“Yes, well, I didn't think he would go after Hades. That was rather the point.” Apollo slid a grimace at his son.
“Seriously, Dad?!” Ace roared. “You're blaming this on me? I've hunted the Hounds over her! I've gone against Lord Hades and interfered with work that's for the good of the world. I've lived in torment, chasing after . . .” He looked at me. “Oh, great fuck. My own blood.”
“Well, I don't think we were technically blood relations at the time. Just soul relatives. But look at it this way, kid—it's kind of common for Greek Gods.”
“Could you please stop calling me kid?”
“Sorry.” I shook my head again. “I thought I had it all figured out. I thought Hades was setting you up. But no. It was the other way around and Hades had it right. What did you tell him when he confronted you?”
“I've been avoiding him.”
I snorted a laugh. “Hold on. You sent the flowers. Hyacinths. Of course.” I shook my head.
“Yes, yes.” Apollo rolled his eyes. “It's been me. We've established that.”
“I'm now establishing just how much of a dick you've been. So, you taunted me with flowers before torturing me to death. Were you also the one who put me on that ship?”
“What ship?”
“In France, you asshole! When I was dating the King! The ship to America!”
“Oh.” Helios made a face like he used to when we were kids and I had beaten him at some stupid game. “Yes. That was me. Asclepius was getting too close. I had to send you away. It had nothing to do with that boy-king.”
“Unbelievable,” I muttered. “Do you know what hell I went through on that ship?”
Apollo—sorry for the back and forth with the names, but that's how it went in my head—suddenly narrowed his stare at me. “Whatever you went through, Selene, it was not nearly enough! Not even close to what I suffered because of you. My heart was broken, and then I accidentally killed Hyacinthus! Doyouknow what hellIwent through?” His hands started to glow. He lifted them. “This time, you'll die knowing who you are and what you've done. But don't worry, Sister, it will all be erased in the next life. You'll forget about me, and I can torture you all over again.”
The power of the Sun came streaming toward me, and I knew Apollo was right. My body might be immortal, but that only gave me incredible healing and longevity. Not invulnerability. Just like the Hounds of Hades, I could be killed and my immortality taken.
The Hounds. It was their faces that swam through my mind when death came for me. And for the first time in all my lives, I was going to die with regret. Regret and an unfulfilled, aching heart. I loved them. Shit. It didn't matter if I was a ghost, a human, or a goddess. Love is love. I saw it now. Felt the weight of what I had done to my brother. Stolen from him. Would I have cursed him for taking my lovers from me? Yes. Yes, I would have. If he had stolen even one of my hounds from me, I would have followed him throughout every life and murdered that asshole again and again. I would have found pleasure in that alone. With those thoughts, peace filled me.
I had time to say one thing before I died: “I'm sorry, Brother.”
Apollo blinked. His jaw went slack. But it was too late. His light arced from him toward me.
“No!” Ace shouted and dove between us.
My stare, locked with Apollo's, went wide. So did my brother's. The magic hit Ace and sent him soaring past me to crash against the side of his fountain. We gaped at him. Bruno whined and ran for his master.
“My son!” Apollo roared. Then he swung his head toward me.
“He'll be okay,” I hurried to say. “He's immune to your—”
Apollo roared again, this time wordlessly. Then he lowered his head like a bull.
Bruno leapt from Ace to the chaise, landing in a wide-legged stance between Apollo and me. He growled and snapped his teeth, magic sparking off his fur. The fountain. The dog had drunk from the fountain. Holy shit.
Apollo glared at Bruno. The puppy gathered on his haunches, preparing to launch himself at Apollo's throat. I had mere moments to make the most of the second chance Ace had given me. My magic was still leashed, but I had one last card to play.
“Hades, I summon you!” I shouted.
It didn't matter that the territory was warded. With me on one side of the ward, I could pull Hades through with our link. It was common knowledge among gods, and my brother had returned all my goddess knowledge to me.
Apollo gaped at me, his hands lowering. I think he would have run if he'd had the time.
He didn't.
With a thunderous sound, the Lord of the Underworld instantly appeared at my side. Hades looked from me to Apollo, to Ace, and then to Bruno. “What da . . . ?”
