The Warrior God (The Ares Trials #1) - Eliza Raine Page 0,65

stood up. It was just Ares. I’d spent the last two days with him. There was nothing to freak out about.

Fire, drums, heat, passion. The flashback to our kiss tore through my mind, and I bared my teeth. Get a grip, Bella! I forced myself to picture Aphrodite’s beautiful face instead, as I reached the door and pulled it open.

Ares was in full armor and helmet, exactly as I had expected him to be. But I was clearly not dressed as he had expected. A slightly odd noise came from under his helmet, and I saw his eyes widen.

“Just flash us to the party,” I snapped, surprising myself with how angry I sounded.

“Your hair...”

“Is longer, yes. Ten fucking points for observation. Get on with it.” I could feel my face heating just being in his presence, and I was suddenly desperate not to be alone with him.

“Bella, I-”

“I said let’s go, armor-boy!” I cut him off loudly. His eyes hardened, and he straightened.

“Fine.” There was a familiar pull in my stomach, a flash, and we were back in the fighting pit.

I blinked around myself, registering the changes from when I’d last been there. The sky above us was no longer bright and clear as it had been during the day. An inky blanket of navy was lit by swirls of glittering clouds corkscrewing over my head, pastel pinks and oranges sparkling in the gloom. The sandy stage had changed too, now dotted with tall marble columns, each with orange flames flickering on top which cast a soft, animated glow over the other folk milling around. Short satyrs and slight young women moved between the guests carrying trays of drinks, and I could hear a harp playing, though could see no musicians. It was beautiful, and unexpectedly calm.

“Bella! I’m so glad you’re OK.” I turned at Persephone’s voice, the Queen hurrying toward me in an exquisite leaf green dress that had a high choker neckline, and black vines embroidered across the edges.

“Oh, yeah, thanks. I heard you came to help.”

“Queen Persephone,” grunted Ares, then strode away, his armor clanging.

“He’s as cheerful as ever then,” Persephone said with a smile. “You look amazing! I got a bit of a makeover when I got here as well.”

“Thanks, you look awesome too. How do I get one of those drinks?”

Persephone flagged down a satyr and I gulped down most of the drink he handed me in one go. Persephone raised her eyebrows at me. “One of those days, huh?”

“Definitely one of those days.”

I chatted to Persephone a while, but I struggled to keep my attention from wandering. Now that my strength was restored, my awareness of the things around me was in full-force, perhaps even more so than usual, and everything was setting me on edge. I didn’t know if it was my constant low-level shame and anger about the kiss and resulting rejection, or my trepidation about Aphrodite. Eris had done a good job in setting me up to worry about seeing the Goddess of Love, that was for sure.

“So, the man the demon took, are you two together?” Persephone’s words slammed into me, drawing my attention fully back to her. Guilt swamped me.

“No, no, he was my, erm, anger management shrink.”

“So no romantic feelings at all? It’s just you seemed very upset when you first got here.” Her voice was gentle, and not probing. Unlike Eris, who I believed was always trying to get to some information she could use, I got the feeling Persephone actually cared.

“He was the only person who didn’t get freaked out by my strength or my temper,” I said quietly. “But I guess if he knew what I really was, then that makes sense now. I thought he was my friend.”

“Just because he knew you were from Olympus doesn’t mean he wasn’t your friend.”

“His job was to keep an eye on me. He spent eight months trying to convince me that my issues were chemical.” I could hear the hurt in my voice as I said the words aloud. “All that time he knew that my temper was part of my soul, my strength part of what made me who I was. Why did he lie? Why not just tell me?”

“I’m sorry,” Persephone said softly. “That must be hard.”

I shook my head, embarrassed. “No, I’m sorry. I guess I’ve been avoiding thinking about it much.” A little too much, I thought, that damned kiss firing in my memory again. “I have to find him, I’m the only