Red Mortal by Deidre Knight Read Free Book Online

transform you quickly, swiftly”—Ares gave Daphne a mournful glance—“but, alas, not painlessly. I’ll do so now, while it is fresh on my mind.”
    Daphne lunged at her brother. “Leave him be!” She clawed at his chest, frantic. “You may punish me all you like, but don’t make Leonidas suffer because of me.” She thrashed against him, but Ares managed to capture her about the waist, pinning her in his arms.
    He kept his gaze on Leonidas, targeting him visually, preparing to do something. Leonidas braced, dropping into a fighting stance, ready for whatever the god chose to deliver.
    Clucking his tongue, the god swept his golden cloak from about his shoulders. Leo held his breath as the gilt fabric wafted in the air, sailing toward Leonidas as if by pure magic. In that instant, Leo knew that the garment would end him. It had always carried too much power, as if it belonged to some evil sorcerer.
    Leo threw out both hands in a blocking gesture; only the darkest kind of spell could come from touching this war god’s cape. But he was too late. The glittering fabric grazed his shoulder, settling there for a moment, scalding his skin. He sidestepped, barking against the pain, but Ares’s wicked cloak became stuck like an otherworldly briar to Leo’s broad back.
    Leo staggered first one direction, then another, the cape causing pain to shoot through his veins like a toxin. With a horrible groan, he tore at the material with his hands, but it only grew more firmly attached, like a sticky spiderweb.
    “Ares!” he howled, feeling as if he’d taken a deathblow on the battlefield. “Stop this, damn you! Free me! ” The words came out slurred, felt like heavy cotton in Leo’s mouth.
    Ares laughed darkly as Leo clutched at the material with shaking hands, feeling its power seep into his bones, his spine, his muscles. “Get it . . . off of me!” he bellowed. I beg of you . . .
    No, Leonidas would never plead with any enemy. The agony, he would endure it.
    “Do you beg of me?” Ares taunted as if reading Leo’s thoughts. “Why, that’s most erotic. Perhaps you’ll plead with me as you’ve often implored my sister for her affections?”
    Leo whirled blindly, trying to throw a punch at the god, but he was too dazed and missed, stumbling forward. Daphne sprang to his side, trying to help, but Leo snarled at her protectively, “Stay back!”
    “I can get it off,” she cried, yanking at her brother’s cloak. “You know the power in it; we must stop the flow . . .”
    He shoved her away from him, afraid for her life and safety. “Don’t! Daphne, no,” he groaned, staggering again in his blindness. A wash of darkness filled his vision, a tapestry of evil shifting in his mind’s eye. Still the unholy cloak remained about his shoulders and back, weighing him down like a ten-ton anchor.
    A searing pain seemed to boil within his blood, settle in his bones, agonizing him. He couldn’t fight it, didn’t possibly possess the strength to battle such a supernatural and poisonous tide within his own body.
    “Ares,” he groaned, sinking to his knees. “I . . . will . . . vanquish thee .”
    He would find a way, if it was with his last dying breath, his only remaining portion of strength, he would destroy Ares once and for all.
    The god stared down at him, deadly victory in his feline gaze. “My lord,” he corrected with a half smile, “it appears that it is I who have already vanquished thee.” He cast a look at Daphne. “Enjoy your elder days with my sister, Old Man. They shan’t last long.”
     
    Daphne cradled Leo’s head in her lap, holding his unconscious body protectively. She glared at her brother, trying to dislodge the cloak from about Leo’s body. No matter how hard she pried or pulled, it remained firmly attached. “Take this thing off of him,” she cried, trying to sound forceful and in command when what she really felt was pure, unadulterated terror.
    Ares shrugged. “You might as well allow