Dark Bites

July 20, 12,252 BC

“How do they look?”

The daeve demon, Caleb Malphas, turned away from the sparring soldiers at the delicate, emotionless voice of the goddess he served. As was her wont, she’d appeared silently and suddenly behind him – something that was always disconcerting to a warrior who didn’t like anyone or anything at his back.

With long, dark brown hair, flawless skin, and vivid greenish-gold eyes, Bathymaas was exquisitely beautiful, but as cold-blooded as any creature he’d ever known. The embodiment of justice, she wasn’t supposed to have any type of emotion or feeling.…

And she didn’t. However, she was as kind as she was ruthless, and fair beyond his comprehension.

Malphas glanced back at the four soldiers who were training in the large arena in front of him. “Not bad. They might actually survive a few battles.”

His dark humor was lost on a goddess who had no understanding of it. Luckily, she didn’t get sarcasm, either, therefore she never took offense to his. It made serving her a lot less painful for him, and it was the primary reason he’d agreed to help her assemble her team of elite protectors who would be charged with keeping her peoples safe.

She brushed a stray piece of hair back from her face. “We still need two more to represent the Atlanteans. Have you any suggestions?”

“There’s an Atlantean champion who’s been making a name for himself during games and festivals. Galenus of Didimosia. I was planning to test and then invite him to join our merry crew later today.”

“Have you seen him fight?”

Malphas nodded. “Two days ago. He beat back six larger opponents at one time, during an exhibition match. He is impressive, and given the way he savored the fight and victory, he should make a good addition to our group.”

“May I go with you?”

“Of course, my lady. I would be highly honored.”

Inclining her head to him, she walked away with a grace that would rival his own beloved Lilliana’s. That comparison made him involuntarily flinch as vivid memories surged to stab him with painful regrets. Unwilling to go there with his thoughts, Malphas returned to the men he was training to protect this fragile world from the very kind of tragedy he, himself, had gone through.

You should have been there, brother. It was incredible! They came at me like giant mountainous beasts, wanting only my blood and bones to eat, and I beat them back, single-handedly. When I won the fight… this incredible shout went up through the amphitheater like raucous thunder.” Cupping his hands around his mouth, Galenus demonstrated the sound.

Aricles smiled at his twin’s exuberance while Galenus went on to illustrate his expert sword skills that had won his tournament two days ago. “You know what would really impress me, Galen?”

His brother froze with a frown in the middle of his mock sword stroke. “What?”

“Help with laying down the fertilizer in my field.”

Galenus scoffed indignantly as he climbed up on the fence and grimaced. “How can you stand it here? I hate farming and tending animals and fields… You should come with me next time and participate in the games. Together we’d be invincible… and win enough money to make the king himself look like a pauper.”

Aricles paused to wipe the sweat from his brow with his forearm before he cut the cord on a fresh batch of manure. Unlike his brother, who was dressed in noble finery to rival a prince’s chiton and chlamys, he was shirtless with only a short brown breechcloth and worn leather shoes to cover him while he worked. Even so, sweat rolled down his back and plastered his short, reddish-brown hair to his head. “It’s not so bad here. Father needs the help.”

“Bah! He has plenty of servants for that. Why work us like dogs in the heat of summer? We were born to be better than this.”

Disagreeing completely, Aricles hoisted the barrel up on his shoulder to carry it to where he’d left off covering the plants. “There’s nothing wrong or undignified about a good day’s labor. You should try it sometime.”

“Says the man covered in cow shit.”

Aricles threw a handful of it at his brother. It landed in the middle of his chest, staining his stark white chiton.

“Ugh! That’s disgusting, Ari! I can’t believe you did that.”

Laughing, Aricles began spreading it around the sprouting plants. He’d never understand his brother’s love of or need for war. Personally, he hated conflict and fighting. He’d much rather create and build than kill and destroy. Conquest and battle games didn’t appeal to him in the slightest way. The only reason a man should ever pick up a sword was to protect those he loved, not to willfully take the life of someone else’s beloved.

Still sputtering in fury, Galenus stormed off.

“One day, Galen,” Aricles called after him, “you’re going to learn to love farming. I promise you!”

“Should that day ever come, I hope Misos spears my idiot head to the wall!” he shouted back as he went to wash, and change clothes.

“It never ceases to amaze me how the two of you can look so much alike and be so different in disposition and manner. It’s as if you’re night and day to each other.”

That’s because Aricles had purposely shouldered responsibility very early in his life so that Galen wouldn’t have to.

Aricles straightened as his father joined him and offered him a cup of water. Grateful, he drank it down in one gulp. “Galen’s not so bad, Father. He’s a good man, with a great heart.”

“He needs that wildness inside him tamed before it leads to his utter destruction. Out of my three sons, he is the one who keeps me up at night with worry. As well as the fact that Perseus idolizes him so. I fear one day, he will follow his older brother to war and I’ll lose the two of them.”

“I wouldn’t have that fear. Perseus would never leave his beloved Julia for war.”

His father smiled and patted him on his bare shoulder. “I never thought of that, and you’re right. He’d sooner die than leave her. Thank you for setting my mind at ease.” His father took the cup from him. “Now if I could only get my eldest son interested in a woman…”

Aricles didn’t comment as he went back to fertilizing the plants. Though his father didn’t know it, he’d been in love, too, at Perseus’s age. And his heart had been crushed when he’d stumbled upon her in the woods, having sex with another man. Even though the two of them had been privately courting for several months, he hadn’t stolen so much as a single kiss for fear of dishonoring her. He’d thought her perfection, and she’d laughed in his face at his courtesy.

I need a man’s love, not a fool’s.

Since then, he hadn’t gone near another woman. He left them to his twin, who held as much regard for their hearts and feelings as Claudia had held for his. If he wanted to be mocked and ridiculed, he had brothers for that. He didn’t need a woman to do it, too.

“Akri!”

He looked up at Gideon’s alarmed cry to see a band of seven demons flying toward the servant and his father. Ari’s heart pounding, he glanced about for Galen. But his brother was still off washing and had no clue they were under attack.

Damn it!

Aricles dashed to the fence to grab a long wooden stake and his brother’s xiphos. Using the stake as a javelin, he threw it at the demon closest to reaching his father who was running back toward him while the demon flapped its massive wings and licked its black lips. The stake struck the demon in the center of its chest. The demon fell to the ground with an echoing shriek as it died.

As fast as he could, he crossed the field to fight back the remaining six. By the looks of them, they were Charonte – one of the fiercest of the demon breeds. And unfortunately, humans and Atlanteans were their food of choice.

Aricles dodged their foul claws and managed to avoid their fangs as he fought them with everything he had. Sad for the demons that he shared his brother’s fighting prowess. He might not enjoy swordplay and killing, but he was damn good at it. Within a handful of minutes, he had the demons lying in pieces on the ground.

The sight of their remains sickened him, as did the blood on his hands and body.

His father embraced him. “Thank the gods you were here.”

“Thank Galen for leaving his xiphos behind while he went to wash.” Aricles grimaced in distaste. “And speaking of, I’ll be back to help with their carcasses as soon as I clean up.”

Repulsed by the needless waste, he headed for the stream that ran through the middle of their property.

He’d just begun washing himself when a bright light flashed in front of him. Grabbing Galen’s sword, he hesitated as he saw a beautiful woman in a long white peplos, and a man dressed in black.

“Rest easy.” The man held his hands out to show that he wasn’t here to battle. “We just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes.”

Aricles lowered the sword, but kept it in his hand. “About?”

“I would like to recruit you.” The woman’s voice was soft and melodic. Soothing. A perfect match for her tall, ethereal beauty.

“For?”

The man laughed. “You’re not one to waste words, are you?”

“Malphas,” the woman chided. “You’re not helping.”

“Forgive me, goddess.”

Goddess…

Now her beauty made total sense. But what would one of them want with a simple farmer? He couldn’t fathom it.

Bathymaas studied the man in the stream. Tall and well muscled, he looked as fierce washing as he had fighting Malphas’s demons. His reddish-brown hair was cropped short in back and longer in front. And while he was very handsome, it was his intelligent blue eyes that were searing. “Are you aware of the war that has broken out, Atlantean?”

He frowned. “What war?”

Malphas crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you familiar with the term ‘Chthonian’?”

Aricles shook his head.

It was the goddess who explained. “They are a handful of humans, Atlanteans, or Apollites who are born with the powers of a god so that they can protect their people from the gods who would abuse or take advantage of them. Each is endowed with the ability to slay a god and not upset the order of the universe or destroy it. But for every god they kill, they lose a degree of their own power. If they slay too many gods, they die.”

“And unfortunately, they got crossed up and have been going at each other’s throats for almost a year now.”

The goddess nodded. “There is no one who can protect their peoples while they war, and certain groups are taking advantage of their lax attention to prey on innocents. That is why I’m assembling a team that can temporarily take over their protection duties until the Chthonians come to their senses.”

Aricles narrowed his eyes as he understood why they were here. “You want me to fight for you?”

“Yes.”

Aricles laughed at the very idea. “No, thank you. I’m not a soldier. I’m a farmer.”

Malphas snorted. “Then why were you in an arena fight two days ago?”

“I wasn’t. You saw my brother.”

“That was your brother?” Malphas asked suspiciously.

“Yes. Galenus. I am Aricles.”

Malphas looked even more confused. “But you’re the one who fought off the demons just now.”

He shrugged. “Galen and I learned and practiced together. But he’s the one who loves the xiphos, not me.”

Malphas smiled at the goddess. “I think we found our last two.”

Aricles shook his head. “No, you haven’t.”

Malphas stepped forward, but the goddess stopped him.

“Go find this Galenus and ask him to join us. I want to speak to Aricles alone.”

“Yes, my goddess.” Malphas vanished without question.

Aricles left the stream and dried himself with the towel he’d left on the bank. “If you think you can change my mind, my lady… you can’t. I want nothing to do with war.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“Diafonia, Apollymi, Symfora…” He named all the warring goddesses of the Atlantean pantheon. “None of it matters to me.”

“I am Bathymaas, the embodiment of all justice. My role in this world is simple – to maintain the balance between right and wrong. To hold it sacred and make sure that neither side squashes the other. I’m sure you can respect that.”

“I can.”

“Then fight for me.”

Shaking his head, he started past her.

She placed a gentle hand on his arm to stop him. “Please, Aricles. The gods have given you an amazing gift and skill. Who better to wield a xiphos for me than a man who takes no love or glory of war? Unlike others, you won’t fight for the sake of it, but for the right reasons.”

He wanted to say no to her. But as he looked into those green-tinged, golden eyes and felt the warmth of her hand on his flesh, he lost himself to her wiles. The saddest part? She wasn’t even using them on him.

And still he wanted to bury his face against her hair and inhale the sweet scent of her. He’d never been so drawn to any woman. Not even Claudia.

She’s not a woman.

No, she was a goddess.

And he was nothing more than a simple, backwoods farmer.

“So what say you, good Aricles? Will you represent your people and be a champion for me for the good of all?”

He wanted to say no. Desperately. But his heart locked down his common sense as a desire to make the goddess smile answered for him. “Who am I to fight the will of the gods?”

“Aricles! You’ll never guess what…” Galen’s words faded as he broke through the trees to see Bathymaas with him. He arched a curious brow.

Bathymaas turned toward Galen, but didn’t react physically. “You’re twins.”

Aricles gave her a wry grin. “Since birth.”

Malphas laughed, but Bathymaas’s expression didn’t change at all. “You’ll have to forgive the goddess. She doesn’t understand humor, or any emotion, for that matter.”

Those words shocked him. “Truly?”

Bathymaas nodded. “Now, if you’ll collect your things, we will take you to your new home.”

Galen let out a jubilant shout while Aricles cringed. His father wouldn’t be happy with this, he knew it, and when they returned to the small stone cottage where they’d been born, he was proven right.

“I won’t have it!” their father snarled while they packed their meager belongings. “I need at least one of you here.”

“Father,” Galen breathed. “You don’t understand what an honor this is. We were hand-selected by the goddess herself. We have to honor the gods and their will, is that not what you’ve always taught us?”

Their father turned tormented blue eyes to Aricles, imploring him to stay.

“I can keep Galen safe so long as I’m with him. I’ll make sure he comes home to you in one piece.”

His father cradled the back of Aricles’s head in his hand and pulled him into his embrace. “My sons are all I have in this world. I could not bear to live if I lost one of you.”

“We will be careful. Even if I have to hogtie Galen.”

His father kissed each of his cheeks then moved to do the same with his brother. “I always knew I’d lose you to Misos, but I’d hoped to have more years with you before you left for war. A score of years just isn’t enough. Take care of your brother, Galen. Let no harm befall him or you.”

“I will, Papsi.” His eyes gleaming with joy and eagerness, Galen grabbed his sword and pack, and headed for the door.

Aricles sighed as he swept his gaze around the room he’d shared with Galen and Perseus, who was off with his Julia. At ten-and-six, his baby brother was as much a slave to his heart as Galen was to his libido. He hated that he wouldn’t have a chance to say good-bye to him. “Tell Perseus I will miss him and to not dawdle with his lessons.”

His father smiled. “Take care, m’gios.”

“And you, Papsi.” Aricles hugged him one last time before he followed Galen to where the goddess and her servant waited for them.

“You look like you haven’t had a bowel movement in a month,” Malphas said as soon as he saw him.

Scowling, Aricles wasn’t sure what to make of the man who would be their trainer and commander.

Galen snorted. “He always looks that way. He was born constipated.” His brother reached for him. “Come, Ari, be young for once in your life.”

“I tried your recklessness once and found it exhausting. Melancholy suits me just fine.”

Malphas laughed. “So where’s your xiphos?”

“I don’t have one.”

“He always uses a piece of wood to spar with me.”

Grunting his displeasure, Malphas inclined his head to his goddess. “I guess we’re ready.”

One moment they were out in the woods, and in the next, they were inside a temple the likes of which Aricles had never seen. Made of solid gold, it glistened all around him. Bright-colored images and geometric designs were painted all over the gold.

“Where are we?” he asked.

The goddess folded her hands in front of her. “Thebes, in Egypt. This is my main temple. My father’s is next door.”

“Your father?”

“Set.”

Aricles’s eyes widened. While he knew few gods outside of his native Atlantean pantheon, Set was one everyone knew. Said to be the most ferocious god in existence, the god of chaos even terrified his own family. “I didn’t think he could have children.”

“I wasn’t born to him. I was created for him.”

“I don’t understand.”

Malphas snorted. “After Set had a little emotional breakdown that cost several gods their body parts and lives, the primal Source decided that they needed to give him something else to focus on and make him happy.” He gestured to Bathymaas. “What better than a beautiful, emotionless daughter to watch over?”

Galen flashed a grin to Aricles. “What better, indeed?”

Malphas passed a look of warning to Galen. “Put it back in your loincloth, punkin’. Our goddess is a virgin and is to remain so. She wouldn’t even know what to do with a kiss so don’t try for one unless you want to meet the bad end of my sword and her father’s fury.”

Galen grimaced. “Pity, and noted.”

Malphas led them to a room where four other men were lounging about. “Welcome to the Ēperon. We have two warriors from each mortal race.” He jerked his chin to the two men who were dicing. One was a mountainous beast who made a mockery of the brothers’ six-foot-six stature. For that matter, one of his beefy arms was easily the same diameter as Bathymaas’s waist. He wore his long golden-blond hair braided down his back. The other was well muscled, too, and probably stood two to three inches taller than the brothers. His white-blond hair was cropped short and he had a full beard. “Representing the Apollite race we have Haides.” He was the larger of the two. “And Hector.”

They exchanged pleasantries as Malphas indicated the man on his bed, who was reading a scroll. He had black hair and eyes and a full shaggy beard that was the same length as his hair. “Our humans are the philosophical Monokles, and,” he gestured to the one who was sharpening his sword, “Phelix.” He had bright red hair that fell just past his ears.

Malphas clapped Galen on his shoulder. “Warriors, meet our Atlanteans. Galen and Aricles.”

Haides narrowed his eyes on them. “How do we tell them apart?”

Galen grinned. “I’m the one who’s actually alive and likes to partake of fun activities. Aricles seldom smiles and will most likely be discussing philosophy with Monokles.”

Aricles kept his features blank. “And I’ll be the one spanking Galen’s ass during training.”

