The soldier had grown on me, and she was wounded because of me.
“She was sent to the medical tower,” Esme said. “She’ll live.”
I’d visit her soon. I would borrow money from Héctor and buy Marie a pair of badass boots to cheer her up.
“Any questions you have, ask me, Headmistress Von Rouche,” Paxton cut in, exhaustion and irritation lacing his voice. “I’ve been with Marigold the entire time. I know everything she knows and more.”
Esme’s eyes flashed darkly. “You’re wounded, Demigod Paxton,” she said. “A badly impaired demigod is more dangerous than anything, and you know that. You should get to the healing center before you hurt yourself and others.”
Would an injured demigod act like a wounded, cornered beast?
I didn’t want to be concerned about Paxton, yet my stomach churned with anxiety.
“You don’t need to worry about me, Esme,” Paxton said. “I can hold on long enough to answer all of your questions. It’ll take less than two minutes for me to tell you what transpired here.”
Héctor picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, eager to go wherever he was going to take me.
Anywhere but here.
The wind rose.
I pressed my cheek against Héctor’s jaw, guilt and gratitude reeling through me.
“Worry no more, lamb,” he said, dipping his head and slanting his mouth over mine, as a swirl of light and shadows spun around us.
Just then, a force gripped us, peeling away the shifting shield over us.
Héctor jerked his head up and removed his lips from me.
“What the fuck?” he thundered.
We plunged to earth instead of ascending in the wind.
“The girl stays,” a musical, masculine voice announced, vibrating with formidable power.
Héctor and I suddenly alighted where we had stood before. I loosened my legs from around his waist, deciding it best not to cling to him like a vine under the circumstances. I stood beside him, his hand holding mine.
All around us, everyone knelt before a giant male in war armor—everyone except Esme, Zak, Axel, Héctor, me, and Paxton, who leaned on Zak.
The God of War had just plucked us from the teleporting slipstream.
CHAPTER 2
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