Healed by Fire (19 page)

Erebos whistled. “Wow. You are definitely a
natural with a bow.” He turned and yelled, “Hephaistos!”

I watched as the tall Sidhe with forearms as
big as my legs jogged up to us. “Yes?”

Erebos pointed to me. “You remember Artemis,
right?”

Hephaistos dropped to one knee and bowed his
head. “Princess.”

I still wasn’t used to this type of
treatment, especially not after pretending to be human for so long.
“Stand, please.”

He stood up and looked at Erebos who said,
“She’s a natural, as you can see.”

Hephaistos smiled. “Indeed she is.”

“I would be greatly appreciative and honored
if you would make me a bow and set of arrows. Your brand was
great,” I said.

He bowed. “Thank you. I’ll return as soon as
it’s finished.”

I spun around and jogged to find Ares.
“Ares!”

He turned from his discussion with a pack
member and looked at me. “What’s wrong?”

“What happened to the humans? All those
people we gave the brand to? I completely forgot to ask with all of
this mayhem going on.”

He averted his eyes a moment and said,
“That’s something we should discuss later.”

“Why? What happened?” I asked frantically.
“Where are the townspeople and all of the other humans from
everywhere that we went? What happened to them?” Everyone had
stopped practicing and turned towards me, but I didn’t care. I had
to know what happened.

Ares took my hands in his. “I’m sorry,
Artemis. We were locked up so we couldn’t help them. It’s all my
fault and I know it doesn’t make it any easier, but…”

“They’re all dead, aren’t they?” I asked in
a small voice.

He wrapped his arms around me and held me
tightly against him, offering me his warmth and touch as my mate
and pack mate to soothe me. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

Every person I’d grown up with in the town.
Every person who had believed in me and wanted to be saved from the
preternaturals. They were all dead and it was my fault. I knew that
I should be sad, that tears should be pouring from my eyes, but the
only thing I felt was anger.

I pulled away from Ares and saw my glowing
body reflected in his eyes. “The vampires killed them?”

Victor walked over to me from the castle.
“Yes, my father had anyone bearing Ares’ marked killed.”

“When is the battle?” I asked through
clenched teeth as I tried to reign in my anger and power.

“We leave in the morning,” Victor said
softly.

I inhaled deeply and shoved the anger and
power down. I could open it up and use it tomorrow. I noticed that
everyone was still staring at me, so I turned away and walked
towards the other side of town. With the anger pushed away my
grieving surfaced. Tears streamed down my face and body wrenching
sobs forced me to stop and sit down as I cried over the losses.
People had died because they trusted me. They might have lived if I
hadn’t come to them. If the vampires had come and given them the
choices, they might have chosen differently and been allowed to
live, albeit as slaves. My head and body hurt from the fierce sobs
breaking out of me. How could I save the world from the vampires
when I had doomed hundreds or thousands or however many people to
death already?

“Artemis, it’s not your fault,” said
Achilles softly from beside me.

There was no way I could defeat the
vampires. I was just a worthless girl on a power high. I should
have given myself to Maurice before Hera had stolen me. Then
everyone would be safe.

Achilles squatted down in front of me and
grabbed my arms. His body was glowing and his eyes were solid white
pearls as he looked into my eyes. “You listen to me! Giving
yourself to Maurice would not have accomplished anything except
your torture and possibly our deaths as we tried to rescue you. Do
not ever think about giving yourself to that monster! I would
sooner give up my life than see you in his hands.”

“If you died I would die too,” I whispered
softly as I wiped at the tear tracks on my face.

Achilles stopped glowing and the warm
gentleness returned to his eyes. “Yes, I know. I was just trying to
make a point.” He sat down beside me and I let him take me into his
arms. “It was not your fault. It was Maurice’s decree and his
vampires who executed them. The only person you should be mad at is
Maurice.”

He was right, but it didn’t help the pain I
felt in my heart. Inside it felt as though I had stamped their
execution orders with my brand.

He rubbed his hands up and down my arms and
started to sing in a language I didn’t understand. His voice was
amazing and the language was incredibly beautiful. We sat together
for at least an hour and he didn’t stop singing until Ares
approached us.

