Frowning, Bathymaas materialized in the Ēperon barracks. She’d expected Aricles to call out to her once the others had left, but it was long after nightfall, and she was certain they’d gone home by now.
Her frown deepened as she saw him in bed with no light whatsoever. Scared he was ill, she quickly closed the distance between them. “Ari?”
Horror filled her as she saw his battered face. Bruises covered him all over. There was one fierce mark in the shape of a handprint on his throat, as if someone had held him down and choked him.
With a light groan, he pushed himself up.
“What happened?”
Shame and torment darkened his gaze. “It’s fine, my goddess. I’ll heal.”
“Who did this to you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me! Was it one of the Ēperon?”
He swallowed hard before he answered. “No. They went home in high spirits.”
“Then who?”
He refused to meet her gaze. “Bathia, please … I’ve no wish to discuss it.”
Tears clouded her vision as she saw how badly he’d been beaten. How she wished she had the power to heal him. But unfortunately, she didn’t have the ability. “I’ll call my aunt. She’ll—”
“Please, Bathia … I’d rather no one else know about this.”
“Why?”
A single tear fell down his cheek. “Please, let it go.”
“You’re scaring me, Ari. I’ve never seen you like this before. I don’t understand.”
Aricles fought the tears that choked him over what Apollo had done. He’d give the god credit—the bastard knew how to punish someone and ensure they’d rather die than tell another soul about it.
Bathymaas sat down by his side and brushed the hair back from his face. “Is there anything I can do?”
He still couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eyes. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to do that again. “Just stay with me for a little while … I don’t want to be alone right now.”
She took his hand into hers and held it to her heart. “I have no intention of leaving you, precious.… Have you eaten?”
He shook his head.
Using her powers, she summoned him a platter of meat, cheese, and fruit. Then to his complete shock, she hand-fed it to him. That went a long way in easing his horror, shame, and pain. But it still wasn’t really enough.
Right now, all he wanted was to die.
Bathymaas felt her own tears sting her eyes at the way Ari continued to act. How she wished she had the powers to read his mind or turn back time to see what had been done. She hadn’t been joking when she said he scared her. Something inside him had been broken.
Wanting only to fix it, she conjured a bowl of water and gently cleaned his injuries. As she brushed her cloth over his neck, she paused at the sight of a bite wound.
Apollo.
It had to be. As part of her curse against Leto, Hera had condemned the twins to live on blood. Unlike the other gods, Apollo and Artemis had to drink from others in order to live. It’d been a harsh sentence, but Bathymaas had had no way to undo it. Not without killing the twins.
“This was done because of me, wasn’t it?” she breathed.
For the first time since her arrival, he met her gaze. “Nay, my lady. Never think that.”
He could deny it all he wanted, but she knew the truth. This had been his punishment for stopping Apollo’s rape.
In that moment, a darkness came over her. One that was bitter and violent.
Terrifying.
She’d never felt anything like it before. All she wanted was to exact revenge on Apollo for hurting him.
And one way or another, she would make Apollo pay for this.…