The Warrior God (The Ares Trials #1) - Eliza Raine Page 0,20

at his massive shoulders, the way his toned muscles moved as he walked, the dimples in the small of his back. The low waistline of his pants... I gave myself a hard mental slap. No more ogling, Bella. It’s time to find Joshua.

8

Bella

We’d only spent about a minute walking, in complete and awkward silence, when a teal shimmer caught my attention, and I slowed to a stop. Zeeva appeared on the sand before me, gave a languid cat stretch, then sat neatly, tail wrapped around herself.

“Why is your cat here?” growled Ares, stopping and turning to glare at us both.

“Beats me,” I shrugged, refusing to look at his bare chest. His muscular, tanned, hulking bare chest. “What’s up, Zeeva?”

“I assume you are headed for Erimos?” she asked in my head. I nodded. She yawned.

“Unfortunately, my tether to you will not work once you are in the city. I must stay with you now.”

“Oh.” I didn’t really know if I wanted her with me or not. She hadn’t exactly been friendly or helpful so far. But she did know more than me, and I supposed her presence couldn’t hurt. I looked up at Ares. “She’s coming with us to Erimos,” I told him.

Ares snarled. “You are not welcome, spy,” he hissed at Zeeva. I didn’t hear her reply to him, but he looked pissed as he stamped a leather boot, then turned and resumed his march, his delicious back somehow radiating anger.

“Well, you managed to piss him off again,” I said to the cat. She didn’t bother to answer me, just sauntered after him.

“So, you were going to tell me about Erimos,” I prompted when I caught up with them. I was getting hot, but I hadn’t brought any water, only tequila, which on reflection wasn’t very helpful in a desert.

“It is a run by a particularly brutal king. There are fighting pits all over my realm, and he has the largest, and the most, gambling establishments. Erimos has money. Many come here to enjoy drink and women.” Ares barked the words, a hum of anger still rolling from him.

“Lovely,” I said. “What’s a fighting pit?”

“A gladiator ring, in your world,” Zeeva’s voice sounded in my head, at the same time Ares shook his head.

“You are clueless,” he muttered.

“You don’t think that’s where Joshua has been taken, do you?” All misplaced sexual thoughts about Ares vanished as images of Joshua chained up and forced to fight gladiators filled my mind.

Ares just shrugged. “If a demon has been spotted in my realm, someone in Erimos will know about it,” he said. “That is why we are going there.”

Anxiety pulsed through me, the reality check sharpening my focus.

“Your friend is a Guardian, not a fighter. It is unlikely he would have been taken to the pits,” Zeeva said a long few moments later. I looked at her gratefully, but she didn’t turn to me.

“How do I talk back to you in my head?” I asked her.

“Just concentrate on projecting the words to me alone. But I’d really rather you didn’t. You’re annoying enough already.”

“Charming,” I muttered. Even in Olympus, nobody fucking liked me, not even my own damned cat.

I could kind of see their point though, I thought glumly as we walked across the sand, the vista around us still void of anything except the odd scrubby bush or pile of rocks. I just wasn’t good at staying still, or relaxing. I put people on edge, irritated them. And that was the best-case scenario. I’d lost many friends just through the kind of trouble I seemed to attract. Or more honestly, I lost them when they saw my reaction to the kind of trouble I attracted. I couldn’t walk away from a fight. I couldn’t back down when challenged. I couldn’t just work out what was best for me and make a smart decision. I ran on pure impulse and energy. And it scared people. Hell, sometimes it scared me.

“We are here. I know it will be hard but try to keep your mouth closed and let me speak,” Ares said abruptly, turning away.

I frowned around us at the endless sand. “Erm, is the city invisible?”

Ares looked at me like I was mental. “Invisible? And you have the nerve to call me an oaf.” He shook his head yet again, then frightened the living shit out of me by bellowing so loudly I thought he’d been stabbed or something.

“What in the name of-” I started, but my shout was drowned out instantly by