Hector laughed wholeheartedly. “I like them already.” He indicated a vacant chair to his right. “Stow your gear and join us.”

Aricles took Galen’s things. “Go on. I’ll take care of it.”

As always, Galen didn’t hesitate to accept his offer.

While he went to game, Aricles looked at Malphas. “Which beds are ours?”

“The two under the window. Your training will begin an hour after dawn. Have a good night and remember, no bloodshed in the goddess’s temple. Save it for the battlefield.” Malphas left them to get acquainted.

Aricles went to put their personal effects in the chest between their beds. Listening to his brother jest with his two new friends, he pulled out his small knife and the piece of wood he’d started carving four days ago. It was a vague feminine figure. He hadn’t seen the carving’s face clearly.

Until today.

He’d started it as an offering for one of the goddesses of his homeland, but now… Bathymaas would be perfect for it. Seeing her regal grace in the wood, he began reworking the piece.

After a few minutes, Monokles came over to watch him. “You make that look easy. How long have you been a carver?”

“Since the summer I first stayed with my grandfather in Ena. It was something he would do every night, after chores were finished. I was four or five, and he’d hold me in his lap and patiently instruct me.”

“I never knew my grandfathers. One was a Greek hero who died in battle when my father was a boy, and the other was a cavalry officer who perished at war while my mother carried me. What of yours? Was he a retired officer?”

Aricles shook his head. “He was a simple farmer, as his father was before him. By nature, Atlanteans are peaceful… with the peculiar exception of my brother, who was corrupted in his youth by a friend who told him too many Greek tales.”

Monokles went rigid. “Is that a swipe at me?”

“Not at all, good Monokles. You have every right to be very proud of your soldier family. As I am of mine who toiled their farms. My insult was directed to my twin, solely. He thinks the rest of his family members are backwoods rubes because we would rather till the soil than make war with our neighbors.”

Those words seemed to puzzle him. “Yet you’re here. Why?”

Aricles shrugged. “Our place is not to question the will of the gods. But rather to do our best to honor them, our ancestors, and ourselves.”

Monokles scowled. “How old are you?”

“Twenty, and you?”

“A decade older, and yet you speak like a sage ancient.”

Galen snorted. “That’s because my brother was born an old man. He came from our mother’s womb spouting wisdom, and with more patience than any mortal man should ever possess. He should have been a priest.”

“Is that true?” Monokles asked. “Would you have preferred priesthood?”

“Probably, but at the time to take vows, I had other obligations.” He’d been in love with Claudia and had planned on marrying her. To pay her father’s bridal price, he’d been working three jobs in addition to his home chores.

But a farmer was the last thing she’d wanted to be tied to.

Now, it was too late to become a priest.

Perhaps it was bitter irony that he’d ended up in the service of a goddess, after all.

“What are you doing?”

Bathymaas looked up from her sfora at Malphas’s question. The small orange ball allowed her to spy on their recruits. “I wanted to make sure that our two newest additions didn’t meet with resistance from the others.”

“Are they mixing well?”

“They seem to be.” She studied Aricles as he continued to masterfully whittle while his brother diced with the others. “Do you think we made a mistake forcing Aricles to leave his farm?”

Caleb gaped at her question. “Is that doubt I hear?”

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Mortal feelings are beyond me. But I know how complicated sensory beings are. I don’t want him to be in pain because of our decision.”

Caleb arched a brow at that. In all the centuries he’d served his goddess, he’d never heard her question a decision before. Stunning, really.

Nor had she ever cared about someone’s feelings. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. Or what it was about Aricles that would cause her to doubt her decisions now.

Weird.

“Sentient beings adjust… in time.”

She met his gaze. “You’ve never adjusted to being without Lilliana.”

He winced at a bitter truth that stung him hard. “I’m a demon and very different from them. Besides, Lil changed me from what I was, and then was violently taken from me. It’s not the same as leaving home to serve a goddess and defend my people.”

Bathymaas pulled back from saying anything else. She knew how much it hurt Caleb to talk about his wife. And for the first time, she felt a strange ache in her chest for him over his loss. She wasn’t sure why.

Yet there was no denying it was there.

If only she knew why she felt this now.

October 28, 12,252 BC

Bathymaas watched Aricles sitting alone on the bank of a small stream. Since they had moved the Ēperon from her Theban temple to the Atlantean island that was centrally located in the Aegean, she’d kept a close eye on her men. They were targets now. Not just from the Chthonians, but from the gods as well. And the last thing she wanted was for them to be attacked before they stood ready to defend themselves. While they were all valiant warriors, it was harder to fight against demons and gods than mortals.

And while the other five were eager to take their places as elite warriors, Aricles stood alone with his reticence for battle. As with now – while the others were off to seek fleshly comforts – he sat on his grassy bank with no other company than his shadow.

Frowning at him, she had no idea what it was he did there, or why he appeared so content with it. Nor did she understand why he wasn’t with his brethren…

Aricles cocked his head as he felt Bathymaas’s presence behind him. Strange how he was so attuned to her. Even before the scent of sweet lilies reached his senses, he’d known she was here with him. “Am I needed, my goddess?”

“No.” She paused by his side to touch the handmade pole he held in his hands. “What is it you do?”

He pulled at the line. “I’m fishing.”

“For what?”

“Fish.”

Her frown deepened. “Is this how it’s done?”

“It is. Would you like to try?”

“I’m not sure. What does one do to fish?”

Aricles smiled at her innocent question. While the other members of his band lost patience with her inability to understand human activities and emotions, he found her quite beguiling and endearing. “Come and sit with me, my lady, and I’ll show you.” He removed his cloak and laid it down on the ground to protect her clothing and to give her some padding from the damp grass.

In the daintiest and most graceful manner he’d ever seen, she sank down by his side.

He carefully showed her the metal hook he’d made. “You bait the hook.” He picked up a worm from the small clay pot where he’d gathered them a short time ago and showed her how.

“Does that hurt them?”

“I try not to think about that.”

“Oh, sorry.”

He wiped his hands. “Once it’s anchored to the hook, you place it into the water and wait for a fish to take the bait. Then you pull the fish to shore and capture it.”

She watched as he tossed the line in. “How long does it take?”

“It could be right away or hours from now, or even not at all.”

That seemed to confuse her even more. “Does this not bore you?”

He shook his head as he heard his brother’s insults in his mind over his favorite pastime. “Not really. I find it relaxing to sit with my thoughts and listen to the wind whispering to me through the trees.”

“You do have a serenity about you that others lack.”

That was a polite term for what Galen called his boorishness. “I’m a simple man, with simple needs.”

She ran her hand over the carvings he’d made on the pole. They were for the god of water, Ydor, who was said to favor fishermen. “And what are those needs you speak of?”

Aricles scratched at his chin. “Good company. No conflict. And a full belly is always nice.”

Bathymaas was amazed at his short list. “No love or shelter?”

“Shelter can be found anywhere. A cave or tent. As for love… I’m quite happy without it.”

How very strange to her. “I thought all men wanted to be loved.”

“Personally, I’d rather not have the pain of it.”

“Is that why you’re not wenching with the others?”

Aricles laughed. “What they’re about today has nothing to do with love, my lady. That is a physical act that doesn’t involve their hearts.”

That made even less sense to her. “Then why aren’t you with them?”

“What can I say? My brother wenches enough for both of us.” Aricles paused as he saw her trying to understand his flippant explanation. She was so intelligent about most things, but when it came to human emotions, she was as childlike and innocent as Malphas had warned them. “The honest truth, my lady… when I was a boy and staying with my grandfather, my aunt came in late one night. She was hysterical and in tears to find herself pregnant from a man she thought loved her. She’d given her body to him and when she conceived his child, he’d confessed that he’d only been dallying with her and had no interest in making her his wife. My grandfather told me that women, unlike men, quite often confuse sex with love, and that many women attach great significance to the physical act. I loved and adored my aunt, and when she killed herself days later, after she’d gone to her lover and he’d again insulted and denied her, it tore a hole in my heart. I vowed that I would never hurt a woman like that, and that I would take no lover except for my wife.”

“But you’re not married.”

“And that is why I’m fishing instead of wenching.”

“Oh,” she breathed then hesitated as she digested his explanation. “So you’ve never had a woman?”

Cringing internally from that question, Aricles blushed. “And I would deeply appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone that, my lady. Men can be quite insulting over such things.”

“Why?”

“Honestly, I’ve never been quite sure. It seems to me they would be grateful that it’s one less competitor in the market, and yet that’s not how they see it at all. Rather they think it makes a man weak and effeminate to not tup every female he meets.”

Bathymaas tried to make sense of that as something began to tug at the pole in her hands. “Is this a nibble?”

“It is, indeed.” He moved to sit behind her and wrap his arms around her so that he could show her how to pull the fish in. The warmth of his body and rich, manly scent of his skin made her head reel in a way it never had before. For some reason, she wanted to bury her nose against his skin and revel in it…

How very peculiar.

His rock-hard muscles flexed around her as he lifted the pole to show her a wiggling fish. “There it is.” He moved away so as not to get the water on her dress.

He carefully placed the fish in a small wicker basket then wrapped the line and hook around the pole.

“Is that it?”

Aricles nodded. “I only need one for a meal. Some people fish for sport and release the fish after they catch it, but I only do that when it’s too small or young to be eaten.”

He was ever kind and compassionate to all things. In spite of the fact that he was a lethal warrior, Aricles was a very gentle man.

“May I watch you prepare it? I’ve never seen anyone do that before, either.”

“Of course, my goddess.”

He moved farther up the bank to where a small firepit had been prepared. Pulling out a knife, he sat down to remove the fish’s scales.

She studied the graceful way he set about his task. “You move with such expertise…”

“I’ve been doing this a while.”

It showed.

And that made her curious about him. “Aricles? Would you mind if I joined you again to fish another day?”

“I would be honored.”

Bathymaas sat back and continued to watch him prepare his meal. Most likely, she shouldn’t spend time with just him, and yet it wasn’t right in her mind that he was alone when she knew people, as a rule, didn’t like solitude. It only seemed fair and right that he should have someone to talk to on his days off, too, while the others sought other forms of companionship. Not to mention, she liked being able to ask him questions and have them answered. Unlike the others she knew, he didn’t lose patience with her. And it helped her to better understand sentient mortals.

Perhaps these excursions would benefit them both.

March 3, 12,251 BC

“They’re incredible, aren’t they?”

Bathymaas wasn’t sure what Caleb meant. “How so?”

“Sorry, goddess. I forgot you can’t understand nuances… The way the brothers move. As if they are one mind. Back to back. Perfect synchronicity. I don’t know if it’s from being brothers or twins. But I’ve never seen anything like it. If we had an army of them, we’d need no others.”

She agreed. They were incredible fighters. While the other four were the best of their breeds, they weren’t able to defeat Galen and Aricles.

“Are they ready to fight?”

Caleb screwed his face up. “I don’t know. Battle brings out either the worst or the best in everyone. Sometimes both. Hard to predict until they’re in it, how they’ll react.”

“They will stand united.”

“Spoken by a woman who has no feelings and who has never had to fight for her life against a harrowing number of vicious enemies.”

Bathymaas touched the scar on the demon’s neck from a battle wound that had almost taken his head. Even before her birth, he’d been a warrior. “Were you ever afraid?”

“For myself? No. I never cared if I lived or died. I just fought.”

“Does it help if you care?”

“Again, goddess, depends on the person. Everyone is different.”

She watched as Aricles swung at Haides’s head and then countered an attack from Phelix. “He is our best, isn’t he?”

Caleb nodded. “He’s the one I’d want at my back.”

That was the highest testament Caleb could give. “How ironic that our best is the one who least wants to fight.”

Caleb snorted. “No, goddess. The real irony is, the demon who was born to end their kind is the one training them to hold back his own.”

“You were never evil, Malphas. You were born of equal parts.”

“And suckled on venom and hatred, solely. I completely disagree with you, my lady. The only good in me died a violent death. Vengeance is all that sustains me now.”

But she didn’t believe that. She suspected Caleb denied his decency to protect himself from more harm. Otherwise he wouldn’t be here with her, helping to train her soldiers. He would have joined his mother and sought to end the world they were trying desperately to save…

Just as Aricles had denied himself any real pleasure or frivolity. To protect his brothers and father from the demons that often preyed on their small farm while his father was deep in his cups, Aricles had learned to fight like their attackers. To stay sober and vigilant at all times. She’d seen the scars on his flesh from the battles he’d had as a boy. A boy who should have been protected from harm, not left as the sole protector of his family. Battles his father knew nothing about. It was what had led Galen to learn to fight, too, and was a large part of why Galen hated their farm so much.

If I’m to fight and die, it’s going to be for glory and money. Not to save pigs and cattle.

But Aricles fought only for his family.

His quiet nobility was what she respected, and his intellect fascinated her. For a man who lived on a farm, he knew a great deal about philosophy and politics. And even more about nature and science.

Had Aricles been born noble, he would have been a brilliant statesman.

“Shit!”

She arched a brow at Caleb’s unexpected profanity. He started forward to where Monokles and Hector were about to kill each other, but before he could reach them, Aricles disarmed both men.

“Here now! Is that really what you intend?” Aricles asked Monokles. “You want Hector’s head?”

“He didn’t pull back.” Monokles gestured to the wound on his arm. “I’m bleeding! And I want his ass for it!” He lunged, but Aricles caught him again and pushed him back.

With the patience of an ancient priest, Aricles patted Monokles’s shoulder. “And when the pigs dance, the cows feast.”

Monokles scowled. “What language are you speaking?”

“It’s an Atlantean saying. Don’t give in to your temper. Angry eyes are blind, especially in battle. The best way to lose your life is to be so focused on the sword that dealt you the wound on your arm that you miss the knife coming for your heart.” He glanced over to Hector. “Never forget that one hand washes the other, and both wash the same face.”

That finally curbed Monokles’s temper. “You should have been a philosopher, Ari.” He held his hand out to Hector. “Brothers?”

Nodding, Hector took it and smiled. “Always… Come, let’s get that injury tended. I’m sorry I didn’t check the length of my attack. It won’t happen again.”

Bathymaas watched as Caleb led them off while Aricles waited for her approach.

“My lady.” The rich, deep timbre of his voice never failed to raise strange chills on her skin.

“When the pigs dance, the cows feast? Another of your grandfather’s sayings?”

He grinned sheepishly. “It is.”

“You should write them down.”

His laugh added more chills to her. “If for no other reason than to make Galen insane.”

“How so?”

“He hates those sayings. It’s why he withdrew so quickly when I spoke it. He thinks they’re as hokey as I am.”

“I don’t think you’re hokey, Aricles.”

“Because beauty sees only beauty… and you are the most beautiful of all.” With a crisp salute that heightened the definition of his well-sculpted muscles, he followed after the others.

Bathymaas bit her lip as she watched after him. She shouldn’t feel anything at all, yet…

Aricles fascinated her.

And she couldn’t wait to talk to him again when they were alone.

May 30, 12,251 BC

Bathymaas sat within the circle of Aricles’s arms, holding the pole, while they fished and he read her a letter from his father about his brother Perseus’s upcoming wedding. Over the last few months, she’d begun to look forward to their quiet afternoons and she didn’t know why. Other than the sound of his voice did very strange things to her breathing and skin. She had no understanding of it at all.

And as she leaned back against his hard, muscular shoulder and chest, and watched him read to her, she became curious about his lips. Before she could stop herself, she reached up and touched them.

He paused to look down at her with an arched brow.

“Are all men’s lips as soft as yours, Ari?”

A sweet smile spread across his face. “I suppose, goddess. But I don’t make it a habit to feel the lips of other men so I don’t know for certain.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

She loved the fact that he didn’t comment whenever she said something inappropriate or ignorant. Unlike others, even Caleb, he never grew annoyed with her.

And his lips intrigued her greatly. As did the line of his strong, sculpted jaw and the dusting of prickly whiskers that teased the flesh of her fingers. “Why do people kiss mouth-to-mouth?”

“It’s said to be quite pleasurable.”

“And have you ever kissed someone?”

“Not on the mouth, my lady.”

All of a sudden, a part of him began swelling against her hip. Frowning, she sat up to look down at it. “Did you get injured just now?”

His face turned bright red as he shifted and moved back from her a bit. “No, my lady.”

