Ares: (Gods of Old Book 1) (3 page)

“Wonderful. Thank you,” she said with a grin. “I think I will just take room service.” So she could do some internet searching on the owner of the hotel. No one was this generous or this kind without wanting something from someone. And his name. Something about his name made her brain itch; made her think things that she shouldn’t think. It made her think of another Greek God, but for some reason, she couldn’t place the name. Yet.

“The menu is by the phone. Just dial zero and then the number at the top of the menu.” He stepped back and gave her another little bow. “Have a good evening, Madame. And if you require anything at all, please feel free to contact the front desk. That would be zero and then one-one on the phone.” He gave her a big smile before backing out of the door and shutting it.

“Thank you for that,” she said to his retreating back. Shaking her head she took the gown to the bed and pulled it out. It was breathtakingly stunning. Inside there was a jewel encrusted mask as well. “Interesting; so it’s a masked ball?” Stranger and stranger. Her inner radar was screaming for her to get her ass up and gone, but honestly, the girl part of her couldn’t because she couldn’t wait to wear this once in a lifetime gown.

*****

“You’re insane, Dion,” Ares muttered eyeing up the outfit his brother was holding up. “Just what the fuck are you doing?”

Heaving a put-upon sigh, Dionysus watched him, “It’s a masked ball, Ares. That means you must dress accordingly and wear a mask.”

“I get that, bonehead. What I want to know is why? What purpose does this serve?”

Dion was grinding his teeth; nice. “She is here. You want to get close, see her and get your hands on her, yes?” Ares had to give him that one so he nodded. “Then you will dress, attend the party and work your way to her side. Everyone has certain outfits, yours and hers complement one another. You may thank me now.”

“Why? So far all you’re doing is trying to get me dressed up in a fashion I’ve never worn, even when it was fashionable in this world.”

More teeth grinding; he was on a roll with irritating his brother. “It’s the theme of the night, Ares. You must wear it if you want to attend. If you don’t wear it, I will wear it, and I will get to know the delightful miss Ava VonMaur.”

Seconds; that’s all it had taken before his hand was wrapped around his brother's throat. Seconds; all the time required to push him to the wall and hold him there. Seconds; for his temper to go nuclear. “You go near her with anything but the utmost respect and courtesy, and I’ll make it so you’ll be sucking all your meals through a straw.”

Dionysus smiled and chuckled, sort of. Kind of hard to laugh with someone holding onto your throat. “I was right,” he wheezed. “You do like the girl.”

Dropping him Ares stalked away from him and then spun back. “Stay away from her,” he said again. Curling his lip at the clothing and mask, he snapped his fingers, the outfit vanishing. “I hate you,” he muttered before flashing away; but not before he heard Dion’s laughter.

Looking at herself in the mirror she was certain that this had to be a joke. The mirror had to be a green screen, and someone else was standing in front of it because Ava simply wasn’t as beautiful as this mirror said she was. “Is this really me?” she asked the woman that had helped her to dress and then did her long, honey-blond hair into intricate curls and waves.

“Wow. I didn’t think that I would ever look like this.” The gown was amazing. The drop top of the gown showed cleavage that she didn’t think she had, while the high waist emphasized her upper half’s assets as well.

“It’s you, madame,” the woman assured her with a smile. “You look amazing in the gown.”

Turning to get a good look at herself, the sparkle from the diamonds, and oh yes, she knew that was what they were, caught in the light and made her gasp. “Your boss is very, very generous isn’t he?” she asked as she eyed the diamond combs holding her hair up in a French Twist, which was surrounded by wisps of curls.

“He can be, and he wishes this opening to be a huge success. In such cases he tends to go all out for the events,” she said quietly tipping her head. Reaching out she made a small adjustment to Ava’s hair.

“One last thing and I promise you can go. Will you help me with the mask? I’m afraid that I will ruin what you did with my hair without help.” After she was helped into the mask, Ava stepped into the wickedly amazing shoes and taking a deep breath, walked out of her room and toward the ballroom where the dinner and dancing would be.

*****

“I fucking hate you,” Ares muttered, throwing back the two fingers of forty-year-old scotch.

