Read Online Red Mortal by Deidre Knight - Free Book Online Page B

I were you, I’d never leave his side.”
    A sob built in her throat. Even the God of Love himself acknowledged that what she shared with Leo was rare and special. Rushing to the side of the pool, she dropped to her knees. “Oh, Eros! You’re the only one I could think of, the only one who might be able to help.”
    He sat up on the rocks, the dreamy expression on his face replaced by alertness and concern. “Aunt Daphne, please explain.” His tawny eyes, so much like his father’s, gazed back at her sharply.
    She bowed her head, tears welling up in her eyes. “You know how he hates Leonidas.”
    “Ares,” he pronounced in a chilled voice.
    “He’s made Leo mortal. Aging him . . . quickly. That’s what he said.” She buried her face in both hands. “Oh, why is he so cruel? Why must he hate me so much?”
    “He despises us both, Daphne.”
    She felt his damp hand brush against her cheek, but kept her face averted, not wanting him to see her painful tears.
    “Leonidas is the only true happiness I’ve ever known. And so Ares takes pleasure in killing him . . . destroying me.”
    “It’s because family—those of us he should love—accuse him of being what he truly is. A hateful, warring monster. Incapable of love. Incapable of care. We are the worst in him . . . that’s what he believes.”
    She let her hands fall away from her face. “You can help Leonidas. That’s why I’ve come. He could bathe in your pool, like Juliana did . . . and become immortal again.”
    Eros shook his head. “I wish it were so, Daphne. But in this, I am powerless to help.”
    She gaped in disbelief, but he only climbed out of the pool, concealing his nude body behind a large rosy-colored towel, and turned away from her.
    He was refusing her request?
    “But . . . but you helped Juliana,” she stammered. “I don’t understand.”
    Eros turned to face her, standing tall and wrapped in the towel. His golden eyes were filled with profound sadness, a palpable grief. “I would do anything to save him for you . . . to preserve your love. But, Daphne, I am powerless against my father’s dark arts.”
    “You warred against him mere months ago! When he was trying to destroy my Spartans by setting that female Djinn against them!”
    “But that attack was not from the direct use of his power or magic. He specifically enlisted my help, and in the end, I specifically chose not to aid him—and to help all of you instead.”
    “Then choose to help us now. Specifically go against him again.”
    “I cannot. In the case of your Leonidas, I am impotent, unable to reverse this curse. The king was made immortal by my father—and now he will return to dust by his hand, as well. His fate is sealed.”
    Daphne seized hold of the god’s hands, squeezing them imploringly. “Leo is not dust. He’s alive and vital. I know that you could help him and restore his youth. His immortality could be made permanent again. I know it, Eros.”
    Eros stared past her, toward the peak of Olympus where Ares’s own palace gleamed beneath perpetual sunlight. “My father’s curse will work quickly. He never waits long when he’s this jealous and angry.” Slowly Eros’s gaze drifted back to her. “I’m sorry, Daphne, but your Leonidas is as good as dead already. Go to him now, for you don’t have long.”

Chapter 6
     
    L eonidas paced the hardwood floor of his study. By now, his captain, Ajax, had most likely informed their warriors about the changes he’d observed; the Spartans and perhaps even the humans were probably gathered and waiting in the great room. Still, Leo needed time to think. Ajax would understand and anticipate that, as well.
    This had always been Leo’s leadership style: to quietly contemplate strategy and battle plans, then bring those ideas to his captains for discussion. The only problem was that he didn’t fully understand what Ares had done to him. The god claimed to have stripped away his immortality: the evidence of that