Red Demon Read Online Free Page B

Her brother twisted his face nastily. “I blame Eros’s existence on Aphrodite. The weakness in her bloodline sired his foppery, not me.”
    “He is your own son.” Daphne shook her head angrily. “You should care for your family, have some decency of feeling. Not torture and neglect us.”
    “I have never neglected you , Daphne,” he answered in a tone that sounded almost sincere. “And we both know how much I care.” The last words dripped with double entendre, but she ignored their lascivious suggestion.
    “If you truly care for me, Ares,” she rushed to say, stepping near him, “then show me. Make your words true.”
    He did not reply, simply studied her with obvious interest and then gave a half nod.
    She continued, daring to hope that her brother might display some compassion today. “Do not harm the Spartans,” she asked, bowing her head. “My lord, please. Do not seek revenge upon Leonidas or his immortals.”
    She dared to look up, meeting Ares’ tawny-eyed gaze, and he laughed, tossing his head back as if she’d just made a delicious joke. “Oh, dearest Daphne, you charm me still. Even now, after all that’s transpired between us, you captivate me. How naive you are,” he said at last. “And how pitifully, shamefully in love you remain with that brittle old king.”
    She chafed at his description of Leonidas as “old,” just as she hated it when the warrior described himself that way. Leo had been only thirty-five at Thermopylae, and the immortal years didn’t show in his features. He bore no significant lines on his swarthy face, no gray in his curling hair and beard.
    She defended him softly. “Leonidas is not old. He is immortal.”
    Ares mounted his throne, lounging in it with an affected, languid posture she knew was meant to intimidate her. “Our father may have granted you freedom, sister, but he issued no such orders regarding the Spartans. They will be brought to heel for their treasonous rebellion.”
    She slid to her knees, assuming the most humble, beseeching posture she could manage. Tears burned at her eyes, but she didn’t care how pathetic or subservient she seemed. Not with Leo’s life suspended in the balance; not when she might be the only one who could save him from her vicious brother. “I beg of you, Ares. Please. Spare them . . . him.”
    “On your knees before me, Daphne? After so many years? That is the right place for you.” He shifted slightly on the throne, leaning forward so that their eyes met. “But it does not change the Spartans’ fate. I am only beginning to toy with them, sister. Only beginning to reveal the cracks in their pitiful foundation. Your precious king? I suspect he’s feeling a bit older , recently. And older still with every passing day.”
    She wrestled to keep her voice calm. “What do you mean?”
    “Oh, I’m sure you will learn soon enough. Perhaps it is your beloved you should ask?” Ares studied his fingernails absently. “He already suspects the truth.”
    She felt her blood run cold, her skin prickle with dread. Hadn’t Ares mentioned something similar, that day by the river two months earlier when he’d wrenched her away from Leonidas, forcing her to become invisible to him again? What had he said then? She tried desperately to recall the god’s exact words.
    “I cannot ask him.” She shook her head slowly, maintaining a steady gaze on her brother’s cruel face. “Leonidas and I have no relationship. Not anymore.”
    She’d ended their relationship after the battle in Hades, fearing that Ares might use their love as an excuse to hunt the king down. And she’d cried herself to sleep every night since.
    “Oh, come now.” Ares licked his lips as if tasting the remnants of a delicious fruit. Rising from the throne, he took her hand, pulling her to her feet. “You are finally visible to your noble king, just as you prayed for over the past thousands of years. Surely the nubile bloom of love has not wilted already?”