Page 420 of The First Taste

“What?” Aphrodite protests, starting to fight again. “I already helped you when I didn’t have to! You should be grateful!”

Eros reaches out and grabs Aphrodite by the throat, squeezing hard enough to make a strangled sound leave her mouth. “Do what he says, pet. Maybe ye’ll live long enough to get to come back to this shit hole.”

Her hands scrabble with his, clawing at his skin. But he’s too busy looking down the front of her loose caftan to even notice the bright red marks that her fingernails leave behind.

“I’ll get the car,” Ares says.

I turn, looking at the dusty highway stretching out before us. My thoughts have already shifted.

To Persephone.

To revenge.

To the cold-blooded murder of my fiercest enemy.

Constantine won’t even know what fucking hit him.

Ares pulls up the car beside me and I climb into the passenger seat, ready to feel the warmth of Persephone back in my arms and taste Constantine’s final bitter tears.