I jerked away from Ace and set Bruno down. The puppy stared back and forth between us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that we were in a beautiful room, twice as large as the bedroom the hounds had given me. There was a fucking fountain in the center of it. Bruno wandered over to it, climbed onto the rim, and lapped up the water.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
“I'm sorry for the theatrics, Saliha. I had to get you past the ward so I could bring you here, where we can talk without being disturbed.”
“Who. Are. You?”
“I'm Ace. The same man you met in this life and in your past life.”
That made me pause. “You can't be. Ace is human, and a human couldn't have done what you just did.”
“I'm not human. I have never been human, Saliha.”
“Stop calling me that!”
“Don't you find it amusing that the name you chose for yourself in this life is so close to the one you bore in your first life? You are and always will be Saliha. My love.”
I backed away. This was some crazy stalker shit. I didn't find it romantic anymore.
Ace held up his hands. As he did, he got better looking. His hair and skin shone with something more than health, his eyes turned metallic gold, and his body grew a little, musclesthickening as he gained a few inches in height. This was the real Ace.
“I would never hurt you, Saliha. I love you. I have loved you for centuries and searched for you in every life you've lived, always finding you too late. I've gotten close a few times, but every time that happened, you were snatched away from me. The last life you lived, as Agnes, I was just a day away from joining you at Louis' court in France. Then you disappeared. I tracked you to New Orleans. But again, by the time I got there, you were gone. I had just located you in Virginia when you were murdered.” He stepped closer. “Someone takes you from meevery time,” he growled the last two words.
“Who?” I whispered.
“Hades.”
Shock rolled through me. Hades? Fuck. It made sense. It all made sense. For some reason, Hades didn't want me to be with Ace. So, he murdered me whenever Ace got too close. But when I wound up in the Blessed Isles, Hades must have realized that I'd have an edge in my next life. The souls in the Blessed Isle got to choose a gift if they decided to go back for another round of living. Usually, it was magic. And if I had been born with magic, I could have protected myself.
So, Hades made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Reborn in a mature body with all of my memories intact so I could remember Wren. But in exchange, I had to give up magic and bind myself to his boys. I have to admit it was brilliant. It kept me weak and away from Ace without the mess of murder.
But why?
“Who are you?” I asked again. “Why would Hades want to keep us apart?”
“I don't know why he does it. I only know that the first time you were taken from me, back when you were Saliha, I came home to find you dead, in my father's arms. He had tried to protect you from Hades, but Hades was too powerful.”
“Your father?”
“Apollo. He's my father.”
I swayed on my feet. Apollo. The very man Hades said was backing Silas. Well, maybe Apollo had a good reason to hate Hades. And the crow? The flowers? Hades must have sent them to implicate Apollo. One god framing another. But again, why? It's a lot of effort just to keep two people apart. It could be anything. Gods live forever, and that gives them a mighty long time to develop grudges.
“You're Apollo's son?” I asked.
“My name is Asclepius. I'm the God of Medicine.”
“Medicine,” I whispered. “Asclepius.” Things bumped around in my brain. “Wait. Are you . . . ?”
“I am also the god the Hounds of Hades pursue. I wear a mask that I call Silas.”
“Silas. Ace. Asclepius. Right. They're all pieces of you. Okay.”
“After I lost you the last time, I also lost all hope of ever finding you again. I grew so furious that I couldn't rest. All I could think about was how Hades tormented us. I wanted revenge. It consumed me. I admit that I . . . I have done someterrible things to get my revenge. I even came close to marrying someone for her power.” He cleared his throat and added, “Without her consent.”
I lifted my brows.
“Yes, I know. Looking back, I am overcome with humiliation. With no hope of ever being with you again, I became a different man, Saliha. Bitter. Vicious. I became a villain because all I had to live for was vengeance.”
