21. Chapter 21
twenty-one
G rayson moves like a silent mountain beside me as we head downstairs again. My hair drapes over my shoulders, hoping to hide the growing bruise on my jaw. But as Grayson squirm beside me, I know there’s no hiding it.
As always, the other staff scurry out of my way, and I sigh, my shoulders slumping.
“They always do that,” I whisper. “Like I’m a disease they don’t want to get near.” My own words shock me, showing how it pains me more than I cared to admit before.
Grayson doesn’t respond, his lips remaining sealed as his gaze burns me. There’s nothing he can say because we both already know why everyone hides from me.
My strides falter as goosebumps rise on my arms, and then I hear it, the front doors opening. Voices. His voice.
Ethan.
He’s back.
I sprint, forgetting about my sore muscles, not even feeling the strain with every step as I lunge into his arms when our gazes lock.
“Finally,” I say as I breathe him in. “You’re back home.”
“Rodi,” he whispers, his arms wrapping around me, holding me a little too tightly as a soft whimper leaves my lips, my sore body reminding me that I’ve trained.
He’s quick, keeping me at arm’s length. His gaze glides over my body and then lingers on my face, my jaw.
“Did he do this?” he snaps as my brows pinch.
Before I can answer, he storms past me, and I quickly follow as I notice where he’s heading.
“Ethan, stop, please,” I whisper shout, but it’s too late as he flings open the double doors leading to Ares’ office space. My eyes find Grayson, and I nudge him to leave, not wanting him to get caught in the crossfire.
I hurry past him and through the open dark wood door that leads into Ares’ massive office. Full bookshelves cover the right and left walls, while a large window overlooking the property looms behind Ares’ sleek desk and invites natural light to pool inside the room. A large, red rug covers the floor between the doorway and his desk, muffling my footsteps as I rush over to Ethan and Ares.
“Did you hit her?” Ethan roars as I try to step in between them.
Ares’ thick brows pinch together, but as his eyes fall on me, the confusion in them disappears and fury replaces it.
“Who did this to you?” he growls, the walls rumbling .
As I hold my hands up, I step closer. “It’s nothing. I fell when I was training. That’s it.”
“Training?” His rage crackles. “You have me. You don’t need training. I’ll keep you safe.”
My eyes roll without control and I cross my arms. “I want to get stronger.”
“You don’t need to. You know we aren’t staying here,” he grits, and I shake my head.
“I don’t care what you think, but I’m not leaving him behind,” I say, pointing at Ethan.
Ares’ nostrils flare as his control slips, on himself, on the situation, on me.
Without a word, he grabs me, dragging me with him as he storms out. “No one hurts you!”
“There’s only one person hurting me, Ares, and that’s you!” I try to break free, but his fingers only dig deeper.
He finally slows as he finds Grayson, hiding in the kitchen. Scales grow on Ares’ skin as Grayson mouths, “Fuck.”
His eyes glint in a deep sapphire as he tries to see Ares’ next move.
“We were only training, Aetherion,” he says, his voice breaking as fear grips him. “I wouldn’t hurt her, Aetherion, I swear.”
Scales rapidly grow over Ares’ face and arms. Heat crawls over me as panic takes a hold on me. Ethan’s hands tug me back, urging me to leave. But I can’t. Ares can’t hurt Grayson. He shouldn’t.
Grayson gets in his stance, the one I’ve seen plenty of times before today, and my heart stammers as Ares’ wings break through his cloak.
“No one touches her!” he roars, and something snaps.
The fire in me changes, almost turning cold as my voice cuts through the air. “Stop! ”
My voice ripples through the room, and Ares doesn’t move.
“You won’t kill him. He did nothing.” My voice sounds the same as before as a strange warmth replaces the cold and spreads under my skin.
The scales fade. His wings tuck back and fade away.
He slowly turns as it seems he’s listening to me.
Ares
For the first time, I obey. Her voice, raw and real, holds an unseen power that bends me to its will. A power I’ve never seen before.
She huffs and heads back to my office, and I silently follow, wondering whether this truly is her ability or I just obeyed.
As I step inside, she snaps again, the coldness in her voice chilling me to my core. “Ares, sit.”
My head snaps up, but I sit. Her anger is a tangible thing I can almost taste.
I try to speak, but her name dies on my tongue, silenced by her sharp shush.
“Just for the record, I support your choice to train,” Ethan says lazily as I eye him angrily.
The roll of Rodi’s eyes makes me smile in triumph, glad that Ethan doesn’t get away with his smooth talking so easily.
Rodi faces me. “Why do you have to be so difficult?” Her voice cracks, vulnerability peeking through the fury. “Why can’t you just accept me? Why do you need to control everything I do?”
The pain in her eyes mirrors the gaping wound in my heart. My need to protect her is twisted by the fear of losing her again. “I love you,” I mumble.
“Love?” she spits. “This smothering leash, this possessive claim? That’s not love, Ares. It’s control. And guess what? I’m not some hatchling to be cooped up and coddled. I. Am. Not. Yours.”
With that, she storms out.
Ethan rises to leave. “Let me handle her,” he offers. But no, this mess is mine.
“No,” I say, stopping him in his tracks. “I have to do it.”
With a heavy heart, I make my way to Rodi’s bedroom.
Outside the door, I hear her soft sobs. Each one that spills through the oak is a punch to my soul.
I rap on the door, and silence stretches as I push it open. Her room smells like jasmine, old books, woodsmoke, and oranges, her favorite fruit.
The fireplace on my left is cold now. Her eyes, red and raw, are the only fire in here.
She won’t look at me as I sink onto the rug beside her.