She was only more confused by his answer and actions. “Is that not why body parts swell?”

He visibly cringed. “Most of the time.”

“But not all?”

“No.” He hesitated and cleared his throat before he spoke again. “That part of a man swells whenever he’s… aroused.”

There was something she’d never considered or known. “I arouse you?”

He turned even redder. “Forgive me if it insults you, my lady. I have no control over it. But don’t worry, I respect your status and birthright, and I will never touch you inappropriately. I swear it.”

A peculiar sensation struck her chest like a blow. Was it pain?

She wasn’t sure.

And she was fascinated by the bulge beneath his chiton. “Have you done this before?”

His deep blue gaze burned into hers. “Every time you’re near me, goddess. Or anytime I smell your scent.”

Her eyes widened. “But I’ve never felt you… not until now.”

He averted his gaze and shifted uncomfortably again. “I normally bind myself so that you won’t.”

“Does that not hurt you, too?”

By his expression, she knew he felt awkward and embarrassed. Yet, as always, he was patiently trying to explain the matter to her so that she could understand it. “A great deal. Yet I’d rather be in pain than insult you.”

“But you can’t insult me. I don’t have feelings for you to hurt.”

A tiny smile played at the edges of his lips. “I forget that, my lady.”

“How can you?”

“Because you don’t seem to be without them all the time. Like now… your brow is creased as if you’re puzzled or confused, and those are emotions. You seem to be very caring and extremely inquisitive. All of those are emotions, too.”

Were they?

“I have emotion?”

“You seem to, yes.”

Could it be that she’d had emotion all along and never knew it? Her body did react to things, but she’d written them off as automatic responses she couldn’t control.

Like his bulge.

Was it possible that those physical reactions were emotions she’d disregarded?

“Ari? What do feelings feel like?”

He set the pole aside and turned her to face him while they talked. “They’re hard to define. But I shall try for you.” His handsome brow furrowed as he considered it. “Well… sometimes I have an ache in my chest when my brother appears sad or is hurt about something. That’s sympathy pain because I want him to be happy and healthy.”

“What does love feel like?”

Aricles fell silent as he looked at the childlike wonder on her face. The way the sunlight made those incredible hazel eyes glow with her fire and beauty. In his heart, he knew he was already in love with her, had been for weeks now. Ever since she’d started joining him for his peaceful afternoons.

But how could he explain what he felt?

“There are different kinds of love.” That seemed like the best starting point.

“Such as?”

“Well, I love my father, but that’s more obligatory. He cared for me when I was a boy and I care for him now that he’s older.”

“But you said he didn’t care for you when you were young.”

Aricles licked his lips as he tried to explain a very complicated relationship that often left him as confused as she was. While he did love his father and would die for him, a part of him hated and resented his father, too. “He took care of us until the death of our mother. He was a great father when we were small. Then the loss of the woman he loved, crippled him until he could no longer support us emotionally.” Or even financially. Rather, his father had given up on life for a long time. “Without my mother, he didn’t want to live either, and so he crawled into his cups and stayed there. So someone had to take care of him and the farm.” Aricles tried not to remember those first years after his mother’s death. They’d been hard and harsh as he struggled with his own grief while trying to care for his brothers and father, as well as their farm.

“So love is obligatory?”

“Not exactly. I mean… yes, it is, but it’s not.”

She rubbed at her forehead. “I don’t comprehend this.”

Aricles pondered it for a moment. “Love obligates you because you want to take care of the person who holds your heart. Their happiness and well-being mean much more to you than your own. So yes, but it’s not truly obligatory, because you don’t really have to take care of them. It’s your own desire that makes you feel such.”

“Ah… that makes sense.”

“And,” he continued, “when they’re gone from you, it’s a harsh loss that haunts and saddens you. All you want is to see them smile. To watch joy light up their face, and to be with them.”

Bathymaas nodded. “I think I understand now.” It was how she felt about him. She didn’t like to see him struck in practice, and when he bled, it caused pain to her chest. Like now… she was still concerned with the fact that he was bulging when she’d never known him to do that before.

And the thought of him hurting…

It, too, gave her a pain in her chest.

She lowered her gaze to his groin. “Why are you not bound today?”

The color returned to mottle his cheeks. It was so adorable and sweet that it somehow made her want to touch them and ease his embarrassment. “I was injured in practice and didn’t want to risk reopening the wound with the binding.”

She gasped. “Where were you hurt?”

“Across my hip.”

Aricles caught her hand as she reached to see it. His breathing ragged, he stared at her with a pain-filled expression. “Please, goddess. I’m hard enough already. If you touch me there… it’ll only be worse for me.”

“My touch hurts you?”

He nodded.

“Then why do you spend time with me?”

He smiled at her as he let go of her wrist. “Because the pleasure of your company is worth the pain it causes me.”

That made no sense to her whatsoever. “I cannot comprehend mortal emotions. How can any pleasure be worth pain?”

“It just is.”

The fact that he was willing to suffer to be in her presence brought a strange sensation to her stomach. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it compelled her to lift her hand and lightly brush her fingers against his lips again. “Will you kiss me, Aricles, so that I can see why people do it?”

He expelled a long breath and the light faded from his eyes. “I would love to, my lady. But I fear I’ve never kissed anyone like that. I’m sure I would bungle it.”

“I wouldn’t know if you did since I’ve never had a kiss either. And even though you might bungle it, I still think I’d like to see what the fuss is about. Are you not curious, Ari?”

Aricles felt his heart pound at her question. He was more than curious about how her lips would taste. But he was also a bit scared.

Who are you to question a goddess?

He was her servant and her warrior…

Still unsure, he gently laid his hand against her cheek and stroked her lips with his thumb. “Are you certain you want me to do this?”

She nodded.

Ever so slowly, he lowered his lips to hers. The moment he tasted her, his entire body erupted with a heat so high that it made his past attractions to other women seem mild and insignificant. He shook all over as images of making love to Bathymaas tormented him. He would give anything to hold her like that, but he knew it could never be and he was lucky she’d allowed him this much.

Bathymaas wasn’t sure what to expect, but as his tongue swept across hers and his scent filled her head, something inside her splintered. Her breathing intensified even more… as did his. She felt his heart pounding against her hand. Strong and powerful.

Like him.

He was so hard and fierce, except for his lips that were soft and gentle. And in spite of his inexperience, his kiss was wonderful and it did the oddest things to her body. Made her throb and ache.

Aricles’s head spun at the taste of Bathymaas. In all his fantasies, he’d never dreamed a kiss could be so sweet. His body roared to life, making demands on him the likes of which he’d never felt before. It took every ounce of self-control he had to placate himself with just this tiny part of her.

Pulling back, he stared down at her beautiful face.

She opened her eyes and for the first time, he saw real emotion in those golden depths. Her eyes flared before she cupped his head in her hands and pulled him back for another sizzling kiss.

Bathymaas knew she should release him. It would be the smart thing to do, and yet…

She wanted to possess him in a way she couldn’t comprehend. More than that, she wanted to push him back and straddle him. To run her hands all over his body, and she had no idea why. While she’d occasionally seen animals have sex, she’d never really thought about it. It was what they did to have offspring.

But right now, she wanted him inside her. It was as if her body starved for him the way her stomach craved food.

And she had no idea why.

Did he feel that, too?

Forcing herself to withdraw, she tried to steady her breathing as she looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “Is this emotion, Aricles?”

“It is for me, goddess.”

“What do you feel?”

“Hunger, my lady. Possessiveness. Tenderness.” Love. But he didn’t dare say that out loud. He’d already made that mistake with a woman. “Most of all, protective and caring.”

Bathymaas looked down at her arms and the strange bumps that always came to her whenever he was near. “What are these?”

“Chills.”

She ran her hand over his biceps. “You have them, too. Do you also want to touch me?”

“I do, my lady.”

“And yet you don’t.”

“I told you I wouldn’t dishonor you. I would sooner die than cause you any harm.”

Her vision clouded and her throat tightened as he spoke. She blinked several times, but instead of getting clearer, her vision worsened and something wet fell down her cheeks. “What is this? Am I going blind?”

With a tender expression, he lifted his hand and gently brushed his thumb against her face. “They’re called tears.”

“Why do I have them?”

He tenderly dried her cheeks. “Whenever something hurts inside you or something touches your heart they can manifest unexpectedly.”

Frowning, she looked down and lifted the Egyptian amulet from between her breasts. “But my heart is here. Nothing has touched it.”

Biting back a smile at her innocence, Aricles placed a single finger between her breasts. “No, my lady, your heart is in here.” But as he spoke the words, he realized she didn’t have a heartbeat. He scowled.

She held her amulet out to him. “I’m not like you, Ari. When I was a child, I discovered that those who are born to mothers have hearts and heartbeats and that I do not. I asked my father about it and he gave me this amulet and said that it contains his heart that he lost to me the moment I was created. He said it holds his love for me and that even though I’d never understand what love is, that so long as I wore my amulet, I’d have a piece of him with me to keep me safe in his absence. This is my heart.” Her frown deepened at the happy expression that brightened his face. “Why do you smile like that?”

“Because you now have two hearts, my lady. Your father’s and mine.”

She still didn’t understand what he meant. Placing her hand to his chest, she felt his heart beating. “Yours is like my father’s. Strong.”

“Even so, hearts are fragile and easily broken.”

“How?”

“It doesn’t take much. When you love someone, a single tear,” he wiped away another of hers, “or frown can shatter a heart. And if something happens to the one you’ve given your heart to, their loss can break it into so many pieces that it never heals again.”

Her jaw went slack. “Then it’s a good thing you gave yours to me to keep. For I can never die or be harmed.”

His smile widened. “I am lucky, indeed.”

“And this physical side of love… is it important?”

“No. Love can endure without it.”

“Are you sure?”

Aricles nodded as he brushed back a piece of hair from her face. He knew that they would never be physically intimate, and while a part of him craved that experience, he loved her enough to not ask for something he knew he couldn’t have. Something he wasn’t worthy of. But at the same time, the thought of not sharing these quiet afternoons alone with her, of not having her drill him with random odd and embarrassing questions, hurt more than he could bear. “I am.”

Suddenly, she pulled her amulet off and placed it around his neck. The stone amulet was still warm from her body temperature. “What are you doing?”

She placed her hand over it. “You gave me your heart. It’s only fair that I give you mine.”

He smiled at her precious and innocent sweetness that touched him all the way to his soul. “It doesn’t work like that, my lady. Love isn’t about fairness. It’s about emotion.”

“You are about emotion. I’m about fairness.” She patted her necklace. “This is fair. I don’t need two hearts and you can’t live without one. So I have yours and you have mine.”

And he would never treasure anything more. He placed his hand over hers and reveled in the inner beauty that was his goddess. “Thank you, my lady.”

Bathymaas inclined her head to him as she stared at their joined hands. For the first time, she was beginning to understand why people did the strange things they did.

Not for themselves, but for others.

As she’d told Ari, she couldn’t be hurt or killed. But that wasn’t true of him. And the more she thought about something happening to him, the more her chest tightened. The harder it was to breathe. Even without asking, she knew this was physical pain. Something she should be completely ignorant of.

Yet that was no longer true.

Somehow, they had exchanged hearts, and if anything ever happened to Ari…

She honestly feared what she might do. When her father had given her a heart, he’d never said what would happen should it break or shatter. All her life, she’d kept it safe. But now that Ari had it, she could no longer keep it from getting hurt.

Most of all, she couldn’t keep him from harm.

“Be careful for me, Ari.”

“Always, my goddess. You are the very air I breathe.”

Warmth spread through her at those words. For some reason, they were important to her.

Just like him.

August 23, 12,251 BC

As soon as they dismounted in the small town nearest the cottage where they’d been born, Galen pulled Aricles to the side so that he could whisper while Bathymaas looked about at the people who called Didimosia home. “Why is the goddess with us?”

“She wanted to see a wedding.”

Glancing back to where she waited with their horses, Galen grimaced. “She makes me nervous.”

Aricles smiled at his brother. “Relax. She won’t harm you.” He clapped his hand against Galen’s shoulder then returned to the woman he loved and adored.

Dressed in the finest white silk, she was beauty incarnate and looked extremely out of place in the mortal realm. For his brother’s wedding, he and Galen were dressed in their best chitons and chlamyses. But compared to her, they looked like the rubes Galen accused them of being.

Her ethereal gaze swept his body, making him even harder than he’d been. “Ari… It is so strange to see you in clothing.”

Aricles blushed as several people turned to stare at them with great curiosity.

Bathymaas frowned as she noted their reactions. “Did I say something inappropriate?”

“No, my lady. They thought something inappropriate.”

To his shock, her cheeks darkened. “Is this embarrassment?” she whispered to him.

“Do you want to fall into a hole where no one can see you, and take back your words?”

She nodded vigorously.

“Then yes, my lady. That is embarrassment.”

The most adorable scowl contorted her beautiful features. She leaned closer to whisper in his ear. “I don’t like this emotion, Ari.”

“Most people don’t.”

“How does one cope with it?”

“We keep our chins up and carry on with as much pride as we can manage.” He took her hand and placed it in the crook of his elbow so that he could lead her toward the local gathering hall his father had rented out for Perseus’s wedding feast.

Running ahead of them, Galen went in first, with his arms raised. “The party may commence! The most important person is now in attendance.” He grabbed Walla, one of the girls they’d grown up with, and carried her to a corner where the wine was kept.

Bathymaas arched a brow at Aricles over Galen’s words and actions. “Should I ask?”

“Mental defect from when I threw him out of our crib for stealing my rattle. We usually overlook it.”

Bathymaas laughed then froze… as did Aricles. Eyes wide, she swallowed audibly. “I found that funny.”

He smiled at her. “You have a most beautiful laugh.”

And that made her smile.

Realizing what she’d done, she quickly squelched it. Panic gripped her and that, too, made her panic all the more. As Lilliana had done with Caleb, Aricles had changed her. Greatly. He was so unlike anyone she’d ever known. So sweet and gentle.

Kind.

And the more he explained emotions to her, the more she knew she felt them. Especially whenever he was around.

But she would have to be more careful lest someone else realize that she was no longer without emotion. As the goddess of justice, she should never have experienced them. Ever. How could she be impartial or just with emotions clouding her judgment?

And yet, she liked what Aricles made her feel.

All of it.

Steeling her expressions, she allowed him to lead her to his father and introduce them. A much older and thinner version of the twins, he wasn’t quite as tall, but still she could tell where Aricles and Galen had inherited their good looks.

He offered her a kind smile. “So you’re the goddess who stole my boys from me. I can see now why they didn’t hesitate to follow you.” He gave her a quick wink. “Were I a hundred years younger, I’d have gladly followed you, too.”

She inclined her head to him. “Thank you, Master Praxis.”

“You made it!”

She turned at the happy male voice to see a shorter, younger version of Aricles and Galen. All the men in their family seemed to be virtual copies of each other. Same rabidly blue eyes and reddish-brown hair…

Same handsome smiles.

Aricles hugged his younger brother then introduced them.

Perseus bowed proudly. “My wife and I are honored by your attendance, goddess. Thank you for allowing my brothers to come. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

She glanced to Aricles, who was more like a father to Perseus than Praxis was. “I don’t think I could have kept them away… even with my powers. They are terribly devoted to you and your father.”

Blushing, Perseus ran back to his petite blond bride, who was as obviously in love with him as he was with her. Bathymaas watched as they embraced and he kissed her with the same amount of passion she’d felt when she kissed Aricles.

Suddenly breathless, she glanced at Ari and felt the peculiar wave of heat surge through her body that always hit her whenever she looked his way. In her mind, she imagined being the bride and Aricles running up to her with the same exuberance.

“Are you all right, my goddess?”

The concern in his voice made her weak in the knees. “I’m fine, Ari.”

He handed her a kylix of watered-down wine.

While Aricles spoke to his father, she wandered about the room, listening to people and watching how they acted and interacted. People had always fascinated her. They were so incongruous and unpredictable.

So very odd.

The music was lovely, and those who danced did so with carefree, happy abandon. It was only then that she realized Aricles never partook of such frivolous behavior. Unlike Galen, who hoisted a woman over his shoulder and twirled about with her while drinking from a silver kylix, Aricles was forever rigid and dignified. Controlled.

Circumspect.

