Healed by Fire (17 page)

Sensing I was not needed for this argument,
I climbed into the now full tub and turned the water off. The warm
water felt amazing against my skin and I relaxed into it. I had no
idea what to say to Achilles or how to fix this issue so I closed
my eyes and relaxed, trying to ease the pain I was feeling.

“You are just being selfish and keeping her
to yourself!” Achilles yelled.

“Listen to yourself! She’s only back for a
month and you’re already pushing her and pressuring her!” Ares
responded.

“You would be doing the same thing in my
position!”

“I would be arguing with
you
, but not
pressuring her and causing her pain! A male does not cause his
female pain!” Ares bellowed, the walls shaking with the power which
was leaking out as his control waned.

Achilles jerked as if the words had pained
him. I clenched my eyes tighter, wishing to disappear. “Artemis? Is
he right? Have I caused you pain?”

I didn’t want to answer. I couldn’t lie to
him because he’d be able to tell. I couldn’t tell him the truth
without him getting upset. “Why can’t we go back to how it was two
days ago? Everyone was happy. Everyone was sharing well. Can’t we
just erase today and pretend it didn’t happen?” Without a word
Achilles spun around and left. This time I could feel him and his
anger as he turned. “Achilles! Wait!” I called, standing up in the
tub.

“Let him be, Artemis. He needs time to
think,” Ares said as he turned to face me. I could tell it hurt him
to argue with Achilles so, but we both knew it was necessary.

“
I
needed time to think and no one
left
me
alone,” I complained as I settled back into the
tub.

Ares smiled and grabbed the sponge and
liquid soap. “I’m sorry, Sunshine, but I can’t stand leaving you
alone when you’re in pain.” He pulled a stool out from under the
bathroom sink and sat down on it behind me.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he dipped
the sponge in the water and squirted soap on it.

He pushed my head forward gently and then
made slow, soft circles on my back. “I am washing your back.”

I wanted to object and yet, I didn’t. I
loved it when he washed me. “I wish you hadn’t intervened when I
was fighting Thor,” I whispered as he washed down my right arm.

“You whined and instinct overruled logic. I
couldn’t stand there and watch another male pin you under him while
you whined.”

He moved to my other arm and I asked
something I’d wanted to know since my memory had returned. “Did you
ever discover the true reason for Matt’s betrayal? Who it was they
had?”

“Yes,” Ares answered curtly and then stayed
silent as he rinsed my back and arms off.

“And?” I prodded.

“And it doesn’t matter anymore,” he
said.

“Ares.”

He sighed and set the sponge down. I turned
around and crossed my arms on the top of the tub and looked up into
his eyes as he told me what had happened.

“The dhampirs took a female wolf he was fond
of and held her prisoner. They beat her bloody and then sent him
pictures. It would have been a simple matter for me to have Victor
help us extricate her, but Matt tried to solve it on his own when
we were in France and they caught him. I asked Victor about the
girl when I found out, but that wasn’t until we were at the
Dragon’s Lair, and he informed me that she had been killed a week
after we left France. No matter what Matt would have done for them,
the girl was dead.”

No wonder he had been acting so differently.
I would have sacrificed almost anyone to get Ares back. “Poor
Matt,” I whispered.

Ares growled. “The end result was his fault.
Had he come to me early on I could have saved her and his life. I
do not regret punishing him for his betrayal. No one who betrays
the werewolves deserves to live among us.”

He was sincere and yet I heard the
bitterness in his voice. He wasn’t only angry at Matt and the
people who caused it, but he was mad at himself as well. “Ares,
it’s not your fault.”

Ares sighed and leaned his forehead against
mine. “I wish I believed that.”

“If you think about it, it was my fault. If
you hadn’t been distracted by me and my immaturity then you would
have noticed…”

Ares grabbed my chin and stared into my
eyes. “Stop. Matt’s death was not your fault.”

“He was jealous of us, Ares. He wanted to be
loved like you love me. He was jealous of how much time you spent
with me instead of him. I could see it, but I didn’t say anything
to you.”

“What he did was his own decision. He
betrayed you and tried to hand you to Maurice. No one should do
that to a pack mate, especially not a pup like you had been. Do not
blame yourself for another’s reckless actions,” he whispered as he
stared deeply into my eyes.

