The dead pushed in around him, and his arm bumped into their bodies as he tried to swing his sword. Ares sheathed the blade and wielded two daggers from his boots. He shook off an icy grip on his arm and elbowed the dead man back, while his other arm lashed out with a dagger. Too many. And they weren’t dying with the traditional blows that would fell a man in one hit.
He’d have to fight to his death.
Remorse twisted his gut. If only he’d had one more chance to talk to Kaye.
The sound of another sword flinging from its sheath rang behind him. Ares turned with hope.
Apollo came, swift like lightning from the square, wielding his sword. A battalion of soldiers followed, shouting war cries.
“For Zeus!”
“For Athena!”
“For my king.”
Ares doubled his effort and fought his way through to his brother.
Apollo reached him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Brother, you are a sight for sore eyes.”
“What is the meaning of this witchery?” Ares turned and jumped, taking three dead men down with his landing.
Apollo swung his blade beside him. “They came with no warning and attacked the city last night. There was no time to get word to you.”
Ares whirled around, taking three more down. “Where are all the gods?”
The battle wound down as the battalion cut through the horde. Apollo sheathed his sword. “Holed up in the temple. They are safe.”
“Athena?” Ares voice broke on the name.
Apollo nodded. “She plans a new strategy as we speak.”
He sighed with relief.
“So, the mortal did fall in love, then?” Apollo studied Ares up and down. “You have your powers back.”
Guilt spread through Ares like a feverish plague. Kaye’s anger was inevitable. But he should have tried harder to explain. He should have stayed longer and faced his greatest fear, the fact he broke her heart.
“Brother, are you well?”
“I am.” Ares took off his helmet, remembering where he was. “I didn’t expect to come back to this.”
“And not a moment too soon. I am glad mortals are so lavish with their affections.”
Anger curdled Ares’ stomach. Kaye’s affections were not meaningless or cheap. “She loved me, Apollo, and I lied to her.”
“For good reason.” Apollo gestured to where his army piled the dead corpses to burn. “You have no need of a mortal tie.”
Pain shot through his gut as if he’d severed a major artery. Maybe he had.
Apollo’s voice lowered to a whisper. “Scouts along the coast tell us Poseidon plans another attack. We must meet the enemy on the shores, before they reach the city.”
Ares nodded. “A wise plan.” Even though he was there physically, a part of him had stayed with Kaye. For a moment, he considered going back.
Apollo placed a hand on his shoulder. “It is good to have you back. We must head for the coast.”
…
Kaye pushed her scrambled eggs around her fancy china plate. She had no appetite. The bright morning light coming through the large windows overlooking the sea contrasted starkly with her dire mood.
“A lovers’ quarrel?” Grammy leaned forward in her wheelchair. She’d, on the other hand, had three sausages, two scrambled eggs, and a raspberry Danish.
“You could say that.” Except a lovers’ quarrel involved two lovers, two people who loved each other. This was totally one-sided. If she hadn’t been so wrapped up in the romance, she would have put the pieces together much sooner and ended it. Not that she’d feel right keeping Ares’ powers.
“Just a bump in the road.” Grammy sipped her orange juice. “When you’re as old as I am, little arguments won’t matter anymore.”
“That’s if I ever get that far.” Like finding someone who wanted to get married in the first place. Kaye tried a bite of egg, but it didn’t taste like anything she wanted to eat.
“You will, trust me.” Grammy dabbed a napkin on her mouth. “Do you know what Hank said to me after I opened an inter-dimensional rift and entered the world beyond?”
Kaye dropped her fork. Maybe she hadn’t heard Grammy right. “What?”
“He said he loved me, of course, but I knew that. Then he got angry and said, ‘Stop wasting your time looking for me and enjoy the rest of your life.’”
Kaye stared, open mouthed. Was this more of Grammy’s nonsense? “So you stopped looking for him?”
