The War God's Woman 3

2. Sage's Choice

Ares stood in front of the café, Eros and Psyche. Mortals walked up and down the street with their hoods pulled up against the rain, many joining the queue to the café. None of them saw the death immortal. They passed through him, feeling a strange shiver dance down their spine as they did so. 

Ares surveyed the café. Most of the buildings on the high street were derelict, but the café had expanded to envelope the buildings either side. In fact, the place was only a token café. It was more accurately a temple. Mortals were flocking not for cake and tea, but to make offerings to Eros and the immortals and to ask questions to the oracle. They wanted reassurances about the future. And they wanted protection from the titan monsters.

Three cars with tinted windows pulled up outside the cafe, and the crowd watched as secret service men piled out, shepherding the Secretary of State for Defence out of the vehicle and bypassing the queue to get him inside. Remaining invisible, Ares leant back against the wall and watched – stretching his senses to cover the place.

He found Jaz in the kitchen, and heard him complaining about the PM's neediness. He found Cesar fussing over a little child, and battling to get the little one's head inside a fuzzy jumper. Ana was flirting with one of the agents. There were a few staff members that were new to him. Ares couldn't use his powers to see what Eros was doing, but he could sense the love god inside the building somewhere.

Ares closed his eyes, focusing harder. He dreaded finding Sage – unsure how seeing her would make him feel. But the longer he took to locate her, the more anxious he became. He'd feared finding her with another man – perhaps a mortal husband who had replaced him. But not finding her at all was infinitely worse.

Ares straightened up, his stance changing to one ready to fight. Black smoky flakes peeled away from his immortal body as he fired up his powers – stretching his field of sight to cover the city. The death immortal stiffened, his throat constricted and his eyes glowed a violent red.

Sage.

He found her leaving the supermarket. Ares' blood heated and his feet started walking before he had time to think about it. Dread sank into his stomach. Because she wasn't alone. Something else was watching her and it was stalking her down the isolated underpass.

                 Sage felt a prickling on the back of her neck and realised she was being followed. Turning sharply, she glared into the gloom.

"Show yourself."

Obediently, her stalker slithered from the shadows.

"Look into my future, little oracle." Hissed the creature. It reached out and a tendril of black smoke snaked around Sage's wrist. Sage glared at the thing.

"You should have tried asking nicely if you wanted my help." She replied, her voice cold. The creature hissed, the pincers over its mouth snapping.

Showing no fear, Sage seized the coil of smoke and yanked on it – pulling the creature toward her.

"Just be grateful to have a future – bleak and miserable though it will be. It's still longer than you deserve." Sage hissed.

The monster wasn't pleased with her words. A coil of smoke wrapped around Sage's throat. Her eyes flashed furiously and Sage pulled Eros' dagger from her sleeve. With no hesitation, she thrust the blade up.