He’d told her that it stemmed from the year his mother had died, when he was eight. Perseus had been just a toddler, and their father had been so distraught that he’d been unable to function without his wife. For two months straight, his father had lain in bed with drink, rising only to attend the most basic of bodily functions. All the upkeep for their farm, servants, and family had fallen to Ari’s young shoulders. His father had given him no chance to grieve himself for his mother while he took care of his brothers, but rather had thrown him into adulthood far too soon. And then when his grandfather had taken ill two years later, he’d been sent to care for him and his farm until his grandfather had died.

Barely twelve years old, Aricles had been alone with his grandfather when the man had taken his last breath. And all the funeral preparations had fallen to him, too.

It wasn’t until now that she fully understood what the loss of his childhood had meant for him. Other men his age were laughing and groping at the women around them. Dancing and singing with unfettered joy. They leaned up against others without thought or concern.

Like Galen.

Meanwhile, Ari stood sober and somber.

Except for when they were alone. Then he could be giddy and sweet. His eyes would light up with life and he’d jest with her as he helped her to understand humor and human ways.

As if sensing her saddened mood, Aricles started for her then was diverted by a small girl who was trying to reach for bread on the table. With a kind smile, he picked her up and helped her to get it then returned her to her feet.

The girl’s mother joined them and thanked him before she led her daughter away. Bathymaas stared at the woman’s distended belly. It was obvious she was about to have another child, maybe even tonight. She’d never paid attention to pregnant women before.

Now…

She placed her hand on her flat stomach and tried to conceive what it would feel like to have a baby growing there. Biting her lip, she met Ari’s gaze and a strange chill ran over her as she imagined what his baby might look like. Surely it would be as beautiful as its father.

“Are you all right, goddess?”

She frowned at his question. “Why do you never call me by name, Ari?”

Clearing his throat, he glanced away. “It’s not my place to use it.”

But she suspected there was more to it than that. It was as if he used her title to remind himself that he wasn’t divinely born. And while he might not have the genetics, he certainly had the character.

Not to mention the immortal heart she’d given him.

“I should like to hear it from your lips. Just once. Would you humor me?”

There was no missing the devotion in those beautiful blue eyes as he looked down at her. “I will always humor you… Bathymaas.”

She savored the richness of his accent as he finally spoke her name. “Do you ever dance, Aricles?”

He laughed nervously. “I tried it once and quickly learned, as you mentioned earlier, that embarrassment is a highly unpleasant emotion.”

She so loved how he explained things. “I don’t suppose you’d want to try it again…”

“For your pleasure alone, my goddess, I would gladly make a fool of myself.”

He set her cup aside and offered his hand to her. Without hesitation, she took it and allowed him to pull her to the floor with the others. As they danced, she saw no reason for him to be embarrassed. Indeed, he was quite adept at this. But more than that, every time she felt his arms around her and his hard muscles flexing, she became even weaker in the knees.

Aricles forgot about everyone else in the room as he watched the happy glint in Bathymaas’s eyes and the smile that played at the edges of her lips. For a woman who’d never danced before, she was more than accomplished.

Because she’s a goddess.

It scared him how easily he forgot that whenever he was with her. He’d long ago ceased seeing her as anything other than his heart.

Even now, all he wanted to do was pull her close and hold her like he did whenever they met at the stream to fish. And when she stepped into his arms and placed her head against his shoulder, he melted. Closing his eyes, he inhaled her precious scent and wished they could be like this forever.

All too soon, the song ended and he was forced to release her from his embrace.

He opened his eyes and caught Galen’s glower of consternation, which he knew he deserved. He had no right to lust after a goddess. No right to be so familiar with the one they served.

Yet his brain was as deaf as his heart. Neither listened to common sense. His entire body betrayed him with wants, needs, and dreams he knew he shouldn’t feel.

Bathymaas stood up on her tiptoes and placed a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Thank you for humoring me.”

He inclined his head to her and did his best to ignore his brother as Galen continued to glare at him.

Hours later, after they’d returned to their island barracks, Galen cornered him in the back hallway.

“What is going on with you and the goddess?”

Aricles kept his tone level and his expression blank. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yes, you do. You love her.”

“Of course, I do. I love all the gods.”

“Yes, but not like you do her. I’m not stupid, Ari. And I know what I saw.”

He shrugged Galen’s anger away. “I am nothing more than her soldier. The same as you and the others.”

“And if I don’t believe you?”

“You’re a fool.”

Galen cursed him under his breath. “Fine, but if I’m right, brother, be careful. Love never works out between mortals and gods. If something were to happen to you…” Tears welled in his eyes before he quickly blinked them away. “I’d have to grow up and that’s the last thing I want to do.”

Smiling, Aricles hugged him close then kissed his head. “Fear not, little brother. I shall be here for quite some time to annoy you.”

“You better be. Otherwise, I’ll have to follow you to Kalosis and beat the shit out of you.”

February 8, 12,250 BC

Tomorrow Bathymaas would have to send her Ēperon out to battle. The Greek gods had been overstepping their bounds for weeks now, and their forces would have to be quelled. This was what her team had been trained for.

Yet…

Over and over, she tried to think of some reason to keep Aricles out of the fight.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a logical one.

She shouldn’t care. She shouldn’t. It wasn’t her place to have feelings for anyone. But as she contemplated the thought of his being injured, she couldn’t breathe for the ferocious pain inside her. No wonder he’d told her he could do without love.

It was agony.

And it was something she couldn’t tell anyone that she felt.

Not even Aricles.

To do so would only cause him to be harmed. She was never to know emotion and yet he’d managed to make her feel when nothing and no one else ever had.

Her gaze went to Malphas who was formulating their battlefield strategy over a map table. He’d lost his love a long time ago. There was a permanent darkness in his eyes from it and she’d seen him break down into tears from time to time when he thought he was alone… all the times when he’d reach for the locket he wore that contained a bit of hair from his love.

She’d never understood that until now.

“Perhaps we should let the Greeks fight this out for themselves.”

Malphas looked up at her with a stern frown. “Who are you?”

“Bathymaas.”

He laughed. “There’s the goddess I know. The one a second ago… never met her before.”

Ah, now she understood why he’d asked that question.

Sighing, she closed the distance between them so that she could look over his plans. “Are you sure they’re ready?”

“I wouldn’t send them into battle if I wasn’t. They’ve learned to be a team and have bonded well. They no longer see themselves as humans, Apollites, and Atlanteans, but rather your Ēperon. You have their loyalty over their homelands.”

Still, she couldn’t bear the thought of someone striking Aricles. Of them bruising his flawless body.

But she had no choice. She had to send him out and appear to all that she couldn’t care less.

How she was going to do that, she had no idea.

Please, Ari… don’t get hurt.

And yet she had an awful sense of foreboding that said the fight would not go well for any of them.

February 9, 12,250 BC

Standing on the edge of a cliff so that she could watch the fight, Bathymaas chewed her thumbnail as her men battled a Greek phalanx. Malphas was at the head of them, but it was Aricles who held her attention. True to Malphas’s words, her entire team was incredible. Yet it was obvious which of them was the strongest and most skilled.

Not even Malphas with his demon powers could equal Aricles’s abilities. He fought as if he heard his enemy’s thoughts. As if he knew every move they’d make before they did.

With little effort, her men broke through the shield wall and had the Greeks on the defensive.

Still, it was hours before they finally emerged victorious.

Breathing with relief, she headed down for them as the air stirred around her. She turned to find the Greek god Apollo behind her. Dressed in full armor, he glared his furious displeasure.

“So it’s true. You are replacing the Chthonians.” His tone was accusatory.

She made sure there was no such emotion in her response. “Not permanently. But yes, until they stop their war, my team will fill in for them, to make sure the mortal races are safe from those who would harm or subjugate them.”

From heartless gods like you…

He growled low in the back of his throat. “I am not happy, Bathymaas. My mother is even less so.”

Bathymaas had to stop herself from curling her lip at the mention of Leto. She was a selfish bitch who’d always coveted Bathymaas’s powers. But more than that, Leto wanted revenge on her. When the Greek goddess had been pregnant with Apollo and Artemis by Zeus, and his wife Hera had been out for her blood over it, Leto had demanded Bathymaas do something to Hera as punishment.

Unfortunately for Leto, justice was on the side of Hera, the wife who’d been wronged. Leto had no business seducing Zeus. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been forewarned. Everyone knew of Hera’s jealous paybacks against those who trespassed on her husband’s groin.

Furious, Leto had promised her that one day she would get even with Bathymaas for not helping her with Hera. But that day wasn’t today.

“I cannot help your feelings or your mother’s, Apollo. Justice is met.”

Apollo vanished then reappeared at her back. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her up against him so that he could whisper in her ear. “Are you really as frigid as you appear?” He splayed his hand against her stomach and rubbed himself against her so that she could feel his bulge. But unlike Ari’s, his left her cold and repulsed. “I’m an accomplished lover, Bathymaas. And with you, I’d be on my very best behavior. I promise, you wouldn’t be emotionless in my bed.”

She shrugged herself out of his embrace and turned to face him. “You know better. I have no interest in you, Apollo.” He did this whenever they were together.

And she hated it.

He glared at her. “You owe me something for tearing my men apart today.”

“I’m allowing you to live. Is that not enough?”

A furious tic worked in his jaw. “One day, Bathymaas… I will have you.”

Over her dead body. But she didn’t dare say that out loud. “Should I summon my father?”

Apollo left her instantly.

Relieved beyond belief, she flashed herself to her men’s camp. She’d expected them to be celebrating. Instead, it was so quiet, she heard the light breeze whispering around her.

Where were they?

Curious, she headed to Malphas’s tent. But what she found there made the breath leave her chest and her panic rise. Aricles lay on Malphas’s cot with four arrows embedded deeply in his chest.

It took everything she had not to scream and run to him. “What happened?” she asked with a calmness she definitely didn’t feel.

“Apollo… god of archery,” Malphas snarled. “The battle was over when that bastard appeared in front of us and said this was his reward for our best fighter. Before we even realized he was armed, he shot four arrows into Aricles and vanished.”

Her blood boiled as she ached to feel Apollo’s heart in her fist. How dare he!

But her vengeance could wait. Aricles was all that mattered. He lay with his eyes half open as he panted in pain.

She closed the distance between them and took his hand into hers. “Aricles?”

Smiling in spite of his obvious agony, he met her gaze. “Sorry I failed you, goddess.”

Her throat tightened as he made reference to his promise not get hurt during battle. Technically, he’d kept it.

No one said anything about after it was over.

“You didn’t fail me.” Knowing she was about to lose her fight to hold back her tears and emotions, she glanced around at her men. “I need all of you to leave us.”

Bowing, they obeyed.

Except for Galen. His blue eyes swam with tears. “Will he live?” His voice broke on the words.

“I promise you. Now go and let me heal him.”

Nodding, he quickly made his exit.

Alone with Aricles, she sank to her knees as tears fell from her eyes. Her hands trembling, she went to pull the arrows out, but he stopped her.

“You can’t, my lady. Their tips are barbed and you’ll only harm me more. They have to be pushed all the way through my body to be extracted.”

She sobbed aloud at the thought. “I will kill that bastard for this!” she snarled.

He cupped her cheek in his hand and smiled. “You’re showing emotion, my goddess.”

She covered his hand with hers as she struggled to stop her tears. But it was a lost cause. She wasn’t the warrior he was. “There has to be another way to take them out and not hurt you.” Closing her eyes, she summoned her aunt Menyara to her.

Petite and gorgeous, with caramel skin and black hair, her aunt was also the Egyptian goddess Ma’at… another goddess of justice.

And one of healing.

Best of all, Menyara was the only person, besides her father, Bathymaas trusted.

Menyara gasped as soon as she saw her tears. “Child, what has happened to you?”

Sobbing, she gestured toward Aricles. “Please heal him, Aunt Mennie. Please.”

Her eyes widening, Menyara nodded without hesitation. She placed her hand to Aricles’s chest and then on the arrow that had narrowly missed his heart. “Take a deep breath.”

Kneeling beside him, Bathymaas held his hand as he braced himself.

Aricles nodded to let the new goddess know he was ready.

She dissolved the arrow, but her actions burned him inside and out.

Aricles choked on the misery of it all. Agony made his vision turn dull as his heart pounded even more pain through his body.

Bathymaas bent her head down and pressed her cheek to his while she placed her left hand on the other side of his face. Closing his eyes, he let her scent and warmth ease him.

Until her aunt dissolved the next one.

He roared with the force of it.

Bathymaas tightened her hold on him. “Breathe, love. Just breathe.”

Love…

She’d never used that word with him before. Smiling in spite of his agony, he placed his left hand over hers.

By the time the last arrow was dissolved, he was barely conscious from the agony of it all. Still Bathymaas held him as her tears fell against his skin.

Panting and weak, he met the gaze of her aunt, who appeared less than pleased by their relationship.

“He needs to rest easy tonight, May,” she said to Bathymaas. “By morning, he’ll be sore, but functional.”

Bathymaas squeezed his hand before she stood up. Still, she held on to it. “Thank you, Mennie.”

Her aunt wiped at the tears on her face. “Oh, girl…” She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Do not tell your father about this… or anyone else. Ever.”

“I know.”

Menyara placed her hand on Aricles’s shoulder. “If you had any other heart, boy, I’d see you dead for what you’ve done to my baby.” She cupped their entwined hands in hers. “You both have my blessings for this fiasco, and I will never breathe a word to anyone about you. But be careful. This secret could destroy you both.” She kissed Bathymaas’s cheek then vanished.

Before she could stop herself, Bathymaas lay down by his side and held him to her. “You are not allowed to be hurt again, Ari. Do you understand?”

He smiled at her stern command. “I shall try.”

“No, you will succeed.” She brushed her hand over his now scarred chest. “I am going to create armor the likes of which no one has seen to protect you when you fight. None of this bare skin showing anymore. It leaves you too vulnerable.”

“But this is how our people fight.”

“It’s stupid.”

“All war is, my goddess.”

He was right about that, and she hated that she’d ever conceived this idea. Yet if she hadn’t, she’d have never met him. Never known his warmth and heart.

Out of mud comes the bloom. And he was her bloom.

Rising up, she placed a tender kiss to his lips. “Get better for me, Ari.”

He brushed the hair back from her face and offered her another smile through his pain. “I will. I promise.”

And he never intentionally broke his promises. Rubbing her nose playfully against his, she gave him a quick kiss then reluctantly withdrew from him so that he could rest and heal. She covered him with the blanket.

When she started away, he caught her wrist in a gentle grip. “I love you, Bathymaas.”

More tears filled her eyes at his tender words. “I love you, too, Ari.”

And yet they dare not show it. Not to a soul. The injustice of that made her want to scream. It wasn’t fair that they had to keep this a secret when others got to shout their joy from the highest mountaintops.

She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his scarred knuckles. And as she did so, she felt a peculiar stirring.

Eyes wide, she gaped at him.

“What, my lady?”

Unable to believe it, she pressed her hand to her chest and felt…

Her heart.

It was beating!

Biting her lip, she took his hand and pressed it between her breasts. “Do you feel it?”

He was every bit as aghast as she was. “You have a heart.”

“No,” she said breathlessly. “It’s not mine. You gave me yours. It’s your heart that beats inside me, Ari.”

Aricles was stunned as he felt the warmth of her skin and the strong beat beneath his fingertips. And while he rejoiced, he was also terrified over it.

What had they done?

It couldn’t be a good thing to change a goddess.

Ever.

Suddenly, a knock sounded against the tent post.

Bathymaas jumped away from him at the same time Malphas spoke. “May we enter, my goddess? I have a nervous old woman out here who is about to wet himself with worry that his brother is dead.”

She wiped her face and drew a ragged breath before she fell into her emotionless role. “Come in.”

Galen ran to the bed and pulled the blanket back so that he could inspect his brother’s chest. All that was left there were four scars from where Menyara had sealed the wounds closed. “How is this possible?”

Bathymaas cleared her throat. “I summoned my aunt for him. He must rest tonight, but will be better by morning.”

Aricles grunted as Galen hugged him with a crushing hold. “By morning, dullard,” he choked out. “Tonight, I still feel like I’ve been shot by four arrows.”

Laughing, Galen released him. “Remember your promise to me, brother. You are not to make me a responsible adult yet.”

