Page 104 of Bad Blood

“Never,” I whispered, leaning so close I could see every speck of gold in his eyes. “You’ll have to kill me if you want to take it.”

A long moment passed, where the only sound was the distant hiss of the waves against the shore. Ares and I locked gazes, daring each other to speak the words that would condemn us to our fate. The tension in the room was so thick, I struggled to breathe. But he was the first to break.

He brushed his lips against my ear, and he whispered, “Careful. Let’s not tempt fate.”

EPILOGUE

“Stand, Cassandra,” the monarch commanded.

The woman rose, beaming. All those years ago, she’d heard this voice whispering in the back of her mind, beckoning her. For a long time, the woman wondered if it was all a trick, some kind of ploy to trap her. The Olympians were wicked, nasty creatures, after all.

But everything had gone according to plan. Now the monarch would remove Cassandra’s curse, and people would believe her prophecies again. She could hardly stand still from her excitement.

“Did it work?” Cassandra asked eagerly. “How many Olympians are dead?”

At that, the monarch sighed. “I’m afraid only two. Selene proved to be more of a problem than I thought she’d be, and something odd happened with her moon. It went all red. Do you know why?”

“No, I had wondered. It is very odd.”

The woman feared the monarch would blame her. This was the sort of thing she was supposed to predict, after all.

But she hadn’t seen the blood moon. In her visions, it had always been silver.

“No matter, you’ve done well enough.” The monarch patted her on the back. “We’ll have plenty more opportunities to achieve our plan, now that you’re by my side. All that power, it will soon be mine.”

Cassandra bowed low. “Yes, High Queen Aphrodite. It will.”