“I did. But, what I meant to say is, when you get older, the little things don’t matter anymore—like if he left his socks on the floor or forgot to take out the garbage. Those little annoyances turn into the reason why you love him. When he’s gone, you’d do anything just to pick up those socks once again, even if it means spending your life’s work to create an inter-dimensional rift, just to have him tell you not to waste your time.”
Kaye blinked, speechless as her mom came over to their table. “Time to check out, Grammy.” She smiled at Kaye. “Where’s Armin?”
Kaye used all of her effort to hold back her pain. “He left early on…business.”
“Tell him good-bye for us.” Her mom leaned down and gave her a hug. “See you next time, dear.”
Kaye hugged her mom then kissed Grammy’s cheek. “I’m glad we had a chance to talk.”
“Me too.” Grammy smiled as Kaye’s mom wheeled her away. She shouted over her shoulder across the breakfast room. “Remember those socks!”
“I will.” Kaye covered her plate with her napkin and walked outside on the balcony. The water sparkled. Surfers rode the waves out to sea, and a couple of kids splashed in the receding tide. She took the white steps down to the beach. The ocean always seemed to calm her, and she needed a place to think.
Whether Grammy had seen Gramps in the world beyond or not, her words made Kaye wonder. Ares had had no choice but to keep the truth from her. Yes, she had a right to be angry, but was this one of those cases where she should forgive? Would she overlook this curse fifty years from now if they got married?
It was a moot point. Ares had gone back to Mount Olympus, and she’d likely never see him again. The void inside her grew. They had something. It wasn’t her imagination, and she had thrown it away at the first argument they had. She’d told him to leave. Maybe if she had let him explain…
Kaye wandered to the rocks at the edge of the beach. A lot had happened in the last week. She needed solitude to get things straight. She climbed down to where the tide splashed against a large boulder, took her shoes off, and soaked her feet.
The waves lapped against her legs, grounding her. She stared into the horizon, watching a tour boat chug across the expanse.
A cold hand gripped her leg.
Kaye glanced down. One of the kids must have swum over to scare her.
A man with iridescent eyes and long, oily black hair looked up at her and grinned. Horror spread through her. What kind of creepazoid lurked in the water?
She yanked her leg away, and it slipped from his grasp. Oily goo clung to her skin. She scrambled up the rock on all fours and scanned the beach. She was too far away from anyone to call for help. The man climbed on the rock behind her and reached for her other leg.
Kaye kicked at his face. “Weirdo. Get the hell away.”
His eyes glowed like a cat’s. He opened his mouth and water trickled out between strange pin-like teeth. Behind him, something flapped in the air. A tail.
Holy Shit.
One of Poseidon’s merman cohorts was out to get her! She was doomed.
Kaye scrambled to her feet, but the merman clutched her leg and pulled her back down. She hit the rock hard, knocking the air out of her lungs.
Ares had left. Why the hell were they after her?
Kaye kicked fiercely while the merman deflected the blows with sly speed. He moved like an eel, unconstrained by human vertebrae.
He reached out again and grabbed her other leg. His hand slipped a bit, but he tightened
his grip and pulled.
Kaye screamed as the merman dragged her down the rock. She scratched her fingers to grab hold, the skin tearing. With one more yank, she fell backward and hit the water. Panic jolted through her. Disoriented, she flailed her arms and legs, her mouth almost reaching the surface.
If only she had Ares’ powers now.
The tail curled around her, feeling like a squishy, python embrace. Dread settled in her gut.
Air bubbles slipped from her lips as the sun grew farther and farther away.
Chapter Seventeen
Bait
The waves lolled back and forth.
A seagull cawed three times.
Kaye coughed up water. So much water she wondered if that was all she’d eaten for breakfast. Pain erupted behind her eyes as she squinted against the sun. Her skin burned like she’d been lying out there for hours. Why hadn’t she put on sunscreen?
She sat up in the sand. No towel. No umbrella. No other person for miles on either side.
Where was she?
