It was fortunate the planet they'd landed on was in the midst of a storm. Surrounding them, a forest of trees appearing to be a breath away from kindling stood like rotten figures. The trees were hunched over, beaten down by whatever had laid waste to the nutrients of the earth. Barren limbs fell to the ground in heavy thuds every few moments like an encore to the rumbling thunder.

Enyalius stepped wide over a branch. "I can't wait to get off this planet," the god grumbled.

"In such a rush to leave behind the first lead we have on your father?" Vatra teased. She wiped strands of hair from her field of vision.

The rain pelted them incessantly.

"If I know my father at all, he'd have taken his chance to escape and run," Enyalius replied. "As much as he loves a good fight, he's also not a complete fool."

"I don't know, I've always found him to be quite foolish," Vatra commented. She avoided a thicket of dead branches with careful steps and kept a sharp gaze around them.

Enyalius scoffed. "Are you truly always this sarcastic?"

"Dead serious," Vatra said.

"Anyways," Enyalius continued, "like I said earlier, my priorities have changed. Maybe it was my time behind bars that made me reevaluate my desire to reunite with dear old dad, but I'm no longer interested in associating myself with him."

Vatra nearly tripped over a rock blocking their path through the trees. "Just like that?"

The god shrugged casually. "Sometimes things are that simple, love."

"They're never that simple with you," she retorted. "What about your mother, huh? And that precious godkiller of yours? You really think I'd believe you'd abandon Ares, too? Don't think I forgot about those pieces of your identity as a war god."

Slowing to a halt, Vatra folded her arms and refused to follow Enyalius any further. She gave a glance around for anyone before narrowing her eyes on the back of Enyalius' head. His hair had slicked down the nape of his neck, and rain dripped down to the jacket over his jumpsuit.

A heavy and irritated sigh escaped Enyalius' lips. He turned on his heels, the usual cocky grin on his face gone and replaced with a deep frown. "You really want to have this talk now?"

"I doubt I'd ever want to be alone with you ever again, so, yes," Vatra said with a nod.

"Enyo, my mother, refused to leave Earth like many of the gods. She died there. And I lost my godkiller on Earth, too, when a beast consumed my ship and crew some thousand years ago. Are you happy with my answers?"

Vatra clicked her tongue. She didn't know about Enyo's death. Though, she'd have been lying if she said she was sad to hear about it. "So, why even go through all the trouble of hiring me to get Ares back for you?"

"I didn't know it was you," Enyalius dead-panned.

"Answer the question," Vatra shot.

Enyalius' frown deepened even further. He visibly chewed his bottom lip and tapped a forefinger to his arm. "I thought I needed him to help me break the curse that kept me from hurting anyone else."

"And why don't you think that now?"

"When you blew up the ship, I was left behind to deal with the crash. The soldiers came for me. Call it instinct to defend myself, I don't know, but I picked up a weapon and I actually killed several of the guards to escape. Somehow, I can harm others now. I realized I didn't need my father, after all. I never really wanted to go back to being who I was before, anyway. This all gave me the perfect out of having to see him again," Enyalius explained.

Vatra felt a chill creep up her spine. The pouring rain was already like ice on her skin, but she felt it spread down into the core of her belly.

"Why do you look so concerned?" Enyalius questioned.

"I'm worried that means Revna is dead, which means the others could be in danger, too. Didn't you stop to consider that? Idiot!" Vatra shouted and lunged forward, pushing Enyalius firmly with a palm on either side of his chest.

Stumbling back, a look of confusion crossed the god's face. "Wait, Vatra!" Enyalius reached forward for Vatra's arm as she ran past him, grabbing her around the wrist.

Vatra wrenched her hand free, sucking in a deep breath to steady her pounding heart. "You'd better have a good excuse to keep me from going to check on my crew."

The god dropped his eyes to the ground, like he was about to spill a secret that had been weighing down his conscience. "Revna and I never told you the conditions that needed to be met for me to finally be able to pick up a weapon again. It was done to me because I'd wronged many people, and enjoyed bringing harm and pain to others. Lucky for me, I just so happened to wrong the one group of people that could actually conjure a spirit to keep me on the right path-"

"Get to the point," Vatra interrupted. She wanted to punch him again, or just simply turn and run off for her ship.

"I had to make amends with the one person I wronged the most. I thought maybe it was my father, but it was you," Enyalius said.

Stepping away from Enyalius, she felt the rage she'd experienced seeing him on Pocarro boil her blood. Her hands shook in their gloves. They itched to grab her godkillers, to make him take back what he'd said.

"I didn't forgive you," Vatra stated, venom lacing her words.

"You put your faith in me. For a god, that's enough to get rid of any curse," Enyalius said.

Vatra steadied her fingers over the hilt of one of her knives. The god before her noticed what she was doing and backed away with caution.

"You tricked me to get what you wanted." Vatra pulled out her godkiller. "All of that talk just now, was that just bullshit, too?"

"Calm down, Vatra. I never lied to you. Not before, certainly not now. I didn't trick you. I just wanted to tell you the truth," Enyalius said. He side-stepped as she did, matching each of her movements.

Though Vatra couldn't kill him, she could certainly make sure he wouldn't board the Agkistrodon.

"You know why I can't believe what you're saying, right?" Her voice broke as she asked him the question, almost pleading with Enyalius to confess his guilt to her.

She could feel salt stinging her eyes. Vatra wasn't sure if the rain was causing it, or if she was crying. Whichever it was, she didn't care. A lump grew in her throat. All of her anger and rage collided with pain and grief.

This was her moment to confront him. Just her and Enyalius, and no one else to interfere.

"Yes," Enyalius admitted. "Of course I do. You think I don't remember what I did to you all those years ago? I killed you when you were mortal so I could have one of the most powerful godkillers."

"I never got to ask, really," Vatra paused and lowered her godkiller slightly, "why me?"

"I thought you were forgettable," Enyalius said through gritted teeth. "A nobody that no one would have missed when you died. Clearly, I was mistaken."

Vatra inhaled sharply, suppressing the last of her tears that fought to escape her eyes, then sheathed her godkiller. "No, you were right," she said. "I was forgettable. No one even knew I died."

Enyalius raised a brow. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed his lips slowly, as if trapping whatever words were about to spill out.

"Was it worth it?" Vatra inquired. "Sacrificing a mortal and betraying Hephaestus to get what you wanted?"

"Not at all," Enyalius said hastily. "The sword never felt right, and in the end, I lost it, anyway. Perhaps my bad luck with the godkiller had something to do with the sacrifice made to make the weapon," he added with a sly grin.

Rolling her eyes, Vatra started back in the direction of the Agkistrodon.

"Too soon?" Enyalius mused.

"I literally almost killed you over that incident five seconds ago," Vatra said over her shoulder.

"Ah, I'm sure it won't be the last time you try to kill me, either." Enyalius jogged until he caught up with her, then fell in step at her side. "We still have quite a distance to go, love. What else do you want to get off your chest?"