I counted to one hundred before storming out of the hall.

The same five sentinels who previously escorted me strode into formation around me, with Aurora scrambling to my side.

I wouldn’t be able to take down any of the minor gods without my power. If I ran, sentinels all over the Amethyst Palace would give chase.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m just going for a walk! I’m not a prisoner here. Haven’t you heard? I’m Apollo’s precious future bride. If you offend me, I can have your head when I officially become queen!”

As if that would happen.

The sentinels didn’t answer but kept a blank look as they continued trailing me. Reys’s elite guards were much more fun than this unresponsive bunch.

“Do you need some fresh air, Goddess Cass?” Aurora said.

“Yes, yes,” I said. “Take me to the entrance of the palace where Apollo and I came in.”

The palace was vast, and shifting halls kept me lost and confused.

If I could get to the slipstream, I could escape through it before the two obsessive gods returned.

Urgency kicked me in the gut. They could be back at any time. I had to get back to my mates. I couldn’t stand one more minute away from them. I’d been gone for... I couldn’t even tell how long I’d been gone.

“Of course, Goddess Cass,” Aurora said, and, thank goodness, she glided ahead.

“No one’s looking at your graceful gait right now, Aurora,” I told her. “If you hurry up, there’ll be rewards.”

“Yes, Goddess Cass.”

She didn’t ask what kind of rewards, though, unlike I would have done. She was easy. I’d always ask. There were crooks in this world, and I didn’t like to be cheated.

My spirit lifted when I spotted the entrance ahead, only to sink again as I saw the stream of white flame encircling the gold double-door.

“This is my limit, Goddess Cass,” Aurora said, pausing a few feet from the door. “I’m an in-house servant, so I don’t have access outdoors. I hope you inhale a lungful of fresh air.”

She didn’t question if I could pass through the door, because I was a goddess in her eyes. She didn’t seem to grasp the concept that I was Apollo’s captive.

I halted before the fire, studying it. The white flame seemed alive, and so different from my own fire.

Fuck it!

No flame would stop me from getting back to my mates. I’d stepped through it unscathed before. I would do it again.

Just step through the door, Cass, and leave this place for good. 

My pulse racing, I kicked open the door. Sparks of fire fell on my hair, yet none burned me. I charged out before the door swung back, not caring if they hit the sentinels’ faces.

I had hoped they were limited to the house as well, but all five sentinels followed me through the doorway in stony silence.

Fine, I might not be able to take them down, but I could certainly outrun them. The torque bound my power, but it couldn’t suppress my natural strength and speed.

Jolting to an abrupt halt at the scene before me, I realized this wasn’t the same as what I’d remembered. When Apollo first hauled me here, the slipstream had been a clear path with infinite clouds on either side of it.

Where was the slipstream?

“This isn’t right,” I said, glaring at the sentinels over my shoulder. “The garden wasn’t here last time!”

“It doesn’t matter, Goddess Cass,” a silver-haired sentinel informed me. “The view changes according to His Lord God’s mood and intention. The landscape shifts all the time.”

The ringleader was gorgeous and built large, like all the minor gods, but his power grade was below Phobos. He must be a third-tier god.

“Then where is the edge of this place?” I demanded.

“There is no edge,” he said, “in a sense.”

I couldn’t believe this. Refused to accept it. I had seen the Amethyst Palace floating in the air, so there must be an edge. If I could find it, then I could get to the slipstream. All I needed was to pick one direction and stick to it.

I closed my eyes and centered my mind to listen to the wind, to determine its direction. Then I heard the burbling of a river. If Apollo’s lair was a fucking maze, I’d follow the stream out of the maze.

I picked up my pace and jogged toward the stream, passing by a lush garden of living rainbows that were kaleidoscopic blossoms.

The Amethyst Palace was beautiful, yet I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here. I hadn’t thought beauty could also be a nightmare, but there it was.

I followed along the pale blue stream and started running.

The sentinels didn’t try to stop me, instead they raced after me. I zoomed toward the far distance, as did they, but I was faster. I didn’t know how long I sprinted as if hellfire was catching my tail, but the river lasted for miles and miles, and the plain bank in front of me extended forever.

Finally, I halted, panting a little now. I might have run hundreds of miles.

“Just as I said,” the silver-haired sentinel said as he caught up with me, “there’s no edge. Should we return, Goddess Cass?”

Rage beat an angry drum in my chest. I wouldn’t admit defeat. But running forever wasn’t the solution. I had to figure out the mechanics of Apollo’s realm, but it currently evaded me. 

“Hello, little Cass. Long time no see,” a familiar, vicious voice boomed.

Phobos, in a brand-new armor that encased him from neck to toe, appeared in the sky, and another god descended alongside him.

The new god had the same violet eyes as Phobos, but he looked younger, and if possible, meaner. He didn’t cover all his skin like Phobos but wore a fashionable dark-golden armor that showed off his bulky biceps and thighs, which weren’t that enticing since he vibrated with imposing fear and nothing else.

