The Warrior God (The Ares Trials #1) - Eliza Raine Page 0,6
voice. An icy fear began to creep over me, and an impulse to hide clawed up my throat. The feeling was alien to me, and panic started to grip my chest, my breath coming fast.
“She’s still human, my love,” said Persephone gently, and the fear lessened quickly. She turned back to us and spoke clearly. “Ares, you must do as your king commands. Bella, if you want to find your friend, the assistance of Ares, one of the twelve rulers of Olympus, will be invaluable. You would be foolish to turn down help such as that.”
The finality, and sense, of her words were impossible to ignore, despite every part of me railing against the idea of working with this giant idiot. He was as likely to kill me as help me.
But I had no choice.
“I have to find Joshua,” I said. “I’m the only person in his life who knows he’s gone missing. I’m all he has.”
Persephone’s eyes softened, and she laid her hand on the arm of the smoky form beside her. Their love was almost tangible, it rolled from them like physical power. I felt a little bolt of jealousy, and turned it fast into resolve. If I found Joshua and kicked the ass out of whoever had taken him, maybe I could have some of that for myself.
“Then it is settled. There will be a small ceremony to see you both on your quest,” said Hades, then there was a bright flash and he disappeared.
“Ceremony? What? We have to find Joshua! We don’t know why he was taken, we have to find him now, before he’s...” I trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘dead’, not after seeing his body on the floor in a pool of blood.
The weirdness of the whole situation rocked through me again, making me shiver, and I forced it down. Focus on one thing at a time, Bella. Laser-focus.
“All in good time, Bella. We must wait for Hades. In the meantime, I think you need a bit of background on your new surroundings,” said Persephone.
“What I need is a fucking big drink,” I answered hotly, then instantly felt guilty. She was trying to help me. To my surprise, she grinned at me.
“When I first got here, a fucking big drink was just what I needed too.”
3
Bella
Persephone flashed us to a huge room with enormous arched windows all along one side revealing a green forest beyond. I hadn’t expect Ares to accompany us and I glared at him.
“Why are you here?” I asked, as Persephone made her way to a long counter. The center of the room was dominated by a long, grand dining table.
“I can’t use my power without you,” he answered, sounding like he’d rather be anywhere in the world than by my side.
“Well I need some time alone. To find out what the fuck is going on, and to organize myself,” I said firmly. It was true. But mostly I just wanted him gone.
“You swear too much,” he said, after a pause. I heard Persephone laugh as I felt myself scowl.
“I’ll swear as much as I fucking like,” I snapped.
“You called me an asshole. That is rude.”
“You were planning to kill me! I’d say that’s more rude than calling someone who is clearly an asshole an asshole!” Anger was pumping through me and his eyes narrowed.
“Stop calling me an asshole,” he snarled.
“Alright. How’s fuckwit?” A favorite insult in London. “Or maybe shitface?”
He took a step toward me and I raised my fists, but Persephone’s level voice cut across us.
“Here’s that drink you wanted, Bella.” I turned to her, reluctant to take my eyes from the armored giant. “Ares, we need some girl-time,” she said, and flicked her hand. I heard Ares shout as light flashed, then he was gone.
I let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank god for that. He’s freaking crazy.”
“He’s not the worst of them,” she smiled at me.
“Really?” I took the drink she offered me, and she held up her own in her other hand.
“Really. I know how you’re feeling. But trust me when I tell you, accepting it quickly is easier than pretending none of it is true.”
I gulped down half of my drink, and a pleasant warmth flooded from my throat down my chest.
“Actually, I’ve always known something was wrong with my life. To be honest, this sort of makes sense.” Persephone chuckled, and sipped from her own glass.