“I’m not sure we have much of a choice,” I argued. “We can’t leave her out here. What about the threshold curse?”
“Hmm. That could work.”
“I don’t want to go back to the palace,” she whispered. “Please. I’m afraid they’ll be waiting for me.”
Ares frowned. “If we get you to the boat, do you think you can make it to Thrinacia? Odysseus is there. He’ll help you.”
She swallowed, her cheeks fading to a pale white. “Yes, I think so. I can do that.”
“I’m sorry.” I looked from Hestia to Ares. “What’s Thrinacia? Who’s Odysseus? And did you forget all the boats were destroyed?”
For the first time since he’d found us here, a slight smile turned up the corners of Ares’s lips. “When you didn’t spot my ship in the cove, I’m surprised you never again questioned how I got here.”
“Ah.” The pieces of a singular puzzle suddenly fit into place. He hadn’t been alarmed by the destruction of the ships, either. “You came a different way.”
“There’s a second cove on the southern side of the island. I left a boat there, along with the two sailors required to man it. After the storm, I checked to make sure everything was intact. The boat survived.”
Of course it did.
“And Thrinacia?” I asked.
“A tiny island not far from here, where one of my closest friends lives. Hestia will be safe with him until Nekros is over and I can take her back to Pergamon. Most don’t even know the place exists.”
I arched a brow. “Does Zeus?”
Ares stilled, a dangerous tension tightening his body. “What are you implying?”
“You know what I’m implying. If one of the Olympians monarchs did this to Hestia, who’s to say it wasn’t him?”
“He wouldn’t,” Ares said evenly, his crimson eyes boring into mine.
I laughed and shook my head. “You know what I don’t understand? Your devotion to him. Every now and then, I see a flicker of something in you. Something almost resembling humanity. But Zeus is the furthest thing from that, by far.”
Ares ground his jaw, his hand flinching to his side. For a moment, the world stilled. Earlier, he’d strapped his wooden dagger to his side, and now, his fingers twitched toward it, as he debated the merits of killing me or not.
I searched his gaze, lowering my hand to my own side. There was something dark in his eyes, even as those golden flecks sparked to life. Despite everything, it sucked all the breath from my lungs. And I couldn’t bring myself to look away from it.
In a whisper, I said, “If you’re willing to destroy everything just to defend his honor, you’re far more enthralled by him than I thought.”
“Selene,” Hestia murmured.
I blinked at the sound of her voice, and the tension cracked. Chain clanking, she placed a soft hand on my arm and squeezed tight.
“Leave it be. Please,” she said. “Now is not the time for this.”
Clenching my jaw, I nodded. She was right. If we wanted to get her to safety, we needed to go now. Without another word, I pulled my cloak from my body and draped it around hers, then passed her my gloves. Ares went to the corner where he’d tossed the armor. He quickly redressed, readying himself to face the sun outside.
When he returned to her side, he gently took her gloved hand in one of his and the chains in the other. “Are you ready?”
She released a rattling sigh. “Not particularly.”
“I won’t let any harm come to you,” Ares said.
Hestia nodded, though her fear was palpable.
A drum sounded in my head as I watched them leave the room. It wasn’t until Ares had vanished from my sight that I realized it was my thunderous heartbeat.
29
