I couldn’t take much more, and Ares had only just begun. After my capture, I’d awoken to find my arms and legs pinned to an upright stone table. The room was littered with body parts, grotesque trophies prized by the god of war. I could make out what must have been his bed to my right, covered in luxurious satin and animal skins. It was totally incongruous in the hellish pit.

To my left were various instruments of torture hanging from metal hooks, all coated in congealed blood. A shudder racked my body, fear threatening to overtake any thought of escape I might have had. If only I could work my hands free, I could summon my bow. I ripped at the bonds, but they didn’t budge and only cut into my wrists as I struggled. I was naked, pinned helplessly to the wall, and no one was coming for me. No one even knew I was here.

A tear trickled down my cheek as I realized the tortures I was about to endure for the gods only knew how long. I choked down a sob, fearing the sound would bring Ares.

But he was already with me. He strolled in through the door as if he were walking through the gardens of Olympus. He had changed, now wearing clean robes of a pale ivory. No amount of finery could cloak the sinister malevolence that owned his heart. His eyes were a testament to that fact.

He approached me and licked the tear off my face as I futilely tried to wrench my body away from him. It was over. I had failed, and was now powerless to move, bound against my will, and enslaved to the most evil being on heaven or earth.

“Let’s have some fun before we get to the best part.” He threw a glance to the bed. His face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath along my cheek. At his words, I desperately tried to bring my knees together, the binds on my ankles digging into my flesh.

Ares tsked, his mouth right next to my ear. “That just won’t do. I want to be the one to hurt you.”

With that, he sliced a deep cut across my collarbone with one of the blades Roth had given me. I screamed, the agony searing into me as my blood flowed.

“That’s more like it.” Ares took a step back, admiring his handiwork. “But we have a long way to go before we’re even, don’t you think?” He motioned to a smattering of cuts on his face that were almost healed.

I bit the inside of my cheek to stifle another scream and let my head fall forward to avoid his satisfied gaze.

Ares gripped my chin hard and pulled my face up so I could look into his eyes, his soul. “I haven’t bled in centuries.” His anger was like a vise crushing my mind.

Ares cut me again, this time slithering the blade against my breast. Another cry escaped my lips, and the god of war smiled sweetly, as if the sound were akin to a baby’s laugh or puppies playing.

“Now you’re going to bleed for a thousand years to pay for what you did to me.” He trailed a hand through my blood as if finger-painting on my body. His gaze froze on my bloodied breast, and his tongue darted out, wetting his lips.

I recoiled as far as I could back into my stone prison.

“I’ve changed my mind. Let’s skip the foreplay.” Ares bent down to release my ankles from the bonds.

As soon as my left leg was free, I aimed a kick at his face, but he was far too fast. He caught my calf and sank his teeth into it. I cried out when he punctured my flesh, ripping through my skin and into the bone.

“Do that again and I’ll bite you up higher.” He licked my blood from his lips and cast a glance to my sex.

I shuddered, unable to control my weakness.

He released my right leg as I frantically tried to think of a way to escape him, or a way to make him kill me.

“I know what you’re thinking.” He stood back up to his full height, towering over me as he unbound my hands from the wall and shoved them into a set of manacles. “But I won’t kill you. Not until I’ve wrung every last bit of blood and spirit out of you.”

He lifted me and threw me onto the bed. I sank back, trying to melt into the sheets. I was a caged animal. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from the god of war. Nowhere I’d be safe. I clutched the blanket to me and wanted to clench my eyes shut, but I couldn’t. I was too scared to look away from him. Too afraid of what he would do.

I was so close to the weapons Ares had used on his victims, but the only way to them was through the god. No chance. Even my bow was no use to my bound hands.

Ares began disrobing, enjoying the stricken look on my face. “In the end, you’ll beg me to kill you, but I won’t.”

He threw his outer robe on the floor and reached for his belt, a look of spite mixed with desire on his face. I would fight him until the last. No male could take what was not given.

It couldn’t be over. I wouldn’t let it. I did the only thing I could think of. Artemis, Goddess, hear my plea. Forgive me for my sins against you and save me from this fate. Hear my plea, hear my plea, hear my plea.

I was still praying as Ares sprang his massive sex from the last of his clothing and stalked toward me. When his icy grasp closed around my wrist and yanked me to the edge of the bed, my terrified scream joined the countless others that had echoed through the stony chamber.