The power shuddered through me, a ripple of spine-bending magic. It screamed inside my head and ripped through me, nearly snapping every bone in my body. I collapsed forward, and my forehead hit the mud. For a moment, all I could do was gasp for breath. It felt like I hadn’t filled my lungs in months.
Eventually, the feeling ebbed, and I lifted my eyes to the sky.
A full silver moon hung low over the horizon. I gasped, rocking back on my heels, scarcely believing my own eyes. I’d done it. I’d actually done it. The moon had listened to me. The blood in it was gone.
The implications were…well, I couldn’t think about those right now. The howls were growing closer.
I pushed up from the ground and hurried back to the door. Dion stood just inside the entrance, waiting for me. He arched a brow. I nodded. A slight smile crested his lips, then he tugged me toward him and planted a kiss on the side of my head.
“You brilliant, beautiful creature, you,” he murmured.
“Don’t tell anyone,” I whispered.
“What’s going on?” Ares asked. He’d ventured from the kitchen to join us at the door. “Did you find a path?”
Dion pulled back, shoving his hands into his pockets. “She said it’s no longer necessary. The blood moon is gone.”
Ares furrowed his brow. He moved past me to look outside, frowning. His face held no hint of hope or relief or happiness at all. Instead, he seemed troubled.
“I’ll go tell the others,” Dion said, vanishing back into the kitchen.
“What do we do now?” I asked Ares. He stood in the doorway, his back turned toward me. “All the ships have been destroyed.”
“I got a message from Odysseus. He sent a boat to the main cove. There’s one waiting for me there.” He turned to face me, his expression still tense. “Why is the moon silver now? It’s been red for days.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You heard me.”
“It just is, Ares.”
He folded his arms, his broad form backlit by the moon beyond the door. “I don’t think so, Selene. Why won’t you tell me the truth? Do you still not trust me?”
No, I didn’t. Not as long as he was still on Zeus’s side. It wasn’t even our twisted fate any longer. That, strangely, I could deal with far more easily than this.
A howl saved me from finding an answer. It sounded far too near. Ares twisted toward the door and stepped outside, drawing his sword. And for the first time since I’d arrived on this island, a silver light danced along the steel.
He sniffed the air. “It’s near. Stay inside.”
“No.” I joined him on the moss, scanning the nearby shadows. Soon the other Olympians joined us. A few had found steel blades. Those that hadn’t flashed their fangs, ready to fight regardless of their lack of weapons. And by the looks on their faces, they were itching for it. Even Dionysos.
A few moments passed in breathless silence as we waited. And then the enemy soared from the darkness, his murderous howl consuming the night.
44
SELENE
Iducked low, the moss damp against my knees. The scarred lycanthrope hurtled over us. He landed behind me, mud squelching beneath his enormous claws. Artemis was on him within an instant. With a roar, she loosed an arrow at his head. The beast snarled and sprang forward. Her arrow sank into his shoulder. Black blood splattered onto her face.
With a pain-filled howl, the beast dropped back. He huffed, staring her down, his eyes pinned.
Artemis smiled at him victoriously as Hermes and Zeus formed rank around her. She lifted her bow and shot another arrow. It ripped through his other shoulder, making him fall. Now that the vampires weren’t weakened by the blood moon, the beast stood no chance.
My heart beat painfully against my ribs. Even though he’d tried to kill me, too, I wished it didn’t have to end like this. In his human form, he was likely just a normal man. Someone who wanted to go home to his family. And yet he would never step foot in Troy again.
More howls echoed all around us, and three more wolfish forms emerged from the darkness. Athena lifted her broadsword, facing one, with Demeter by her side. Zeus and Hermes faced the second, while Apollo, Hephaestus, and Dionysos hovered in the middle of our group. They didn’t have weapons, but I knew they’d fight if they must. That left me and Ares as the only two vampires left who were armed. Together, we faced the third.
“Here.” Ares tossed me a dagger. I’d lost the steel blade inside the megaron, and I only had my wooden stake left. I gratefully took his and examined it. Twin torches lined the side, etched in brilliant gold. A skittering of magic danced along the blade.
