The Immortal Game (book 1) (24 page)

Zeus turned and headed down the path that led away from the Great Hall. Ruby began to follow in the direction where Helios waited to take her from Olympus, from all her friends, from Ares.

Her mind raced. Her eyes scanned the garden. She saw nothing. She could think of nothing. Then she was speaking, with no sense of what she was saying. “No. No. I … I have to … I have to go get something at Athena’s.” Her voice cracked. Her eyes were obscured with tears. She needed to have something of this place to take with her.

“No, you must go now.” He grabbed her arm. “It’s now or never.”

She pulled back and wrenched free from Zeus’s tight grip. He stared at her. His icy blue eyes pierced her fear. She let it flow in and over her. She let it move past her. Her tears slowed. “I have to get something. I won’t see Ares. I won’t tell anyone.”

“I must insist,” he said.

“No. I insist. I will come back. Alone. I won’t let Earth perish for my own selfish desires.
I
am not like that,” she said, stressing the difference between them.

His face changed. His smile turned up in one corner and the tiny lines around his eyes relaxed. He walked toward her. Soon she could feel the heat of his body. She could smell the fresh Olympic dirt that was on his hands. She was barely breathing when his face came down to hers.

He put his mouth next to her ear and whispered, “You are so beautiful when you’re frightened.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “I should take you for my own.”

Shivers ran through her. His hand came up and pushed the hair away from her neck. She felt his hot breath on her skin.

“I need clothes. I can’t go to Earth in this,” she said softly, trying to think, trying to keep to the point at hand, terrified of what Zeus might do. “I won’t talk to anyone.”

His soft beard grazed her cheek. The muscles in her throat contracted. Then she heard his teeth come together with a loud click and a single word.

“Run.”

EIGHTEEN

Ruby ran. Away from the fountain, past the sculpted trees, through the Great Hall, and back toward Athena’s. Was this really be happening? Was she really leaving? She looked around and tried to savor her last minutes on Olympus, but her head ached and her body throbbed. Ares’s face flashed in her mind. She shut it out. Not now.

She ran the entire way. Her sides ached and her breath burned in her lungs. She stopped before Athena’s abode. She tried to relax and seem casual. She didn’t expect anyone to be there. Athena was on Earth with Aphrodite and Ares had gone off with Pan that morning.

She opened the door and listened for sounds from inside. There were none. She ran up the stairs, down the hall, and into her room.
Her room.
She knew it had been temporary, but she thought she would be leaving this room happy and excited to move into Ares’s abode as his wife. The thought was too painful. She focused instead on why she had come.

There on the dresser, next to the picture of her parents, was the olive branch Athena had given to her and Ares. She touched it carefully, even though nothing could hurt it in its enchanted state. She fingered the small leaves and delicate white flowers with her trembling hands. Would the enchantment endure on Earth? She’d plant it right away. She’d grow something beautiful from this ugliness that was happening to her.

She put the branch in the leather pouch she wore around her waist.
I’ll even miss these clothes.
She had gotten used to the freedom of her peplos. She pulled on an old pair of jeans and a T-shirt, clothes Athena had brought her from Earth, and tried to distance herself from Olympus. She wrapped the leather pouch, with the olive branch in it, around the waist of her jeans and covered it with her rain jacket. She slipped on her sneakers and laced them.

She looked around the room. Her resolve to leave faltered. The worst part was that she knew no one here would judge her if she chose to stay. Most gods felt that their desires trumped thousands or even millions of human lives. She may have found herself more and more comfortable on Olympus with each passing day, but she could never let herself become that much like them.

She walked to the window. It groaned as she lifted the sash. She closed her eyes and stuck her head out into the fragrant Olympic air. She breathed in, hoping to imprint the smell on her brain forever. There was laughter from below. Startled, she opened her eyes.

Athena and Ares were both staring up at her. “What are you doing?” Ares called with a smile.

Ruby panicked and pulled her head back in. “Nothing.” Her eyes were wide. She didn’t think she could hold it together in front of him. He would sense that something was wrong
.

She ran down the hall, down the steps, into the large foyer, and headed for the front door. But it was too late. Ares met her there with Athena close behind. He was serious. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” she exhaled. “I thought I’d go for a walk. I need some air.” She hoped her face wasn’t red from crying.