Aricles snorted. “Go and drink yourself stupid. Celebrate with the others and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“But not too early.” Galen winked at him before he rose and kissed his cheek. “Sleep well.”

“And you… make sure you sleep at some point before morning.”

Caleb let out an irritable sigh. “Guess I’ll be bunking with the others tonight. Don’t get used to this, Aricles. I don’t give up my bed or tent easily.” Malphas bowed to her then followed after Galen. “Save some wine for me, you gluttonous bastard!”

Bathymaas moved to ask Aricles if she could get something for him, but he was already asleep. Relieved, she ran her finger down the line of his perfectly sculpted jaw and savored the sensation of his whiskers tugging at her skin.

She’d known him for almost two years now. In some ways it seemed like they’d just met, and in others, it was as if she’d known him forever. She picked up her amulet and stared at the stone heart her father had given her. This trinket was no longer the warmth inside her body. Her heart now belonged with Aricles. He was what sustained her and she would be lost without his quiet, gentle nature.

Even though she should be horrified by what he’d done to her, she wasn’t. Instead, she climbed back into bed to lie beside him so that she could hold him while he slept. But as she closed her eyes, she couldn’t help the fear that stalked her. He was mortal. She was not. What hope could their love possibly have? Was there any way for this to end, other than very badly for them both?

April 4, 12,250 BC

“Run away with me, Ari.”

Aricles tightened his arms around Bathymaas as they fished in their spot. “I can’t, my love. And neither can you. We have too many responsibilities for that.”

“I don’t care, anymore. Injustice will continue. It’s the nature of mortals. No matter what I do, they still hurt each other. Ergo, I cede and give up this useless fight. All I want now is to be with you.”

Closing his eyes, he inhaled her sweet lily scent, wishing that he could forget everything and leave with her. But he couldn’t. And neither could she. If they did, he had no doubt that in time, she’d learn to hate him for changing her. “We must do what we can to help others.”

She sighed heavily. “And that’s why I love you, even though I hate you.” She kissed his cheek.

He smiled at her contradictory words. That was the only downfall to her emotions. They were now mercurial at times.

Bathymaas stroked the arm he had across her stomach as she felt his erection against her back. He no longer bound himself, but neither did he ever make a move to touch her more intimately than a kiss. “Ari? Do you ever think about having children?”

“I used to.”

“And now?”

“I will never love anyone but you, my goddess. So I no longer think about it.”

He was willing to die virgin rather than dishonor her. It was one of many reasons why she loved him. He’d already made the vow publicly that he would hold himself chaste in her honor.

But such a precious heart didn’t deserve to suffer.

“Would you make love to me if I asked it of you, Ari?” She felt his cock jerk at her question.

“Bathia,” he chided gently, “you know better.”

Bathia was an Atlantean endearment for her name that he only used when she tugged at his heart. Most of the time, he still referred to her as “goddess” or “my lady” – so as to remind himself that she was born of the Source and not mortal like him. It was why she treasured any time he used her name.

“But I want to know what it’s like to be with you fully. To have you inside me. And I can think of no better gift than to carry your child for you. My own little Aricles.”

Aricles clenched his teeth as he savored those words. They meant more to him than any others. Yet…

“You are to remain virginal. You know that. Who am I to defile a goddess so pure?”

“You’re the man I love above all others. Even myself.”

“Bath – ”

She placed her fingers over his lips to keep him from protesting. “Tell me you haven’t thought about it. Honestly.”

A smile quirked at the edges of his lips. “Every waking moment, as you have felt whenever you lean against me. I can’t get near the scent of a lily without growing hard.”

She took his hand into hers and led it to her breast. “Then ease your pain with me.”

His heart pounded at the sensation of her breast against his palm. There was nothing more in the world he wanted than to taste her taut peak, but…

“I am nothing but a weak mortal, Bathia. You are a goddess. I have no right to touch or claim any part of you.”

She turned around in his arms to kneel in front of him. “Have I the right to touch you?”

“I am ever your servant, my lady. Of course.” He spoke without thinking. And he was completely unprepared when she lifted his chiton so that she could cup his erection in her delicate hand. His breath rushed out as her fingers gently stroked and teased him. “Bathia…”

“Shh,” she whispered against his lips while she caressed his body. After a second, she pulled back with a light squeak. “Did I break you?”

He frowned at her alarm. “What makes you think that?”

She held her hand up to show him. “Why do you leak so?”

His frown melted into a smile. “I don’t know. It just does that sometimes.”

Frowning, she studied her hand. “Is it the same as when I grow moist between my legs whenever you’re near?”

Aricles gaped at her question. For a full minute, he couldn’t think of how to respond. She was so unabashed about taboo subjects that it often caught him off guard. “I-I suppose it is.”

She brushed his chiton aside so that she could stare at his erection. “Your body is so different from mine. Are all men like you?”

“I would assume, but I don’t make it a habit of being with naked men, especially when they’re aroused.”

She smiled at that then lifted her hand so that she could taste what she’d milked from him. The sight of her doing that made his mouth go dry. She had no idea how difficult it was to be with her open innocence. For all the centuries she’d lived, she knew so little about mortals and even less about the relationships of men and women.

“It’s very salty.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

She dropped her hand to him again to stroke the length of his cock. He gasped as unmitigated pleasure ripped through him.

“You do like it when I do this to you, don’t you?”

More than she would ever know. “Goddess… please… you’re torturing me.”

“Then make love to me, Ari.” She unpinned her peplos and let it fall open, baring herself completely to his hungry gaze.

He couldn’t breathe at the sight of her perfect naked body. Of her full, lush breasts and the dark hair at the juncture of her thighs.

Before he could stop her, she placed his hand back on her bare breast. The sight of his tanned skin against hers and the feel of her taut nipple against his palm…

He was undone.

Rising to his own knees, he kissed her deeply while she cupped him again in her hand. He reached down between their bodies to hold her hand to his cock while he rocked himself against the sweet pressure she provided.

Bathymaas smiled at the pleasure she saw on his face. And when he moved his hand from hers to touch her where she physically ached, she gasped at the most exquisite bliss she’d ever felt.

“You’re so wet,” he breathed against her ear.

“I told you, I’m always that way whenever you’re near, but I’m not sure why.”

He gently laid her back against the ground with one arm pressed against her spine. The strength of him never ceased to amaze her. He was so ferocious and at the same time gentle.

The dark hunger in his eyes as he stared down at her set her on fire. His hand continued to stroke and delve deep inside her, making her even more breathless as he teased her skin with his tongue.

Then, slowly, methodically, he kissed and nibbled his way to her ear and throat then her breasts. Her entire body felt electrified by his touch. And when he replaced his hand with his mouth, she cried out in total ecstasy.

Aricles could barely catch his breath as his heart pounded furiously in his chest. Never in all his life had he tasted anything sweeter than her body. She sank her hands into his hair, pressing him closer to her while he slowly pleasured her. Over the years, he’d tried to imagine what it would feel like to have a woman, but none of those fantasies could compare to this reality. And it wasn’t just because she was a goddess. It was because he loved her with every part of his being.

There was nothing he enjoyed more than sitting quietly with her, answering her myriad of questions. Even when they were embarrassing and horrifying. She was the only person he’d ever truly enjoyed conversing with. The only one he could sit with for hours and not become bored or irritated.

All of a sudden, her grip tightened in his hair. She threw her head back and cried out as her entire body shook. Closing his eyes and smiling, he savored her even more.

When she finally stopped, she looked down at him. “What did you do to me?”

“It’s called an orgasm, my lady.”

Still breathing heavily, she frowned. “Have you ever had one?”

“No. I’ve only heard my brother and other men speak of them.”

“You need to have one. They’re rather remarkable.”

Laughing, he nibbled his way back up her body to kiss her then he moved away to retrieve her peplos for her.

She scowled at him. “What are you doing?”

“I’m withdrawing while your maidenhead is still intact.”

She sat up to pull him closer to her. “My Ari never withdraws from anything.”

He cupped her precious face in his hand as he tried to make her understand why he retreated now. “I don’t want to cause you any harm.”

“How can loving me cause me harm?”

Still, he had no right to do this. “You deserve better than a backwoods farm boy, my goddess.”

“My Phoenix is a hero and a champion, and while in his heart he’s a farmer, he is not backwoods. And I will not have you insult him.”

He grinned at her words. She always chided him whenever he insulted himself, and then used the battle name the others had dubbed him to remind him that he was more than what he felt in his heart. He didn’t know what it was about her, but she could always make him feel like a king with nothing more than a single glance or a few words.

Leaning back, she pulled him with her. “Now come inside, my lord, and find your pleasure.”

And when she bent her knees and spread her legs for him, he no longer had the ability to deny her request. Cursing himself for his own weakness, he laid his body over hers then gently slid inside.

Bathymaas gasped at the thick fullness of Aricles filling her body. For several heartbeats, neither moved as they stared at each other. She smiled up at him. “I love you, Ari.”

The intensity of those blue eyes scorched her. “I love you, too. With every part of me.” Slow and easy, he began to rock himself against her hips.

Gasping, she moaned at how good he felt. He dipped down to give her a kiss that stole her breath.

She savored the warmth of his body in and around hers as she brushed her hand against the sharp, hard ridges of his abdomen. He was all strength and power.

And best of all, he was hers.

He’d never touched another woman like this. Never shared this part of himself with anyone else. It made her love him all the more.

Suddenly, he quickened his strokes and ground his teeth. An instant later, he growled and shuddered against her.

Her smile widened. “See, I told you.”

He laughed quietly. “And you were very right. It was amazing. I finally understand why my brother is so fascinated by women.” His breathing ragged, he lifted himself up on his arms to stare down at her while they were still joined. “I love you, my goddess, and I swear to you that I will never willingly touch any woman save you.”

She cupped his face in her hands. “You’ve made me whole.”

Aricles held his breath as raw panic filled him. He was thrilled that she was happy, but deep inside he couldn’t stop thinking that this wasn’t right and that somehow the gods would punish them both for daring to love each other.

June 2, 12,249 BC

Bathymaas withheld her smile as she listened to the crowd cheering for her beloved Ēperon as they rode through the gates of Corinth while she stood on a palace balcony. They were resplendent in the gleaming bronze body armor she’d created for them. When they held their shields and stood side by side, it covered every inch of them and kept them safe.

Over the last year, they had earned a name for themselves in battle that guaranteed all seven of them would go down in the annals of history as some of the greatest champions who ever lived.

They had more than proven themselves worthy successors to the Chthonians who continued to war against one another. Most of the pantheons had now learned to behave, but still the Greeks warred on with reckless abandon and disregard. It infuriated her that Apollo, Ares, Zeus, Poseidon, and Leto couldn’t stop preying on the humans.

Or worse, they would raid the Atlanteans as if they wanted war between the two pantheons so that there would be countless mortal lives lost.

It was something she couldn’t allow.

So she kept her vigil over her men as they returned from battle. Ever since Apollo’s vicious attack on Aricles, she knew to watch for more treachery from him.

And speaking of, she felt Apollo’s presence behind her.

“Well, well… I was hoping you’d come.”

Turning away from the procession below, she faced the young Greek god. “Why do you continue to tip the scales of justice?”

“Don’t you know?”

“Not at all.”

He reached out to touch her face. “It’s to get your attention.”

She scowled at him. “I beg your pardon?”

“Don’t beg. It’s unbecoming of a goddess so beautiful.” He put his hands on each side of her waist and pulled her against him. “Is it really true you have no feelings?”

She pushed against him, but couldn’t loosen his grip. Stamping down her irritation, she knew better than to show it. “It is.”

“So if we were to have sex, you would be ambivalent to it?”

“I would assume.”

“Should we test it and see?”

She blasted him away from her. “No. We shall not.”

Apollo caught himself against the wall and glared furiously. “You shouldn’t deny me, Bathymaas. I don’t take rejection well.”

“You should learn.”

That only angered him more. He flashed himself to stand in front of her then backhanded her so hard, she fell to the floor. Blood suffused her mouth as a most foul pain exploded through her head, stunning her. She’d never dreamed how much a blow hurt, and it gave her an all new respect for her Ēperon and what they went through in battle.

“Did you feel that?” Apollo growled as he seized her again. He reached for the top of her gown.

Suddenly, he went flying past her as an enraged bellow sounded.

A blur followed after him and slammed him into the wall. It took her several seconds before she realized it was Aricles beating on the god.

“Aricles!” she breathed, rushing toward him before Apollo recovered enough to return the attack.

As soon as she touched his arm, he stopped pounding on Apollo and stepped back. “Are you all right, my goddess?”

She cupped his cheek and nodded then she turned to face Apollo.

He pushed himself up from the floor, glaring at them. “I demand retribution for his hubris.”

She bit back her furious disbelief. “Hubris? How so?”

“He attacked a god.”

“To protect a god. His actions were justified and you should be grateful I don’t unleash him on you for what you dared. You know better.”

Apollo spat the blood in his mouth onto the ground, where it made a bright red splatter. “I will have my revenge on him for this.”

“Touch him and I will have your heart in my fist. Now get out of here while you’re able.”

Aricles didn’t dare move for fear of what he’d do to Apollo until the god was gone. But as soon as they were alone, he cupped Bathymaas’s cheek in his hand to study the bruise that was forming on her delicate skin. “You should have allowed me to kill him.”

“And risk his mother or father calling out for your head? Never.”

He pulled her gently against him and held her in the safety of his arms. “I should have been here for you.”

“You were.”

A tic worked furiously in his jaw. “What if he attacks you again?”

“I will be careful.”

“Bathia…”

She kissed him lightly to silence his protest. “Nothing’s going to happen to me. You’re the one I worry over. How did you know I needed you?”

“I don’t know. I had a bad feeling and I couldn’t breathe until I got here.”

Rising up on her tiptoes, she hugged him close. “I’m glad you came to investigate it.”

Apollo cursed as he saw his face in the mirror. That human bastard had ravaged his beauty. Fury made his hand tremble as he washed the blood from his lips, nose, and cheek.

“What happened to you?”

He met his mother’s shocked gaze in the mirror. Like him, she had golden-blond hair, but her eyes were the same color green as his twin sister, Artemis. “One of Bathymaas’s Ēperon attacked me.”

“On the battlefield?”

“No. I was just teasing her and the bastard started pounding on me.”

His mother gaped. “Did she not punish him for it?”

“Of course not. They’re her pets.”

Leto lifted her chin as fury darkened her eyes. “And you are my son. How dare a mortal lay hand to you!” She closed the distance between them to gently inspect his face. “I will take this up with her immediately.”

“She won’t listen. I already demanded restitution and she said it was justified.”

Leto curled her lip. “She’s no business being the final say on our kind. She’s too capricious with her laws of fairness. I’m still seething over how you and Artemis were forced to be born, and the curse Hera gave you both with no repercussions. No matter what that bitch says, it was not justified.”

“Believe me, Matisera, I know. I should rip the throat out of her Ēperon guard with my fangs and let her see for herself how fair that curse is.”

“I would agree, but she’d only kill you for it and claim that as justice, too. No… we need something to take to the other gods. Something that shows she’s not impartial.”

“Like what?”

Leto let out a heavy sigh. “We have to catch her breaking the rules.”

“And how do we do that?”

“We follow her, dear boy. Sooner or later, she’s bound to screw up something.”

October 22, 12,249 BC

“Is it just me or does it seem like the gods have a vendetta against us?”

Aricles looked up from his carving to meet Hector’s gaze. “They want us dead.”

“Ah, good. I’m not the only one who’s noticed. And here I thought it was just me.”

Grimacing, Galen moved to sit on the foot of Aricles’s bed. “It is disconcerting, isn’t it? And battle isn’t all I thought it’d be.”

Aricles arched his brow at his brother’s somber tone. “Is that remorse I hear?”

“It’s remorse. I keep going back to that day on the farm when they came to recruit us. Do you remember what you said to me while we packed?”

“Not to forget your cloak?”

Galen laughed and shook his head. “You told me that battle wouldn’t be the same as the war games I’d played. That the day would come when I’d grow tired of walking through blood-saturated fields.”

“And has that day come, brother?”

He nodded. “I never gave thought to how young some soldiers would be. Or how wroth the gods would become with us.”

Hector let out a heavy sigh. “I think we are all feeling that. I swear one of the soldiers I killed today couldn’t have been any older than fifteen… if that.”