“Hey, go easy on that. It may not be my drink of choice, but that is damn fine scotch,” Dion said at his side. In the next moment, Dion’s elbow found Ares ribs, “She’s here, brother.”

Ares snapped his head around; he had to; damned mask obliterated his peripheral vision. “Holy mother of all things pure and good,” he wheezed.

“She does look rather fantastic, doesn’t she?” Dion said with a chuckle. “I’m very glad I chose that dress for her. I was a little worried about her coloring, but I’m now glad I went with my initial gut reaction. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he grinned at Ares. “I’m going to go and compliment the woman. Down boy,” he jumped back a step. “I will shake her hand and pay her a compliment. Nothing more, you have my word, brother.”

Dion took off before Ares could issue any more warnings. Moving to a different spot, he grabbed another glass of scotch and kept his eyes on Ava as Dion reached her.

“Miss VonMaur,” he bowed before her. “Welcome to my hotel and our grand opening extravaganza. I’m so pleased to see you wearing the gown I sent you. I hope you don’t mind; I just wanted everyone to enjoy this party.”

Ava looked at the man and frowned. Her smile was gone as she realized. “Dionysus?” She stepped back. What in the hell was happening? Why was it all of the Greek Gods that her family had whispered about all her life were suddenly there before her? She looked around wildly, suddenly feeling more than a little panicky as she recognized what felt like energy waves from another God there. “Who else is here? I feel someone else. Why are you doing this to me? First Ares, now you. How? Why?” she whispered.

“Why what?” he frowned at her. He didn’t deny her knowledge of who he was. He actually looked pleased that she’d recognized him. “This is my hotel; it’s a party, lots of wine. You know, my whole deal and all that,” he grinned. “But I have a question for you, my dear.” He stepped in closer and pushed up his mask, “If you know us all so well, how could you even say that to Ares?” Clicking his tongue, he stepped back, “Enjoy your evening, Miss VonMaur.” His tone had chilled, and the smile now looked brittle.

“You pompous ass,” she called out, loudly. “How dare you ask me that and then turn and walk away?” Okay, so maybe at least when she died she would meet Hades as well. Why the hell not? “I said that to him because he’s too damn good looking for my own good. I said that because I could see myself doing that; not because he wanted it, you jackass. I think that the lot of you have far too big of heads,” she muttered. “And don’t worry, this snide bitch of a human will be gone from your hotel as soon as I can get out of this gown and packed.” She turned and strode away, mumbling about self-righteous Gods and their proclivities to wreak havoc.

“Don’t go,” Ares said quietly as he blocked her path. “Please,” he added. He wasn’t touching her, wasn’t physically stopping her, but she wasn’t moving for the door any longer. “Why would you think to bow to me or anyone, Ava? There was never a need for such displays, especially for me. God of War; remember? The one’s who were on their knees and bowed lost their heads shortly after.”

“Bow, as in bend to your will. Not on my knees,” Ava said with a sigh. “And I said that because-” she shrugged, lifting her shoulder and suddenly blushing. “Because I think that you are about the only being on this planet that would ever be able to get me to change how I view life. You are just too attractive for my own good. I know all the stories, and no, you never had people bowing to you. You were there in the thick of things with them, one of them, but the women fell all over themselves for you. I don’t want to be just another of the countless that have fallen to you, Ares.”

“I would never want you to bow to my will, or any others will. And you could never be just another woman, Ava. You are unique, special and one of a kind.” He shifted on his feet looking distinctly uncomfortable. “I’m sorry for how I left you the other day. You just...” He cleared his throat. “Well, to be honest, you offended me with the suggestion, no matter the meaning behind it. While I may not have been the sort that played by the rules all the time- hell- even most of the time, I never once forced anyone to do anything they didn’t want to. I have my lines, Ava, and I’ve never crossed them. There was never a reason to.”

She sighed and nodded. “I know, and I understand. I just don’t know what to do or how to do it. Before, the Gods were only stories passed down by my family, but now I’ve seen not one but two of you. How do you explain that? I don’t understand what’s happening. I’ve always been different; I’ve always been able to see and hear the truth even when it’s given in such a convincing lie that anyone would believe it including the one telling it, but I’ve never fallen for that. But why now? Why am I seeing you all now?”

