Page 9 of Flamesworn

“Does it?” Kataida asked. “Do you?” She drew herself up. “Ah. I apologize, Gracious One, if I gave offense.”

“You just pushed me into the wall,” Ares said, smiling, “and pressed your fingers into my neck. I don’t need a purpose. I simply am.” But then they thought of that first moment outside the tomb, when their power seemed at its weakest and they could barely feel their own divinity in Arktos’ soil. “Perhaps you give me purpose.”

Kataida’s eyes widened. “I said I wasn’t Atreus.”

“I mean people. I’m shaped by you,” Ares said, stepping closer. They touched the ends of Kataida’s hair. “You define what war looks like in your time, and I revel in it.”

“Down,” Kataida snapped, and Ares dropped with a thump that shook the floor. Kataida was breathing hard, her eyes dark with battle-fever, and she pulled Ares’ head back too gently by the hair. “You will be silent until the others arrive.”

“What will you do to silence me?” Ares asked, and Kataida gave them a warning tap on the cheek. Atreus had been as gentle, in his time, making Ares bear the softness of his touch. “I can still speak, soldier.”

Kataida struck them again, harder, and Ares moaned. “That’s enough.”

“Is it?” Ares could feel the fire building in Kataida, matching their own. “Is it enough? Your blade, Akti, does your hand itch to touch it? To hold a knife to my tongue and see the silver flicker in the dark?”

Kataida’s nostrils flared, and she opened her mouth to speak—and thunder rolled, a distant rumble that made them both look to the narrow window. Rain rarely fell over Arktos, but the clouds were there, dark and heavy, a portent.

The door opened just as Ares was about to speak, and several people stepped through.

One was a young man a few years older than Kataida, with unkempt blond hair, tattoos on both arms, and the red-eyed look of a person who hadn’t slept. He lit the lamp in the corner, and it struck Ares that they’d been in the dark the whole time, too focused on Kataida to notice before.

“Ares,” a low voice said, and Ares looked up into the eyes of Azaiah, the god of death. They leapt to their feet, outrage boiling in their stomach, and glared Azaiah down.

“I called for you!” they cried. “Three times I called for you, and you didn’t answer!”

“I didn’t hear you, sibling,” Azaiah said, calm as ever in the face of one of Ares’ outbursts. “It’s good to see you awake.”

“Is it?” That was the blond, mouthing the words to Kataida. Ares stepped toward him, but Kataida grabbed them by the collar of their uniform and yanked them back.

“He’s family,” she snapped.

“In more ways than one,” Azaiah said, still smiling. “This is Aleks, my ferryman and future bearer of my mantle.”

“You’re crossing the river?” Ares tried to twist free of Kataida’s grip. “No. No, you aren’t allowed. I won’t let you. You’re far more interesting than the last one, and I don’t care if you haven’t made your companion bond, I will?—”

Azaiah grabbed Ares out of Kataida’s hands and wrapped them in a warm embrace. Ares squirmed uncomfortably. “Nyx and I have made our bond, sibling. I will be here for some time yet.”

“Good.” Ares finally grabbed at Azaiah’s cloak, burying their face in his chest. “Don’t tell the others, but you’ve always been my favorite.”

“I won’t say a word,” Azaiah murmured. “The world has changed much while you slept. Perhaps,” he added, looking atAleks and Kataida, “it would be best if we spoke together, and let the mortals be for now.”

“No.” Ares pulled away. “No, Azaiah, I just found her, Atreus.”

“Go,” Kataida said, and Ares twisted round to stare at her, drawn by the weight of her dominance. “If war is coming, I won’t run from it. We’ll all be here when you return.”

“Come, sibling,” Azaiah said, taking Ares’ hand. “Let us speak.”

Ares let Azaiah lead them out, but they kept their gaze locked on Kataida until they could no longer see her, afraid that if they looked away, she would vanish into dust.

Chapter

Three

Kataida could feelthe eyes on her as Azaiah led Ares out of the civic building, and she wasn’t surprised when it was Aleks who spoke first.

“So, uh, wanna go into what that’s about, but…at home? Maybe with a snack?”

Kataida wasn’t hungry, but she didn’t want to have this conversation in an unused room in the civic building. She also wasn’t sure she wanted anyone whowasn’tfamily around, and that included Menelaus and Stavros, as well as the soldiers who’d been in the room when she’d first arrived. She didn’t even know their names, did she? She couldn’t even remember what they looked like.

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