Haides moved to sit on Galen’s bed next to them. “It’ll soon be four years since I was last at home. My sister has married and had two children since I left… I miss my family.”

Galen sat back. “Our brother had a baby… a son almost a year ago and we’ve seen nothing of him. And for some reason, I keep thinking of Talia.” He met Aricles’s gaze. “Do you remember her?”

“She was beautiful and thought you hung the very moon in the sky.”

Galen smiled sadly. “Aye, she did. But she was too circumspect for me. I always thought she’d be a better match for you.”

Aricles bit back the reminder that Galen’s other problem with her was that she’d refused to bed him. “And now?”

“I should like a wife with such morals and convictions, and sweet nature. One I can trust to remain faithful to me should I ever be away. Do you think she might still be available?”

“I know not, little brother.”

Haides jerked his chin toward Phelix who was asleep on his bed across the room. “Ever notice even he has stopped sharpening his sword?”

Monokles nodded as he joined them. “I keep thinking of something my father used to say to me – Fight on, my son. Not only with sword and spear, but with everything you have.” Sighing, he shook his head. “But now, it’s the words of an Athenian priestess that haunt me – you should reach the limits of virtue before you take up your sword and cross the border of death.”

“We’re all homesick.” Aricles glanced at each one in turn. “But we have taken a vow to fight for our goddess and for the people of our homelands. As the old saying goes, only the dead have seen the end of war. We cannot forget that well begun is only half done. People have learned to watch for our red cloaks and black armor. They turn to us for protection now. How can we abandon them?”

Galen sighed wearily. “Interesting words considering the fact that you’re the only one of us who didn’t want to be here.”

Aricles paused his carving. “I still have no desire to make war. But I am not a coward and I won’t have the gods or anyone else making that allegation toward me.”

“He’s right,” Haides agreed. “They would mock us if we withdrew.”

Aricles offered them a sad smile. “I think we could all use a furlough. I’ll talk to Malphas and the goddess to see if we can have a week to ourselves so that we can see our families and make peace in our hearts.”

Monokles clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re always looking after us. Thank you, brother.”

Aricles inclined his head to them. “Anything for you, you know that.” He set his carving aside and left their barracks to head to the small temple they’d erected for their goddess. Every time they came home from battle, they’d leave an offering to her for her favor and honor. Not that it was needed. She always watched over them.

And while she seldom stayed in the temple, she would come any time Aricles called for her.

“Bathia?” he said gently.

She appeared instantly with a bright smile before she pulled him against her. “I hadn’t realized you’d returned from battle.”

For fear of betraying themselves, they tried not to be together too much during war and training. She was finding it harder and harder to not react whenever he was injured, and his fear for her safety was extremely distracting while he had people trying to kill him.

“We came in this morning.” He kissed her lightly on the lips and savored the taste and scent of her. “I’ve missed you.”

“And I, you.” Closing her eyes, she sank her hand in his hair and took a deep breath against his neck that left him covered with chills.

He wanted inside her so badly, his body felt as if it were on fire. But this was neither the time nor the place. “May I ask a favor of you?”

“Anything.”

“The men are weary. Is there any way to arrange a small reprieve so that they can visit their families?”

“You ask for them and not yourself?”

“You are my family, goddess. I am more than content to be here, even in your absence.”

She fingered his lips before she kissed him. “I wish we never had to be apart, for any reason.”

As did he, but it couldn’t be helped. “You are always in my heart, no matter where I am.”

She pulled him close and held him tight. “Tell the men that they may take three weeks to ride home and see their families, so long as another war doesn’t break out. I might have to recall them, and they should be ready to return at any time. But hopefully, they won’t be needed.”

When he started to pull away, she stopped him. “However, I’m hoping you won’t go with them.”

He pressed her hand against his lips and kissed her palm. “I will stay.”

With one last kiss, he returned to the barracks to let the others know. Everyone was thrilled, except Galen who frowned at him. “Why can’t you come with me?”

“Should something come up, one of us is needed to stay behind. I volunteered.”

“It’s not fair!”

“Fair has nothing to do with life or war, little brother. It just is. And we get through both as best we can. Now, pack. Take your furlough and send my love to Father, Perseus and Julia, and their son. Tell them that I think of them often.”

“All right. But I shall miss you.”

“I will miss you, too. However, I will enjoy a night’s sleep without your snoring.”

Laughing, Galen shoved at him. “I’m not the bear in the room. That would be Hector.”

Hector grinned as he packed up his gear. “I would say I’m insulted by that, but it’s true.”

Aricles went to his chest and pulled out the small carved horse and soldier he’d made for his nephew. He handed them to Galen. “Take these to Theodorus and tell him that his uncle will hopefully see him soon.”

“I will.”

“And give Talia my best, too.”

Galen blushed, yet didn’t speak as he continued to pack.

Within an hour, even though it was almost nightfall, the men were gone and Aricles was alone in the room that seemed suddenly too quiet. Since he’d been born a twin and had shared a room at home with both his brothers for as long as he could remember, he’d never spent a night alone before. It was strangely unsettling.

That was his thought until he felt a warm presence behind him. His heart lightened instantly.

He turned, expecting Bathymaas.

Instead, it was the Greek god Apollo.

Aricles shot to his feet to confront him. “What are you doing here?”

An evil grin spread across his face. “Time for payback, Atlantean. And this time, there’s no one here to interrupt us.”

October 23, 12,249 BC

Frowning, Bathymaas materialized in the Ēperon barracks. She’d expected Aricles to call out to her once the others had left, but it was long after nightfall, and she was certain they’d gone home by now.

Her frown deepened as she saw him in bed with no light whatsoever. Scared he was ill, she quickly closed the distance between them. “Ari?”

Horror filled her as she saw his battered face. Bruises covered him all over. There was one fierce mark in the shape of a handprint on his throat, as if someone had held him down and choked him.

With a light groan, he pushed himself up.

“What happened?”

Shame and torment darkened his gaze. “It’s fine, my goddess. I’ll heal.”

“Who did this to you?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me! Was it one of the Ēperon?”

He swallowed hard before he answered. “No. They went home in high spirits.”

“Then who?”

He refused to meet her gaze. “Bathia, please… I’ve no wish to discuss it.”

Tears clouded her vision as she saw how badly he’d been beaten. How she wished she had the power to heal him. But unfortunately, she didn’t have the ability. “I’ll call my aunt. She’ll – ”

“Please, Bathia… I’d rather no one else know about this.”

“Why?”

A single tear fell down his cheek. “Please, let it go.”

“You’re scaring me, Ari. I’ve never seen you like this before. I don’t understand.”

Aricles fought the tears that choked him over what Apollo had done. He’d give the god credit – the bastard knew how to punish someone and ensure they’d rather die than tell another soul about it.

Bathymaas sat down by his side and brushed the hair back from his face. “Is there anything I can do?”

He still couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eyes. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to do that again. “Just stay with me for a little while… I don’t want to be alone right now.”

She took his hand into hers and held it to her heart. “I have no intention of leaving you, precious… Have you eaten?”

He shook his head.

Using her powers, she summoned him a platter of meat, cheese, and fruit. Then to his complete shock, she hand-fed it to him. That went a long way in easing his horror, shame, and pain. But it still wasn’t really enough.

Right now, all he wanted was to die.

Bathymaas felt her own tears sting her eyes at the way Ari continued to act. How she wished she had the powers to read his mind or turn back time to see what had been done. She hadn’t been joking when she said he scared her. Something inside him had been broken.

Wanting only to fix it, she conjured a bowl of water and gently cleaned his injuries. As she brushed her cloth over his neck, she paused at the sight of a bite wound.

Apollo.

It had to be. As part of her curse against Leto, Hera had condemned the twins to live on blood. Unlike the other gods, Apollo and Artemis had to drink from others in order to live. It’d been a harsh sentence, but Bathymaas had had no way to undo it. Not without killing the twins.

“This was done because of me, wasn’t it?” she breathed.

For the first time since her arrival, he met her gaze. “Nay, my lady. Never think that.”

He could deny it all he wanted, but she knew the truth. This had been his punishment for stopping Apollo’s rape.

In that moment, a darkness came over her. One that was bitter and violent.

Terrifying.

She’d never felt anything like it before. All she wanted was to exact revenge on Apollo for hurting him.

And one way or another, she would make Apollo pay for this…

October 30, 12,249 BC

Bathymaas ached at the sight of the tormented shadow that had yet to leave Aricles’s eyes since his fight with Apollo. A fight he still refused to talk about. It pained her that she couldn’t ease his anguish, no matter what she tried. Aricles had told her that she helped just by being with him, but she knew better.

Apollo had left a lasting scar on his soul, and for that, she wanted the Olympian’s heart in her fist.

Trying not to think about it, she sat in the circle of Ari’s muscular arms while they fished at their spot. Leaning against him, she could feel the deep beats of his heart against her shoulder blade. “I’m glad you stayed with me. I would have missed you terribly had you gone.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I would have missed you, too.”

“Are you homesick for your father and brother?”

“A little, but I’d be more homesick for you had I gone with Galen to see them.”

Those words thrilled her. “Are you just saying that to make me feel better for my selfishness in keeping you here?”

“No, Bathia. Promise.”

Rising up onto her knees, she turned to face him and pushed him back to rest on his elbows. “I want to take the sadness from your eyes, Ari. Tell me what to do to make you happy.”

Aricles smiled at those precious words. “I’m happy just being with you.”

She pressed the backs of her fingers against his whiskered cheeks. “Your smile is tinged with sadness and it makes me hurt to see it so.”

Aricles closed his eyes and savored the warmth of her hand against his skin. He hadn’t touched her since Apollo’s attack. The shame had been too much for him and he hadn’t wanted to taint her with it.

But now…

He needed her to hold him. Leaning forward, he kissed her and let the scent of her skin and her soft touch erase all the pain inside his heart. She was all he really needed. “You are the air I breathe, Bathia.”

“Then marry me, Aricles.”

He pulled back with a gasp. “Goddess – ”

She placed her fingertip to his lips to keep him from speaking. “I know your arguments, Ari. But I don’t care about anything else. I’ve spent eternity protecting others, and thinking only of their needs. I want to be selfish now. Every time I close my eyes, I dream of me and you and our baby in a small cottage. Just the three of us. Tell me honestly that you haven’t thought of it, too.”

“Oh, Thia, of course I have.”

“Then run with me.”

“I can’t leave my brother and the others. Who would fight with them if I were gone?”

“Then I shall end this war between the Chthonians. Would you marry me if I did so?”

Aricles bit his lip at the sweetness of her request. “You already own my heart, body, and soul, Bathia. I willingly gave them to you long ago.”

“Then you are my husband?”

He smiled and brushed back a strand of hair from her cheek. “I can think of no greater honor than to have you as my wife.”

Lifting the hem of her peplos, she straddled his hips and kissed him soundly. “You are mine, Aricles of Didimosia. Proud warrior and gentle farmer – so named the Phoenix by your brethren. I will have no other to love, and you are, and will always be, my husband.”

“And you, Bathymaas, goddess of justice and owner of my heart, are the only woman I’ll ever love. You are everything in my world and all I’ll ever live for.” He kissed her hand. “You are forever my wife.”

Bathymaas removed the pins from her peplos, baring herself to him. She trembled at the beauty of his eyes as all the sadness faded from them and was replaced by love. That was what she was used to seeing whenever he looked at her. She’d missed it terribly.

Pulling up his chiton, she removed it to leave him bare before her. She brushed her hand over the chills on his arms as she smiled at him and toyed with the necklace she’d given him. He never took it off.

She bit her lip as he gently slid her peplos down her hips and off. They both shivered when the center of her body brushed against the hard, rippled muscles of his abdomen.

Aricles arched his back as she leaned forward and brushed her breasts against his chest before she laved his nipple. Gone was any thought of anything other than the woman in his arms. And when she slid herself onto him, he growled as ecstasy pierced him. He lifted his hips to drive himself even deeper into her body as she rode him slowly. For once, they didn’t have to fear Malphas or one of the others stumbling upon them. They were alone and had a full fortnight still to enjoy each other’s company.

He cupped her breasts in his hands while she smiled down at him. “This settles it, love. I’m not moving from here for the rest of my life.”

She laughed at his teasing. “I believe I was the one who begged you to run away.”

He hissed as she reached behind her back to cup him. “I must have been out of my mind to refuse.”

“Well… since you’re so compliant…”

Lifting his hand to her face, he stared deep into her eyes. “Right now, Bathia, you could ask me for the moon and I’d find some way to get it for you.”

Bathymaas savored those words, just as she savored the sensation of having him deep inside her. Wrapping herself around him, she rolled until he was on top. Without a word, he took the lead and thrust against her hips until she couldn’t take it anymore. Crying out, she raked her hands against his spine and clutched him against her.

Aricles ground his teeth at how good it felt whenever she held him like this. There was nothing he loved more than the sight of her face when she came for him. She was the earth and heaven to his Kalosis. Completely lost to her, he buried his face against her neck so that he could inhale her lily scent as he found his own release.

Shaking and breathless, he laid himself against her, taking care not to crush her with his much larger frame.

She ran her finger down the line of his jaw as she stared into his eyes. “My precious husband.”

“My beautiful wife.”

Leto turned toward her son with an arched brow as Apollo manifested next to her to see the slut-whore with her bastard human. “Told you, didn’t I?”

He gaped at the sight of Aricles rutting with Bathymaas. Fury mottled his cheeks. “When did this happen?”

“From the way they went at it, without hesitation, I’d say it’s been happening.”

“And the bitch dared to deny me while whoring herself for a fucking mortal!”

Leto rubbed his back sympathetically. “She’s not worthy of you, my son. Rather she craves the cock of a mongrel dog. The last thing you want is to touch something so fouled.”

But that wasn’t what he felt. He wanted vengeance on both of them for this betrayal.

And by Zeus, he would have it.

Leto smiled at him. “We now have the way to break them both.”

Apollo caught his mother’s arm as she started to leave to tell the others that Bathymaas wasn’t as impartial as they thought. “Wait… let’s think about this for a minute. If we tell the other gods, Bathymaas still has her band of warriors to fight us and interfere with our plans. But if we hold off, we can use this to destroy the Ēperon for once and for all, from the inside out. We can make them turn on each other.”

She laughed. “I knew I raised you right, boy. And once those bastards are dead, we’ll destroy both Bathymaas and her human tsoulus.”

November 1, 12,249 BC

Aricles froze on his way to the stable as he felt a now familiar presence that made him sick to his stomach.

Apollo.

Ready to battle, he turned on the Olympian and glared at him.

“What do you want?”

With a sinister smile, Apollo ran a hungry gaze over Aricles’s body. “What I want is not the same reason as to why I’m here… It seems my mother learned something quite fascinating about you and the goddess you serve.”

His blood ran even colder as he steeled himself to show no emotion whatsoever. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He tried to step around the Greek god, but Apollo cut off his path.

“Oh, I think you do. And I have a little proposition for you.” Apollo raked him with a smirk. “You will either get a cold and be unable to fight in the next couple of battles we intend to initiate, or I’ll tell every god in existence that our little justice queen is doing the forbidden dance with her champion. In fact, for all I know, she’s having sex with her entire Ēperon.”

Growling, Aricles started for Apollo, but the god blasted him back so hard, he rebounded off the wall.

“Don’t push your luck, Atlantean. You’re not that good, either in bed or out of it.” Apollo closed the distance between them and seized him by the throat. Using his powers, he held Aricles completely immobile. “Will you cooperate, or do I ruin her forever? Have you any idea of the mockery she’ll endure? Or what the other gods will do to her for violating her sacred duties as an impartial judge?”

Bile rose in his throat at the prospect, but what choice did he have? No one could ever learn about him and Bathymaas. It would destroy her. “I’ll do it.”

“Good, boy.” Apollo ran his finger down the side of Aricles’s face. “Pity I don’t have more time for you today. But I have a battle to plan. Next time, however…”

Aricles jerked away from him, wanting to plant his xiphos straight through the god’s stomach.

If only he could, but their weapons only worked against the gods when Bathymaas charged them.

