Page 87 of The Cursed Chalice
“We should go home and tend to her first,” I say as I stand, already taking off my jacket and throwing it in the air.
“Why the fuck am I still in here?”Ares asks. My skin feels like it’s boiling.
“Ares, I need to see her, and then we hunt for Elias.” I can feel him trying to push out. My muscles tremble, and small beads of sweat slide down the side of my face.
“I want him to be dead. When I approach her, Elias should already be a memory. She deserves that.”
I remain silent, trying to see how I can reason with him. We put Soraya first, then Elias.
“I am puttingmy wife’s safety first. LET ME THE FUCK OUT, ARIC.”
I close my eyes, feeling my muscles expand. I stumble, trying to get my balance as Ares races forward.
Without wasting time, I squeeze my eyes shut. My destination is at the address on the card.
My body settles outside an old war bunker. I open the door, and the scent of rotting flesh and metal hits me. Elias stands under a single light. Dark veins, like living worms, wriggle under his flesh, cracking his skin. A gold pendant glows against his chest. His eyes are wild, his smile is jagged, and his lips look dry and split.
“Fuck him up, Ares.”
“You thought you were coming to beat my ass and gut me like a pig.” His voice trembles, half laugh, half growl. “The God of War…you look fucking weak.”
He wasn’t lying. The moment I entered, my knees felt like they would buckle. My strength feels like it’s leaking out of me and going into the medallion.
“Did he just call us the God of War?”
“You took my woman away from me. I had plans for her,” Elias says in a somber voice.
I raise my eyes to his. “Fuck you and your plans.”
He trembles. “I want to make her bleed.”
“If she bleeds, he bleeds. If she cries, he dies.”
“Trust me, Aric, he’s fucking dying today.”
Elias lunges at me. His strikes are wild but monstrous, ignited by madness and maybe the pendant’s corruption. His fist cracks my jaw, and my ear rings with a high pitch.
“You don’t know her. She was mine to protect and love!” Elias screams.
I spit to the side, and my blood splatters on the ground. “You’re confused; she doesn’t belong to you. She is my fucking wife.”
His eyes widen. My ribs scream when he slams his knee into my side.
“What the fuck, Ares? Fight back.”
“I am fucking trying!” I dodge his lunge. He shouldn’t be able to touch me, but he does.
Elias bends and picks up a sword. “The goddess blessed me. Because she sees my greatness.”
“The gods didn’t bless you. They are using you.” I laugh, and his fist connects with my face.
“You fight like a wild beast.”
Elias stands and wipes his forehead. “Wild enough to kill a fucking god.”
He swings his sword again. I duck, letting his blade scrape my shoulder. Pain flares, but it wakes me up. I fight back, not with divine strength, but with memory. Every battle, every war, every kill is carved into my body and brain. I move on instinct, rolling away and ducking the sword, twisting and striking.
“It’s the pendant. The pendant is doing that.”
