“Where will you take shelter?” I asked.
“I’ll find somewhere. That building where you found Hera must be nearby.”
Suddenly, the light dimmed, and thunder crashed through the sky. It came upon us far faster than could be natural. Only seconds later, clouds rumbled overhead and loosed a torrential downpour on the world. Heavy rain slashed through the trees, pounding against me. I was drenched within an instant and—
A burning blaze of pain tore across my skin. I screamed, twisting sideways, as if to shake off the fire, but…there was nothing there. Only rain.
It seeped through my clothes. The burning intensified.
Shuddering against the pain, I stumbled down the path, shielding my face from the acrid rain pouring down on me. Because that was the only thing it could be—therain. I choked, scorching fire tearing through every inch of my skin. I could barely see straight. My vision darkened in the corners, and I fell to my knees.
Mud encased me.
“Come on.” A strong hand wrapped around my arm and tugged me to my feet. “We need to run to that building.”
His voice was strong and sure, but laced with pain. Letting him guide me along the path, I glanced up at him. Horrible, wicked welts reddened his face. His legs were covered in them, too. But still he plowed onward, my arm held tightly in his grip.
After what felt like an age, the ruined structure emerged from the depths of the forest. We stumbled past the broken columns and headless statues, practically diving into the safety of the stone. I fell to my knees as soon as the sky vanished overhead. Gasping for breath, I doubled over on myself, too blinded by the pain to do anything else.
The moments that followed were interminable. Even as the scorching pain dulled around the edges, it lingered. Every time I tried to move, another bout of it consumed me until I collapsed onto the floor again. Hissing through clenched teeth, I tried again. More unseen flames devoured my skin.
After several attempts, I gave up and remained there, staring at the gruesome masks lining the wall.
As a vampire, I had never known pain. Not like this.
A rustling sounded from somewhere nearby. “Your clothes are soaked through with that rain. If you want the pain to stop, you’ll need to take them off until they’ve dried.”
“Did you just tell me to undress?”
“Don’t get excited. I just don’t want to hear you making that weird hissing noise anymore.”
“I’m not hissing.”
“You were most definitely hissing.”
A beat passed. “Have you taken yours off?”
“Yes, Selene. I decided modesty was less important than being able to move without agony.”
My heart pounded in my chest.
I didn’t know what the big deal was. I’d been naked in front of many people throughout the course of my life. My handmaidens helped me dress and bathe. The seamstresses preferred to take my measurements with nothing in the way. And I always had three guards stationed near me at all times. They never outright stared, but they’d seen my bare skin.
This felt different, though.
“If it helps, I swear I’ll keep my gaze averted,” he said.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I shucked off my clothes. Every moment of it was excruciating, but by the time I’d peeled all of it off my skin, I had to admit I felt better. The pain had dulled, at least. While I’d been scrabbling around, Ares had found a rug and some timber from somewhere in the building, and he’d built another fire. His clothes were spread out on the floor beside it, drying.
I tried not to look directly at him. But even out of the corner of my eye, I could see the shape of his body. All hard planes and sculpted muscle. Cheeks heating, I covered my front and spread my clothes out beside his. Once I was done, I started to move to the opposite side of the fire, then thought better of it. He’d clearly be able to see me through the flames. So I perched beside him instead, settling on the soft rug.
“Well,” I said, trying to grasp for anything to say to distract me from the fact we were sitting here completely naked together. “This has been quite the disaster.”
Ares chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that sent a rush of heat through me. It was a nice sound, I had to admit, especially after the events of the past day. It was a shame he was so angry all the time normally. This side of him was much more palatable. And I knew as soon as we stepped foot inside that palace, it would vanish again.
“Erebus has chosen a spectacularly painful punishment,” he said after a moment. “The others will be livid.”
I nodded. It would trap vampires inside during storms. That would not only make life much more difficult, but it would make them seem weaker in the eyes of mortals. For the stability of their reign, that was a bad thing. But despite the pain I’d just endured, I found I felt some twisted pleasure from imagining all the ways Zeus would find this unbearable.
