The Warrior God (The Ares Trials #1) - Eliza Raine Page 0,32
doesn’t leave my side.” Terror’s statuesque form turned to me, and I gave him the finger.
“Fine,” Terror said.
“Excellent!” exclaimed Panic, clapping his hands together. “As we’re already here in Erimos, would you like to start us off with your trial first, Pain?”
“It would be my pleasure,” the Lord grinned. “I’ve got just the thing.
“I believe something so heroic should not go unwatched,” said Terror, moving his hand to his featureless face thoughtfully. “We shall host a feast tonight, in honor of these...” He paused. “Ares Trials. Yes, I like that. Then you may embark upon Pain’s test tomorrow.”
“There will be no feast,” growled Ares.
“Oh, but there will, mighty one,” Terror said. His voice was harsh and sing-song at the same time, and I hated it. “Or we won’t allow you to take the girl with you. And we both know that would be a serious blow to your chances.”
Did Terror know who I was? And that Ares only had power around me? Or did he just think I was important to Ares somehow?
Either way, we didn’t have time to screw around at feasts. “What about the demon and the people he’s kidnapped? We don’t have time for feasts,” I said, standing up. Not one of the four men looked at me. I heard Zeeva sigh in my head. “Can you at least give us some proof that you do really know where the demon is?” I tried. The thought of being this close to finding out if Joshua was OK and being forced to wait uselessly was more than I could handle.
“Are you questioning our integrity?” asked Pain, looking at me.
“Well, based on what I have learned so far, yeah. You all seem like a bunch of twisted jerks,” I said. “I get bad vibes from the lot of you.”
Pains lips curved up into a smile. “Few insult the Lords of War so freely, and without repercussion,” he said. A stabbing pain started in the bottom of my skull, and although I stopped myself making a sound, I couldn’t help the flinch of my face. Slowly the pain moved down my neck, my muscles tensing and warping as my nerves reacted.
“Stop. Her request is fair. You are all dishonest.” Ares voice was loud and hard, and mercifully, the pain stopped. I took a deep breath and straightened my body, sweat beading on my forehead and chest. Fury was simmering inside me, my instinctive reaction to pain. The desire to destroy things burned through my blood, and my gaze fixed on Pain as red shrouded my vision. Hot older Aladdin or not, this guy was going to get a kick in the balls the first opportunity I got.
“Fine. Once you are satisfied, I shall summon the guests and we shall see you back here in two hours.” Terror waved his hand, and a huge iron dish on a stand appeared before him. Gently flickering orange flames danced in the center, and they suddenly flared white and bright.
An image materialized over the dish, amongst the white flames. A hooded creature was reaching out, touching the face of a woman laid out on a dark stone slab. She didn’t look dead, her skin was a healthy color and her mouth moved as she breathed. But she didn’t react when a blackened claw raked over her cheek, leaving the faintest red mark. My stomach twisted into knots as I stared.
There were rows and rows of slabs surrounding her, all with bodies stretched out on them. And directly to her left, looking for all the world like he was in a restful sleep, was Joshua.
14
Bella
“Joshua! Take us there, now!”
“Calm down, little girl. All in good time.” Fury stormed inside me, fear for Joshua, outrage that this had happened to him, guilt that I had spent a single moment since getting here not thinking about him, was all building into an uncontainable rage within me.
“He doesn’t have time! Look at him!”
“I don’t know who ‘he’ is,” said Terror, waving his hand and the image in the flame dish vanishing, “but I can assure you that the demon’s plans are not immediate.”
“What is it? And who is it working for?” Ares barked the questions as fury and fear pounded through me. Normally I would have hurled myself at someone by now, but these three... Their power was enough that my instincts were frozen. I knew that they would tear me apart before I moved a foot.