The Warrior God (The Ares Trials #1) - Eliza Raine Page 0,33

make them pay. Once I’d rescued Joshua, I would find a way.

“You have not earned those answers yet, mighty one. We have made a deal. Complete the Ares Trials, and we will hand the demon over. See you in two hours.”

We were escorted roughly from the tower, and I barely saw the people or stone around me for the red haze. “Don’t fucking touch me!” I bellowed at a guard as he tugged at my elbow once we were out of the grand doorway. He jumped backward, then scowled and strode away.

“We need to-” began Ares, but now that I was no longer in the presence of the Lords, the need to hit something was too great to restrain. With a roar, I smashed my fist into the nearest wall, the bite of pain as my knuckle split on the sharp gems only spurring me on. Before I could land another punch, there was a bright flash, and I froze, heart crashing against my ribs as I looked about. We were back at what was left of Ares’ pile of rocks. Where we had started.

“Go ahead,” he said, and sat back on his heels, just as I had done when he had gone apeshit with his sword. I blinked at him, then with a roar, booted the pile of rocks as hard as I could with my steel-capped boots. Over and over I kicked at the boulders, unbridled rage brimming up and flowing out of me as the rocks flew and smashed beneath my feet.

Eventually, exhausted, I fell back on my ass, rubbing my hands across my face hard enough to hurt.

“They know where he is, and they won’t tell us,” I said hoarsely. I felt utterly powerless. Frustration was the worst feeling in the world. “They could end this right now, but I can’t do a thing.”

“Nothing comes for free in Olympus.”

“All those people though!” I turned on the ground, looking at Ares. “They’re just letting all those people be held captive, so that they can play games with you?” Ares said nothing. “That’s fucked up! Do you understand how fucked up that is?”

“When the great gods were allocated power, many shared the parts of it they didn’t want with others,” said Ares quietly. “Some power is too great and complex to be wielded by one. For example, Athena has the power of war strategy, a refined version of what I...” He paused, then corrected himself. “We have. Which is the rawest form of the power of War. Anger, glory, valiance, courage, strength.” I stared at him, trying to work out what he was telling me. “But War is about much more than valor. War involves Pain, and Panic, and Terror. War involves Death and Violence and Discord.”

“So, those powers all live in different beings?”

“Yes. My sister is the Goddess of Chaos and Discord. Keres demons, who reside in the Underworld, are the spirits of violent death. They swarm over battlefields, feasting on the souls of those most brutally killed.” A shudder rippled through me. “And the Lords of War... They are directly of my creation. They are of my power.”

I shook my head. “No. No, you don’t feel like them. I don’t feel like them, and you said we share the same power.”

“You do not understand,” Ares said, and pushed himself to his feet.

“No, you’re right. I don’t.” I stood too. “Explain it to me.”

He let out a long sigh. “All you must know is that your friend is in no imminent danger, and that the Lords cannot be blamed for their behavior. They exist purely to behave as they do. And they are necessary.”

“It’s necessary for your world to have twisted assholes in charge?”

Ares raised one eyebrow in an uncharacteristic quirk. “Olympus would not be Olympus without twisted assholes in charge,” he muttered.

I could feel my anger dissipating fast, hard resolve replacing it. If those pricks were telling the truth about the demon, then Ares was right, and Joshua wasn’t in any immediate danger. And at least I now knew he was still alive. Nobody in the image over the dish looked like they were in pain, messed up as all the stone beds were.

And now we had some sort of plan. If we completed these Ares Trials, we would get him back, and capture the demon. As fucked up as it was to play with people like this, I needed to accept that we were in a better position than we had been before we entered