“I let you see me, and Dion has let everyone see him for centuries,” he told her quietly. “But I’m sure that what I did, opening that doorway between our worlds, is why you recognized him for who he was so quickly. You had a taste of what a God’s power is and recognized it in him. Even though he rarely bothers to push much of anything at anyone anymore.”

“I’m a bit overwhelmed,” she admitted to him. “Why did you let me see you?” she asked softly, taking a step closer to him so that they could talk without others listening in, but still hear each other over the music. “That’s been something I’ve been very curious about. Why did you let me see you that day?”

“Honestly?” he shrugged. “I don’t know, but I needed to. For whatever reason, I knew I had to reveal myself to you. I likely could have resisted the impulse had I worked at it. Remained hidden until you left the temple, but your words about the statue, they pulled at me.”

“Thank you for showing yourself.” She admitted to him, “I’m very glad that you did. The stories of the Greek Gods have been passed through my family from generation to generation. There is even a book detailing all that you have accomplished and attempted. One for each of the Greek Gods. I was entrusted with your book,” she told him with a shrug. “Strange I know, but my family is a bit on the strange side too.”

“You have a book about me?” he asked. He sounded, well, kind of a cross between intrigued and terrified. “What exactly does this book say? I think I really need to know what’s in there; I doubt it’s overly accurate,” he muttered the last words. “Given how the rest of history views me and my supposed deeds I’m terrified to see what yours claims.”

“Uhm, no. This book is drastically different from how history and myths depict you. According to Mother, it was started a long time ago by one of my ancestors, one of your high priests. All of the Greek Gods had high priests, and all of them decided that it was time for your true selves to be written of and not what the bards sang as your truth. So before writing was ever invented these men gave their stories to their pupils and so on. Master died, pupil took over, and the stories never wavered from Master to pupil. Ever. You are welcome to read it, though. I would like to find out if it is all true or not.”

“Hmm,” he made a face. “Still terrified. But I may read it if you’ll permit. At least the first little bit. If that isn’t the truth, then the rest of the book definitely would not be.” He looked around then before glancing down at her. “Will you stay, Ava? Stay and come have a drink with me. If you wish to still leave I won’t stop you, it is your right to make such a choice.”

She had to think for a moment and then finally nodded. “I’ll stay,” she said softly. “I honestly hadn’t meant to offend you. I hated that you just up and vanished without telling me why you were upset. I think I might have called you some not so nice names after it, but those I won’t apologize for because you did leave in a huff and everything.”

“Your words pissed me off, it was best I left before I said something I couldn’t take back. Words of the Gods hold power and can cause untold harm. I wouldn’t inflict that on you for any reason just because your words pricked me.” He put a hand on her back and urged her towards the bar. “As to the names you may have called me, I’m sure they were well chosen.”

“I think that I said you were childish and fucking petty.” She wouldn’t sugar coat anything, not for anyone. Life was far too short for that. “So yeah, I was just a bit pissed off at you,” she admitted, once again blushing hard. “Are we good now?”

“Yeah, we’re good. As I said, I can’t blame you for your words. They stung, but-” he shrugged. Leaning on the bar, he signaled to the woman behind it. “What would you like to drink, Ava? And no, the drinks do not have to be with the theme; thank the Gods. Dion didn’t go that far. Though the menu, well, we could be in trouble since he didn’t answer my questions about it earlier.”

“Oh, God,” Ava groaned, “My stomach hurts already,” she teased. “I just want soda, please. I don’t drink.” She had a father who had been an alcoholic, and she had vowed she would never, ever drink. “If the food is bad what do you say we slip out of here and find some burger place that might be open?”

“Deal,” he nodded. “Soda for the lady and I’ll have two fingers of scotch, the good bottle, neat.” He turned to face her then, an elbow on the bar. “Though we may want to change before we go to the burger place. I can’t even imagine the looks I’ll get in this damned getup.”

“Good point.” She looked down at her gown and shook her head. “I can’t believe that he would send me this gown. It had to have cost upwards of seven figures, at the very least.” And it was spectacular. “Don’t get me wrong; I think that it’s an amazingly beautiful gown, but wow. I feel as if everyone is watching me and waiting for one of the diamonds to fall off.”