Page 65 of Crown of Olympus
Dim light glinted off the shiny metal shaft of an arrow protruding from her shoulder. Golden blood stained the entire left side of her body — but where else had she been hit?
I scoured her body from head to toe but could see no further injuries. A single arrow wasn’t enough to take down a god, let alone one as powerful as Nyssa.
So why did it look like she was dying?
She wasn’t dying. Shecouldn’tbe.
Who did this to her?I growled inwardly, sounding more like Lykos than myself.
Aros had gone completely still. His usual smug grin was gone, replaced by something heavier. Something grave.
I saw the exact moment unconsciousness claimed her. Even from this distance, I caught the way her body lost all tension — muscles going limp, head tilting back, going still.
Apollo hovered above her, resolve etched into his features as he gently placed a palm on her wounded shoulder.
He shifted slightly, and I finally saw a second body slumped behind them. Nyssa must have taken down her attacker first.
Good girl.
Where his sister was midnight, Apollo was the sun at its zenith. His dark skin simmered like it housed the sun’s heat. And when he touched her, a soft golden light bloomed beneath his fingers, soaking into her body like liquid sunlight. With his free hand, he wrenched the arrow free and tossed it aside.
Light pulsed in slow, rhythmic waves across Nyssa’s skin, her wound gradually closing. Once it sealed completely, Apollo lifted his hand and looked up. His molten gold eyes locked onto my liquid silver — knowing, unwavering. It bore no warmth. No relief.
Only a warning carved into the silence, heavier than anything he could have uttered aloud.
His fingers moved slowly, signing in the air.
Poison,he told me.Belladonna on the arrow. I used my power to extinguish it. I expected sabotage — but not from my own sister.
Fury darkened his features in a way I was not prepared to witness. As though, by encouraging her protege to incapacitate Nyssa, Artemis had unknowingly betrayed Apollo himself.
Nyssa jerked awake, green eyes snapping open. Her breath caught, like she’d just awoken from a nightmare. Her eyes darted around wildly, looking for anything that made sense. And somehow, despite still being cloaked in shadow, her gaze found mine. It lingered there for three full heartbeats — I counted — before flitting back to Aros and Apollo.
She addressed Apollo first.
“You helped me?”
He nodded solemnly.
“Thank you.”
Another nod.
Then, she turned to Aros, who was shifting restlessly from foot to foot. Relief plain on his face, buried under the rawness of his concern.
When Nyssa finally looked at me again, her stare hit like a physical blow. I couldn’t breathe — couldn’t think — with those sharp emerald eyes piercing me like she could see everything I tried to hide. Butfuck, if she hadn’t just scared the shit out of me. Again.
I really needed to stop anguishing over every injury to the daughter of Hades. I had to separate my insane, residual feelings for her from the fact that I’d agreed to help get her onto the throne.
For the good of the realms. Nothing else.
Even I didn’t believe that.
It was a boy who’d fallen in love with a girl. Not themanfor thewoman.
I just had to keep reminding myself that she could never bemine. Not really. Not like I wanted. She’d never want the son of the man who murdered her mother. And when she’s Queen, she could have her pick of anyone to share her bed.
I couldn’t stop the scowl I shot in Aros’ direction, much to his confusion.
