twenty-eight -Ares- #3
But she doesn’t flinch at the tone. Instead, she smiles, her face changing to an expression that suggests she finds my hostility exciting. “So rude,” she purrs, setting the glass on a nearby table. “After I walk down in the middle of the night and come all this way to check on you.”
She begins to circle me, keeping a cautious distance, but her eyes are studying every inch with undisguised interest. Her gaze is objectifying, like she’s appraising property.
“You know I’ve been watching you since you arrived.
” She says, making a circle around the pillar.
“During the football game, especially. The way you move…” she pauses, and her eyes focus on my chest. “You’re such a fine specimen. Unique.”
She moves closer. “It’s almost a shame that they eventually hunt you down. Such a waste.”
I remain silent, channeling my rage to the chains. Each time I move, they cut deeper, but the pain isn’t even there now. Pain is just information. Useful only if it serves a purpose.
“You are magnificent,” she purrs again. “I wish I could have known you better before they put you down.”
I bite the insides of my cheeks. If I play civil, maybe I can work my way through this. “Your husband wouldn’t approve of you being here.”
“My husband doesn’t approve of many things I do,” she replies.
“It’s what keeps our marriage interesting.
” Her finger presses into the middle of my chest, then slowly descends, reaching the waistband of my pants.
I know I should play nice, maybe have her untie me, though the chance of that is slim—she’s not stupid.
I should try it, but instinctively, my body jerks away from her touch.
Her eyes flush with strange excitement at my response.
She enjoys the danger, the defiance, the excitement of touching something wild.
“They’re hunting your little warrior now,” she says, switching tactics when she realizes her seduction won’t work.
“I talked to my husband an hour ago, and they spotted her twice already. They’re gaining on her. ”
My muscles lock, every fiber of my being wanting to go to the forest where Brynn is running for her life.
I pull harder, the chains bite deeper, bringing new blood to the surface.
“She’s fast,” the woman continues, “clever too. She’s leading them in circles, doubling back on her own trail.
” She makes a pause for the drama. “But her leg is slowing her down. My husband will find her first. He always does. He has a gift for anticipating where prey will run.” Her lips curve into a sadistic smile.
“He says it’s a disappointment when the hunt ends. ”
I pull against the chains again and again and again.
“Don’t worry,” she purrs, mistaking that she could handle the rage of a god.
“They won’t kill her immediately. First, they’ll wound her.
To make the final chase more… sporting.” She traces a line across her own thigh, mimicking a knife slash.
“Then they’ll give her one last chance to run before the end. ”
She laughs, like it’s all a simple game.
“Your little warrior will be gone by sunrise,” she says, trying to regain her dominance.
“But don’t despair. I could comfort you after.
I’m sure we could find a way to pass the time before they come for you.
Maybe give you a little advantage, a hidden weapon of your choice.
The men will probably sleep between two hunts. ”
The suggestion that I would accept her touch while Brynn's blood soaks the forest floor shatters the last of my control.
The mere suggestion of Brynn being gone by sunrise makes the monster the chains have been suppressing break through every single pore.
My eyes blacken completely, my veins burning against my skin as my clothes are ripped apart, and my flesh is pressing against the chain as I’m changing form. Everything in me is expanding. Everything in me becomes the devil’s son.
The woman stumbles back, her lust changing to fear in the blink of an eye. But I don’t care about her. Tonight, she’ll die here with everyone left in the mansion.
I pull against the chains with every ounce of my transformed strength. The marble pillar cracks deeper, the fissure widening from the floor to the ceiling, and pieces of stone rain down as the structure groans beneath the strain.
The guards rush inside, running toward me, like the fools gonna fucking stop me.
The rest of the women, including Vivian, start running down the stairs, some of them only in their lingerie, others completely naked.
Their screams fill the space, but their fear is meaningless to me.
They all know what happened. None of them cared.
Nothing matters except breaking free, finding Brynn, and tearing apart anyone who dares threaten what’s mine.
I am Ares. God of War. Bringer of Chaos. Destroyer of Civilizations.
The chains still hold, but the pillar doesn’t. With a large crack, a huge section of the marble breaks away, weakening the column's integrity. The ceiling above moves, dust covering everything as the house's weight is tumbling down, burying us all.