The Warrior God (The Ares Trials #1) - Eliza Raine Page 0,18
never take it off?”
“Not in front of people, no.”
“Are you really ugly?” I couldn’t help the question, and his head snapped to me, embers in his furious eyes again.
“You mock me?” I swore I could hear the actual ring of steel in his words, and there was a tiny tug in my tummy. I was making him mad enough to use my magic again.
“It’s just a helmet,” I shrugged.
“You are an ignorant, selfish, weak child,” he growled, the embers growing and coloring his eyes a dancing amber. I took a breath, the sight utterly mesmerizing. The longer I looked at the fire burning in his eyes, the more I was sure I could hear the ringing of swords and distant drums, the more the sensation of being flooded with adrenaline and the unbeatable feeling of victory tingled through me. He must have mistaken my awe for fear though, because his shoulders squared and he took a step back, giving a small, satisfied nod and breaking the spell.
Deciding that it was probably safer to let him think that I was scared of him than let him know he had the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen, I kept my mouth shut, but residual tingling still pulsed across my skin. This was not what I needed. At all. But already I wanted to see the fire in his eyes again.
He just called you a weak child! Not cool! Get it together, Bella, I chided myself mentally.
“If I’m ignorant, then that’s your fault. You won’t tell me anything.” I folded my arms across my chest, the tingling finally ebbing away.
Ares shifted his weight from one foot to the other, armor jangling. “I will tell you what you need to know about Erimos on the way,” he offered eventually.
“I’m not interested in Erimos,” I said, although I totally was. “I want to know why you’re so attached to this helmet. Do you sleep with it?”
Ares gave a bark of annoyance, this time stamping his foot on the ground. “You are everything I hate about humans!”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment, on behalf of all humans,” I said. Truth was, I didn’t think I represented humans well at all, they mostly seemed to hate me. But he didn’t need to know that.
“The helmet was a gift from my father,” he snapped.
“Zeus? The same Zeus who stole your power?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you hate him now?”
“No. He is mighty and strong and our true leader.”
“Then... Why’d he take your power?” I felt the tug in my tummy before I saw Ares begin to grow, his armor shining and growing with him. My eyes went straight to his, with a spark of hope. I wanted to see the fire.
“My father will have had his reasons. And I will have an eternity to work them out. In the meantime, we will find this blasted demon, get your accursed friend, and deliver them to Hades!”
“And show the whole of your realm your real face,” I added, with a small shrug.
A blast of power erupted from the god, and before I could blink, I was tumbling backwards. Heat and the sound of drums engulfed me as I lost my footing, but then my butt bounced off something soft, righting me on my feet again. I had my arms flung out, trying to regain sturdy footing as I looked up at Ares. Embers burned in his chocolate eyes and the stupid tingles started up again instantly. I could still hear the drums.
“You are impossible,” he snarled. “Are you trying to force me to lose my temper?”
“No,” I lied. A little. Though I knew how stupid that was. He probably would kill me.
I turned my head to see what had broken my fall, but there was nothing there. Had I somehow used my magic? Or had Ares stopped me falling on my ass again? I couldn’t imagine he cared much about my ass though.
“Removing my helmet will be the hardest thing I have done in centuries. If you can’t respect that, keep your mouth closed,” he said quietly.
To my utter astonishment, his words actually made me feel guilty. If this really was such a big deal for him, maybe I should back off a little. But he was going to kill you! My indignant inner voice was right, but I couldn’t bring myself to goad him again. Centuries was a long time. Plus, there was a curious part of me that wanted to see what he looked like under the armor.