"War magic?” She nodded her feline head. “Ares isn't going to help me."
"He might."
I pulled a face. "I don't want his help."
"Don't be such a child." I bared my teeth at her before I could stop myself, but the sound of the washroom door opening prevented her from berating me further.
Ares walked into the room, wearing full armor, minus his helmet. He nodded at Zeeva. “I see you are back, now that the action is over,” he said. Despite the fact that I had felt exactly the same about the cat’s untimely absence, I leaped to her defense.
“What Zeeva does or doesn’t do is none of your business,” I said haughtily, then marched past him into the washroom.
When I emerged, I was surprised and delighted to be met by the smell of coffee.
“Zeeva said you like this muck,” scowled Ares, holding out a large mug. I took it from him, inhaling deeply. I’d felt the tug of him using my power while I had been in the bathroom.
“Did you go and get this just for me?” I asked. Ares nodded. “Thank you. I could get used to these ‘regaining my favor’ gestures, especially if they all involve wine and coffee.”
Ares nose wrinkled, and the expression was distinctly ungodly. I couldn’t help a small smile.
“Coffee is rare in Olympus. It is expensive and unpleasant.”
I barked a laugh. “Coffee makes the world go round.”
“Not Olympus.”
“Maybe not, but it’s a necessity in my world.”
Ares opened his mouth to answer, but I didn’t hear the words.
An awful creeping cold moved over the back of my skull, and my vision went pitch black. I cried out, dropping the coffee and fisting my hands instantly.
“Little Bella has lots of lovely war magic,” whispered a delighted voice, deep inside my head.
“Who’s there?” I yelled the words aloud, alarm gripping my whole body at the invisible threat. How could I fight something in my head? Remembering Zeeva’s training, I pulled on my power, trying to build a wall around my mind. Nothing happened.
“Calm down, baby goddess. It’s just your friendly Lord of War, Panic.”
I took a great gulp of air. The demon had called me baby goddess. Anger seeped through my body. “Get the fuck out of my head.” More cold slithered down my neck, a feeling like a large band of ice was being wrapped around my head taking over. My vision was still dark but flames flickered at the edges.
“I’m just dropping in to tell you that the Trial announcement will be in half an hour. Ares knows where you both need to go.”
In an instant the tight band of ice was gone, and the room appeared around me again as my vision returned to normal. Ares was staring at me, tight-lipped. I took an unsteady breath.
“That was one of the Lords,” he said quietly.
“Yes. Why is it so different to when Zeeva talks to me in my head? Everything went dark and my head went weirdly cold.” I put both hands to the side of my head, half expecting my hair to feel icy. It didn’t. “Why couldn’t I block him out?”
Ares glanced at Zeeva, now sitting on the rug beside him. “You are getting stronger. And you share power with the Lords of War. As long as you are in my realm, anyone who has the power of war will be able to communicate with you. Now that your power is growing, you are becoming visible to them.”
“Woah, what? What do you mean, I share power with the Lords? You said our power was different to them, that they had specific, shitty powers.” I tried to keep the worry from my voice but failed. I did not want to be connected in any way with the fucked up creepiness the three Lords had. “If getting stronger means turning into one of them, I’m out. I don’t need that in my life.”
“I said their power was created by mine. As with all the demigods and deities of my realm. It is not the same, but it connects us all.”
“And I’m becoming visible to all of them?” I blinked, mind racing and anxiety building. I could hear my voice rising.
Ares looked at the floor briefly, before taking up my gaze again. “Yes.”
I shook my head slowly. “I’m turning into a fucking beacon for your crazy war offspring, and they can make my head cold and my vision black whenever they like? I didn’t sign up for this.” I had begun pacing without realizing, shaking my head fervently.
“Calm down, Bella. You can learn to block them out.” Zeeva must have projected the words to Ares too, because he looked down at her.
“Yes. The cat is right. You can learn to block it. And they are not my offspring. They are not of my loins.”
“Who the fuck says loins?” I knew it wasn’t the right question to yell at him, but I was pissed again. I hated the feeling of being one step behind everyone else all the time, too ineffective to make a difference and at the mercy of those stronger than I.
Which was apparently everyone.
“Loins are-” started Ares, but I shoved him hard in the chest. He didn’t move, but he closed his mouth.
“I know what loins are, goddammit! I want to know how to stop being so weak!”
“You are not weak.” Ares said the words with such simplicity that my juggernaut temper stumbled.
“But everyone has more power than me. They can get into my head, and flash me around, and make me feel stuff, steal my fucking soul. Everyone in this whole damn world can do more than I can, there’s probably an endless amount of magic shit I don’t even know about yet. I can’t do any of that.”
“Wrong. You can do all of that and more, and you’re not even at half-strength. You just don’t know how to do any of it yet.” Zeeva’s voice was level and soothing.
“Teach me.” I sent the demand into the room in general, not caring which of them answered. Both knew more than I did. There was a long pause.
“I will teach you to keep your mind secure,” said Zeeva eventually. I flicked her a grateful smile, then planted my gaze on Ares.
“And you? Will you teach me to use my war magic?”
His eyes dropped from mine before he answered. “No.”
Anger spiked through me, quickening my pulse. “Why not?”
When his eyes met mine again, the fire danced in his irises, his dark pupils endless against the mesmerizing flames. “As long as I am by your side, you do not need to use your power.”
“I’m not your damn puppet,” I growled. A distant drum beat loudly in my mind.
“And I’m no fool. If you learn to use your power, you will not need to help me.”
The drum beat again, and again, and the smell of smoke and grass washed over me. “The best way for me to get Joshua back is by completing these tests. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You already left once.”
His words ricocheted through my head, and the drums beat louder and faster in my mind. There was emotion in his face that I didn’t recognize, I realized as the flames in his eyes leaped higher. Was it betrayal? Was he hurt that I had left him?
The Ares who presented himself as stoic, emotionless, get-the-job-done, could not possibly mention the fact that I had essentially abandoned him to whatever fate the Lords had planned for him. But the Ares before me now had fire sparking in his irises and I knew the flames weren’t fueled by anger. I knew his anger now, and this was something else.