Page 90 of The Cursed Chalice

I rush toward him, but he holds out his hand to stop me. “Are you hurt?” I don’t move, I don’t breathe; I just wait for his reply.

He turns around, and his eyes find me, burning through me. It’s like he’s looking past me as if I’m not there. “You’re hurt?”

“I am fine,” he says flatly.

He doesn’t come to me; he doesn’t touch me. He throws his head back and takes a swig of the bottle in his hand.

I move slowly and step closer to him. My heart is pounding.

“You shouldn’t see me like this.”

I swallow. “I have seen worse.”

He sips from the bottle and chuckles. “No, you haven’t.”

Has he forgotten that I saw Elias commit murder? I reach for him; desperation is rolling off my fingertips.

“Don’t.” He steps away. He put distance between us…deliberately, as if my touch would hurt him.

He walks to the door and pauses as he holds the knob. “Elias is dead. He is gone, and that’s what matters.”

I stand frozen because I have to take this in all at once. Elias is no more. How? Where? Is he sure? That’s what matters? Not me, not us. Just the end of Elias.

I stand frozen as he closes the door behind him. Elias is dead. I should be happy, but… I just stand in the office. The blood is still drying on the rug where he stood. The silence, the finality, presses into my chest.

Elias is gone, and I have never felt this alone in my life.

Something doesn’t feel right. My hand creeps to the cold side of the bed. Ares didn’t come to bed. Maybe he needs to process Elias’s death. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I saw the blood; it was vicious. Or maybe he is no longer interested. I sigh. I need to get up and start my day. I can already hear Nisa laughing downstairs. I didn’t get to sit and talk with her last night because finding a mutilated hand in a box will have you messed up for some time.

I took ten minutes to bathe and change my clothes. As I head downstairs, I can hear Nisa and the low baritone in Ares’s voice.

Throwing my shoulders back, I pass the dining room, pushing my shoulder against the door. I put a smile on my face.

The moment Ares sees me, the small smile he had drops, and he turns to the coffee machine.

“Raya, morning.” Nisa spins on the barstool.

“Good morning.” Mentally, I am waiting for him to say something.

“Morning,” I hear him say under his breath.

I walk up to Nisa and pull her close for a hug. “Phobos is coming for you today?”

“No, Ares is dropping me.”

I smile up at him. I could be wrong, but he was just…no, he has no smile on his face. In fact, his eyes are not meeting mine.

“I will meet you in front, Nisa.” He gives me a tight-lipped smile and leaves the kitchen.

Nisa hops off the chair. “Bye, Raya.”

“Bye, honey. Enjoy your day,” I reply, watching the door swing behind them. Was it something I said? Maybe it’s all in my head. I grab my coffee and head down to the vault.

ARES

After dropping Nisa off at school, I swing by my office. I ignore staff members who are trying to get my attention. I rush into my office and stand by the tall glass windows, looking out to the sea. Was it Poseidon who wanted me dead? He never liked me. Or maybe it was Apollo? That selfish prick.

“Did you see the hurt in her eyes?”