A sliver of hope tunneled its way into Ari’s chest, but he was too afraid to let it grow. “If this is true, why would Hera use me? What did I ever do to her?”
“Nothing. You did nothing to her. But if she saw you struggling with your grief after your soul mate’s death, I’m guessing she saw a way to use you. To curse you again in a way you’d never know. To make you think it was simply an extension of the soul mate curse, when in reality, it was her way to get back at her husband. The god who’s done nothing but humiliate her to the world.”
Ari’s heart beat hard and fast against his ribs. If what Daphne said was true, then he’d been used as a pawn in an immortal chess game. He’d lost his life, his home, his son, all because of the whims of the gods. But ironically, he didn’t care. Suddenly all that mattered was the fact he might possibly be free.
He reached for Daphne’s hand, warmth and hope filling his chest, making him feel light and alive. More alive than he’d ever felt before. “How did I get here?”
Daphne smiled as he pulled her toward him. A sweet, beautiful, electrifying smile that made his whole body tighten in anticipation of her touch. “I brought you here. Sappheire helped. She heard the commotion through the trees and came running to help. When she saw the Sirenum Scorpoli, she opened a portal and helped me get you through before anything happened. I told her how to get here.”
He hadn’t hurt anyone. Not even those evil Sirens. “And she just...saved me? Even knowing how many Sirens I’ve killed over the years?”
Daphne’s eyes softened. “She saw what I saw, Ari. And she realized the same truth I already figured out. That she’d never known a Siren killed by you. She’s served with the Order for nearly three hundred years. She’s Athena’s right-hand Siren. If you were really killing Sirens like Zeus and Athena want everyone to believe, she would have met at least one.”
Ari glanced toward the fire and watched a flame dance over the log. Remembered his dream of burning in the fires of Hades. He wanted to believe Daphne’s claim. Wanted to believe he’d been doing good all these years instead of bad, but something held him back.
“How do you know so much about the Sirens?” His gaze drifted to the shelves. “I haven’t been asleep that long. You can’t have learned it all from these books or the Siren upstairs.”
A nervous look passed over Daphne’s face. “That’s the other thing I want to tell you.” She pulled her hands from his, pushed to her feet, and crossed toward the fire. “Oh man. I can’t believe I’m about to do this.”
Ari’s brow dropped low as he watched her, and a low buzz sounded in his ears. One that set his nerves on edge. One he didn’t like. Sliding the book on the ground beside him, he slowly rose to his feet. “Do what?”
“Ruin everything,” she mumbled.
Before he could ask what that meant, she turned to face him and straightened her spine. “I know about the Sirens because a week ago, I was on Olympus training to become one. I wasn’t in that forest by accident, Ari, and our meeting wasn’t by chance. Zeus sent me here to find you. He sent me to find you, to seduce you, and then, when you let down your guard, to kill you.”
*
Ari didn’t say anything. Just stared at her from across the room with blank, unreadable eyes.
Urgency pushed Daphne’s feet forward, her stomach swirling with both dread and fear. Not fear that he would hurt her, she knew he’d never do that, but fear that she’d lose him if she didn’t tell him everything fast.
“I was close to being inducted into the Order. I thought that’s what I wanted. When Zeus gave me this mission, I couldn’t say no. If I didn’t do it, they would have kicked me out, and you know I have no family left. So I said yes, and I came here looking for you, and I pretended that I was running from a god, when the truth was, I was doing what he and Athena told me to do. But I quickly realized that you aren’t at all what they said you are.”
She knew she was rambling but she didn’t care. All that mattered was making sure he understood the truth. “I didn’t seduce you. I realized early on that I wasn’t any good at seduction. I mean, I was trained in it. All Sirens are. But I guess none of it really stuck because when I tried to use it, you totally walked away. The only time you even seemed interested in me was when I was being my normal, rambling self, which, by the way, the Sirens do not like. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times Sappheire’s told me to shut the hell up. And I’d already decided that I wasn’t going to do what Zeus and Athena sent me to do, but then I saw the map in your office and I learned what they’d done, and you were so nice and you comforted me, and...and I knew even more that you weren’t the psycho they said you were.”