Bleed For Me (Loved By Gods #1)(18)

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.” The back of Apollo’s hand caressed her cheek.

“What—what do you mean?” She didn’t like the idea of Apollo going up against Eric. The guy was an elder, who knew what he could do? “I think we should just stay away from him.” Far away.

He snorted. “Yeah, that’s a plan.” He linked his hand with hers and pulled her close to him. “I need to get you some place safe, then I’ll hunt him and—”

“No!” She stared at him in disbelief. Surely he didn’t think she was just going to sit all comfy and cozy somewhere while he went out and faced Eric. “I’m not going to let you hunt him alone.”

But he just laughed. “Trust me, I can take him out.” Such total confidence.

Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. What had Ares said? Killing vamps should be child’s play for you, sunny boy. She swallowed, a really, really bad feeling rising in her stomach. “What did Ares mean, about you killing vampires?”

His eyelids lowered in a barely perceptible flinch. If she hadn’t been watching him so closely, she wouldn’t have seen the telling movement. “Apollo?”

His lips thinned. “I’ll tell you, but, first, I want to get you out of this alley.” His arms looped behind her, and he pulled her flush against him. “I want to jump back home.”

Jump. “You mean…space jump?” That was what he’d called it before.

A quick nod. “It’s the safest way. We’ll disappear and if that bastard’s watching, he won’t know where the hell we went.”

Her fingers dug into his waist. “How does this work exactly?” Jumping through space, that seemed dangerous. “I mean, is it like on Star Trek when the crew members look like they’re disintegrating?”

His lips quivered and she knew he fought a smile. “No, sweetheart. We’re not going to disintegrate. We’re just gonna move really, really fast.”

“Oh, okay.” Moving fast didn’t sound so bad.

“Now, hold on tight, and don’t let go, no matter what happens.”

No matter what happens. Um…back to sounding bad. “Apollo, I don’t understand, why—”

Too late.

A strange howling filled her ears, and the alley darkened as the cement walls faded away.

A blur of light whipped past her body. Hands yanked at her flesh.

Terese screamed and clung to Apollo, holding on to her god with all her strength.





Chapter Six


“Are you all right?”

Terese cracked open one eye and managed to glare at him. “Are we done jumping?”

With an effort, Apollo managed not to laugh. “Uh, yeah, we’re done.” They were back at his place, and Terese was currently curled in the fetal position on his bed.

Her other eye opened. “I don’t ever, ever want to do that again.”

“Sorry, I should have told you that jumping could be a little unsettling at first.”

“Yeah, a little.” She sat up, rubbing her arms. Then she bit her lip. “Do you think we’re safe now?”

He hoped so, but he really didn’t know how powerful Eric was.

There was someone who could tell him, someone who always seemed to know everything about mortal and immortal life—

Zeus. His all-knowing, arrogant sire.

He’d have to jump to Olympus and pay his old man a visit to see what the bastard knew.

Terese stretched out on the bed. “Dawn’s coming.”

Apollo blinked. The windows were completely covered. Not even a trace of light from the outside shone in. With each day that passed, Terese seemed to sense the dawn’s power more and more.

The mattress dipped when he crawled into the bed with her. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

Her arms wrapped around him, and she cuddled close, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “What’s that?” she asked, her voice soft.

“What were you like…before?” Before Eric had found her, before he’d transformed her into a vampire. Before there’d been fear in her eyes.

Her head lifted and she gazed at him, a small line pulling down her brows. “What do you mean?”

“Well, what did you do for a living?” Such a simple, normal question. And it was so important to him.

He wanted to know Terese. To know the woman she’d been, to know the woman she’d become.

“I-I was an artist.” She lifted her right hand and gazed down at her nails. “I always had paint on me. On my clothes, in my hair.” She turned her hand toward him. “Under my nails.”

He caught her hand in his, brought it to his mouth, and kissed her fingers. “What did you paint?”

Her smile faded as sadness slipped across her face. “I liked to paint the outdoors. Landscapes. Sunsets. The morning light trickling over a pond…” She swallowed and for a moment, tears shimmered in her eyes. “I wasn’t an artistic genius or anything, but I-I enjoyed the painting. It made me happy.”

And she made him happy. He put her hand on his chest, right over his heart. “I’d like to see some of your work.”

She stilled.

“Terese?”