I instantly knew that he was Phobos’s younger brother, Deimos, the God of Fear.

Just as I realized it, a cascade of fear slammed into my chest with brutal force, knocking the breath out of my lungs in a gasp of pain. I had once neutralized Phobos’s terror strike—though that was before I had a torque on my neck.

I straightened my spine, hissing, pushing back, and shoving out every last ounce of fear and terror writhing in my insides. 

Apollo’s sentinels, except for their silver-haired leader, doubled over, their features distorting, reflecting fear and terror.

“Greetings, Phobos and Deimos,” the sentinel captain said. “Please withhold your power in God Apollo’s home. And Goddess Cass shall not be harmed.”

Phobos clasped Deimos’s shoulder, and they both reined in their powers.

“Who said I’d harm Cass, Thy?” Phobos said. “We’re old friends. I just want to have a nice chat with her, catching up, you know. Shall we, little Cass?”

I narrowed my eyes. What was his game?

“How did you even get here?” I asked. “I don’t see the slipstream!”

“Still so demanding, aren’t you, little Cass?” Phobos said. “Of course you can’t see the slipstream. You aren’t officially initiated into the godhood, so the path isn’t open to you.”

What the fuck? How was I going to escape then?

“I can see how your little mind whirls and twirls. How amazing. It’s always busy.” He chuckled, but his left eye twitched. He was still nervous around me, though he tried hard to cover it. He turned to nod at Deimos, and his brother snapped his thick fingers. 

A dome-like, bronze structure materialized a dozen yards ahead of us.

“You should not alter God Apollo’s domain,” Thy said. “My Lord won’t be pleased.”

“Take it easy, Thy,” Deimos said. “My brother just wants to get reacquainted with Cass, and then I’ll erase the dome in no time. I’ll lend you a power grade after we’re done. You can join us if you want, and you can report back to Apollo about the inside trade, but the rest of your guards must stay outside and guard the door.”

Thy looked hesitant for a second, and then he nodded curtly. A power upgrading was irresistible for a minor god. “The meeting can’t be long,” he said.

“Shall we, little Cass?” Phobos gestured to the entrance of the dome.

“Ladies first,” Deimos added.

“I’m not getting in that tomb with you,” I said. I didn’t trust the brothers.

“Then you’ll rot in this jail,” Deimos said.

I snorted. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t give a fuck if you rot, but Phobos wants to talk to you first,” Deimos said. “My brother is the sentimental type. I bet you’ll gain more than we stand to from this meeting, considering how helpless and powerless you are now. How do you like the torque? It looks exquisite and fits you perfectly.”

I flipped him the bird.

But he was right. The brothers’ coming here did provide me with a chance to flee. I’d thought Artemis was my last straw, but I had been wrong. The virgin defender had abandoned me, even after I’d befriended her.

I needed to know more about the slipstream, and the brothers were the ones to give me answers. I could probably just initiate myself into the godhood and ride the slipstream home.

“If you want to talk, talk,” I said. 

“Do you really want us to share secrets out in the open, little Cass?” Phobos said. “I thought you were clever. I might have to take back my high opinion of you.”

“I don’t give a fuck of your opinion,” I said. “I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks about me. You don’t pay my bills. No one pays my bills except for my mates.”

Deimos glared at me, and a shockwave of fear slammed into me, but I shoved it back with determination. 

Thy looked uncertain. “Maybe you should return to your chamber and wait for God Apollo, Goddess Cass?”

Like hell I would do that. My hope of ever leaving this gilded prison would be smashed once Apollo and Ares returned. They’d force me to wed them, probably tonight. I doubted Artemis could be of any help.

“You two enter the room first, then Thy,” I said. “I’ll go last because I don’t like this lady first tradition.” If I didn’t like what I saw inside, I could always jump back and use Thy as a shield. He was assigned to guard me anyway, even though I was a prisoner.

Then it occurred to me that it might not be convenient to have Thy as a witness. If this didn’t work out, I didn’t want him to report to Apollo.

“Maybe Thy doesn’t need to join us,” I said.

Phobos and Deimos shrugged and headed into the dome.

“I must supervise all dealings in my lord’s realm,” Thy said, then turned to bark at the rest of the sentinels. “Guard the door.” 

As soon as Thy and I stepped into room, the bronze door shut behind us. Thy tried to shout but Deimos grabbed him, and Phobos thrust his silver spear into his chest.

The sentinel fell in a pool of blood, his eyes still widened in shock.

“What the fuck?” I yelped and jumped back.

Without anyone blocking my view, I saw what lay in front of me: chains, iron whips, and other sharp torture tools.

I threw myself toward the door and pried at it, but it was completely sealed.

Deimos’s chilly voice rose and echoed in the cold, dark room. “Hello, little Cass. Now we’re going to have some fun.”