Kyra

Chapter Thirty-One

Frustratingly, Kyra hadn't been exaggerating when she said she wouldn't sleep until she returned home. She'd spent twenty-four hours in his office, trying to get every last detail of his contract with Nadine out of him. All the while, he'd been encouraging her to sleep—to at least nap—in his bed so she could be fully awake to take the world by storm.

Except this woman had always been stubborn so when Kyra put her foot down there was no fighting her on it.

For that reason alone, Ares was biting the bullet and standing on the land just outside of her Amazonian fortress. Kyra stood before him, the look on her face one of wistfulness as she finally came face to face with her home. Erika and Leda flanked them, an awkward combo but the best suited one to the occasion. Those two women were Ares' best fighters. But awkward all the same.

For one, Erika and Kyra had never gotten along so their endless bickering was a given. As for Leda and Kyra, the Mother-daughter act were still yet to get over the barrier of conversation.

All in all, not the ideal mix. Circumstance overruled any awkwardness.

For the first time, Ares got a proper look at the outside of his lover's home. It was definitely something.

Such as now they stared at rusted, derelict gates.

"Your gates could do with some TLC," He told her honestly.

"No. We like them like that."

"Broken, rusty and battered?" Erika mocked. Already with the bickering. A thousand years be damned, some things would never change.

"There's no need to protect them," Kyra stated. With that fondness about her features, he half expected her to stroke that ancient metal. "Gates are too keep people out. Keeping people out has never been our intention."

"What about your enemies?" Erika asked, genuinely curious.

"If they already know where to find us, a measly set of gates won't stop them. Besides, it's more our style to deal with a threat head on. Threats are always welcome. The more the merrier."

He dreaded to think of the horrors she must've seen in their time apart. Kyra had that look about her. The look of a woman who'd seen much more than her fill.

"These thousand years have sent you mad," He added.

"They made me strong," Kyra corrected. "You find me a single person in the Other World brave enough to march into these lands and start a fight. I'll wait."

"Your arrogance remains to be suffocating," Erik chided.

"It's hardly arrogance if everything I'm saying is the truth. Besides, we don't make a habit of making enemies when we do the right thing." And there was Kyra, returning it. Yes, it was decided. The tiger and the hyena would never get along. One would inevitably eat the other. Be that Kyra lashing out and killing Erika or Erika feeding on abandoned scraps. Best kept in their separate environments. "We side with the right people—not because they promise us a win but because they're the right people to fight alongside. My allies have done deeds noble enough to put your entire life to shame. If an enemy seeks a fight on Amazon grounds, then I say to let them. The door's always open."

"And what of those that seek you no harm?" Ares asked, voice raising a pitch. "Does the door remain to be open then?"

She met his eyes, grasping the tenor of his question. "Just because the door's open doesn't mean there's anyone in."

I won't be in there waiting for you.

She wouldn't entertain a romance. False hope would only get him going.