Fury of the Gods (Areios Brothers Book 3)

by Amy Braun

  Gods knew we needed her.

  Ares punched his hands forward. Tornadoes of flame formed from the ground, spiraling up and illuminating the god of war in furious orange light. The blazes spiraled into a whirlwind that barreled toward us. Heat scoured the room and a boiling wind slammed into me. I grit my teeth at the burning pain, and the flames weren’t even touching me yet.

  Artemis pressed her hand to the wall. Cracks formed in the stone. A slab of rock yanked free. Artemis hurled it at Ares.

  The stone smashed through the cycling flames, parting them like curtains, and hurtled to Ares. He quickly dropped the flame and crossed his arms to guard his face. The concrete smashed around his body, pooling at his feet.

  Thinking quick, I curled the edges of my aether along the floor. The shadows pushed against the crumbled rock and collected at his legs. Ares angrily kicked and stomped free of the stone. I couldn’t hold him fast enough––

  A blast of flame struck the god in the back. He roared in anger more than pain and snapped his hand backward. The blow caught Selena in the face and sent her spinning to the ground. She lay there, motionless, my Rage burned bright––

  Blazing fire ripped from Ares’ palms and fired at us. I raced to Artemis’s side, pressing out a wall of aether and holding the flames at bay. She fired more arrows, six of them appearing in her bowstring and firing without a single thought. The arrows careened through the air, sliding past my aether and his fire, crisscrossing until they became a net. The silvery web curled around Ares and crushed him. He thrashed hatefully but couldn’t break free. The net dragged on his form, forcing him to his knees.

  He was pinned. Ares was pinned.

  I wrapped the aether around the base of the net, immobilizing Ares. I didn’t have much time, and Hades––

  I whirled to where the God of Death had stood. He was gone, and all the Weapons and Shards were gone with him.

  Shit, shit, shit!

  There was nothing to be done for it. Hades would pay for his part in this. I would fucking make sure of it.

  Liam helped Thea stand, but her focus was on the circle where the Weapons had once been.

  All of them were gone, save for a glint of gold and silver. A blade I’d seen only once before, but couldn’t forget.

  The knife Liam used to attack me.

  Ares laughed. “Did you really think he would not have a plan? You may have escaped his reach now, but Death is coming for you, my son.” He grinned, unconcerned about the stone, aether, and moonlight net trapping him to the floor. “I can hear it now.”

  And then so did I.

  A piercing cry that struck fear into me like lightning.

  Liam, Thea, and Selena stared at me with horror.

  “You thought you could escape with them, my son?” Ares snarled to me. “Did you think they’d forgotten you? I admit you got further than I planned, but further does not mean certain escape.” His eyes flicked to the Knife. “And they will bring that to me, so long as I––”

  A silver arrow slammed into Ares’s left eye. Another pierced his right.

  His head thumped against the floor, and his body stilled. Gold blood spilled from between his ruined eyelids.

  A jolt of energy struck through me, as if my heart had been struck with adrenaline. I stared at the Olympian’s body. For years, Ares had been an unstoppable chain in my life, binding me, forcing me to do his bidding, tormenting me, threatening my brother, cursing and torturing me.

  And now he was dead. I was free.

  My body felt lighter, stronger, as if a switch had been flicked in my brain. Another rush surged through me, as powerful as the adrenaline.

  And this felt a little familiar. The way I had when I’d found Ki̱demónas. As if I had just found the last key to unlock the door to becoming a god.

  Heart racing with new, fast energy, I followed the line the arrow had flown.

  Artemis lowered her bow and stared at the corpse of her brother.

  “He killed my twin, and I am not inclined to forgiveness.” She looked at me and then to the rest of us. “We must go.”

  The Furies howled again in the distance. Stone grumbled above us. I looked up. Cracks formed in the ceiling, just before a hole punched through it.

  The boom echoed loudly in my ears, leaving a ringing echo behind. I choked on dust. Chips of rock battered against my chest and face. A column of fire tore through the hole in the ceiling, and in the hazy shade before me, a figure formed.