Ares sat down and picked my hand up in his.
I expected him to be angry that I had run off and he had found me
with Achilles, but he did the most unexpected thing I could expect.
He started singing where Achilles had left off. Achilles joined
Ares and the brothers sang to me while the grief and sorrow I felt
eased and then settled into a low ache.

They stopped singing when they determined I
was no longer in pain and cuddled around me from both sides as
comfort. Ares kissed my cheek and stood up. “I’ll be on the
training field when you’re ready to return.”

“Ares,” I whispered. He looked at me and the
sadness in his eyes made me struggle for a moment. “Thank you,” I
finally managed to say.

He dipped his head in acknowledgement and
disappeared around the corner of a building.

Achilles stroked my hair and whispered, “I
love you, Artemis. I’m sorry that things are so difficult for you.
If there is anything I can do to make it easier, please tell
me.”

“You’ve done so much already, Achilles. More
than I could have hoped for.”

He adjusted our position so that I was
leaning against his chest and hugged me tight. “Will you please
stay beside me during the fight tomorrow? I know you don’t like the
idea of us guarding you, but if it were up to me I would leave you
behind for the fight. After you were gone so long, we’ve had so
little time to spend with you.”

“My life always seems to be hectic. We rush
from one fight to another or one place to another. I just want this
war to be over and the world to return to what it was, or as close
as it can be.”

“Will you stay by me?” he asked again.

I nodded my head and turned to face him.
“Yes, but you have to focus on yourself and not me. If I get into
trouble I can always use the sunlight magic.”

Achilles smiled. “I will try to remember
that.” His smile wilted a moment and then he kissed me on the lips.
Unlike Ares’ kisses which filled me with a raging fire, Achilles’
kiss filled me with an electric buzz, as if I was holding a live
wire.

His hands ran from my shoulders to my
stomach to my back and then he pulled me closer to him. It felt
wrong to be kissing someone other than Ares and yet it also felt so
incredibly right to kiss Achilles.

He pulled away first and I knew without
looking that both of our wings were out and that my eyes were pearl
white like his. He smiled one of the first true smiles I had ever
seen on his face, and yet I could sense sadness in him as well. He
kissed my lips quickly. “Come on, we should get back. I’m sure
Hephaistos has your bow ready.”

I nodded my head and let him help me stand
up. It took a moment of intense concentration for me to calm my
powers and bring my wings in. I was suddenly glad that he’d pulled
back since I hadn’t.

We walked back to the field where everyone,
halfbreed and Sidhe, were now practicing together. It warmed my
heart more than a million kisses could. Koda put his arm around my
shoulders and pulled me away from Achilles and towards Hephaistos
and Erebos. “You have to see what Hephaistos worked up for
you.”

“Sweet,” I said excitedly as we increased
our speed to get to Hephaistos.

Hephaistos smiled at me and then blushed. “I
got a bit carried away, but I think you’ll like what I’ve
made.”

I smiled at him. “I’m sure I’ll love it.
You’re work is always beautiful.”

He picked up a covered bundle from the table
behind him and slowly unwrapped it, revealing a beautiful bow.
Never before had I seen one so exquisitely crafted. The frame was
covered in intricate carvings of vines which matched the ones on my
face and arms. The string and frame were both a glowing silver
color and seemed to throb as though alive. “I made sure not to use
any silver since I know you’re allergic to it, but I couldn’t make
you a bow simply out of simple wood.”

Achilles and Ares had joined us and at the
sight of the bow in Hephaistos’ hands they both gasped. Achilles
asked, “How long has it been since you made a bow this way?”

Hephaistos smiled. “Too long, but I believe
Princess Artemis is the best recipient for such an item.”

I cleared my throat and they all turned to
me. “May I see the bow to understand why you are all so
excited?”

Hephaistos laughed and held out the bow. “My
apologies.”

