The Call of Monsters (My Beautiful Monsters #3) - J.B. Trepagnier Page 0,63
siblings were. The Olympians always overlooked her because she was better at healing magic, and they didn’t exactly need it. Demos might not get it, but I understood why she created phoenixes and was obsessed with them, even if I agreed with him she took things too far.
“Oh, shit,” Solron said with her hand over her neck. Kimon caught her just as she collapsed.
Finn was already on the floor, while Charley tried to use her magic to heal him. He kept arguing with her to heal Solron first because of her relationship with a king of Hell, but I already knew who Charley was going to work on first—the man she loved.
Hestia would have been better, but I also knew healing magic, and we didn’t have time to get her. It also stood to reason that if Artemis really cared about her handmaidens so much that she was willing to sit this out unless she got them back, then she knew how to heal their injuries too.
Solron was the color of parchment, and she was bleeding from the mouth. I kneeled over her.
“Artemis, get your ass over here and help me. If this one were human, she’d make an excellent handmaiden.”
“Fuck if I’d go without sex just to shoot a bow,” Solron growled.
She was bleeding out on the floor, but she was still Solron. Artemis rushed over and shoved me out of the way.
“Move, Hephaestus. I have more experience with this than you do. Hestia demanded I learn from her after I kept sending my handmaidens to her. Does your friend have that man handled?”
“Charley, do you have this?” I asked.
She didn’t break her chant. Her hands were still over Finn, glowing white. I had a feeling she could handle her mate just fine. River raved about how she healed a Hellhound with internal bleeding way faster than she could.
Solron was getting delirious from how much blood she had lost. She was babbling and spitting blood.
“I’m not a virgin, and I’m totally into a lot of sex with men, but please don’t let me die on this floor. I may end up Queen of Hell.”
I knew what everyone thought about Artemis. They thought she hated men and forbade her followers from having sex. Artemis was fine with men unless they hurt women, and let’s be honest, men did that a lot. Her handmaidens joined her because they didn’t want to be with men in that way. I didn’t think she would hold it against them if they did and wanted to leave.
Artemis just chuckled and placed her hands over Solron’s neck.
“I don’t care if you’re not a virgin, and I only care about sex with men when it’s not consensual, or they only care about their own pleasure. I’m not going to let you die on this floor just for that.”
“Oh, god, sometimes we like to pretend it’s not consensual, but the sexing is excellent. Bael will get mad if you let me die.”
Artemis just chuckled and removed her hands.
“You say this one is from Hell? It sounds like an interesting place. Your wound is healed, but you’re going to need someone like you to replace the blood you lost. I have a setup at my place.”
Barbatos stepped forward.
“Mine will work. Take us there. Bael will have my head if she dies. This was supposed to be playtime for her.”
I knew he was serious. I’d never met this mysterious king of Hell, but I had a feeling if Solron died, Olympus and the Underworld wouldn’t be safe from him. It relieved me when Barbatos carried Solron through to Artemis’s estate. If she learned from Hestia, then Solron was in excellent hands.
I went to check on Finn. Finn and Solron were heroes. As much as I wanted to be the one to kill Ares, I was now just glad he was dead. I wish it had been slower and more painful, but it was over.
Everyone in the room was now dead, but Ares’s careless flinging of magic injured every single person in this room. It wasn’t as bad as Solron or Finn, but if I could have killed Ares again for River’s injuries, I would have. She had a black eye and a busted lip. Even Pavlina, who had been across the room with Athena, had gotten blasted.
Pavlina was feeling well enough to make a mess hacking Athena’s head off. What was she doing?
“Pavlina, sweetie, what are you doing with Athena’s body?” I asked.