“Hello?” Kaye called out, then remembered her fight with the merman and covered her mouth. She glanced at her body. Besides the red welts on her legs, everything looked in place.
So what the hell did he want? And why’d he leave her on a desert island in the middle of nowhere.
Kaye stood. Her lips were parched and split from the sun. When she licked them, she tasted blood.
She had to look for water, then shelter. Wasn’t that the right order? She thought back to all those Survivor episodes she’d watched with Syrinx. But all she could remember was the fights and how to get voted off the island. In this case, she wanted off as soon as possible.
Just piss off the leader, and you’ll be all set.
Except no one was here. Just sand, sand, and more sand.
She kept walking. A dense tropical forest with palm trees lined the center of the island. It was either that or the ocean stretching for miles without a single ship. Without Ares’ powers, her chances of swimming were zero to nil.
She walked toward the palm trees. A hairy coconut lay on the sand. Maybe if she could break it open, she could drink the juice. She smashed it on a rock. The coconut bounced off, unharmed.
Great.
That silly question people used to ask came back to her. If you were on a desert island and you could only take one thing, what would it be?
Duh. A water bottle.
Kaye dug her fingernails into the coconut with no success. No. A big damned water tank. A swimming pool full of drinking water.
She could daydream all morning, but the coconut was still as hard as a freakin’ rock.
The water on the horizon changed. Kaye stood, dropping the coconut. No. It couldn’t be.
The ocean rose in a wall, like a giant tsunami. Kaye backed up and grabbed onto a palm tree. Boy, was she having a bad day.
The wave reached the shore and dissipated instantly as a large merman with shaggy, white hair and a long beard slithered to the sand. His chest was bare and rippled with muscles, ending at the waist in glittery aqua-green scales. In one hand he held a trident.
Kaye dropped her arms to her sides, gawking. Now she really was doomed.
Seaweed, fish, and shells fell from his beard as he slithered onto the beach. His eyes glowed iridescent like the other merman’s, but something else was there as well—a complacency, an arrogant snobbery much worse than Ares’.
He spotted Kaye and smiled wickedly, like she was some new pet he could torture. “The mortal.”
“What am I doing here?” Kaye narrowed her eyes and tried to look fierce.
Poseidon stuck his trident in the sand and leaned on it smugly. “You’re the bait.”
“The bait?”
“To lure Ares to my domain.”
Kaye stepped forward. She didn’t want to seem like some lost monkey clinging to a palm tree. “What makes you so sure he’ll come for me?”
“You met my son, Triton?”
Kaye nodded. “If he was the creepy abductor, then yes.”
Poseidon ignored her taunt. “Triton witnessed your brave act in the aquarium to save Ares. You’d give your life for him.” Poseidon picked a crab from his beard and flung it back into the sea. “Love is not a one-way current. A woman only sacrifices herself if the man feels the same.”
“Well, I’ve got news for you.” Kaye put both hands on her hips. “Ares left for good right before Triton grabbed me. He’s not coming back to the mortal world. So there’s no way for him to know I’m here. He won’t show up. You might as well take me back.”
Poseidon laughed. “Mortals are so quick to judge.” He slithered toward her.
Kaye resisted the urge to cringe back. Show no weakness.
The merman stood two heads taller than her. His scaly waist stretched three feet across. He smelled of tangy sea brine and fish, and his scales oozed gelatinous goo.
The myths of his attractiveness were highly overrated.
He swung his trident by her face. Kaye flinched, shying away. The third point sliced a lock of her dark curls. The hair fell to the sand, and Poseidon picked it up. “We shall see how much Ares values your life.” He turned around and made his way into the ocean, leaving a gooey trail of scales and saltwater.
“Wait. What if he doesn’t come to get me?”
Poseidon turned around with a glimmer in his eye. “This is my favorite island. Stay awhile.”
Kaye gagged in horror as Poseidon disappeared into the sea.
