“You’re just walking away from me?” I called out, running after Hades. “We were in the middle of something.”

Maybe it looked pathetic that I was running after Hades, but I was pissed off at him, and I hadn’t gotten it out of my system yet. I hated that he was so uninterested.

“Looks like you have your hands full, sweetheart,” Hades said with a smirk.

“Don’t call me that,” I snapped.

“I’m going,” Hades said. “I’m not in the mood for his shit.” He gestured with his head toward Ares. He looked bored, but it was a façade because this was Hades. The guy didn’t just stroll away from a fight. He was hiding something from me. I couldn’t see it as much as I could feel it.

I took a step forward, closing the distance between us. “You can’t leave.”

“And why is that?” He cut me a sarcastic look, as if he knew exactly what I’d say next.

“Because you killed me!” I shouted. “If that doesn’t mean you owe me one, I don’t know what would.”

Hades’s face changed. Something flickered across his features, but it was too fast for me to read. His black eyes were filled with emotion, and the way he looked at me made me feel vulnerable all of a sudden.

Hades’s magic flared, and as before, mine rose to answer, but my power was stronger than before. I was getting used to it, learning how to handle it, but the surge was unexpected, and our powers leaped toward each other. The moment it touched, the Earth shuddered.

My breath caught in my throat, and I struggled to keep my footing.

Hades looked surprised. “Elyse,” he breathed.

The sound of his voice tugged at my core, and I was turned on. My body bloomed for him, heat spreading from the inside out. Hades’s eyes filled with raw lust, but he shook his head and stepped away from me so that the link between our powers was severed.

“I’m going,” he said again, then stormed away.

Shit. What was going on? I felt even less in control around the gods than I had been before with no idea how to cope with my attraction to him. Instead, I watched Hades leave, and a part of me yearned to call him back again. But I had pride. I wasn’t going to run after the bastard who’d killed me, no matter how much I was still drawn to him. It was better to see Hades as the enemy, no matter what my emotions said.

My heart had gotten me into shit with this guy before. It was better that I learned from my mistakes than make them again.

Ares stepped up next to me. “What was that all about?”

“I can’t explain it.”

“The supernatural reading was off the chart. It sizzled over my skin.”

I stared up at Ares, taking him in for the first time. He talked like he was in high school, but that was as far as the comparison went. Ares was tall and strong, muscles stacked wherever I looked. His hair was cut short against his scalp, and his green eyes were piercing. They were like gems, staring out at me, and it was almost unnerving.

“Do you like what you see?” he asked when I had looked him up and down.

I blushed immediately.

“You wish,” I said. The truth was, I did like what I saw. “Did Zeus send you?” Changing the topic was safer. “And where’s your chariot? Heard you ride that everywhere you go.” I cocked a brow, and he simply laughed.

Ares responded. “Zeus implied there’s shit down here, and you need a sidekick.”

“Stop making it sound like I’m the hero and you’re the lowly minion,” I said, remembering that Heracles was going to ask Zeus for help. But now that Ares stood there, all cocky and in my face, I wasn’t a fan of having him as a sidekick.

“Yeah, you’re right. Better let me be the hero.” He flashed me a cocky grin with teeth that were impossibly white. “Where did you learn to fight like that?”

“Heracles,” I responded.

Ares whistled through his teeth, his recently-shaven look adding to the whole “warrior look” he had going on, like he was ready for anything thrown at him. He seemed the kind who would jump for the jugular when it came to battle… no holding back. He was the god of war, after all, though he wasn’t a great team player from what I’d read about him. So how was this meant to work with him helping me?

“That’s right,” he said. “I heard he was babysitting now.”

I rolled my eyes, grinding my teeth. “You should let him give you some pointers.”

Ares laughed. “I’m the god of war, remember? I invented fighting.”

“Maybe you’re out of practice,” I teased, smirking his way.

Ares cocked his eyebrow, clearly not impressed. “You’re funny,” he said. “It can’t be Heracles’s humor rubbing off on you.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s all my own.”

Ares glanced around at the mess he’d made. The fallen trees, flattened benches. “Sorry about all this.”

I sighed, glancing around too. The humans would attribute it to a small earthquake or something. Not that it was a likely thing to happen, but that was what they were going to do. People always needed to explain things.

“It’s fine,” I said.

“What’s going on between you and Hades then?” Ares asked.

I gave him a sharp look. “Other than we’re enemies?”

Ares laughed. “Sure, enemies always look like they want to bang.”

“Who says bang anymore?” I asked.

Ares shook his head, still laughing. “You’re changing the topic.”

“And you’re out of line,” I replied. “That’s twice in less than ten minutes. If you want to fight by my side, we need to work together. The point isn’t for you to push me out of the way and do your own thing.”

Ares pulled up his shoulders. “I’ve always done my own thing.”

“Well, stop,” I said. “I have to get out of here. I have things to do.”

“Did I piss you off?” Ares asked.

I waved my hand in the air, dismissing him, convinced Zeus had made a mistake.