  Athena. Armor dented, gold blood smeared on her skin, sword and shield in hand.

  The war goddess took in the scene. Three barely standing scions. One dead. Ares’s corpse with a silver arrow in his eye.

  Her grey-blue eyes shot to Artemis.

  “What have you done?”

  The Hunter Goddess faced her angrily. “This is what you wanted, Athena. An ending for the gods. An end to our family.”

  “I did not want this,” Athena’s shout echoed off the walls. Tremors filled the room. “I want us to rest as we should have from the beginning.”

  “You are right.” Tears shimmered in Artemis’ eyes. When they fell, they were tinted with gold. “If we stayed in our slumber, Ares would still be alive. And we would be memories. But we were awakened, Athena. Woken into this world that took our power from us.” Her eyes moved to me. “And he will break it.”

  In her eyes, I could see the hopelessness. The torment. The slow snapping of a mind that could not take any more pain.

  The gravebrand burned on my hand. Not from Ares’s curse, but the mark the gods inflicted on me. The mark the Furies hunted me with.

  The hunters that were nearly here.

  Athena stepped closer to her sister. “We’re so close, Artemis. If we destroy the Trinity Weapons and the Cronus Shards, then we can keep the Titans imprisoned for good. Sacrifices will have to be made for that.”

  As she spoke, I shifted toward my brother, Thea, and Selena. My heartbroken, exhausted friends huddled together with tearstained faces to protect Corey’s cold form. Mason, lying beside them, unconscious and soaked in blood, barely breathing.

  I couldn’t bear the thought of watching another one of them fall.

  “Can you get everyone out of here?” I whispered to Thea.

  She nodded slowly.

  Liam glanced at the gravesbrand, his eyes going wide. “What is that?”

  Then he looked at me, eyes going wide with understanding and hurt. Regret hung heavy in my chest.

  The Furies screamed louder.

  Liam swung to Thea. “Please.”

  She nodded and reached for me—

  A scuffle echoed between the goddesses, and an arrow punched through Thea’s back, the tip jutting out from under her collarbone.

  Selena screamed and rushed to catch her friend as she fell. Liam whirled, bolting for the goddess.

  She snapped her fingers and the floor cracked under Liam’s feet. It broke and bucked, tossing him into the wall. His skull cracked against the stone, and he slid unconscious to the floor.

  Furious, I ran for Artemis.

  Athena attacked her sister. The Huntress darted back and forth, missing the strikes and ripping out chunks of wall to use as shields. The war goddess cleaved through them with her sword and smashed them to pieces with her shield.

  I called on Ki̱demónas, lifting the spear from where it has fallen, and hurled it at the betrayer-goddess.

  She shot an arrow that launched past my shoulder, and spilled silver netting around me. The cold strands halted me in my place, tightening around my limbs and forcing me to fall. I grimaced, calling on my fire, pushing it out against the net. The magic held tight. I needed to use more. I crushed Ki̱demónas into my grip, yanking its energy into my body.

  Athena batted away the stones, gaining ground. For once, her anger outrode her reason, and she didn’t see the trap that was already sprung.

  Stone floor cracked underneath her boots, opening up a giant hole that yanked Athena through the concrete an
d into the earth. The war goddess fought back, slashing and clawing at the ground. Flames rippling out of her body and charring a path to Artemis.

  I focused, pushing out more magic. My flames shifted from orange to white. Ki̱demónas thrashed in my hand, struggling to fuel me at the pace I needed.

  I glanced at my friends, watching Selena and Liam on their knees, tears streaming down their faces, pulling the arrow from Thea and healing her as fast as they could.

  My chest squeezed. I hoped they were fast enough. They had to be. And I needed to buy them time.

  Suddenly, the silver netting began to shudder, bend, and melt. But not fast enough.

  The Huntress leaped forward and swiftly kicked Athena in the head. Gold blood sprayed from the gash that opened across Athena’s temple. The goddess’ eyes rolled back, and she went limp. Artemis’ earthen magic moved the dislodged pieces of concrete over top of Athena’s head, burying her unconscious beneath our feet.

  Artemis turned to me, and for a second, I thought I could see the guilt in her eyes.

