Page 35 of Blood of Olympus

“It hit the side of the bullseye — it’s not a direct hit.”

“Close enough,” I muttered.

Aros whirled on me, irises dancing. Startled, I jerked back.

“No.” He glared. “There’s a war coming, and you mean to tell me that a glancing hit on the side of your target is still a hit?” He stepped again. “No. And I mean no disrespect, Caelus, but if that’s our Queen on the line? If that target is an enemy gunning for Nyssa? An almost hit is not good enough.”

I said nothing. He was right and we both knew it.

“A Queen who has just named me as her Blade and her Harrow— an honour never before bestowed upon anyone. I vowed to give my life to her, to sacrifice myself if necessary to protect her, and you should feel that tenfold.”

“I do!”

“Then prove it!” he roared. “Hit the damn target and keep her safe!”

Guilt wracked me once more as I moved silently back to the line and fired again.

This time, the sliver of violet sailed through the air, right past Aros’ amber eyes, and hit the target — dead centre.

“Better,” he grunted. “But if someone as skilled as you is having issues with their aim, I’d hate to guess at how the others will fare. I need to speak with Nyssa. We need training. All of us.”

I nodded because again, he was right.

Aros right twice in as many minutes — who’d have thought it?

The answer came to me just as quickly.

The reason she’d made him her Blade and her Harrow — Nyssa had thought it. She’d known exactly what Aros was capable of, and trusted him wholly to do it.

She’d seen him — even clearer than I had.

And he was right to follow her blindly into this war.

Those crowns were earned by her just as much as they were her birthright.

CHAPTER 9

Nyssa

Aros was more right than he knew — only the Primals were of any real calibre in close combat, with two notable exceptions: Aphrodite and Hestia. Neither had any skill with bow, blade, or fists — they’d be sitting ducks unless we could, at minimum, hone some solid defensive skills into them. But — perhaps naively — I hoped for more. I wanted to impart as much information as I could in the hope that it gave them some small chance of survival.

And then there was Evadne.

Aros’ twin rivalled all of them, including her brother. My newest and only member of the Queen’s Guard had an above-average skill level in almost every area of combat. It was obvious that Evie had dedicated her life to her craft, honing her body as well as any blade. The only thing that seemed to be slowing her down was a tendency to let emotion dictate her strikes.

Aros smirked, taunting her, and Evie responded not with the sharp edge of her blade, but instead with the hilt — slugging Aros beneath his unsuspecting chin. Thrown off balance by the strike, all it took was an extended foot and slight nudge for gravity to do the rest, and Aros was on his backside in the dirt.

His laughter rumbled across the open space as Evie grinned down at him. He took her proffered hand, brushed the sand off his admittedly muscular ass, then called everyone over to him.

Minutes later, I watched as he led the cohort through a series of tests to assess what skills each of them possessed — and which they didn’t. Unsurprisingly, Apollo and Artemis excelled in archery, but also demonstrated finesse in hand-to-hand combat, each struggling to best the other. Athena blazed through swordsmanship and shield manoeuvres, Hermes was leagues ahead in both short and long distance footraces, and Nike was almost as proficient as Velira in aerial feats.

Haras struggled with archery, but was a natural-born leader. He took the stragglers under his wing, gently instructing them on different defensive techniques to some success.

Caelus breezed through all the tests. When it came time to demonstrate his power, only a flicker of anxiety trickling down our bond gave me any inclination that something was amiss. Still, he hit his mark — only half an inch off centre — and locked eyes with me across the open field.

Focusing on pushing my words down the right thread, I asked, Are you okay?

His face shuttered. Fine.