Apollo stepped back and raked a sneer over him. “By the way, I’m not the only one who knows about you two. There’s another god, so if you’re thinking you can spear me during battle and protect Bathymaas… think again. So long as I live, my mother will remain quiet. Should I expire too soon, everyone will know about your transgressions. Both with Bathymaas and with me. So much for your vow of chastity, right?” His smile turned even more mocking. “And tell me how much your goddess would love you if she ever found out that I had a piece of your ass, too? And if you breathe a word of this to her, I will see her powers stripped and kill her myself.”

Aricles looked away as shame and fear filled him. A tic started in his jaw as he gripped his sword and forced himself not to attack. “I will never understand how the Greek people stomach you.”

And he was going to find a way to kill this bastard. Sooner rather than later.

January 20, 12,248 BC

Dressed in his armor, Aricles stood on the edge of the battlefield as the rest of the Ēperon readied for the coming battle. He’d started to fight with them, until he’d seen Apollo. The god had given him a look that let him know Aricles wouldn’t be a part of this skirmish either.

The moment Aricles stepped back from his horse, Hector glared angrily at him. “You are going to fight this time, aren’t you? Or are you sick again?”

When Aricles didn’t respond, Haides slammed his fist into his cuirass, forcing Aricles to take another step back. “He has no intention of fighting this day either. Look at him… he’s not even armed with his spear.”

Galen frowned. “What’s wrong with you, brother? What changed with you while we were away? This is our fifth battle that you’ve refused to fight in.”

When Haides went to attack him, Malphas came between them. “Ēperon, down. Save it for battle.”

Haides spat on Aricles. “I’m not battling with a coward I can’t trust at my back. He’s as likely to stab it as my enemy is.”

Malphas turned to Aricles. “Are you still ill?”

Wiping away the saliva from his face, Aricles nodded.

Monokles curled his lip. “There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s as fit to fight as any of us.”

Phelix shoved him from behind. “Get him out of our sight, Malphas. None of us want him here. Send the bastard home with the rest of the women.”

Before Aricles could move, Haides ripped his helm off his head and threw it to the ground. “Go!”

His hand trembling, Aricles retrieved his helm and headed back to camp, leaving the others to fight without him. But with every step he took, he hated himself more.

I can’t do this anymore.

But what choice did he have? Either way, he’d be shamed. At least this way, he was the only one who suffered. Bathymaas was protected. So long as the bloody backlash didn’t spray onto her, he could manage to deal with it.

He clenched his sword in his angry fist, wanting to cut off Apollo’s head. If he took up his xiphos again in war, Apollo would tell everyone that he’d slept with Bathymaas. It wouldn’t matter that they were married. Bathymaas was a virgin goddess whose impartiality must always be above reproach.

Her love for him would make all of her judgments suspect. And the gods would band together to punish her for it.

It would ruin her.

“Ari?”

He froze at the sound of Bathymaas’s voice. “Yes, my goddess?”

“What’s wrong?”

He shook his head, unable to tell her.

She placed a gentle hand to his arm between the mail of his shirt and his vambrace. “Tell me.”

“I can’t.”

“I know something happened with you. Why won’t you talk to me about it?”

Wanting only to pull her into his arms and hold her until the pain inside him stopped bleeding out his heart, Aricles stared at her. More than anything, he ached to tell her the truth about why he couldn’t fight with the others. It’d never been in his nature to lie or withhold. But how could he? How would she look at him if she knew how badly he, her chosen warrior – her husband – had been overpowered and used by another man? The last thing he could bear was to see her look at him with the same disgust he felt for himself.

“I should leave and return home.”

“Aricles…”

“Please, Bathymaas. I’m a distraction for the others. They no longer trust me or consider me one of them. It would be best for all.”

Tears glistened in those golden eyes that had carved a permanent place in his heart. “It wouldn’t be best for me.”

He cupped her cheek in his hand as his emotions shredded him. “You deserve better, my goddess. I’m not worthy of you.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because it’s true.”

A single tear fell down her flawless cheek. “Malphas is summoning me. I have to go.”

Wiping the tear away with the back of his fingers, he nodded an instant before she faded away. Heartsick, Aricles returned to the tent the Ēperon had been sharing as they fought the Greek gods in this latest war.

Yesterday’s harsh defeat after he’d refused to fight hadn’t set well with his friends or his brother. Not that he blamed them. He’d be angry at him, too.

I have no choice.

As much as he loved the others, he loved Bathymaas more. Let the rest of the world burn to the ground. She was the only thing that mattered to him.

For her alone, he would die.

Angry, hurt, and aching, he started packing his gear. I never desired any of this. All he’d ever wanted was to be a simple farmer. To have a quiet life far away from the horrors of battle.

To work hard in a field all day and hold his wife at night, and watch their children grow.

He kicked at the trunk that held his battle gear, hating it with every part of himself.

If not for Bathymaas, he’d be gone already. But he couldn’t leave her. Especially not now.

Sick to his stomach, he sat down on his cot and hung his head in his hands.

Hours later, Aricles had just begun to pack up for the others when he heard a furious bellow. He turned as Haides came running into the tent to pound him to pieces. He kicked the larger man back. “What is wrong with you?”

“Hector’s dead because of you, you bastard!”

Those words hit him like hammer. “What?”

“You heard me. You left us to die!”

Aricles knocked him back and ran from the tent to verify his claim. He didn’t have to go far.

Covered in blood, Hector lay just outside, his features pale and his eyes glazed. The other members of the Ēperon stood over his body.

Aricles fell to his knees by Hector’s side. Grief and guilt tore him apart. And it wasn’t helped as all of them turned to glare their mutual hatred and contempt at him.

Even Galen.

Tears filled his eyes and choked his throat. “Who killed him?”

Malphas sighed. “Apollo.”

Aricles roared with the weight of his fury. He reached to touch Hector, but Phelix kicked him away.

“You’re not worthy to touch a hero, coward!”

His vision turned dark and for a moment, Aricles almost attacked him. However, his anger wasn’t for Phelix. It was for the bastard Apollo, and Aricles wasn’t about to shed the blood of an innocent.

Galen spat on the ground by his side. “Go on and leave us, Aricles. It’s what you’re best at.”

Then, as a single unit, they turned their backs to him to let him know that their brotherhood was severed. None of them wanted anything more to do with him.

Not even his own twin.

“Baathymaas?”

She paused at the unfamiliar voice. Turning, she was stunned to see the Greek goddess of war and wisdom, Athena, approaching her. Tall and dark-haired, the goddess was dressed in a bloodred peplos. “Athena? What are you doing here?”

“Something I shouldn’t, but I despise treachery in all its forms.”

Bathymaas frowned. “And what treachery do you speak of?”

She hesitated before she answered. “I overheard Apollo and his mother plotting… against you.”

Foreboding choked her, but she knew better than to let Athena see it. “Me?”

Athena nodded. “Apollo is extorting one of your men… Aricles. My brother has some kind of leverage over him and he is forcing Aricles out of battle so that we can win.”

Bracing herself for the worst, she made herself appear nonchalant. “What kind of leverage does he have?”

“No idea. But knowing my brother, I’m sure it’s foul.”

Bathymaas inclined her head to the goddess. “Thank you for letting me know. I won’t forget your kindness.”

Nodding, Athena left Bathymaas to her thoughts.

Bathymaas teleported instantly to the camp where she found her men attempting to tear Aricles apart. They had him bound naked on the ground while they took turns lashing, kicking, and stomping him.

While Caleb didn’t participate in the abuse, he didn’t stop them, either.

“What is this?” she demanded as she moved to protect Aricles from them.

They stood down immediately and backed away.

Her hands trembling, she cut the ropes that bound her husband. The pain in his eyes wrung her heart.

Aricles wiped the blood away from his lips. “It’s just a mild disagreement, goddess.”

She was aghast that he’d dare defend them after the cruelty she’d just witnessed. Enraged, she touched one of the horrid whip marks on his back. It was a full quarter inch deep and left his skin bleeding and ravaged. “If this is mild, I’d hate to see severe.” She covered him with her cloak. Rising to her feet, she passed a chiding stare over all of them.

None of them appeared the least bit contrite. If anything, their eyes held a light that said they’d be back on him as soon as she was gone.

Bathymaas ground her teeth before she stepped away. “Aricles, walk with me.”

Each of the men spat at him as he approached her.

Even his own brother.

And that broke her heart and ignited her fury.

Bathymaas scowled at them. “You are a team.”

“Were,” Haides snarled. “Now we’re two men down. None of us want Aricles with us after this.”

She saw the unity inside their hearts and it sickened her. “Galenus? Are you in agreement?”

He glared at his brother before he nodded.

Aching for Aricles, she led him away from the camp while the others started the preparations for Hector’s funeral. She felt for his loss and bled over the needless sacrifice. Hector had been a good man.

But right now, her thoughts were preoccupied with her husband.

She sighed heavily. “Tell me what Apollo is using to keep you from fighting.”

“Bathia – ”

She stopped and turned to face him. “I want the truth, Ari. Tell me.”

Anguish darkened his eyes as he glanced back to the Ēperon. “He knows about us, and if he finds out that I’ve told you, he’ll kill you.”

She scoffed at the ludicrous threat. “He doesn’t have those powers.”

“But he has the power to tell the other gods that you’re no longer virgin.”

“So what if he does?”

His blue eyes singed her. “You will be shamed.”

“There are worst things in this world.”

He shook his head. “I can’t allow that to happen to you because of me. I can’t.”

“And I can’t allow you to be called a coward by your brother and friends for protecting me. How can you ask that of me, your wife?”

“Bathia, please.”

She glanced down at his ravaged body and shook her head. “I won’t allow this. I won’t.”

Before he could stop her or she could reconsider, she took his hand and returned them to where the others were preparing Hector’s body.

Aricles started away, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her. When he opened his mouth to protest, she gave him the hottest kiss of his life.

Utter silence descended. Aricles felt the heat creep over his face as he realized they were the center of everyone’s attention. Pulling back, he swept his gaze across five pairs of widened, shocked eyes.

Bathymaas turned to face them. Stepping back against his chest, she pulled his arm around her waist and held it there. “Aricles and I are married. The Greek god Apollo found out and he threatened to discredit and shame me before the other gods unless Aricles refused to fight. To protect my honor and name, he has allowed all of you to insult and attack him, and I will not stand for him to be hurt again. By anyone.”

Aricles wouldn’t have thought they could have been more shocked.

He was wrong. For several minutes no one moved or spoke.

They didn’t even blink.

Not until Galen stepped forward and punched him. Hard. “You bastard! You married and didn’t tell me?”

Bathymaas moved to blast him, but Aricles caught her hand before she could damage his brother.

“It’s all right, my lady. That’s his normal reaction.”

Her eyes flashed red. “He needs to find another.”

Galen shook his head. “How could you have not told me? I’m your brother! Your twin! When did you marry?”

“While you were all gone,” she answered for him.

Malphas cursed as he glared at Aricles. “Have you any idea the shit storm you’re about to unleash?”

A tic started in Aricles’s cheek before he nodded. “It’s why I backed down from the fighting.” He glanced over to Hector’s body as tears blinded him. “I didn’t want anyone hurt. Least of all Bathymaas.”

Malphas growled. “Now I want to punch you… But I understand.” He rubbed his hand against the gold necklace that never left him. “The heart wants what it wants, and nothing will deny it. But damn…” He turned his glare to Bathymaas. “Damn.”

Monokles scowled. “So what does this mean?”

Malphas gestured to Bathymaas. “The gods will attack her for this. Openly. Those who hate her will say that she can no longer perform her duties because she’s been corrupted by the touch of a mortal. And they will be after Aricles with everything they have.”

Phelix narrowed his eyes on Aricles. “I still don’t trust him. He bowed out when we needed him most.”

“To protect his wife,” Haides reminded Phelix. “Right or wrong, I doubt there’s a one of us who wouldn’t do whatever he had to to keep his woman safe.”

Monokles nodded. “He’s right. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect my wife and her honor.”

Galen hugged Bathymaas and then his brother. “I hate you.”

“I hate you, too.”

Bathymaas scowled at Aricles who smiled at her then explained their contradictory words. “We don’t mean it, my lady. Rather, it’s our way of saying that we’re still mad, but are willing to forgive.”

“Mortals are so strange…”

Caleb nodded in agreement. “And we have a man to bury and mourn. Let us attend to that and then we’ll deal with this next disaster.”

Bathymaas teleported Aricles into his tent so that she could clean him up and dress him. “I can’t believe you allowed them to do this to you.”

He shrugged. “I would gladly suffer this and more to keep you safe.”

And that was why she loved him so. Brushing his hair back from his eyes, she sighed. “Apollo will be coming for us.”

Aricles swallowed hard as a wave of pain went through him. He started to tell her what Apollo had done to him, but the words froze on his tongue. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t bring himself to say out loud the horror of that day.

Please don’t hate me, Bathia, when he tells you what he did to me.

But in his heart, he knew that she would never look at him the same way once she learned of it. And that made him every bit as sad as the loss of Hector.

It’s all my fault.

He should have been strong enough to fight Apollo off.

And now…

Kissing her on the brow, he knew that he had to do something to stop Apollo. And what he intended was as stupid as it was brave.

January 23, 12,248 BC

Aricles frowned as he heard a fierce fight going on in Bathymaas’s temple. Grabbing his hoplon and xiphos, he ran toward it as fast as he could to find Apollo blasting Bathymaas.

Without hesitation, he went for the god and attacked him with everything he had.

Apollo cursed as Aricles knocked him away from her. The Greek god blasted him, but Aricles didn’t care. He ignored the pain and continued on, beating the god until Apollo was pressed against the wall.

Unprepared for Aricles’s ferocity and skill, Apollo staggered back then fell to his knees. “Everyone is going to know about the two of you! Everyone!” Then the coward vanished.

Releasing his battle cry, Aricles still wanted the bastard’s blood for attacking his wife. He dropped his weapons and ran to where she sat on the floor. Her left cheek was bruised and swollen. Her nose bloodied.

“Bathia?” he breathed, terrified for what Apollo had done to her.

Tears welled in her eyes as she laid her hand against his cheek. “My poor Ari.”

Confused, he scowled at her words. “Did he rape you?”

“No. I attacked him.”

Relief flooded him, until she spoke again.

“Why didn’t you tell me he raped you, Ari?”

Unable to meet her gaze, Aricles withdrew from her. He didn’t want to see disdain or hatred in her eyes. Or worse…

Disappointment.

He was the one who was supposed to protect her. But how could he when he lacked the strength to protect himself?

She closed the distance between them and placed her hand on his arm. “Ari, talk to me.”

“What can I say, goddess?

Bathymaas ached at the anguish she heard in his voice. At the shame she saw in his eyes as he refused to look at her. “Sweetie… it wasn’t your fault.”

He finally met her gaze and the raw fury there scared her. “You think that makes it right? I’m a man, Bathia. A warrior.”

“You’re mortal and he’s a god.”

“And I’m supposed to keep you safe.”

She shook her head. “He came at you from the shadows. It was a coward’s attack because he knew he couldn’t defeat you if he attacked you as a warrior.”

“Still not helping.”

Cupping his face in her hands, she forced him to look at her. “I love you, Ari, and I never meant for my love to hurt you.”

“It doesn’t hurt me, goddess, it strengthens me.”

“No. It’s made you vulnerable and for that, I’m so sorry.”

He frowned at her words. “Why do you apologize to me?”

Bathymaas couldn’t speak as her new emotions ravaged her. Guilt, horror, pain… She didn’t like these feelings at all. But beneath all the ones that hurt was the fierce adoration she had for the strength and inner beauty of her husband. “I should have left you on your farm when you asked me to.”

“Then I wouldn’t have had you.”

The love in his gaze brought tears to her eyes. “Ari – ”

He stopped her words with a kiss. “I would brave anything for you, my lady.”

“And I, you.”

Finally, he drew her into his arms and held her close. “I’m sorry I embarrassed you.”

She frowned at his words. “Embarrassed me how?”

“By not being the man you deserve.”

Tears flowed down her cheeks. “Don’t you ever say that! In all my life, I have never known a better, more noble man than you. God or mortal.” She pulled his head down and held him close.

Aricles trembled at the sensation of her arms wrapped around him. In that moment, he hated Apollo with everything he had. No doubt the bastard was already spreading news of their relationship, far and wide.

