“Come.” Sighing, I turned my gaze on the winding stone steps that led back up the side of the hill. “We better hurry if we want to get me locked inside that room before someone checks on me.”
The sky suddenly turned black. Thunder exploded in a deafening roar, and a terrible rain slashed sideways, falling in sheets so thick that it was impossible to see. Hector cawed frantically and took off, darting toward a nearby stone to take cover. I started to follow him, my teeth chattering from the sudden chill.
A hooded form hurtled toward me, cloaked in shadow. I took a step back, my boot slipping on the wet stone. The form slammed into me and knocked the breath from my lungs.
And then I tumbled over the side of the cliff toward the sea.
18
SELENE
Iplunged into the sea. The frigid cold consumed me, stabbing me with a thousand tiny blades and filling my nose until it felt as if it might burst. Screaming, I thrashed, fighting the current and the weight of my velvet gown dragging me down.
Calm thoughts eluded me. I wouldn’t die here, but I could sink, forever trapped in the cloudy darkness. I’d heard stories of others who’d fought the ocean and lost. They were never seen again, and yet…they were alive out there, unable to feed or breathe. Slowly, they transformed into a husk of themselves. Lost in the oceans for an eternity.
The idea seized my heart with terror. I screamed again, saltwater filling my throat.
I’d rather die than end up like this.
Trying to still my racing heart, I reached up, kicking my legs. But it was useless. My dress was too heavy, and I didn’t know how to swim, and I just went down, down, down.
Down into the shrouded depths.
A hand seized mine andtugged. Heart leaping into my throat, I held tight to a powerful arm, sending up a silent thanks to whichever god was looking out for me. Orpheus had found me. He’d get me to safety.
And then I would never step foot in the sea again.
The hand pulled harder. Suddenly, my face crested the waves. Sweet air swept across me, and my lungs expelled the water I’d sucked in through my screams. My chest burned; my whole body shook with cold and fear, and another wave crashed against me, threatening to drag me down once more.
“I’ve got you,” a rough voice murmured. His other hand grabbed my waist, helping to keep my head above water.
But my heart went cold—as cold as the rest of me. That voice did not belong to Orpheus.
“Ares,” I croaked, hating how utterlyweakI sounded.
He spun me around so I could see him now. Curly silver hair smeared across his forehead, and his crimson eyes were scorchingly bright against the gray mist surrounding us. I started to pull back, but his hand tightened around my waist.
“Don’t fight me. I just saved your fucking life.”
I coughed again. “Vampires can’t die by drowning.”
“You’re right. It’s a fate far worse than death, if you ask me. Now I’m going to pull you onto the shore, and when we get there, you aren’t going to fight me.”
I ground my teeth. “Fine.”
Ares, against all odds, began to swim. He moved through the waves, his hands still on me, gently pushing me forward. I’d never met another vampire who went into the sea—not willingly, at least. There was something about it, something that set my teeth on edge. The sky felt like home, like a beacon calling me toward it. The sea felt like the opposite of that, like it curdled the blood in my veins.
Only moments later, my boots hit the sloped sand leading up onto the shore. At long last, Ares released me. I threw myself forward and sloshed up the bank. My wet velvet dress engulfed me, and my hair was plastered to my face, hanging into my eyes, and dripping everywhere.
Ares strode out of the waters with surprising ease. Beneath his wet cloak, his white shirt clung to his chest, highlighting every ridge of muscle. Through the thin material, I could see that tattoo more clearly. It was one of his symbols—two torches, their flames entwined.
I still didn’t understand how he’d managed to keep the ink inside his skin, but that hardly mattered right now.
“See something you like?” he asked.
I dragged my gaze up to his face. Rivulets of saltwater trailed down his cheeks. “What the fuck was that?”
“Excuse me?”