  “If it were your brother,” she told me, “you would do the same thing.”

  She knelt down and carefully plucked the Omega Knife from the floor by Ares’s corpse. She stepped back, clear of the break in the roof.

  Three winged shadows dropped through the hole in the ceiling. One red, one purple, and one blue.

  With dread, I looked into the faces of the Furies.

  DEREK

  THE NETTING FELL off my body, fluttering into ash. Flames curled around me, and I raised Ki̱demónas––

  Tisiphone’s whip curled around Ki̱demónas and wrenched. She nearly pulled my arm from its socket. The intensity of my magic fluttered, and I fought to contain it. Megaera, unafraid of my fire, leaped and booted me in the stomach. I struck a wall, my head snapping against the stone. Pain spiked through my skull, and I lost focus on the flames. They fizzled away and Tisiphone’s whip snapped again, coiling around my body. Alecto’s scimitars scissored around my neck.

  “No, please, don’t!” Selena screamed. The pain in her voice was absolute. She had endured too much tonight.

  Tisiphone hissed and cracked her whip. Stone rumbled next to me. Artemis waved a hand, and another wall of concrete lifted from the floor and pushed against the ceiling. Locking all of my friends and even Athena away from me.

  Alecto smirked at me, seeing victory.

  “Derek Areios, you––”

  “Wait.”

  The Furies stopped at the sound of Artemis’s voice. They hissed and turned to the goddess.

  She stood at the back of the destroyed room, surrounded by debris. Her eyes were silver and distant, impossible to read.

  “You would do well not to keep us from our task, Huntress,” hissed Tisiphone, her dark purple skin stark even in the dim light. “Higher powers than you have demanded justice.”

  “I am fully aware,” drawled Artemis. “I was there when the decree was issued.”

  “Then step away and let me end him,” Tisiphone growled. “He has slain his father. Retribution must be had.” The leader of the Furies narrowed her gaze. “And you should beg your father for forgiveness.”

  Artemis stiffened. Behind her rested a small pile of stone. Ares’s body had been completely concealed by rocks. As if Artemis couldn’t help but hide her shame.

  “We smell the blood on your immortal soul, child. We know what you have done.”

  “Murderess,” hissed Alecto.

  “Betrayer,” snarled Megaera.

  “Enough.”

  Artemis’ heavy energy filled the tunnel. Stone trembled around us.

  The Huntress stalked toward me, easing between the Furies as if she were not afraid of what they could do to her.

  “I am grateful to have learned the truth, Derek Areios. I heard Ares’s confession, and my family shall hear of it as well. I promise you that your friends and brother shall not be harmed further.”

  Her promise rang cold in my ears. All but one of my friends were severely wounded—the other was dead. Unless she could bring him back, there was nothing I wanted to hear from her.

  But I knew what she wanted from me. The same thing she had wanted, even after my confession that I hadn’t killed her brother.

  The Huntress stepped forward and lifted the Omega Knife, turning it left and right. Its blade burned white hot, filled with the power of Cronus’s Mind.

  “If it were as easy as cutting you and taking your powers, I would do it,” Artemis said. “The loss of them might have been enough. But the Olympians will still believe you are a threat.” She hooked the Knife into her belt and stepped back. “I truly am sorry it came to this. You really did have an honest heart. But there is too much that must be repaired. Too much chaos that we must contain.” She stepped back. “Our bargain is fulfilled.”

  “Persephone will remember this,” I warned her.

  “I know she will. And I am sorry for it.” Artemis looked at me a final time. “Apochairetismós, Derek Areios.”

  Farewell.

  Crumbled rock rolled toward her boots and crawled up her legs. Pieces of stone lengthened down her shoulders, growing across her arms and chest and rolling in on themselves, erasing her corporeal body and preparing to take her wherever she planned to go.

  Just as the rock touched the top of her thighs, I called Ki̱demónas to attack.

  Throughout the entire speech, I’d thought of a plan. A risky, stupid plan, but what other plans could I have? My head was literally on the chopping block.

