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storm that the sky itself had yet to reveal.
    Ares gazed at him hard, a wicked grin forming on his face. “You’re dying, old man,” he pronounced easily. “You’re no longer immortal. You’re aging now, Leonidas, one unholy grain of sand at a time. I am robbing you of all the strength and handsomeness that she”—Ares tossed a narrow-eyed glare at Daphne—“has always admired in you. You wanted out of the bargain? I’ve kept my word.”
    “Explain your meaning,” Leo growled.
    Ares peered over Leo’s shoulder at Daphne. “Oh, but hasn’t my sister told you? I was certain that she had.” He fanned himself, smiling his liquid, perverse smile. “She’s not revealed your rather spectacular fate?”
    Leo tilted his chin upward, refusing to glance at Daphne. Perhaps she’d been keeping secrets from him, concealing some truth. But to what end?
    Oh, but hasn’t my sister told you? The mocking words clanged in Leo’s ears, goading him until he could only blink back at Ares, uncertain and bewildered.
    Could Ares truly have made him so vulnerable?
    His confusion earned him a harsh, barking laugh from the god. “Dying, yes,” Ares murmured almost lovingly. Then he clapped his hands together with relishing glee. “You’ll truly turn into an old man , while Daphne’s youthful, immortal beauty shall never fade.”
    “You . . . you couldn’t do that,” Leo tried insisting, even as he knew the god most certainly could. “I’ve been faithful in the past, served you . . . well.”
    “But you refused to serve me any longer .” Ares shrugged and gave him a condescending smile, as if humoring a disobedient child. “Come now, old king. You’re a vaguely intelligent man. Surely, you’d realized your fate already. You’ve sensed the old injuries beginning to mock you, the way your knee aches; you’ve seen the silver in your beard.”
    In fact, Leonidas had noticed—he’d noticed and tried to assuage the fears with denial. He’d glimpsed those few silver hairs. But he’d never once suspected that Ares would rob him of his eternal life.
    Ares began to beam in cruel satisfaction. Like a lover, he reached a hand and stroked Leo’s bearded jaw. “Ah, but have you gazed in the mirror today ? Alas, I fear you might notice new, more vivid changes in that dark hair of yours. Oh, and by the way, I fear that if you try transforming into your hawk form . . . well, you won’t have much luck in that regard, either.”
    Leo raked a hand through his short curls before he could stop himself. Everything the god threatened seemed to be revealed in slow, painful motion. Like a poisonous arrow, nailing him in the heart, robbing him of breath and life.
    If he died, he’d lose Daphne forever; she’d never be able to join him in Elysium. Not when she herself would never age or die. They’d be separated for eternity if he passed to the next realm. How could Daphne not have told him of his prescribed fate, if indeed she’d known? If she loved him, surely she would have broken the truth to him.
    “Daphne,” he gasped, struggling for breath. “What is he talking about?” He whirled to face her, and saw the facts written across her pale face and in her tear-filled eyes. “You knew ?” he asked, feeling the weight of that betrayal.
    “I’ve wanted to confess everything. I can’t tell you how badly, but I was afraid. . . .” She glanced at her brother significantly. She’d feared him, and therefore not warned Leo of this curse.
    Ares gave him a satisfied smile. “My sister and I will still be here when your bones have turned to chalky dust. She’s smart enough to know who deserves her loyalty.”
    Daphne tried to protest, but Ares talked over her, moving right up into Leo’s space.
    “I shall offer a kindness, Spartan,” Ares volunteered brightly. “Why should you tarry here on Earth when Elysium awaits? I’ll prove that I’m not the cruel god you’ve always claimed . . . I’ll hasten this process of yours,