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“What about it?”
I hoped that it was the only fire he had seen in the video. After the incident, Zak had taken out all of the cameras in the classrooms with his lightning bolts. The demigods didn’t want me to be seen in any recordings.
“I need to see it in person to sort out your house,” he said.
It was common knowledge that only two gods had heat power that was similar to mine. Apollo had solar power, but it wasn’t fire. Ares somehow borrowed or stole Apollo’s power. Hephaestus was called the God of Blacksmiths and Fire, but his fire was used to forge immortal weapons.
“I have a hunch about my house,” I said. “I feel an affinity to Hephaestus, whose wife banged you illegally.” Then I stalked closer to the glass and smirked at him. “According to the tale sung by bards, Hephaestus caught you and Aphrodite fucking and trapped you two lovebirds with a fisherman’s net, and then he paraded you two, still locked with each other, in front of the entire assembly of the Olympian gods. They said that you were so humiliated you returned to Thrace, your homeland, as soon as you were released from the golden net and that you didn’t see your illicit lover for centuries. Was it true? How did you feel when everyone mocked you while you were helpless and naked inside the net?” I schooled my face into a sympathetic expression. “Did the mean gods also throw stones at you?”
A black storm twisted Ares’s face. It was true that he’d always had a terrible temper. But the storm left him the next instant.
“You can’t rile me up easily, Marigold,” he said. “Hephaestus never used his fire as an offensive attack, only to forge immortal weapons.”
The war god had no sense of humor.
“That fire of mine came out under extreme circumstances,” I said, my voice sounding uninterested and impatient. “Paxton tried to kill me, but I decided not to roll over and die. It was a one-time fire. The demigods have pushed me to let it out again, but I just don’t have that kind of power anymore.”
“You can teleport and erect a shield,” he said. “Only a god and a demigod have that kind of power. I’m the only god on Earth now. Poseidon visited this planet of rocks two centuries ago and left Paxton as the product of his careless fuck. Paxton was abandoned and abused on the streets until Héctor found him and brought him into the demigods’ fold.”
My heart skipped a beat. I had never known that part of Paxton’s background. I waited to feel something, like pity, but I didn’t. One’s past should never be an excuse for one’s behavior.
Paxton seemed to seek redemption with me. I didn’t know how I felt about that. With him in the mix, things just got more complicated.
“I don’t think you’re from Poseidon’s house, and I sired only Axel,” Ares continued. “I’ve lain with a mortal woman only that one time. Mortals are too fragile for my taste. Axel is like a miracle child. It’s very difficult to make a demigod.” He paused for a second, his intense gaze unnerving me. “I don’t think you’re from Hephaestus’s house. The ritual blade acted on its own and imprinted all twelve runes on your person when it spotted you, which has never happened before. You’ve defied every rule of magic ever since you stepped into the Academy. Even as one of the most powerful gods, I can’t categorize your power, despite how potently I sense it pulsing in your veins every moment I’m in your presence.”
His golden eyes turned even more predatory.
“So, before I allow you to roam free, you’ll remain in my company under my observation until I get to the bottom of who you are.”
He seemed civilized at the moment, but I knew he would soon come up with other barbarous devices to test my magic or dissect me. I dreaded what he would do to me next.
So far, he had made me go through a tough landing, the onslaught of a hurricane, and the press of the moving glass walls.
I’d overcome all of the trials. But he was going to keep throwing heavy shit my way.
He’d bound me with a gravity spell to prevent me from teleporting. He might as well have placed a tracking spell in me to trace my magic if I used any. He was a powerful god born from the Originals, and I’d just found out that I was an “abomination” who had weird powers that I shouldn’t show to anyone.
“You’re tired at the moment, so your fire is hesitant,” he said. “Give it a day, and we’ll try again.”
Yet he didn’t leave, even though he’d just acknowledged my exhaustion.
His gaze raked over me once more with keen interest and lust.
Then he started to ask questions about my personal history, from my birth until the day Axel found me. Even when I had no answers for him, he kept repeating questions.
It was one of those techniques interrogators use to extract answers before they resort to torture. And now he was tormenting me with repetition, draining my mental stamina until I broke down and gave him what he wanted.
“You bore me, Ares, even as a god,” I said. “If you have nothing better to do, pardon me, but I won’t stay for the ride.”
I lay down on the cold, stone floor and curled up into a ball. My arms hugged my legs in a protective position. I had to bet that Ares wouldn’t terminate me before he got what he wanted. Right now, all I could do was stall him until the demigods came for me.
I had faith that they would eventually find me. In the meantime, I would work on my magic. When I got my strength back, I’d fight to break out of here.
“I’m not done asking questions, Marigold,” Ares barked outside the cell.
I didn’t even bother to open my eyes. I didn’t even bother to flip him the bird.
I’d reached my limit after all the drama with Loki, then Paxton, then this god.
