossed at me. I glared at the two men, but when I saw their smiling faces and saw them working together for the first time in who knew how many years, I couldn’t get mad. So, I dodged as many of their balls as I could while throwing my own at them. We were all laughing and smiling until Hera walked out onto the roof with Koda and ruined our escapade by glaring at us. “It’s time to eat and then you will speak to the last group of humans before we return.”
“What a buzzkill she turned out to be,” I muttered under my breath. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten that she had enhanced hearing just like everyone else with me. Koda snickered then tried to play it off as a cough, while Achilles and Ares worked to keep straight faces.
Hera rolled her eyes and huffed, “Children.”
Chapter Nine
I was exhausted from all of our traveling. None of the humans had tried to attack me, though some had been frightened. I couldn’t know how many I’d saved, if any, until after it was all done, but I felt good for trying. We returned to the Light Court and Achilles’ chambers.
I lay in the bed between Achilles and Ares who had agreed to share the bed with me so that both could touch me while they slept. I stared up at the ceiling and wondered how we were going to work out something between the three of us. I knew I couldn’t be with both Ares and Achilles, but my heart and the magic binding us didn’t. Achilles suggested a fifty-fifty trade where I spent half the week with Ares and half the week with Achilles, but Ares refused to let me out of his sight, especially with our new knowledge that Maurice was after me.
Ares, Achilles, and Koda sat around a table inside Achilles’ chambers discussing what to do next. I’d been sitting idly by, letting them debate with each other, but I couldn’t hold back anymore.
“There’s only one clear choice, but we need Victor in order to do it.”
“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 with a pout.
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 while growling loudly and baring his teeth at the newcomer.
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, his eyes narrowed. “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 and never turns me down when I ask for a match.”
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 or threat.”
“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. No wonder he was an assassin.
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 with his arms at his sides and his hands clenching and relaxing with each step.
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 yo
u 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. “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. “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.
Artemis Lupine- The Complete Series Page 42