I had finally made it to the gaping pit that stank of blood and death. There was no turning back. I would never see Roth or my sisters again. Instead of sadness, an anger settled inside me. Fury such as I’d never known simmered in my veins, goading me onward and speeding my steps down the dreaded staircase. Hurting Ares was the only thing that kept me going, and my hatred of him was like a dose of kerosene on a low-burning fire.

The bodies littering the stairwell had changed from the last time I’d visited, and I wondered if my headless corpse would soon join them. The macabre thought made me ready my bow, nocking an arrow as I took the final few steps down to the cave floor. The same river of blood and dark throne greeted me, but the god of war was nowhere to be seen. I approached the throne carefully and noted the hourglass had but a few drops left. Time’s up.

A tsk-tsking echoed through the air. “You failed me.”

I backed up until I was wedged behind a stalagmite that shot up through the floor.

“I knew you wanted to be my slave.” Ares’s voice, soaked through with the darkest evil, permeated the cavernous space.

“I’ll have to pass, but you can always be mine.”

Ares appeared in front of his throne, clad in robes of the purest white, though bloodstains, likely from his most recent victim, marred the front. His visage was as before, handsome but for the dark heart of hate and malice that dwelled within. He looked around, not seeming to know where I was hidden.

His lips turned up in a smirk and his cruel laughter echoed through the chamber. “You invite my wrath? Unwise, little immortal.”

“How’s this for inviting wrath?” I lobbed a magic bomb that landed at Ares’s feet. He looked down the instant it exploded, as if on cue.

I didn’t flinch, only nocked an explosive arrow and let it fly. Though I couldn’t see him, I aimed for where he’d been. A boom shook the earth, a groan followed, and I knew I’d hit my mark.

Ducking behind the stone, I peered out warily as the god ripped what was left of my arrow from his right arm as if he were swatting a fly. A tiny trickle of blood flowed from the wound.

“So gods can bleed.” Taunting him gave me strength.

“Not as much as you will.” He appeared behind me. But I knew his tricks and was ready for him, embedding my dagger deep into his torso. His eyes gave the slightest sign of surprise before he grabbed my wrist and twisted the blade inside him. He smiled, as if enjoying the pain. “You can’t kill me, Lilah. You’re just turning me on.”

“Yeah?” I brought my knee up into his groin.

Ares let go of my wrist and howled with pain.

“Works like a charm,” I said, “And speaking of that—” I opened my palm and blew a pile of pixie dust into his face, blinding him for a short while as I darted away to find another hiding place.

“You bitch.” His voice nearly deafened me with its ferocity. “You will pay a thousandfold for everything you’ve done.”

I should have been shaking in my boots, but the thrill of battle exhilarated me. Mine would be an end any warrior would be proud of.

I nocked two more specialty arrows and arced them into the air, knowing they’d land exactly where I’d just been and where, hopefully, Ares was still crying like a baby.

Another, louder boom and a roar of rage told me I’d hit my target, so I lobbed two more magic bombs into the general vicinity before climbing a stone embankment at the side of the cavern. I found a perch on a ledge almost twenty feet from the ground and scooted back from the edge so I could see without being seen.

Only a few moments passed before Ares stalked out into the center of the cavern, searching every nook and cranny for any sign of me. I held my breath as his gaze traveled over my hiding place; he seemed to linger for a moment before continuing his slow turn.

I nocked two more broadheads, aiming for the back of the god’s neck. This is gonna leave a mark. I released, but in the next second, I was falling. The stone floor rushed up to meet me as I landed hard, my left arm snapping from the impact. I gritted my teeth against the pain as I rolled onto my back.

Stunned, I reached for my daggers with my right hand, but it was wrenched above my head as Ares straddled me, his face cut and bruised and his eyes deep wells of hatred.

“Now it’s my turn.” The flash of his fist was the last thing I saw.