I smiled at him and whispered, “You should
take your own advice, Alpha.”

Ares smiled and kissed my lips softly.
“You’ve become very wise since I first met you.”

“Being one hundred will do that to you,” I
whispered as I looked down at the water.

Suddenly water splashed over the side of the
tub as Ares climbed in with me, wrapping his arms around me and
holding me against him. “I tried to find you. I searched all over
the world and threatened hundreds of people, but no one had seen
you. Achilles couldn’t find you with your bond either. It was as
though you were invisible. I can’t imagine how hard it must have
been for you all these years. If I could take them all back I
would.”

I nuzzled his neck and kissed it softly. “I
know.”

~~~

Over the days that followed I continued
sparring with Thor and Erebos brought Sidhe out to teach me Sidhe
magic I did not yet know. I was learning quite a lot in a short
amount of time and I could tell they were impressed by me. Slowly
my reputation built within the Sidhe community and changed from
fear and hatred to awe and respect.

After a long training session I sat on the
ground and ran my fingers through the grass to calm myself. My
training group dispersed and Achilles and Ares walked to my side.
“We should visit Father,” Achilles said with a smile on his
face.

Ares nodded his head. “Alright.”

I smiled happily and grabbed each of their
hands. “Ready?” They nodded their heads and I teleported us to the
front steps of the castle. The two werewolf guards jumped in
surprise and then bowed when they recognized Ares and Achilles.

Achilles led the way through the castle to
his father’s chambers where he knocked loudly on the door.

The door opened a moment later and Zeus
stood before us with his long, white beard and handsome face. His
power was extremely impressive, pressing down upon me in a way I
hadn’t noticed the last time I’d been here, which was strange.

Achilles stood in front of Ares who stood in
front of me. I wanted to move forward, but Ares gripped my hand to
still me.

“Achilles! Ares! My sons! To what do I owe
the honor of your visit?”

Ares stepped around Achilles, spreading his
arms and said, “Looks like I’m Sidhe after all.”

Zeus’ eyes widened in astonishment and then
he regained composure long enough to pull Ares into a hug. “I knew
you had powers.”

He released Ares and I stepped around
Achilles. “Hi, Zeus.”

Zeus’ eyes met mine and he stepped around
Ares quickly. He looked at Achilles and Ares and then back at me.
“Artemis? You…you found her?”

Ares smiled. “Yes, Dad, it’s her.”

I smiled. “Yeah, they found me and made me
whole again.” I spread my arms out and released my Sidhe power,
letting my wings out. I flapped my wings and wiggled my fingers.
“All one piece again.”

He grabbed my arms and pulled me into a hug,
which nearly crushed my ribs. “I thought I’d never see you
again.”

I pulled my wings back in and relaxed into
his hug. Why did he make me feel so at peace? Was it because he was
Ares’ and Achilles’ dad? Or because he was the king of half of my
bloodline?

He pulled back and looked at my face. “Your
power has greatly increased. It’s amazing.” I felt a push against
my body, like a person leaning on me and then it was gone. “By the
goddess, how did you obtain so much power?”

I stepped back from him to stand between
Ares and Achilles. “I gained some while I was without my memories
and more from the dragons and then I gained most of what I have
from
mater
when I channeled the rest of it to Ares.”

Zeus stared at me for several moments and
then clapped his hands together. “This is wonderful! We need a
feast!” He snapped his fingers and two beautiful Sidhe women
stepped out of his chambers to stand beside him. He turned to them
and said, “Prepare a feast in honor of the return of Artemis and to
honor Ares now taking his rightful place as Prince.”

The women bowed and scurried away to do his
bidding.

“Come, you must tell me everything that has
happened!” said Zeus as he put his arms around Ares’ and Achilles’
shoulders and pulled them away from me and into his chambers.

I followed behind them, a smile nearly
splitting my face. Zeus sat down in his large overstuffed chair and
waved his sons and me over to a large couch. I sat down between
Ares and Achilles and leaned against Achilles’ side while Ares held
my hand.

Zeus smiled at me and then said, “Artemis
