Wave of Memories: The Sons of the Zodiac Read Free Page A

If we understand that, maybe we can figure out why Tyrus has chosen this time and this place.”
    Meg reached for her water and Aidan didn’t miss how her hand shook as she pressed the glass to her lips. She was scared and he’d never seen that from her.
    Had never believed it possible.
    “I am a Fury. Born of the same seafoam as Aphrodite.”
    At Montana’s awed expression, Meg nodded and continued. “My sisters and I were born of a single act of violence—when Cronus fought with his father, Uranus, and threw his blood to the sea.
    “Aphrodite’s the light and we are the dark. Responsible for punishing the shadowed acts of humanity. Tisiphone avenges murder. Alecto punishes moral crimes against others. And I am the spiteful one, who punishes the crimes against the heart.”
    “Your role is not new,” Aidan turned to look at Callie, “even if your power has grown. Why has Tyrus chosen now to exact some elaborate plan of vengeance?”
    “I don’t know why but his taunts throughout the last century have grown increasingly more violent.”
    “Century?” Although all heard the words, Montana keyed in on the implications immediately. “This has been happening for that long?”
    “It’s been little things, but yes, his behavior has escalated over time.”
    Aidan struggled to calm the rising anger at the image of her battling Tyrus’s depravity decade after decade. She’d been alone and no matter how much he’d wished things had been different between them, he’d never wished her harm.
    “How?” His words were soft but he saw her eyes widen at the undertone of violence that pulsed underneath.
    “Lots of ways, both small and large, but yesterday he attacked my home with me in it. Left a lovely little calling card, too.”
    Callie’s eyes narrowed. “What type of calling card?”
    “When he was young, he enjoyed making sport of women who were considered loosely moraled.”
    “There were rumors at the time,” Aidan added, that helpless sense of anger swirling harder, like the center of a tornado. “Nothing that could be proven, but women would disappear. His father was powerful and Tyrus was rather powerful in his own right.”
    “So what does that have to do with was left for you?” Callie pressed. Aidan didn’t miss the hard set of her mouth or the bleak look that had descended in her eyes, even as she pressed for the truth.
    “I confronted Tyrus at the time, not as an immortal, but as a leader who’d proven herself in the court of Philopoemen. Told him I was on to him and that he’d better stop. After that, I’d find locks of hair delivered to my home. I’d never know when they’d arrive but they were always a different color. And a woman would always be missing around the same time they arrived.”
    Meg took another large sip of water, then continued on. “His behavior toward me has picked up where he left off. Locks of hair, small pieces of jewelry or a scrap of clothing. Then, yesterday, there was a mysterious package that sat outside my home. I found it last night when I went back to look at the damage. Inside was a lock of hair and a note.”
    Despite himself, Aidan felt the burning embers spark to life as the familiar anger at his childhood enemy filled him with an unholy rage. “What did the note say, Meg?”
    “That I had forty-eight hours. Then he’d find me wherever I am and we’d finish what we started.”
    Before he could question her further, Montana beat him to the punch. “But why now? And why you? Surely he knows better than to come after another god?”
    “There’s something she’s not telling you.” Aidan let the words spill forth, ignoring the wash of misery that spread across the high cut of Meg’s cheekbones. “More to the story.”
    “What is it?” Quinn sat forward. “We need to know if we’re going to help you.”
    “I vanquished Tyrus.”
    Aidan held back the harsh bark of laughter at her description.
Vanquish?
    More like decimated.
    And she’d taken