The War God's Woman

27. A Visit from a Demon

Sage stood on the pavement, watching the traffic go by. Behind her the café shone like a beacon but none of it's light illuminated her face. A car stopped in front of her at the lights and she gazed sadly at her reflection in it's window. She felt strangely hollow. Like the time she'd stood in the rain, watching her dad disappear with her life's savings.

'This will be the end of us.'

The car moved on, taking her reflection with it. Was this her fate? She'd loved her dad and he'd loved money more. She loved Ares and he was enslaved by an arrow. Perhaps, in all her happy memories with her dad, he'd actually felt forced to be there. Forced to listen to her because he'd needed her to pay his debts. The same way, Ares felt forced to be with her now.

As if on cue, Ares appeared at her side.

"What are you doing standing here? It's freezing."

Girls from inside the café spotted Ares and, giggling excitedly, they waved and beckoned for him to come inside. When Ares waved back, they swooned.

"If I gave you a duffle bag of money, it wouldn't be enough to make you leave - would it?" Sage murmured. Anger flashed briefly in Ares' gaze by he coached his face to seem disinterested.

"No."

"I prayed for that. In the only time I've ever prayed. I prayed to be loved by someone more than money." On that night when she'd stood alone in the rain....

"All love is a lie." Like an icy gust of wind, he swept past her – striding into the café to be surrounded by his swarm of admirers. Sage swallowed the lump that risen in her throat.

"My love isn't." She whispered softly to the night. "Just yours."

                          "So, Sage is snuggling up with Ezekiel and Ares is pretending not to know about it." Sophia surmised.

"Yes." Jaz handed Sophia a mug of tea. It was just the two of them at her apartment.

"Why? I thought he'd kill Ezekiel."

"We all did." Jaz admitted. "But it seems that he loves Sage too much."

"But he's being an arse to her." Sophia retorted. She'd watched Ares and Sage interact with one another around the apartment. The temperature seemed to drop whenever they were in the same room. Jaz sighed and sipped his tea.

"He's pushing her to be with the Ezekiel. He knows that Sage needs to be with the Mad Dog and he doesn't want to make things harder for her."

"Wow." Sophia sat back in her chair.

"You're sure he's not just an arse?"

Jaz smiled wryly.

"I think we all misjudged the war god. We've only heard one side in the stories told about him."

                            Ares sat at a small table surrounded by attentive worshippers. They cooed as he ate a slice of lemon cake, watching him with possessive eyes. But Ares' gaze kept flickering to Sage. Watching as she cleaned the tables. His heart ached as he watched her working so hard. It ached worse when he remembered that she'd wanted him dead.

Sage went to her locker at the end of her shift to pick up her things. Glancing at her phone, she saw a message from Ezekiel.