The Warrior God (The Ares Trials #1) - Eliza Raine Page 0,22

there was no way I was playing by his rules.

It took another five minutes to reach one of the clusters of tents. I couldn’t see the sunken fighting pit that I knew was just beyond the campsite because we were on level ground now, but my body hummed with curiosity.

“The people who live here are pit fighters. Many are owned by slavers who stay in the city,” said Ares quietly as we got close.

“Why don’t they run away?”

“Most are bound and cannot. But not all of them. Some fight for glory,” he answered. “They are a hard people. Keep your mouth closed and let me talk.”

The tents were all of the colors of a circus, bright reds, blues, purples and yellows, and their inhabitants looked just as colorful. I made a sincere effort to keep my interest from showing on my face as Ares slowed down and we walked casually into the camp. Directly ahead of us was a large fire, an iron pot swinging over it, and about six people were seated around it on wooden stools. As far as I could tell, they were all dressed similarly, shirtless with baggy hareem pants in purple or red. But that was where the similarities ended.

Two of them, I was pretty sure, were minotaurs. They were as tall as Ares, covered in dark fur, had hoofed feet and snouted faces, and most impressive of all had giant horns curling up out of their foreheads. They were freaking awesome. As the group began to notice our approach, a creature with loads of spikes sticking out of his bald head turned to us, and I saw that he only had one amber eye in the middle of his deformed face. He stood up, and I realized with a jolt that he was a she. A badly torn rag was tied around her chest, and she fixed her single eye on Ares.

“State your business,” she said as the whole group stared at us. The other three men looked human. I plastered a friendly smile on my face, whilst adrenaline streamed through my system.

“My... friend is missing. I am seeking information,” said Ares. The cyclops nodded, and he continued. “Have you heard anything about an Underworld demon moving through Erimos?”

The cyclops’ face was an unmoving mask, and one of the minotaurs kicked at the iron pot, making it swing. A waft of something meaty-smelling washed over us.

“We have heard nothing of the sort.”

“No new demons on the fighting circuit?”

“We can’t help you.” Her voice was hard, and Ares tensed. I felt a pull in my gut as anger rolled from him.

He was a god. He couldn’t be used to people refusing him. I couldn’t help wondering if anyone less powerful than him had ever refused him before.

“That smells good,” I said, before he could lose his shit and give us away. “What is it?”

One of the human men gave me a pointed look up and down, then answered.

“Alexsis lost her leg in the pits last week. She died this morning.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear that,” I said, confused. Why was he telling me about his friend dying? The man shrugged.

“She was our cook. This is all we have left now that she’s gone.”

“Shit,” I said sympathetically.

“Can you cook?” asked the minotaur closest to me. His voice was like a rake on gravel.

I barked out a laugh. “No. Unless you count grilled cheese.” I felt another wave of power roll off Ares, and guessed it was now aimed at me. Time to shut my mouth. “Well, thanks for your help and good luck learning to cook,” I said cheerily, starting to turn around.

All of five of them stood up in unison. I paused in my turn, and my muscles clenched as my instincts kicked in, strength surging through my body.

“We need a cook,” growled the minotaur. “And that will feed us for a week.” He pointed at Ares’ headband.

“I told you that you looked too regal!” I hissed at him. He looked at me, furious, and my words died on my lips. Embers burned across his irises. As if in direct response, the mist dropped over my own eyes. My vision sharpened even as it turned red, and the familiar feeling of being too large for my own body swamped me. My skin hummed with barely contained energy as I tore my eyes from Ares and turned back to the group.

“I’m not your fucking cook.”

“We’ll see about that, little lady,” said one of the humans, then shimmered