Tethys slipped back into her torn dress, her hands shaking too much to fasten what few buttons remained intact. The orb, still safe in her pockets, practically glowed hot against her touch. Tethys’s eyes wandered back to the clock.
Only four minutes had passed between the time Araes crashed through the ornate double doors and all of her captors lay dead.
Chapter 19
If the goddess thought she’d been stealthy sneaking from the manner, she was sorely mistaken. The creak of a door hinge and light-footed steps down the hallway alerted Araes that something was awry. At first, he believed it to be an intruder—maybe a western rebel made it past the border and found their way here. He unsheathed his blade and silently cracked his bedchamber door. It was not a rebel that greeted him, however, but the narrow frame of the spring queen descending the stairwell into the darkness below.
Curiosity had gotten the best of him, and so he followed her out the door, down the drive, and through the city. He thought of announcing his presence as they passed the final hedge marking the estate’s property line, but the arrival of her lady-in-waiting piqued his interest.
What were those two up to?
He kept a safe distance as they serpentined through Antares. It was a clear moonlit night, and the slumbering highborn district was eerily still. And when they crossedthe front threshold into Lord Ophis’s midnight party, panic twisted a knot in his throat. It was beyond reckless for Tethys to attend such a scandalous event. However, the women faded into the candlelit warmth before he could interject.
After arguing with the footman at the doorway, Araes was granted access. Grumbling, he placed the golden coins he’d used as a bribe into the footman’s massive, outstretched palm, and raced up the stairs and nearly collided with a couple so overcome with lust they hadn’t made it past the landing to one of the many vacant bedrooms above.
Araes was an intrusive force in the litany of moaning and wriggling masked figures. Where one ended, another began. He was no stranger to pleasure. In fact, he was considerably familiar with it. However, his cheeks reddened at the sight of bodies so open in their vulnerable states. At the end of the hall, he made it to the upstairs parlor. Araes searched room after room throughout the townhome, but found only hazy, intoxication and lust-glazed partygoers. His heartbeat pulsed faster in his throat. Was there a back room Ophis didn’t share with his guests? Perhaps reserved for the highest of discretion? Araes returned to the upstairs hall and glanced at the clock. He’d been wandering through the townhome for an hour, yet it felt like mere minutes amidst the smoke and sweat.
Leaning against the banner, he caught a glint of blonde hair flashed around the corner, disappearing down the lower floor’s back hall.
There.
Careful not to draw more attention to himself than he already had, he descended the steps, keeping a leash on the frantic hypotheticals racing through him.
A lit fire glowed faintly through the threshold’s crease. He placed an ear against the smooth hardwood. Although the voices were muffled, he could make out Tethys by themelodious pitch of her voice and the way she seemed to throw her words into the world with vicious precision.
He leaned in closer, as if pressing himself further against the door would clarify the conversation.
“Regardless, I’d like to find out,” a man spoke next in a voice low and ragged. Araes felt his cheeks warm slightly. Maybe he shouldn’t eavesdrop. He wasn’t so sure he’d want to bear witness to the goddess’s more intimate engagements.
Then his blood turned to ice.
A second male voice. Then a third.
“Killing me won’t win your rebellion,” Tethys’s voice was slow and collected. Not wasting a heartbeat, Araes lunged at the door. The wood splintered against the sheer weight of his powerful body.
There was Tethys, her flesh bare and exposed. Three men flanked her, each armed with silver daggers. The center figure, a black haired prick, had a satisfied glint in his eye as he swept his gaze across the exposed goddess.
Araes’s vision turned a ruthless shade of ruby and he unsheathed his weapon. Surprise had granted him favor. The men fell to his blade without so much as a gasp. He’d sparred no-rank enlistees with better skills than these four fools.
Stupid fucks.
Well, stupid,deadfucks.
Before the last man could hit the floor, Araes withdrew the blade from his abdomen and re-sheathed it. Tethys had fallen to her knees. A look of desperate shock etched across her tear stained face.
“Goddess…did they hurt you?” Araes unclasped his cloak and concealed her bare back beneath it. Tethys’s breaths were shallow as her frantic eyes met his.
“No, they hadn’t yet,” she managed.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said, cradling the goddess in his arms. Even under the torn skirts, her framewas more delicate than he imagined. She was petite, yes, but in his arms she didn’t feel like an all-powerful creature. She feltfrail.Breakable.
“Tuck your head into my neck so the other guests don’t see your face,” he whispered, grasping the back of her head. Araes couldn’t help but notice how perfectly her cheek fit in the crook of his neck or how she smelled like morning dew drops and fresh cut lavender.
Tethys’s breathing was still rapid as he carried her back down the hall and to the front foyer. Araes threw the footman a glare as he opened his mouth to speak. The broad-shouldered man snapped his jaw shut and stepped aside.
“There are four dead rebels bleeding out in the library. You might want to get their mess cleaned up before they leave a stain on Lord Ophis’s Ursaean woven rugs,” he growled and the two stepped into the night.
The early morning air cooled the fire now racing through him as he carried Tethys down the cobblestone street and back through Antares.
