Ares shook his head. “You shouldn’t come inside. It’s a gruesome scene…there are pieces of them everywhere.”
I came to a sudden stop, still holding tight to Hestia. “In pieces? They’re not ash?”
He nodded but said no more.
“Surely they’re not dead, then?”
In all my years, I’d never heard of a vampire ending upin pieces. Even bloodborn vampires were immune to that sort of death. Sunlight and wooden stakes. That was it. Other things could harm us, yes. But we healed.
It was the way of our world.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ares said, as if echoing my thoughts. “But someone, or something, attacked them. With what, I do not know. They’re not healing. There’s no life left in that hut.”
Hestia loosed a trembling breath and leaned heavily against me. “Everything feels like it’s falling apart.”
It certainly did. My mother and Orpheus had told me many stories about past Nekros. Nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. The monarchs were too devoted to their god to step a toe out of line. The most that ever happened was the occasional fight after an evening of too much wine. They’d bicker or get in a few punches, but never more than that.
And for all this to happen at once…it wasn’t a coincidence.
“Something tells me whoever did this also took Hestia,” I said, deciding to voice my concerns. As much as I didn’t trust Ares, he was the only one of the Olympians I could be certain wasn’t involved in this.
“I didn’t think about that, but you’re right.” He stomped down the steps and joined us on the beach, gently putting his arm under Hestia’s legs. After carefully tucking the cloak around her body, he lifted her from the sand. “I’m getting you out of here.”
Ares took off toward the dock. I frowned after him. “You can’t sail the boat yourself, Ares.”
“I can, and I will.” There was something in his voice I’d never heard before. The hard edges were still there, yes, but there was an undercurrent of deep, unwavering love. I only recognized it because I’d heard it in my mother’s voice at times. Ares would do literally anything for Hestia.
And while I could not blame him for that, I couldn’t ignore my rising panic, either. “If you don’t attend the ceremony, she’ll be doomed anyway.”
Ares merely continued across the sand, as if my words merely rolled across him like the wind. “I have every intention of returning to the palace far before the end of the night. The journey to Thrinacia only takes an hour.”
I started to follow, at a loss. He wasn’t going to listen to me, regardless of what I said. But somehow, I couldn’t let this happen, either. “The ceremony starts promptly at sundown.”
“That’s just Zeus’s preference, and he’ll let it slide once, for me. Just so long as I’m back by sunrise. That gives me at least twelve hours.”
He reached the dock, and the wooden planks creaked beneath his heavy boots. With an ease that defied logic, he climbed inside the small sailboat and gently tucked Hestia into a corner of it, where a wooden shelter protected her from the sun. Her body was fully slack now. She’d clearly drifted to sleep.
I approached slowly, my heart pounding. He really was going through with this.
As he examined the mainsail, he called up at me. “Obviously, it might take me a bit longer, since I’ll be manning the boat alone. It’s easier with two.”
I folded my arms, understanding the hidden meaning behind his words. “You can’t actually expect me to join you.”
“I assume the contrary, actually. You’ve already helped far more than I expected. But I meant what I said. It’s going to be difficult to sail this on my own, and I’d be more likely to return in time if I had a second pair of hands.”
For fuck’s sake.
With the sea breeze on my face, I lowered my head and closed my eyes. It was incomprehensible, what he was asking of me. He’d threatened my life only days before, and now he expected me to help him at the expense of being late to the upcoming sacrifice.
Of course, if he was late, it wouldn’t matter if I was on time. The ceremony required all members of the Thirteen Crowns to attend and partake in the sacrificial blood. For any of us to miss it meantallof us missed it. And he was much more likely to return without incident if someone else could sail with him.
It’s just…why did that someone have to beme?
After a moment, I steadied my breath and opened my eyes. Ares stood on the bow of the boat, his head turned in my direction, though his face was still hidden behind that ridiculous contraption he wore. More evidence he needed help sailing this damn boat. It would be difficult for him to move quickly around the deck wearing that thing.
“All right,” I said, half-hating myself for it. “I’ll come with you. On one condition.”
He inclined his head, awaiting my next statement.
