Bleed For Me (Loved By Gods #1)(20)

“Bring her here,” she said, nodding firmly. “She’ll be safe here—”

“It’s not that simple.” He sighed. “She’s a vampire.”

“A vampire?”

Apollo nodded.

Delighted laughter burst past her lips. “Oh, that’s too good. The sun god and a vampire, how insane is—”

He began walking away from her. “If Zeus isn’t here, then—”

“Wait!” She grabbed his arm. “Why—why do you have to talk to Zeus?”

“Because another vampire is after Terese, the vampire who transformed her, and I need to know how strong that * is.”

The laughter slipped away from her expression. “Did you say Terese?” For a moment, her face glowed with power. “Terese Lafitte, converted by Eric Montraine?”

How the hell did she know that? He gave a quick nod.

Artemis swallowed. “Eric’s strong. Very strong. He’s been running under my moon for nearly a millennium.”

Running under her moon? “What are you talking about?”

Her lips curved into a half-smile. “Apollo, you never really understood about us, did you? You are the sun, all that should be good and strong, but I—I am the moon, the guardian of the dark night, and of all those who dwell within that darkness.”

He grabbed her arms. “Tell me what you know of Eric.”

Her eyes changed, the blue fading. “He hunts her. Stalks her.”

Yeah, yeah, he already knew that. He fought the urge to shake Artemis.

“He took her blood, so he can track her and find her anywhere.”

His heart seemed to freeze. “Anywhere?”

Her gaze lightened as the bright blue returned to her eyes. “He knows where she is. He seeks her…now.”





Chapter Seven


Terese awoke with the setting of the sun. She sat up in the bed, pushed the covers back and stretched slowly.

Apollo wasn’t in the bed with her. But a small white note lay folded on his pillow. She picked up the note and unfolded it carefully.

Go into the den. I have a surprise for you.

Terese climbed from the bed and belted her robe. A surprise? Her lips curved as excitement filled her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten a surprise. Not anything that she wanted to be surprised with, anyway.

Being turned into a vamp hadn’t exactly been her idea of a “good” surprise.

She pushed open the bedroom door and hurried down the hallway. She rounded the corner, headed into the den, and froze.

Oh, my God. Her gaze locked on the canvases. On the easels. On the paints.

Terese ran across the room. She stroked the soft tips of the paint brushes. And there were dozens of brushes. All sizes. And the paint…so much paint. Every shade imaginable.

A bubble of laughter escaped her.

Apollo had given art back to her. He’d given her—

A floorboard squeaked behind her. Terese turned, her arms open, a smile on her lips. “Apollo, thank you—”

Apollo wasn’t standing behind her.

Terese’s smile disappeared as terror filled her.

No, it wasn’t Apollo. The man standing there, less than two feet away…was Eric.

“Hello, my dear,” he purred silkily. Then he lunged for her, claws outstretched, fangs bared.

She screamed.

*

The air shimmered, and Apollo appeared back in the cabin’s bedroom. “Terese!”

The bed was empty.

He ran into the den, screaming her name.

And he froze at the sight before him.

The art supplies, the supplies he’d painstakingly gathered for her before jumping to Olympus, were destroyed. The canvases were slashed. Brushes were thrown across the room. Paint stained the floor, a hideous splash of red and black.

In the middle of the chaos, lying abandoned in a puddle of paint…was Terese’s robe.

“No!” He grabbed the robe, clutching the soft fabric, his fingers staining red. “Artemis!” he screamed. “Artemis, I need you!”

His sister flashed into the room. Her face blanched when she saw the destruction surrounding Apollo.

“Where is he?” he snarled.

She shook her head. “I-I don’t know.”

Apollo stalked toward her with the robe still clenched in his fingers. “You knew he was after her. You knew who he was, knew how long he’d been a vampire.”

Artemis stared at him, her lips trembling.

“Now tell me where the dick is so that I can kill him!”

“I-I don’t know where he is. I can’t feel him right now.”

Fury blasted through him.

“But…I sense her.”

He stilled, desperate hope filling him. “Terese?”

She nodded.

“Then she’s still alive.” Thank Zeus. He’d go after her, bring her back, make certain she was safe and—

“For the moment,” his sister whispered sadly.

*

When Terese opened her eyes, every part of her body ached.

She’d fought with Eric. She’d clawed. She’d bit. She’d kicked.

But, in the end, she’d been no match for him.

Apollo. She hated to think of Apollo going back to the cabin and finding the destruction that had been left behind.