  I’d commanded Ki̱demónas to move quiet and quick, to unfurl aether and form a loop of smoke. The spear drifted behind Artemis, who’d been so absorbed in her speech she hadn’t noticed or cared for the weapon lurking behind her.

  Then, as she sentenced me to death and began to transition away, I told it to strike.

  Ki̱demónas sped forward, the spear tip grazing Artemis’s exposed hip. The blade sliced through her belt loop, nicking her flesh, while the aether loop snared around the hilt of the Omega Knife. The two weapons shot toward me. Ki̱demónas punched through Tisiphone’s wing. The Fury roared in pain, her grip on the whip loosening enough for me to breathe and move my arms.

  I sent the spear another command. It snapped horizontally, smacking Tisiphone in the neck and cutting Alecto’s cheek open. I flooded my body with fire, pushing the Furies and keeping them away from me.

  Dousing my flames, I looked for my second weapon. The loop of aether lowered, and I grabbed the hilt of the Omega Knife. I twisted and slashed. The blade cleaved through Megaera’s armor and dug into the crimson-flesh beneath.

  I didn’t stop until I buried the Knife in her heart.

  Megaera let out a howl that shook my bones. The Knife pulsed in my hand, its light flaring as Megaera’s flesh shriveled and paled. Her eyes melted backward into her skull. Leathery wings turned brittle. The Fury became a husk, her power—her life force—drained by the Knife.

  I stared in shock––

  The Furies roared in agony. They had not expected their sister to die.

  I hadn’t expected to kill her.

  Keeping Ki̱demónas between the Furies, having it batter them back and forth, I hooked the Omega Knife into my belt and raced for the wall Artemis had put between me and my friends. I slammed my hand against it.

  “Selena! Selena if you can hear me, move back!”

  I balled my fist, curled aether around it, and hardened the element. Flames lifted from my hand and burned white heart against my skin. I Adapted all my strength.

  Then I punched the wall.

  Pain shocked up my arm, but a dent was made. I punched again, and again, until my fist shot through—

  “Derek!”

  My knees shook at the sound of her voice.

  “Thea’s awake, we can get you—”

  I held the Knife to her. “Get it out of––”

  Pain sheared through my bicep. I gasped, looking down at the silver arrow buried deep in my flesh. I pulled
my hand from the wall, releasing the Knife. Trusting Selena. I grit my teeth and clutched the wounded limb, whirling around.

  Artemis, reformed from her teleportation, stormed toward me, lowering her pale bow. I spread my hands, calling up shadowfires. She flicked her fingers and rocks lifted from the floor, slamming into the magic soldiers and crushing them. Her eyes burning with anger.

  Her speed tripled, and she closed a hand around my throat.

  “You should not have made this difficult.”

  Stone rippled under our feet. A slab of concrete lifted, as Artemis hauled me out of the tunnel by my throat and the rising stone underneath us. I heard Selena shout my name but couldn’t see her.

  I set Ki̱demónas to its new task and called on shadowfires to guard the wall and my friends––

  With the stone platform, we reached the factory floor as the Huntress tossed me along the hard, cement floor. I rolled, crying out when the arrow brushed the floor. I brought down an elbow to stop my motion, hissed, and grabbed the silver arrow in my arm. It was ice cold, burning my palm, but I yanked it free. I wrapped my hand around the wound and healed quickly.

  The Furies howled beneath my feet. I staggered upright, drew a pair of knives from my belt, and looked at the goddess. Artemis balled her fists, rage burning in her gaze.

  “Despite what you have done, I will keep my promise.” She ground out the words, as if she wanted to change her mind and hurt my friends. Silently, I thanked the gods for their twisted sense of honor.

  The Furies screamed again. I glanced at the floor. Stone now covered the chunk of floor Artemis had blown apart, but the main staircase was still open. The remaining two Furies would find their way to me.

  I focused my magic, straining my connection to Ki̱demónas and the shadowfires.

  Dig them out. Get them away from here. Get the Knife away from Artemis.

  “Think on your loved ones, Derek Areios,” snapped the goddess, drawing my focus back to her furious eyes. “Take their memories with you into death.”