I’m going to kill him…

Apollymi, goddess of destruction and creation, I humbly summon you. Please do your most earnest and humble servant the honor of appearing,” Aricles whispered the words as he poured scented oil over the hot coals at the base of Apollymi’s statue on Didimosia. He hadn’t been to this temple since his grandfather had brought him here on a sacred pilgrimage when he was a boy.

Looking up at the statue, he was as struck by the goddess’s beauty today as he’d been then. But it was the cruelty in her stone eyes that was still terrifying.

That cruelty that he was now imploring.

Unaware of his intentions, her priests were all in their corner, and he was alone in the main temple hall to make his blood offering to the most dangerous god in their pantheon.

At first, he thought she’d ignore him. But just as he was ready to leave, he felt the same stirring in the air that came anytime Bathymaas materialized before a mortal.

There in front of him stood a vision of feminine beauty. Almost as tall as he was, she had long wavy blond hair and swirling silver eyes. “You have some nerve, mortal. You swear allegiance to an Egyptian goddess I loathe, take up sword for her, and now you dare summon me? Really?”

He went down on one knee before her. “For that, I beg your indulgence, goddess. But I’m here because I’ve been told that you and I have something in common.”

“And that is?”

“Hatred for the Greek god Apollo.”

Her eyes flashed red. “I despise all things Greek.”

“And that is why I offer up my soul and my sword to you.”

She scowled at him. “I don’t understand.”

Swallowing hard, he forced himself to make a bargain he hoped he didn’t live to regret. “The god threatens what I love, and I plan to challenge him, and while I know what a capable warrior I am, I also know that I lack the abilities to destroy a god on my own.”

A slow smile curved her lips. “You are a ballsy bastard… and that I respect.” She paused to consider his words. “What will you give me for this favor should I grant it?”

“Name it, my goddess, and I’ll pay it.”

Apollymi approached him slowly. She jerked his chlamys away from his left shoulder blade to show where Bathymaas had placed her mark on him after he swore himself to her alone. “What have you done, mortal? Rezar will kill you for daring to touch his beloved daughter.”

“Have you never been in love, goddess?”

She growled low in her throat. “Love makes fools of us all, eventually. Even the great Bathymaas.” She pulled his chlamys back over the mark. “I still should kill you.”

Aricles didn’t flinch or react to her words at all.

“Have you nothing to say to that?” she asked him.

“I’d rather you not.”

She laughed. “You are lucky you’re so brave. That alone has saved your life today.” She stepped back and narrowed her gaze on him. “And unfortunately, you can’t kill Apollo… as much as I’d love for you to.”

Aricles felt his spirits crash at her words.

“But… you can defeat him, and when you do, bring him to me, bound and gagged, and that will be my fee.” She manifested a bronze xiphos and held it out to him. “Use this to level the field and once you have him defeated, bring him here to me.”

He frowned at the weapon in his hand that didn’t look any different than the one he normally carried into battle. “What is special about this sword?”

“It was dipped in the River Styx. It will allow Apollo to bleed as any mortal.”

“Thank you, goddess.”

She inclined her head to him. “Good luck, Aricles, and beware of treachery.”

“Always.” After saluting her with the sword, he strapped it on as she vanished.

He placed his hand on the hilt and he left her temple. Now he had an appointment to keep, and Apollo was definitely going to bleed.

January 24, 12,248 BC

Aricles sighed contentedly as he held Bathymaas in the quiet morning hours. Now that the others knew the truth, they’d laughed at him when he’d gone to bed in their barracks.

“You have a beautiful goddess for wife and you’d sleep here with us, alone? Are you insane?”

He smiled at the memory of Galen’s indignant tone. Brushing the hair back from her cheek, he placed a kiss there at the same time a bright flash lit up the room.

Aricles barely had time to blink before he was blasted out of the bed and pinned to the floor. Every bone in his body felt shattered. Unable to move, he was forced to lie there as a huge man stalked him with murder in his gold eyes. Well built and stout, he was obviously someone’s god of war.

Bathymaas came awake with a gasp. “Papas, no!” She leapt from the bed, dragging the sheet with her so that she could wrap it around her naked body. She grabbed the god’s huge biceps. “Don’t hurt him!”

“I don’t want to hurt him. I want to kill the rancid bastard dog!”

She planted herself between them. “I love him, Papas. If you kill him, you will destroy my heart.”

His eyes tormented, Set pulled her into his arms and held her tight. He pressed his lips to her head as he glared at Aricles. “You have a heartbeat?”

She nodded.

Set cursed. “When Apollo said he’d seen you with a man, I went to gut that Greek bastard, but Ma’at stopped me. Have you any idea what you’ve set into motion, daughter?”

Tears fell down her cheeks. “I don’t care. He is all to me.”

Brushing her tears aside, Set sighed heavily then released whatever invisible hold he had on Aricles. “I wish you’d told me first.”

“I knew you wouldn’t approve and I didn’t want you to hurt Ari.”

Completely embarrassed, Aricles quickly dressed.

Set growled deep in his throat as he stepped away from Bathymaas. “Leto is calling for your removal and punishment. She says that the war you’ve been waging against the Greeks isn’t one of justice, but rather a favor for your Atlantean husband.”

She was aghast at the ludicrous accusation. “Ari wants nothing to do with war.”

Set scowled at him. “But he’s your best fighter.”

“Who wants nothing to do with war,” Aricles repeated. “I was a farmer before all this, and I preferred that to fighting.”

Set laughed angrily. “None of that matters. They’re still demanding blood from us.”

“And I’ve demanded Apollo’s.”

Bathymaas gasped as she stepped away from her father to face her husband. “What have you done, Ari?”

“I issued a challenge to Apollo. We are settling this the only way the Greeks understand. With violence.”

“No,” she breathed. “You can’t!”

“He’s right.”

She glared at her father. “No, he’s not.”

“Yes, daughter, he is. If he beats Apollo, it would end the bloodlust and intimidate the others. They’ll back down.”

“And if they don’t?”

Set brushed his hand against her chin. “You are new to emotions, Bathy. And I doubt you understand the power of fear.” He looked past her to Aricles. “When are you to fight him?”

“Two days from now.”

“Make sure you don’t lose, boy.”

Aricles glanced to his wife. “I promise, I won’t.”

But even as he said that, Bathymaas had a terrible feeling in her gut. Something bad was going to happen. She had no doubt.

January 25, 12,248 BC

Bathymaas trembled as she watched Aricles sparring with Galen. Terrified over the upcoming fight, she glanced to Caleb. “Do you think he can win against Apollo?”

“Honestly?”

She nodded.

“I do.”

“Are you saying that to comfort me?”

Caleb laughed. “I keep forgetting that you have emotions. So, no. I don’t think about comforting you, even now.”

How she wished she could forget she had them.

Over and over, her mind conjured images of Aricles dying horribly. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t banish them. They kept returning to torture her.

Unable to stand it, she left the others and went to Mount Olympus where Apollo lived with the majority of the Greek gods. As much as she hated it, she had to make a deal with her enemy. It was the only way to ensure Aricles’s safety and life. While she believed Malphas’s words that Ari could defeat the god, she couldn’t risk Apollo cheating.

And Apollo was definitely not above that.

Apollo dropped the lyre he was playing as she manifested before his chaise inside his private temple. “Has the equator frozen over?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I’m here to issue you a challenge.”

He scoffed. “I’m tired of these challenges from you and your boy-toy. Not to mention, I already have a fight tomorrow.”

Shrugging with a nonchalance she didn’t feel, Bathymaas arched a brow. “I’m impressed. I had no idea that you craved humiliation so much.”

“How do you mean?”

“We both know you can’t beat Aricles. He’s the best fighter who ever picked up a hoplon and sword. And as of tomorrow, everyone else will know it, too. I merely came to try and save some of your dignity. But since you’re so desperate for public degradation, who am I to deprive you?” She started to leave, but he stopped her.

“What did you have in mind?”

“A contest between gods. You and I. That way, if you lose, no one will mock you for it.”

“And if I win?”

As if that could ever happen. But she needed to give him some kind of hope, otherwise he’d never agree to this. “What do you want, Apollo?”

“You to stand down and allow my mother to be the supreme goddess of justice.”

She was aghast at his request. “Truly? That’s what you want?”

He nodded.

Leto would never be a decent goddess of justice. The bitch had no understanding of it. But that didn’t matter. Apollo would never defeat her.

“Fine then… I challenge you to a contest of bowmanship. We are both gods of archery. Grab your bow and meet me outside my temple.”

“Now?” he asked in shock.

She glanced about his empty temple. “You have something better to do?”

He narrowed his gaze on her. “I want witnesses to this.”

Gaping, Bathymaas was astonished by his request. “What? You think I would cheat you?”

“Who knows what you might do? You have emotions now. I wouldn’t put anything above you.”

She lifted her chin as anger ripped through her. “Never have I been more offended, but since I know you’re far more likely to cheat than I am, I, too, will bring a witness. I’ll see you there in an hour.”

He inclined his head to her. “One hour.”

“Are you sure about this, daughter?”

Bathymaas reached up to touch her father’s cheek. “I am. I can’t take a chance on Apollo harming my husband. Ari is everything to me.”

Set held the bow he’d given to her when she was a child. Only Bathymaas could draw the string to it, and she never missed whatever she was aiming for. With the exception of Ari and her father, it was the one thing she treasured most in the universe.

The air behind her stirred.

Turning, she found Apollo and his twin sister, Artemis. With long, curly red hair, Artemis was one of the more beautiful goddesses.

Even so, a chill of foreboding went down Bathymaas’s spine at Apollo’s chosen second. “You asked your sister?” It was known by all that the god had little use or love for his twin.

“You didn’t give me much time to prepare.” Apollo eyed her father as if Set made him extremely nervous.

And well he should. A primal god, her father was known to rip the fun body parts off men he didn’t like. Which was why she’d asked him to come. With her father present, she was hoping Apollo would be on his best behavior.

Bathymaas took her bow and jerked her chin toward their targets at the end of the field. “Three shots.”

Apollo made no move to conjure his weapon. Instead, he pursed his lips. “Perhaps we should make this more interesting.”

She narrowed her eyes on him suspiciously. “How so?”

“As you said, we’re both gods of archery. How about we shoot at my sister’s golden hinds?”

Artemis gasped. “Apollo, you can’t! They were gifts to me and I need them to pull my chariot.”

Apollo gave her a withering glare. “You only need four of them and you have five. I say we take one and release it in a herd of other deer and let them run. Whoever shoots the golden hind in the heart wins.”

Artemis curled her lip. “I vote I challenge Bathymaas and we shoot at you, brother dearest.”

Set and Bathymaas laughed.

Apollo not so much.

Turning his back to his sister, he faced Bathymaas. “Are you up to the challenge?”

“Where are these hinds?”

“In Artemis’s meadow.”

Bathymaas frowned at the obvious trick. Should her father step one foot on Olympus, the other Greek gods would call out for a supreme war. “You’d allow us to venture to Olympus?”

“I can have one of the hinds put here if you’d rather.”

“Of course, I’d rather.”

Without reacting to her tone, he glanced over to Artemis. “Go fetch the first hind you see and mix it with a herd here. Then let us know when you release them.”

“I hate you,” Artemis snarled under her breath before she went to comply.

Bathymaas lowered her bow as Artemis vanished. While they waited for Artemis’s return, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in her stomach.

Something awful was going to happen. She could feel it.

But before she had time to fully examine that sensation, Artemis returned. “I have a buck mixed in with the others. Say the word and they’re released.”

Apollo finally manifested his bow. He glanced to Bathymaas. “Ready?”

“Whenever you are.”

“Release the deer!” Apollo called out.

Bathymaas nocked her arrow and waited.

After a few seconds, the deer herd ran through the trees in front of them.

Apollo shot a heartbeat before she did. His arrow went into the flanks of the hind. Hers went straight to its heart.

Relieved it was over and she’d won, Bathymaas started to smirk, until the hind began to change form. Her breath caught in her throat.

No!

Dropping her bow, she teleported to Aricles. Naked, he lay on the grass with Apollo’s arrow embedded in his thigh.

And hers in his heart.

“Ari,” she sobbed, sinking to her knees. She pulled him into her arms. “How?”

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His breathing came in short, ragged breaths. “I was… with Galen…”

Bathymaas screamed out for her aunt to come help her.

Ma’at appeared instantly then froze. “What is this?”

“Apollo… he transformed Ari into a hind and I shot him.”

Her eyes filled with tears, Ma’at knelt by her side. “Child, you know I can’t heal your arrow wounds. No one can.”

Utter despair claimed her as she stared into the pain-filled eyes of her husband. “Ari… I didn’t know it was you.”

“Shh,” he breathed, reaching up to cup her cheek. “Don’t cry, Bathia. You are my heart and I will always be with you. If it takes me ten thousand lifetimes, I will find my way back to you, I promise.” As he went to smile, he expelled a single breath and his hand fell from her face.

The light faded from his eyes and as it did so her amulet that he wore around his neck broke into two halves.

Screaming in utter anguish, she cradled him to her chest and rocked his body as grief tore her apart. Someone, she assumed Ma’at, placed a comforting hand to her shoulder.

“Rezar! Stop it!”

She looked up at Ma’at’s cry to realize that it was Artemis by her side, and her aunt was trying to keep her father from killing Apollo and Leto.

Tears glittered in the Greek goddess’s green eyes. “I didn’t know, Bathymaas. I’m so sorry. He was grazing outside my temple. I just assumed he was one of mine. I had no idea my mother had done this to him and to you. I swear it.” The agony in her voice attested to the truth of her words.

But it changed nothing.

Aricles was dead.

By her own hand, and by Apollo’s and Leto’s treachery. And as she sat there with his body in her arms, a frightening cold filled her. It chilled every part of her being and stilled her beating heart.

She’d been conceived as a goddess of justice. But this wasn’t just.

It wasn’t right.

And her husband’s wrongful death would not go unavenged.

Kissing his cold lips, Bathymaas laid him on the ground and covered his body with her cloak.

Artemis gasped and shrank away from her as she rose to her feet and turned toward Apollo and his mother.

For this, there would be hell to pay.

And hers would be the hand that gathered the payment.

Epilogue

January 3, 12,247 BC

Set held his infant daughter in his hands as his heart broke all over again. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he met Ma’at’s gaze and saw his own sorrow mirrored in her eyes. After the death of her husband, Bathymaas had gone on a bloodthirsty rampage that had almost cost the Olympian pantheon all their lives. But since Apollo’s life was tied to the sun, they couldn’t allow her to kill him, or else the entire world would have ended. But her rage had been such that no amount of logic could keep her from her vengeance.

Uniting for the first time in history, the gods and Chthonians had all gathered to lay a death sentence on her. Something Set couldn’t allow. Desperate, he’d gone to his sister, who’d conceived the plan to have Bathymaas reborn with half a heart and with no memory of her precious Aricles.

Now she slept again in his arms, tiny and defenseless.

“Will you ever let me hold my daughter?”

He glanced up at Symfora’s request. She lay on the bed where she’d delivered his daughter to him just a few minutes ago. The Atlantean goddess of sorrow and woe, she’d been the perfect mother for his child. If anyone would understand his daughter’s pain, it was Symfora.

Kissing his daughter on the brow, he carried her back to Symfora and placed her in her mother’s arms. “She is beauty incarnate.”

“As is her father.” Symfora cradled her with the love he wanted his girl to know. “So what are we to call her?”

“Bet’anya.”

Symfora arched a brow at that. “House of Misery?”

“She is to be your goddess of misery and wrath, is she not?”

“Indeed.” She glanced down at her daughter and offered a rare smile. “But I shall call you Bethany, little one.”

Set cringed at the name that was almost identical to Aricles’s nickname for her. Symfora could use it if she chose to, but he would never call her by the name her husband had given her. She would always be his precious Bet.

He took her small, fragile hand into his. I hope I haven’t harmed you, daughter. Because of the Source powers they’d used for her birth, Bet only had half her heart.

The other half lay with her Aricles and wouldn’t return to her until he did.

You better find her, you bastard.

Otherwise, Set would rain a wrath down on this world that would make Bathymaas’s seem merciful. But in his heart, he knew true love when he saw it.

Come what may, Aricles would find and reunite with his Bathymaas. And no matter what powers sought to divide them, Set held no doubt that they would one day be together again…

Read more about Bathymaas and Aricles in Styxx.