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As though coming to himself, Ares slowly opens the curl of his fingers to reveal my much smaller hand in the center of his palm. I am in no hurry to pull my hand from his. I sense, deep inside me, that gentle touch is not something that comes to him freely or often.

Standing close but off to the side, Leuce watches the wordless exchange with brows that are pulled in close together. Something swirls in her gray green eyes. Turbulent emotions she does her best to shove down deep inside as Hydra lowers to settle on the stone entrance of the cathedral.

Ares clears his throat, but his words sound coarse. “Come. Olympus waits.”

The portalto Olympus is in the highest point of the cathedral. I hadn’t even known the tower was something that could be accessed. I’m not sure many know this point can be accessed. Clearly, it is for the Gods alone and the few whom they entrust with the information.

“Tartarus,” Leuce hisses as we finally arrive at the top. “It reeks up here.”

“You are going to struggle in Olympus,” Ares says.

Hydra huffs a hot breath and I inhale deeply the scent of…well, it smells of the sun. Of hot baked stone and salt on the skin. There is the scent of something sweet and gone, like flowers on a breeze. It is chased by another sensation that is so real to me, I can’t help but feel the spray of mist as though I am standing at the foot of a waterfall, just within reach of the mist it emits.

“I think it smells nice.”

Leuce’s brows snap high in incredulity as Hydra growls low in her throat.“It smells like acrid deceit.”

Ares turns to me with red spearing the gold of his eyes once again. “Olympus is a place of trickery. Perhaps, long ago it was a realm of wonder and bliss. It has been tainted by the greed of Gods. Painted with the horrors of their amusement.” Dark warning crawls from his words to slither over my skin. “Keep in mind that beneath the beauty you see lurks a bloodthirsty realm that feeds on the suffering Zeus demands.” Ares moves until little more than a breath of space stands between us. “Trust no one.”

I lift my chin. “That won’t be hard.”

Ares’ lip curls. “Good.”

I don’t release my breath until Ares turns away from me, severing the contact of his heavy gaze on my skin.

I’m so overstimulated I feel as though I could collapse here and now, and I haven’t even entered Olympus yet.

Still, my nerves are strung raw. I feel fragile in a way I don’t like.

Tuned into my emotions, Hydra strokes me with her nose. I can feel all nine sets of her eyes on me, studying me. But she says nothing into my mind, and I lean into her strength.

“Are you ready for this?”I whisper aloud to her.

“I will protect you, my Persephone.”

My heart softens as it always softens for her.“I mean to see Hercules after—after what he did to you.”

“I am ready to protect you, my Persephone,”she repeats, steadfast.

“I will protect you, too.”

“I know.”Her voice is soothing in my mind.“I love you for it, my Persephone.”

“I love you.”

Ares turns, scowling at me. “Are you coming?”

“Oh, we’re ready now?” I move closer to the dais that stands beneath where I think a bell hung long ago. There is a shimmer in the air now, as though it senses us. It is the color of a thousand rainbows, like a splash of light through stained glass. It is nothing like the faded shadows that curl from the corners of the elevator in Hades’ Tower that portals us into the Underworld.

This is beautiful, but I can’t ignore the warning Ares gave. That beneath beauty lurks danger.

And I see it for what it is. How that deception has spread like poison into the living realm. How evil so often wears the mask of good. How the most beautiful places often conceal the most terrible horrors. How riches and bounty breed dark minds with depraved cravings.

The living realm is a lesser forgery of Olympus, cast in the hideous image of Zeus.

How deeply do the filthy roots of Olympus dive into the living realm? Can we ever hope to uproot the toxicity of powerful Gods who endorse corrupt governments and kingdoms at the expense of all the other souls? Is there even a point to this war or has hope already been lost?

The shimmer grows and Leuce moves closer to me and Hydra. Every shred of gold is blasted from Ares’ eyes and replaced with a bloody red. My world changes.