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“It has.” He says the words slowly, like he’s not sure how to proceed. “I wanted to kill her,” he admits.
I don’t realize I’m chewing on my lower lip until a bright burst of pain tells me I managed to break the skin. “Oh.”
Wanted to. Does that mean he didn’t?
Ares nods, his eyes far off. “I dreamed about it, actually. For centuries. But at the last moment, I changed my mind.” He looks at me then, something warm in his face. “I couldn’t bring myself to kill your mother, Penelope. No matter how much she might have deserved it.”
A warm rush of pleasure flutters through me, and I wrap my arms around myself. But I can’t quite silence the voice of healthy skepticism in the back of my head.
“So, what? You just… let her off the hook?”
Ares snorts. The sound is so unexpected that I almost laugh out loud.
“Mercy isn’t in my nature.” He gives me a wolfish grin that has blood rushing into my face. “Forgiveness is a nice thought, but no. I gave the determination of her punishment over to Hera. Those two have thousands of years of rivalry and bitterness between them. Whatever Hera comes up with, I know it will make Aphrodite miserable.”
He grins then, in real enjoyment, and it transforms the harsh angles of his face.
I have to clear my throat before I speak. I’m worried my voice will come out all breathy otherwise. “So, what do you plan to do now that you’re free?”
Ares gives me a look that’s so scorching hot and heavy that I should have by all rights been able to feel it on my skin like sunlight. “I was thinking of asking you the same question.”
Is he asking what I think he’s asking? I have to swallow, trying to work some saliva into my dust dry mouth. He knows I’m with Adonis, but he’s also at least hinted at the fact that he’s fine with that. Adonis has made a few comments since we’ve been home, not to mention his comment about my math being off when I talked about the two of us traveling.
Can this actually work? Can we do this? All of us, together?
Adonis is a line of warmth at my back. I reach out and take his hand in mine. Ares doesn’t miss the motion, tracking us with dark eyes. Then I offer my other hand to the God of War, and I can only pray to whichever of my relatives might be listening that my palm isn’t sweaty.
“Why don’t we go into the other room and discuss it.” I tug them both along with me, slowly backing towards the bedroom. The light glints off my hair where it hangs forward over my shoulder, and for an instant, it looks almost like the strands are glowing.
A slow smile curls into place on Ares’s lips. Adonis squeezes my hand gently.
“Between the three of us, I’m sure we can come up with a plan.”
The End
~~~~~
This concludes the Gates of the Underworld Series. We hope you enjoyed it!
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Also available:
The Man with the Violet Eyes
Crown of Lies #1
by J.R. Rain
& H.P. Mallory
(read on for a sample)