can you tell me where you’ve been the past one hundred years?”

I nodded my head. “For the first forty or so
I was in wolf form running with wolf packs.”

“Wolf packs? You mean you were with
werewolves and they didn’t contact Ares?” Zeus asked in shock.

I shook my head. “No, I mean wolf packs,
like the real animal.”

His eyebrows raised in shock. “Oh.”

“I don’t know this part of the story myself,
but Selene said that they’d been hearing about an unusually large
wolf in a local pack which wasn’t afraid of people. Then they got
reports of a naked girl seen begging for food and they were worried
the vampires would get me. So, Selene decided that as a friend of
the werewolves it was her job to investigate. What she found was me
separating from the wolf pack and trying to become human again. You
see I hadn’t changed out of my wolf form in forty years so I
couldn’t even remember how to speak, and I barely remembered how to
change forms. She thought I’d been abused by vampires or was on the
run.

“As you can imagine, I wasn’t in the best
shape when she found me. My body was filthy, my hair was matted and
I had lice and fleas. She recognized that I had inherited witch’s
powers by the woman who had cursed my father so she took me in as a
witch so that she could bypass contacting the werewolves or the
vampires. She crafted a pendant which could hide my smell and my
skin designs and made me for all intents and purposes human.”

Ares exhaled. “Well, that explains a
lot.”

Achilles nodded his head. “Yes it does.”

I continued. “I lived with her coven for
sixty years and was assigned as the youth counselor to help the
young members of our coven come into their powers. I only left the
coven’s walls to go to the magic shop when Selene needed special
items. That’s when Ares first spoke to me.”

Ares smiled. “Yes, and then you had your
dragon attack me.”

I frowned. “He didn’t attack you and
besides, he knew who you were and I didn’t. He knew who you were
because you killed off most of the dragons before.”

“Most of the dragons? You have a dragon?”
Zeus asked in shock.

Achilles nodded his head. “We went to the
Lair for their assistance in removing the block on Artemis’
memories. There were at least two hundred dragons in the Lair
alone.”

“Draco-Blu has thirty dragons in his
flight,” I said softly as my heart ached at the separation of
Blu.

“We could visit him if you wanted to,” Ares
said quietly. “Of course it would have to be after the battle.”

I smiled. “Thank you, but I know we have
more pressing matters.”

Achilles smoothed my hair back and kissed my
forehead. “We could ask them to assist us in the battle. They’d be
wonderful allies and the vampires would never expect it.”

“Except that Apollo knows that Draco-Blu is
a friend of mine,” I said softly. “He also knows I can use the
sunlight magic.”

“Apollo?! Sunlight magic?!” Zeus asked his
eyes expanded to their limit.

Achilles laughed. “There’s still a lot you
don’t know.”

“Apparently,” Zeus said. “What is this talk
of Apollo?”

“My twin’s alive. He saved me from our
father as he was trying to kill me,” I said softly. “I don’t think
he’s all bad. I think…” I stopped talking because I knew what Ares
would say. “And while at the coven I learned to use sunlight like I
do fire.”

“Can you show me?” Zeus asked curiously.

I nodded my head and put my hands out, palms
facing each other and focused on the center of them. Picturing the
bright orange sun and remembering the feel of sunlight on my skin,
I called the power and a small orb appeared between my hands.

Zeus walked forward and ran his hand around
the orb. “Incredible. It’s been centuries since I’ve heard of
someone being able to do this.”

Achilles put his hand under the orb and
asked, “Can you drop it into my hand? I want to see if I can
control it.”

I released the ball and watched in shock as
the orb dropped onto Achilles’ hand and then dissipated.

“So much for that idea,” Achilles said in a
light voice, but I could see the anger in his eyes. He didn’t like
not being able to do magic that I could.

I leaned against Ares and felt my eyelids
droop. “Why am I tired?”

Ares stroked my hair and whispered, “You’ve
been through a lot the past few days. You should rest. I’ll tell
the rest of the story to Zeus.” I nodded and laid my head on Ares’
lap and my legs across Achilles’ legs. Ares started talking and the
world faded into dreams of running through the woods with Ares and
Koda.