The bow was much lighter than I expected and
as soon as it touched my skin I understood the excitement. My back
arched in a mixture of pain and pleasure as the bow determined if I
were suitable to hold it or not. After a moment the power of the
bow receded and it vibrated slightly in my hand. “How did you
harness starlight to keep the form of the bow?” I asked in
shock.

“We are Children of the Stars and a mother
is always willing to help her children,” Hephaistos answered
softly. “I am glad that you are able to wield it. I had not thought
about the possibility of you being unable to.”

I laughed and pulled on the string which was
also made from starlight to test its resistance. “Do you have an
arrow I can try?”

Hephaistos unwrapped another bundle and I
gasped. “Starlight arrows?”

He smiled. “Starlight shafts with steel tips
which have been dipped in sunlight.”

Several of the crowd which had gathered
gasped and started talking loudly.

I picked up one of the arrows and knocked
it. I looked across the field and saw a target, which was about two
miles away. I aimed and released. The arrow sped across the field
faster than any normal silver or wood arrow could and flew through
the target and into the tree behind it.

“I never knew you were an archer,” Ares said
teasingly.

I shrugged. “It appears so.”

I ran to the tree and pulled the arrow from
the trunk. The tip of the arrow was no longer dipped in sunlight. I
jogged back to the group, slung my bow over my shoulder and formed
a ball of sunlight in my palm. I dipped the tip of the arrowhead in
the sunlight and turned it slowly so that the sunlight coated it.
“How does it stick?” I asked Hephaistos as I coated the arrow
head.

“The iron is enchanted and the starlight can
understand your desire and assists as best as it can,” he said in
an awed whisper.

I put the arrow back into the sheath and
looked up at all of the eyes focused on me. “What?” I asked as I
blushed.

“I was not aware that you could control
sunlight,” said Erebos from beside me.

I smiled at him. “Yes I can.”

“Ares!” Koda called. “We have a
problem.”

I followed Ares over to where Koda was
standing with an unfamiliar Sidhe on the other side of the grass.
The Sidhe left and Koda kept looking at me in a weird way, almost
as if he was uncomfortable with me being there. “What’s wrong?”
asked Ares.

Koda looked at me a moment then sighed.
“You’ll find out anyways so I might as well just tell him in front
of you. Ares, they’re fighting a werewolf in the Games.”

Ares folded his arms across his chest and it
took me a moment to stop staring at his biceps. “Why is that a
problem?” Ares asked. “They’ve used a wolf before to fight one of
the humans.”

“It’s a problem because the wolf isn’t
fighting a human. The wolf is fighting an elf,” Koda said slowly as
though trying to clue Ares into the secret without letting me
figure it out. I really wished I could read his mind. Where was
Victor when you needed him?

Ares asked, “What did the wolf do? Which
wolf is it?”

“The wolf killed a vampire to protect a
human that did not have his brand.” Koda stopped talking, looking
at me for a long moment before saying, “It’s Bret.”

“My Bret?” I asked in shock. Ares growled
and I rolled my eyes at him. “You know I didn’t mean it like
that.”

Koda smiled at me. “Yes, your Bret.”

Ares sighed. “Crap.”

“What are the Games?” I asked.

“They’re like the old Roman gladiator fights
to the death, but usually the humans are pitted against ogres or
some other preternatural. It’s rare that a preternatural has to
fight another preternatural, but in some instances they do it.
Usually the fight serves as a public execution.”

“And Bret is going to have to fight in it?!”
I asked in shock. I turned to Ares. “We have to save him. We can’t
just let him die, especially if he was protecting a human.”

Ares closed his eyes and rubbed his temples
with his fingers, as though trying to get rid of a headache. “I
knew you were going to say that,” he whispered.

“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you in
front of her,” said Koda.

“Where’re the Games at? How long will it
take to get there? When is he fighting?” I asked frantically.

Ares threaded his fingers through mine,
giving me reassurance and calming me. “Koda and I will take care of
it. You stay here with Achilles.”

“No way!” I yelled, pulling my hand from
his. “You’re not leaving me behind.”

“Artemis, the stands are going to be full of
vampires and Maurice will be there, sitting in the pulpit, watching
over everything. Do you really think it’s a good idea for you to
go?”