“Seriously,” Ares said, and he came after me. I groaned. He grabbed my hand to stop me from walking away, but the moment our skins made contact, my power flared and searched for his.

Ares’s power was violent, aggressive, wild. It didn’t play nice with others. I could feel the defiance. But his power liked mine.

“This is unreal,” Ares said, stepping closer to me. He wanted to explore what he was feeling. Maybe if I hadn’t already reached my limit of magical connections for the past couple of days, I would have agreed.

The moment I thought about the whole linking thing, the desire intensified between us. Ares was hot in a reckless kind of way. His cocky smile, his arrogance, it reminded me of what it would be like to be free. I wanted a taste of that. I imagined my soul pressed up against his so I could feel what it was like not to be tethered to anything.

I broke the spell we were caught in and stepped away before I did anything.

“Aw, buzzkill,” Ares teased.

“Where did you learn to speak?” I asked.

Ares wiggled his eyebrows at me. “I knew you thought it was sexy.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. The humor was a relief from the sexual tension that had been building between us. I wanted the arrogant banter rather than another sexual attraction. I couldn’t handle this right now. I needed to stay away from this kind of shit.

I had enough drama in my life with the two gods I was already falling for. To add a third would only drive me crazy.

“I have to go,” I insisted.

“Cool. Where do you need me? When are we teaming up again?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Go… wherever you go. Until I need you.”

“You’re dismissing me,” Ares said, his eyes widening.

I nodded. I didn’t know what else to say or how to make it sound polite.

But instead, he grinned at me, and even though he was acting weird, it was still a damn attractive smile. There was something light and easygoing about him, and after Hades and Apollo had been so damn intense, it was a welcome break.

But again, I couldn’t deal with another man. Not now.

“I love it when the woman takes charge.” Ares laughed, the sound teasing me.

“What?” I asked.

“Yeah. Tell me how to drive you crazy, and I’ll do it. I’ll take you to the stars, baby.”

I couldn’t keep from laughing.

“You’re incorrigible,” I said.

Ares shrugged, and even that was sexy. He didn’t act like someone who was trying to be suave, but at the same time, he oozed sexuality.

Which meant Ares was as much trouble as the other two.

Was it going to be like this with all of them? I had no idea what to make of what I was feeling. Surely, these men had women in their lives?

Multiple, in fact. Why were they all so interested in me?

For that matter, what drew me to them? Was I going god-crazy? Maybe spending too much time in their company had warped my mind, twisted my emotions.

I already knew the answer to that. It was our power. With Apollo, there was a lot more than just the magic. With Hades, there could have been. With Ares? He looked like he was always joking, but there was something there, deep inside. I could almost see it.

It made me want to dig for it, which was exactly why I had to get away from him.

“I’ll see you around, my lady,” Ares said.

I rolled my eyes, but before I could finish, Ares had vanished.

What the fuck was I going to do now?

Instead of heading home, I made my way to Heracles. He opened the door before I knocked.

“I was waiting for you to come cry on my shoulder,” Heracles joked. “I already made coffee.”

I didn’t respond to his jokes. “Zeus sent Ares,” I blurted out.

“What?” His mouth dropped open, his nose scrunched up.

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I said.”

Heracles shook his head and let me into the house.

“That doesn’t make sense. What good is he going to do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. He fucked up my fight with Hades today.”

Heracles stilled. “You fought Hades again?”

I nodded. “The asshole still acts like it’s fine that he killed me.”

Heracles only glared at me with his disapproval.

“What?” I asked, not needing his judgement right now. Or ever. I barely understood what was happening to me, why I longed for Apollo to be with me twenty-four-seven, why thinking of Hades burned me up from the inside out. So I did the only thing possible…pushed them away to let my brain catch up. To sort out my shit. Then I’d take it slow with Apollo.

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

We strolled into the kitchen, where the smell of coffee hung thick in the air.

“Tell me what the god of waste of my time did,” Heracles said.

They all had nicknames for him, I noticed. Ares wasn’t a favorite among the gods. I had read about that once, but seeing it firsthand was different.

I started telling Heracles what had happened, how Ares had arrived, and what he’d done. I explained how the fight had been interrupted and then ended.

What I didn’t add was that despite how corny and quirky Ares was, there was something about him that was sexy as hell. I didn’t add how my power was attracted to his power, and I didn’t mention that sending Ares away had been for me more than for him. Because I couldn’t deny I was attracted to Ares. And that scared me.

I refused to do something with yet another god because my power demanded it and because there was something deep down inside that I couldn’t see yet. Something I wanted to find. Something I knew I could fall for.

But right now I tried to sort through my emotions to make things work with Apollo and me because he touched me, affected me, loved me in a way that called to me. And in my mind, he was mine, but I just had to get my shit together for once.

And why did I always see this in the gods? Why was there always something I yearned to make my own with them?

I was only going to get myself in trouble if I carried on like this. It wasn’t like things were particularly easy as it was. I had to keep myself in check. I had to be sure I didn’t let anything happen with Ares. There was no reason to turn the god of war into my personal god of love too.