“In that?” Athena looked over her outfit.

“I … I got homesick for regular clothes,” she stammered. “I need to go for a walk. Alone,” she said a little too quickly. “To clear my thoughts.”

“To clear your thoughts about what?” Ares stepped toward her.

“It’s—it’s the wedding,” she said. “I feel like it’s never going to happen. That’s all. It’s making me sad, and that’s making me homesick.” She wondered if those dots connected.

“Can I come? I want to be with you if you’re unhappy.” Ares touched her arm.

Later she would never know how she had held it together at that moment. Was it to protect the Earth? To protect Ares? Whatever it was she heard herself say, “No. Thank you. I’d like to be alone.” She kissed him, a moment longer then she might have otherwise, and walked out the door.

…

Ruby ran again as soon as she was clear of Athena’s abode. What would Zeus do if she wasn’t there soon enough? She was lost in thought when Hermes came running down the path toward her.

“Ruby,” he gasped. He doubled over with a hand on each knee. “You—” he gulped for air. “—can’t go.”

Ruby stopped. Hermes was the messenger of the gods. He ran all over Olympus, day and night. She had never seen him out of breath before.

“Are you all right?” She put a hand on his bent shoulder. He was hot from running.

“You can’t go,” he panted. “You have to hide. He’ll kill you.” He stopped for a breath again. His sand-colored hair was disheveled and hung in his face.

“I don’t understand …”

“Zeus,” he snapped and stood up. “He’s going to kill you.”

“Kill me? No. But he’s making me leave.”

“No, Ruby.” His breath was returning to normal.

“He’s sending Helios to take me back to Earth.”

“Do you know who Helios is?” He looked at her.

“I’ve read about him, yeah. He guides the sun through the sky. So what?”

“The sun never touches the Earth. Does it?”

She shook her head, confused. “I guess not, but…”

“I was suspicious that Zeus would send you a message. Your reaction when you read it alarmed me even more. I followed you to his abode and into the garden. I overheard everything he said to you. When you left I stayed. Zeus told Helios to throw you into the ocean from the sun’s highest point.”

Ruby flinched. “He’s going to kill me?” she whispered. She searched Hermes’s sweaty face.

“You have to hide. I’ll get Ares. We’ll figure something out. We have to be quick.” Hermes took her by the arm and led her off the path into the woods.

Ruby trusted him. If anyone knew the back ways of Olympus it was Hermes. But she pulled away and stopped him in his tracks. “No. The Earth will die. He’ll kill it if I stay. I don’t want to leave. It might kill
me
. But I can’t be happy knowing the rest of humanity suffered.”

“He can’t do this,” Hermes said. “Ares won’t let him.
I
won’t.” His eyes glanced to the ground, then back to her. “Zeus’s cruel games have gone on for too long. We’ll find a way to keep you here and help the Earth.” He held out his hand.

Ruby wanted to believe. More than anything, she wanted to believe. She looked around the woods and up the path toward the Great Hall where Zeus waited. She looked in the opposite direction, to Athena’s, where she felt the pull of Ares. She slapped her hand down into Hermes’s palm. He did not hesitate, but turned and pulled her into the shadowy woods.

…

Ruby tripped over another root. Hermes pulled her up by the hand. “We’re almost there,” he said.

“Where exactly is
there
?” Small branches scraped at her face. She pushed them away, but more crowded in.

“I’ll know it when I see it.” He looked around, peering through the trees.

“I thought you knew every place on Olympus.”

“I do.” He glanced back at her and then to the forest again. “I’m not looking for a where. I’m looking for a who.”

“Who then?” She stumbled again, but recovered without Hermes noticing.

“I think they’re this way. We’ll have to cross Oceanus.” He picked up the pace again. Ruby lurched forward.

They came to the edge of the river but Hermes didn’t stop. He ran straight into the water. Ruby followed in behind him. The river was only about forty feet across. The water came up to her knees. It was cool, but not cold. The water sloshed in and around her sneakers and her wet jeans were plastered to her legs. They were out of the water, and back into more dense forest, almost as quickly as they went in to it.

