The Warrior God (The Ares Trials #1) - Eliza Raine Page 0,27

word,” I said, grinning and holding out my hand. He shoved the rest of his meat, minus the skewer, into his mouth, then pulled the drachma pouch from his pocket and dropped it moodily into my hand.

“Damned doesn’t count as a swear word,” he muttered as I pulled the corset from where it was hanging.

“It does where I come from.”

“You’re a long way from home, Enyo.”

“My name is Bella,” I corrected him. And as I stared past him at the thriving, angry city, I couldn’t help the feeling that the rest of his statement was wrong too.

After the stallholder enthusiastically demonstrated the magically reinforced quality of the leather armor by stabbing it repeatedly with a sharp knife, and allayed my concerns about the corset’s lack of upper coverage by producing wide shoulder straps that laced into the bodice, I was sold. It was awesome. I wanted to put it straight on, but Ares grumbled something about finding a caravanserai for accommodation and gossip, and stamped off before I had time to unlace it.

“I think we should talk about what happened,” I said as I skipped along beside him, trying to keep up as I rammed my new leather-wear into my bag. It was too big, and I eventually gave up, draping it over my arm instead as we weaved through the crowd.

“You are angry with me that you were injured? It was your own fault.”

“Why would I be mad with you that I was injured? I was the one careless enough to get stabbed,” I said. “I’m mad with you because whenever you use my power it throws off my focus. And that’s what makes me good. My focus. I need it. I can’t have you messing it up every two minutes.”

Ares let out a long sigh. “It is called war-sight. Not focus.”

“What?”

“Everything slowing down and you being able to anticipate other’s moves and block out distractions. It is called battle vision.”

I frowned up at him. I’d relied on those abilities to keep me alive countless times over the years, and it was weird as hell hearing someone else describe them. “So, it’s part of the war magic?”

“Yes.”

“And I’ve been using it in the normal world all these years?”

“A small part of it, yes.”

“When I got that burst of tingly energy, was that me using a large part of it?”

“Yes.”

“Why did it go into my flick-knife?”

Ares slowed, finally turning to look at me. “We will not discuss this here,” he said. “There is child stealing from you.”

“What!” I whirled, tearing my rucksack away from a skinny, shirtless kid who yelped in surprise. “Fuck off and steal someone else’s shit!” He looked down at the bit of fabric in his hand that he’d managed to pull from the bag at the same time I did. My panties. He was clutching a pair of my damned panties. “Give those back!” But he was off, racing through the crowd like a whippet. Before I could tear off after him, Ares gripped my shoulder.

“We do not have time for this.”

“He stole my godamned underwear!” I spun to Ares, outraged, and for a moment I swear I saw the corner of his mouth quirk up. But his words carried no hint of humor at all.

“Then I regret not informing you of his presence sooner.”

“You knew he was trying to rob me and you said nothing?”

“You were being annoying.”

“I was asking questions I need answers to!”

“You were being annoying,” he repeated.

I bared my teeth at him. “You know, I’d almost forgotten that you were a giant asshole.” Dark embers danced through his eyes, and I realized that insulting him when he didn’t have his helmet and armor on was quite different than before. I could see the muscles twitch in his jaw, the skin across his forehead and eyes tighten, his hair move against his shoulders as he swelled and tensed. His anger resonated in me, the excitement and challenge of it intoxicating.

“Do not call me an asshole,” he ground out.

“Or what?”

“Or-” he started, but I never found out what my alternative was. At that exact moment, the two us were lifted clean off our feet.

12

Bella

“That’s them,” barked a voice, as I kicked and flailed my feet as I spun in the air. The minotaur from the fighters’ camp came into view as I twirled uselessly, an armored guard next to him holding a tall staff that glowed.

“Put me down right now!” roared Ares.

“You’re coming with me,” the guard answered from under a purple fabric helmet.