“Are you going to tell me what it is?” I asked.
She patted my shoulder. “You will see, I’m afraid. The remnants of it, at least.”
The remnants. The way she said those two simple words turned my stomach. Suddenly, I wished I hadn’t feasted on blood before we’d ventured from our ship. My mother had suggested I take my fill of our human companion. For added strength, in case we needed to run. But for once, the blood felt sickly sitting in my gut. I didn’t know exactly what I’d see in this city, but I had a fairly good idea it would involve a lot of suffering.
I’d heard rumors, of course. My mother hadn’t been able to shield me from the stories that burned through court, especially not when I’d reached adulthood. It had been years since the servants had stopped being so careful around me. They whispered amongst themselves, sharing lurid tales of the world beyond our gates.
In Troy, vampires and mortals lived in harmony. We fed on them, but never enough to drain their life. A steady supply of blood was their tax to the crown, while our vampire residents paid their taxes in coin. And it worked. It had been well over a decade since the last murder.
To my mother, the mortal citizens were just as important as the vampires. She saw them asher people, precious lives she’d sworn she’d protect.
The Olympians did not hold such views. But Zeus was the worst of them all.
He saw them as nothing more than cattle.
“These houses.” I pointed at the white stone buildings of the nearest street. The windows and doors were hidden behind sagging, rotted wood. “Does anyone live in them?”
“This part of the city is abandoned. That’s why we’re going in this way.” Her gaze hardened. “These were once mortal homes, centuries ago. Back before the Olympians revolted against us. Now come, my love. We must hurry.”
My mother leapt over the wall with an ease that suggested she’d done this a time or two. As silently as possible, I palmed the stone and hauled myself over to the other side, falling into a crouch when my boots hit the mud. Without another word, she darted from the wall to the nearest building and flattened her back against the stone. She motioned for me to follow. Nodding, I joined her at the building, my hurried footsteps flicking mud onto the bottom of my cloak.
And so it continued, the two of us carving a path through the abandoned buildings. Soon enough that section of the city was behind us, and signs of life crawled through the streets. Freshly painted shutters engulfed windows, blocking out the light. A flower pot sat on a stoop, filled with marigolds. Muddy boots were lined up outside a front door, shielded by a painted wooden overhang. The muddy paths vanished behind us, giving way to cobbles.
Here, the buildings were taller, wider, vines spilling over roofs. Carts and horses were dotted everywhere. At night, this would be a bustling, lively place when shutters were flung wide and vampires emerged from within.
My mother pressed a finger to her lips and quickened her steps, practically running now. It took all my effort to keep pace. At three hundred years old, her strength and speed were unrivalled, and she often forgot I was only thirty.
Still, I followed her cloaked form through the twisting streets, further and further toward the shore—until the stench of rot and blood billowed toward us on the brisk wind. I heaved to a stop, my instincts warring with each other. The rot made me gag, even while hunger shot an ache through my canines. A haze of red crept into the corners of my vision, and the world before me sharpened.
And for just one moment, all I could think about—all I could smell—was the blood. There was so much of it. Everywhere. My heart throbbed painfully in my chest, as if anticipating a fresh delivery of that precious, precious thing. I yearned to feel its iron sweetness on my tongue. I needed the fresh burst of power it delivered to my veins. A roaring echoed in my head.
The bloodlust nearly drove me to my knees.
And then it was as if something inside mesnapped. The rotting scent carved a murderous path through the bloodlust, and the red haze cleared.
My mother stood in front of me, her lips pressed tightly together. Her eyes were hollow. And as I realized how close I’d come to losing control, I looked at the ground. She’d brought me here after all these years of training, trusting I could handle it. And I’d let her down.
But then she spoke, her voice gentle. “Good. Your control is better than I thought it would be. The first time I brought Orpheus here, he got his teeth into a mortal’s neck before he realized what he was doing. Whatever you’ve done to remain yourself, keep doing it. The worst of it is just around that bend.”
Orpheus.My mother’s oldest and closest advisor, who she’d sired herself. I hadn’t known she’d brought him here, too, though I supposed I shouldn’t be surprised. They shared everything with each other. In fact, I was certain he knew her far better than I did.
We crept down the dirt path, the stately homes now long gone. Abandoned buildings shuddered on either side of us, near collapse. With every step we took, the stench grew stronger. A few more steps, and we were passing the bend and there—
Nausea burned my throat, my eyes watering. An enormous square had been cut into the western edge of the city, buildings long since burned to ash. In their place, hundreds of dirt-caked humans were trapped inside a circular fence made of some kind of metallic wire with sharp edges pointed inward. Some huddled together in groups, sobbing. Others paced, bare feet slapping mud, a wild look in their eyes. And others were covered in blood.Theirblood, judging by the raw, infected punctures in their neck.
I pressed a shaking hand to my mouth when a child ran through the crowd.
A child.It was all I could do not to weep.
This was far, far worse than I’d anything ever expected. Zeus was a monster. And there was nothing we could do to stop him.
2
SELENE
My mother clutched my shoulder, pulling me back into the shadows of the nearest building. Her face was hard, and her eyes had a sharp glint in them I rarely saw. Not from High Queen Theia, who ruled with such an empathetic hand that I’d never met anyone who disliked her.
“I know, my love.” Her palms found my face, cupping my cheeks. “I know.”
