Page 29 of Crown of Olympus
Each tree in view was made entirely of bones. Real, weathered, fragmenting bones.
Some stood like giant fingers stretching towards the sky. Others bowed low to the ashen earth. And some grew as ribcages, arching over the paths like pale cages.
“Please tell me they’re not what I think they are?” Aphrodite whispered to my left.
“She can’t, because they are,” Aros said, grimacing. His tone was grim and unusually sombre.
I nodded once. “Bones.”
Footsteps echoed softly around the forest as champions disbursed, each finding their own path to the Tree of Threnos. The forest offered no clues — paths branched off in every direction, and it was anyone’s guess which led to the right tree, or even what it looked like.
Once again, I locked eyes with a pair of silver ones. Caelus’ expression was unreadable, but he stepped forward as if to approach.
Nope. Not dealing with that lust-bucket right now.
I turned sharply and chose a path at random, my boots falling silently upon the grey earth. Unfortunately, I wasn’t alone. Heat prickled along the back of my neck and I knew someone was following me. I had hoped the storm-wielder could take a hint.
I halted abruptly, smirking when I heard a startled curse coming from the god who’d almost ploughed into my back. Aros toppled to my right with a quiet ‘oof — fuck,’ landing on the soot-covered ground. My lips pursed in an attempt to lock down my amusement. Thankfully, Caelus was nowhere to be seen.
“Falling for me already, are you, Aros?” I teased as he stood, brushing himself off.
The god in question straightened. Unfortunately, this meant he had positioned himself a whole foot taller than me.His amber eyes flickered, lit from within, as he leaned in, his face mere inches from mine. I could feel the heat of his breath tickling the shell of my ear.
“Hmm,” he murmured. “I’d say it’s less ‘falling’ and more ‘surrendering to you like a good soldier.’”
A giggle, light and lyrical, trilled through the air before I could respond. It hadn’t come from my own lips, but from another who thrived in flirtation.
Aphrodite.
She covered her mouth with a dainty hand, her wide cerulean eyes flicking between the two of us. Though she sauntered over casually, I knew her too well to miss the tremor in her fingers. She was afraid. And she was alone — two things the goddess of love rarely had to be.
“Walk with me,” I offered.
A flash of relief crossed her face before her sultry mask slid back into place.
“Only if the surrendered soldier can tag along.” Her lips split into a crooked grin.
To my surprise, Aros mirrored her amusement, shrugging.
“If the lady allows it.” He sketched a jovial bow and moved aside to let us pass.
“As long as he’s quiet,” I sighed, knowing neither of them would leave me alone today.
He mimed the act of gagging himself, much to Aphrodite’s delight. She waggled her eyebrows at me suggestively.
“Forests aren’t the only places gags come in handy,” she winked, then gestured for me to go ahead.
I took the lead, following the untrodden path between the ivory bone trees. Aros took up the rear, sandwiching Aphrodite between us. We moved slowly through the forest for a while, but a growing sense of impending doom perched upon my shoulders, as if something might jump out and attack us at any moment. My gaze darted between the trees,my pulse spiking every time I thought I caught movement within them.
When Aphrodite broke the silence sometime later, I startled, whirling on her with a shadow dagger drawn.
“It’s so silent,” she’d said, eyes widening when she noticed the blade inches from her eyeball. I grimaced, immediately withdrawing the weapon, mouthing an apology. A blush stained my cheeks and my heart pounded so loudly I could hear it in my eardrums.
“Dare I say…deadsilent?” Aros quipped, breaking the awkward tension, and grinning with pride at his awful joke.
Aphrodite groaned, and I rolled my eyes.
“What? I get nothing for that?” he cried. My traitorous heartbeat continued thumping loudly, though its rhythm had slowed.
