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Chapter 10
Ares
I paced back and forth in front of Elyse’s door. Patting my pocket, I didn’t find my phone and Zeus knew where I’d left the damn thing. This wasn’t the first time I’d lost my phone either, but it always showed up. Maybe I had to tie it to myself in case Elyse called. Like now, where she wasn’t home where she should have been. Since being with Elyse, watching her struggle and fight so hard, I’d been working on bettering myself too, remembering what I stood for as a god. When I wasn’t with her, I spent time empowering officers of the law, training them to fight stronger as I worked as an instructor at a few institutions. Everyone deserved a guiding hand.
I wasn’t her keeper or anything; she could go wherever she wanted. Just as long as she took one of the gods with her to stay safe, and I was on rotation to look after her now but couldn’t find her. A prickle of unease worked its way down my spine since I didn’t have my phone to check in with her. Had Poseidon taken her on one of his chariot excursions again? Fuck, I could take Elyse on my chariot too, but first I had to make sure she was okay. Especially since I couldn’t sense her energy.
I kept marching in front of the building door. The pulsing rage of my aura pressed in around me, choking me, just as someone yelled from across the street.
I jerked around, fists ready, but all I found was a man and a woman screaming at each other. She whacked him in the face with her bag and stormed off. The poor sucker chased after, screaming he was sorry. Hell, I hoped that wasn’t my energy influencing them.
Glancing around, I still found no sign of Elyse. I usually felt her power signature. But this time, it was as if she’d been erased, just as it had been when I hadn’t been able to sense her fighting X in the gym. With a bolt of realization, I pictured the training center, and I teleported there in a flash. The place stood quiet and empty. With a quick check inside, I found no sign of Elyse, so I leaped back to her place. I’d checked in her apartment and she wasn’t there, so I lingered at the front.
Not knowing where she was ate at my insides—where could she be? And how was it possible I couldn’t feel her magic? The only thing I could think of to explain her disappearance was if she’d died. And now it felt as if something had scooped out my insides and left me hollow.Fuck!
Nope. I wasn’t even going to entertain the thought. Elyse wasn’t dead. She was alive and well and she was just somewhere else. Because if she’d died while she should have been on my watch, even though she hadn’t told me where she was, I’d never forgive myself.
“Ares,” Elyse called, coming around the corner.
I sighed a breath of relief. “There you are!” I rushed to her, my heart banging in my chest. “Where the fuck were you?” Yes, I was angry, and I refused to hold back. She looked terrible. A gash in her head bled down her cheek and scratches and bruises marked her arms. Blood sat just below her collarbone as well—blood from her head or another wound? “What happened to you?”
“Excuse me?” She sounded shocked that I would speak to her like that.
“We’re supposed to watch you, Elyse. Be with you so that X doesn’t come and kill you. You can’t just disappear like that. I have to know where you are.” My words raced because I wanted to shake some sense into her.
“No, Ares,” she insisted. She pressed her fingers to her head, right next to the wound, as if it hurt. I imagined it did. “You have to treat me like a human being, an adult who’s capable of taking care of herself. You can’t just jump all over me like that when you’re angry.”
“You could have died!” My voice climbed, and sure, I was overreacting, but I couldn’t lose her. I’d told myself not to entertain the idea of her being killed on my watch, but it looked like the terror had taken root in me deeper than I’d thought. “What if X found you?”
She sighed and she sounded exhausted. “I’m still alive. And X didn’t find me—Ifoundhim.”
“What?” Rage pumped through my veins in a second flat, and I curled my hands into balls. I couldn’t believe it. “Did you go searching for a fight?”
She nodded, but she looked like she could lie down right there and pass out. “It’s nothing serious, though. It was an equal fight, neither of us winning. And then he disappeared.”
I took a step closer to her, her vulnerable stance erasing a bit of my anger away. Up close to her, I sensed something I hadn’t felt before. Magic that didn’t make sense, and it skipped over my flesh like sharp pinpricks in my skin. I frowned.
“What did he do to you?”
She shrugged and glanced down at her feet. “It felt like he was erasing me somehow in this dark cloud. Not sure how to explain it.”
“I couldn’t feel you at all. Just like last time.” More than anything, I wanted to protect her from this place, from X, from everyone. If such a thing existed, I’d throw a love-shield enchantment over her so nothing ever hurt her again. She ought to spend her days training, laughing, soaking in the sunshine, and in my arms. Sure, the other gods would want a piece of her, and I’d have no problems sharing. But it broke my heart to watch her fall apart.
She nodded again, not saying anything else. I didn’t like this or the fact whatever magic clung to Elyse had stopped me from feeling her, from knowing where she was at all times. It meant none of the other gods would be able to feel her, either. It would make it that much harder for us to detect trouble should something like this happen again.
“You can’t do this to me,” I said. “Especially now. You have to tell us where you are so we can keep you safe. We’re not trying to control you. And where was Poseidon? Wasn’t he supposed to be with you?”
She lowered her gaze. “I know. I went to see Hades—I just wanted to speak to him. I thought it would be only a moment, and it was, but then I felt X, and I couldn’t just leave him to kill another person without at least trying to save her. I was too caught up in the moment and should have found Poseidon first to join me. I sent you both texts. I’m sorry.” Her voice fell to a whisper as if talking took all her energy.
I ground my teeth, furious at Hades. The guy was fucking destroying Elyse, and it killed me to watch. I had no issues with her having multiple partners, but I sure as hell couldn’t sit around while one of them mistreated her. The fucker ought to protect her. But what annoyed me more was that Elyse didn’t tell me she was still going after Hades because it killed me to see her hurt.
I dragged her against me, careful not to aggravate her injuries. “I’m sorry. I lost my phone and didn’t get your message. I’m getting a new one today and gluing it to my arm.”
I kissed the top of her head, holding her close, wanting to take her away from where X could reach her. But I had no clue where that would be.
“Come on,” I said softly. “Let’s go inside.”
I held the door open so she could walk first upstairs and into her apartment, then followed her through to the ensuite bathroom, where I hunted down the first aid kit. I knew my way around her apartment fairly well by now. She sat down on the bath mat, legs crossed, and I knelt in front of her, tending to her wounds. After cleaning the cuts and blood, I bandaged her, kissing her cheeks each time I leaned close.
