“I mean London, not this awful apartment,” she said, her mental voice laden with distaste.
I faltered. I wouldn’t miss this shithole, but London? The city was special.
“Does Olympus have musicals?” I asked hopefully.
“Olympus has plays beyond your wildest dreams, but I doubt you shall ever see them,” she answered.
“Why not?”
“Primarily because I would be surprised if you survive Ares and his realm,” she said bluntly. I scowled at her. “But even if you do, you can’t stay in Olympus.”
A sick feeling churned through my stomach. The only reason I wasn’t completely freaking out was that Olympus felt so right, even though I’d barely spent an hour there.
“Why can’t I stay?”
“You are of the mortal world now. You need power to live in Olympus if you are not raised there.”
“I have power! That’s why Ares wants me!”
“But you can’t use it yourself.” Her tone was that of every teacher I had ever known when I failed to do what I had been asked, and at that moment I realized what she was doing. She was goading me.
“You want me to learn to use my power?” I asked. Her amber eyes flicked to the door, where Ares stood beyond.
“He will not teach you. You may only rely on yourself.”
“Can you teach me?” She bared her needle-like teeth.
“Your power could not be more different than mine. I can teach you nothing.”
I didn’t think that was true, given that I knew fuck all. When you were starting from zero, anything at all was more than nothing.
“Well, as it happens, ‘learn magic war power’ was next on my list, right after ‘arm myself’,” I said haughtily. Her eyes moved to my knife, safely folded shut as I pushed it into my jeans pocket.
When she said nothing else, I grabbed my deodorant and a few other bits from the hanging shelves in my washroom, then zipped up my bag, mentally crossing the items off the packing list I’d made in the desert.
“You know, I might not want to stay in Olympus,” I lied, as I slung one strap of the backpack over my shoulder and looked at the cat. She blinked slowly.
“You want to stay,” she said. “As a true goddess, you could explore a world that is truly limitless. Realms that float in the sky, reside in volcanoes, are submerged in golden domes in the ocean. Ships that soar through the sky. Magic that can provide endless experiences, tastes, feelings, desires. People, gods and creatures that will obliterate the boundaries of your imagination. Stories that will leave you desperate for more. And adventures that will never end if you do not want them to.”
The bag slipped off my shoulder as my muscles went slack. Zeeva was describing my greatest dream. A world where I could not get bored. Where my boundless energy and vivid imagination could be constantly absorbed. My eyes were glazing over as I imagined it, my drab, moldy, tiny apartment vanishing behind a vision of freedom and life.
“And I can only stay if I have magic?” I breathed.
“Yes.” The vision cleared abruptly, my mushroom-colored walls slamming back down around me.
The idea of actually having or using magic was something my brain had so far refused to dwell on. The fact that I had heard my own apparent War power referenced countless times in the last crazy few hours didn’t make it feel any more real or true.
I mean, it wasn’t like I didn’t believe it. Why the hell would Ares have shown up in my life otherwise?
But I didn’t feel like I had any magic power. And as arrogant as it might have been, I had enough confidence in my ability as a scrappy but pretty accomplished fighter to not have to process the idea. I could survive without magic, I was sure, so I was focusing on Joshua, and arming myself. Things I knew about, could work with and control.
But if I ultimately needed the magic to stay in Olympus... That changed things. That was a motivation I could use, that I could force my brain to accept. I’d show that stuck-up cat I could learn magic.
If Ares could use it, then so could I.
I just had to find a way of getting him to tell me where to start.
7
Bella
When I stepped back into my kitchen, which somewhat impossibly looked even smaller with the enormous god squished into it, Ares grunted and locked his eyes on mine. The red plume of his helmet was flattened against the grubby ceiling, and I failed to suppress a smirk. He looked ridiculous.
“Why do you live here?”
“It’s all I could afford that came with a free punch-bag.”
“Afford? You pay money to reside in this... box?”
“Jeez, you’re clueless. Yes, armor-boy, I pay money to live here. Is Olympus rent-free?” The last question came out more hopefully than sarcastic.
Ares shifted his weight, looking disdainfully at my splintered gray cupboards. “In my realm you live under the rules of your Lord or King.”
“And how do your Lords and Kings become Lords and Kings?”
Ares shrugged and the metal of his helmet scraped the ceiling at the same time his shoulder plates clanged against the kitchen unit. “The Lords are deities; they are born that way. They delegate power to the Kings.”
“You got any Queens?” I asked. He nodded.
“Many. Hippolyta of the Amazons is my favorite.” His eyes lit up as he spoke her name, and I remembered Persephone saying that that she was his daughter. The thought made me uncomfortable, so although this was the most amicable and useful conversation we’d had so far, I changed the subject.
“You ready to go? I need to find my friend.” Ares’ eyes darkened.
“Always you talk about your friend,” he grumbled.
“Yes. That’s generally what friends do. They give a shit. Do you have tequila in Olympus?” I asked, spying the bottle of booze on the counter behind him, next to the broken kettle.
“What is tequila?”
“My version of nectar of the gods,” I muttered, swiping the bottle and tipping my bag forward to open it. When the tequila was safely stowed inside, I put my hands on my hips, and cast my eyes around the little apartment one last time. There was nothing at all that I would miss here. Which in itself was sad. But it only served to strengthen my resolve. I couldn’t be more ready to move on, even if it was to something mostly unbelievable and very likely lethal. “Let’s go.”
“So... Why are we starting here, in the empty desert?” I asked when the light from the flash cleared from my eyes and I clocked my sandy surroundings again.
“Stop talking,” Ares grunted.
“Hey, if I’m going to do this with you then you have to tell me what’s going on,” I said, as he began to stomp through the sand. “I’m not going to just follow you about like a damned puppy.”
“If you want to survive, and find your godsforsaken friend, then you will do exactly that.” He paused and turned to look at me, something malicious gleaming in his eyes. “You will behave like my pet.”
Anger, hot and real, flushed through me. “Your pet?” I echoed, my voice low.
“Correct.” He nodded, his stupid helmet plume bouncing.