Page 20 of Shadowed Bond

I purse my lips. “An hour.” I am not about to let him use anything I said to gain leverage.

He narrows his eyes, about to argue, when I feel something through my power. “Listen to me, Arden, it’s fucking late; we’ll make a head start tomorrow-” I lift a finger to his lips, but don’t touch them, not with being down here in this disgusting place. See, I’m thoughtful.

His mouth shuts, though judging by his expression, it costs him.

My aura stirs around me, faint and green, threading carefully into the water beneath our boots. I close my eyes, breathing past the stink of old stone, blood, damp rot and whatever else has been sitting in these tunnels for decades.

There.

Something brushes the edge of my senses. It’s not too clear; it feels buried too deep for me to reach properly.

“I can sense something,” I whisper. “Can you try to feel and reach it with your powers?”

His mouth curls into a smirk. “Are you admitting I’m more powerful, Arden?”

I stare at him. “Just do as I said, Westwood.”

“Admit the Deimos line is superior first.”

I scoff before I can stop myself. I hate that I am even responding to his idiocy, but he has a remarkable gift for getting under my skin.

“Stop being a Deimos brat and do what I said.”

His eyes sharpen with dark amusement. “A Deimos brat?”

He steps towards me, and I almost step back, but I hold my ground.

“That’s rich coming from a Solaris runt, isn’t it?” he murmurs, his voice dropping. “Your god’s the one who couldn’t take a fucking no. Ah, yeah…” His smirk turns victorious. “The one I helped defeat.”

He winks at me. This bastard actually winked!

My stomach knots in a way I am not comfortable with.

His words are not wrong. He did help defeat Helios with his brothers. I know that. Everyone knows that. It is not as though that event hasn’t been recorded for the history books. The Westwood brothers are formidable, and their reputation has gained them international fame. They entered the Realm of the Gods, and they fought a god. And yes, they won.

To many, they are seen as almost gods already; three of them are chosen and favoured by gods, but some people already see them as the embodiment of those very gods. They may be tall, handsome and powerful, but they are not gods, no matter what anyone says.

Still, I lift my chin. “It sounds like a fabricated myth. I mean, maybe to some extent, but really? You? Defeat a god? Keep dreaming, Westwood.”

His eyes narrow. “You know I fucking did.”

I imitate his shrug, then his wink. “It is not true unless I saw it, and I didn’t.”

A slow, dangerous amusement crosses his face. “Ah. I get it. Hurting the Solaris god offends his subjects.”

I open my mouth to reply, but before I can say anything, Ares moves.

One second, he is in front of me, irritating, arrogant and far too pleased with himself.

The next, he is a blur of speed and power.

My back hits the wall before I even understand what is happening. His arm is already raised behind my head, taking the force so my skull does not meet stone. Water surges around us in a violent arc, crashing up from the shallow stream at our feet and forming a thick, rippling wall between us and the tunnel.

His body presses close, shielding mine.

Too close.

Close enough that I feel his hard muscles against me, sense the heat beneath his damp clothes, the storm in his aura as it coils around us.