…
Ares swung his blade, severing the arm of a giant octopus the size of his father’s temple. The other seven appendages swung around him, grasping for his ankles and arms. He glanced at Apollo, who wrestled with a giant crab along with several of his soldiers. They could handle the creature, but Ares was on his own.
It would take too long to hunt down each tentacle and cut them off one by one. He sheathed his sword. A tentacle swiped at his head, and he ducked.
A surefire way to the top.
Ares waited for another tentacle to hit him. One came at his stomach, and he let it take him down under the water. Holding his breath, he reached his arm around it and held on. The beast flung him back and forth, then up ten feet above the shore.
He’d only have one chance. If he missed or slipped, he’d end up submerged in the deeper waters where the mermen would pull him under. A calm confidence came over him. He would not miss.
Ares rode the tentacle as it swung close enough to the mantle. He released his grip and jumped. As he fell, he unsheathed his daggers. Ares hit the mantle and started slipping. He jabbed each dagger in the hide to stop himself from falling twenty feet into the sea.
The octopus reared up. A tentacle grasped Ares’ boot, the suction cups as large as his palms. It pulled, and Ares held on, gritting his teeth.
If he lost his grip, the beast would fling him half a mile into the sea. In full battle armor, the water would slow Ares down. The memory of his orange swim trunks popped in his head, and he pushed it away. He couldn’t think of Kaye now.
He tightened his grip with one hand and released the other, swiping at the tentacle. He managed to cut a gash in the arm, but the beast still held him by a few tendons. Ares swiped again and hacked the tentacle in half. The severed part still clung to his boot.
Kicking the tentacle away, he climbed until he reached the zenith of the octopus’ cranium. Standing upright, he straddled the beast, sheathed his daggers, and brought out his sword.
If this beast reached the town, it would destroy entire buildings, killing hundreds. As magnificent as it was, he had to stop it.
Ares raised the blade above his head. He brought down the sword and pierced through the beast’s mantle, right into its brain. The beast stumbled, then fell forward, splashing into the sea. The six remaining tentacles writhed, then slowly dropped, one by one. Ares slid down one of the tentacles and jumped to the beach.
“Excellent work.” Apollo clapped his shoulder. “But your adver
sary did not have pincer claws.” The other soldiers forced the remaining sea creatures back. The battle was won.
“Yes, but how many limbs did yours have?”
Apollo smiled. “You have me there.”
They walked along the shore, searching for dead or wounded. Apollo kicked at the shell of a giant crab, verifying it had been killed. “It is good to have you back. Without you, this battle would have taken twice as long, and more would have died. Tell me, where did you learn such fine footwork on the beach?”
Ares paused, not sure whether to bring up his time with Kaye. “A game the mortals call volleyball.”
“Volley-ball?” Apollo mused. “Sounds like great fun.”
Ares considered Apollo’s speed and hand eye coordination. “You would excel at it. I’ll teach you sometime.”
Unable to fight on land, the mermen were forced deeper into the sea. Ares watched the waves of their retreat.
“You have good memories of your time with mortals?” Apollo’s question sounded innocent, but Ares’ brother didn’t waste time on frivolous conversation.
“I do.”
Apollo’s face grew serious. “Do you consider returning?”
His question struck Ares like a slap to the face. “The urge is within me. Kaye and I did not part on good terms.”
Apollo took time to respond. Ares could tell his brother held back deeper emotions. “Consider us, dear brother. This battle may be won, but the war will go on. We need you.”
“I know.” The war always continued, whether it was with Poseidon, Hades, or all the other gods and goddesses and beasts inhabiting their volatile world.
“Commander, lieutenant.” A soldier from the fourth battalion stood before them. “There’s something you must see.”
“What is the matter?” Ares stepped toward the soldier.
“A prisoner. He has a message, and he refuses to speak to us. He asked for you.”
Dread spread through Ares’ gut. This battle had been too easy to win, a ploy to get their attention. Poseidon must have a larger plan. “Show me.”
They walked toward the edge of the sea where a merman lay on his back. A gash across his chest oozed blue-black blood.
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