Hermes grabbed for her hand again and she took it. She realized that they were breaking the edict by crossing the river, but in the next second she would have laughed if she had any extra breath in her lungs. Zeus already wanted to kill her.

They came into a small clearing not far from the river. Sun streamed down in shafts from above. “Come out,” Hermes said in a loud deep voice as Ruby panted next to him. She scanned the trees where he was looking. But she didn’t see anything.

“We request your assistance in the name of Artemis.” His voice boomed. Ruby was startled that Hermes, ever happy and agreeable, could be so commanding.

“I don’t think anyone’s here.” Ruby looked around the clearing at the silent trees on the edges.

“They’re here all right. This is one of their groves.” The two of them stood still and silent. Ruby waited for something to happen.

Soon ethereal figures appeared among the trunks. Ruby recognized their floating movements before her mind could separate out an individual. Nymphs. They glided inward but stopped short of the clearing.

“We need your help,” Hermes demanded. “Ares’s bride is in danger from Zeus. You must keep her here. Guard her, until I can return with the Goddess. Zeus will kill her if he finds her.”

A tall nymph floated out from behind an oak and began to walk on two feet. Her chestnut hair hung down below her bare breasts. Her fair skin glowed faintly in the sunlight. Her dark eyes met with Ruby’s.

“We will keep her,” she agreed.

“I’ll return as soon as I can,” he said to Ruby. He turned and ran back into the woods.

Ruby smiled at the nymph, but the nymph remained stone-faced. Ruby looked beyond her and saw more shapes moving among the trees. Some came into the clearing right away, others hung back. She had seen nymphs several times, when Pan would play his pipes and call them. Most ran off with Artemis to hunt. Some stayed to be charmed, wooed, and bedded by the gods, but they were never interested in her.

“Thank you.” Ruby addressed the dark-eyed nymph who seemed to be in charge.

“It’s nothing to us,” the nymph said without emotion. “If the Goddess wishes us to keep you, we shall. If not, we won’t. We answer to her.”

“
The
Goddess?” Ruby never heard anyone refer to just one goddess before Hermes said it moments ago. “Artemis?” She pictured her, aloof and cold.

“The Goddess of the Hunt. We answer to her. And her alone.”

…

Ares, Athena, and Hermes rushed into the clearing. The nymphs startled into defensive poses around Ruby. Ares walked past them as if they weren’t there and took her into his arms.

“I’ll kill him,” he said into her hair, her neck, her cheek, kissing her everywhere.

Ruby stifled the sob that had crept up when she saw him. She laughed instead. “He’s immortal.”

“I’ll find a way.”

She held him tight. She had thought she might never get to see him again. “Why does he hate me so much?”

He looked into her eyes and then rested his chin on the top of her head. “He hates himself,” he said. “Don’t worry. You’re safe now.”

“Safe? Is there a place on Olympus where Zeus can’t find me? Is there a way for me to save the Earth
and
stay here? Zeus said he could convince Hades to release Persephone, but only if I leave.”

Ares was silent.

“Come with me,” she said in a rush. “Come back to Earth with me. The wars won’t start again. We can live there and be happy. At least for a while.” She pictured a life where she grew old and died, and Ares didn’t.

He shook his head. “No. I won’t. I will marry you
here
. We will be together forever.”

“I don’t see how,” she whispered.

Hermes and Athena stood at the edge of the clearing, giving them space. Ares spoke louder, inviting them to come near. “I’m going to the Underworld to find Persephone,” he said. “I’ll bring her back myself.”

“All right!” Hermes shouted. His fists were balled up at his sides as though he expected a fight to break out in front of him.

Ruby’s eyes shot to Ares’s. “You can’t! You can’t challenge Hades in the Underworld. He’ll …” She wasn’t sure what Hades would do, but she knew that in his own realm Hades would have free rein. Zeus only got involved in the rarest of cases. And in this case, she imagined, he would gladly sit back and let Hades do what he willed.

“I’ll find a way.” Ares’s turquoise eyes blazed with determination.

“How?” Athena asked, with only logic in her voice. “How will you find an entrance? How will you find Persephone once you’re there? How will you bring her back?”

“I know of an entrance,” Hermes, who sometimes shepherded the dead to the Underworld, broke in. “I can show you. I’ll come and help you to cross the river and get you past that infernal dog.”