LILAH fought Ares and screamed as he tried to climb on top of her. Then I literally saw red. Lit with the inner fire of the incubus, nothing would keep me from her. Not even a god.

I rushed through the door, swinging it so hard it crashed into the wall and erupted into chunks of shattered stone.

Lunging at Ares, I gripped him around the throat and ripped him from Lilah. I had already readied a dagger and sank it into the god’s heart, twisting it for emphasis.

Ares had been too preoccupied with his prize to even consider such an attack, and no doubt the idea of someone getting the drop on the god in his own lair was inconceivable to the Bloody One.

“You wanted me here. Here I am.” I shoved the blade in past the hilt, enjoying the feel of Ares’s heart’s blood cascading over my hand. The god was dazed, and blood poured from the wound in his chest, thanks in no small part to the fury venom I had coated on the blade.

“Lilah, now.” I held out a hand, never dropping my gaze from Ares.

Her hand slipped into mine, and it was the single most wonderful sensation I’d ever felt. Mine.

The corners of Ares’s mouth turned up in a cruel smile. “You can take her.” A fine mist of blood sprayed onto his lips. “But she’s mine, and I always come for what’s mine.”

Lilah gasped in a breath and a tremor ran through her body. There was no way to kill a god, but I could keep him wounded for long enough to get Lilah to safety.

“I’ll deal with you then too.” I twisted the blade until the hilt broke off in my hand. Ares roared, and I wasted no more time. I yanked Lilah to my side and rushed her out of the room before heading toward the narrow stair. She moved more slowly than usual, so I scooped her up into my arms, bundling her into the blanket she’d wrapped around herself, and dashed up the steps and into the dark cavern.

“He’ll come for me.” She buried her head in my neck as I ran.

“He won’t take you. I swear it.” I shushed her, never slowing my pace.

I didn’t even make it past the throne before Ares appeared, robed in black. He was still bleeding but very much capable of killing us both. I slowed and gently placed Lilah on the ground, leaning her against the back of the throne and setting my satchel next to her. I tore the manacles from her wrists.

“Don’t.” Her blue eyes were wide with alarm. “He’ll kill you.”

“She’s right.” Ares appeared next to me and landed a ferocious punch to my cheek. I fell to my side and struggled to rise. Lilah’s scream was enough to get me back on my feet. Kill him. I would fight to the death to keep her safe.

“You think to take Aphrodite from me and now this little morsel?” Ares entwined a hand in Lilah’s hair, ripping her up and off her feet.

She aimed an elbow at his solar plexus, but he shook her until she looked like a marionette. I reached into my pack for a magic bomb but realized I couldn’t use one without harming Lilah.

Still holding her by the hair, Ares fished into the wound on his chest and pulled the poisoned blade from his heart. He held it to Lilah’s neck, daring me to make a move. But I couldn’t risk it, couldn’t risk any more harm coming to Lilah on my account.

“Ares, I’m here. I’m the one you want, the one you sent her to get.” I kept my tone as even as possible. “Let her go and do what you will to me.”

“Let her go?” Ares laughed, throwing his head back and filling the chasm with a sinister breeze.

“I won her fair and square. She failed me, so now she’s mine.” He sank his even white teeth into her shoulder, leering at me. She screamed as fresh blood poured from her, and I thought I would go mad at the sound of her suffering. Kill him! But I was powerless to stop the god, not with the blade threatening her life.

“Stop!”

“Does this bother you? I think I’ll make you watch everything I do to her.”

I changed tactics, realizing the one sting no god could withstand—wounded pride. “Stop hiding behind her and face me, coward.”

Ares bristled at this and tossed Lilah aside, pointing the deadly blade at me. “I will cut out your lying tongue and feed it to you.”

Lilah crumpled to the ground, still not far enough away from Ares for me to use any of my magic stores. I drew a second blade from the scabbard hung behind my back and faced off against the god, ready to do what damage I could to get Lilah out of this pit.

“I’ve been spoiling for a good fight ever since this one”—Ares kicked Lilah in the ribs, and she curled into the fetal position—“tried to beat me.”

I would make him pay for every ounce of pain he dealt Lilah. Make it hurt. Though I knew I would die here at Ares’s hands, I only hoped I could inflict enough injuries to allow Lilah to escape.

She’d have slim chances of navigating the barren valley, but I could only hope she would make it out of the god’s clutches. That alone would give her a chance of survival she sorely lacked at the moment. I would give this to her, because it was all I had left to offer.

I brandished my blade and motioned for Ares to come at me.