Read Online Chosen by Sable Grace - Free Book Online

a god when we council, Ryker, and stop looking at me like a son pissed off by a father he never wanted!”
    Maybe she shouldn’t have come. Maybe they should be doing this alone. There was a very distinct glimmer of hurt in Ares’s eyes and she was pretty sure he was so consumed by his dispute with Ryker that he wasn’t even aware she was there. She started to back toward the door, torn between returning to the council room and remaining in case Ryker needed calming.
    In case Ares said something hurtful and required killing.
    â€œThis has nothing to do with anything other than Haven’s link to Cronos—which we can use,” Ryker said, looking so calm it was creepy.
    The topic of his parentage was a touchy one. That Ares had brought it up should have sent Ryker through the roof.
    Ares stepped forward until he stood only a couple of inches from Ryker’s face. “Strike me.”
    Huh?
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI said, strike me. We’re going to have to work together as peers now that you’ve taken Zeus’s place. I’m no longer your commander, but you are not mine either. Strike me, take out every ounce of hatred you have in that one hit, son, because it’s the only one I’ll allow before striking back. Whatever you think I’ve done to you, whatever sort of ways you think I’ve failed you, show me. Do it now, or get the hell over yourself.”
    Getting the hell out of the room was looking better and better, but Kyana stayed put. Partially because she was too intrigued to move, but mostly because she was terrified Ryker might take Ares up on his offer. If fists were thrown between them, the contention between the pair would never have a chance at resolution.
    â€œRyker—” she started, licking her lips as she pondered the words that might pull him out of his own head.
    â€œDon’t, Ky,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I won’t hit him. If I did, I’d likely kill him, and since he has no replacement, I know how foolish that would be.” He cocked his head, still appearing far calmer than the edge in his voice would lead her to believe. “You raped my mother. Left her to bear me alone, poor and too terrified to tell me why I was so different than the other kids—”
    â€œRyker, I—”
    â€œWhy I was beaten by them every fucking day because of those differences. Then you took me from her so I could become your general. Would you have ever come for me had you not learned I was special? Tell me, Ares . . . how many other bastards did you sow? How many women did you leave so badly broken that the sight of the very child you forced on them sickened them?”
    Kyana’s heart lurched into her throat, and the need to wrap her arms around him and make this argument stop overwhelmed her. She knew Ryker’s anger toward Ares’s had stemmed from childhood, knew Ryker believed Ares had raped his mother and abandoned them both.
    She wasn’t so sure that was all fact. But the last thing Ryker needed was to feel like she was siding with Ares.
    A look of utter defeat fell over Ares. He dropped his arms to the side and stepped away from Ryker. “Finally,” he said. “I understand where your hatred stems from. So be it. I am a monster. But I am also a god. You will respect me as such.”
    Without another word, he strode from the room and shut the door quietly behind him, leaving Kyana alone with Ryker.
    â€œYou okay?” she asked.
    He gave a curt nod before turning to face her. “Don’t look at me like that.”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œLike I’m something to be pitied. Your past was filled with even less affection than mine.”
    Kyana’s overwhelming sympathy for him crackled like a brittle twig. “You’re angry at him, not me. Remember that.”
    He sighed and dug his thumbs into his eyes as though trying to dig out the worst sort of